My Back Yard…

Our back yard is not the largest place, but it has some plants, a tree and a green patch of what people call “lawn”.  When we moved in on June 7th the lawn was brown, burnt and crispy crunchy.  I thought it would be that way till fall, but a little water for 30 minutes each night has brought it back to life.

Here are a few pictures of what our back yard looks like after two weeks of tender loving care.

This reminds me of the lawn Carl had in Las Vegas and he was so proud of it.  Mine is slightly bigger than his was.  Our new push mower (no gas, no electricity used, just muscle power) will be here on Thursday. 

 

We have two chilian mesquite trees, one in back and one in front.  They have a yellow flower on them and then they drop a pod full of seeds.  Right now the little praire dogs climb over the fence, fill their mouths with the pods and take them to their burrows.  One was even brave enough today to come all the way to our patio.

This plant is a Bird of Paradise.  They are in all the landscaping around Magic Ranch (this is our subdivisions name) and tons of them are across the street from our house.

We have our hammock set up and our two rocking chairs on the patio.  The grill is new to us, as Derek gave it to his Dad because he did not want to take it with him.  We were so lucky to get it.  We do love to BBQ and this is an area we will use it year round.  Nothing is better than having your meat cooked on the grill.

Every night we sit out on the patio in our rocking chairs watching the water go and watching the golfers on the golf course.   We do like our new home and glad that we were able to get it.

Things that are in my backyard….

We moved to the Arizona desert almost three weeks ago and have been visited by some different types of animals.  Our fence on the back is a half wall of cinderblock and the rest is a decorative metal fence that one can see the golf course through.  On one of the first mornings being here, I opened my blinds on the sliding glass door that leads to the back yard and this is what I saw looking at me through the fence.

I could not believe my eyes at this enormous Jack Rabbit.  I had never seen one this huge before.  We stared at each other for a few seconds and then he ran off.

We have lots of lizards that scurry along our back fence and across our patio

and tons of birds that like to gather in our back tree.  They visit us all day long and will sit in the tree to cool off on the hot summer days.  Every night they come to visit when we water the lawn.

When we moved into our new home, the back lawn (can’t call it a lawn as it is only a 20’ x 30’ green patch) was dead and crispy crunchy.  We have brought the green patch back to life and we now have a lush green spot in our yard.  We are having visitors each day that come through the fence and think our grass is better to munch on than the golf course grass.  This is what is visiting us on a daily basis now.  Dirty rotten little creatures.

They are a smaller breed than I am used to seeing and they are protected. Yucky little critters.

Each day is a treat living in the desert and I wait for another new adventure each time I go into my back yard.

Happy Birthday, Derek…

Dear Derek,

I know that it has been more than two weeks since your birthday, but I still wanted you to know that you are a constant thought to me.  There is not a day goes by that thoughts of you don’t cross my mind.

You have been the very best son that any mother could have ever been blessed with.  The joy you have brought to my life is hard to describe as there are not enough words to express this joy.

I was the lucky one to have been blessed with such a precious and strong spirit the day you were born.  How proud I was to hold you, care for you and raise you into a fine young man.  At that time I stepped back and let you continue down the path of life, but didn’t stay to far away.  Just far enough to watch, but close enough to catch you if you needed help along the way.

I love you with all my heart and so thankful that you are my son.  I constantly pray for your well being and hope that all your aspirations come true.  May your goals be attained and all your dreams be lined with silver and gold.

Thanks for being that special man in my life that I admire highly.  You make my life complete.  Thanks for being you.

Love always from your Mom.

Let’s Play Catch Up…

So much has happened since my last entry on June 3rd.  I will try to catch up with our activities, hoping not to leave to much out and also not making this post extremely long.

On June 4th, early in the morning, we went to get our Budget rental truck (don’t rent Budget, they are hard to load with the long, long high ramp. Just about killed Dick and his leg hurt the entire move).  They were having problems as the truck they had ready for us on Saturday had to be used for an emergency with a family moving to Texas.  After an hour of waiting and computers not working properly we were on our way to the house to drop off the car carrier.  Bob came over and rode with Dick to the storage unit as it had to be loaded first.

Verdell and Jim met us at the unit and the work began.  It took us three hours to load the truck, leaving a little more than half of the truck bed for the house items.  Verdell and I went and got lunch fixed and everyone came to eat.  They started loading and filling in every nook and cranny with items.  Being that our move was 740 miles away, there could not be one vacant hole in the truck. Several men in the neighborhood came and helped in the afternoon so the load went faster than we had thought. We got the truck loaded  and them Jim came in and said that they were waiting for the bed.  We had intended to sleep at our house that night and leave early in the morning.  Well they took our bed down and loaded it.  Thanks to one of the helpers (not family or Bob), our pillow top mattress was filled with splinters as he shoved and pushed the mattress against the wood sides.  It took me four hours to get the splinters out using a pair of tweezers and words of frustration with every splinter that was embedded into the mattress.  Finally the truck was loaded to the hilt and there was still tons of JUNK left that had to be taken.

