Tiptoeing Back ...

... with my tail between my legs.  I haven't been a very good blogger lady and I have missed so much.    Life has taken some big twists and turns the past 6 months or so and I have hung on for dear life.  With much prayer ~ I know there will be peace soon.  I do know Life is Good and I celebrate that every single day.

We have a new place in town ~ The Woolley Ewe ~   A cute little shop inside of Country Pine Antiques.  I sell adorable punch needle kits, primitive rug hooking kits, wool appliqué patterns and kits and the supplies needed.  Classes are offered several times a month.  It's been a fun and enjoyable venture ~ I am loving it.  Meeting the ladies and making new friends is sweet.

What do you think of my pretty little sheep?  She is my logo and sign and business cards :)

This after a wonderful monsoon storm!  The picture doesn't do it justice ~ but the rainbow was breathtaking.  I pulled off the road to take a minute to admire God's work.  This was the brightest and most beautiful rainbow EVER ~ promise.

The grands are back to school now and seem to be loving it.  Summer is great but the kids really like the structure and relationships with their classmates.  

#1 Grandson has a new haircut ~ just like his Daddy!  I think he is beautiful.

My pretty #2 Granddaughter on the right ~ went to get the summer chlorine taken away from her pretty blonde locks!  Love this picture :).

#3 Grand at Home Depot ~ precious one!

Have a blessed day ... chin up, shoulders back and smile on!

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Birthday America!

 We are so blessed and so thankful to live in this beautiful country!

Freedom is the open window

through which pours the sunlight of the human spirit

and human dignity.

~  Herbert Hoover

Hubs and I are just returning from a trip to Las Vegas!  Had a wonderful, fun, relaxing, stay up all night kind of time ~ we don't do this often but we sure enjoy it when we do.  Had a fantastic evening at the Reba, Brooks & Dunn show.  Age suits them well .. they are just as good or maybe even better than their younger days.  Loved it ~ they will be back at Caesar's Palace in December and we may go for the National Final's Rodeo and also to see them again.  Crazy, huh?

This is the pool area we enjoyed each morning with our coffee ☕️!  

We also visited Old Town Vegas ~ not one of my favorite places.  However, there was a fun ride called the "Zip Line" that ran down the middle of the shopping area.  Check this out. 

We are having a nice rain right now ~ our first in many days.  The plants and animals are so happy that things have cooled down.  

The sunflowers are growing taller by the minute.  We are excited to see what colors they will bring us.  I planted a variety this year ~ from 4' to 8' with various colors!  

Hope this holiday brings you happiness and time with special friends and family.  

Thanks for stopping by ~ 

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Day to my very special father.  XO!

What Makes a Dad

God took the strength of a mountain, 

The majesty of a tree, 

The warmth of a summer sun, 

The calm of a quiet sea, 

The generous soul of nature, 

The comforting arm of night, 

The wisdom of the ages, 

The power of the eagle's flight, 

The joy of a morning in spring, 

The faith of a mustard seed, 

The patience of eternity, 

The depth of a family need, 

Then God combined these qualities, 

When there was nothing more to add, 

He knew His masterpiece was complete, 

And so, He called it ... Dad

Busy Busy ...

We are into our third week with the little ones!  Had a week at home, then a week camping at Big Lake, and now this week will be spent at home tending to the garden with the help of little hands.  They are heading home this coming Saturday and life will be quiet ~ we will miss them.

Here are a few pictures of our activities ~

I love playing with the girls hair!  Here we are ready for a day of shopping .. had to put Gran's ASU hair pretties in.

Spoiled M with a pedicure!  I may have created more than I bargained for ~ she really really enjoyed this and has asked many times if we could go back to have our toes done !

While we were running around and getting our toes pretty .. Papa and P went fishing at Horseshoe Lake.  Papa caught 3 and P caught 6.  This is one of my favorite lakes ~ it's such a beautiful place.

Off to Big Lake for our annual camp-out.

The 3 little fire tenders preparing the fire for the nightly smores-fest!

P constructed two tepees!  Pretty awesome feat considering he did it mostly by himself, however with a little help from his sister and cousin ... here is the first one.

Here is the 2nd tepee!  This one withstood the wind and rain ~ they enjoyed having breakfast here along with many "secret" meetings.  Wonder what they were discussing :))

Oh Lordy!  This was once a pretty pink jacket ~ I have washed it 3 times and still working on getting it back to what it once was.  Thanks to Spray N' Wash and OxiClean we are getting there one wash at a time.

Peaceful moments at Big Lake ~ 

We were able to get our tomatoes, various peppers, zucchini and cilantro planted!  So excited to see my garden looking alive again.  It was a joint effort with Papa and myself, and the grands ~ what fun we had.  I will post pictures next time :))

Count your blessings!  Life is good!

