Tucson, part 2 (jeep excursion)

So, continuing on from part 1 (Below, if you haven't read it yet, go! Do it now, I'll wait).....

Friday morning, after breakfast, everybody loaded onto their respective buses to partake in an excursion of their choice. You could choose from golf, skeet shooting, cattle drive, cooking class, spa, airfield tour, etc. I chose the jeep desert excursion. Gene chose the cattle drive (but didn't take his camera).

The bus drove our group a half hour to a ranch where we then loaded on to the jeeps and drove another half hour, through the Sonoran desert, to Hohokam Indian ruins. It was really beautiful--much more than I expected and our ranch hand/driver informed us all about the different varieties of plants and cactus and birds, etc. He even stopped to get a fruit off a Barrel Cactus to slice up for each of us to taste (very savory, I might add).

On the way back, as we were passing through some BLM land, we got stopped by the BLM Boarder Patrol (being only 45 miles from the Mexican boarder). These rangers took their job very seriously and took time to inspect each of the dozen or so jeeps. They even called in a federal helicopter, which started circling us like Vultures, all the while the company camera crew kept filming and snapping pictures for Saturday nights entertainment (a compilation show).
So, let me show you the desert of Tucson.....

The ranch where we boarded the jeeps incidentally was the same ranch that Gene went to for his cattle drive (which he said was a blast...and very dirty). I just think this is so iconic, so picturesque. I love the windmill!

Our convoy of jeeps.

This was our driver/ranch hand. A true, bad-ass cowboy. Really. He was super knowledgeable about the desert, quite serious, though humorous a bit, and I never even got his name (this could be a country song).

The hillside at the Hohokam ruins were simply FILLED with petroglyphs. Our driver warned us to not lift up, or look under rocks because of snakes or scorpions and to never back up because of cactus!

A close up of a petroglyph that apparently means 'water', as in "Where the hell is the water? I'm dying of thirst out here!".

A close up of a Saguaro cactus. Just gorgeous... in a forbidding sort of way.

A close up of a barrel cactus fruit, like the very ones we ate. They are more savory than sweet and taste a bit like a yellow pepper, and make your mouth salivate, which is apparently what will keep you from dying were you to get stranded in the desert.


Ah! Now, did you know that the difference between a cactus plant and a 'desert plant' is that a cactus's thorns radiate from a center point, as opposed to a desert plant who's thorns are singular in alignment. I don't remember what this cactus is, I just thought it was pretty.


Another beautiful cactus...


...and a Prickly Pear cactus flower. Gorgeous.


The BLM rangers questioning the jeep drivers, inspecting 'papers' and generally raining on our parade. Though I don't suppose I blame them, given the risks of their jobs.

The company camera crew filming as a helicopter circles our group of jeeps. This camera man got very annoying (on purpose) and got the ranger to say "Get that camera out of my face!" which was used in the video montage the next night--our jeep excursion played to the tune of 'Cops' ("bad boys, whatchya gonna do..when they come for you"). It was hilarious. (Incidentally, the cooking class was a spoof on 'Top Chef', and the cattle drive was a spoof on the Old Spice commercial "look at your man, now back to me, now back to your man" spoof, cuz they were on horses. hehehe)

A dead Saguaro cactus--probably several hundred years old--very woody ribs with an outer husk.

Another ranch hand at the Hohokam ruins. This is me pretending to be an artistic photographer.

Tucson, part 1 (hotel and dinner)

A couple months ago my husband came home from work with a gift bag, and announced to me that he had earned an award for making the top 1% (nationally) in goals at his work--and that the award was a four-days/three-nights all expenses paid retreat to Tucson, Arizona in April. Woot! It's called the President's Circle of Excellence and out of 27,000 employees nationwide only 170 get to attend (along with their guests).

I've blogged about the times when Gene has made the 'Bravo' events here and here (plus another one that I forgot to take my camera to). Bravo is based on a six month review of the local employees and he's made that three or four times in his career, but to make it at the national level in the 'President's Circle' is really quite the achievement! I'm very proud of him!

