Merry Christmas

Today, Christmas Day, we are enjoying our holiday in Las Vegas. This morning it is in them mid 30s; later today in the mid 50s. (Sorry friends & family in the snow states.) I was suppose to fly here on Wednesday night (was in Tampa for work); Tim drove up from Tucson on Wednesday. Unfortunately, I missed my connecting flight in Dallas and flew in on Thursdays morning. (Fortunately American Airlines put me up that evening.)

Last night we went out to a steakhouse in the Hilton Hotel and then saw Andy Williams' Christmas show. It was fantastic and it does put one in the holiday spirit. This morning we are going to church and then walk the Strip to visit the beautiful decorations instead many of the casinos. Several years ago we spent Christmas in Vegas and were blown away by the beautiful Christmas decorations.

BTW...Tim passed his 3rd tax exam! That is one of the reasons for our celebration getaway. He submitted the paperwork to the IRS so he is now just waiting for the official certificate from the IRS and he then he can put "Enrolled Agent" title by his name.

Merry Christmas

As this letter is being written we are enjoying the Thanksgiving week at the Los Abrigados Resort in Sedona. The resort at this time of the year is decorated with holiday lights and displays for their Red Rock Fantasy. Margaret had a few days of vacation left for the year and I was in need of a break from my studies. Thanksgiving Day we drove to the Grand Canyon and after walking about three miles along the south rim we had dinner at the El Tovar Hotel where they serve between 1,100 and 1,400 people on Thanksgiving Day. Black Friday we took a Pink Jeep Scenic Rim tour 2,000 feet to the top of the Mogollon Rim. We had an interesting tour guide who was originally from Australia. While we were in Sedona we went to the airport for lunch. It was the second time this year that we did so. The first time was in January under different circumstances. On MLK Day we landed in Sedona following a flight over Meteor Crater near Winslow. We saw more of Meteor Crater from the air than we had when we visited it on the ground on a very windy day in December. I purchased the flight from Jerry Rovey, who farms near Buckeye, on his Cessna Sky Wagon 170 through a silent auction at the UA College of Agriculture’s “Dean’s Almost World Famous Burrito Breakfast” last November. The plane ride, on which we invited Margaret’s friend Artie Longoria, was the first of several adventures during the year.

Work
Margaret started working for ATI last year where she continues to train teachers on ATI’s products. Besides working in Arizona her travels this year have taken her to California, Colorado, Massachusetts, and Florida. I continue to work for H&R Block and this year in the off season I have been studying for the Enrolled Agent exams with the IRS. I have passed two of the three tests at this point in time and am hoping to complete the last one before Christmas.

Margaret started volunteering for Literacy Volunteers of Tucson (LVT) this Fall. The organization’s mission is to educate non-English speakers to speak and read English. Margaret helps them with the computer software that supports this mission. I am still involved as Treasurer of the Lutheran Campus Ministry (LCM) and serve on the Board. Support to LCM is suffering along with others due to these economic times. This Fall I have also volunteered to help remove Giant Reedgrass Arundo donax which is invading the banks of Sabino Creek.

Travel
Our biggest adventure of the year came in May when we visited Yellowstone Park. Our first stop on 1,100 mile trek to Yellowstone was at Bryce Canyon, Utah. It is a marvelous place with the same road leading in and out of the canyon at a higher elevation than most of the vistas including Natural Bridge which is located 8,627 feet above sea level.

Our second major stop was at Salt Lake City where we visited Temple Square and the Utah State Capitol building. That building has recently undergone a major renovation which placed the whole building on what could be described as shock absorbers in order to withstand an earthquake. SLC is located on a major fault. Another unique feature of the capitol building is that there is no wood incorporated into the structure. All the doors appear to be wood, but they are actually metal. The doors are treated with a seven-step process to make them look like wood. All this was done for fire protection.

We had a nice tour of Temple Square the 35-acre oasis in downtown SLC that is the world headquarters for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. While there we attended a noon organ concert in the Tabernacle. Visitation inside the Temple is not allowed, however, we were able to see some of the activity from outside the fenced area. We were there on Friday and there were a lot of weddings being performed that day in the wedding rooms inside the Temple.

