Some long overdue introductions.
Back last December when we got Bella we told the lady we had no intentions on breeding her, and we didn't. We figured we had a couple of months to get her fixed so we waited. I went back to work for the tax season and Bella went into heat. Braxton our un neutered male had been put out to stud once before and the owners never saw him "hook up" with their female, and except for sniffing he didn't show any interest. I just figured he didn't know what to do.
So Bella is in heat and Brax seems to care less. I came home one night after the family had gone to bed

and I found those two hooked up in the living room. It seems Brax was a little shy and only accomplished his deed when know one was around.
Fast forward to May 30th and we are blessed or cursed ;) with 6 beautiful puppies, 3 males 3 females.
Because we never intended for this to happen we were just going to try and sell them for $150. They are pure bred Boxer. Rob stopped by the vet 7-8 days after they were born to see about getting their tails docked. It seems we missed the cutoff date, tails must be docked 3-5 days after birth. We could still get them done but it would require anesthesia and double the amount.

So this is why we have boxers with tails. Come to find out, most countries have outlawed docking tails, except the US and UK.
When it came time to find them families we found it hard to find good homes. One male now called Buddy went to an acquaintance of Robs. My brother Mike and his family took two a male they named Gambino and a female they named Sasha.
The whole family talked my mom into taking the last two girls. So that left us with our one male.
 Bella is now fixed, so we can guarantee to not have a repeat performance. Fast forward to now.

For a short while we had 5 dogs running around our house, 3 in potty training. Then we lose Braxton and from talking to my mom she really doesn't want the girls. I go into grief mode and all of a sudden I have two families wanting the girls, but they are not families that would take good care of them, if you know what I mean. I refuse to let them go and now with moms help the dogs are one big happy family.
The puppies are now 4 1/2 months old and tomorrow our male is getting fixed.
So let me introduce everyone.
From the top you have Bailey, originally named Spazzy, who is now an absolute love but don't get her riled up she looks like she can take a hand off when wrestling with her brother and sister, heck even Bella. Next up we have Ana, short for Anasana. This is the pup that Chelsea has proclaimed as hers and she named her. We shortened it to Ana because it can be a tongue twister. Ana can be the spaz but overall pretty mellow. For a while Ana didn't have a collar and the dogs were tearing up her neck when they played. Now that she has a collar on all her wounds have healed and they just drag each other around by their collars. Also Ana breaks our  B names for our Boxers, we tried to get Chelsea to pick a B name but she loved Ana.
Last up is our boy Bacon. Yep, Rob named him Bacon.
Do you remember the Chevy Chase movie Funny Farm and yellow dog. Bacon is similar to yellow dog. It can be mass dog wrestling chaos and he is lying in bed asleep. Out of all our dogs he seems to be the most introverted and mellow.
It has been so cool to watch them grow and change but right now we are in the process of training them to not jump, dig, to sit (which they do only for treats). We are having to revamp our garden plans because they are all diggers. If you know a way to stop them please pass it on.
Anyway, one day last week I told Rob I needed to get current photos of the "kids" and Ana decided that she couldn't let Bailey have all the fun being on the couch with dad.They are hysterical when they are all excited and jumping on each other to get attention or a treat, but right now I really wish I had a doggie door, see I'm their doggie door opener right now and its getting tiresome, the constant in and out.
Soo this is our clan, one we hope to raise up to be good, obedient dogs that are a pleasure to be around. It sure is interesting to say the least.

*Carrie*

 This is going to be the short, short version of what we have been up to the last couple of weeks.
Wyatt's had a school assembly where he received his award for academic excellence. This is for Reading and Math he scored 71% in reading and 62% (I think) in his class. I just know is numbers were more than double the rest of his classmates.

Spent the weekend with my juniors up at Whispering Pines Girl Scout camp. The girls had a great time. This is Kelly and her bff Madison. These two have been together since Kindy.

 Took a family day trip up to Marshall Gulch on Mt Lemmon. My favorite place to go and one that the kids can roam around for hours. We did this on fall break because...

Uncle Chuck was visiting from Maryland. My absolute favorite brother in law.

We took another day trip down through Sonoita and Patagonia, beautiful views, where we stopped and went through some of the cutest shops.

 These absolutely amazing tree outside a gallery that was closed. A dream tree, just gorgeous.

Uncle Chuck the night before he had to head back home. Bummed us all out, wish he would visit more often or that we could go see him.