We had so much fun--at first I thought I'd be apprehensive and feel guilty about leaving my kiddos for so long, but we left them in the very capable hands of my niece, Alyssa so we had absolutely no worries. We were pampered and spoiled the entire time, around the third day I thought "I could get used to this reeeeal fast!"

Anyway, I've broken the trip down into three posts because of the plethora of photos and information. Oooooh, so many fun stories to tell, but can I just say how much I really enjoyed Tucson...and how much I love hotel rooms?! Seriously, every time I'm in one I fall in love all over again. Just sayin'. So, please come with me on our retreat to Tucson.....

After a lay over in Phoenix and a half-hour bus ride to the hotel, what's the first thing we did? Get on the laptop. They had ran out of rooms with King beds, but we got our own private balcony. Here's Gene looking forward to the weekend.

The view from our room: a hill with Saguaro cactuses (cacti?), or as someone said 'a forest of giant pickles'. ;)

About 4 hours after arriving I got a pedicure by a guy who reminded me of Prince. After only 3 hours of sleep and 5 hours on a plane my feet are ridiculously puffy.

We got to the hotel before noon and had the entire afternoon to do whatever we wanted, then at 6:00pm dinner was served in a 'meet & greet' fashion. All 170 employees and their guests mingled and listened to Mariachi bands.

There were probably a dozen stations with different foods from seared Ahi Tuna to macaroni & cheese balls, from baby-back ribs to pulled pork over a bed of beans. Here is a salad bar (loved the avocado halves w/ crab salad at the end).

This was one of my favorites--a cornbread pancake w/ brisket & slaw. Yummo!

Here's the dessert buffet w/ berry cobbler, s'mores, churros, flan and...

...peanut butter cups. I thought they were pretty, but didn't have one (not a fan of PB & chocolate together. Now you know).

We mingled until 11pm, and then when we got back to our hotel room we had a gift waiting (more on that later). Here's the breakfast buffet in the morning. Already I was feeling like I was aboard a cruise ship, as I've heard rumors about the abundance of food around every corner!

And, my personal fav, the waffle and 'lemon souffle' pancake bar. I mean really! They had quiche, Irish oatmeal w/ creme brulee atop, breakfast burritos, panini sandwiches, a pastry bar to die for (seriously, just looking at it could give you Diabetes) and every milk (if you prefer goat) and juice you could ask for. Thursday's dinner and Friday's breakfast = 10 lbs gained alone. I kid, I kid. But seriously. On to part 2.....

butterflies and bike rides

At the beginning of April we ordered, through the mail, some caterpillars for Sarah's butterfly habitat. It's been reminiscent of being in elementary school again--watching these creatures daily to see them grow and transition. It's so cool. Sarah, Emma & Morgan have really loved watching them and holding them (though it scares Morgan a bit). It's amazing the transition they go through in such a short amount of time--their entire life span is only 2 months!

~BUTTERFLIES~

The caterpillars come in these cups along with their 'food' and a paper disc underneath the lid, to which they will attach their cocoons. Here we have 10 small caterpillars (and they doubled in size almost daily).

Four caterpillars had already made their cocoons, and this one lone caterpillar circled around and around, like a dog before a nap, until he found his perfect spot to hang.

Once all the cocoons have attached themselves to the lid, we peel off the paper disc and pin them to the inside of the habitat.

After 10-14 days we got butterflies! They eat nectar and are colorful on the inside of their wings.

So far we have six butterflies. If we keep them warm and fed they should mate, lay eggs and start the whole process over again. Amazing huh?!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today we went on a family bike ride along the Jordan Parkway. Yesterday we got Sarah a new bike for her birthday (dang those kids for growing!), and we wanted to try it out. So we packed a picnic and headed to the park after church. We biked 2.5 miles to a nature preserve and then back again. Emma was quite the little trooper for riding her own two-wheeler ALL THE WAY--with out complaining or even falling! I told her how impressed I was that she biked 5 miles at only six years old! The weather was beautiful and it was just a pleasant day being out in nature!