The next day it was on to Yellowstone. We arrived at West Yellowstone on Saturday afternoon of Memorial Day weekend and then went on to Big Sky, MT, where we actually headquartered during our time at Yellowstone. It was in Big Sky where we were able to get a reservation for a time share as closer to the park there is a two-year waiting time. Big Sky is about 40 miles from the West Yellowstone, the west entrance to the park. Joining us for the Memorial weekend were our friends the Schmidt’s from Beulah, ND.

Our first foray into the park was on Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. Much of the park was not yet open as we were there before the first week of June when many campgrounds etc. were scheduled to open. We made a big loop through the park and hit various high points including, of course, a stop at Old Faithful. Margaret was intent on our eating a picnic lunch. Unfortunately most of the picnic places still had snow piles around them. However that did not stop us! We found a table that had no snow on it although we had to crawl over some banks to get to it. The experience of picnicking in the snow of Yellowstone will remain with us for some time.

The Schmidt’s left us on Tuesday and we began the first of three days of exploring some of the intricacies of Yellowstone Park. It truly is an amazing place and has been a national park since created “for the benefit and enjoyment of the people” by an act of congress on March 1, 1872. (This Fall Yellowstone was a special focus of the Ken Burns series on PBS focusing on the National Park system.) It is a photographer’s dream! We especially liked a tour of Old Faithful Inn and upon another visit would enjoy staying there. We also enjoyed the wildlife especially the buffalo and were caught several times in “buffalo jams” on the roads. Outside of West Yellowstone was a sign that counted “15 BISON IMPACTS THIS YR.” That was at the end of May; one wonders how many it registered for the year! Margaret also especially enjoyed the bacteria mats that are formed around the geysers that are so prominent in certain areas of the park. We also spent one day around Big Sky visiting the enormous lodge at the ski run and exploring the town which was in part developed by Chet Huntley, the former NBC newsman.

At the end of our visit to Yellowstone and our stay in Big Sky we journeyed through Bozeman where we visited the Museum of the Rockies. It is quite an interesting museum. I enjoyed a photographic display entitled “Sheep Ranching in Paradise” the photography of John Haberstroh. It depicts sheep ranching in Montana in the early part of the 20th Century. The Harvat Ranch existed from 1889-1953. From Bozeman we traveled on to Billings where we celebrated Margaret’s birthday a week early. She caught a return flight to Arizona and her work on Sunday morning and I traveled on to Bismarck, ND.

Margaret returned to the upper plains the weekend of the 4th of July. She flew into Fargo and we traveled to Dorset and Park Rapids, Minnesota, where her mother, Betty was spending the summer with her uncle Mike at his home outside of Dorset. I did some hiking along the old railroad bed trail between Dorset and Park Rapids and from Dorset to Nevis. We also saw the 4th of July fireworks display in Park Rapids. We returned to Fargo where Margaret again caught a return flight to Arizona.

When I had left Billings at the end of May I took a detour to visit the Little Big Horn Battlefield, the site of Custer’s Last Stand which was more of a “clash of cultures” in 1876. The last time that I was there was 40 years ago when I had graduated from college and took a trip to the west coast with my parents. I don’t remember much from that visit but it seems that a lot has been done to improve the presentation of the location. I took in a great presentation by one of the seasonal park rangers who has spent many summers working at the park and has written a book tracing the course of the battle.

I spent the month of June and part of July in ND. During that time I did some work at the farm including tearing down a fence and doing some fix up work on the old house. I was also able to oversee the installation of a hookup for rural water into the farmstead. I also did a lot of visiting and showing off the book Johnson Barn Restoration 2006-2008 that Margaret had produced using Heritage Makers.

I stayed in ND until July 12th in order to attend an event at the Zoar United Methodist Church south of New Leipzig. The church is located in the community where my mother was born and raised. The congregation decided to close the church this year due to a lack of active families able to support its activities. As a result of the closing event we had a mini-family reunion. Cousins Arnold Keller came from Portland, OR; Ruthann Remele from Denver, CO; and Debbie Wahus and husband Don from Williston, ND. We are all descendants of Fred and Ottilia (Vossler) Kurle who homesteaded in the area and were instrumental in the founding of the church. Arnold spoke for the family at the afternoon service and did a marvelous job. We all have memories of the church including the funerals and burial of our grandparents in the church cemetery. Cousin Larry Remele and his mother Esther are also buried in that cemetery. After the festivities at the church we stopped by the Kurle homestead which is now owned by a family named “Koepplin.” I had made arrangements with them to visit the place. They were not at home but had given us permission to look around. Since purchasing the farmstead they burned down the house which our grandparents had built in about 1916 and have constructed a new ranch style home.

