Emolyn's 4

Happy Birthday Emolyn Kate!

Emolyn & Belle must be cousins or something. Check out the eyes! 

 A week ago we celebrated Emolyn's birthday at Nicole's grandparents home.

Emolyn's Aunt Michelle made the most amazing Little Mermaid cake ~ both inside and out! 

Emolyn's Mommy is patiently nesting identical twin boys

and ironically they are each about the same size Emolyn was when she was born at 33 weeks, although she stayed the weight of a 28 week old, which is where the boys are now.

So we're praying the boys stay put and continue to grow healthy and strong till they're delivered sometime in April. Oh my gosh, this is really going to happen!

Emolyn loves shoes just like her Daddy did ~ and still does!

So Emolyn's Grandpa John got her Sketchers that light up and sparkle. 

And as you can see, Emolyn's little sister Elsie lights up any room she enters. What a sweetheart!

Emolyn's Pop Pop and Daddy are most likely swapping apps or something. 

I tell ya, boys and their iPhones...

Check out Shawn's yellow iPhone case made from a vinyl record ~ found here.

Ciao Bella boots

Have you ever wanted something real bad, but then convinced yourself that you really didn't, because in all honesty, you just couldn't justify the cost? I do that a lot. So last fall while pinning outfits on my Pinterest fashion board, I noticed that most of my images featured riding boots. And for a while I convinced myself that I needed boots. So I kept my eyes out for a good deal. But by the time boots around these parts go on clearance, winter is pretty much over. And so was my longing for boots.

Well, yesterday I walked into Savers and found these Ciao Bella boots half-off for $6.50! We're talkin' these very boots. (retail $198.00) The very color I wanted. My very size. Which made me very happy. Oh, and very soft, real leather. I know, I am very blessed!

Melrose District

You know how it goes, you can make all the plans in the world, but it always ends up unfolding as it should. And it's those little surprises that make the journey all the more delightful... reminding me to just enjoy the ride. So Friday morning Barb, Grace & I made plans to meet up at the Copper Star Coffee Shop, visit awhile and then scour the Melrose District. But plans changed and it was just Barb & I. We sat outside the Copper Star and shared to our heart's content and then headed over to Sweet Salvage. YES! What are the chances we'd make plans on the very weekend of Sweet Salvage!

But we got a little sidetracked. We couldn't pass up all those darling little boutiques.

Oh my gosh, the mere loveliness of this fabric made me want to go home and

 reproduce one for myself. (and reminds me of my friend Shannon)

You see this day was all about inspiration. And that it did. In boatloads.

I don't know if it's because I spent so much of my early years cutting out patterns, ironing them and pinning them onto fabric... but the mere sight of this crinoline made me let out a squeal. Ok, a big squeal. You can ask Barb!

 Mrs. McGillicutty is going to love one of these! I just know it.

It will be of no surprise to you that I saved all my favorite patterns from the 70's, but I have no intension of using them. It's half-off President's Day at most thrift stores today, so I will be buying several vintage patterns for the sole purpose of repurposing into layer upon layers of crinoline chic.

And then... we saw this. 

Quite frankly, we were too weirded out to actually pick it up. So I snipped, I mean snapped a quick one and moved on. I'm sorry. Forget you ever saw this.

Oh my ~ industrial ~ galvanized ~ vintage. 

My three favorite words. All in one glorious image.

When we finally arrived at Sweet Salvage, I could tell it had already been picked over, having started the day before. But oozing with inspiration none-the-less. I was blown away and already making plans to go again in a month.

yellow ranunculus

Yesterday I came upon a Yellow Ranunculus file among my garden photo files.

And they were taken exactly two years ago this month.

Oh how I would love a garden full of Ranunculus, Peonies, Cosmos and Hollyhocks.

The file was also full of lemon photos, as seen in the above image...

along with a blurred glimpse of our beloved Wiley dog. Oh how he is missed.

So I took one of those lemon images and made me a Springy new blog banner.

Oh, and I went to Sweet Salvage with a friend yesterday morning. WOW!