And last night we joined the girl scouts and saw Disney on Ice- Princesses Tiana, Cinderella and Rapunzel. I took 343 photos! When I told my mom she asked if I saw the show, of course, each photo is a memory of a beautiful show.

So that is what we've been up to the last couple of weeks as I've tried to get out of my funk, which I think I have.

Now we are geared up for the coming holiday season.
Lord, have mercy on me, lol
*Carrie*

 Its been over two weeks, but with great sadness our boxer Braxton has passed away.
On Sep. 20th we left to go to karate practice and home church not realizing that the back gate hadn't been closed properly. All the dogs got out but thankfully our neighbor on the corner was able to get Bella and the 3 puppies back in the yard. Braxton ran across the street and wouldn't come to the neighbor. That night we didn't get home from home church until after 11pm, we found a note on our door and went out searching. We called for him, drove around the neighborhood, waited at the end of alleys calling for him.
We stopped at midnight but we were right back outside calling at 5:30am. We walked up and down the street, calling him, carrying his lease for when we found him. He was wearing his harness with his name tag on it.
 By mid morning I had called animal control and humane society, posted a picture ad on craigslist.
No one had seen him.
I had driven down every alley in our neighborhood and asked almost every person I saw in their yard.
By Friday night, I was stressed and worried, really worried.
Saturday morning we posted flyers with his picture around our area and then we had to finish getting ready for Kelly's birthday party.
It was during the party, when a friends son walked over that he spotted Braxton.
His body was still across the street where he was last

seen. It looked like he had just laid down and went to sleep, he wasn't hit by a car. We didn't see him because he was between a tree and a rock and with his coloring he blended right into the environment.
I tore myself up over this, thinking that he was within hearing distance of our house that whole time. He was about 4-5 houses away. That he was so close this whole time and how many times had we drove past. When we had done our morning walk on Friday we walked up one side and down the other but just as we reached our street we cut back across the street toward our house, it we had kept going straight we might have seen him.
All we can figure and hope was that he passed before we even got home. It has broken my heart and I have been so angry. I could understand an accept it better if Brax had died in the yard or on his dog bed but not being with us and yet so close just tears me up. As Rob said to me Sunday morning, he lives on in his puppies and I'm not about to let any of them go. They have been around long enough that I'm attached. Its kinda crazy with 4 dogs and our yard will never win any awards but I don't care. I see a little bit of Brax in all of them and they are family. He was a great dog and like most boxers noisey but thankfully not a big licker, just a big lover. He was 7 years old and his age was becoming a factor, his coat had gone from fawn and white to lots of white, he preferred to sleep on his bed or on the floor on my side of the bed. I loved that I could leave him in the house for a few hours without having to worry about anything being eaten or destroyed.
As I've written this, Bella has tried to crawl into my lap a few times, she has been great to hug on when I start to feel really sad. This time has also reminded me to take more pictures with our pets and of our pets. Because they are such a part of our lives they deserve some photo love.
*Carrie*

Yesterday my baby girl turned 10!
On Saturday we had her party and as you can see it was Monster High themed.
I painted the girls' faces as their favorite character and Rob sprayed their hair.
I must say Kelly's friends are so sweet and thoughtful.

The house was jammed with family and friends and it was comical watching everyone trying to get around each other to get food or drinks. Thankfully I had a few things planned that included being outside.

Here is most of the gang minus Chelsea, Wyatt and the cousins.
We have a Ghoulia,  Draculaura, Frankie, Clawdeen and Laguna. One young lady didn't want to be painted and another was a make your own ghoul. Crack me up.

I misspoke when I told Rob and Mikey to spray Kelly with the silly string. I meant after we sang Happy Birthday, but I guess I said when we sing Happy Birthday. That was hilarious and I almost missed it because I didn't really have the camera ready.

 After the cake and ice cream we gave each kid a can of silly string to take out front. Then the girls dived into opening up the presents to play with until their parents arrived.

I'm pretty sure they all had a great time, I know I did.

Taken from Pinterest but cannot find the source.

