Wonderful family I spent time with in Wickenburg!

Here are some pictures in random order of my wonderful family.

First you will see Alexa Rubye. She loves going to her gramma's house and swimming in the pool! She is such a lovely mermaid! Kash and Rue came and stayed one evening with us.

Here's Kash with his little water toy Rubye and I picked up for them at the Family Dollar Store.


Here is the exact way Rubye and I fixed our hair, daily. It's also the picture on the wall of a yummy resturaunt we enjoyed Espresso Mexicano salad. Mmmm.

Speaking of sister Rubye and I, here we are! We had two wonderful weeks together. Lots and lots of laughter and a little piddling here and there!

And here she is getting everything ready at the BBQ we hosted, the day before Michelle and I came home.

It was a little chilly swimming in the pool of cold water, so Great Aunt Ellie bundled up Rue Rue and held her until she got warm.

Here's Em feeding her gramma some cantaloupe!

Daddy Rick, a wonderful daddy is reading about birds while his little birdie, Em, pirches on the coffee table organizing the coasters for the umpteenth time.

And YUM YUM, Em loves to swim in the pool, too. She especially loved dipping her cracker in the soapy pool water and eating it!

Great Aunt Ellie warming up the Kashman by the pool. He is so dang cute.

And here they are again, the never ending fun of a swimming pool in the sweltering heat~

Little Em needs a blue bonnet to match her lips and shirt!

Ahh, my nephew Bryan. I took this pic because I knew his uncle Scott and cousin Ed would be so proud of him with his red antenae!
And here is Bryan and his GF Anzehla at the BBQ we hosted. It was so good seeing them! We had great chats!

Big bubble, little bubble floating through the air.
Put your finger through it...POP
It isn't there!

Em doesn't want a pop sicke, its ICE CREAM or bust! Good luck getting a bite of that one, Rubye!
Cousins! Anna Jo and Michelle. Shelly stayed at her cousin's house for the 2 weeks we were there, too. How cute is that?

Poor Anna Jo, she forgot the sun screen!


The cool couple by the COOLEST tree!
...and with Rubye. Her yard is full of beautiful flowers, bushes, wind chimes and stones.
And here we are at the airport, getting ready to leave. Thanks family for a wonderful vacation!
Yes, Rue, a well deserved nap! We all needed one after that!
And that's what we did when we got home!

Thanks everyone for all the accomodations.

Next up.....our journey to Tucson!

Desert Beauty

Here are some pics of life in the desert of Arizona. I found it absolutely gorgeous and enthralling. The plants have adapted to the climate in their own unique ways. So I've researched them a little, and piddled a little to enrich the pictures with some info.

Here is a saguaro cactus with dreadlocks, I mean blossoms on top. At the bottom are 2 barrel cacti.

Looking out our window, we saw the Joshua Tree Forrest. Unfortunately, the picture is pale is giving you the real feel (OUCH) of these trees.
Here's a better one:
The Joshua Tree, the largest of the yuccas, grows only in the Mojave Desert. Natural stands of spike-leafed evergreen grow nowhere else in the world. Its height varies from 15-40 feet with a diameter of 1-3 feet. Originally thought to be members of the Agave (Century Plant) Family, the Joshua Tree and other yuccas have been reclassified as members of the Lily (Liliaceae) Family.

Here is the century plant.
This plant can be found in the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts at higher elevations from southeastern California, to western Texas and south to northern Mexico. Vel refers to the blossom as ASPARAGUS. I tend to agree!

Yellow flowers composed of 6 petals, bloom June through August. Flowers grow in clusters and face upward at the end of horizontal branches, appearing only near the top of the stalk.

This unique native plant has a tall, thin stalk from 10 to 14 feet high that grows from a thick basal rosette of gray-green leaves. The leaves are 10 to 18 inches long with long, sharp, terminal spines and shorter spines along the edges. The stalk can be up to 4 inches in diameter.

Members of the Amaryllis Family, century plants take many years to flower, although not a century. The Century Plant provided Native Americans with a source of soap, food, fiber, medicine and weapons.

Agavi americana, can grow up to 40 feet high with much longer leaves and larger stalk. This American Century Plant is sometimes grown in southern California as an ornamental. It is used commercially in Mexico as a source to produce the liquors tequila, pulque and mescal.

This is an Ocatillo. The blossoms are so lovely.

It can be found in the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts of southeast California to west Texas and south into Mexico. Its habitat is open, stony, well-drained desert slopes below 5,000 feet.

Its blossoms are red flowers are 1/2 to 1 inch in length, with five short lobes curled back into 10-inch clusters. They appear at the ends of branches March through June or later, depending on rainfall.

