~*~*~*~*~

Arriving at Rancho del Heidmann Tuesday afternoon,
we found the weather to be
crisp, clear, windless, and
“exceedingly clement”
(to quote Jeeves).

Laurent did not require one iota of coaxing
to get out her new rifle
and prepare for
her
inaugural shoot!

Here is the can, upon the stump,
at which she chose to
shoot.

It was about a 50 yard shot.
She grazed it with the first bullet,
missed twice,
and then decided to go to the shooting range and use real targets.

A bullet hole
in the burn barrel.

The exterior of the burn barrel.

Here is the young miss,
lining up her sights.

She spent a lot of time out at the range that afternoon.
Too cold for me, but she was
committed.

~*~*~*~*~

 

~*~*~*~*~

For the last couple of years,
ever since we were able to put a wood stove in the cabin,
we have been spending a few days at the ranch
in December
between Christmas and New Years Day.

We decided to go up in the middle of the week
to avoid the traffic,
and left on Tuesday morning
after Geneva’s orthodontist checkup.

The most remarkable thing about our drive north was
when my husband,
out of the blue
and the goodness of his heart,
the man who invariably shouts
“NO!!”
when asked,
because he is on a mission
to get to the ranch,
actually
STOPPED
at one of the scenic overlooks in the
Salt River Canyon,
so that his pack of female photogs
could get a little
snap happy.

Ok, that was really fun.
But we’re not getting used to it…
I’m pretty sure it was a one-off.

~*~*~*~*~

~*~*~*~*~

As we turned round to head back from whence we came,
Mother began lamenting the difficulties of pushing her up the hill,
to which I replied that Paul could easily
run her up this hill.

Well, then of course he had to prove me right.

And so he did.

And here they are resting at the top while I trudge up behind!

Laurent picked a bouquet of wildflowers along the way for mother…

Desert beauty!

Jacob inexplicably ran ahead when we got to this tunnel.

Just so he could – not leap - but
crab walk out from around the corner when we came through.
Silly boy.

Some pretty landscaping.

I liked the way the sun shone through the cloud and this tree right then…

Some greenery across the canal…

Mile marker on the trail.

This was a portal to another world.
Laurent walked through,
and when she came out the other side,
she’d been there for 16 hours.
It’s true!

Fall colors,
rare to see here.

Not much color here…
Laurent wanted this picture,
something about foresty something or other…

Another pretty!

More landscaping.

More tiny flowers!

Two wing-like pods sticking out from a branch on
this plant with the red feathery flowers.
I thought, “How curious!”

I do like those flowers though.

~*~*~*~*~

And that was that for our Sunday walk.

Love those Sunday walks!

~*~*~*~*~

I continued my leisurely nature walk,

finding miniature beauty along the way

and was glad for the talkative company of my boy.

at last we caught up to our people

taking a bit of a break under the big bridge

Jacob joined the girls on the ramp

and then decided

to crab walk all the way down.

Yup.
That’s my boy.

~*~*~*~*~

 

Sunday afternoon was a cool,
partly cloudy,
Perfect Walking Day.
Off to the Linear Park we went
to stroll & roll.

Megan wrangling her brother…

And we’re off!

I started out at the back of the pack

and only dropped further behind

with each photo I took!

They were kind enough to wait up for me at the first bridge.

But soon were far ahead again.

So I decided to take my time!

~*~*~*~*~

Super minimal photography this year!
Don’t know what happened
except that I had a great time at our
usual
Heidmann Family celebration
in Sun lakes.

Laurent and Grandma bustling in the kitchen.

Jacob taking his pastry-wrapped sausages very seriously.

Two stripey girls.

Paul in a ridiculous hat.

Paul in the ridiculous hat turned upside down.

Geneva being goofy.
(But doing so in style.)

Cousins and Susan, gathering for the annual program.

Har-har-harring about something.

Heidmann West cousins doing the reading.

Heidmann East cousins bringing the music.

Grandmas looking on.

Later,
the kids all gathered around Jon’s laptop
to watch
The Guardians of Gahoole.
I think they liked it, judging from the laughter.
(Although there was the usual criticism of the shortcomings of cinematic adaptations.)

Meanwhile,
adults living it up with the goodies out on the patio.

Christmas in Arizona.
75 degrees and sunshine… sorry Midwest and East Coast,
it’s a burden, we know,
but we’re willing to carry it.

Well how do you like that.
I had a bunch of pictures all ready to caption and post,
when,
being
(as I most frequently am)
called away by various household needs,
I returned to find that in the meanwhile,
someone had sat at my desk to log on,
and inadvertently clicked the red X
instead of simply hitting “switch user.”

Therefore,
I bravely begin again,
and hope I get it posted before I am
whisked away to the ranch
tomorrow.

~*~*~*~*~

Our Christmas Eve celebration
unfolded as follows:

Various people took turns playing card games

using bow-tie pasta for chips.