Post & pics coming soon!

Valentine mitten cookie

This poor mitten cookie was photographed in more ways than I care to share.

I'm not even sure when or if it ever got eaten. My family knew it was off limits till I got the shot I needed for Valentine's Day.

 I also knew that an Arizona 100th Birthday post would surely trump Valentine's Day, but I wanted a little something for the day after... or the day after that.

And speaking of mittens, today I shall take my mitten garland down. I always keep it up till Valentine's Day. That's about when it starts to feel like spring around these parts. In fact, my Lady Banks Rose in our front entrance popped its first blooms yesterday.

This is what I have to look forward to in the days and weeks ahead!

our Lady Banks Rose a couple years ago

Check out more home & garden posts @ SHOW AND TELL FRIDAY

Arizona's 100th Birthday

In the weeks leading up to Arizona's 100th Birthday, I was rather preoccupied with reading everything I could about Arizona's history. I love Arizona. But even more so now! I mean, did you know that Arizona grows enough cotton each year to make more than one pair of jeans for every person in the United States? I don't know about you, but I love knowing that little tidbit! And I am determined to explore Arizona's every nook 'n cranny this summer.
So yesterday we celebrated Arizona's 100th Birthday at the preschool ~ I brought turquoise jewelry & bolo ties for the kids to try on... aloe vera plants to scoop out and smear on their 'owies'... 100 copper pennies to play with... and Arizona flags to color and paint.

And this afternoon Randy & I attended the Centennial Celebration at our State Capitol.

I had never seen the copper dome up close. And get this ~

The amount of copper utilized to make the copper dome atop Arizona’s Capitol building 

is equivalent to the amount used in 4.8 million pennies. Wow!

We saw square dancing performed by some of Arizona's finest.

And we also saw Wayne Newton ~ "Mr. Las Vegas" himself ~ in concert!

Wow! The guy is amazing! He can play anything ~ piano, guitar, banjo and electric fiddle.

His rendition of "Orange Blossom Special" was a crowd favorite for sure!

100 FUN & FASCINATING FACTS ~

about the great state of Arizona!

Some of my favorites ~

• Arizona has 3,928 mountain peaks and summits—more mountains than any one of the other Mountain States (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming).
• There are more wilderness areas in Arizona than in the entire Midwest. Arizona alone has 90 wilderness areas, while the Midwest has 50.
• A saguaro cactus can store up to nine tons of water.
• The westernmost battle of the Civil War was fought at Picacho Pass on April 15, 1862 near Picacho Peak in Pinal County.
• From 1973 to 2007, Arizona was the only state with official state neckwear, the bola tie. In 2007, New Mexico also adopted the bola tie as the official State Tie.

Randy's YouTube video

Randy asked me to marry him 33 years ago next week. Wow. That's pretty crazy when you think about it. Cuz that would mean I'm 33 years older, and I don't feel that much older at all. Anyway, we were engaged for 6 months, 3 of which I did nothing towards planning my wedding. You see, I never dreamed about my wedding. I dreamed about being married, but never about the actual wedding itself. So 3 months before the wedding I met the wedding coordinator at the church we were going to use and within a week everything was pretty much planned. I'm not even kidding you.

Anyway, Randy started his final year at Grand Canyon College (which is now Grand Canyon University) a week after our August 25th, 1979 wedding. He was a Bible/ History major and worked at the Maryvale Mall Sears Catalogue store. I was working at Lincoln Heights Christian Preschool as the cook and music teacher. I loved my job. I loved being married.

On the way home from Randy's graduation ceremony at North Phoenix Baptist that May of '80, we looked at each other and wondered out loud about our unknown future. Oh, before I continue here, you need to know something very important. I married a man of faith. My husband trusts God unlike anyone I have ever known. Totally and completely. I, on the other hand, have struggled with trusting God for most of my adult life.