Margaret lost her grandmother, Elizabeth Windels, at the age of 97 this year and she attended that funeral in Omaha, NE, at the end of March. That sad occasion provided her a chance to get together with her brother and cousins who she hadn’t seen for several years. Margaret has been able to combine work with pleasure this year when she has traveled to Massachusetts and Florida. While in western MA her sister Carol came down from Canada and her cousin Beth from the Boston area and they had a cousins’ weekend in the Berkshires although the peak of fall foliage had passed. In early November, before doing a training program in Orlando, FL, she spent the weekend with her mother in Sebring. Betty and Mike are now back there for the winter. She was also able to see her brother Mark and sister-in-law Dianna and her nephews Joshua and Jordan.

Over Labor Day weekend we drove to San Diego to visit Margaret’s brother Len who relocated there for work after having lived in Pennsylvania for many years. We had a good time visiting the USS Midway carrier museum and Cabrillo National Monument and the Point Loma Ecological Conservation Area. While in San Diego we also visited my 2nd cousin Dan and Verna Sundquist and had dinner at their home.

Arizona Visitors-Visits and Activities
Again this year we came up a little short on entertaining visitors to Arizona at our home. (I guess that we are just a little too far off the beaten track for most people to include Tucson on their itineraries!) However, in early February we did enjoy a night out with my friends Randy and Jill Euken from the Atlantic, Iowa, area who were in town for several days attending a conference. Margaret did some touring with them while I was at work and that night we took them to the La Fuente Mexican Restaurant where there is always a Mariachi group performing.

On our way up to Sedona we spent a night with my cousin Vergene and Don Follows at their home in Prescott. Vergene and I had a nice visit reminiscing about family and events in our past and Margaret was able to help Don solve some e-mail problems on his computer. This fall I planted a winter garden. We took along our first cutting of Swiss Chard to Prescott and Vergene prepared it for our evening meal.

Lest we give everyone the impression that all we do is travel here are some other examples of our life near home. Our adventures in Tucson and around Arizona this year included attending the Tucson Pops concerts during the winter months; the Mariachi Festival at the end of April; the Tucson Symphonic Winds outdoor concerts at Udall Park in September; St. Melany’s Byzantine Catholic Church festival; the Festival of Books at the University of Arizona; the ND Picnic in Mesa this past spring; and An Evening with Patti Lupone and Mandy Patinkin. Margaret joined a gym this past year and dutifully goes there to work out when she isn’t on the road. I mentioned hiking earlier and in order to get some exercise do what I call “urban hiking” on trails that the Tucson Parks and Recreation Department has developed along the Rillito River and elsewhere.

Seasons Greetings
As you can see we have had a busy and hopefully productive year. However we have been saddened on several occasions during the past year by the passing of relatives, friends and acquaintances. As we get older I would suppose that is to be expected and more reason than ever why it is important to keep friends and loved ones near and dear. Given that we want to extend the best to everyone and wish you all a Blessed Holiday Season along with our Hopes for a Happy New Year.

Check out some of photos!

Pink Jeep Tour

Black Friday we decided not to do shopping but rather Tim surprised me with a Pink Jeep Tour. We went on the Scenic Tour to the top of Schnebly View. Great, but bumpy ride. We definitely need a message today!

Sedona

We are spending our Thanksgiving week in Sedona, in northern Arizona. The weather has been beautiful here, upper 60 and sunny. Los Ambrigados has a Christmas light exhibit called the Red Rock Fantasy. Guests are encouraged to walk the grounds and vote for their favorite display. The building we are staying in has an ocean themed display, so we have leaping dolphins right outside our patio.

On Thanksgiving Day we are planning to drive up to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. A few years ago we spent Christmas at the Canyon so we figured having our Thanksgiving Day meal at El Tovar Hotel would make a perfect way to celebrate the holidays.