What an amazing week and each day something new or renewed sparks more thankfulness for who I am and for who/what is around me.
Thank God I'm not perfect and that I don't have to try to be.
Certain truths are sinking in and in it there is freedom and acceptance, not only for myself but for others.
I love the line that says, I make mistakes, but I own them. There is power in owning up to the words and actions that you use. I've been trying so hard to make my words count. To lift up anyone around me.
I found this pin and when I went to like and re post, I somehow lost it and no amount of searching on Pinterest could find it, until a friend put it on Facebook. I copied it to my clip art and would love to print it out where I can look at it and remind myself daily just how awesome(in humbling terms) each one of us are.
I'm working on getting the words out of my head and onto the page, words to inspire, think, and praise. Words that have been used time and time again but the message gets pushed to the wayside by a society that screams at us with print and social media.
What would our world look like if we accepted each other as we are?
 I know from my experience that when I have gotten to sit down and get to truly know someone all the superficial crap doesn't matter. On the inside we all have similar struggles some just hide it better, some seek to understand, others just stuff it down, whatever the case may be.
Each one of us has choices to make and some of us need to be loved on and shown that there are better choices.
This past weekend I worked on the question of how much faith do I have? The bible says if you have faith the size of a mustard seed and you ask the mountain to jump it will. Me being a visual person expects to see air under the mountain when it jumps. Our world moves and shifts everyday and after much thought I have to trust that just because I didn't see Oro Valley when the mountain lifted into the air doesn't mean it didn't move.
Do I have enough faith?
After this weekend I can say for sure that I have faith bigger than a mustard seed. :)
*Carrie*

Just like this bloom that was opening for the day, so
I am too blossoming in the love and knowledge of who God has created me to be.
Pretty heavy words to start a post but they ring so true.
I'll start with yesterday, I was doing some research for my retreat course and I was looking up ideas and scripture for my course notes.
I found so many people online who are doing what
I want to do, or they have something to say on the subjects that I feel that they are doing it better than I could.
I continued on, trying to ignore my lack of confidence, but it all came to a head last night. I had found a verse for something special planned and as I read through my LLM (Learning to Love the Master) manual, I broke down into tears as I struggled through why God has put me on this journey. I took my concerns to my journal and asked God for his answer.
And he gave me one.
You are a spark, to give hope and rest to those you will serve.
I cried.
It was during my tears that my friend LaDonna texted, Hey chickadee. We ended up having a conversation that I'm still sitting in.
We truly don't realize how we inspire or whose life we have touched by just being ourselves, that even when told this, it is hard for us to accept.
This morning as I continue to reflect, I saw today's daily truth from the Brave Girls club. Brave Girls daily truths
I just love how God works in our lives, especially when we open our eyes to see the beauty that is around us and inside each of us.
Last Wednesday I was shown quite blatantly that I'm on the right course.
Rob and I were sitting at dinner and out of nowhere it felt as if someone and just rushed up into my face and started yelling at me. I almost had to gasp for breath it was that profound. I have never had anything like that happen before. The words I heard were that; I wasn't going to do this retreat, to stop now before it was too late and that I wasn't good enough to do it and that the retreat wasn't good enough.
Once everything was spewed out I just sat there for a second, really that's about how long it took before the calm set in and I just knew that I was on the right track. I didn't really give the words a second thought because it was such a blatant attack that I knew it for the lies they were. I just kept thinking, Wow, I must be doing something right.
I have been shown over and over again that I am on the path set before me by my Creator. I'm willing to walk into whatever He needs me to because I know on the other side I will be better for it. It doesn't mean that the walk is easy or not without setbacks, but as long as I cast my eyes upon my Father each time I start to stumble, then I will walk into the person and life he wants for me. Its far better than I can dream for myself.
*Carrie*

Forgive me because I don't remember what site I got this photo from.
On Friday night the whole family watched Empire Strikes back and I must say it's such a hoot to hear my kids say, "I know that guy". "I'm trying to defeat Darth Vader now!"
You see for Wyatt's birthday he got the Ds game of the complete Star Wars Lego whatever. Now we are completing his training by introducing to him the story lines.
Saturday night we watched Return of the Jedi.
As I sat there and watched it brought back so many cool memories of have light saber fights in the front yard, me and a friend arguing over who got to play Leia and all sorts of adventures using the playground equipment from the elementary school next door.
I think as a young girl, Leia was someone to look up to, she was strong, smart and could kick some major butt.
I recently saw a picture on pinterest showing 6 women in today's culture that some girls idolized Kim K., Gaga, K. Stewart, Snooki and Kat VonD, below them are 6 women from various sci fi shows that they all kick major butt. I want my girls to learn that those 6 women that most girls idolize aren't worth idolizing. I want my girls to grow their strength in what God wants for them, to act with dignity, grace, service to others. I want them to use their minds and to love themselves as God loves them, with respect.
This was so not how I planned this post to go.
On Saturday morning I stole away for a couple of hours to just sit and work on my retreat. I have felt a desire to get away from all the noise so that I may hear where God is taking me. I'm hoping to have more time like this in the coming weeks until I have all the major kinks worked out.
I have finished my Walking in this World and my 5 Conversations to have with your daughter course. I'm now reading How to have a new kid by Friday, love Dr. Leman and 5 love languages of children. I hope to have both finished by this Friday. Already I'm looking into more studies just so that I can grow and understand more of how people operate. I must say it is opening my eyes and softening my heart to other peoples hurts. I don't want to try and fix them in so much as I want to understand where they are coming from.
*Carrie*

