Last Sunset of 2015

Christmas Day Hike

Christmas Day was beautiful, breezy and cool.  After a hearty breakfast, we went on a hike.  We dropped down into the canyon nearest the house and walked up the creek toward the mountain.  We turned and made a big circle that took us about two hours.  Just right on Christmas Day!

Merry Christmas

From the ranch to wherever you are... we wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Crafts

Madilyn, Colter Lee, and Traven came over to make Christmas crafts with us.  They made a hand print wreath on canvas, a wood slice ornament, and leather crafting on leather boot and hat ornaments.  They had a bag full of crafts to take home.  Papa and I had fun!

Polishing Up the Good

Over the past several years, I have received a daily devotion via email.  

Some speak to me more than others.  During this holiday week, this one is 

particularly relevant as we spend time or talk with our family.

“Love …. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, 

it keeps no record of wrongs.” 1 Corinthians 13:5

In the busy day-to-day of life it is challenging to keep precious relationships nurtured. It’s important to be intentional in cultivating the relationships we treasure 

so that they do not erode like sand slipping down the hillside.

God gives us amazing advice about what selfless love can look like. 

1 Corinthians 13:5 holds a beautiful nugget for us: “love keeps no record of wrongs.”

Every family finds irritations in one another. None of us are perfect. Yet how we decide, ahead of time, to respond to those irritations will make a world of difference in our families.

We can resent the irritations and eventually the person; we can count them and point them out and nag about them. Or we can choose to polish up the good things we see and hear and put our focus there. We can ask God for growth in patience and 

gentleness in both our family members and in ourselves.

Thankfulness is heart changing. Choose early to nurture a love that “keeps no record of wrongs” 

but finds the good and stores up a “record of rights” in your heart toward one another.

God, Thank you that You promise to grant me the patience and gentleness that I need day to day. Please help me to look with eyes that see the good and respond with love that polishes up the good in my loved ones. When something needs to be addressed, please help me to address it without a spontaneous outburst and with the attitude of building up our relationship.  Today I ask You to help me choose to focus on the “record of rights” rather than on the things that irritate me. Please help this to be my norm long before irritations have a chance to build a wall in my heart. Thank you for Your unconditional love to me. Please supply me with Your perspective and a thankful heart today. Amen.

http://thelife.com/dailydevotions/record-of-rights

Our Christmas Tree

We have been slow to get a Christmas tree this year.  We had several discussions about the size of tree.  Yesterday Papa and I went up the mountain and walked about until we found "the one."  Papa brought it home in the back of the ranger.  We put it in a pot full of rocks and wrapped the pot with red cloth.  We have one ornament on our tree... a bird on its nest.  We are keeping it simple this year!

Antelope Sighting

As I returned to the ranch on Friday, from a short trip into town for supplies, I saw about two dozen antelope.  A treat to see!

Winter Wildlife

I was in Willcox yesterday and drove around a bit, looking for sandhill cranes.  They arrived several weeks late this year, as their northern homes have had warmer than normal temperatures.  I saw two groups of cranes in the sky, but they were too far away to photograph well.  There were lots of northern ducks on the Willcox Playa and it was a clear day, 

so the mountain reflections were beautiful in the water. 

Twelve Days of Christmas

Over the past few years, I have put together boxes filled with 12 bags for our grandchildren to open each day before Christmas.  The bags have crafts, books, and activities and a reminder that Lulu and Papa wish them a Merry Christmas.  This year's Twelve Days of Christmas:

Tree garland

 

Bring the ends of paper strips or ribbon together to form a circle and secure with tape. Insert another strip of ribbon or paper strip through the first circle and tape the ends together. Continue until the chain reaches desired length.  Hang the garland on your Christmas tree.

Your Own Wrapping Paper

Use paint to design your own wrapping paper.  Be sure to wear a paint smock over your clothes 
when you paint.  When your paper is dry, use yarn to tie up your gifts.

Yarn Stars and Balls

 

Wrap yarn around the wooden star or ball, over and over until its covered.  When finished, 
hang on your Christmas tree.

Beaded Snowflakes

Twist three pipe cleaners together in the middle.  Make a pretty design with beads.  Twist the ends around the last bead.  Add a yarn loop to hang your beaded ornament on your tree.