Long Time

Yes it has been a LONG time since our blog has been updated. Our summer flew by. As you know Tim spent it in ND and I was "on the road." I was able to visit mom in MN over the 4th of July holiday and met up with Tim. Over Labor Day weekend we drove to San Diego to meet Len. That was a short, but fun weekend. We went on the Aircraft Midway (awesome!), toured around San Diego and even went to Cabrillo National Monument (that's Len and me at there). Tim was able to meet up with a relative in the San Diego area as well. For me it is great to have family on the West Coast now :)

Tim and I continue our New Year's Resolution of doing "new things" in Tucson. Last night we went to the Tucson Slavic Festival and had some great food and entertainment. Tonight is the last night for the Tucson Symphonic Winds outdoor performances, so we'll be taking our picnic dinner and enjoying the music.

I've been on the road much the last few months. September I mainly in the Phoenix area (but several trips up there). October is a busy travel month for me -- Gilcrest (north of Denver), Vila (southeastern CO), Los Gatos (CA), Boulder (CO), and Cortez (CO). I'm looking forward to the first week of November when I'm in western MA. I'm hoping that the weather cooperates and Carol is able to drive down from Canada to spend the weekend before I have to work.

Vacation - Last Day

We left Big Sky early Saturday morning and drove up to Bozman. We stopped at the Museum of the Rockies. The museum starts out with an explanation of Earth's creation and then talks about the history of MT. We again were too early for the outdoors Living Museum. We did walk the Lewis & Clark outdoors exhibit. We had lunch in a city park before heading onto Billings. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza in downtown Billings. Tim and I selected my birthday a week early; he took me to the Montana Sky Restaurant on the 20th floor of the hotel. What a view! On Sunday morning Tim left early to go onto ND with a stop at the Little Bighorn Battlefield. He should be in Bismarck by early evening. I took the hotel shuttle to the airport thus allowing Tim to leave MT early. He had over a 5 hour drive, not counting the 2 hours he was planning on spending at Little Bighorn. I'm now in Phoenix and resting up as I have to conduct a training on Monday in Tolleson, a suburb of Phoenix.

Last Day in Yellowstone Park

Today was our last day visiting the National Park. It was appropriate that we had an hour delay about 12 miles into the park -- buffalo. This time it was not the herd of buffalo crossing the road like yesterday, but rather a couple of buffalo that decided to use the road! Yes, they couldn't get down to the grassy area because of the riverbank and the road were too close so they had to walk down a few miles. It caused a major car congestion.

We decided to spend our time in Canyon Village area today and saw the Upper and Lower Falls as well as the famous Yellowstone Canyon. We visited Artist Point and Inspiration Point along the way. We walkedthe South Rim Trail until we ran into too much snow and mud on the trail. What we walked allowed us a fantastic view of the Falls and the Canyon. Tim reminded me that 2 years ago we visited western ND and saw the Confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers.

MT Update

On Wednesday we decided to explore Big Sky. We are between seasons; the ski resorts don't reopen for another week or so so we are unable to go on a lift. We did visit Moonlight Resort, just a mile from our place. What a beautiful resort! I see why people stay at a resort when skiing; I wouldn't want to drive the curvey and steep road during the winter.



On Thursday we decided to revisit Old Faithful. We got down to W. Yellowstone to attend a Ranger talk about the park. It was a clear day so it was easy to see the water from Old Faithful. We had timed it perfectly as we arrived 5 minutes before the "scheduled" erruption. Afterwards we had lunch at the Old Yellowstone Inn. This hotel was built shortly after the Park was created. Very rustic -- old logs and stones are everywhere. We again had good timing as there was a 45 minute tour of the Inn. We learned that the Inn was built within a year and how inexpensive the cost was; this was because they used the local materials -- wood and rocks.



We visited the Grand Prismatic Spring; Yellowstone's largest hot spring. It was interesting to seethe Exelsior Geyser. The overflow from this geyser drains into the Firehole River. Having hot water pour into the cool river water -- steam everywhere. The Grand Prismatic Spring measures 250x350 feet and it isbrilliantly colored -- turquoise colors were beautiful. The Springs had beautiful shades of orange as part of the bacteria mats.



