catching up

Mom and Dad put the house up on the market the last week of March -- within 48 hours they had an offer on the table that they accepted and they closed in less than 30 days!  It all happened very quickly, and they are now on to starting work building out on their Queen Creek property.  

Mother's Day Weekend I drove up to Utah with Mom and Dad for Aunt Sally's bridal shower.  She's getting married in June!  It was so fun to see everyone.  We drove up Friday (I took the day off work) and that evening Kristy came and picked me up at the hotel.  We went and had dinner and talked for a couple hours.

Saturday was a busy day of seeing Grandma and Grandpa Matsen at their new house in North Salt Lake, going to the bridal shower, picking up some family history stuff at the Farmington house, meeting Jeri's family for dinner then going to Molly's high school Ballroom Dance concert.  So fun!

Sunday we drove up to Salt Lake and went to Music & The Spoken Word at the Tabernacle.  This was the first time I'd been to see the choir perform in person.  They even had the bell choir there for the Mother's Day special.  So cool!  Kristy, and her husband Geoff, met us up there and watched the performance with us.  Then we took a few pictures outside.

On the way back down to our hotel in Orem, we decided to go up Parley's Canyon and drive through Heber and Midway, then down the Provo Canyon.  Beautiful weather and scenery!  Then I had to pack up my things and Mom & Dad dropped me off at the Provo airport to catch a plane back to Mesa.  They stayed one more night and drove home on Monday, but I had to be back for work.

It was a quick and busy weekend, but so fun to see friends and family and enjoy some beautiful Utah spring weather before coming home to the beginning of the hot AZ summer!

unhealthy air, ghost towns, and baby birds

 The weather this week was kind of crazy...up to 95 then down to 72 within a few days time.  Lots of wind during the middle of the week stirring up dust and pollen and making breathing difficult, as documented in my weather app.

Yesterday Julia and her friend Alec Miller went out to Goldfield Ghost Town.  We got there just in time to watch a shoot-out show and then walked up and down the boardwalk looking at different shops.  Julia and Alec both got some ice cream.  Then we went out to dinner at Roma Café - delicious Italian food!

 

The baby birds are getting big!  

ugly baby birds

Have you ever seen pigeon babies?  They're super ugly.  We have 2 of them at the top of the column outside our front door.

bunny tea party

Julia threw a "Springtime Bunny Tea Party" for all the girls in the family yesterday.  It was so fun!

gardening

Julia and I are trying our hand at back porch/container gardening.  Squash, kale, cucumbers, radishes, carrots, and lettuce...plus a hydrangea and a few friends we're "babysitting" for Mom and Dad while they are between houses.

pinetop

This week's adventure was going up to Pinetop for the weekend.  Grandma McLaws was kind enough to let Julia, myself and Julia's bestie Alec stay at her "Cabinot."  We drove up after work on Friday and stayed through Sunday afternoon.

Driving up on Friday night we kept seeing signs telling us to "Watch Out for Rocks."  Kinda scary -- not sure what we were supposed to be watching for, but luckily nothing rocky happened.  When we were between the Salt River Canyon and Show Low I drove around a corner and there were two HUGE elk grazing right at the side of the road.  Kinda cool.  Mostly scary.  That's one of my fears when I'm driving up north in the dark.  I'm always afraid of a deer or elk running out in front of me.  Luckily, these two seemed content to stay where they were.

Saturday we went out and explored Pinetop, Lakeside and Show Low.  We went to:

• The Gingerbread Cabin - super cute store!  I bought an adorable bunny plaque, some awesome smelling body wash, and a super cute Easter card with quails!
• Goodwill (half-off Saturday!) - Julia and I found a few awesome pieces of clothing
• Grandpa Gooses Variety Store - a waste of time, don't bother
• The Irish Peddler - again, another waste of time
• W&Z Asian Bistro and Sushi Bar - the sautéed veggies and beef that I got for lunch, and the edamame were really good!  The lettuce wraps were really spicy, and neither Alec or Julia were impressed with the sushi
• The Show Low Historical Museum - this was really fun and interesting!  And it was free! The last room was my favorite - model trains set up with different Arizona towns and areas.  So cool!
• Safeway - Julia and Alec needed food/snacks for Saturday and Sunday

When we got back to the cabin after our adventures, Julia and Alec set up their hammocks in the backyard and I watched some TV.  Then we watched "Beauty and the Beast."

This morning we slept in for a bit, then I got up and studied the "Come Follow Me" lesson for the week and worked on my bullet journal.  When the other girls woke up, we watched "Cinderella" while Julia and Alec ate breakfast.   We went for a walk around the neighborhood - giant ravens everywhere and cute squirrels running around.  When we got back, the girls went out to their hammocks for a little while, then we cleaned up and got ready to leave.  

It was a fun weekend - just wish it was a few days longer!!

renaissance festival

In the twenty-one and a half years I've lived in Arizona, I've never been to the Renaissance Festival.  That changed today.  Julia and I went and had a lot of fun!  We will definitely be going back!  

 Wearing the dress and skirt we bought last week at the Highland games.

 An Ent!

 Hot blacksmith dude

 Knights and jousting!

 Firewhips