Big announcement this morning
I finished my Artists Way, Walking in this World, 12 week study!!!
So far I have never had a study meet me where I was at almost all the time. I learned so much not only about myself but how I process and sometimes avoid my one true passion. I'm so glad I did this. I kinda feel like this flower, starting to open up and bloom.
I'm making myself take a least a week off break before I jump in and begin the next book Finding Water. I would like to process and relax before diving right back in.

Another announcement this morning,
I had the craziest dream about cuttlebug folders and My little Pony.
Long story kinda short. Cuttlebug folders are embossing folders used in scrapbooking and card making and I received some for my birthday last week and have picked up a couple the other day. The My little Pony reference is because almost every morning after walking Kelly and Wyatt to school we watch a couple of episodes together on Netflix. Let's just say it was a crazily hilarious dream and I wish I could have finished it and remember more of it.

Let's see, Kelly is off her grounding and I'm beginning to read two books, Five love languages of children and Have a new kid by Friday . This momma is gonna be armed with love and discipline. New strategies to keep my heathens from becoming menaces to society. Nah, they're not that bad.
Last Friday Rob and Kelly had their first Daddy/Daughter Date. The two went bowling, enjoyed some
In-N-Out burger before going to see Madagascar 3. When Rob walked into the house that night he said that the movie is better than the first one and he wants to see it again. Awesome! They both had a great time and I hope this leads to more dates. I was home with Wyatt and Chelsea, we had pizza and watched the original Star Wars. He got the game for his DS and really had no clue about the story or who the cast of characters were, so we watched the movie. Very enlightening for him. Hopefully this weekend we can watch Empire Strikes Back.
I'm sure I could ramble on forever but I'm gonna get busy and enjoy my day.
*Carrie*

This shade of hibiscus is called Spin the Bottle, just FYI.
Have you every done a simple action that the reaction was greater (positive) than what you were expecting?
On two occasions this morning that happened to me.

Last night I cut out some vinyl for Wyatt's raingutter regatta boat to put on the sail and it turned out really well. Anyway, I also cut out a couple of crosses from the New Testament cricut cartridge. I applied one to my journal, because I kept getting the front and back confused, and the other I thought we could put it on the back of our truck. Rob saw it and said he wanted to put it on his journal. It received rave reviews from the people who saw it.

I decided to go take a quick picture of them.

Rob's cross is done in yellow and I'm in lime green.

I was thinking about crafting and time this morning and I was doing my best not to berate myself because I didn't do all that I wanted yesterday. I made a choice to watch Storm Chasers on Netflix instead. I started to think about my goal from over a year ago where I said I wanted to use each of my cricut cartridges. I haven't done very well with that goal and I have accumulated more cartridges since, go figure, huh!

I'm issuing myself another challenge. One to use my time more wisely and two, use these darn carts! I have some awesome images that can produce some beautiful home decor, cards, scrapbook pages, etc. Also I have bought some back issues of Cricut magazine and they have inspired me to craft more. Now I just need to break through and get busy.
I feel like I say this every few months but now its more of you HAVE to do this, and its not in a negative way at all. This is said in a more, this is who you are, amazing things happen when you create, and its part of your path.

Well hell, when you put it that way... (this needs to be a mantra)

Oh and as I was re reading this post I didn't mention the second thing.

My husband has always been the spiritual leader in our family, but he is very thankful for this new Carrie that has been emerging. I still look to him but I'm a better helpmate in spiritual matters than I have been before. We had an awesome talk at lunch today about how we are so in tuned to each other and how we define that biblical principle that we are one. We respect each other, we are the best of friends and we enjoy being together. We lift each other up when the other is struggling and right now he is the one that needs support. God knows he has done it for me so much over the last few years. I love the fact that we are both authentic about who we are whether we are together or apart, I just love us.

