Teri's Saguaro

For the past ten years Steve and I have lived next door to Theresa Gartland (Teri). Teri turned out to be the best friend that I have ever had. We both shared a love for horses,dogs and tortoises.  

Teri was the caretaker for my animals when Steve and I traveled. We rode our horses together. She ended up working with us at Steve's dental office. In fact we put a gate into the fence between our properties for easier access back and forth. We have shared a lot of good times and some extremely hard and sad personal times with each other.  We have always had each other's back!

Teri had two saguaro cacti made from horseshoes on her property.  She would light them up at Christmas time with hundreds of lights. So fun. The one pictured above was the smaller of the two but it was actually made with horseshoes that Teri's own horses had worn.  

Recently Teri moved from next door to out of state.  although I have been very sad that my best friend has moved on I know that due to circumstance this is what she needed to do.  Before she left she gifted the horseshoe cactus to me. She knew I had always secretly coveted it!

It was no small feat moving this cacti as it was cemented in cement and it weighs ?? a lot! Steve did a great job working with another neighbor Tom and Tom's tractor moving it here.  They had to cut it with a torch saw.Tom had to weld the bottom and Steve had to dig a rather large hole and pour 1180 pounds of concrete!  

The above picture is the cactus transplanted to our backyard. I love it! Of course I will have great memories of Teri when I look at it.  I will continue to light it up at Christmas time with a smile. 

 Teri helping at a roundup vaccinating,castrating,branding calves.

 Teri on her handsome buckskin gelding Big Jim before a trail ride.  

Tonto Natural Bridge With 5 Guys

The end of June I went with the Boulder Mountain Ward Young Women to hike the Tonto Natural Bridge. It was a fun hike and I couldn't wait to take some of our grandsons on the hike.

The Tonto Natural Bridge is believed to be the largest natural travertine bridge in the world. It has been inn the making for thousands of years. The bridge stands 183 feet high over a 400 foot long tunnel that measures 150 feet at its widest point.

In 1877 David Gowan discovered the bridge as he was chased by Apaches. Gowan hid for two days and three nights in one of the several caves that dot the inside of the bridge.  He left the cave on the third day to explore the tunnel and green valley surrounding it. Gowan then claimed squatter's rights.

In 1898 he persuaded his nephew, David Gown Goodfellow to bring his family over from Scottland and permanently settle the land.  After a week of difficult travel from Flagstaff, they arrived at the edge of the mountain and lowered their possessions down the 500 foot slopes into the valley by ropes and burros.

Steve and I set off with Crew (almost 10),Cole (8),Brexton (8),Cash (6) and Miller (5). We had a great time and everyone did better then I had expected.  We saw a few small waterfalls,tadpoles in small pockets of water and javelina.

We stopped at Mackeys Grill in Payson for lunch and at scoops for ice cream!

 Tadpoles in the above picture. 

 Waterfall off the top of the bridge.

Salt River Wild Horses and Piper Swims

Today we went to the Salt River so Cutter and Piper could swim. I wanted to post this picture of some of the Salt River Wild Horses. They were in the area were we always take the dogs.  Last week when we were kayaking we saw this same band of horses. They crossed the river just in front of our kayaks. At that time this little colt wasn't born yet. Today it was apparent this colt is only days old.  

My dogs began barking at the horses and the band rushed forward to surround the two young ones. It was a treat to witness. The dark horse in the center of the picture is the stallion.

 Today with very little coaxing Piper came out into the water with me deep enough to swim.  I think she enjoyed it! She came out several mores times and she would swim around me before heading back to shore.  Good job Piper!

Evan Spends the Night

Brannon and Amanda's beautiful baby boy came to stay the night with Papa and G-Mama.  He is such a sweet,handsome boy! We enjoyed spending some quality time with this sweet baby.

 Isn't this a happy picture to send to Evan's Mom and Dad? He was smiling at his Papa!

We took Evan out to see the horses for the first time. He is a brave little boy,no tears! Sometimes these big horses can scare the little ones. Santannah was very interested in Evan.

New Kayaks

July was a busy month for Steve and I.  I had a Ward Girls Camp,a Stake Girls Camp,a trip to San Diego and our trip to Panaca,Nevada for the Sesquicentennial Celebration. When I was food shopping for Stake Girls Camp I noticed Costco had kayaks on sale for an extremely good price.  We came back and bought two but they sat in the garage waiting for our adventures to be over.

Monday morning we decided to try them out kayaking down the Salt River.  We had a great time and the kayaks worked beautifully.

I wish I had a camera but didn't want to get one wet! There was a group of wild horses in the river as we came around a bend.  The grey stallion decided to move his herd across the river right in front of us. There was a young colt with the group who was reluctant to cross as it was deep and he would be swimming.  His mom stayed back with him to encourage and push him (literally) along. He finally took the plunge and crossed.  Beautiful scenery and wildlife!