Camping Over Labor Day Weekend

Swimming In The Pond

Military Man and I took a short day trip southeast of here through Corral Canyon.  The trail was awesome - very different from what we're used to.  The road was manageable but tight, sometimes barely enough room for the Jeep.  It was green as far as the eye could see, but don't let the heavy clouds and vibrant foliage fool you - it was still HOT! - humid and we caught the wrath of several mosquitoes when we hopped out to let the dogs run around and take a dip in the pond.  Copper was in dog heaven - he swam across that thing and back several times.  He also attempted to herd Daisy into the deep end to join him in the joy of swimming, but she was not liking the deep.  She mostly stuck to the shallow end and spent a good portion of her time dragging her chin along the edge of the water... weird girl!

It was nice to get out and explore a place that wasn't steep rock climbing and desert scape for a change.

- Jess

Our Summer Activities, part 2

Here's a brief look at the second half of our fabulous summer break... it went by far too quickly, that's for sure! 
* Monsoon season was a bit of a bust again this year, only a couple of good storms brought any actual, measurable rain to the desert.
* The kids enjoyed some Circus, Circus! in Las Vegas as we met Grandma for a two-week trade off.
* Cousin Jacob came down for a two-week visit we went camping and swimming and played video games.
* Grandma Brunette taught us how to make homemade candy - lollipops.
* Copper and Daisy made a new friend while camping, Tank.
* Copper and Daisy also got a little down when the kids were both gone to Utah and when they were packing backpacks in preparation for going back to school.

Welcome Monsoon {favorite friday}

[Summer 2010 - Sahuarita, Arizona]

Copper lives for monsoon season!  This picture is from his first torrential downpour... he loved every minute of chasing his ball around our flooded street.

Another "Playing Catch Up" Post

Doesn't he look exhausted?  Well we're all feeling just about exhausted.  March and April are always chaotic around the Brunette house - no matter how 'prepared' we think we are for it, it still seems to kick our butts.  Spring Break, our 16 year wedding anniversary, fundraisers, AIMS testing, registration for junior high and high school, an inspection at work and an air show at the base, Freckle Face's 14th birthday, Monkey Boy's 11th birthday, scouts, young women's activities, Pima County Fair, and throw Easter in there and it just becomes a big ol' crazy mess.

But that's just about behind us and we can settle down a bit and relax - hit the pool and soak up some of those sunny AZ rays.  Stay tuned for more 'catch up' posts... I did take a few pictures of our happenings when I had the chance.

xo - Jess

I {heart} Lazy Afternoons With My Babies

I sure do love our quiet afternoons together.
Happy Monday XO

Perfect Climate

It's been absolutely perfect climate lately.  Not too hot, not too cold.  We've been leaving the door open to let the fresh air circulate through the house.  Daisy spends most of her day laying outside in the sun while Copper lays in the house - in the doorway just like this.  I know before long it will be too hot to do this, and the open door will give the flies access to the cool of our house... so we'll just enjoy it while we can.
Happy Hump Day!
XO - Jess

The Culprit

After a couple of weeks of my coming home to curtains half-hanging from the rods, blinds disheveled, and furniture in disarray every time I left the house... I have finally found the culprit of this mess.

The instigator, THIS CAT has been taunting - teasing - provoking the dogs from the safety of 'outside'.  Little does this naughty little kitty know, Copper is capable of opening the front door handle all on his own if it is not locked.  Hmmm... clever kitty better just watch out because I may just accidentally forget to lock it next time I run out on an errand and save myself the headache of rearranging the room every time he is spotted.

And there he sits diligent.  Observing.  Waiting for an opportunity to give chase.  (Seriously, he's spent the last two days like in this spot watching that dumb cat lay around in the yard).

XOXO - Jess

Four Years {favorite friday}

Yes it's been too long! ...I've decided to bring back {favorite friday} posts in an effort to keep me "doing" -  so today's feature is from four years ago this week, Copper was a six month old sweet and playful puppy.  On this particular morning he'd been out for an early morning walk with the kids and I when he was attacked by a lose pit bull.  The experience was, I'm sure, more traumatic for the kids than for him as he bounced back quickly and there was no permanent damage - thankfully! 

Today's Copper is still much the same - adorable and joyous - and such a blessing to have counted as one of our family.

You can see more {favorite friday} posts here.  I'm sure most of the good ones were deleted when I redesigned the blog in 2012... but I guess I can start building the stock pile back up again. 

Happy Friday!
- Jess

Touch And Go...

Last week was a rough one for Copper and our family.  He suddenly became ill and we weren't sure if he was going to make it.  It was particularly difficult for Monkey Boy to see his favorite companion suffering.  The good news is he is doing much better now after those few days of rest and nourishment, and he is back to his hyper-anxious self this week.

- Jess

Crawling Critters, Aggressive Turkeys and Spider Bites

I know it's been awhile since I sat down to share anything from our little piece of heaven here in Arizona on the blog.  The days have been - for lack of a better description - bleeding together.  A month ago I didn't think things could get any crazier around here, yet somehow they have and we are still happily in the game - doing well and making gains... and OH MY! it's nearly October already.  Boy these last few months have really flown by for us.

