This was really cool.
I went straight out our back gate and walked up to the park fence to take this pic.  (The park is separated from our property by a 20 foot utility easement.)
The town fathers had the fire department do this to wet the grass before the evening's fireworks.
I thought it was a really fun, cool way to do it.  :)
They've done it this way for about 7-8 years.

We had a duck come visit our pool last summer.  Pretty rare in the desert.

As you can tell from her ears,
Rubi was pretty mad that she couldn't catch that tasty-looking lunch.  LOL

This is my younger son, Sam.
He's the one who's always trying to convince everyone that he's a snotty little <bleep>.  I know better than that though.  LOL
The kitten in his lap was his baby, Miki.
We lost him the week before Thanksgiving '02.
He died during the surgery to get "fixed."
Sam was devastated!  So much for snotty.

This is Yuri, Sam's new kitten.
And yes, she has an attitude to match her looks.
She can be the sweetest thing in the world,
then she turns into Psycho Killer Kitty!
I adopted her from a shelter that had cats at a cat show my folks and I were selling cat houses in about 2003.
Needless to say, Sam (my tough guy) adores her.  ROFL
And the feeling's mutual.  :)
(Her name is Japanese for lily.)

Meet Saba.  He's Miki's surviving brother and the reason I got another kitten.
You see, Saba was born April '02 and all of our other cats are at least 3 years old.  So, he desperately needed a playmate.  So, Sam got a new cat and Saba got a playmate.  Yuri runs his life and he loves it.
Saba is a goofy cat who likes to lay sprawled flat out on his back.
That never fails to crack me up.
I named him and the boys still laugh at me for it.
His name is Japanese for mackerel.
Well, he's mackerel-striped.  LOL

This a shot of my oldest, Randell.
This was from his first job school in the Marine Corps in '05.
I love the quiet confidence in his face and stance.
The decision for him to go into the Corps was the best thing
that's happened to him in a very long time.

Randell's cat is Rubi.
She decided to climb up and lay on the dish towels one night.
I still haven't figured out how she got the door open.
I opened the door all the way to take this pic when I found her.
She's the family lover girl.  If you walk on 2 legs, she loves you.  LOL
She was a stray that I picked as a kitten after she was dumped off in a parking lot one night.  She walked into our upholstery class and chose me so I brought her home and we've never regretted it.
Shaken our heads a few times, (like when we found out that she loves lettuce  lol) but never any regret.
We've had her for almost 11 years now.

Sam's other cat with my cat, Neighbor.
Mickey is supposed to my cat but he adores Sam.
Ah well, cats choose their own people.
I call him "my Wal-mart cat" because that's where I got him.
Okay, from some people outside the store but still....  LOL

Lots of important people here.
From left to right:
my Mom: my grand-daughter, Shayla; my Dad and my adopted daughter, Dani.  Dani is English just like my husband, John.
In 2002, we thought John might have cancer so Dani and Shayla came out from Mississippi to see us.  It was lovely to see them again as we hadn't seen them for a year.
 Dani & her husband, Cory had another baby in May 2003.
I'm really excited about having another grand-daughter.
Yeah, we know already.  :)
Dani has been my saving grace and is my best friend.
Shayla can be adorable but then she can be Brat Child.
That's normal since she is now 10 and a great big girl.  LOL

This is Cory, our son-in-law.
I took this photo the last night we saw him.
He had just graduated from recruiter school and had made honor grad in his class.
His reward from the Marine Corps was the sword you can just see at his side.  He thought that was cool because he would have had to spend $300 to get it himself.
We're pretty proud of him and yes, he handled Randell's enlistment.  Gotta trust family to do you right.  :)

I  love this picture of Shayla.
This is from when they were out here in '02.
She was helping Grand-dad make cookies.  I don't think she minded her job at all.  ROFL

This is my family in 2006 minus one brother and his 3 daughters.
John and I front and center.
Left to right: Nana, Grandpa, younger brother Jim, Randell, and then Sam.
They really do smile and laugh a lot.
Just don't like pictures.

Back to something I like better... my cats.  LOL
This is actually John's cat and his name Keikai.
He's a Manx and he was a terror when I first brought him in.
(Yes, another stray.)
His name means "beware, lookout" and it was appropriate back then.
He's mellowed out into a pretty good little cat.

Last cat... (were you starting to think I was running a cattery here?  lol)
This is Neighbor... as you can see, he's my cat.
Okay, I'd better explain the name.
When we moved here 10 years ago, there was an older kitten that would come over from down the street.  For lack of anything to call him, Randell dubbed him, "Neighbor" because he was the neighbor's cat.  Well, he stopped being a cute little kitten so they stopped feeding him and kept him outdoors all the time.  He started to go feral but we realized what was happening and adopted him.  He's been my baby ever since.
He's not the brightest light on the string but he's lovable so his nickname is Bubby.
He adopted Saba as his baby and it's funny to watch this big old tomcat mothering a full grown kitten. See what I mean?

Me and Neighbor having a nap.  LOL

I think I'll end this with a picture I took from the front yard.
It was 2003 and we were just clearing off from some storms.

I hope you enjoyed the little foray into my life.  :)