Desert flowers

                                                          As promised and way late :)

We loved our walks in the desert. It broke my heart to leave Arizona. Our first home all together. We have grow so much as a family here and made so many wonderful memories.  We made some wonderful friends that will never be forgotten. Arizona will always hold a very special place in our hearts!

these were found on the side of the highway. So beautiful!

From the palm like trees from our front yard. seriously the most beautiful blossoms I have ever seen! Arizona is a truly beautiful place to be in the spring.

Family Project 1 THE YARD dun dun DUUUN!!!!

When I said we have dirt and rocks and more dirt and MORE rocks, I wasn't kidding. We are living in a rental right now so we can't expect to much of a yard. When Daddy Bear first got here our yard didn't look like much of a yard more like... the desert in which we now live.

He spend a ton of time after work digging up all the sage brush. Those suckers gave him quite a work out. One he couldn't get out so he burned it where it stood.

we racked and dug and raked sum more.

I think it is coming along nicely. Some other things we ended up buying for this project: (other than the usual yard tools) a magnet sweeper! We had tons of rusty nails all over our yard and this handy tool got them out. Seriously recommend getting one of these! they are also handy is finding nails in little boys rooms and bobbie-pins in mine.

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We also got this handy little tool its a Hand Tiller it does what the name implies it was really useful in breaking up the dirt and rocks  so we could rake it with this handy tool used so smoothing out the the landscape. It got up the sticks and rocks and left the dirt.

We made this handy contraption to separate the rocks from the dirt to use for the edging. It works really well I actually got the idea from my dad. A few years ago he build a square like this to separate dirt and rock too. Yea for daddies!!

This has been quite an adventure trying to get this space livable or I guess playable. Its been lots of fun and Sweat Pea and Bubba enjoy the "mans work". I don't know where that comes from but bubba insists that we (the girls) need to be careful cuz its mans work. We are working on getting rid of this "Mans work" idea of his.


This is what we started with along the house. Daddy Bear decided to put rock edging along the house and fill it it with the rock we sifted.  Making Progress!!!

New to Arizona

    So I probably should have written this post before the last one but I didn't so here you go.

  Since we have moved to the great hot state of Arizona I have noticed a few things. (not necessarily applying to all of Arizona just our spot.) #1 there is not much color here. The cacti and palm trees and some brush are green but not much else. #2 There is a lot of dirt and rocks and more dirt and more rocks. Last but not least #3 it is quite hot with little shade and no snow in february  . 

     We rolled into town late at night unpacked beds and went to sleep. The next day Daddy Bear wanted to show us the town. (He had been there about a month before coming and getting us.) We had just come from a fairly big city in norther Colorado. We were now living in a tiny little mining town in southern Arizona.  It was quite a shock to me when we got to town. There were no grassy fields where there was no buildings it was just desert and more desert! The town was just a strip of stores down main street. I was slightly heart broken and home sick for my rocky mountains. That soon changed when Daddy Bear kept pointing out our mountain. 

Our mountain!!

    

<----Colorado

                          Arizona---->

     I missed my family in Colorado but it was quite a bit easier to handle our first Sunday. Our first Sunday we were welcomed with open arms. I seriously felt like I was going to a big family reunion with people I had known all my life and yet, I knew no one. We are so blessed to be in such a wonderful ward. I am so grateful for our ward family they totally changed my prospective from "get me out of here" to "this could be a good place to lay down roots some day".                                                                                                                          

    It is now spring time in the desert and it is beautiful! So I guess #1 doesn't apply so much any more. It seems like overnight the desert came alive. I never understood the saying "as beautiful as a desert flower" until now! I didn't know flowers could be so bright and beautiful. The cacti even look beautiful. I promise I will post more beautiful desert flowers as they start popping up.

 Look what I found in my back yard today. So beautiful and Smells amazing!

Starting out Right

     Well we are all moved in to our new house in Az. The warm sunny days are quite a change from the snow and scraping off my car every day. Sorry Colorado, but I'm loving the warmth of winter down here. I'll probably be singing a different tune in a few months I'm sure. Daddy Bear and I have been married for 2 weeks and 5 days. Ahh marriage is bliss. On our drive down here we stopped for the night at a hotel and the only thing they had available was a king. So, we all crammed in. Bubba snuggled up to Daddy Bear, it was soooo cute. And that was Daddy Bear's crash course into parent hood, lucky guy.

Dum-dums honestly saved the trip thanks Daddy Bear!

     I have decided it would be best to home school Sweet Pea since we will be moving every few months. This child amazes me within the two weeks she has been home she has started reading again!!! Reading well I might add. She had stopped wanting to try to read when she had been in school. I can see her creativity coming to life and it is wonderful. 

     I have given Sweet Pea and Bubba chores do do around the house. In the morning after  breakfast Sweet Pea loads the dishwasher and Bubba clears the tables and washes a few windows. I was pleasantly surprised when Sweet Pea asked why Bubba had two chores and she only had one. So we figured out what other chore she could do. Vacuuming is now her second chore, she is growing up so fast.     Bubba is also making some changes of his own. He is now potty trained!!! Wahooo!  I am now free to have another, or try at lest. He is so good about picking up his tools and toys and helping out in the yard. He is such a big helper.     We have been doing better about having a good nightly routine which includes a mini family night, scriptures and prayer. Everyone is doing better with this routine and the house is a lot calmer.     Daddy Bear and I have our early mornings together. Starting and 4:30am!! The world is very quiet this early in the morning. After I get Daddy Bear sent off to work I enjoy a little me time, which is very nice. Well, thats what I have as an update. Talk to ya all soon I'm going to go enjoy an wary morning workout.