Bird Crazy

If you follow me on Instagram you know I've been seeing a lot of great birds lately. Maybe you find birds boring, so if that's the case just scroll on by! Actually, I think people are sick of my bird posts because every time I post about one I loose followers. Come to think of it, I loose followers with every picture. It's all a mystery to me but since I'm not trying to gain some huge following I'm not really bothered by it. If people want to see aspirational, perfect life, s l o w living, envy inducing, heart bursting photos then I'm not the person to follow anyway. Haha! There are plenty of those accounts to choose from. Ok, back to the birds. Here are the new friends I've made over the last two weeks-

Spotted Towhee

A woodpecker, not sure what kind.


two Great Egrets

This cute fella

Several Hawks



Kestral

Great Horned Owl!!!


We've been outside A LOT because Maggie is much easier to handle outdoors and I started hiking on the weekends with my three youngest. It's been really fun so far. Shane and Marianne have great attitudes once we finally start walking and are able to go further than I would have guessed. Here are few pictures from our recent walks.






I've decided just now that I'll post about each of our hikes individually. So I guess I'll save the rest of the pictures for those posts :)

Happy Monday to you all!

♥ anne

Year's End

Hi there! It's been a while! December, Christmas, birthdays, New Year...they've all come and gone. We had a nice holiday break filled with food, drinks, music, friends, family and the typical stress that goes along with such occasions. The highlight of the month was getting to see my sister out of the convent. Unfortunately it was due to our Dad being extremely sick (he's doing much better now) but it was SO good to hug her and be with her for a whole day! So, without further ado I give you our December in photos.

I made a few bottles of infused mugwort oil for gifts.

Ruben played a solo show and it was so great! I'm so proud of him and his music! This was such a fun night. That's my mom with me there. She's not only a wonderful mother but she's also super fun to hang with!

Ruben's birthday is two days after Christmas and this year I made him a lemon meringue pie. I've never made one before and I was very pleased with how yummy it was!

Why are we smiling so big? Well let me tell ya! I had just watched a barn owl soaring over the field and I was on cloud nine! I'm always on the lookout for owls, scanning the trees, looking for their outline so watching one hunt not only made me squeal with joy but it left this smile on my face. Haha! It doesn't take much people!





On Saturday we went out to Calico with friends to explore. It was a great day and very cold!

Our oldest son recently visited my cousin up in Portland and went to Powell's and came home with these wonderful books for us (and him). He knows us well and I might add that he has great taste in music!

There you have it. Bits of the last month in pictures. I hope this new year is off to a good start for you! Thanks for reading along here and I hope 2016 treats us all well :)

♥ anne

24 Hours In Joshua Tree

Last week Ruben and I got away for the night to celebrate my birthday. We crammed one hell of a good time into 24 hours! Of course, that's kinda what you have to do when you have 5 kids and are never alone. We soaked in the sun, lounged in cool water, drank many beers, watched the sunset, stargazed (more on that in a minute), listened to the coyotes howling, watched the sun rise, went out to eat for breakfast! and thoroughly enjoyed each others company!

We were lucky to be there on a new moon and it was the night after the big meteor shower so the night sky was incredible! We saw a bunch of meteors and sat under the stars for a long time. All in all it was a terrific trip and a much needed break from home. A big thanks to my mom for watching all the kids and the generous birthday gifts (aka money) from my family which made our trip possible :)

We stayed here and ate at the yummy Crossroads Cafe.

♥ anne

Sundown

The best way to end the day is with a sunset and lately they have not been disappointing! Here are three from the last few weeks that I am grateful I got to witness.


This first one is from last night and it was incredible! We were at our local concerts in the park and the sunset totally stole the show.


This one is from last week when Maggie and I went on an evening walk. She was such a trooper and walked the whole way checking out flowers as she went along.

The multiple colors on this last one were awesome.
I hope you enjoyed these from your neck of the woods and if you need something to do this evening might I suggest watching the sunset :)

♥ anne