last week...

so last week was kinda busy... dustin, austin & dad worked in the backyard all day friday [and a good chunk of thursday too]. they rototilled the crap out of it... they got the waterline and the sprinkler system in. apparently we have a quite a bit more we need to do before we can put the actual sod in, but its getting there!

::

saturday... there was a giant regional ysa activity [nicole was in charge... so i got to help out a lot.] it turned out great... and it was a whole ton of fun, but im not gonna lie... it was a long day. and then!! that night kelsey got  home from byu! she and a friend drove in from provo. it sure is great to have her back!!

::

also... the cacti are all blooming right now. its quite the sight. its a unique beauty, but i sure love it! :)

{our poor old plant}

so we have this huge century plant in our front yard. legend has it that these beautiful plants bloom once a century [hence the name] but i wikipedia-ed it and it said it only actually takes about 30 years for the plant to reach full maturity and bloom. the trick to these neat plants is that they only get one shot to bloom... then they die. well our poor old century plant starting shooting up its bloom about a month ago. the bloom stalk is huge... this plant puts every last bit of everything into this bloom to spread its seed and whatever. ours has got to be 20 or more feet high... today we came home from church and it had fallen over and gotten stuck in the palo verde tree.

[those are the seeds]

austin and i went out to take some pictures to send to grandpa neilson and he tried to push it back up... and it is pooping heavy...


so then he started swinging on it...


...and appparently poked his finger. lol.


anyway, ive enjoyed watching this plant's progress... and i have to admit it makes me sad to see it go... and it will be a booger to clean up.


[this is the actual plant... the base of the shoot... its starting to get all withery-looking and nasty- but its a pretty cool picture!]

::

and just in case anyone was wondering... i love arizona summers... i love the heat, i love the plants, i love this town, i love my family. its been fun. and i couldnt help but take more pictures of cactus and other such fun... the desert really is beautiful- it has a such a subtle yet striking beauty about it. i sure do love my arizona.