Kids Growing Up - Friends Turning 60

As I read my Stephanie's Facebook additions, I see how much she is growing into a woman. I can't believe how fast time has flown.
She turned 24 yesterday and had a fun time with many friends in the mountains of Utah.
We are all growing one year older and it seems like I'm watching the generations pass before me. I actually went to a friends 60th birthday last week and then another friend posted a great poem about her 60th birthday the next day. (You should read it, she really has a way with words.)

So here we are a bunch of middle aged adults on a scavenger hunt in Los Gatos.

Laurie planned it and Debbie and I helped put together and implement the hunt. We all went to Sarah's house after for a nice dinner. Happy Birthday to Carolyn.
And Happy Birthday to my 24 year old baby. You are a joy in my life.

Season Tickets

David and his little family invited The Hubby and I to join them last weekend for a fun filled day at Gilroy Gardens.  We obliged and after a fun Cinderella Ballet with Lexy the night before, we showed up at their house the next morning.
As we piled into their mini van, Kara asked if we had our tickets.
"Um, no?" I replied.
"We gave them to you for Mothers (and Fathers) Day," she said.
OOOOps. I had totally not gotten the connection, or gift, or apparently life that day.
So we headed back to our house and picked up the tickets which I had stashed in a rememberable place (is that even a word?) I think I thought is was a gift certificate or something else, I had no idea we had season tickets.
Thanks for the present, that you gave me, that I didn't remember about, that  The Hubby wasn't home for, so was not informed about, etc……
Anyway…..

 Here we are at the park.  Go Lukey Go!

 Same color but different 50's make.

 David and Lena going past GPa.

 Kara managing her 2 year old.

 Me managing him.

 Happy Lena, helping the worm eat the apple.

 Lexy and Kara loving the SWWWINNGG.

 Yes, Kara had to dumpster dive for Luke's water bottle that had been dumped. In a trashcan.

 GPa is the only one who isn't lost in the maze.

Lexy's favorite ride of the park?

I do remember that we had a fun time. WOOHOO!!! Thanks guys.

Morning Glories

When I think of Morning Glories I do NOT think of this:

 A pretty little summer vine that although is quick growing, it still had large 3 inch blue flowers and can be controlled.
Rather, I think of this:

And I am positive my siblings do too.

When we were kids we had a large hill full of this nasty, invasive weed. My parents would have us pull it out, but the roots are continuously putting up new shoots away from the mother plant and seem impossible to capture. You pull one plant up and you can't get the whole 20 foot root that winds its way through the garden, and so 44 other plants spring up. So you try digging deep - and this doesn't work either. My Dad would even have us paint weed killer onto the leaves that would intertwine with other desirable plants. (Yes paint….with a paint brush.) File this under "TEDIOUS work I remember as a kid."

Saturday mornings baby!!!

I have lived in non high desert places during my adult life and have encountered many other weeds, at least one of which is as much a bane to my existence as this one was. To my chagrin, now my yard in Nor Cal has seemed to pick up an infestation of this dreaded weed.

I saw it rear its ugly head last summer, and I didn't get it under control, so now it is spreading. I pulled it and sprayed it with roundup which I don't like using, and it didn't budge. So last week I doubled the concentration of poison to water and sprayed it hard.

 WooHoo - partial success!

 Looks like I got some of it good.

But if you look closely, I may have to get a paintbrush.

Joshua Tree

On my birthday week the Hubby and I traveled south to check out a different side of California.
This National Park is located where the Colorado Desert and Mojave Desert converge. It is a place that is full of unique rock formations, hardy animals, and crazy Dr. Seuss-like plants.

 This is the oasis in the park and there are Cottonwood trees kinda growing out of Palm trees here. A very random site, it seemed 20 degrees cooler in the middle of these trees than it did 50 feet away.

 Besides the Joshua Trees (named by Mormons who were traveling from the Mexican/American War to Utah after the war was over), these were probably my favorite plant in the park.  It is an Ocotillo and is not a cactus. This is a close up view of the leaves that are just growing without stems from the branches.

 On the top of the long tendrils is a red flower. Some of these plants looked dead and were void of foliage, but were just dormant, waiting for another rain storm.

 Here are pictures of a different type cactus called Cholla. They say not to step on the little blown off bristles no matter how small, because they are tough, sharp and can penetrate the soles of shoes.
Be careful!

 The closeup shows the little yellow flowers that look like a berry.

 There were thousands of these in one area of the Colorado Desert.

 My cute hubby. It was 112 degrees and he just went along with my hikes and tours of this National Park without a complaint. What a nice guy!

 And,…. He takes great pictures too.

 The forest of Joshua trees, which are a type of Yucca, was remarkable.

 This little guy was not going to move a muscle. Maybe we wouldn't notice him at all.

 Hey there.

This arch looks like an elephant?

 The rock formations were as interesting as the flora and fauna. Mountains of rocks that appear stacked into formations.

We missed most of the wild desert flowers because of the late spring time that we were there, but we got to see a few of these gems.

More Baby Blankets

WHO-WHO??

Seems like there is a steady supply of little ones being born in our ward this year.
I failed to take a picture of ELI done with an embroidered dinosaur "E," but this little owl is a cute take on another animal that is also popular for the 2012 year. All done up in old "Oklahoma" costume fabric from Kathryn's 6th grade play at Fisher Middle School.
Still loving the soft minky fabric and silky satin border for babies.

No Pool??

We have been members of the "Club" (athletic) down the street for nearly 2 decades.
Yikes, I hadn't thought of that in the long term for a while. Think of how much money we've sunk into (ie; waisted on) that place.
I think I have used the pool down there a total of 6 times, so I don't often think about it at all. The other day, however, I was picking up L #1 from school early when her mother was gone and I wondered what fun thing I could do with my little granddaughter. It was a rather warm day, and since the pool in our backyard looks something like this.

It was decided to go to the Club and use theirs. 

A good time was had by ALL!

Mother Nature

You never know what might happen when growing children, or building with rocks, or planting a tree. It seems that you just get to do a little work and then sit back and make discoveries about its outcome.

Here's a very random example. Why did this one tulip grow so much after it was cut and placed in water?
Did we not treat the other tulip the same?
This is after 2 days of being in the arrangement. It had started out fairly evenly.
Love it!