I've got some more older pictures here from our trip to Arizona in 2007. Again, we went with my dad. Here we are looking over the Painted Desert.

Then we drove through the Petrified Forest. There are some very cool land forms along that drive!

Miss Kiara at Pueblo Puerco ruins. Looking over the stash of pictures I took on this trip I had to laugh... in so many of them she has these cute little poses. Sometimes it's her hands set out like in this one, sometimes she's got a hand on her hip, sometimes bends her knee. Cute!


We stayed the night in Flagstaff and took the train up to the Grand Canyon. What a neat ride it was!





Once we got there we walked around, took pictures and had a late lunch.







On the train ride back in to town we spotted some "train robbers" out our windows...

They even got onboard and demanded all our valuables...

Next stop on our trip was Slide Rock, where I lost my sunglasses sliding down the rocks and dipping into one of the pools. Those rocks were so slippery my dad and I wondered why they didn't just have ambulances lined up in the parking lot!

On our way back home...

I still miss my Grandma tremendously. I think of her nearly every day. She was perhaps the kindest person I have ever known. She was stunningly beautiful, inside and out. She loved her family and forgave everyone of their faults. She had an amazing smile. I miss talking to her.

Here are some older pics...

I haven't taken any pictures lately so I decided to dig into the stash that's been builing up over the years and nobody's seen...

Two years ago we went spent a weekend in Carlsbad, New Mexico. We took a boat ride up the Pecos River, which is spring fed and very calm. There are beautiful homes on either side. Sometime I'd like to go back for Christmas on the Pecos. There's a nice little park the girls played at...

HAPPY

SAD
GOOFY


We also went to Carlsbad Caverns and made the steep 1 1/4 walk down into the cave. Here the girls are at the entrance to the cave. This is where every evening nearly 400,000 bats exit the cave to feast on insects. As adventurous as we may be, this was not something any of us wanted to see! I did have to laugh when I was gathering pictures for this post today and I noticed thier shirts... "Royal Pain" "Blame my Sister" and "I didn't do it"


Down in the cave... Kiara made me stop at every one of those darn signs and read it to her.



We also went to The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens but apparently I neglected to take any pictures. They have a black bear there, Maggie, who has taken a liking to painting. Unfortunatly, the day we were there it was super hot and she had taken refuge in the shade so we didn't get to see her at work.

I am so excited! Jason Mraz announced the 2nd leg of his tour on Monday. He'll be making a stop here in Dallas, as well as one at Red Rocks! Sooo... I've decided to forgo the trip I was previously planning for the second Mile High Music Festival in Denver and attend both Jason shows. Fan presale was yesterday and I got incredible tickets! Row 12 in Dallas and row 4 for Red Rocks! Now I have to patiently wait 2 months... that shouldn't be too hard, right?

Here's a few pics from Jason's MHMF show last year...

And just for fun... check out this super cool site where you can put all kinds of neat affects on your pics!

Here Alone!

I've been a huge procrastinator since we got home from vacation and I still have so many pictures left to post! The big girls are in Idaho visiting their Dad and little miss Kiara went to New Mexico to see cousins and Grandma. My house is ooohhhhh so very quiet! I may as well take advantage of all this free time and get back into the posting habit.

First, I want to say

To my dad for taking us on another fantastic vacation and to my great (and wonderful) auntie LeOra for welcoming us into her lovely home again.

We absolutely loved Manasota Beach!

Kiara had fun on the boogey board

Even though I love being out there on the sand this...

just makes my skin crawl! Even the thought of all that sand under my fingernails gives me a shiver straight down the spine!

Even Lulu enjoyed herself!