Vacationing in Winona, Minnesota!

We took off for an extended weekend the first of March in celebration of our 6th Anniversary! So what do we do to celebrate and relax?

Go to my mom's.

No, really.

Arizona Trip- Take 2

Grandma H's house!

This was a large part of why we went out to Arizona- I've never met my husband's grandma. Her health is such that she can't travel. We were to go out there June of '08, but that's when the floods hit our area. The night before we were to leave we had 18" of sewage water in the basement. Yeah. Ick.

Anyways, so the first half of the trip we spent with his Grandma H. She is such a neat lady. I was surprised how much she reminded me in ways of my own grandmas. In stature she is similar to my dad's mom(tall, thin). Then for one meal we were preparing she was excited to mix a couple frozen juices for the beverage. That was so my mom's mom!

We just had a nice time getting to know each other, telling stories and laughing. All of us also helped in the yard with pruning and the citrus trees. Oh yes, she has a lemon, grapefruit and 2 orange trees! At one point she had a lime tree but it sadly died. Here are some pictures of our time there:

I wish you could smell these through the screen! Grandpa H loved roses and planted these. Wish I could have met him, too. 

Grapefruit time!

1, 2, 3... that's a lot of grapefruit, mom!

A little silliness makes the job go faster?

Trying so hard to get one off the tree!

It was just too tough!(For me, too! And they have spike-like things, ouch!)

This was just getting started. Maybe a quarter of what we pulled.

I thought it was pretty cool to harvest citrus! Wish we could grow some back home! There was so much on the tree we ended up juicing most of it and freezing it to take home. After looking at these pictures, think I'll go make myself a glass or two. 

Still to come, Squaw Peak and the South Rim of the Grand Canyon!

Arizona Trip- Take 1

On our drive out to Phoenix, we made a little detour last minute and opted to stop at the Petrified National Forest. I love getting a little spontaneous!

We came across the park driving from Albuquerque on I-40 towards Phoenix. Happened to catch the signs and asked if anyone had every been- the response was, 'No, but it'd be awesome to see so let's do it!'

The Forest also has some of the Painted Desert in it, so as far as I'm concerned we killed two birds with one stone. The colors were amazingly breath taking. Not only did we get to see really beautiful, interesting petrified woods but also a wonderful historical Inn and Indian ruins. There were even some cool petroglyphs around the ruins we got to walk around(around, not actually in). Although one part of that trail was closed due to 'swarming bees'. Um, yikes!

Sad attempt at a family picture! Wish my camera was able to capture the depth of color in the hills.

I was pleasantly surprised at some of the flowers that grew there. 

My favorite men!

An example of petrified wood. The water washed over them(hard to imagine water here!) and left mineral deposits behind. These changed the properties of the wood to quartz. Would love one of these hunks for an indoor or outdoor table! Unfortunately, a lot of people must have thought the same because a lot of the fossils have been removed.

Not usually a fan of wikipedia, but they do have some good info out there on the forest if you're interested in reading more: Petrified Forest National Park.

More Arizona Trip Takes to come!

***I had more pictures but my camera battery died and we can't find the stinkin' charger just yet. I know it came back with us, for sure had it in the following days, but now 'tis missing! Hoping it turns up soon or we'll be making an emergency purchase.