Fall Getaway

This past weekend the kids had Thursday and Friday off for "Fall break". My husband took off Friday and we headed for cooler weather in search of the true "Fall". We spent our first night in Camp Verde but traveled up to Flagstaff Friday afternoon. We went to Locket Meadow, an absolutely beautiful area on the north side of Humphrey's Peak. The ride there was all dirt road and a bit on the edge with lots of bumps along the way. It was one of those trails for one vehicle, we were in our big truck so when we encountered another vehicle it was always interesting. We made it up and then down safely and enjoyed the adventure. We saw beautiful aspens that were yellow and with their white bark it was awesome. There was a little pond with an awesome view above it. I could picture our log cabin there with the smoke coming out of the chimney.... :) We made it down just before night fall. On Saturday morning we had tickets for the Verde Canyon railroad. That was a 4 hour train ride through some really pretty picturesque landscape. After we got off the train we headed up to Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon, in search of more fall leaves. Sedona is always beautiful, haven't ever been there when it wasn't. Oak Creek canyon is so awesome and there were so many tent campers. We headed back up to Flagstaff after going through Oak Creek Canyon. We spent the night at the same hotel we usually stay at, Innsuites. They have a wonderful breakfast, for a family of 4 it's a great deal. I was sad that the hotel hadn't progressed much with it's renovations though. Our room was pretty dated, but it was comfy and quiet, since the railroad isn't far away. Saturday night it got down to 19 degrees! After our yummy breakfast in the morning, they serve a wide variety, scrambled eggs, biscuits & gravy, Belgium waffles, yogurt, fruit, cereal... we headed back to Locket Meadow. Different time of day, different lighting and to our surprise different colors. The yellow leaves had already turned orange. The kids loved the adventure ride up again. They played near the pond and threw rocks at it, it was ice mostly. It was so nice to be in the fresh air and hear absolutely no sounds but the great outdoors! After visiting our new favorite spot in Flag, we went to Sunset Crater. We had taken our daughter there about almost 6 years ago just before our son was born. Our son had never been there, and our daughter was only 7 at the time and didn't remember being there. There hasn't been any volcanic activity in the area in 800-1000 years. It was amazing to see the life that was growing in all the black areas, it looked as if there it was the site of a great tragedy and new life rose through it all (I know that's pretty dramatic, it's been 800-1000 years after all) Once we left Sunset Crater, it was time to head back home. We got in early evening and it was good to once again be home. It's always a bonding experience to take a road trip with the family, to get away from all that pulls everyone in different directions and regroup and spend time together.

Schnepf Farms Pumpkin & Chili Fest

Yesterday we went to a local farm that has a yearly Pumpkin & Chili Fest. Normally the cost is $14 per person. They have some discount tickets available through Fry's grocery store which makes it $12. I found a better deal yet, I went to their website and for yesterday only they had a deal for half off, $7!! Huge savings, love it! They had rides for the kids, younger and older :) My husband and I went on the roller coaster with our son. Our daughter brought a friend a long and they would spend some time with us and then go on some rides alone together. They also had a couple of areas where you could toast marshmallows. My son especially got a kick out of that. He did several for me, yummy. I'm sad to say while we were around the fire, a little boy around 2 or 3 years old was also there with his large family. I took notice that he was getting closer to the fire than I would have allowed my child even at almost 6 now. After the fact now, I feel like I was prompted to pray for his safety but didn't clue into it quick enough. His family was with him, I just assumed he'd be ok, not thinking that I noticed him for good reason. I remember commenting in my head how grown up my son looked roasting marsh mellows and how he didn't seem afraid at all handling the marsh mellow the was on fire, only a little. Next thing I knew the little boy must have burned himself, he was screaming. Anytime the spirit prompts us to pray, brings something to our attention like that, just a reminder we need to follow that. Afterwards my son was concerned for him, he mentioned to me Mommy we need to pray for him. Right after it happened I was upset that his family hadn't watched him closer, then It all turned and I was upset with myself for being judgemental and prayed for him.
We ended up staying til around 9:30. The weather was totally awesome, it was our first cool down. It was beautiful outside and finally started to feel a little like fall.

Girly Comments & Graphics

Sunday Drive

Long time no blogging..... Life has been kind of hectic around here. My mornings are pretty busy, they have become routine that way. My little guy gets home late morning. Our family really needed a Sunday drive this past weekend. We love getting out and doing things and especially exploring and it had been awhile since we'd done that. We headed up about 1 1/2 hours from where we live to the cooler pines of Payson. It's one of my favorite places beside Prescott. We took our dog on her first trip. Normally she can go across town but it's never for very long. We put her in the back of our truck and brought the kennel along for her to get some shelter in if she needed it. She was awesome and enjoyed the day as much as we did. We have a spot we like to go to where there is a creek and beautiful cliffs above. The kids wadded in the water and we skipped some stones. I actually skipped my first one, first try too! It was so nice to get away from the heat. We are still experiencing temps. close to 100 where we are. It's slowly starting to cool down we should be seeing low 90's soon. By the end of October it should be great weather. I've been getting a little cabin fever lately, I think we all have it felt good to get out and play. Afterwards we just sat in the woods and enjoyed the peace. What a refreshing day it was!

Happy Anniversary

Yesterday, September 5th was our 16th Wedding Anniversary! We went out alone to dinner, originally we headed to the Melting Pot. Benihana caught our eye so we thought we'd give it a try. When we lived in Florida one of my favorite restaurants was Arigato. At Arigato the Chef comes and cooks for you and the food was awesome. At Benihana they also come to cook for you, it's pretty entertaining to watch. Afterwards we felt like we needed to walk off what we had eaten. We went to an outdoor mall and window shopped for a bit. We had a nice evening alone together. We are so Blessed!

