native american dance

On the way to Roosevelt Dam we stopped at Tonto National Monument and climbed up the mountain to see the remains of cliff dwellings.


The climb was steep and challenging due to the altitude- about 4,000 feet above sea level.

But the view was spectacular.


We visited the lower cliff dwellings and walked through the remains of a community long ago. There is a second cliff dwelling higher up but it is necessary to make reservations to climb to the upper cliffs.


Lily did well in the car-apparently she didn't get to go for car rides with her previous owners as she was hesitant to get in the car before this trip- but I think climbing up this trail was probably her favorite part of the trip.

mickey mouse birthday picnic

For my birthday I requested that my husband take the day off from work and go on a day trip with me. We decided to visit Roosevelt Dam. I packed a picnic lunch following the text from a favorite children's story of Micky Mouse and friends going for a picnic.


There were cold meat potato salad, cold meat sandwiches, and a big chocolate (cup) cake.


We found a beautiful quiet picnic spot with a view of the lake. The weather was beautiful...not the typical February weather I have experienced on past birthdays.


During the photo shoot Lily took advantage of the closeness of the food (just after this shot was taken) to sink her teeth into one of the cold meat sandwiches.


For a treat I put a dollop of bright pink frosting on the end of Lily's nose. She did her best to clean it off with her tongue but....

ended up with pink mustache!

Silly Lily!

the best loved spider

Lily loves her toys.


She has quite a collection, most of them baby toys that were purchased at second hand stores. She tends to be hard on her toys and loves them while pulling the stuffing out of them. She has favorites. Right now she likes the one eyed blue Gila monster, the squeaky bumble with no stuffing left, and the frog that no longer ribbits.

Her all time favorite is the spider that I bought her shortly after we got her in November. The spider has all kinds of noises, the body jingles with bells, some of the feet squeak, others crinkle, and one plays music. She loves to shake it and make the legs fly.


In late December I put the spider on my bedroom dresser until I had time to stitch it up for the third time. It has been there ever since, until yesterday....

Yesterday I moved the bedroom furniture after painting. The new arrangement made it so that Lily was able to see the spider when she stood at the window to watch the ground squirrels. She was so excited when she brought her long-lost favorite toy to show me. I explained that it needed repair and went to find needle and thread.

(Lily standing at counter while I sew)

Keeping an eye on me she allowed me to stitch the poor thing back together adding missing legs and securing what stuffing what left.

(Note tail is mid-wag)

When the surgery was finished she ran around the house with the prize in her mouth wagging her tail. She probably had a grin on her face but it was hard to tell as her mouth was full.



Silly Lily

dancing with the dancers

Last Wednesday and Thursday Ballet Magnificat was in town.

On Wednesday I attended two 90 minute dance workshops they offered. The first workshop was a beginning ballet class and only had 3 students, one elementary, one high school and me. We got lots of individual attention and I really enjoyed the teacher. The second class was modern dance. Although I know the simple basics of ballet, the theory behind the modern dance was new to me and I found the moves very challenging. I knew that I was going to be in trouble after 3 hours of dancing and sure enough I spent 4 days gimping around like a peg-leg sailor.

Thursday evening the company gave a free performance. I went along with my husband, Jay, our friends Renalee and Jessie, and their two granddaughters. The ballet was titled Deliver Us and was a composite of the story of Moses and Jesus. As can be expected, the dancers were wonderful. We had front row seats and I found I was especially aware of the moves they used that I had been learning in the workshops the evening before.

banana lily-annna

Lily has a large number of fruits and veggies that she enjoys eating. She doesn't care for fresh spinach but loves most others that she has tried including cabbage.

In the morning if I have a banana on my breakfast cereal (which I typically do if there are bananas to be had) I share the ends with Lily.

This week one morning after breakfast I was working on the computer when I realized Lily was not in the room with me. Like a toddler, if Lily is out of sight and things are quiet I get worried.

When I went in the next room I found her eating a banana she had taken off the counter. Apparently she hadn't had her fill that morning. Unfortunately, lacking hands with opposable thumbs she had to find a creative way to open the banana. So she ate through some of the peel.

Silly Lily

texas trot

Last week I took a road trip to Abilene Texas with my friend Renalee. Our trip was both ministry and business. The ministry part involved visiting with a variety of people and praying for them as the Lord provided opportunity.



While we were in Abilene Renalee took me to the Frontier Texas museum. There we listened to the stories of the men and women settlers.



The business part involved picking up five 3 week old wolf pups and delivering them to their new families in Phoenix.


Although the drive to Texas took about 13 hours are return trip was much longer due to the many stops required when traveling with puppies.


The pups already had a scent when we loaded them in the car at 5 AM and by the time we arrived home the whole car smelled awful. Lucky for the pups they were also very cute.



It was my job to hold the pups during the drive, a job that I did with great delight.

Snowshine

It's been cold the last few weeks....well, at least quite chilly....unusually so for February in Arizona, so I'm told. Last night we had a big storm, lots of wind and heavy rain with hail in some parts of the city. I was surprised today when I went to the mailbox and noticed there was snow on the top of the mountain.