Ok, so the Lizards we have around the OUTSIDE of the house are small and cute. But this last week Greg and I have found a couple little guys inside of the house. They are fast and when you see one zip past your feet you cant help but jump a little! I was taking some things out of a bag we had on the dinning room table this afternoon. Everything was normal until something started moving INSIDE of the package! I could of been a star pitcher, I threw that coozie so fast and far! Thankfully nobody was home to hear me scream like a school girl. Then I went over to actually see what it was I had thrown! You can see in the video Abby just tried to eat the poor thing after it tried running up my leg!!!! I can honestly say no little lizards were harmed.
My brother Ryan flew out of New York this evening. It is the start of his journey to Tel Aviv Israel. He will be attending Tel Aviv University and working towards his masters degree. https://www.telavivuniv.org/Default.aspx He is studying Middle eastern history and Arabic. He is very excited and has been looking forward to this life goal for some time now. Our family is extremely proud of him and can not wait to hear all about his new experiences! We wish you the best of luck Ryan! Big hugs!
Greg and I had a nice relaxing weekend. We rented a few movies, watchmen and Wall-e. Wall-e being the favorite of the two:) We also went to the new Harry Pottery movie. It was different from the others but still good. It was nice to be home for a weekend and just grill out and relax by the pool. The Syrings joined us Sunday afternoon. I am amazed at how much thier son Rohan has changed in just a month! But as you can see from our pictures, it was about the adults and us adults kept ourselves entertained.
Mission San Xavier Del Bac Quoted from the website
"Mission San Xavier del Bac is situated in the Santa Cruz Valley nine miles south of Tucson. The present church was built from 1783 - 1797 by the Franciscan Fathers Juan Bautista Velderrain and Juan Bautista Llorenz. Why the one tower was never completed is still a mystery, but hopefully one day this question will be answered.
The church is a series of domes and arches that create enclaves for themes of painting on the various walls, domes and rooms. The area behind the high altar is a dazzling gilt of colors. The wall paintings are all original, but over time have needed to be touched up. Time and the harsh desert weather have taken a toll on the the beauty that is within the church and the entire mission complex."
Of course it started to dribble the moment our sprinklers came on:) But none the less it was rain and we were in need of it! It wasn't until this morning that we received a good ol Thunder lightning storm but it was worth the wait:)
As you've seen in our previous posts, we really enjoy camping. We camped in Flagstaff Az at the Lockett Meadow Campground. The campground surrounds this beautiful meadow that views the San Francisco Peaks. You will see in the pictures below how mesmerizing it was. It really felt like a mystical place. The Aspen trees were so tall and such a vivid green. The camp has 17 campsites. We were able to secure a spot right across from the meadow. We just purchased a new 3 man tent (eureka)so we were looking forward to the extra space when sleeping. We were using a 2 man tent. With the two of us and Abbys small dog kennel that just wasn't enough room:) We set up tent and had plenty of time to spare. We headed off to Lava River Cave. It was more fun than I expected! It was a hole in the ground! It is roughly 700,000 years old. It is a mile long lava tube cave that was formed by a volcano that erupted. I was thankful that I brought my head lamp and jacket. It was about 40 degrees at the coldest point. It is very damp, slippery and not a friendly terrain. There is nothing flat about this cave, everything has a point, hole or slope. It is so dark in the cave that when we turned our head lamps off we couldn't even see our hands in front of our faces. I think the cave freaked Abby out a little. But thankfully we had a front dog carrier for her so she was strapped to me the whole time. If you are in Flagstaff we really recommend this outdoor museum! Greg's cousin Tony and his friend Neeral met up with us later that evening. Now Greg and I were so looking forward to enjoying our 3 man tent, and then Tony shows up with his 5 man tent! It was a beast!!! It took all four of us to set up, pretty much in the dark. We had lamps but still, with never having set up this tent it was a fun challenge:) We joked that we were going to have a dance party in the 5 man tent later that night. Disco ball and all. The next morning after Greg made us a great breakfast. We headed to the Inner Basin Trail which started in our campground. Abby is getting older, but she made it about a mile before we had to put her in the doggie carrier. That is the best investment of the year so far! HA! The Inner Basin Trail is an upward 4 mile hike. The scenery is just breath taking. The Aspen trees fill every space so the sun was only able to poke thru in a few spots which left us with cool shade and a nice breeze. Once you reach the top you have the perfect view of Mt Humphrey. We were very close to an elevation of 10,000. After our hike we headed into town to pick up some more ice and take a tour of Tonys home in Flagstaff with hopes that his new motorcycles had shown up. It hadn't:( But Tony does have a great home in a cozy neighborhood. We headed downtown and ran into some locals in character for Celtic days. We enjoyed a nice lunch at the Collins Irish Pub. We sat outside since we had Abby and every single person stopped to pet her. She was loving the attention. It really felt like EVERYONE had their dog out in Flagstaff. We really enjoyed the environment. Honestly we felt like we were right at home! It wouldn't be a true camping experience without some fun fire building:)Tony kept himself entertained by melting glass bottles together:) Greg and Tony were able to find one sweet log that burned the ENTIRE night! It was amazing and perfect for smores and card games:) It was definitely hard to leave this story book location and head home. So we are already planning our next visit:) Enjoy!