We did experience a "Yellowstone Moment" as we had to wait about 20 minutes for a herd of buffalo to cross the road. This isn't bad as the Park Ranger in the morning had told us that the early morning delay is usually 2 hours.

New pictures are posted at http://www.flickr.com/photos/38560987@N02/?saved=1.

Yellowstone Park - Day 3

Tuesday was our 3rd full day at the Big Sky Resort. This morning our friends from Beulah, ND, the Schmidt’s, who stayed with us for three nights, left to return home. They got an early start and we in turn departed for the park shortly after 9 AM. We can sum up the day by saying that it was an “animal” filled day. We saw bison aplenty as soon as we entered the park. Margaret was driving so we alternated taking pictures as we made our way to Madison which is 14 miles from West Yellowstone. Big Sky is approximately one hour of travel from West Yellowstone so using that west entrance to enter the park we can consider it as a one hour commute from our base of operation.

From Madison we took the northern route to Gardiner which is a 40 mile drive. Along the way we stopped at Gibbon Falls and Artists Paintpots. We then stopped at Mammoth Hot Springs and walked some of the board walk laid out around the terraces. There are signs in several languages warning people to stay on the pathways at this and other locations because the ground is so unstable and the springs are very hot and unpredictable.

We arrived in Gardiner around lunch time and stopped there to have lunch. We decided to take the same route back to West Yellowstone in order to see some things that we had missed on the way up. Tim was feeling better so he drove in order for Margaret to take pictures as she wished. On the way into Gardiner we had stopped to take a picture of the North Entrance Arch sometimes called the Roosevelt Arch. We also photographed it when we re-entered the park. Theodore Roosevelt laid the cornerstone and dedicated the arch in April 1903. It’s inscribed with the words “for the benefit and enjoyment of the people.”

Our only museum visit of the day was to the Museum of the National Park Ranger which depicts the life of early park rangers. Originally they were under the jurisdiction of the Army and didn’t become an official force until some time after 1900. From there it was a short drive to the Norris Geyser Basin where we walked to see Steamboat Geyser. This geyser is the biggest in height attained but is very unpredictable. The last time that it erupted was on May 23, 2005! So we missed it by four years and three days.

Basically from that point we made no more scheduled stops until we arrived back in West Yellowstone. As I mentioned earlier we had a very animal filled day. Besides Bison we saw Elk, Big Horn Sheep, Coyote, Pronghorn and Canadian Geese.

Check out some more pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/38560987@N02/?saved=1.

MT Update

Well, I got the pictures from our Memorial Day Weekend picnic -- the one we had in the snow. Check them out at http://www.flickr.com/photos/38560987@N02/?saved=1. Today Al, Lorraine, and I went down to W. Yellowstone and saw the IMAX Yellowstone movie, visited the Yellowstone Museum and walked around downtown. Tim stayed back and rested his back. (Yes, his back is still bothering him.) On the way back to the timeshare, when we came across a grizzly bear. We saw one in the Park, but it was very difficult to see. This one was right by the road, walking towards the road eating. It was awesome experience to see the 2 year bear so close. No I wasn't like the foolish tourist who have to get close the wild animal.

Yellowstone Adventure

We checked into our place in Big Sky on Saturday afternoon after stopping briefly in W. Yellowstone at the Visitor Center and having a picnic lunch in the town park. Our place overlooks the lake in Big Sky surrounding the sky mountains. We are in between seasons; the ski resort lifts don't open for the summer until next weekend. Oh well!

On Sunday Lorraine & Al were our chauffeurs while we drove through Yellowstone National Park. As soon as we got into the Park we came across 2 bison and their babies. We discovered that when people stop or slow down along the road you also stop/slow down because most likely there is an animal sighting. So today we saw buffalo, elk, Canadian geese, bear, and a moose. Lots of people fishing. We saw Old Faithful erupt at 12:30. Unfortunately, the clouds were overcast and the steam and water all look the same. So our pictures of this event are not that great. Since Tim and I have a week here, perhaps another day might be better.

