Thursday, October 29, 2009

Things I have learned since moving to the desert


We have been living in the desert for a couple of months now and I thought I would share some of the things I have learned since moving here. In the desert they try to save the large cacti. When I first moved here I thought the braces we saw were because they had just planted the cactus and were trying to get them "take". Wrong, the large cacti are over a hundred years old and they are trying to save them. The holes in the top are from birds who make their homes in the cactus. I have been told that every foot equals ten years and each arm adds another ten years each.

Grass is seasonal. During the hot summer months everyone grows crab grass (as it is about the only thing that will grow) and when it cools down everyone tears the crab grass out and puts in nice grass for the winter spring. Very weird!

60 degrees is cold. When it cools down to the 60s everyone pulls out coats and starts complaining about how cold it is! It makes me laugh right now but I am sure by this time next year I will be just like them. :)

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Mom Second Anniversary



It's hard to believe that it has been two years since Mom passed away. In some ways it seems longer than the two years and in others it seems like yesterday. I was looking through some family photos and thought about putting together another slide show but this one just seems to say it all, so I have posted it again.

It does get easier after the first year for most things, the holidays aren't as hard and new traditions replace old. It is amazing how life goes on. Thank goodness I know I will see her again, I don't know how people do it who don't have my understanding of the here-after.

There are moments when I will always miss her, regardless of how much time has passed.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

King of the House

A couple of years ago I got Colby a laptop stand as a gift. After I got my laptop, I commandeered it and Colby doesn't get to use it much. A couple of nights ago I came into the living room and realized that it has been taken over by the king of the house. If you look closely it is supported only by the one center section so some minutes later it tilted to the right and he fell off (too bad I had put away the camera away when it happened). I righted it and the next night he climbed on it again, again eventually tilting off to the side. Last night night he climbed on it and didn't tilt off, I guess it now belongs to him. In most households it is whomever controls the remote control but in our house it is the laptop stand. :)

Phoenix Zoo

For my birthday yesterday we finally made it to the Phoenix Zoo. The weather has finally cooled off and it was only 90 degrees (yes, I got sunburnt). The zoo is three times the size the one in Salt Lake City but not quite as nice. All the animal enclosures are outdoors with a large number of African animals (shocker, I know, since the climate is the same). It was nice to not have to deal with the urine smell the monkey and reptile houses had in Salt Lake City. They have several enclosures where different species of animals live, it was very

I was really impressed with the desert wolves (they have three) and the Gallapagos tortoises, they are HUGE!!