The Price of Freedom is Written on the Wall

We got an amazing chance to see the traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall. It is the largest traveling replica of the Vietnam Memorial Wall which is located in Washington D.C.


This 80% replica made its way to our small town of Cottonwood, and is 1 of 2 Arizona locations for 2013.

The Hubs and I went with our youngest grandson Orion.

The names with a plus sign are people who didnt make it home and their bodies were never recovered. Those who were killed and their bodies made it home have a diamond shape after their name.

I thankfully don't know anyone on the wall, but a friend has a family member on there so we looked up their wall location in the book and etched the name with a pencil over paper.

You can find more information about the wall and its schedule at the American Veterans Traveling Tribute website. Its an amazing thing to see and a great opportunity for people who cant make it to DC to see the original.

Soap Pot - Satsuma Guava

Todays soaping pot is ready for Satsuma Guava....A tropical fruit paradise with green fruity notes of guava, lemon and orange with an addition of sweet jasmine and neroli.  

Usually I just swirl yellow and orange together...this time I tried something new, layering the yellow and orange and then swirling the colors into the rest of the uncolored soap and pouring it on top of the layers.

It came out pretty good, although I wish I had tamped my mold down to make the layers more straight, but I am quite happy with it and of course it smells wonderfully fruity.

Hoppy Easter

I hope everyone had a beautiful Easter, ours truly was. We had most of our family over, the weather was perfect and the food was great! My Easter tulips bloomed so big on Easter morning.

We made Deviled Easter Egg Chicks...I should have made the eyes smaller, but I am happy with how they came out, and they didnt last long. I got the recipe and directions from A Thrifty Mom.

No little ones this year, but the kids still went on an Easter Egg hunt...never too old for that!!

After dinner we took the lil pups for a walk down to the river...

It was a great day and we couldnt have asked for much more than what we received...maybe next year all of the kids and grandkids can be able to come....then it would be perfect!

How did you spend your Easter?

Easter Egg Coloring

We had a fun night of egg coloring last night. We colored almost 2 dozen....why does that never seem like enough?!?

Of course The Hubs made his traditional egg for me. :) 

3 people of the group (not me) were very creative and made cute bunny eggs 

Our grandson had 3 going at once. 

Here is our bounty of colored eggs, the plain eggs are mostly mine, although I did make a couple dual colored. 

I dont care how old I get, coloring eggs is always my favorite part. The family all around the table sharing and laughing makes for those extra special moments.

Soaping Pot - Prickly Pear

Juicy fragrance of crimson-purple desert catus pears also known as Prickly Pears. Sweet, drippy notes of plum, strawberry and watermelon gives succulent, realistic fragrance of a prickly pear while the crisp green watery essences of the cactus itself show through in this unusual, delicious fragrance!

Mixing the prickly pear (pink) and cactus (green)...

Layered in the mold...

The final result!

Soaping Pot - Rosemary Mint

Making Rosemary Mint today....a blend of Rosemary, Garden Herbs and Mint....a great "wake you up in the morning" aroma.

Adding the green mica into the soap batter...and then mix mix mix...

I keep a small portion left uncolored to pour onto the top for a little bit of contrast.

Cat/Dog Toy

Funny how the cats could care less about the dog toys...but lil pup feels he should have ALL the toys. He wants the ball on the top of the cat toy soooo badly....

Here he is asking me to get it with stomping his feet and giving me a low bark...

Now maybe if I stand up tall....

...and take a quick nip at it... 

No...just makes it spring back and forth....

Now Simon comes over to say "I dont think so" Lil pup looks to me for some help....

Simons says "no way!!!".... 

..."its MINE!!"

Foiled! Darn cats!