~BIKE RIDE~

Our little picnic at the park.

Sarah and her new bike "with gears even". (She has this silly thing about tilting her head to the side for pictures.)

Emma doing a great job at keeping up with the rest of us (Morgan's on the back of Gene's bike).

Sarah, Gene, Morgan and Emma at the nature preserve 2.5 miles down trail. We got home just before dark. Can't wait until things turn green to do it again!

easter activities

For some reason it is taking me forever to a) WANT to type and b) UPDATE this blog. I get the not wanting to type thing (given my hand cast/splint thing that gets in the way) but I'm lacking my blogging mojo lately and I don't know why. So these are a bit late (but I adjust the time/date stamp for chronological journal purposes), and I'm sorry but I figure better late than never!

Since Easter was on Conference weekend we didn't do the Easter dress thing, but rather enjoyed a lazy morning in our pajamas (searching for our baskets) and then spent a yummy dinner at Jeff and Felicia's and then enjoyed a visit to Lorraine's house. Other pics below include the traditional Easter Egg Hunt at my friend Michelle's house which was so much fun as usual! Enjoy some pics from our Easter adventures.

Morgan, Sarah & Emma found their Easter baskets and loved what the Easter bunny brought them!

The lawn at Michelle's house before the kids got to it.

Ready...set...go! Emma, Morgan & Sarah searching for eggs.

Sarah won an egg coloring kit from the prize draw.

Emma won a little stuffed bunny.

The kids spent the morning playing while we adults chatted.

Sarah and Levi, Michelle & Alex's son, get along sooo well!

All the families posing for a photo op! We had so much fun--Thanks Michelle & Alex!

The Friday before Easter we dyed our eggs (and the table cloth)...

Sarah loves blue!

Emma had fun with the stickers!

Morgan having fun making a mess! ;)

The fruits of our labors.

the fingah

So... this is probably more for me to have medical documentation/journal than anything else, but here's the scoop on my fingah (say it like an angry Italian lady).

Like I said in my last post I injured my finger while tubing at Soldier Hollow and attempting to slow down the tube before crashing into some kids. I succeeded at avoiding the kids, but my hand hit the concrete-hard snow in the process and jammed my finger. Luckily it was at the end of the day so we were able to enjoy ourselves up to that point. After a couple days of waiting and watching my finger to see if the swelling would go down I decided to hit the InstaCare for an opinion. The Dr. took an X-ray and discovered that it was fractured and dislocated and referred me to a hand specialist at Alta View.

The hand specialist numbed it, tugged on it and put it in a splint and took more X-rays and discovered that it was still dislocated, which told him that the ligaments were also torn and that it required surgery (sutures and pinning). They had to cut off my wedding ring. Sad. Surgery was a little surreal, as it was a partial general anesthesia and as I was coming out of it I could hear sounds of the pin being cut, the doctors talking about going on a cruise, etc. My hand was in a splint, then a cast, and now a splint again that will last for another 6 weeks. Yesterday I got the pin removed (holy hell that hurt!) and today I started hand occupational therapy for range of motion. It is very stiff and hard to bend and hurts, but I'm supposed to warm it up first and then massage it for about 5 minutes 10 times a day. All of this seems sooo CRAZY for such a small appendage, but they say I'll never be able to bend it if I don't start now.

My ring finger all swollen the day after tubing.

Waaaaaah! My cut wedding ring. :(

Xray of my finger post-op and the pin through all 3 bones.

The tip of the pin.

The Dr. said the ligaments were 'blown'. This is 8 stitches later post-op.

My hand all bruised and swollen

The pin (compared to my index finger) and after the Dr. bent the tip because I wanted to keep it.

The splint that I need to wear for another month.