Happy Valentine's Day!

 ...and Happy Birthday to Granny!

Tucson Gem & Mineral Show

Papa and I visited several Gem and Mineral Show vendors on Tuesday morning in Tucson.  There are over 3000 vendors at this year's show.  We talked to vendors from Germany, Lebanon, and France.  We were really impressed by the giant specimens we saw, from a giant tabletop made of petrified wood to split sandstone with ancient sea life from the Middle East, to a small dinosaur. 

Boys & Girls

From this week's visit to the club...  Love all the smiles!

 

Youth of the Year

Over the past three months, Papa and I have been volunteering on Tuesday afternoons, at the 

Boys and Girls Club in Tucson.  We've been meeting with a group of kids from 8th grade to seniors in high school.  We play games and talk about choices and opportunities.  We were thrilled to be at the Club this afternoon, when one of "our kids," David, was named Youth of the Year for Tucson Boys and Girls Clubs. He has won two competitions, with the next competition in Phoenix, for Arizona Youth of the Year.  We are really proud of David! 

Valentine Mobile

On Friday, Madilyn and Colter Lee cut out lots of hearts from Arizona Highways photos.  On Saturday, I trimmed them up a bit, then sewed them together in long strings of valentines.  Today, I cut the strings of valentines apart and tied them to a limb.  I tied on a thin rope to hang it as a mobile. 

Moon over Afternoon Hike

Papa and I hiked this afternoon and were on our way back home when we noticed the moon had come over the mountains.  It was about 2:30 pm.  It seemed way too early to see the moon!  It was a beautiful day on the ranch, with clear skies and about 64 degrees while we were out. 

Valentines

Madilyn and Colter Lee came over this morning to spend the day with me.  We made valentines!  

We cut out at least a hundred hearts from pages of Arizona Highways, choosing scenes we loved.  

I am going to make a mobile for them, with all the hearts.  We colored tags for bags of trail mix.  

We collected and painted rocks.  While we had the paints out, we used celery and lettuce ends to stamp flowers onto paper and then painted on the stems.  We made valentine cards 

by lacing hearts with red yarn.  We had a wonderful day making valentines!

Staying Fit

I try to exercise every day, or at least 5-6 days of the week.  When the weather isn't quite nice enough for me to hike outside, (temperature above 50 with wind under 10 mph), then I work out inside.  On the inside days, I ride my bike for 30 minutes or 7.5+ miles, I walk and run on the treadmill for 2 miles, which takes about 30 minutes, and I lift weights and do a few calisthenics.  I try to do everything at a pace that I work up a sweat and hold it.  I get bored easily, when exercising inside, so I keep piles of magazines nearby, to thumb through.  I listen to my IPOD.  It's not easy staying fit!

Cutting the Cord

After getting a notice from Dish that the price of our tv service was going up again, we decided to cut the cord.  While in Tucson last week, we picked up an antenna for the roof.  We set it up over the weekend.  We get about 30 tv stations via antenna.  We have an Amazon Prime membership which allows us to get free movies and tv shows (plus free shipping on all Amazon purchases).  It will be interesting to see how our entertainment experiences will evolve over the next 5-10 years.  

Cutting the cord was rather pain free!

Morning Buzz in the Sky

Before the sun had come completely over the mountains this morning, we heard a small plane buzzing about.  It got closer and closer and flew up and down the canyon by the house, and then west on the ranch, low, and up and down more canyons.  We think it was an Arizona Game and Fish plane, looking for wildlife.