North Carolina for an Early Christmas

We drove from Phoenix to Denver, where we picked up Steve’s parents and caught a flight from Denver to Raleigh-Durham, NC.  Steve’s parents talk to both of our girls daily, but have never had a chance to see either of their new homes, communities or lives.  So we decided it would be fun to take them along on our trip.  We enjoyed quality family time, music, dancing, Christmas gifts, great food  and lots of playing and toddler cuddles. 

My favorite picture from our trip!  Grandpa and our 18 month old grandson. So precious!

Christmas lunch while we opened presents.

Gift time!

Baby Einstein books!  Mom said he would love them, but we were skeptical.  She was right, and we were wrong!  He thought they were great!

From his great grandparents he got all kinds of big brother gifts to help him welcome a new baby brother or sister.

We had a great time playing with big brother toys!

 

He quickly figured out that his new baby bed could double as a baby backpack, and once he put it on, we couldn’t take it off.  It’s just like the backpack his daddy carries him in, and he loves it!  And if you take a picture of him, he’ll show you his ‘cheese’ face.

Our main gift to our grandson this year was a strider bike.  He was a huge help putting it together and couldn’t wait to ride it.

Riding in the street is fine, but when you can ride on a balance beam, it’s even better!

We enjoyed an adventure in the woods behind their house.

 

When we came out from the woods, he couldn’t find his new strider bike.  I asked him where it was and he said ‘I don’t know’ as clear as could be.

So grandpa helped him find it.

Christmas dinner was ribs.  You can’t go wrong with that!

This little man is very fond of ribs.

We all spent some time just relaxing and enjoying.

Making Christmas nuts for neighbors…

Watching a Broncos game…

And more playing!

Before we left, we enjoyed a tour around their area!  So beautiful, and it has a great southern feel!

Our time in North Carolina has come to an end, but we still have more Christmas festivities to enjoy!

Estrella Mountain, Golfing With Old Friends

One of Steve’s former colleagues, Steve, lives in the Phoenix area, and another one from Denver, Dave, was coming into town, so we set up a golf date at Estrella Mountain. It has been about 15 years since Steve has seen Dave, and about 8 years since he has seen Steve.  It was quite a reunion over a game of golf.  Dave and Steve were on their 4th day of golf in as many days and played incredibly well compared to Steve and I who were nice and fresh. 

It was a beautiful golf course, and a gorgeous day, and so much fun seeing these two again.  When we finished our game, we all went over to Steve and Nancy’s beautiful home for appetizers and drinks, and then we all enjoyed a great meal at one of their favorite Italian restaurants.  What a fun day with old friends!

Ironwood Forest National Monument

Ironwood Forest National Monument is southwest of the town of Marana, AZ.  It is not a big, or well known national monument, but it is known for this beautiful peak, ironwood trees, and the wildlife that calls this area home, like desert tortoises and big horn sheep.

As Steve and I hike around, we are always intrigued by the beauty we find.  Sometimes in the living, and sometimes in the dead.  Dead saguaros resemble trunks and branches.

This dead ironwood tree is also very artistic with all of its knots and burls.

This is the biggest ironwood tree we have ever seen.  I am in the picture for perspective.

There is a loop road that goes all the way around the peak.  The views seemed to get prettier the farther in we drove.  We didn't make it clear around the loop though.  Our hikes took too much time and we were getting hungry and had to go back.  Maybe next time.

 

This is a quiet little park.  I think we saw three cars and two campers while we were here.  Dispersed camping is allowed for 14 days at a time. There were no real hiking trails to speak of, so any exploring is just through the desert. We would love to come back here and camp so we would have more time to explore, and maybe even see some of the wildlife that lives here.

After we left the park, we went to a little hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant in Marama for lunch, called Nico’s.  I ordered a Chile relleno burrito and Steve ordered a carnitas burrito. They were so big that we ended up splitting one for lunch and saving the other for dinner.  My burrito had rice in it with the relleno, which we weren’t very fond of, we would have preferred beans.  Steve’s burrito was carnitas and avocado, which was perfect!  Great food, we’d definitely go back!