Mathilda and the Swimming Pool - We have created a monster.

"I think I can do it!" "SPLASH! Score! Drownded mom! Wahoo!!"

"I'm Jaws, mom...gonna get you!" "Diving dog I am for sure! WEEEE! Look out, Gregory Louganis, I'm going to take away your titles!"


"GRRRRR! I am coming after that pink thing so I can attack it!"

"Look, mom, I'm a swimming dog and I want to swim ON you."

"If I get water in my ears when I jump and then shake my head I sink -- go figure."




Mati's tail is like a rudder. When she's swimming straight it is just twitching.


I can do it. Splash! Our lil' girl is ready for the swim team as a diver and a racer. We are so proud .... LOL Thanks dad for taking the pictures!

My House in AZ

I'm trying to get the hang of the placement of stuff on here. Let's see how I do. The front of our 3-car garage house with its huge pineapple palm and Aloe Vera plants. We cleaned this up but all we've added to the front is my sun deal with the kokopeli and a saguaro. Now there are two geckos above this garage door but am too lazy to go take the pics. The front of our house is sweet but doesn't let you see how really big it is. One of the criteria we had when house hunting was that the truck would fit in a garage. We accomplished that here but just barely.




The office. We also have a guest/sewing room and an actual guest room. There are 2 1/2 baths so our guests can have their privacy. The only carpet is int he bedrooms and the office. Otherwise it is all tile which is a dream.
Our great room. We need a larger TV to fill the space but otherwise it will do.
Man Cave -- my Jeep gets parked in here but otherwise it's Doug's hangout when he's not sitting in the sun by the pool.

The master bath is pretty nice. It's great having enough room so that we are not tripping over each other.



The master bedroom. We had a guy come in and clean the carpets in the bedrooms (there are 4). The master is on the opposite end of the house from the others. They call it a split floor plan. We have lived in apartments smaller than the mater suite. Heck, I have had bedrooms smaller than the closet with all of its built-ins.




Doug and BreeAnn hanging the dining room light fixture. The one that had been here was stolen so we had to replace it. It made a cozy room when we had Thanksgiving here. BreeAnn, her mom, sister & sister's family (Carolyn, Danielle, Justin, Asher) and my dad were all here. Carolyn, Dani, & BreeAnn prepared a wonderful feast and made me stay out of their way.This is the shot into the dining room from the entryway.
One of our attempts at decorating. Doug did such a good job painting -- the darker paints sets off the recesses.

Our back yard & pool in progress. When we purchased the house the pool had black, nasty water in it and a lot of rocks. Notice the large rocks attached to the pool. Doug and I worked really had to put it together. Doug laid sod for Mathilda to play on and we planted palms. Tab & Tera came to see us when we first moved in and Tab helped in the back yard too.

Mati is fascinated with the pool and is now a swimmer. (Story to follow) There were still too many rock and not enough cement so we hired some guys to add cement and put pool crete on it all. Eventually we will have an outdoor kitchen with cupboards & a fridge. Until then we are really enjoying the yard.
The finished pool area with the big rocks taken off the pool and the additional cement. No need to sit in the rocks anymore.
This is the before and after pictures of my kitchen. We (Doug -- I did a little trim work and watched) the entire interior before we moved clear in. A daunting task for certain. My kitchen is truly a dream as it is made for cooking. I love to cook as long as I have the room.

Jeepin' Up Montana Mountain

Traveling in the Superstition Mountain Wilderness area was amazing!!! We met our friends at the McDonald's in Florence at 8 am (no sleeping in for us). From there we went to Florence Junction and then into the mountains. After we got up there we let the air out of our tires until there was only 18 psi (instead of the usual 35 psi) in them. This was to make the trip smoother and to keep the Jeep from slipping on the rocks -- I guess. It was a gloriously sunny day and the spring flowers were just starting to bloom. My friend Liz went with us - not sure she enjoyed herself or was just plain scared most of the trip. We stopped and looked for obsidian and then we stopped at another spot to look for marble. Great big marble deposit but marble is, well, hard lol ... the guys tried their hammer and chisel to no avail. Now I need to buy a rock hammer so I can tap-tap-tap rather than the sledge hammer that goes wham-wham-wham and I can't lift. We crossed lots of water many times. Wish I had a gold pan because there were places that I'm certain there is gold. When we got near the top of the mountain we stopped for lunch. Amazing views greeted us at each an every view point. On top the guys built a little fire, we roasted hot dogs, and just enjoyed the outdoors in the pines. Yes, I said pines. We went from the desert floor up into the pines and then back down a LOT of switchbacks and a mostly one-way road to get back to the desert floor. Since that trip we ordered some little tripod chairs because we didn't have anything to sit upon. There was a crazy gold miners' cabin and a cool gold mine that we went in just a little ways. Stopped where there had been a collapse but we could see back in a long way. At the end of the day we were all pretty tired so skipped the jasper hunting and drove over to an old cemetery where Mattie, Wyatt Erp's mistress, is buried. It was not like any cemetery I've ever seen. There were nondescript metal crosses that had been put up by a Catholic parish. Most of the graves were decorated. There were a couple that actually had headstones on them. From what we could discern, most of the people were buried at the end of the 1800s to the beginning of the 1900s. On grave was of a guys dog. Kinda cool -- headstone with inscription and declaration of the loss of man's best friend. All in all it was an amazing trip -- one which I can hardly wait to return. Speaking of which, we are going again tomorrow. Heading up toward Montana Mountain but taking a back road (?) into Box Canyon. The man putting this together has never been there and wants to see where the road goes. I love finding out where a road goes -- was raised doing that very thing!

Ok -- I had a heck of time with the photos so basically they are in reverse order and all lumped at the top. Still learning this blogging thing. Just not very good yet. Please hang in there with me until I figure it out. Will be easier when I'm not putting in a ton of pics. Maybe I should add the pics and then type........suggestions? I can use all the help I can get in more ways than just blogging.

Happy Jeepin'!!!