Papa's Shadow

Looking for Easter eggs, playing with all the other kids.... way too much fun! Being at Grampa John's hanging out with Dad...awesome! Standing in my Papa Larry's shadow talking about cars and boy stuff....priceless!

River ride.

Scott and Stacey coming back from a ride by the Mussellshell River.

Racey

Sabrina worked very hard helping clean a house. The owner gave her this remote control car. We took it out side, ran it up and down the road a few times until it got a scratch and a crack in the fender from a small crash. It went back into the box and she says she is never playing with it again.

Cactus Bites

And this is what happens when you get to close to the previously photographed cactus! What you can not see is that 5 times that much was in the skin. A month later and I still have some that went through my shirt, through my jeans and into my hip. I did not get this much cactus stickers in the 24 years I lived in Arizona.

Cactus Glow

This is taken in Wickiup, AZ. It was just getting dark and the flash was set on auto. The result makes the cactus look almost like it has a slight glow.

Easter Ladder Ball

Well today was a beautiful day. After Church, we came home to having eggs all over the yard. The younger kids had so much fun finding all the eggs, Thank You Grampa Larry and Gramma Kathy. We got out the ladder ball set. I took this picture just as Sabrina took her turn and caught the balls in the air.

Gone Fishin'

We went last fall to Lewistown to the fish hatchery. The kids had fun looking at the fish runs with the fish in different stages of growth. It was a very wet, rainy day, but the sun came out long enough for us to have lunch in the park. It it a great town to visit, about an hour and a half away. The drive up was very scenic and we all had a good day.

Web Slinger

This our visitor last fall who took up residence in our garden.  It just goes to show that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Everyone I have shown this picture has a different reaction. My thought is, what an awesome Creator we have! A Creator that can take something that most people fear and give it such a beautiful color and pattern that it becomes fascinating.

Dog Days.

In the end of February while I was in California, my daughters family went to Arizona to visit and ask if we could babysit Sadie. I came home a few days after Sadie arrived and dropped my suitcase at the bottom of the steps. Sadie was so sad about her family not being home,  every little noise caused her to rush to the front door. Realizing it was not them she would sit on the step and patiently, but hopefully wait. She looks like she has her bag packed and ready to go.

Stormy Weather

This a shot standing in my front door at 3:30 this afternoon. I can not believe it is the end of April and it is snowing like this. We are under a weather alert for up to 7 inches!! The snow we had yesterday was gone by 10 am. Today it is staying around with snow flakes sometimes the size of quarters. After living for more that 20 years in the Az. desert, I love living in Mt. with the snow. But I am ready for some sunshine.

Winter..still

The snow was falling when I woke up this morning, the ground was covered with a very wet heavy snow. After I drove all the kids to school, I drove myself around. Just admiring the beauty and marveling how different and quiet things seem to be when it is all covered in white. It is amazing to me that something becomes more beautiful with the absence of color.

Saddleback Church

In February I went with Pastor John, his wife Pat (in this picture), and my friend Tina to California. We spent four days at Rick Warren's Saddleback Church. We worshipped with some really awesome musicians, learned from great teachers and leaders, and ate till we thought we would explode. We had so much fun trying to get this picture, I just had to post it.

Daddy's Girl.

This is a picture of me and my Dad when I was just over a year old. My Grandmother owned a restaurant and gas station in a small town in the middle of Ohio.

Whatcha doin'?

When we went to Yellowstone National Park, we stopped at a pic-nic area for lunch. There were a ton of Prairie Dogs all over the place.They were not people shy at all. This one stood by our truck as we were getting out and watched every move we made as if to say "whatcha doing, got something for me?"

Skipping it.

Do you remember how much fun is it the first time you are able to get a rock to skip across the water? The look on a child's face when they finally get that just right throw is priceless. It might take hours and they probably get a little frustrated, but once it happens the sheer joy of getting it right out weighs everything else.

Rockin' it

Right down the street from where we live, this house is built into the side if the mountain. Wood structures were built off the over hanging boulders and stone ledges. Rocks were set in place around the front. I love the last picture showing how the water helped erode the rock away. There are also many place in the stone where it was chiseled away to make a place for lanterns and some I am assuming for decor. There were four different room all with left over items. Up till just a few years ago it was occupied.

The Beauty in the Weeds

We stopped on the side of the road to look at the view of  the city and I found this little guy all by himself. Everything around it was kinda dry and grey and bland. When the sun was shinning on him, he almost had a glittery effect. I do not know what kind of weed he is, but I am pretty sure he is a weed. I took the picture as an after thought and when we got home it was the best photo of the day.

puppy talk

This is my 3 dogs. Sidney is Australian Sheppard and Border Collie. Paco and Franny are Chihuahua mix mutts. I love this picture because it looks like they are having a secret meeting. Are they trying to figure out how to get to the box of treats, maybe how to get past the gate or where they hid the  tennis ball. Hmm... I guess us humans will never know.

Garden

My sad little garden area waiting for the rototiller and fertilizer and planting.

Sighing, waiting and knowing it will be lush and green and beautiful and bountiful.

Spring Snow!

I took this picture last week outside the nail salon. The day before this picture it was sixty degrees. We have had the strangest spring weather. A few days of snow, a few days of sunshine, a few days of rain and some windy days. Gotta have one of every outerwear hanging by the door, cuz  ya never know!

The Rock.

This a slab of rock my daughter Kari painted when she was in 7th grade for an art project. She ask Uncle Rick to help her paint it, after all he was a house painter. She wanted to paint this slab because it looks like Vulture Peak Mountain with the sun going behind it. Vulture Peak is in Wickenburg Az and at the time she was in Vulture Peak middle school. Her and Uncle Rick used house paint to create this master piece that earned her an A. That was almost 15 years ago and it still graces my yard, even here in Montana.

Shadow walking.

While I was in Az with my family, my granddaughter Audrey and I went for a walk. It was in the evening and the sun was behind us. Walking along a dirt path next to a cotton field makes it look like I took the picture with black and white. Audrey stopped picking up rocks long enough for this photo.

Leaving Las Vegas

These cute little guys went with me when I went to Az to visit family. Kiki the goat, Pinki the bunny and Tiny the rabbit. Kiki belongs to my friend Tina's little girl Abbey. When Tina and I went to Saddleback Church in February, Abbey wanted Kiki to go along so Tina would not be lonely. It was then decided that Kiki would go with me to Az, since he had never been to the desert. My daughters

Ashlyn and Alison sent Pinki and Tiny along so that Kiki would not be lonely. We now have a ton of pics of the trio's travels in Az and the flight out of Vegas.