The Ocotillo is a bajada resident that can be relied on to bloom annually, even without leafing in particularly dry springs. It is an inverted, funnel-shaped desert plant with several woody, spiny, whip-like, straight branches angling outward from the base and rising as high as 20 feet.

Ocotillo are leafless most of the year, except immediately after rain; the leaves then quickly wither after the soil dries out. These narrow, oval leaves are about 2 inches long, appearing in bunches above spines.

The green bark lends itself to the name of the next tree, pala verde. Two species of palo verde commonly occur in the Southwest: the foothill, yellow or littleleaf palo verde and the blue palo verde.

Both species are spiny, green, multi-trunked, deciduous trees. Foothill palo verdes only reach about 20 feet in height and have more yellowish bark and duller yellow/white flowers. Blue palo verdes top out at 40 feet. Their twigs and young branches are bluish-green, as are the leaves, which are larger than the foothill variety. Both have twice pinnate leaves (leaves with two stems and opposing leaflets on each stem), with the foothill species having more abundant leaves growing on longer stems.

Pods contain from one to eight seeds, with one being far more common than eight. The foothill species pods have narrow waists between the seeds, which are lentil sized. Blue palo verde seeds are slightly larger and flatter, with thicker, harder shells.

Foothill palo verdes often live for over 100 years and may reach 400 years. In contrast, blue palo verdes grow faster and die sooner, rarely reaching the century mark.

During their short flowering seasons, both species are clothed with thousands of five-petaled yellow blossoms. They attract numerous pollinators, including beetles, flies and social and solitary bees.

The trees can photosynthesize through their green bark, an important adaptation for a tree that drops its leaves during the warm season and in response to fall cooling. Palo verdes also drop stems and branches to combat drought.

Palo verdes serve as nurse plants for saguaro cacti by providing a canopy – in effect, a microhabitat – which offers warmth in winter and shade in summer. The slower-growing, longer-lived cactus will eventually replace its one-time protector.

Bighorn sheep, mule deer, feral burros and jackrabbits as well as other small mammals browse palo verdes. Numerous birds forage, perch and/or nest in the abundant branches.


There are many different palm trees. This one, I call the Pokey Palm. The leaves begin as pokies! This one is
in Rubye's yard. I have no idea what the real name of it is, so I couldn't find info on it. Therefore, just look at the pic for a while! lol

Next is my favorite! Here is a pic and some info of the saguaro cactus.

The range of the saguaro is the Sonoran Desert of extreme southeastern California, southern Arizona and adjoining northwestern Mexico. Its habitat is desert slopes and flats, especially rocky bajadas.

The blossoms are the Arizona State flower. They are creamy-white, 3-inch-wide flowers with yellow centers bloom May and June. Clustered near the ends of branches, the blossoms open during cooler desert nights and close again by next midday.

The skin is smooth and waxy, the trunk and stems have stout, 2-inch spines clustered on their ribs. When water is absorbed , the outer pulp of the Saguaro can expand like an accordion, increasing the diameter of the stem and, in this way, can increase its weight by up to a ton.

The Saguaro often begins life in the shelter of a "nurse" tree or shrub which can provide a shaded, moister habitat for the germination of life. The Saguaro grows very slowly -- perhaps an inch a year -- but to a great height, 15 to 50 feet. The largest plants, with more than 5 arms, are estimated to be 200 years old. An average old Saguaro would have 5 arms and be about 30 feet tall.

I love how all these plants are so big, they grow so slow, and live to be so old. They co-habitate with the other plants for survival in a land where rain rarely falls. They heavily rely on the birds and the bees for pollenation.

I LOVED MY TIME IN ARIZONA soo much! next up is the best part: MY FAMILY!

After spending 2 days in Layton,

we headed to Wickenburg, VIA Las Vegas. In doing so, we came upon these gas prices (per gallon, my Canadian friends) and this was the highest we saw. Unfortunately, we were at the point where we needed to get some, too!

We were stalled at Hoover Dam. Since 9/11, there is a code yellow alert here for terrorists (i won't comment), therefore all cars have to go through check-point. Here is the dam, you can see the line of cars...

So, the federal government decided to build a bridge to go over the dam/river to alleviate this congestion and ease the security burden. Here are the pillars - one side and the other. The span will be impressive when they get it constructed!

This is the far side and I zoomed it in so it can be seen easier...

I am really glad I got to see the new bridge at this stage! Next time we make this trip, the bridge will probably be done.

Next leg...Wickenburg!

Layton, Utah

is about a 6 hour drive from here. We stopped and stayed a couple of days to see lolly and her incredible girls, kaylee and lizzy. Lots of visits, watching Kaylee's favorite tv station (the cooking channel), reading books, going to the mall, shopping for shoes, and enjoying our little time together...thanks Lolly!




We love you and your family so much!