A Little Bit of This and That!

Our local library's summer reading program is in full swing!  The theme this year is science related and Isaac and Joshua have really enjoyed it.  Of course there are the traditional rewards for a certain number of books read, but hey, getting cotton candy when you go to the library is an extra treat!

We had a nice Father's Day here at home and made Joe feel special!  When we first got married

he never would have believed that he would have six children!  You are a great dad, Joe!!

It was such a treat to drive into Tucson and see my mom and dad, and to wish him a

 happy Father's Day, too!

Continuing on..............living in the country as we do, boots are mandatory.  But considering how

little rainfall  we get each year that seems strange, doesn't it?.  But they are so handy for the boys

to throw on anytime we are outside - for work or play!

And yes, speaking of our lack of rainfall, we do get lovely little high desert flowers each spring!

David has been enjoying his break from school, but admitted that he is looking forward

to the beginning of school in August.  Wow, a sophomore already!

He's being doing some tractor work for Joe once again, which we refer to as "Country Driver's Ed".  All of our children have learned to drive the tractor first and the older three have become good, safe, drivers. 

 We have seen great improvement in David's skills since last summer - this year his rows are nice and 

straight compared with last year!

Speaking of David, he is off to QUEST - a month long camp for young men.  He went there last year

and had a really great time.  He is spending this week before camp with Joe's aunt and uncle

in Texas.  Here he is, just arriving today!  Have a great time David!

Happy Flag Day!

Yes, it's Flag Day and Father's Day all in one weekend!  We have always wanted to put

up a big flag pole, so this year we finally did it.  Of course the day we get it up, we are having

 30 mph winds, with much stronger gusts.  So the flag pole went up, and then we promptly

 removed the flag.  No sense in having the flag in tatters the first day!

Once the sections of the pole were put together, getting it upright in an existing metal tube

proved challenging with the very strong wind gusts.

Happy Flag Day everyone!!

Bonfire!

We love to have bonfires at our house!  We have several long stretches of concrete irrigation
ditches that are not long being used, and they make the perfect setup for roasting hot dogs,
 marshmallows, etc.

Even when the temperature reaches 100* during the day, once the sun goes down the temperature

plummets - one of the best things about living in a desert region!

Here, the boys are learning the skill of setting up the tepee!

Joe's new toy, "The Dragon", which he uses most of the time for burning tumbleweeds

 that build  up in the ditches.  But it sure makes a good fire starter, too!

By the time the fire was built up and the hot dogs were cooking, it was too dark.  But we

 had a beautiful sunset as usual!

Girls' Weekend Getaway!

Boy, did we have a great time!  Some of you know my good friend, Beth, whom I have known since I was fifteen.  Even though we went to college in different states, and then moved around a bit over the years, we have stayed great friends since that time.  It's really funny that we both ended up in Arizona about ten years ago!  She lives in the Phoenix area so this time we decided to split the mileage difference and spend our time together in Tucson.  She found a great "off season" deal at the Westin La Paloma Resort.  You can see how lovely this is!!

This was the view from our patio - the golf course and the beautiful Catalina Mountains.

Here's a beautiful picture Beth took looking down over the whole pool area.  We felt so spoiled all weekend!  You can see why people flock to this area from up north during the winter months!

There were walking paths all over and we enjoyed checking out the whole resort.

And yes, we were goofy enough to take a selfie!!

And even though we were in this swanky resort, we got a big laugh out of the archaic looking

 phone that didn't have a cord!

The rest of my photos are just beautiful shots of the area.  We had a GREAT time and decided

to make this a yearly tradition!

Well, Beth and I have been friends for a long time - here's to us having a girl's weekend

 when we are in our 80's!