OK, enough of the gushy stuff, but I will say this, it was just one of those talks today that reaffirmed us. We're in this together. I couldn't have asked for a better partner.

*Carrie*

This will probably be a lot of rambling because I haven't posted in so long but if you love me, you'll forgive me.
As a family we've been dealing with one of our own and stealing. Stealing money from my wallet, books from school, you get the drift. We are going through our first grounding which in detail is being shut up in the persons room with no TV, ds or music. Your only companion is books. The duration of this grounding is two weeks. We are almost a week into it and have had more problems. We've done what the parenting books suggested. I'm praying we've made a turn in a better direction.
Tonight I had a serious heart to heart with my oldest. We talked about becoming the person God created us to be and knowing right from wrong and listening to our heart. We talked about what beauty is and what really matters.
All I can do is pray that she heard me. She seemed receptive and even offered up examples. I just need to continue to reinforce it. Growing up is so hard to do, and it seems so much harder now.
In our conversation we even began the birds and bees talk. Gulp. I tried to be as cool as my mom was with me; or at least I think she was cool. I guess the more we talk about it the more comfortable we will both get. I did praise my girl for the change in her attitude, she's no longer as negative as she used to be. I also did my best to reinforce her wonderful worth and how what she has to offer to the family is important.
I now have eyes that see and a heart that wants to see and make changes. With God's guidance that is all I can ask for.
On a continued, happier note, I'm about to finish a study for the first time. By myself. No one to hold me accountable but me. I feel awesome about that. A couple of years ago I did the Artists Way 12 week course and I never completed it (I think I stopped around week 8 or 10). Now I'm about to finish the second book, Walking in this World.  This book has really spoken to me right where I am right now. I realize now how much I have grown since I first started Artists Way almost three years ago. I was looking at my book the other day and saw how much I have put into practice what I thought I had forgotten.
After I finish Walking in this world I plan on happily starting the last book, Finding Water.
 I'm taking steps that will continue to grow me into a better person, the person God created me to be. I'm using all the potential people said they have always seen in me. And you know what? Its not scary at all. Its so freakin freeing. Once I stopped fighting it and went where my heart lead and is leading me, I'm happier and in a better place emotionally than ever.
I discovered over the weekend that the one thing I was/am struggling with is confidence. I can fake it til I make it but I was doubting my abilities and I found two verses in my bible that just hammered home. The first is from 2 Corinthians 3:5, Its not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own, our qualification comes from God.(NLT) and then second verse is Romans 15:13, I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.(NLT)
I'm working on a women's retreat course. I finally said it. This is for almost everyone.
You don't have to go to church to attend, you just have to believe in God.
It is something that has consumed my time, but in a happy way. This will be a course that combines some of my favorite things; journaling, art, food and pampering. I have huge dreams but I'm going to give this a test run in the spring of next year. When I have discussed the premise of this course, every woman has shown interest. I'm hammering out the details now. I dream of it being a weekend that will not only lift you up but show you how amazing you are and how much you have to offer yourself and those around you.
*Carrie*

Last night, Kelly and I walked out of Girls Scouts and so a cloud flash, by the time we got home we had seen a bolt or two so I set up the gear in the driveway. I sent this one into channel 9 and they posted it on their Facebook page. So far as I type this 260 people have "liked" the photo and 71 have shared it, but then 29,000 people like their page so I have the opportunity to reach that many.
But that isn't why I blogging today.
Really Carrie, its not all about lightning?
Heck no!
Last Thursday afternoon my kids asked if on Friday they could walk to school all by themselves. That they were getting to be big kids and wanted to walk alone. So I let them walk to school. I prayed for their protection and put the fear of God into them before they went. Yesterday after I picked them up from school and only day 2 of walking without me, Kelly asked if I would walk with them today. As we set off this morning I asked them how far did they want me to walk with them, Kelly says until the crosswalk. So I walked to the crosswalk with them. The crosswalk is where I normally say goodbye, but I was willing to go as far as they wanted me to.
I gave them a bit of freedom and they realized that they felt better with me along. My babies are not such big kids after all, and I am happy about that, because I know my time is short lived where they will want me to walk with them.
*Carrie*

 On Sunday the mother of all storms blew through Tucson. It knocked out power poles and left us in the dark for about 4 hours. The kids ended up spending the night at grandmas while Rob and I braved the powerless house. Thankfully the power came back on at 10pm.
After the kids left for grandmas Rob and I took a ride. I was determined to just enjoy the light show and it was Broadway worthy.
Rob and I kept oohing and ahhing over some of Gods light show and a couple of times you could overhear us say, "did you see that!"