Ribbon with Beads Trees 

Thread the ribbon with beads onto the pipe cleaner, alternating the ribbon and a bead. Top with two beads. Tie a yarn loop on top of the pipe cleaner.  Bend the pipe cleaner down over the yarn and slip a bead just over the sharp end of the pipe cleaner.  Hang your Ribbon with Beads Tree on your tree! 

Twig Stars

  

Papa cut these twigs on Winchester Ranch.  Tie them into stars and hang your 
Winchester Ranch Stars on your Christmas tree.

Reindeer Cookies

 

Make a batch of sugar cookies.  Use pretzels and M and Ms to turn your cookies into reindeer.  

Find a good place for your Ranch Camp Magnet!  Lulu and Papa had fun with you at Ranch Camp!  Drink something special from your Ranch Camp cup.  You are special too!

Find a good place for your family pillow.  Can you find your hand print?  Settle back on your new pillow and read your new Ranch Camp book with Mom and Dad after dinner.  

Have fun coloring Christmas pages!  Use your colored pages to wrap a gift.  

Have a Family Christmas Party!  Set the table with Christmas napkins and plates.  Help Mom make cookies or cupcakes for dessert.  Sing Christmas carols!  Read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.

ps.  Many of these ideas are from Pinterest.  The creativity in the finished products will come from our eight little ones.

Christmas Decor

We haven't been eager to decorate for Christmas this year.  After returning from our trip in early December, it has taken us a couple of weeks to get back into our routines and to get things back in order, ie. new shoes on the horses, bills paid...  Friends gave us a holiday gift bag that included a banner.  Thus far, hanging the banner has been the extent of our Christmas decorating. 

Waves of Snow

The snow of yesterday morning had mostly melted by late afternoon.  By mid morning today, clouds were rolling in and snow began falling again by noon.  Wave after wave of snow fell, without a lot of accumulation.  Its beautiful and cold outside!

Winter Snowfall

We woke up to snow all around us and snow covered mountain tops in our view.  We know it won't last long, so we are enjoying the morning, with extra coffee and looking out the windows.

 

Snow Flurries

We returned to the ranch this morning, after spending several days this week in Tucson.  The mountains were white with snow.  Throughout the day and after dark, snow flurries came down, whiting out the mountains.  We are grateful for the moisture and the amazing views of snow covered mountains and trees.  Beautiful!

Saguaro National Park East

Papa and I hiked over 4 miles in Saguaro National Park East yesterday.  We had not been there in several years, as we more often go to Saguaro National Park West.  Tucson is in a rather unique position to be book ended by two National Parks full of saguaros.  The day was sunny and warm, with temperature in the mid 70's.  It was a perfect day to hike.

 

 

 

Party

Last night, we threw a holiday party at the Boys and Girls Club for the kids we've worked with this year.  We had lots of food and gifts, and they decorated wood slice ornaments.  Fun for everyone!  

We love these kids!

December Sunset

Hiking with a Purpose

We will soon begin installing another 1.25 miles of water pipeline on the ranch.  Papa wanted to measure the distance once more, before ordering pipe.  We set off across the ranch, on the Ranger at 10 yesterday.  When we got to the pipeline starting point, we began our hike, each equipped with Ipods to measure our distance hiked.  The day was beautiful with clear skies.  We saw white tail deer, mule deer, and very fresh bear scat along the way.  The sun was shining through the natural bridge near Javelina Peak.  We enjoyed every moment!

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays 2015,

We started the year with Winter Roundup on the ranch.  It went like clockwork.  Colter continues to manage the ranch for us and he does a terrific job!  We are blessed to have Carly and Colter, Madilyn, Colter Lee, and Traven in our lives.  We enjoyed activities through the year with the kids and a trip to Kartchner Caverns in July.  We had good rains throughout the year, with the largest overall rainfall in a year since we’ve owned the ranch.  With rain comes good feed for the cows plus flowers everywhere. Loved it!

We work weekly with a group of teenagers at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Tucson.  A group of them came to our Tucson house for lunch in mid March, after a week of shadow opportunities for many of them.  We really enjoy our time with them.  We left a couple days later on a cruise from Miami to Mexico, Guatamala, Belize, Cayman Islands, and Key West.  We explored Mayan ruins and took a seaplane to Fort Jefferson.  Before the trip, we enjoyed wine and dinner with Joy and Jim in St. Petersburg, and we had fun with cousins Renee and Russ, Jane and Fred, Mom and Sonny, over dinner in St. Pete.  We spent a day with JW, Carrie, and Wade, on our return to Miami.  