So like I said, we wondered... but the very next day got a phone call from our pastor, asking to meet with Randy about his future. He asked Randy to consider going on staff with the Hand in Hand outreach ministry as a staff musician and follow-up coordinator for those that accept Christ at the weekly Hand in Hand concerts. Randy had already been doing concerts at Hand in Hand and believed in this powerful, life-changing ministry. The only catch, we'd have to raise support for our monthly income. Randy, being a faithful man of God, was all in. I, on the other hand, had my doubts and fears. But my deep longing to fully depend on God won out. Although I would occasionally remind God that I could do without the trials & tribulations associated with learning to fully trust. 

"We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us, we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be." ~ C.S. Lewis

Anyway, God was faithful. We lived on very little those first several years, but our needs were met. And Randy never wavered. His ministry and influence grew, and we eventually went full-time with Randy Thompson Ministries in 1990. By then we had 3 young children. Randy was doing concerts all throughout the country and God was using his CD's as an extension of his ministry... and to this day we are continually aware of the far-reaching effects that are beyond anything we could have imagined. We are humbled to the core. 

All that to say, our son Shawn recently put together a music video that is now on YouTube. It is a culmination of Randy's 30+ years in ministry and we could not be more thrilled. And Randy's song "Let The Music Last Forever" is the perfect song to go along with these unforgettable images. And yes, that's me singing the background vocals.

There is definitely more to my story that I will eventually share. But as in everything, it is in the writing of our stories that God reveals more truth and brings about even more healing.

or click this YouTube link so you can click full-screen for better viewing.

Randy Thompson ~ Let The Music Last Forever

lemons galore

Our home was built in 1979, the same year we were married.

But it was built a spec home ~ a house built on speculation that a buyer will be found.

Well it took 2 years for that buyer to come forth... a retired couple from the Navy, that we purchased the house from 13 years later in 1994.

They supposedly planted our citrus trees 30 years ago and we are forever grateful.

But the Fruit Cocktail Tree now only produces lemons.

The orange branch died several years ago... and the grapefruit branch died last year.

Yesterday morning I needed to pick a few lemons to make a pan of lemon bars for bible study in the morning... and noticed the lemons were still wet from the early morning sprinkler system.

And I couldn't pass up a lemon & water drops photo shoot!

And then just when I was about to go inside, because I had been shooting for over an hour 

and still in my jammies... 

these waterlogged citrus leaves caught my eye. And I was a goner.

Prescott snow & Raven Cafe

You could safely say that I am in a full-on February funk. And part of my problem would be that I am just not ready to blog about all the changes going on quite yet. Which leaves me at a loss for words... for posts... even filler posts till I'm ready to put it all out there.
So what's a girl to do? Well, she prepares a mug of hot chocolate, adds a splash of peppermint schnapps and a large dollop of frozen Cool Whip. Did you catch that last part? Frozen Cool Whip. That's why the dollop hasn't melted yet during this little photo op. I'm tellin' ya, creamy chocolaty minty goodness at its best. Ok... then she gets down to business and pours through her photo files.
Confession here... exactly a year ago this week, we spent the day in Prescott visiting our son and daughter-in-law and granddaughters at a friend's cabin they were staying at for the weekend, and I captured some of my most favorite snow pictures ever. BUT I never did a post. AND I have never forgotten that. AND it's bugged me ever since.
You see, contrary to what others may say, I do look at my hundreds of photo files a ton. And while I'm sad that I don't have many of them made into prints, I do believe that I look at my digitals more than I would the actual hard copies. So there. Now excuse me while I jump off my little soap box and move on.
Well, in perusing through my many photo files, I came across those Feb. '11 Prescott snow pictures and thought ~ why not post them now ~ a year later. So I did.

Emolyn & Mimi

Nicole, Emolyn, Shawn & Elsie

After a morning of photographing and frolicking in the snow, we drove to the courthouse square for lunch at the Raven Cafe. And let me tell you, it did not disappoint. 

We highly recommend the Raven...

especially the funky, urban rooftop dining experience...

and their excellent food! 

I'm thinking a Prescott road trip to the snow and Raven is in my forseeable future.