Merry Christmas to All

Thank you to the many friends and family whose cards have made it to our home. One friend sent these words to us and I think they need to be shared with all of you. Please feel free to share them with others.

Jesus is Better than Santa. Santa lives at the North Pole. JESUS is everywhere.

Santa rides in a sleigh JESUS rides on the wind and walks on the water.

Santa comes but once a year. JESUS is an ever present help . (Even Santa knows that.)

Santa fills your stockings with goodies. JESUS supplies all your needs.

Santa comes down your chimney uninvited. JESUS stands at your door and knocks and then enters your heart.

You have to stand in line to see Santa. JESUS is as close as the mention of His name.

Santa lets you sit on his lap. JESUS lets you rest in His arms .

Santa doesn't know your name, all he can say is "Hi little boy or girl, What's your name?" JESUS knew our name before we did. Not only does He know our name, He knows our address too. He knows our history and future and He even knows how many hairs are on our heads.

Santa has a belly like a bowl full of jelly JESUS has a heart full of love.

All Santa can offer is HO HO HO. JESUS offers health, help and hope.

Santa says "You better not cry". JESUS says "Cast all your cares on me for I care for you."

Santa's little helpers make toys. JESUS makes new life, mends wounded hearts, repairs broken homes and builds mansions.

Santa may make you chuckle but JESUS gives you joy that is your strength. (I have had this Santa pillow since I was three years old and it always makes me smile.)

While Santa puts gifts under your tree JESUS became our gift and died on the tree. (This manger scene has been with us forever and is the first thing to come out when we put up Christmas decorations.)

It's obvious there is really no comparison. We need to remember WHO Christmas is all about. We need to put Christ back in Christmas. Jesus is still the reason for the season.

May the Lord Bless and Watch over you and your loved ones this Christmas 2011. And may He help you to prosper and bless the work of your hands in the New Year.

Merry Christmas To All

A Drive to Four Peaks

One day last week, we decided to head out north of Apache Junction to an area of mountains known as Four Peaks. Before we even left town, we spotted this coyote. Actually we have seen several right in populated areas in Arizona. They don't appear to pay any attention to people or cars.

And we weren't far along our drive into the mountains, when we heard this gruff lookin' soul and then spotted him.

More saguaros and mountains ensured this would be a great day.

Mike made a quick stop when I spotted a Crested Saguaro; we have only seen them on one other Arizona backroad. We spent some time checking the area to see if there were more, but no luck, only the one.

If you are sick of cactus, fast forward cuz I found lots of saguaro to capture on this drive.

This one is definitely pointing heavenward.

The roads were good and up we went.
There is beauty even when there is no longer life.
Rain the day before had left some puddles and some were partially frozen...

It wasn't long before we saw snow.

It looked like we were driving on a country road in northern Minnesota. Only going downhill on slick narrow roads is a little more adventuresome.

There was even a lake in the distance. This is the Apache Lake we set off towards on our last drive into the mountains.

Look at the mountains to the left. That stripe of white is snow - must stick there because of the low brush in that area.

We checked out several campgrounds and boat landings and then headed back towards Apache Junction driving along the reservoir for many miles.

We found a couple of places to put the boat in next fall (Yes, we are definitely bringing it down) and a spot to camp for a couple of weeks. It was an absolutely beautiful day and it is fun to be in snow, for a couple of hours anyway.

In the past week we have golfed (I should have just road along for as bad as I did) a couple of times with Sis and Mike (MN friends) and they helped us eat a big batch of wild rice soup one night. Sis and Mike and I went to the huge swap meet and us gals only covered half of it in over four hours... to be continued next weekend. Great area! More later.

The Apache Trail

We have moved to Apache Junction and we are in a park where we see the Superstition Mountains out the front window. We wasted no time in taking a drive up The Apache Trail. Actually, we have been in the park 6 days and have found ourselves on this famous trail twice!

We stopped at the the museum and were introduced to this fellow. Isn't this a great painting of a mountain man.
At the same museum we saw this display of mounted military dating from 1776 to 1945.

And this piece if art made entirely of sand and zippers... yep, zippers.

At the same location, we saw this beautiful country church... at least I thought that is what it was. Actually, this church was built as part of a movie set and its claim to famous is a movie made by Elvis - can't remember which one. Outside is much more impressive than the inside - too much Elvis for me!

This picture has it all. I love taking pictures of mountains, windmills, old buildings and cactus and I love doing it on cloudy days - tada!

It was just a short beautiful drive
and we spotted Canyon Lake. This is one of three lakes in the area that we wanted to "check out".

Every mile, sometimes every few feet, brought a new photographic opportunity.
Oh yea, I love earthly sculptures, too.

Oh, and I love road shots, also.

And let's not forget rainbows. I used the panoramic setting and took 3 shots to get both ends of this rainbow. This was the first time I ever used it, as you can see I have a lot to learn but you get the idea.
This really was a day when we saw all kinds of clouds and weather.

And the scenery just kept getting better and better the farther we drove along Apache Trail.

The road wound around to the bottom where we saw caves and fall colored trees.

And then it wound back up and we were in amongst the saguaro.

As we drove, the clouds changed and played differently on the mountains.
Then we saw Apache Lake, the second one we wanted to "check out".

Since the day was getting away from us, we decided we better head back, about 40 miles, to home. The road home was just as spectacular!

Canyon Lake would be a fabulous place to explore by water.

It had been a wonderful afternoon in the Superstition Mountains. I think we have fallen in love with one more place... we're talking about bringing the boat down next winter...