Dylan's new truck

My brother's son, Dylan, turned 16 and finally got a truck of his own. His sister, my niece Kelsey, is the beautiful girl in the truck bed. It's so hard to believe how big all the kids are getting!

Sarah's Zoo

It never ceases to amaze me what animal Sarah is willing to touch, pick up, or adopt. She definately didn't get that from me! This is a baby lizard she found at Grandma's house in Albuquerque. There are lots of full grown ones that live under the bushes around our house, but they run so fast that it's hard to see them normally. I've never seen a baby like this. It is kind of cute...

Baby Jacob and Mason

This is Lars' sister's baby, Jacob. He's almost a year (Nov.) so he's crawling and pulling up, almost walking with help. If you're wondering why all the photos show him attached to his mom's legs, that's because he is! He wouldn't let her out of his sight for one second!



Mason is big brother, who is two. You'll see him in the video trying to grab the camera out of my hand so he can take a picture too. He's talking up a storm now, repeating every word he hears. He was a ton of fun to play with!

Baby Hailey

This is Lars' brother's baby, Hailey. We saw her when she was newborn, and now at six months, she's much more entertaining! The kids just love to hold her and make her laugh. We bought her these cute little pink crocs - she liked chewing on them more than wearing them!

This is Lars' brother's new house being built in Albuquerque. The land was once a dairy farm, so pretty flat and not a lot of trees, but big size lots of an acre or more. Can't wait to see it finished, hopefully at Christmas!

Safford Reunion

Sarah got her face painted at the Safford High School reunion we went to on Friday night. Safford is where Lars grew up until his senior year in high school, when they moved to Albuquerque. It was a reunion for all the graduates in any year, which was kind of fun to see people from 18 to 81 there. We took off on Friday around 1:00 p.m. and got there about 5:00 because there was a bad accident that blocked the road so we had to drive about an hour out of the way to get around it. There was a bar-b-que dinner from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. and then the high school homecoming football game was from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. That was the first football game I've been to since I was in high school! Lars saw some of his former classmates, but no one I knew. There is one girl from his class, Michelle Clark, who happened to move to Cincinnati and was in our chuch ward when we were in Ohio. She still lives in Cincinnati and was apparently at the reunion, but we didn't run into her. Too bad! There was going to be a parade on Saturday, a pep rally, and a dance, but we came back home Friday night instead of staying over - all the hotels were full.

Snow in Phoenix

Bet you didn't know that it can snow in Phoenix, huh? Well it can if a machine makes it! That's what was happening in the parking lot of a new local shopping center who was celebrating its grand opening a few weekends ago. The kids, especially Sarah, really enjoyed throwing snowballs at each other for about two hours, while Lars' sister, Miriam, and I enjoyed window shopping at all the new stores. Nothing quite like playing in the snow in tank tops and flip flops! But Sarah thought enough ahead to bring her winter gloves with her, and it was a good thing. That snow was COLD.

My new office

This is a picture of the condo where I work. The fenced area is a courtyard that has wicker chairs and side tables so we can sit out there when it's cooler.

This pool is right across from our condo/office. It has tables and chairs under an awning so we can eat lunch out there, although in the summers it's too hot, but I'm looking forward to fall and winter to be able to eat there more. The white wall in the middle of the picture has a waterfall running down it, so the sound is relaxing.

This is the view that you see when you first walk in the front door. This would be the living room if it were just a condo.
These bookcases hold books about various artists, and then you can partially see the kitchen in the background.
This is my desk, which is up on the loft level. It's a bit messy as I haven't had much time yet to actually arrange it. But it's a bright and cheery space and I like that.

This is a sculpture that one of the artists did for us that hangs from the ceiling when you first walk in the front door. You can see the loft level where I work up on the right-hand side.

This is one of the two bedrooms where artists stay in the condo. This is the one on the same level as the loft where I work, and it has a bathroom. Then there is another flight of stairs up to the third level where the master suite bedroom is. That room has a king size bed, a full bath, and a closet as big as Erik's bedroom!