Then Margaret had a great idea of having a picnic lunch since it was Memorial Day Weekend. So we drove to a picnic spot. Unfortunately we had to climb through some snow to get to the picnic table. Snow surrounded the table; all we needed next was for some wild animal to approach! The picnic picture here doesn't do it justice; I'll try to get a picture of all of us picnicing in the snow. (Lorraine took a great picture; just have to get it posted.)

We drove by Yellowstone Lake -- it is HUGE!!!! Over 20 miles of road just for one small portion of the lake. There was plenty of snow and ice still surrounding the lake. We also stopped at the Upper and Lower Yellowstone Falls. They were gorgeous!

Check out all our pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/38560987@N02/?saved=1.

"P" is the letter

In keeping with our nightly theme of "P" we have arrived today in Pocatello, Idaho. We have stayed in Page, AZ, and Provo, UT previously. We had a WONDERFUL visit to Salt Lake City. We started at in the Capitol. The Capitol was recently restorated to its original beauty. Lots of marble and beautiful gold leaf oranments. We then took the bus to Tempe Square. We got there just in time to catch the noon organ performance at the Tabenacle. It was great to just sit for a little bit and enjoy the awesome acoustic. Then we went over to the South Visitor Center and took a tour of the Square. Our tour guides were two young ladies, Sisters; one from MN and the other from Portugal. We then decided to walk back to the Capitol (where we left the car). If you have never been to SLC you may not realize that the Capitol is on top of a hill. Needlesstosay, we got our leg exercise today.

Vacation - Bryce Canyon

We left Tucson on Wednesday afternoon and made it up to Page, Arizona. On Thursday morning we left Arizona for Utah...loosing an hour along the way. (Remember, AZ doesn't do Daylight Savings Time.) We stopped at the Glenn Canyon Dam first. We decided to drive up to Bryce Canyon. What a beautiful national park! Plus we found out that we have to take advantage of Tim's Senior standing. We got a National Park Annual Pass for $10. (Normal price is $80.) We had a picnic lunch at Rainbow Vista and enjoyed the scenic overlook. We stopped at a number of the overlooks, including Natural Bridge. In our travels through parks, we never heard of the word "hoodoo" and today we never heard the end of the word -- http://www.nps.gov/brca/naturescience/hoodoos.htm.

We were hoping to make it up to Salt Lake City by Thursday evening, but we decided to stop in Provo. I'm doing all the driving. Tim tried to drive but after about 30 minutes, his back was hurting him still too much. So he is the navigator and I'm the driver. We decided to try using the ThermWrap while sitting in the car and it seems to help him out. I sure hope his bruised rib heals soon. I HATE driving through mountains and that is all that we're doing.

I'm trying something new. I created a Flickr account and I hope that some of my pictures are posted. Our link should be http://www.flickr.com/photos/38560987@N02/?saved=1.

Harvest

This morning I was able to harvest a half dozen sweet green peppers, two pounds of green beans, and enough lettuce for a nice salad. We are at the end of the lettuce season. There are still some beans to harvest in another week or so. Our eggplant finally started to grow; it needed more of the summer heat. So I would say our garden this year was a success!

We are getting ready to leave for our summer vacation -- Yellow National Park here we come! We'll be staying in Big Sky, MT. Tim has been kidding me the last few weeks; each morning he tells me the temperature. While it it is in the 80s in the morning here; it is only in the 40s up north. Do I owe warm clothes? Keep a watch on our blog as we'll be updating it periodically on the road.

It is Official!

Today, Thursday, May 7, 2009, just after 2 pm today we hit our first 100 degree day. That means that Summer has officially arrived in Tucson. Let's hope that we have a few days of cooler days before we get more over the century marks.

This past weekend we celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary (yes, it is hard to believe that!). We decided to get out of town for the weekend and went north. We only drove up to Phoenix and lounged around the pool at the resort. On Saturday evening we had dinner with Rev. John Kautz and his wife. John was one of our ministers for our wedding. We came back mid-afternoon on Sunday, thus giving Tim an opportunity to get the cooler operational for the season. Good thing he did that; we needed it today.