We looked at the radar on my phone and noticed that another storm was about to come over the mountain. We drove home to get my camera and went to my favorite spot. I had two bolts that were soooo bright for the camera that they blurred like this second photo, but the top was my favorite for the night.
It is again that yearly want to have a wide angle lens. Which would be awesome because I sometimes miss a part of a bolt because it spread out so wide. I missed one big bolt that when it hit the air turned green and pulsed so I'm sure it hit a transformer or something, it was kind of eerie.
I love being able to go out with someone to take pictures, It gives me someone to talk to and I feel safer. When I'm by myself I feel like I'm always looking over my shoulder expecting to be jumped. No matter what though I'm not going to stop going out and I'm smart enough to be prepared, at least I hope so.
Tonight's weatherman is calling for more storms but it sounds like its going to be this afternoon. I'm thinking of trying to get some afternoon weather shots this time. Wish me luck if the storms come through.
*Carrie*

At about 8:30 last night I was dozing on the couch when I heard thunder.
I got up to check the skies and saw some beautiful cloud lightning to the north and to the northeast was some crazy bolts of lightning.
Since I was in my jammies and had no desire to go racing over to that side of town I decided to just sit back and watch the show.
After a few minutes I saw a bright flash on the northeast side. I went inside to get my camera just in case anything started to happen.
Oh and happen it did. I had my long lens on and just hoped a bolt would come into my view.
This monster came down and startled me. I knew I had gotten a piece of the bolts but wasn't sure how much.
This is what came into view after 30 seconds. Wowsers.
After this bolt there were a few more, but all just out of reach or I would catch a piece of it.
The pure joy of shooting lightning.
Whenever I have the chance to go out with Rob to shoot lightning, we talk about one day building a house with a  tower where I can get a 360 degree view of the city to take all the shots that I want. Imagine the sunrise and sunset photos, the clouds with rain. The amazing possibilities. We can dream.
I'll have to do another post of the shots that I got on Sunday night.
*Carrie*

First day of school!!
We have entered the 5th and 3rd grades. Whoo hooo!
As per tradition I do a head shot and a full body pose of each kid.
Guess who wasn't paying attention until we are walking to school and notice that I don't have a memory card in my camera?
Me.
Are you surprised? I'm not.
Thankfully I was only a few houses away so I could run back and grab the card. So, instead of my nice pictures I got this morning I snapped off these quickies. I just hope I can try and get better ones when they get out of school.
Also being the first day of school we have our traditional DQ treat tonight.
Once we got to school, it took us about 20-25 minutes to walk there we checked out the classroom assignments and discovered that Wyatt was placed into second grade instead of third.
Got that switched around and found out that one of Wy's cub scout buddies was going to be in his class. That is a huge relief because Wyatt didn't sleep well last night because he was nervous.

Kelly is in good shape because her best friend Madison is in her class and another former student from Tag that was in their class in now going to Ford. This brings it up to 4 or 5 kids that Kelly already knows and if I include mutual knowledge Wyatt knows about 4.
This is a huge weight off our shoulders because we didn't think they would know anyone and its always hard to be the new kid, thankfully there are several kids they know.
I'm very excited for them and can't wait to find out how their first day went.
Here is to a great school year!



*Carrie*

 On Monday we took a little road trip down to Benson to check out Holy Trinity Monastery.
I really wanted to share this pretty place with Rob and I wanted the kids to see all the peacocks.
We arrived around the monks lunch time so I knew we wouldn't be in the way. We cautioned the kids to keep a low voice and tried to explain to them how these gentlemen live.
I had Rob drive around to show them where we stayed and we got out to walk around the pond that was a few feet from our lodging.