Today I have some shots of critters from Madera Canyon... I have been so busy that I have not taken much time to sit at the computer and go through the hundreds of pictures I've captured in the weeks passed.  These images were easy to whip out, so here ya go!  We've had many critter encounters lately, the above shots are what Copper and I came across (hundreds of them actually) on one of our three big hikes this month.  He was most amused with a pair of large deer that weren't more than twenty yards ahead of us on a trail but I wasn't able to take any pictures before my movements to the camera bag sent them jumping off into the trees.

A dozen of these wild turkeys were in the road as I was driving home early one evening from a photo shoot.  My clients and I were the only ones in the canyon there.  Since they were in the road, I stopped and got out of my car to snap some pictures.  I got a little worried when they started coming straight towards me... I figured they'd be frightened and take off when I got out but guess I was wrong.  I hurried back to my car and they left the road soon after where I was able to take these pictures from the safety of my car, lol.

And one more excitable critter encounter for the month: I sustained five spider bites last week and spent this weekend at the doctor's office with massive inflamed and blistering sores from the incident.  Two weeks of antibiotics, steroids, and prescription strength antihistamines for me... NOT FUN!

Hope ya'll have a great week!  I'll be back soon with more pictures... just as soon as I can slow down life for a few minutes :)
XOXO - Jess

Playing Catch Up via Mobile Phone Shots

 

I'm sharing a few mobile phone shots today as I am playing catch up in every direction.  School started two weeks ago - everyone is doing well so far... but then the homework hasn't quite started coming in yet... so we'll see.  Football started three weeks ago - so far it's been conditioning, bruises, ear-to-ear grins, mud, grass stains, mosquitoes, late nights, and more mud.  And it's been a bit hectic around here for a good month - trying to get it all in. 

Monsoon season brings out the toads.  Toads bigger than my fist... which is big enough for me.  This guy welcomed Freckle Face one night as she came home from babysitting.  Too afraid to startle it in the wrong direction (more on that in a minute) she decided to enter through the garage.  The next morning the toad was gone and had left a nice fat present in front of the door for us.... grrr!

Speaking of critters going in the wrong direction... this little guy was warming in the sun on the front door one afternoon.  I didn't see him as I opened the door and trying to escape me, he jumped a few feet into the wrong direction, landing in the middle of the front room, then took off running.  The dogs went ballistic, crashing into walls and furniture.  After about five minutes I found him hiding from the dogs in a crease of the curtains.  He was so small that he could've easily hidden in the house for weeks undiscovered.  It's a good thing Copper has a sharp eye and Daisy has a hound's nose.

Daisy was not too happy about being told off for constantly laying on the bottom of the curtains causing the rod to bend and the whole window treatment to come crashing down.  I had to line large items up in front of the window to keep her from trying to lay there.  She whined for a few days, then laid her head on my lap every time I sat at my desk - looking at me with sad defeated eyes.  Eventually she settled for UNDER the desk - only she doesn't quite fit... so several times a day she gets a kick or a nudge or a tail or ear ran over with the wheels of my chair... none of it seems to phase her anyway.

I recently picked up a couple of inexpensive yard sale "props" - which I used to block the curtains from Daisy's napping.  After a week or so, she got over it and was content with sleeping wherever she stopped walking.  Literally - stop, drop and snore - as the kids say!

These two have been glued to my side since school started... and oh. my. gosh!  I can't get anything done.  This was my attempt at 4:30am yoga - obviously I gave up.

And this last one (super grainy, sorry) is from when the kids got home from a two week trip to Utah to visit grandmas and grandpas - without mom and the dogs.  They were sorely missed.  We all piled on Freckle Face's tiny bed for a big group hug.  Daisy took up the most room - go figure!

XOXO - Jess

Twinkies + Monsoon Season: Our Last Two Weeks of Summer

Our fantastic summer vacation is winding down.  Football (hell week) started for Monkey Boy yesterday.  School begins next week and cheer leading tryouts are coming up shortly after that.  It has been a great summer, although I am welcoming the idea of a more structured schedule and many of my LOVES come with autumn, like football and pumpkins and cooler, more bearable weather.  The monsoon rains seemed to have hit a little bit later in this year and it has definitely been a welcome change from the six continuous weeks of 103-115*F+ heat... even the dogs have been out enjoying the hot rain showers, watching the flood waters rush by and splashing about in the remaining puddles.  The image above is the last one my camera snapped before I was mowed over while trying to snap some pictures of the kids and dogs playing in the rain - such a HAPPY PUPPY!

I only bought ONE box, but ate far more than my share of America's beloved Twinkies.  I also (probably should not have) let the kids watch the tv edited version of Zombieland, which they loved even though they did not fully appreciate half of the references in the dialog... they will forever associate Twinkies with the zombie apocolypse... good times :)

XOXO - Jess

He literally laid by the laundry room door like that for hours... and I couldn't quite figure out why until I opened the door and remembered I'd bought the dogs bones earlier that morning.  How he even knew they were in there I'll never know... maybe he could smell them.  But I thought his desperation was comical.  Later that evening I sent them outside to enjoy their colossal beef bones.

I video recorded Daisy (and if I can figure out how to post it, I will).  She wanted in the house and every time I opened the door she'd run to get her bone.  I kept telling her it couldn't come in... yet she continued with that silly dog-grin on her face - trying to bring the bone inside.  She could barely lift the thing ...it probably weighs as much as her big fat head.

Happy Monday!!!
XOXO - Jessica

Monday Mornings

More Favorites of Copper in the Snow