Finally off the bottle!

No, I don't mean me. :-) Kayley was given the green light to get rid of the formula and get on whole milk out of a sippy cup. We all are in heaven about that development! As you recall, we have had a struggle from the beginning with her taking a bottle. Only through sheer strength and lots of walking through the house did we get her to take enough to thrive. Now our only concern is that she gets enough liquids throughout the day from the cup. She loves her solid food, though. Yes, life just got a lot easier here for all of us!

It was so nice last week but warmed up a little this week. I think we are through with that now, too. Before I know it I will need a long sleeved shirt in the morning and the kids will be wearing jeans outside to play. That will be different!

Mark has been harvesting beans. A breakdown here and there but sounds like he is rolling now. May the weather please cooperate for him!

I am having a blast watching Kayley go nuts with Teletubbies videos! She just goes bonkers when it comes on. Too funny...at least for grandma.

Can't believe it is almost October!

Where does the time fly? We will be carving pumpkins before we know it!

It was a nice week here. Not too hot and definitely not too cold! This week-end was a sports week-end for Andy and Megan. Had tickets to the Diamondbacks Saturday night and a Cardinals game tonight so I watched the grandkids both nights. The Cardinals had a very disappointing showing against Manning and the Colts but they seem to always be a great team with him in charge.

On a brighter note our Iowa Hawkeyes soundly defeated the 5th rated Penn State Nittany Lions so that was a great high point to our week-end! Have a great rest of the year Hawks!

I did manage to get in a great hike by myself Saturday morning. That is the one thing I dearly love to do in Arizona. So many beautiful trails! Other than that, not a whole lot to relate from this end of the U.S. Just enjoying the great weather and the grand kids.

Another video of guess who! :-)

Such a beautiful day!

It is just lovely here in Phoenix today. Cool breeze and nice temps. Maybe it has finally arrived...the weather we wait all through July and August to receive! Here's hoping anyway.

Grandpa Butch flew back to Omaha this past Monday after a week long stay. For some reason Drew thinks he is still at the airport. :-)

Kayley is getting more and more mobile even though she is not fully walking yet. This gal has NO fear which makes her tricky to watch. She is getting in to things Drew never did at her age. She will keep grandma on her toes. Drew is very good at pointing out to me (hollering, actually) if she is doing something she should not be doing. Drew is especially diligent about keeping her many feet away from his precious Thomas and Friends...

Mark was going to try beans so am anxious to hear if he actually got a field harvested. Only one field was ready and I think he thought the others might be a week or so behind them. Time to get harvest underway and over!

I took the kids on a walk yesterday and saw the aftermath of a horrific car-school bus collision right on Megan and Andy's cross streets. Two teen boys were killed when they broadsided the bus. The boys were estimated going 90 mph in a 40 mph zone and were almost completely under the bus. The accident happened at 7:20 am and at 10:00 they still hadn't lifted the bus off of the car and one boy was still trapped in the car. Five or 10 minutes either way and it could have been Megan, Andy or me. Makes you really stop and think...

A couple of videos from the week.

Live....it's Saturday night!!

and grandma is pooped! Started out the day with an early morning hike up to Shaw Butte. It is a fairly long trail that usually takes 2 hours but doing it alone today I shaved off 25 minutes from last week-end. I think I will pay for that feat. Going alone with my iPod and no one to visit with just makes you walk faster I guess! After the hike I stopped by Megan's and she and the kids were going for a walk so I went with on that, also. Like I said...I am pooped!

Dinner tonight was courtesy of Andy's dad and it was very delicious. Megan, Andy, the kids, Butch and I went to the Horny Toad for prime rib dinner. It is rather a touristy place in Cave Creek but it is fun. I remember going there the very first time years ago while visiting sister Sharon for her 40th birthday. Sorry Sharon, shouldn't have said "years ago" but my 40th was years ago, too! :-)

Tomorrow I think I will hike Pinnacle Peak. It is so nice to have cooler temps so that hiking is enjoyable again on the week-ends. I need to hike because I think we are going to Fastso's pizza tomorrow night. :-( Hope all of you are having a fatso week-end too, and not just me!

A video with a little Barry Manilow! I read where malls that are having trouble with teenage gangs hanging around are blasting Manilow's mellow tunes on them and they don't like it! Ha!

Grandpa Butch is in town!

Kayley and Drew are having a great time with their grandpa who is visiting son Andy and family for a week. It took a little while for Kayley to warm up to Butch but they are great buddies now. Drew and Butch golf a little every day and Drew has managed to get him fairly wet with the hose. Oh well, that feels pretty good out here!

We have been going for a walk every morning and with each passing day I notice I am perspiring less and less. In no time at all we will be on our way to about 9 months of gorgeous temperatures. I must admit I am looking forward to that prospect! Well worth the two months of hell one goes through here in July and August. :-)

Mark says the beans are starting to turn on the farm in Iowa so harvest will be just around the corner and he can come down here and enjoy this nice weather with his wife and grandchildren and daughter! A few short videos from the week:

Short week

It was a short week with the kids. I didn't get back to Megan and Andy's until around 10 a.m. on Tuesday. We took walks every morning...still warm but it is improving. Only 100 degrees this week-end. Trust me, that is great compared to those 115 days!

Sister Sharon is in the valley visiting from Florida. I am playing golf with her and her grandsons Nick and Taylor this morning in Mesa. Looking forward to that! The Hawks and Cyclones are playing at the same time but I don't get any coverage down here. :-( Go Hawks!!!!!

Tomorrow Sharon and I are babysitting so Andy and his father can attend the Cardinals first game of the season. Well, time to get my clubs in the car. Have a great week-end.

Fun Labor Day week-end

What a wonderful week-end back on the farm in Iowa! The weather was picture perfect. Jan came down from Osakis, MN and Matt made it home from Omaha. Friend Cyndy spent a day and night on Saturday and John and Sue Swanson came over for our Saturday night bonfire. So great to see them all. Dan and Katie have a smoker and Dan smoked all of us some of Mark's pork chops on Saturday night along with sweet corn, compliments of Cyndy. Delicious meal!

Sunday we all went in to Jan and Clayton's and had about a two hour visit. They looked great, as did their home and yard.

I had an 8 am flight out of DM on Tuesday morning so Mark and I had to get up really early yesterday so I could make that plane. I was soooo tired all day yesterday. I was afraid I would have trouble staying awake watching Drew and Kayley but they seemed really happy to see me and that perked me up. :-) Some random pics from the week-end:
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Under 100 degrees!

I am back in Iowa and loving these nice cool temps. Everything is so lush and green here and Mark's crops look great. I flew into Des Moines about 5 PM last night. Great to see my hubby! Sister Jan came down from MN and Matt is coming today from Omaha.

Here are a couple of videos of guess who. :-)