Fresh & Easy deal for a Labor Day Cookout

If you live near a Fresh & Easy Market I have a deal for you! I bought 4 fresh Grill Packs which EACH consist of 4 Italian sausage, 4 burger patties and Chili Citrus Cilantro Seasoned Chicken thighs and drumsticks a total of 4 lbs. 11 oz each pack and 1 chocolate almond bar for my honey for $15.34 tax included. They have coupons where you can spend $20 and get $5 off, thus the reason I had to buy the candy bar. The Grill Packs are on special I believe through Labor Day for $4.99 each. In this picture I am showing 1 complete pack and the other is taken apart so you can see what is included. So for what I spent I actually get a total of 16 burgers, 16 Italian sausage and LOTS of chicken. What a great Labor Day cookout. Another way to use it could be by each meat only. That's enough burgers or enough sausage for 16 people. Depending on the size of the gathering you have, you could have 3 get togethers, 1 with chicken, 1 with burgers..... Cool hugh? :) The burgers are just unseasoned patties but we put McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Steak seasoning on them, yummy! We love to cookout and since we have a family of 4 we could even have 12 meals out of all this if we wanted to do it that way. Granted we may get pretty sick and tired of it unless we do it over a long period of time. We will freeze some of it, they'll freeze fine.
Had to share the deal :D HAPPY LABOR DAY!

My Yard is for the Birds Ü

This afternoon I saw the Love Birds next door in some pine trees. They flew towards our backyard so I went to see if I could find them. I wasn't able to find them but found this sweetie. From what I've heard a few years back nearby some Lovebrids escaped from a nursery and they have just multiplied and continue to live in the area or so the story is told.

My Yard the Bird Sanctuary

When we came home from school this morning we saw a wood pecker on the porch. I told my son to come over quietly and take a look, it soon flew away. Then we took a look at all the birds in the grass and we saw the Love Birds came back! A short time ago there was about 6 Love Birds hanging out sometime over the summer, but they seemed to have moved on, we hadn't seen them in awhile. I did the best I could to get a shot of them. It was cloudy out today and they were in the shade, I could only get so close so the pic is a little dark and not very clear. I wish I'd been able to get a better shot no telling when they may come back again.

Not to early to start planning for Christmas

A friend of mine e-mailed me the link to this great site that can help you get organized for Christmas. I love it, a plan to make it go more smoothly, couldn't we all use that, or at least most of us? Christmas is my favorite Holiday and if I start planning now, I'll have more time to enjoy it. You can click on my post title to be connected to the "Organized Christmas" website.

This was taken from the "Organized Christmas" website:

Welcome to the Holiday Grand Plan!
By Cynthia Townley Ewer

You've decided: this is the year you'll celebrate the holiday season from a home that is clean, organized and ready for Christmas. You dream of holiday parties, overnight house guests, Christmas cookies, a decorated home and a calm and stress-free holiday season.

There's only one problem: right now, you're living in domestic chaos. Looking around your home, you don't know where to begin.

Cluttered counters, crammed closets and out-of-place possessions pile up everywhere. Dust bunnies and ceiling cobwebs announce that deep-cleaning is long over-due, and the guest room? Forget about it! It's home to moving boxes, unfinished crafts and last winter's stained jackets and unmatched mittens.

To have the holiday of your dreams, you need more than just a gift list and good intentions: you need the Holiday Grand Plan, a tried and tested roadmap to Christmas in a clean and organized home.

Written by Katie Leckey with contributions from the Prodigy Homelife Get O group in 1992-1993, the Holiday Grand Plan is the Web's oldest Christmas organizing plan.

By breaking down all the tasks needed to clean and organize the house and prepare for the holidays, and dividing them into weekly assignments, the Holiday Grand Plan will help you reach the season calm, centered and ready to celebrate from a clean and organized home.

Holiday Grand Plan 2008 begins on Sunday, August 31, and continues throughout the holiday season. Based on Katie's companion Spring Cleaning Grand Plan, the Holiday Grand Plan combines holiday prep, home organizing and cleaning components.

Browse each week's assignment for cleaning and holiday prep using the links below. Free printable checklists and calendars make it easy to plan your progress and organize each week's goals.

To read more go to the site by clicking on my post title above.

Thanks for the rain God!

Thanks God! Even though I have complained so much about the heat He brought rain. It cooled things down so much. It's 75 degrees outside this morning!!! The temp. will go up but the rain brought a cool down.

Oh wow was I convicted about my complaining this morning. Sometimes I need little wake up calls. I LOVE Joyce Meyer and have been trying to watch her on a daily basis when I am able. She talked about grumbling and complaining this morning. No matter how long I've been a Christian, I could always use these little snaps back to reality, I like to think I'm always learning. Think about the Isrealites and all their grumbling and complaining and God's provision but yet they contiued to complain and for 40 years they complained. They could have gotten out of their curcumstances so much sooner if they just quit all their complaining. If I believe God is in control, maybe my circumstance for that moment are good for me that I'm going through (that was somewhat quoted from Joyce Meyer). For those of us that have children, how annoying is it when we are trying to do good for our children and they are complaining the whole way. As I'm sure God feels when I complain, nobody really wants to hear it. Really, we tell ourselves it's good to get it off our chests, I don't think so, maybe just a change of my attitude, I think I just need to be thankful for whatever the curcumstances and remember God's in control and he knows what's best for me. I must need to learn something, if He's taking me down that road. The less I complain about it the quicker I'll get through it.

Philippians 2:12-18:

12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed–not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence–continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

14 Do everything without complaining or arguing,

15 so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe
16 as you hold out[1] the word of life–in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.18 So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.
New International Version (NIV)

I'm gonna go enjoy the cooler temps ;)