Saturday started off very relaxing. Greg was up bright and early since he had to work. I found him lounging out by the pool before he had to head in. We headed over to Greg's Uncle Mikes house in Glendale and visited with his family later that afternoon. We grilled steaks, chicken with bacon wrapped around it and had some fresh watermelon and strawberries with chocolate (my favorite!)!!! Unfortunately Greg received an emergency call right in the middle of our family gathering and spent 2 1/2 hours putting miles on the car driving around town. At least when he made it back to the grill out the food was already prepared and he could dig right in:) It gave me time to visit with Greg's Aunt Snow who is originally from China and catch up with her son Brady, who just got braces! Oh I remember those years! But it will be worth it just hang in there Brady!! Mike and Snow have an awesome pool with a waterfall and basketball hoop. Not to mention the coolest pool lounger Ive ever laid in! You just have to make sure when your sleeping in the lounger working on your tan that you don't float right over to the waterfall to get sprayed in the face:) We stayed there for a few hours, shared stories and watched the movie idiocracy. Wow watching that made my IQ drop but it was hilarious! Sunday has been pretty simple. Just floating in the pool passing the beach ball back and forth. Just a few chores around the house:) Nothing wrong with lazy days:)Even with lazy days we find ways to entertain ourselves. We hope everyone had a great weekend!!!
Oh Im so sad:( A landmark in Cedar Falls also took a hit: the four-legged tree near the intersection of Tremont and West 18th streets.
Homeowners Tim and Sarah Olsen were sleeping but woke when the winds picked up at about 3:45 a.m.
"All of a sudden there was a loud crash, and I said, ‘Please tell me it’s not my tree," Tim Olsen said.
The tree is actually four lindens grafted together many years ago and allowed to grow together as one. The group formed an archway over the walkway leading into the home’s porch and front door.
"I grew up in Cedar Falls and thought some day it would be cool to live here," Olsen said.
The Olsens bought the property two years ago. Friday morning, they weren’t sure their famous four-legged tree would survive.
