The little girls discovered a magical kingdom with enchanted flowers and were transformed into princesses dressed in elegant silks.

My favorite activity, while driving to our cabin is to use the sport setting on my camera and photograph the desert -
especially the saguaros and the skies, two of my favorite scenes.

Who would drive 6 1/2 hours to San Diego to enjoy 24 hours – from sunset to sunset – before driving home to arrive at 1:00 a.m.?

Probably only proud parents who treasured precious time spent with their Marine!

Private 1st Class Joe Bielefeldt

This pine tree is actually in our backyard in Gilbert, Arizona and grows very well in the desert.
Ice formed after the sprinkler system, which comes on at 5 a.m.

This past week brought freezing temperatures in the 20′s and created ice
that lasted 2 days wherever water happened to be standing or flowing.

When I stood still instead of trying to skate on our icy pond, Spice stood still and I clicked a picture.
(she hates posing for pictures as much as she hates the cold)

Even after the frozen nights, I have enjoyed delicious, juicy grapefruits from our citrus.
What could be more magical than icicles hanging on a pine tree, ice on the pond
and a juicy grapefruit – all in the same place?!

Snow in the Valley of the Sun – Phoenix area – is a rarity. A few weeks ago snow gently floated  from the skies in many parts of the Valley, giving brief moments of delight to school children, but melted so quickly that it was gone in the blink of an eye.
The Four Peaks Mountains reigned in all their snowy beauty for several days.

Even though Star Valley had received many inches of snow,
by the time we had a chance to go to our Hodge Podge Lodge,
most of the snow had melted.

I recently heard an interesting thought at church: “Without the death and resurrection of our Lord, there would be no Christmas.” It is so interesting that once a year so many in the world turn their hearts towards charity and good will toward men, and yet it is the correct thing to say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” so as to not offend those who do not believe in Christ. What a paradox! The world celebrates Christmas because of Christ – in fact Christ is the root of the word Christmas. He is also the root of all goodwill towards men. It is ironic that so many in the world want to receive gifts that have no long-term joy, but reject the one gift that gives everlasting joy in life.

Let us all join in singing with one voice the beautiful hymn “Joy to the world, the Lord has come”. Let us receive the gift of everlasting joy by turning our hearts towards charity and good will every day of our lives. As we continually try to keep our hearts turned towards Him who gave us the greatest gift of all, and try to emulate His life to the best of our ability, we will feel a great increase of peace and happiness in the midst of the worldly turmoil of life.

Let us rejoice for the Lord is indeed our King – our Savior and our Redeemer!

The pond is beautiful with a lily pad, but no little green frog.

Water hyacinths like to take over the pond.

This is not a water plant, but the flowers are colorful.

Travel east of Jacob’s Lake is an adventure in breathtaking Arizona scenes
in a seemingly ancient landscape of painted colors.