Fathers Day (The Best One I Have Ever Had)

OK so I am not a dad and it really wasn't my day to celebrate but it was a great day in the pool at Justin and Kelly's.  Their pool area is more than just warm clear water, it is stunning to the eye and very relaxing.  The landscaping is very well done and along with the pool chairs provide a peaceful environment.  

What grandparents couldn't love this look as the grands spy them :)

It didn't take me long to get in the water-it took David a bit longer.  With some urging from his girls he got in...and didn't want to get out at the end of the day!

There was some horseplay (no not with grandpa in the mix...never)

And water guns

Poor little Shelby became distressed when  her daddy got sprayed, "Dont spray my daddy" she said.  Little does she know that her daddy is often the instigator!

This little girl is truly a fish.  She loves the water and with her goggles on is generally always under it.

Julia got in her boat and

Grandpa and Aunt Rachel played catch Julia as they 'threw' her back and forth

After this particular game was done she gave me a pose and asked me to take her picture

Shelby is jumping off of the board this year.  She likes to have a person there to catch her if need be.

Even Aunt Rachel can jump off the board and catch a ball at the same time ;)

 Len and Kel's neighbor and family (who Lenny actually knew in high school) joined us for a swim.  Shelby wasn't real sure what to think about Ethan, he on the other hand didn't care what anyone thought about him he just had fun.

Dan and Len surveying the pool area-yep that's my 'always a smart ass' Lenny....

 The father's of the day and half of their kids.  As you can see in this photo, Lenny and Kelly decided on a non privacy fence surrounding the pool and I like it.  Neighbors are not out in their backyards much so if it's privacy you want while in the pool you have it without a suffocating fence.

Dan's better half, Shelly, and their three month old peanut

There is nothing more fun than taking pictures of a new momma and her babe.  

Love those hands encompassing each other

Shelby and Ethan decided to take a time out from swimming

Our little fish had not had a nap and she was one tired little girl.

Yep, the best Father's Day I ever had.

The Rainbow Bridge

 I made this poster for Lost Dogs MN and unfortunately this is the second time that I have had to use it personally

Dedicated to our dear friend Yoni who we loved like one of our own.  She passed as she lived, with great dignity.

The Rainbow Bridge Story
The story tells of a green meadow located this side of Heaven (ie before one enters into it).  Rainbow Bridge is the name of both the meadow and the bridge adjoining bridge connecting it to Heaven.

According to the story, when a pet dies it goes to the  meadow having been restored to perfect health and free of any injuries.  The pet runs and plays all day with the others, there is always fresh food and water and the sun is always shinning.  However, it is said that while the pet is at peace and happy, they miss their owner who had to be left behind on earth.

When their owner dies, they come across the Rainbow Bridge-it is at that moment that their pet stops what they are doing and sniffs at the air looking into the distance where they see their beloved owner.  Excited, they run as fast as they can until they are in their owner's arms licking their face in joy while their owner looks into the eyes of their pet.  They were absent on Earth but never from the heart.  Then side by side they cross the Rainbow Bridge together into Heaven, never to again to be separated.

Please light a candle for Yoni to guide her on her way

Parker Arizona

Parker Arizona was our desert dog.  We always wondered why someone would drop a great doggie like this off in the desert.  He had to have been dumped because he sat in the same spot for at least a week-waiting for his people.  When no one else came, he decided to trust me and we became his people.

This is right after I got him-the first thing he did was give me a hello doggie kiss, he knew we would love him.

This boy knew what a harness and leash meant

 And he fit right in from the get go with Peeko

And even Roscoe

He always waited patiently for his daddy to come home

He was cute as can be

And he was very very ill

When Parker began to be just not his happy self, showed stiffness in his back end, was hot to the touch and started to pee blood we took him to the vet.  They diagnosed Leptospirosis-something dogs can get from drinking tainted water, and gave him fluids, steroids and an antibiotic.  He just didnt get better and stopped eating.  David took him to the vet thinking another shot of IV fluids and he would snap back-instead I got a call from him saying 'Honey, it's not good' and David was crying.  It turns out our desert boy was full of tumors in the stomach, likely cancer and his organs were shutting down, they figured he had another three days to live. The doc is sure that he has been sick for a long time and may very well be the reason he was in the desert.   David did the hardest thing there is to do-he chose to let Parker run free.

And the last thing he did was to give David a goodbye doggie kiss...he knew it was time.

Yesterday it was 100 degrees and for some reason Parker was having a good day.  The boys and I spent an  hour playing in our creek.  I planned to go down again soon with my real camera and get some good shots-who knew that this would be Parker's first and last time at the creek-not I.

Parker was a rock hound and he was in heaven dunking for rocks yesterday.  When we left the creek he carried a rock up the hill.  I found that rock today and it will be put where our boy is buried.

 Looking for the perfect rock

 And a pose for the momma

David wonders how you can get so attached to a pup that you have only had 6 months-when that pup is one like our Parker it's pretty easy.  Run free little boy, we loved you so much.

Lost Dogs of MN uses this on their Facebook site-please light a candle for our desert boy and help him run free

Light a Candle

Mother's Day

As I sit here with my coffee in hand I realize that I am a bit blue.  Is it the rainy grey day I wonder that has me feeling like I could cry?  No-I realize that Mother's Day is looming...

Mom and I always spent the day shopping for flowers and plants.  It was typically a rainy grey day but we would go anyway.  