Yesterday on my ride home it was 111 degrees out. It felt more like 120. I pretty much came home and just headed straight for the pool. When its only 7:30am and its already 95 degrees out you know its going to be a scorcher. This weekend is supposed to be around 117 degrees. Traditional for this time of year, but still very hot whether. They say its a dry heat, and it is but Hot is hot:)
We had a relaxing morning. I read by the pool and Greg was having fun golfing with his friend Mike down by the ASU campus. Greg had said he’d be home around 2ish to head to our friends 4th of July party in Gilbert (a 45 minute drive). His game of golf took a lot longer:) He left around 10am to hit balls and then golf. He was home around 4pm:)He hadn’t golfed in about 5 years so I think he may be a little sore still:) He had fun though:)! Our friend Gary Finer met at our house around 2pm. He shared his amazing pictures of his Telluride Co experience. He went to a 4 or 5 day concert. The pictures were just breath taking, something you would find in a magazine! The concert was obviously a blast, but the scenery was so beautiful! We headed to our friends 4th of July party where we played several entertaining games. They were raising money for a charity group so it was all in fun. By the end of the night Greg was the king of Monkey Barrels and I was the queen of plungers, you just had to be there;) We originally were going to head out to see fireworks but we were just having so much fun with friends that we didn’t venture out. The neighbors set a few off for the party though which was nice. I have to say it was a great party, games, karaoke and awesome food. How often do you watch a fun bunch of people sing karaoke to Ozzy Osborne!!?? Sunday was a relaxing day, Greg installed our new sprinkler system. So no more "oops I left the sprinklers on for 45 minutes and its flooded the street!" It seemed to be a smooth process too, no electrocuting himself and it worked on the first try:) He is becoming quiet the handyman! We closed the day by heading out to see the new Transformer 2 movie. I don't care what critics say, that was a darn good movie! Maybe not as good as the first but pretty close:) Optimus Prime rules:)
Thanks to everyone who made it to our house this last Friday. We had a great time grilling and relaxing in the pool with friends. Greg you really are the master chef! The corn on the cob was delicious. As Gary said "I always know that there will be beer and brats at the Caldwell home". Brandon and Tiff brought some amazing teriyaki chicken and potatoe salad and I of course made brownies to top it off:) We had more than enough food to survive a day of relaxing by the pool and cornhole! Brandon and Tiff brought their 4 year old Kaitlyn and their 7 month old Ryan. Mike and Mara brought their 6 month old Rohan. So with all the dogs, kids and adults we had a great time! Luckily we bought some arm floaties for Brandon, who is 6'7" or somewhere around there! We didn’t want him drowning in the 5' deep end. His daughter Kaitlyn borrowed them:)I would of thought with all the running around and swimming kaitlyns energy level would die down but not so! She stayed up the entire night and fought to stay at our house longer! The dogs all got to cool off in the pool as well:) Abby of course enjoyed the floaties more than anything. It’s the best of both worlds! She is a sun goddess that likes to stay cool:)She is also a photo hog, so anywhere there is a camera there is Abby:) We had some fun in the sun and enjoyed a late lunch. We moved into a few games of cornhole. Greg set up shop on our balcony with a nice spot light and we were able to play well into the night time hours. We discovered we have some die hard cornhole players. It actually thundered, which is rare here. We had lightning and it delivered some pretty cold rain. It went on for a good 10- 15 minutes. But as the rain came down, Greg, Mike, Mara and Brandon continued to throw baggs. It was a nice way to cool off though:) It was definitely a great way to start a long Holiday weekend:)
We have been burning up in AZ with 100+ temps so what better way to relax than in the pool! To start the holiday weekend off I laid out by the pool and finished up my James Patterson book, Cross. It really turned out to be an interesting plot. Of all his books I think this is the one I've enjoyed the most. They really seem to involve the same scenario. Greg got a call that morning and had to make a quick stop at the branch downtown for a co-worker so on his way home he picked up a new sprinkler system and some food and drinks for the party. After arriving home Greg discovered the store left the security caps on the alcohol bottles. Keep in mind the store is less than a 5 minute drive away. I finally came in from outside about a half hour after Greg arrived home to see what he was up to. I walked into the kitchen to see Greg standing at the island surrounded by knives, hammers and a drill. Instead of returning to the store to have them remove the caps, Greg was bound and determined to remove the cap himself. The cap was destroyed/nil8ted and no where near coming off. I finally drew the line when Greg asked me to go outside and hold the bottle while he took tree cutters to the cap. As we were driving to the store to have them at least remove the second bottles security cap, Greg realized he forgot the receipt so it would look like he'd stolen the bottle so he had to drive back home (only took minutes but still) go back to the store and have them remove it. But we still had the destroyed security cap bottle at home. I could see that’s all that was on Greg’s mind. When we arrived back home, Greg grabbed the longest screwdriver he could find, wedged it in the cap and took a hammer to it. After about 1 1/2 Greg finally removed the security cap and the bottle was still intact. All this could have been taken care of within five minutes to begin with though. I will never understand the mind of a man.
