Bisbee Mine Tour

We took a trip to Bisbee, Arizona just to see what it looked like!  It is a very small artsy town built on hills.  They have a fun main street full of cute shops.  I didn’t get any great pictures of the city but found some here.

Bisbee used to be a mining town and we got to take a peek into the copper mine there.

It was great having our own flashlights.  The helmets on the other hand were ironically a safety hazard.  Sylvia’s fell off while on our train ride and nearly derailed the train (I may be exaggerating a bit).  Then, when we were in a cave, Luke’s helmet bonked onto Hazel’s poor head when he looked up at the ceiling.

Go dig me up some copper, mine man.

Entrance to the Copper mine.

Also, one of the most haunted houses in the U.S. is the Oliver House in Bisbee, AZ, where a mass murder took place.  It is now a bed and breakfast and our good friends have stayed there.  They came back alive.  I really want to stay over at the Shady Dell where you get your own aluminum trailer to sleep in.

Mike O’Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge

On the way to Saint George, Utah, we stopped and walked across the Mike O’Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge.

DAM Great view of the Hoover Dam.

The new bridge is great for us who travel through this way.  Before the bridge there was always a lot of tourist traffic at the dam.

Bridge.

Pat Tillman was an American football player who enlisted in the army and was killed by “friendly fire.”

Christmas Picture Books

In our home we celebrate Christmas!  We love the stories and songs.  At the library we found a lot of great Christmas picture books that are new to me.

A Dozen Silk Diapers

Baboushka and the Three Kings

When I was a child, living in Los Angeles, our family had a Christmas tradition of visiting Olvera Street, the oldest street in the city, to see the parade of Las Posadas.  I was very excited when I came across these two books.

Pedro: The Angel of Olvera Street

The Night of Las Posadas

Dancing Ninja Ornament

A couple of things we’ve been doing out of, Things to Make and Do for Christmas by Ellen Weiss

Pinwheel Wreaths

These cut out paper guys in the book were “Dancing Santa Ornaments” but Sylvia made a Gingerbread man…

…and a cat.

Luke made a “Dancing Ninja Ornament.”

Future Plants

These pictures of Hazel “playing” video games with Luke make me so sad.  Does she really think she is playing?!

I mean, the cord is still wrapped around the controller for goodness sakes!

Sylvia made a teddy bear shaped sugar cookie with a ton of sprinkles on it for Santa.  She told him that she wants a real life teddy bear from him.

Watering our future plants.

Hazel watered the rocks.

Luke found a large grasshopper and carried it around on a stick as a pet for a while.

Isabel’s Drawings

We go through a lot of paper in our house.  I’ll often find all four of our kids at the table drawing pictures.  I encourage this because my favorite thing to do as a child was to draw whatever I wanted.  I love how each of my children are developing their own style.  Today I wanted to show Isabel’s cute style.  I love the pink cheeks and how she includes names and ages.  Oh and she draws the most beautiful dresses.

Piano Recital

Bravo Luke.
The Storm and Knock! Knock! Knock!

Even if you don’t want to watch the whole video, skip ahead to the second number to see the Isabel style “arm flare” as Joey and I call it. Also, Sylvia clapping for way to long at the very end is entertaining as well.
Boogie Woogie Band and Clouds

Cruising Up the Nile

My parents just got back from an amazing trip to Jordan, Israel and Egypt.  When they came to visit us for the weekend, we got to see their slide show and we each received some souvenirs!

On a cruise up the Nile.

Grandma and Grandpa Oldham used to be teachers so when they visit it’s always fun to let them home school.

Making a clay map of Egypt.

Thank you grandma and grandpa for sharing your adventures with us!

Cathy Christmas

Cathy Christmas says, “Merry Christmas!”

If Cathy Christmas was too happy for you, here is another one by Isabel, a little more dark this time, titled, Poison.

Tucson = Home

This morning somehow a conversation led to Luke telling us, “I don’t know why, but whenever I think of Florida, I think of mean people.”  Then Isabel, “When I was little, whenever I thought of Italy I thought of cowgirls.”  Sylvia, “Whenever I hear the word Italy, I think of a green bean!”  Thinking about what we think of when we hear the name of a place we’ve never been to made me try and remember what I thought of Tucson, Arizona before we moved here.  I can’t quite recall what I thought, but I know that I didn’t have a clue about Tucson.  It was a scary, mostly exciting move.

It’s been one year and one month since we’ve started calling Tucson home.  Here are the things that I personally love and did not know about this city.

-It’s a college town! (I know, I am sure you already knew that, but I didn’t realize the the University of Arizona was here.)
-Thrift shops, antique shops and locally owned businesses galore! (Although I don’t frequent them enough.)
-It’s an artsy town! (I don’t know how to describe this one, it just is.)
-There is a big Jewish community here.  (why do I love this??  I just do!)
– People are on bicycles all over the place here.  (not me, I think I have truly forgotten how to ride one 😦
-Everyone has a dog!
-museums, parks, the zoo!
– Summers (bring on the upper Fahrenheits!…that makes no sense.)
-Mt. Lemmon (in case you want snow in the winter.)
-The people we’ve met.  (This goes for any city, there are always great people to know.)

Luke

Isabel

Sylvia

Hazel