Mom loved her gardens-watching things grow

And I loved spending that day with her 

The first Mom's day that I spent without her-our neighbor and wonderful friend Jess asked me if she could hit the greenhouses with me.  Jess, you will never know how much that meant to me.

Mother's Day is the Race For The Cure walk-I have always said that I want to participate in this wonderful cause...and some day I will.  What a great way to spend a day that finds me blue, by doing something that is near and dear to my heart.

Race for the Cure

As I ramble, I realize that this post is just that, a ramble.  Thank you for allowing me to do so.

If you have your mother's with you, show them your appreciation on Mom's Day because, after all, no one will love you like your mother does and without her you would not be here.

Love you and miss you every day mom-you were taken too early,

I was not ready for you to go.

Working Our Way North

Our last days in Parker:

I have never been a fan of  Chihuahua's but these little rascals stole my heart.  They are the pups of Neil and Gail and yes they are yappy little creatures but they do have wonderful personalities.

This is Bingo the eldest of the bunch and as you can see she is blind.  Bingo did lots of snuggling on my lap, of course it was said that she liked me only because she couldn't see me...HA

And TidBit-the little bi**c.  Seriously, she is cute as can be and went to everybody except me...ME the biggest dog lover there is.  She weighs maybe 1.5 pounds and where she is snuggled in the picture is her favorite place to snuggle (except under a nice warm blanket of course:)

Petey is the lover of the crew and as is usual, he preferred David over the rest of us.

Buddy is the poppa to TidBit and Petey.  He's also the guy with a shadow on the left and a shadow on the right ;)

We had the dogs and their people over for a good bye lunch prior to Neil and Gail's leaving.  That would be 7 dogs and 5 people in our yard and everyone (even the people) got along very well :)

All winter long David and I had been wanting to take the drive on the Black Meadow Landing road where friends from MN were lucky enough to spot a bunch of  desert bighorn earlier in March.  Go figure we didn't see any bighonr but we did run across a family of coyotes.  By the time I got my camera up this was the only one that hadn't disappeared behind the hill.  They grow em big in Arizona?

The desert was coloring up quite nicely given the rains that they'd had.  It seems tho that the Black Landing drive is predominantly yellow in color

With a splash of purple here and there

This was probably my favorite picture of the day. 

David liked the desert oasis sprouting palm trees

Our first stop after leaving Parker was a real shit hole RV park near Holbrook AZ.  And being the hole that it was this is what we woke up to the next morning.

Once the sun came out we decided to take a drive to the Painted Desert/Petrified Forest.

Good gosh it is so pretty

The colors

And the topography

This looks like it is blending right into the sky

I couldn't get enough of the place

Even saw some Pronghorn in the valley below

This red plant was pretty striking against the blue hues

The area is called the Blue Badlands-aptly named.  Does anyone else see any faces in these rocks?

The petrified forest part certainly certainly was not as beautiful but is very interesting.  According to the information, at one time the area was a huge flood-land.  Large giant amphibians and small dinosaurs lived in the water and tall conifer trees grew on the banks.  The trees fell into the water and were buried by salt, mud and ash; which cut off oxygen to them slowing their decay.  Groundwater that was full of silica seeped into the logs and replaced the original wood tissues with silica deposits.  Eventually that silica crystallized into quartz and the logs were preserved as petrified wood.  We saw lots of 'trees' laying on the ground that seemed to have been hand sawed because they were perfectly 'sliced'. But that is not the case,  we were told that they just broke into these perfect sections as they lay on the ground. 

Most of the pieces have some great color.  David really really had to resist picking a small piece up!

That snake head poking out of the rock is actually a petrified log.

There are hiking trails that we would had loved to go on however given the 60 to 70 mile an hour wind gusts...we decided against it.

And then we were back on the road again through the beautiful mountains of New Mexico-note the one ahead of the motor home.  Since I was driving I missed a ton of great pictures.  It was a foggy day and the mountain tops were striking but you will have to take my word for it.

We stayed at a not bad park (we have been staying at Passport parks, inexpensive but not top of the line).  David met a fella that lives at the park year round and fishes everyday.  He asked David if he wanted to go fishing the next morning...ya think.  They brought home a couple of meals of walley and it was delish.

After two days there, we were off to or next stop at Kinsely Kansas.  This is an overlook that we stopped at for a doggie break.  Only in Kansas, cow country USA, do they have an overlook of a cattle feeder station for pete sake.  So this is the largest processing center in the world.  Cows are brought in at 6-800 pounds and then fattened up to 1200 pounds in a few months time...and then of course off they go to the grocery stores from there.  I know that there is a process to how we get our meat but I don't want to know ...if that makes sense.  I guess Kansas is proud of this (probably for good reason I don't know) but I think it's a dumb place for an overlook.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Here we sit at a not half bad park in the nothing to do town of Kinsley Kansas.  The park is nice in that it is dog friendly and has a large field that they can run off leash in AND it does not have those sand stickers that the last park had!  Our intent was to leave here this morning for Norfolk Nebraska but the weather has held us up.  We are warmer here than we would be in Norfolk so here we are.  The current plan is to stay here today and tomorrow and Wednesday take off for Norfolk.  We will stay there for a day or two and are hoping no longer than that.

However this has to be gone before we get home 

And as I am writing this the tragedy in Boston occurs.  My thoughts are with everyone affected by this horrific act.