April

March brought our first winter conditions contributing to snow on the surrounding hillsides near our home which is exactly the type of winter conditions I prefer to live in -- conditions that do not require that I shovel or have to drive in it and instead merely enjoy looking at it -- from afar.  March also brought us spring desert flowers - another motivator for taking walks in our neighborhood.

Did I mention in my last post that Larry's job was requiring more travel?  The most recent travel was to Safford and involved an overnighter so I went along allowing me to meet up with friend Becky.

Thanks Becky and Marty for the great dinner that evening - always a pleasure to catch up.

We traveled from Safford to Sierra Vista where we met up with brother Jim and his family to tour Kartchner Caverns - something Larry has wanted to do like - forever.  I messed up and didn't grab a photo - oops.

A couple of weekends ago, I was out and about when I received a call from Larry advising me to be careful, when I returned home, of the rattlesnake sunning itself on our driveway.  I think he/she looks quite healthy for having been hibernating.  Needless to say, I'm quite vigilant on my walks now -- before it was just keeping an eye out for the coyotes that were stalking me.

Last weekend, taking advantage of life in the city!, we went to the Desert Botanical Gardens for the butterfly enclosure.  One of the downsides of life in the city is that a whole lot of other people had the same idea.  Nonetheless, I was able to get close enough for a few pictures - okay, probably too many you'll be thinking as you scroll through....  First though, I need to post the picture of the King snake we saw at the DBG -- I was told King snakes are rattlesnake predators -- I need one of these in our yard.

Now for a few butterfly and spring cactus flowers...

The following day, we ventured out to the AZ Game and Fish Department's Ben Avery Shooting Range where brother Jim works.  I believe the shooting range was hosting a wildlife expo -- all I noticed is that there were a lot of people shooting guns -- a lot!  Was nice to see Jim though...

  Sue, Harper and Allison came up to Carefree for a visit recently.  Harper is a cutie and I love taking her picture -- I just have a difficult time catching her looking at the camera when the picture is being taken. 

And, of course, I must include a picture documenting the hair growth competition...gad! I might be ready for a trim!

I'll end the blog with a health update.  As a result of my appointments in March, my good doctors at Mayo determined that I was experiencing inflammation in the lung air sacs (inflammation can cause scaring and therefore permanent damage) due to the Afinitor and have elected at this point to keep me on the drug but at a reduced dosage.  I've been back on Afinitor for a week and am doing well.  Whoo hoo - hope it stays that way.  I go in for blood work again next week (I go in every two weeks) and meet with Dr. Paripati the following week - Dr. Paripati monitors me closely.  I need to get a picture so you can put a face to the name.

This is Easter weekend and we're heading to Lake Powell!