Looks like snow....

Here is a picture from a recent hailstorm we had.  Carson and Owen thought it was pretty cool, and of course Owen had to know how it tasted! :) Thankfully the hail wasn't big enough to do any major damage, but it sure was loud.

Monsoon is Here!

This is my favorite time of year - the temperatures cool down (well, somewhat!) and we have thunderstrorms! Considering I briefly wanted to be a storm chaser after watching Twister, you could say that I love a good thunderstorm. :) So far, Benson has gotten jipped this year on the rain, but we still have time. Carson has heard me complain so much about it that the other day he says, "Mom, the clouds are tricking us again!" Haha, love him.

While we are on the topic of funny things Carson says - the other day I taught Carson to play a version of dominos. He beat me twice and was so proud. I didn't realize how proud until later that day, he comes up to me and says, "Hey mom, remember when I was in your tummy and I popped out and beat you in dominos all the time!" I guess that's how 3-year-olds trash-talk!

 

Holy Smoke!

Just thought everyone not in Arizona might want to see how smokey it's been here lately due to all the forest fires in the surrounding areas. Thankfully none are too close to Benson, although a new one sprang up near Sierra Vista near the Coronado National Monument over the weekend, and many of our friends' houses are nearby. The first official day of monsoon season is June 15, so let's pray we get some rain soon! These pictures were taken 2 days ago from our backyard - it was by far the worst day for smoke that I've seen at our house. We even had ash in our backyard!

Update: The Monument Fire, near Sierra Vista, has already burnt 20,000 acres since I last posted. It's getting closer to the city and half the city is on pre-evacuation orders. Luckily, we are in Benson, a good 40 minutes away, but it's still devastating to hear of your friend's being evacuated from their homes and watching the fire destroy the mountains where we enjoy to hike. To make matters worse, there was also a fire on the Fort Huachuca base on Friday. Jason made it home safely and the fire was put out thanks to our amazing firefighters. Please send prayers our way!

Usually we can clearly see these mountains.



That is the sun, seen through all the smoke!



Our Recent Visitors

Within a week, we have had a few unwelcome visitors to our residence. First was a huge, hairy tarantula - ick! I freak out with small spiders, so I think I about had a heart attack when I came across this in our garage. A lot of our neighbors have found them in their yards as well. Hopefully, with the cooler weather, we won't be seeing anymore for awhile!
The second visitor, I thought was a type of scorpion that Carson and I found in our backyard, but I noticed it did not have the same tail/stinger a scorpion has, so out of curiousity, I emailed an Arizona scorpion website. They told me it is called a Vinegaroon. It's not poisonous and they squirt vinegar from their tails to defend themselves.
I can handle all the lizards, grasshoppers, rabbits in our backyard, but I can do without these two creepy looking creatures!

Brown Canyon Hike

A few weekends ago (I'm way behind in posting - what's new?!), we took Owen on his first Arizona hike at Brown Canyon Ranch. If you're interested in a little history, visit this site, http://browncanyonranch.org/, to learn more about the ranch, which was built in the early 1900's. It was a hot morning, so we didn't make it all the way to the end, but we all slept like babies when we got home!

Our trail leaders...


Me and Owen

Carson waving to me. He just had to bring his Toy Story water gun, in case any bears came to shoot them, haha. No bears, so he just ended up shooting bugs.

Owen sleeping in the carrier - this was how he was for most of the hike.

Carson was covered in dirt at the end of our hike - boys will be boys. =)

Some pictures of the views...

Carr Canyon Hike

During Tessa and Blake's visit, we enjoyed one afternoon hiking the Carr Peak Trail in the Huachuca Mountains just south of Sierra Vista. The weather was absolutely perfect; the higher we hiked, the cooler it got, which made it feel more like fall. It felt so wonderul to breathe the fresh mountain air.

To get to the Carr Peak Trail, we had to drive through a narrow, winding road about 5 miles up the mountain. It was a little scary because in some areas, you could look out the window and see straight down the mountain! We received a few wierd looks from passerby drivers in their jeeps and trucks, as we proceeded up the mountain in our little Saturn, but we made it! Jason and I had attempted to drive the mountain back when I was pregnant, but we only made it halfway up because I got scared all the bumps were going to put me into labor! I'm so glad we stuck it out this time because the views were breathtaking. The camera just doesn't do it justice, but we still took were snapping away.

We packed Carson into the carrier on Jason's back, found our trail, and took off. The beginning of the trail was along a rocky path with trees and bushes on both sides of you, so filed one by one down the path, thinking this was a piece of cake. Little did we know, the trail would get much harder. We passed a few people, who asked if we were going to the top. They told us it took them an hour and half to hike up the trail, and about an hour to get down. Of course, they looked like they were hiking professionals, and they didn't have a baby on their back! They also warned that it will get steep in some parts. How right this couple was! The rocky road led to a patch of tall, elegant looking trees; it was beautiful. The trail started to gradually get steeper as we ascended the mountain through the tall trees. I wish I knew what kind they were. Then we hit a spot where it got a bit tricky. Huffing and puffing and grabbing for branches, we were literally climbing the mountain at this point. We lasted about 15 more mintues and called it quits, mainly because we didn't know how much longer Carson would take.

Speaking of Carson, he loved being outdoors and kept pointing to the trees and other things that interested him. He held a pinecone the entire trip in his hand; it was really cute. Then he fell asleep on Jason's back on the way home. He's such a great kid!

Just starting out...

The Trail...

The View...

Pretty trees....

Carson with his beloved pinecone...

Tessa being Tessa! =)

The Heffels

Sisters!

More trees

Jason and Carson climbing...We were about done at this point.

Tess pausing for a picture

Me and my hubby and Carson's head

Another View...

Carson sleeping on the way back down the mountain...

Carson happy to out of the carrier!

Tess, Blake and Carson resting after the hike...

Me and the little boy

Blake, Tessa and Carson

Jason pondering the hike....=)

What I almost stepped on...

A few weeks ago, I was lost in thought bringing the trash to the trashcan in our garage, and I almost stepped on this! If you know me at all, I cannot stand spiders or bugs or strange creatures such as this. Somehow I managed not to scream since Carson was fast asleep in his crib. And Jason was working late that evening, so I ended up just dropping the trashbag and running back in the house. I did manage to get a couple of pictures. The blurriness is due to me not wanting to get too close to this thing, so I kept my distance and zoomed in as far as I could instead.
Needless to say, every time I step into the garage now, you would think I was stepping on glass. I practically jump into the car now as well. Oh the joy of living in Arizona! We actually have a variety of stranger looking bugs and giant grasshoppers (I'm talking BIG, I'll try and get a picture up soon!) roaming our land, which doesn't seem to bother Carson at all. He has no problem running up to a grasshopper and trying to touch it. He's my little nature boy.