WINDY DAY IN PHOENIX

WOW! Today was WINDY! REALLY,
REALLY windy! I stopped by the house
to get a checkbook while I was doing
errands for work and as I walked up
to the house, I found this surprise waiting.
It is the biggest tumbleweed I think I
have seen. Our weather is being crazy-
maybe it is in sympathy with Mark &
the freezing weather in Nome! Last
week for Thanksgiving it was high 80's-
maybe even up to 90 degrees. Today
it has been about 52 degrees- almost
a 40 degree drop! And, as I said, a very
windy day that is dropping presents
at our door!
















I think we could almost use this as a
Christmas tree! Pretty big!





















On Thursday, I stuffed this tumble-
weed into the garbage. Even though
it was huge, it was just a big airball of
prickly splinter-like wood (all show
and no substance) and took up just
about no room at all! I was sure glad
I was wearing gloves, even though I
still got stuck with splinters!

IS IT SPRING IN NOVEMBER? Thanksgiving feast!

We think that spring has arrived- at least according
to the flowers! Can you believe that we are celebrating
Thanksgiving with the screen door open and fun
crocuses blooming?
















Carole did the honors of taking this picture of
us. We went all out & even used the good
china of grandma's! As you can see, we didn't
leave the table hungry thanks to Carole's
special mashed potatoes, Adrianne's stuffed
mushrooms & homemade rolls, and Don's
pumpkin pie!
















Sydney loooooved the jello- she licked the
bowl clean.
















The girls "dressed up" for dinner. Aren't they
gorgeous???? I had gotten fancy dancy shoes
for them to use.




















After dinner we watched "Newsies"
& let dinner settle so there would
be room for pie- with real whip
cream, of course!

A Very Fun Grandparents' Day

Friday was Grandparents'
Day at Hale Elementary &
so I spent lunch time with
Emma & Miriam. What
fun! Emma & I ate lunch
together & took some
pictures. She wore her
pink boots & vest & great
black cowgirl hat.
















There was a western band playing for the kids
& grandparents. Here is the fiddler with Emma-
the music made our feet itch to dance!
















Miriam had lunch time right after Emma's so
we listened to more country music & then
Miriam & her friend Abby danced! Miriam
had on her very, very cute skirt & western
hat & boots.
















After lunch was over I visited Sydney at home-
can't leave any girls out! She had just gotten
home from pre-school.

Dry Arizona Meets Water (part 2)

Mom checks out ice sculpture demo by the pool.
















Some of the towel animals that were left on
our bed at night- a swan, a monkey, & the rabbit!
















We enjoyed beautiful weather on deck.
















Mom can sniff out ice cream even in Ensenada!
















We took this carriage ride back to the ship
in Ensenada. The last day of our relaxing, great
food, being spoiled, fun trip!

40th Anniversary Cruise (part 1)

Is the captain of the ship??? Nope-
it's Dad with
a naval ship
in San Diego
harbor in the
background.
The first day
of our cruise
was stopping
at San Diego
where we
explored our
ship & relaxed.







Time for "mustering out". I think that orange
is definitely NOT our color!!
















Here we are on a ferry to Catalina with our
ship in the background.
















We saw tons of fish while on the Glass Bottom
Boat at Catalina. There were so many that the
glass bottom was black until all of a sudden they
turned & "ran" away the opposite direction.
About a minute later we saw their predator-
a sea lion on the prowl for lunch! We saw kelp
fields waving in the current & the fish would hide
in them just like in the movie "Finding Nemo"!
















Dad loves this type of architecture we
found on Catalina.
















Here is the competition ship- Carnival- with its
passengers on the front deck. Actually, it is a
partially sunken ship off Ensenada with barking
sea lions (enlarge to see them better).