Don't stand under the mistletoe....

because it is really itchy when it falls down your neck.

Saturday hubby and I pruned the ornery mistletoe that started growing in one of our trees just a few years ago. Actually, I spotted while he climbed the ladder and did the hard physical work, but I'm pretty sure that 80% of what he trimmed landed on my head. We filled our huge grey garbage can with it; if it were close to Christmas I know we could have made money selling the parasite.

Such a lovely shade of green

You woulda thought he had learned his lesson about climbing ladders....

Speaking of romantic moments, last week we celebrated

Thirty-Seven Years of a Sweet Ride into Eternity!

at a lovely restaurant, Mi Piaci. Because it was our anniversary I decided not to embarrass my husband by taking pictures of him, but I did sneak in a few of the beautifully presented food

Lovely to look at, delightful to devour, my sea bass in cranberry sauce (I wanted more almost as soon as I finished). The gnocchis Keven ordered didn't dissapoint either.

Creme Brûlée Bliss

We also decided we could share the romantic supermoon we ordered up for that night with the rest of the world!

Washington, DC
(Hi Andrew & Ben!)






London



Lisbon

Between celebrating and pruning we've sure had fun having Ayrel & Ben around. Ayrel came armed and ready to sew, and sew we did! Everything on her list for the nursery is finished (well, the cushions for the rocking chair need some final hand-stitching), and there is enough fabric left to make a baby quilt.  I loved having so much time to spend together....and she taught me how to make buckeyes!



Sugar & Spice or Snips & Snails???
We won't know until Baby G makes an appearance in July!  It was fun to have El Paso family and friends help shower Ben & Ayrel with love and gifts at a baby shower. 

Buckeye Baby G's happy grandmas with Ayrel

A Climb to the Top

Saturday was a beautiful day to be on top of the world! That's how Jenny, Fawn and I felt as we hauled ourselves 4 miles up to the 7,192' elevation of Mt. Franklin (highest peak in the Franklin Mountain range) and viewed the world at our feet. Light cloud cover kept things cool and comfortable as we picked our way across rock slides, evidence of the 2006 floods, and traversed countless switchbacks. Sadly, the arctic cold we experienced a month ago was also evident in the number of dead cacti along the path.


Lively conversation and the almonds & dried apricots Jenny generously shared made it a fun and invigorating day. We realized too late that we forgot to use our sunscreen, thus we shall now be known as the Three Redneck Amigos.

One of the many rock slides



View of northwest El Paso and into New Mexico.
For perspective, enlarge picture to see no fewer than 4 people walking on the rock slide.



Jenny and Fawn

View of northeast El Paso from Mundy's Gap; some of the switchbacks

Northeast El Paso behind us. To the north we could see Cloudcroft and Ruidoso areas; to the south we could see the sand dunes in Mexico which I didn't even know existed.


Our next goal: Ranger Peak in April - we welcome fellow hikers!