In late April, we drove to the Grand Canyon for a couple of days, where we hiked and took photos. Beautiful!   We also visited the Hopi Reservation, the Navajo National Monument, and stayed overnight at The View Hotel in Monument Valley.  Breathtaking!  We stopped for a tour of Rock Art Ranch near Holbrook on the way back, where we saw thousands of petroglyphs in Chevelon Canyon.  

Audrey, Whitney, Claire, and Lulu met for a few days visit with family in KY.  The girls left and Lulu stayed, with Papa joining, to attend Lulu's 40th high school reunion. Loved reconnecting with old friends!  While in KY, Lulu went tandem biking with cousin Dickie, a first!  

Claire, Emerson, and Colby came to the ranch on June 4 for a visit.  They spent a few days in Tucson/Phoenix before returning for Ranch Camp, June 15-21.  What a week, with all 8 of our grandchildren and all four of our children and spouses riding horses, branding, and playing hard! Whitney rode in the roundup before the mini-branding and Brian branded every calf, with Emily giving shots.  Everyone pitched in!   

July is always the busiest month on the ranch.  Cousin Dickie and his family arrived on July 13 to help with summer roundup.  Lots of cowboys came together on the ranch that week.  The ranch Branding was on July 18, with 48 people helping.  It was a busy, dirty time and couldn’t have been better!

In early August, we flew to IL, for a long weekend with Audrey, Dan, Lauren, and Taylor, at Lake Geneva, WI.  Papa had several tests in July and learned that he needed to have kidney surgery.  He went to Mayo in Phoenix, for further testing and the surgery on September 16.  Audrey flew to PHX to be with us during Papa’s surgery. All went well and he will have further testing this month.  We appreciated having Audrey with us.  

Lulu’s high school friend, Margaret, arrived on September 29 for a week long visit. We explored Tucson, the ranch, Santa Fe, and the Albuquerque Balloon Festival.  The Balloon Festival had been on Lulu’s life list for some time and it was more spectacular than imagined!  It was wonderful to reconnect with Margaret too!  The next week, we had a group of our BGC kids come for a day of Ranch Camp. Colter put on a little rodeo for them and taught them all to rope.  Fun for everyone!  

On October 22, we left for the UK.  We spent a few days with Claire in London, then took the train to Brighton, where we rented a car and began an odyssey from Sussex to Dorset to Devon and Cornwall, Somerset, Wales, and the Cotswolds, before returning to London on November 20.  We learned so much!  Highlights included visiting Stonehenge, Avebury, Seven Sisters cliffs, Chartwell (Churchill’s home), the Cornwall coast, Bath, the cathedral of Wells, and renting a cottage on the Great Orme in Wales. We returned to London to rent a house and our family began arriving two days later. Audrey, Brian, and Whitney flew over with their families.  Claire’s family moved to London in July.  We were tourists in London with breakfasts and dinners together each day.  Thanksgiving 2015 is one our family won’t forget!

We continue to hike on the ranch, almost daily.  We enjoy volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club on Tuesday evenings.  Papa seems to always have a leather or building project and he enjoys his horses. We have entertained various friends at the ranch this year, Penny and Brian, Linda and Bob, Jenny (Papa’s friend since kindergarten), Jim and Elizabeth with Bryce and Emily, and Mary on Branding weekend.  We attended Adriana’s wedding in Phoenix in March, seeing several people we knew 25 years ago when we lived in Dallas, and it was a treat to see long time friend Linda that weekend. Its been a good year!

We wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2016!

Love,  

Lulu and Papa

Sunrise

The sky was filled with pink stripes this morning, as the sun was rising over the Winchesters. 

Back at the Ranch

Papa and I traveled many hours yesterday, from our London hotel to Heathrow to Tucson.  We had a wonderful six week trip in the UK.  We saw innumerable historic buildings and sites.  We stayed in interesting accommodations, from historic B and B's to a National Trust rented cottage, to an historic house rental in London, and finally in a boutique hotel near Claire's London home.  We had interesting and informative conversations along the way, on the train, in B and B's...  We had first time experiences we'll never forget, seeing Stonehenge and going to a fox hunt.  Certainly the highlight of our trip was Thanksgiving Week in London with our children and their families.  We made many happy memories!