Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Arizona: Goldfield Ghost Town

After we left Canyon Lake, we stopped at Goldfield Ghost Town
 






This was our attempt at a family picture.  From afar, it doesn't look too bad.
(And there is some sweet Arizona landscape in the back, too!)


But under closer scrutiny, you might notice someone doesn't look too happy about doing a family picture.  Can you find him?


Oh....there he is.


And one more...

Julia, I've got you covered in case you ever want to put out a CD. (I seem to have a bit too much time on my hands this morning.  Please forgive me :-)

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Arizona: Canyon Lake

I am still on Arizona time.  So are the boys, especially Caleb.  He wants to party like its 1999 until about 11pm every night. Then he wants to snooze until about 10 am.  We are working on it.
Greg and Julia live in Queen Creek, which is a suburb of Phoenix.  Our first full day there, we went to Canyon Lake by Superstition Mountain.  It was a 45 minute (windy mountain) drive from their house.  It was absolutely beautiful! 

After a particularly traumatic potty pit stop for Seth at a camping site bathroom (I shudder just to think of it.  It was Seth's worst nightmare, as the thing he hates most in life are flies and they were there in abundance) we arrived at the lake.  It is in the middle of a beautiful canyon, and we rented 2 boats to cruise around and explore.

Here are some of the views we had from the boat:



Our boys have never been on a boat before.  I don't mind saying that I was a *tad* bit nervous about Caleb being on a boat.  He can be a bit on the unpredictable side in his reactions to new things.  We were on a pontoon boat, and the only thing separating him from the lake was a rather flimsy metal railing.

I shouldn't have been worried.  It was pretty much one of Caleb's happiest hours of his short life.





Seth rode in the other boat with Grammi and Grandpa which is why I don't have many pictures of him enjoying the ride.  But trust me, he did!


From the looks of this picture, I would say Grandpa enjoyed it, too!


Steve and Caleb watching the other boat.


Here is Julia and I in our big sunglasses.  I think I remember making fun of my Mom for having big sunglasses back in the day.  Sorry Mom.


Our family portrait minus Seth.  We missed you on our boat Seth!


Nathan didn't like the boat so much.  We think he might have been sea sick, but aren't sure. He had the same, slightly pained, expression for the whole ride.



Our fearless driver/lake tour guide Greg:


(Julia, I added a little grungy texture to the edges of this one just for you.  
I was thinking of "you know who" when I did it :-)

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Back from Va-Cay '09

Sorry for the sore lack of posts for the last week.  We have been enjoying a sunny vacation in Arizona with our friends Greg & Julia!  Steve's Dad and step-mom also drove over from California to see us and we had such a great time with everyone.

Arizona is beautiful and there is no humidity there.  God bless Arizona for that!  (I hate humidity and I just so happen to live in one of the most humid cities in the USA).  Here is one of my favorite pictures that Steve took from the trip.


I will be posting more pictures from our trip, but I am still recovering from our 20 hour road trip back yesterday.  I am tired.  So instead, I am going to tell you a little secret about milk.

Milk?

Yes, milk.

We have been hearing concerning things in the news lately about the hormones they are giving to cows in order to make them produce more milk.  These hormones can cause early puberty in children, can alter their balance of estrogen and testosterone, and can also increase our risk of cancer.  Most dairies also give their cows routine antibiotics in order to keep them "healthy".

Hmmmm.  Hormones + Antibiotics = Healthy???

I know that lot's of people, including the Horvath's, have a hard time justifying the price of buying Organic milk.  I looked in the store today, and it was $6.50 per gallon.  We usually drink 2 gallons of milk per week between the four of us. Buying organic milk at that price would cost us $676 per year.

Here is the secret...Braum's.  Their milk is hormone and antibiotic free!  (Side note: My husband endlessly makes fun of their advertising campaigns because they are about 20 years out of date.  Have you been inside a Braum's lately or seen a commercial?  You would probably agree with Steve. They are really not putting their money into atmosphere & ambiance.)
Braum's milk = $3.50 per gallon.  Drinking 2 gallons per week, we would spend $364 per year on milk instead of $676.  Almost half the price!

Here is an excerpt from their website regarding their milk:

"We have always believed that the natural way is the best way. At Braum’s, we know that we can produce the best quality milk by feeding our cows natural, healthy ingredients. We do not inject our cows with hormones like rBGH to stimulate milk production and we don't add antibiotics to their feed.

We feed our dairy herd of 10,000 Holstein cows a mixture of alfalfa hay, corn, grain, whole cottonseed, soybean and more(the majority of the feed for our dairy herd is grown on our family farms.) This provides the cow with a well-balanced diet which is very important because what a cow eats directly affects the type of milk she produces."

I know that all the information out there can sometimes be overwhelming, and one can start to feel like EVERYTHING causes cancer and disease.  But milk is something that some families consume a large quantity of daily, and if there is an alternative out there that doesn't cost anymore than an additional trip to another store, I thought I should pass along the info!



Saturday, June 6, 2009

Garden Progress

Corn


Okra in the front, green beans in the back


Peppers


Jalapeno


Squash


Green Bell Pepper


Faithful husband tending the garden.  He waters it by hand every day!


Thursday, June 4, 2009

Knitting Progress

If you remember my first knitting post, you will recall that my scarf looked like this a few short weeks ago.


Now it looks like this!


I could have had it finished by now, but I got *side-tracked* by starting another project before finishing this one.  Janessa was working on a blanket, and she was making such fast progress!  I felt the need for some instant gratification, so I started on a blanket, too.  One of the reasons it goes so much faster is that we are using bigger, fatter needles.

Janessa has a really creative idea using knitting to helping orphans.  When she gets her thoughts and ideas together in a blog, I will be letting you know!

We are leaving on vacation tomorrow, so I am hoping to finish both my scarf and the blanket. Lofty goals....we'll see!