Let The Fun Begin ~

Summertime fun started yesterday .. we have two of our grands for ONE MONTH!!!  Oh joyous days for sure.  Living 3 hours away, with both in school, our visiting time is limited.  So we look forward to our summer fun with them ~ camping for about a week at Big Lake is always an awesome adventure. Fishing and bike rides and long walks and long talks!  So blessed to have this special time.

All year long we save our aluminum cans for the kids .. they crush the cans and we take them to a recycling place.  The kids get the money for a little extra fun money!  Here is the can crushing process in action.  We like teaching them the value of recycling too!!

This has been a funny Spring ~ lots of moisture which is welcome!  However, the temperatures have been cooler than normal along with less sunshine.  My freshly planted flowers are hoping for sunny weather too ... looks like maybe this week will warm up.  True to this time of year we have lots and lots of fluffy and curious baby birds.  I love to watch them as they learn to fly ~ you can see the way they look around in wonder at this big new world.  We have Oriole families that return every year!  We also have Mexican Bluejays that return!  And many other varieties that we enjoy watching for.

Happy Geraniums

Pretty Petunias

More Petunias in Rustic Whiskey Barrel

Gorgeous Gerbers ;)

Hopeful Hollyhocks

Lovely Clematis

Sunny Sunflowers (pretty soon)

It's spring fever.

That is what the name of it is.

And when you've got it, you want - 

oh,

you don't quite know what it is you do want,

but it just fairly makes your heart ache,

you want it so!

~  Mark Twain

Beautiful Days and Fun Times ~

Who can pass by a go-cart race when you're with the kids and grands?  Not me :)  Oh so fun ~ gotta stay out of the way of #2 son.  He remains fearless even at the ripe old age of 26 (almost 27).  This was Payton's first time driving his own car ~ he loved it and did a great job.  McKyla and I came in a respectful 3rd place out of the three of us (won't mention how many times they lapped us) .... funny!


#1 Grandson ....

#2 son ....

Can't drive with your eyes closed Gran ....

We had a great time on our Prescott trip.  Hubby and a friend biked in The Whiskey race ~ it was a great experience for all but I don't think it will happen again any time soon.  That was a bucket list item and I do believe it's been checked off the list.  

Crossing the finish line ... oh what a great feeling!!

We camped with our dear friends at The City of Rocks ~ a nice place with lots to look at and nearby hiking areas ~ huge rock formations and a beautiful lake (Watson Lake).  

Looks like you could push this over, huh?

Watson Lake ....

Looks like a dinosaur spine to me .... Yes?

Photo op of Hubby and I ....

I am enjoying typing this blog on my front porch today!  The weather is so nice .. who wants to stay inside on days like today.  Starting to get the lawn ready for re-seeding and the sunflower beds are all spiffed up now.  Maybe we will do some planting tomorrow.  The garden is a whole different story and needs lots of work.  That for another day ~ 

Maybe acouple more lilac bushes here ...

Oh my garden ... needs work  :(

Grass is coming along nicely ...

This will be home to big beautiful sunflowers ... can't wait!!

That's all for now .. thank you for stopping by.  Wherever you are today or whatever you're doing take a few minutes to breath deep and be thankful for our many blessings!!  I have more than can be counted and I'm sure you do too.

Hugs to you.

Christmas in April ..

Bought a pretty Christmas quilt pattern in hopes of having it completed by Christmas ~ for me that is a pretty tall order but I'm optimistic!!  Here are the first three blocks.  The idea of "redwork" is so nice as there are no color changes :).  Makes it go much faster.  Look at these little cuties .. just love their personalities!

If you are a needlepoint person and haven't looked at Crabapple Hill Studio on the web ~ you really should.  Lots and lots of cute stuff.  Here is the pattern ..

The pollen count seems to have slowed down a bit so we are enjoying the outdoors ~ tending to the flowers, the lawn, the baby chicks and all the other little beauties of Spring.  Need to get busy planting flowers, especially my favorite ~ the Sunflowers.  This year I hope to have a garden and it's always fun deciding what to plant.  We have a late planting season here in the White Mountains so there will be no planting before May 31st.  Several years ago we learned not to rush Mother Nature .. not even by 3 days.  One year we were enjoying warm spring days and decided to put the garden in ~ and along came 3" of snow 3 days later.  I think my Father-In-Law enjoyed the "I told you so". 

We are headed to a bike race with some friends in Prescott ~ hopefully no rain!  Will have some nice pictures of the guys when we return.

Have a blessed day and thank you for stopping by!