At the designated hour,
the festivities began with hors d’ouvres.

There was a brief and somewhat hilarious competition for
who could give the silliest answer
to the question
“why we give gifts”
(we did, you will be pleased to know,
somehow manage to wend our way to the correct answer.)

I took this picture when I thought Megan was texting rather than listening.
I post it not for any photographic prowess, but primarily because
the perspective is amusing!

Gifting ensued,
and there were many blessings which abounded.
Jeff will hopefully be able to make his gift last at least a couple of weeks…

Megan was overjoyed with her MP3

(though I do not know why she was standing on the bike…)

I had to have someone interpret for me,
the words came out so fast:
“Yesss!!  Myveryfirstastromechdroid!”

When it was Laurent’s turn,
things became a bit more complex:

(No, we did not give her near-beer for Christmas.)

Inside the box was a wine bottle.
(No, we did not give her wine for Christmas.)
Inside the wine bottle was a
Blue Clue.

It read:
“FATHER TIME HAS PLACED YOUR CHRISTMAS PRESENT
IN A TIME WARP.
YOU WONT GET IT UNTIL NEXT CHRISTMAS
UNLESS YOU CAN GET HIM TO
RELEASE IT!!”

Well, she found the next clue without much ado.

It read:

“EARTH, WIND, AND FIRE,
THE ELEMENTS OF OLD.
SEEK THE SECOND!”

This one took a bit longer,
as she had to search
several fans
and vents

before finally looking inside the

cold air return in the hallway.

This clue read:

“THOUGH MY SINS WERE AS SCARLET,
YOU MADE THEM WHITE AS SNOW.
SEEK THAT WHICH MAKES
THE FILTHY
WHITE AS SNOW.”

Well that is not much of a stumper
for the girl whose primary chore is the
laundry!

This clue read:

“TREE OF LIFE!”

Somehow she went straight for the cross.

And that final clue sent her
to her gift:

This was a very special Christmas present…

because it is also
her 16th birthday present!
Normally we wouldn’t give her birthday present to her a week early,
but since we are off to the ranch this week,
obviously there had to be an
exception to the rule.

Jacob has been talking about,
and writing about,
almost nothing else but

Slave 1
for the last year.
It seemed time to fulfill his dream.

Mother was psyched to get a tripod to go with her new camera!

Geneva nearly levitating as she recognizes
her longed-for Steampunk boots.

Yeah, just try to get those off her…

Mighty piratey…

Jacob spent 4 hours and 20 minutes building…

and got it finished

before time to go to midnight mass!

Much joy,
much abundant blessing.

And how perfect to ring in Christmas Day in reverent
worship and song,
with every pew filled to capacity,
and people
standing all along the walls
from the front to the back of the cathedral.

Glory be to God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
for the most wondrous gift of
Immanuel.

Today we loaded up the family in mom’s minivan,
picked up Lisa on the way,
and drove a very excited and rambunctious crew

sitting 4 to the back seat

(yeah, those are sandwiches in those little mitts -
we couldn’t really afford to eat in the mall
so we brought lunch along and
ate on the way!)

over to Scottsdale Fashion Square,

where we had a glorious opportunity to join several hundred fellow citizens

in a
Hallelujah Chorus Flash Mob!!!

There were hundreds and hundreds of people!!
Paul was with us down on the food court when we started,
but then he left to go upstairs to get a better view,
and they wouldn’t let anyone down there,
it was too packed!

When I can find a youtube vid with good sound I will post it.
I have no idea how it sounded, but it was huge,
and just wonderful to be a part of it.

~*~*~*~*~

Here’s one vid from the balcony.
Some of the sound is a little in-and-out,
but you get the gist of the scale of the thing anyway!

Update:

I said “several hundred” which was my conservative estimate.
This report states that
“5,000 carolers bring Scottsdale Fashion Square traffic to a halt.”

Yep, the traffic was In.Sane.
but so worth it!

 

This afternoon
I whipped together the easiest and tastiest offerings I could muster
to bring to the RCIA Christmas Party:
Swedish Meatballs
Sweet, Spicy & Sour Meatballs
Ginger Gems

and at the appointed hour,
we loaded up and went over for an evening of
amazing food,
and lots of laughs with our fellow classmates
and terrific Team leaders.

My pics from the evening:

Gorgeous table decorations.

Our team puts so much love and effort into all that they do for our class!

Megan quietly pondering the hustle and bustle.

Megan, frustrated that I took a picture when she was looking slouchy,
posed beautifully, unaware of the ghostly presence
of Team Leader, Jeff Pietro, creeping up on her from behind.

The gift exchange table.
(A funny game whereby you can steal other people’s presents…)

Granddaughters and Grandmother.

One more try,
this time Jeff stayed still long enough for all the flashes to finish!

A really fun time was had by all.
Thanks so much to all the people who made it a great night!