All the Way From Vermont

January 4, 2012

Jennifer came to visit us this Christmas with Lance and Bethany.  We had a fun vacation right here in Arizona with them.

We went to the Phoenix Zoo.

 And got very close to the giraffes

 The tiger was awake for the first time ever

 Lance & Bethany loved the sunshine.

The baboon watched us watching him/her.

We visited the Science Museum ...

where this telescope schowed your eyeball really BIG up on a screen

 Lance's eye

 Grace's eye

 This is Jennifer and Lance behind this cool screen

Grace and Bethany on the far right side...

Grace learned the trick to balancing about 20 nails on one

 We laid on a bed of nails...

This is my face and Grace's morphed together....coolio.

 A giant stomach pooped out Grace.  The sound effects in this thing made everyone giggle.

 We stretched....

 We made the rounds at several parks.  Arcadia Park, which has been upgraded tremendously since Tommy & Grace were little.

 We went to the Trampoline "park"

 This is Grace doing a flip into the foam pit.  Can you say "germs" and "stinky feet."  You couldn't pay me to go in that thing.

 The "park" on Paisano (our pool) that Lance insisted on swimming in despite the chilly water.

They dipped their toes in to test it out.  

Lance thought it might not be too cold....

Bethany was not too sure. 

 She got on the first step and called it a day at the pool.

 Lance got all the way to the second step and dunked his head.  That was the end of the pool adventure.

 We also went to the Railroad park.  Bethany wanted to ride in the cattle car.

 We jailed the kiddos.

 And played on the playground, which has also been fancified since we used it.

Finally we rode the good old marry-go-round.

 More adventures tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

What's that smell?

January 3, 2012

Sometime around Christmas, my oven acquired some icky stuff on the walls.  Now whenever I 

use it, I smoke out the whole house.  Tonight I thought I would try the nifty little invention on my 

oven called the self cleaner.  

Well, I was half an hour into the project, which involves simply turning on the self cleaning

option, and I had to open all doors and windows.

It is 9:30 p.m.  I'm a little chilly, the oven is still dirty, my house smells like a fireplace, and I 

don't know what to do.  

Please don't come visit me for another 48 hours so I can get this smell out of my house.

Merry Christmas 2011

Here's a little taste of Christmas this year at the Halterhome. I was into sparkle this year.  

This is my eo-friendly gift wrap.  I bought a couple old books at the Hopi used book fair and used them for gift wrap on small gifties and for some decor for my annual book club holiday book exchange. 

 My friend, Cathy, made this adorable book tree.  I love the glitter.

 I made this garland from the same old book.

 Here is the table I set for the book club party.  The runners were just pages glued to craft paper.

 Grace created this art for the holiday.

 My tree.  I love my tree.

 This area is a new arrangement for me. I got some new silver decorations and the mirror is new.

The hallway book case.  And I did not get around to putting in a family photo in the red Christmas frame...that's some random baby.

 I've started (somehow) collecting The Night Before Christmas Books.  So keep your eye out and let me know if you see nay cool ones.

 The bathroom was a little different because I painted it blue this summer.  The red paint was perfect for Christmas, but I really love my blue paint color, so I went with darker blue and silver decorations.

 The kitchen was not my favorite room this year.  It needs some more pizzaz.

 The bar cart in the living room

 More living room....Also collecting vintage reindeer (at least this collection is intentional, unlike the books).

Just realized I didn't take any picture of the outside or the family room.  Oops.