 We had spotted a few peacocks as we drove around so I had Rob park up by the bookstore and we walked around. We walked around the big pond and up around the chapel garden before crossing through the meditation garden on our peacock search.
We occasionally would hear them call out but the darn devils were hiding out.
We found a pretty bird on the outside of the meditation garden and he let us get fairly close before starting to walk away.
I mention to Rob that he should go get the bread out of the truck so we can try to feed. As Rob

walked toward the truck, the peacock started to follow him.
This beautiful guy was hungry and we all were able to let him feed from of our hand, even Chelsea was able to sit still long enough for him to take food from her hand.
We loaded back up and went into Benson to have some ice cream before we headed home.
that was comical in itself. My kids looked like a couple two year old with chocolate around their mouths and melting ice cream on their hands.
The best part of the whole trip though was hearing Kelly say what an amazing time she had. That made it all worth it.

*Carrie*

 Seriously,  my boy loves Mario and what I realize is ironic is that he didn't receive anything Mario for his birthday.
We bought him a wii game and star wars Lego ds game, grandma bought him an awesome radio, Uncle Mike and Aunt Amanda got him a razor scooter and Nina signed him up for karate classes at the Y.
He's happy as a clam this week.
We did haircuts and back to school clothes shopping yesterday, went swimming at the Y on Monday night
To top it all off he lost another tooth this morning!

School starts tomorrow!!!
I don't think any of us is really ready, I know I'm not but it will be nice to have some normalcy back in the house.
I'll be back with more pictures of our day trip down to the monastery.
(after re reading my post I realized I typed out my thought process, my crazy mind was jumping around)
*Carrie*

Wyatt is 8!
We had a little family fun yesterday because his party is going to be this Sunday. We picked up some cupcakes and he received one of his presents and we just hung out together for most of the day.
 I'll do a complete run down of some of the party highlights this weekend but I couldn't wait that long to post an update.
To my crazy, drama boy,
You keep the world on its toes and a light shining bright in our home.
Love you buddy.    
                                                

*Carrie*

 Arizona Highways Friday Foto

Yesterday I submitted this photo to AZ Highways Friday Foto.
I've never submitted any photo there before, but I found it extremely satisfying to see my photo on their blog today.
I was actually stalking their blog all morning because I love a good monsoon photo.
Did you actually believe that last line?
Sucker!
From the looks of things they pretty much showed anyone who submitted a photo.
But who cares! Hundreds if not thousands of people are going to see it. Yeeeee HAWWWWWW!
One of my dreams is to actually have a photo in their magazine. It's something that I'm striving for.
Have a great one.
*Carrie*

On Saturday a group of 12 kids from on church came back from Fuge camp in Glorietta NM.
I was asked to "sponsor" one of the girls that went. Sponsoring is my way of saying that I provided a care package filled with goodies and inspiring cards for everyday she were there. I also had to connect with my young lady and pray with her before she went.
Oh and wouldn't you know it, I forgot to take a picture of the cards I made.
I wonder if she kept them? I'm gonna ask.
Anyway on Sunday the kids came back all filled with Holy Spirit and just charged from the camp.
One young lady in particular really caught my eye. Normally she is standing there watching everyone as they sing during worship. She doesn't usually smile and I don't think I have ever seen her sing. This time she was standing on a chair rocking out with this huge grin on her face.
Now most people would be totally aghast with standing on a chair during service but if the good Lord led this young lady, I say You Go Girl!

After services I was talking to her mother, and told her what I saw and how I wanted to tell her daughter how awesome she was but I was afraid of how it would come off, so I said I would send her a card. Her mom and Rob encouraged me to tell her but I wasn't confident enough and when I mentioned the card she said that was a fabulous idea because that is her daughters language, that she also sends her daughter notes.
With that in mind, me being me, I procrastinated a couple of days but yesterday I knocked this card out. I must say this is one of my favorite cards I've done. It's all my idea, not scrap lifted and one that I'm very happy with.

This card also represents my idea from a YEAR ago about using all my cricut cartridges. Considering that my cartridge number is now over 170, I better get my butt in gear.
This card used Nifty Fifties for the background, Rock Princess for the young lady and Phrases cart for the You Rock.

Oh and I forgot, yesterday afternoon I found out that I can download my cricut handbooks to my Kindle Fire! Oh yeah, baby. I spent most of the evening downloading handbooks from the library and then going into the shopping area to download the digital handbooks. Now I just need to go through my list and see what handbooks I'm missing and the ones that I waiting for cricut to update. To find out how to download the books just google it, there are lots of videos.
*Carrie*

It's the second wettest July on record but can you believe that its the first one I was able to photograph? And I almost decided not to go out and shoot.
Thanks goes to my children for driving me crazy enough that I looked over at Rob and said, "I'm gonna go shoot."
So glad I did.
My main priority is to be safe and once I was trying to find the storm I realized I didn't have a lot of time to get far enough away.
Granted this storm was miles away but lightning can strike up to 30 miles away.