Performance

On Wednesday we decided to celebrate our 18th anniversary a little early and went to the University of Arizona to see "An Evening with Patti Lupone and Mandy Patinkin." They performed many songs from musicals. We really enjoyed April in Fairbanks. Next weekend we'll continue our celebration by spending the weekend in the Phoenix area. Just time to get away. Tim is recovering from the tax season.

Our goal for this year is to try different things, so we decided to visit one of the venues for the Mariachi Festival. We went first to a Colombian Festival that Margaret read about in the newspaper (the food was okay, but the other festival was much better), then we headed down to Reid Park. We took the opportunity to visit the Rose Test Garden and WOW what aroma and beauty. Then off to see and hear Mariachi players.

Our garden is growing. We harvested our first lettuce crop; had some excellent salads. Our green beans are flourishing and our sweet pepper plants are beginning to form fruit. Our eggplant doesn't seem to be growing, but on the positive side it is not dying either!

Spring

For many of our friends we thought some encouraging pictures of spring might cheer you up as you struggle with Winter, floods, and the "life". We need a little of God's nature this weekend as I my grandmother passed away on Friday. This morning I planted several more flowers. Our vegetable garden is going very well; I saw signs of our green beans coming up through the soil. Our rose bush, which was planted in my father's memory, is in full bloom.

First Day of Spring

Spring has officially arrived. This week we have experienced temps in the low 90s; this weekend we should only be in the 80s. Then we have a few days of windy conditions in the 70s. Yes, Spring is in the air!


We went and got some flowers and vegetables for our garden. Our goal is to get them planted on Saturday. Saturday evening we are going over to our friends home for dinner. Perhaps we'll go to the 4th Avenue Street Fair. There are so many crafts there, that it is amazing.


Tim is on his "final phase" of the tax season. Have you done your taxes yet? Remember April 15th is just around the corner.

Weekend Activities

Both of us are recovering from colds. Even with 70 degree weather we got colds. Our friends in the Midwest who are experiencing a winter that just won't end, seem to be jealous of our "warm" winters.

Friday evening we went to the Tucson Symphony Orchestra concert -- a Tribute to Arthur Fiedler. The TSO's concert was arranged in a Fiedler style with 2 intermissions. The first third had classical music, the middle was for new/emerging artist, and the last third was the "pops." the emerging artist portion featured winners of the TSO Young Artist Competition. Taiko Ezaki, a 9-year boy, played the violin beautifully. Then Nicolas Mariscal, a high school junior, played his cello. Nicolas was no only the winner of the Young Artist Competition but he also won the Youn Composer's Project. So his "Espejos del Sur" composition was debuted by the TSO. It was very Latin in flavor and very enjoyable. After the seccond intermission we enjoyed the singing of Tamra Hayden, a soprano, who belted out songs from famous musicals -- Cabaret, My Fair Lady, Les Miserables, and more.

Saturday morning I enjoyed getting together with a friend I hadn't seen in many years. It was great to get "re-acquainted" after so long. Then I headed down to the Festival of Books. This is the first year that the Tucson has hosted this event. It was fun to wonder around the mall and see so many book vendors, authors, and anything related to books. I was fortunate to attend a talk by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman, the creators of one of my favorite comic strips, Zits. I also attended the presentation by Stedman Graham. We are hoping to make it to the Festival on Sunday as well. The University of Arizona and all their partners put on a fantastic event for all ages today.

Weekend Activities

Another weekend has come and gone and we were (again) busy. It seems that the first few months of the year we are running here and there. Saturday evening we tried out a new restaurant, Sur Real. This Latin American restaurant served food from Brazil (of course, that's what Tim had to try!), Argentina, Peru, and all other South American countries. They also had food from Central America. The atmosphere was great, view fantastic (overlooked Tucson), and the food was outstanding.

In the 20 so years we have lived in Arizona, we have never attended the annual North Dakota picnic held in Mesa (a suburb of Phoenix). So this year we did. There were hundreds of folks from all over ND who reside part-time and full-time in Arizona. We were able to catch up with a couple of friends. It was a beautiful day (in the mid-80s) to spend outside at Pioneer Park.

Concert

We have been busy the last few weeks. The last weekend of January we were in Phoenix to attend a celebration of Jerry Hagstrom's parents centennial birthday. Tim was able to catch up with ND friends and we learned about Jerry's family history and their journey from Sweeden to the Americas.

