A Birthday Trip To Moon Rock

March 22 was my mom's birthday. (Tanya P) Many of you on Gather know her and I hope you will stop by and tell her Happy Birthday.

My mom is a really awesome person and has done so much for us as a family but especially for me as an individual. We all love her so much and we would have taken her anywhere she wanted to go for her birthday. She has a special love of the land like we do and she chose to go to our Moon Rock property outside of Snowflake, Arizona.

We all left the house on Friday. Mom and I had our cameras ready, just in case.

I've always wanted a picture of this one tree that stands out in the middle of nowhere but we never seem to have the time to stop. Mom pulled over for me and we got some really great shots. I love how the sun is shining on the still winter leaves. The juniper trees here are very young and look like small bushes.

Although I am not a member of the LDS Church, I have always loved the beautiful temple buildings and I had never seen the one that is in Snowflake. Mom drove me over to get a few shots.

On our way back to the highway there were many beautiful statues of children playing and this one really caught my eye. I love how the little girl is hugging her teddy bear.

And, of course, the locals from our area, not to be out done, have their own form of art on the road to our property. From the litter on the ground, it looks like they had a good time making it too.

On Saturday, Mom rode around the property with me on the quad and got to see all the trails we've made to make easy access to some of the special parts of the property. I made sure to take her to her special place. Robert and I put a bench on one of the ridges so that she could watch the sunset in the evenings. This spot also overlooks the lower part of our land.

Later in the evening we had an awesome sunset to watch. We both have the same type of camera so we were having a blast taking picture after picture and spending some time together.

That night we had a beautiful moon and a warm fire. Both Mom and I got great closeups. I can't wait to see her shots too.

On Sunday we headed out and stopped by my aunt and uncle's property to spend the day with them.

We got some great pictures of some wild ducks. I think trying to find small ducks in the air and zooming in on them as they are in flight is one of the hardest things I've ever done with my camera. I can't wait to see what shots Mom came up with.

 
We had an awesome time over the weekend for Mom's birthday. I do hope you'll go over and tell her Happy Birthday. (Tanya P)