More fun and Relatives...

My grandma came to visit me this week, I wish she would have stayed way longer. She would murdalize me if she knew I put her picture on public internet -so shush, don't tell.....

We went hiking at Picacho with my favorite cousin Maria. We have been writing to eachother since we were 9 years old and now we are so happy and privileged to live within an hours drive of eachother. Maria is my grandma's grand niece, so we all had a delightful afternoon.

I love the natural desert setting, to me it is one of the most beautiful landscapes.

The children's cave at Picacho is a cute little hike, our two year old's thought it was great.

Daddy's little girl, she always says she likes Dad better than Mom.

Korben is a little shy but he did manage a little smile.... He had fun playing with Maysa.

Puddle Splash

Took the kids puddle splashing after the big rains on Friday. They were in their glory, I kind of wanted to get in too.

Ice Cold Winters bring Arizona Visitors

My sister and bro in law and 4 kids came to visit us from Canada last week. So between us both there were 7 little girls. It was kind of crazy but fun. I feel terrible that they all got sick the first day they were here, but we still managed to get out and have some fun. We had such a good time, even though Al is home now and kissing his frozen ground, I know he secretly wishes he could come back, but for 2 weeks.

This is probably my favorite picture. Its so cute, they look so happy to be around Jesus. At first Maysa said "don't like it, Jesus" and she got real scared, but she changed her mind after a minute.

Had to babysit the kids while ZZ and Al went to dinner at Eva's, poor little baby Lilah wouldn't go anywhere near me, she clung to her big sister for dear life the entire time.

ZeeZee and Elena share the same birthday (Jan. 21) so we had a high school musical celebration!

Went to canyon lake

to go swimming. It was icy cold, but they loved it, Dan jumped right in, just didn't get the picture darnit! Also stopped at this donkey ride place and the old man forced us to take this picture in his outhouse, then he kept pushing a fart button. It was a bit freaky so I think we were just nervous laughing. We'll miss you guys, wish you could have stayed 3 more weeks.

The missionaries came and gave the girls a short lesson. It was so cute. They listened and sat still for the whole time.

Extreme Home Winter

Everyone knows how much I love the desert and Arizona, that is no secret. The strange thing is my sister and her family love their home in the mountains of Canada every bit as much. She is someone I really admire. They live frugally, economically and environmentally friendly. Cloth diapers, wood stove, chickens that lay eggs, the whole works. These pictures were taken today. Their power is unreliable so they sometimes cook their food in open fire. The grocery stores in the nearest town are running out of food because the mountain passes are too dangerous to go through. They battle possible avalanches in the winter, mud and land slides in the spring, and forest fires in the summer. I got to hand it to them, they are a good example of tough Canadians built to withstand the rigors and extreme elements of the north. And if you ask them if they like living there, they would tell you they wouldn't trade it for any other place on earth. Dan and I copped out and became early winter birds hightailing it south, we admit it- and don't regret it.!