That evening we were suppose to go to Jim and Verdell’s to spend the night.  As we were coming off the curb in the pickup there was a horrid noise coming from the front axel.  We decided to stay at our house that night so Verdell brought her air pump up and we got our air mattress filled.

June 5th was the day we were suppose to be gone.  I had made arrangements for the utilities to be turned off so had to call the city early to see if they could delay it one day.  I called just as the person was headed to shut off the water and power.

Dick took the truck to Big O and the left U Joint had shattered.  They told him it was a miracle that it happened in Brigham City before we left instead of in the middle of no where during our move.  It was the Lord watching over us and helping to make this move more smooth by allowing this mishap to happen where we knew people and who were there to help us.

The pickup got fixed around noon and Dick had made arrangements to get a U Haul trailer to put the rest of our things in.  We loaded the trailer and finished in a down pour.  Poor Dick and Bob were drenched.  We went into the garage for a bit and Bob asked if he could offer a word of prayer in our behalf.  My heart was so full of gratefulness to this wonderful man.  In his prayer he pleaded with the Lord for our safe trip and to let us feel his hand of guidance as we traveled and got settled into our new home. He thanked Him for our friendship and the love we have for each other.

We went to the Call’s that night to sleep and then went to the house to get the last things done and get on the road.  We said our last goodbyes to the Call’s and McNeely’s and at 8:30 am on June 6th were headed down the road.

Let me tell you now how scared I was with the thought of having to drive let alone pull something behind me.  It was a nightmare in my mind.  With all the prayers that were said, I could feel my Savior’s presence and he was sitting on my shoulder during the entire trip.  I pulled that trailer with ease, never tiring nor was worried.  It was like I had done this before and was a pro.  I did have a near miss when we were in construction near American Fork and two cars darted in front of me and traffic was stopped.  I pushed so hard on the brake and the second car hurried and moved to the left, leaving me enough room to stop before there was an accident.  I was calm and that was another miracle.  Yes, the Lord was my co-pilot on this entire move.

We made it to Page, AZ the first night as planned.  If I had to do the trip over and hind sight is better than fore sight we would have gone to Las Vegas and not Page.  After arriving in Flagstaff, there were hills to climb that I had not remembered in other trips to Arizona.  Vegas way was longer, but flatter so we could have made better time.  Oh Well!! live and learn.

On the morning of June 7th we left Page at 6:30 am to head to Florence, AZ, our new home.  It was a pleasant trip all the way into Phoenix.  We were going along and all of a sudden the exit I needed to take was coming fast upon us, I made it over but Dick did not.  I drove to the next exit, called him to see where he was and 30 minutes later we were on the right path again together.  That sure was a long 30 minutes not knowing where my other half was.

We arrived at our new home about 2:00 and fell in love with the home.  It was more than I had hoped for and so fresh and newly remodeled. The kitchen is a “to die for kitchen” with granite countertops, tons of cabinets and cupboards and three built in pantries. The sink in inlayed under the granite and extra deep.  Wow what a kitchen!!!  The area was what was amazing.  We live in a community that is in the middle of no where with no neighbors on the back or front of us.  We look out over the golf course in the back and out onto the desert in the front.

Brook. Kelson, Nolan and the three little ones came and started to unload the truck.  The LDS missionaries were walking down the street and stopped and helped us for an hour.  I know they must have been disappointed to found an LDS family instead of a family to teach.  The one missionary is from Arvada, CO where we used to live and the other one is from Ohio.  Elton got here after he got off work and before long the truck, trailer and pickup were unloaded and our bed was set up, made and ready for a good night’s sleep in our new home.  What a joy it was to have family waiting for us at the end of the trip.

The next day we delivered the truck to Coolidge and the trailer to another dealer.  Then came home and got busy trying to put things in their places.

This was an adventure that I was glad to see over and hope I don’t have to do it again soon.

Hard Day…

Today I had to say goodbye to Canyon and Evan (and their parents) and it was the hardest thing to do.  Hours later and the tears are still flowing. 

I love these two little children more than life itself and will miss them more than words can describe.  They have been my life for the last seven years. 

We have made great memories that will forever be in my heart.  We have made tons of cookies, caught many fish, played for hours at the park, read thousands of stories, had billions of sleepovers, given zilllions of hugs and kisses and said many goodbyes for the night. 

Today was not the goodbye’s that I have been looking forward to.   I have known  for months that this day was coming and have dreaded it.  Trying  to be brave just didn’t happen and that is okay. 

Little ones, Grandma loves you and will miss you.  Every night I will look to the East and blow kisses to you and wish you sweet dreams.  Have fun in Louisiana and I will write to you often.