Last weekend Tim's friend from Iowa, Randy and Jill Euken, were in town for a conference. Margaret was able to give them a quick car tour of Tucson -- The Mission, "A" Mountain where we could easily see the City of Tucson, and drove around downtown. The Tucson Gem & Mineral Show was taking place so they were able to see all the dealer tents and the thousands of folks who visit Tucson just for this show. Of course, what is a visit to Tucson without Mexican food!


Tucson has enjoyed a relatively warm winter, then Mother Nature decided we had to "suffer" like the rest of the USA. There was snow down enough on the mountains that we could easily see from our home. Government offices and schools were closed in eastern AZ. Just south of here in Vail they got 2 inches and in north of Tucson in Oracle they received 3 inches. The fortunate thing is that the snow in the valley is generally gone by mid afternoon.

VALENTINE'S DAY
On Valentine's Day Tim let me sleep in while he went off to work. I came back around midnight on Friday from CA so I needed my "beauty sleep." That evening we went to the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and saw the Three Broadway Tenors. We had front row seats to enjoy the music of Brent Barrett, Brian Lane Green, and Kevin Spirtas. (You may have seen one of these in a Broadway show or on TV.)

Concert

Last night we went to see The Lettermen. This group from the '60s performed with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. Our seats are in the 2nd row so we were up close and personal. We both shook hands with The Lettermen's founder, Tony Butala.

Scenic Ride

On MLK day we along with my friend Artie took a 2 hour plane ride out of Buckeye (just west of Phoenix). We flew over the Phoenix area, saw the University of Phoenix' Stadium (home of our AZ Cardinals), and then up through the Mogollon Rim and over Meteor Crater. You may recall we went to the Crater back in December -- too windy to even go out and see anything. So flying over it was AWESOME!!! You really get the idea of how large the "hole" is and its impact. Afterwards we flew towards Flagstaff, Mormon Lake, and then over to my favorite place in Arizona, Sedona. It was so wonderful to see the Red Rocks and their unique shapes from the air. Tim surprised me as he made arrangements for us to land in Sedona and we had lunch at the airport. (Dangerous thing as I might get used to being spoiled with this lifestyle.) After lunch we then we went south over Lake Pleasant and then back to Buckeye.

Our plane was a Cessna Skywagon 185, a 4 passenger plane. Our runway out of Buckeye was the pilot's gravel driveway. Landing on the asphalt field on the Sedona's mesa can be a challenge since there are often wind gusts. The takeoffs/landings were very smooth.

Birthday Celebration

Yesterday was Tim's birthday and he wanted to celebrate "his day" with a dinner party. There were 13 people for dinner; cozy dinning room environment. My friend, Artie, made the cake. Does the cake look familiar?

Weather

I understand that many of you are suffering bitterly cold weather. Thanks Walt for the temp reading in North Dakota.

I guess I should not complain any longer about our 30 degree evenings. Today's high was almost a record -- 74 degrees. Our evenings are getting "cooler" with it in the 30s. The sun sure is warming us up quickly during the day. For the rest of our friends in the Midwest, remember we have frequent flights from ND to Phoenix. So when you are ready to "thaw out" we have an extra room! Not to "rub it in" but I thought you might like to see how our temperature really is. I took this picture just this evening of our weather station.

This weekend is the Fort Lowell Shootout (http://www.fortlowellshootout.com). For those who have visited us, you may recall that the Fort Lowell Park is just a few blocks from us. This year there are almost 300 socceer teams.

We're having a dinner party to celebrate Tim's birthday on Saturday. On Monday we are taking a 2 hour airplane ride out of the Phoenix area to northern Arizona (it's a ride that we won in the University of Arizona's College of Agriculture event). We should have something to write about these events later in the week.

Welcome 2009

This entry is really dedicated to my sister. We were thinking of you today as we took down all the Christmas decorations that she (and I) put up after Thanksgiving. I don't mind putting up the decorations; not a big fan of having to take them down. I guess we shouldn't complain too much since it was 70 degrees today. We also took the opportunity to do trim the brushes in the front yard and then a couple of brushes in the back yard. (We had a couple of nights of hard freeze.)