I pulled up next to the airplane graveyard and got out, watching the sky, set up and got two shots. The second one made me nervous enough that I packed up and drove further east.
On Houghton rd, I pulled over by some dieing saguaros and tried to take a picture standing in the back of the truck. The wind was blowing enough to rock me so this second picture is kinda cool with the crisp lightning and the double exposed cactus.

I jumped down from the truck, set up again and hit the shutter button. I was just about to release it when I got this bad boy. My favorite of the group.
I was feeling like the storm was headed right for me so I scooted down the road to get a little more south.
The bad part about driving farther down Houghton is that there isn't any saguaros to help your composition.
That's where I took this zig zag, down here.
It was also the last bolt of the storm.

Looking back over my lightning photos from the last couple of years my best ones came from storms in August and September. My monsoon season isn't over yet!

*Carrie*

I'm sitting at the desk checking emails, I hear birds chirping and the hawks screeching.
The next thing I see is this little bird bounce off our screen door and fly off but hot on his tail is a hawk coming in with talons out front and he's trying to stop before he runs into the door. I get up an look out the window and the hawk is now sitting on the top of our porch swing before he flies into our tree.
I grabbed the camera and came outside just hoping to get a better picture. I obviously got just a bit too close because he flew over to the block wall.

 My hands were shaking so bad I was lucky to get this clear shot. As the camera was snapping away the second hawk flew onto another wall and then flew off. This guy proceeded to hang out for a bit.
He flew off the back wall and came over to the front wall and was now closer to me. I know he was still searching for food but it was cool to see his markings.
Eventually he flew up onto our neighbors fence. He turned his head to look at me and I could have sworn he was checking to see if I was still following.

withing seconds he jumped down between the gap that is between our fences and I didn't see him come back out so I'm wondering if he caught anything. Maybe he decided to eat it right there. I have no clue.
I'm just happy to show some crisp pictures of these guys, I know there are three but I have no idea who is male or not and I should give them names instead of hawk 1 and hawk 2. The third was is noticeably smaller, so he is easier to identify.
Hm mm....what should I name them?




*Carrie*

 I posted on Facebook last night that since I've had no lightning to chase I'll be hunting the hawks.
Last evening the pair were in my neighbors pine tree and then in this dead one. I was cruised over and at one point one of the hawks started making their noises and they met in the air in the middle of our road and you could see the mouse clutched in one of its talons.

Last night I was telling Rob that I needed a faster lens to get better pictures.
Just to clarify, I have the 75-300 you know the one that is only like $200? It is slower than molasses unless that is what your taking a picture of :0
We started talking about which type of lens I would need and the cost. HAHAHA! I don't see buying a new lens anytime soon unless we win Publishers Clearing house.
Plus, if I could buy a new lens, it would be a debate over a long lens, ultra wide or macro and lately I'm leaning toward the macro. I will continue to make due with what I have and do the best with it as I can.
So I will continue to follow this bird family and hopefully get some awesome shots.
*Carrie*

When your in a hurry you don't always get the best shots.
Sunday morning right before church, our local hawk landed on our wall trying to catch my lizards.
Hey, I like my lizards, they keep me entertained.
I scooted outside to take a picture when the second hawk flew up. I just kept my finger on the button hoping one of these would look OK.
They both flew away within seconds. I occasionally see them flying down the alley  like bullets about chest high off the ground.

Now fast forward to this morning.
I was out shooting the sunrise when I heard the familiar chirps of the hawks. I watched as they flew from light post to tree chasing the doves around.
Then the pair completely freaked me out.
I'm standing in my driveway, in my jammies, barefoot, when the pair decided to head straight for me, and then flew up into my palm tree. Seriously, they were maybe 6 ft from my head. I had both cameras in my hands and my adrenaline was rushing so bad I never thought to point it up until one of the hawks flew off the tree over my head away.
I was so pumped after that, that all my shots were pretty blurry from camera shake. As Rob and I talked this morning we were watching the skies we saw a third hawk. It looks like we have a family. I do know that their nest is only 4 houses away.
 I'm really hoping to get some awesome shots of these guys that I can frame for the house.

*Carrie*