Bigger and Bigger!

When the kids got home from Nana and Poppa's house, they were surprised to see how much more the sunflowers had grown in just one week!

A Colorful Hummer

We've put out a hummingbird feeder for the last three summers. I've been complaining that the only hummingbirds we get here in the desert are brown just like everything else! And then, this little guy showed up with some of his friends. He has a lot of orange on him, and his throat almost glows orange when the sun hits him just right. He's a shy little thing, and it's taken me several days to get this picture. I can't quite seem to capture him at the feeder--the click of the camera scares him off.

Even Bigger!

We are amazed at how fast our sunflower plants are growing. We did a little research and found out that not only is the state flower of Kansas the sunflower, but also the national flower of Russia is the sunflower!

Growing Big!

We were surprised by how tall our sunflower plants grew while we were gone last week.

Inscription Rock

If you live in New Mexico or find yourself visiting here, and you haven't seen Inscription Rock, our family highly recommends that you see it! Not only can you see interesting desert landscape, but you will also view a fabulous historical site. El Morro was a popular spot on the old Zuni trail and travelers would stop there to inscribe their names in the sandstone. Inscriptions date back to 1600.

Alligator Bark

Erosion and Weathering

Blooming Desert Cactus

We hiked to the top. What a breathtaking view!

They Came Up!

One of my favorite books to read to the kids when they were really little was The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss. The little boy in the story plants carrot seeds, but everyone he knows keeps telling him "They won't come up." By the end of the story, the little boy has grown the biggest carrot anyone has ever seen. We feel like the little boy in that story when he says, "They came up!" Our Mammoth sunflowers are sprouting like crazy. About three of our Evening Suns have sprouted as well. We are still anxiously waiting on the Autumn Beauties to sprout.

Bird Egg

Abby and Grant found a bird nest high up in our front yard's pine tree. The bird made his messy looking nest from dead pine needles. We had fun looking at the egg that fell from the nest even though we are sad to think the little bird inside probably did not make it.