This weekend, I had lots of veggies on hand. Therefore, I made a very yummy Italian flavored veggie soup.
A few weeks ago, the neighbors also gave me a jar of "friendship" soup. It was really good! I used the soup mix and added a bunch of veggies including carrots, celery, beans, onions and cabbage. It was really good!
Friday night I had Simon all to myself. We went to the mall to get him a new pair of shoes. Along the way, he found some massage chairs. His special treat for the evening was to have a chair massage. I gotta love that boy because I LOVE getting a massage.
With our veggie love....I got a bunch of carrots. Here they are before being washed. I figure that when they are put into soup, they need to keep their peels since that is where a lot of the nutrients are in carrots.
Simon was my helper with the Italian style soup and the carrot soup. He did a great job working the food processor.
The simmering carrots & a few potatoes.
After being hit with the immersion blender. I LOVE that Christmas gift from Dad & Linda a few years ago!
And, finally,
Donk & Finny are having a craft/cook along this year. One of the projects for this month is an Irish soda bread. Easy to make and mighty tasty. It will be my toasted breakfast this week along with some boiled eggs!
Simon was very impressed with the large amethysts.
After our visit to the gem show we visited Tuzigood National Monument.
The ranger was very nice to allow us to use the staff picnic table for our picnic. The view of the Verde Valley was beautiful.
Jerome, AZ off in the distance at the left of the photo. The kids thought it was cool that there was snow on the peaks.
At the top of the monument.
Verde Valley.....it is nice to see the desert all green because of the recent rains.
Simon practicing his corn grinding skills like he did while we were in Colorado.
A view of the monument. 
Last stop....Montezuma's Well. A view of the cliff dwellings built above the water.
At the bottom of the well is an 800 year old ruin that you can look into up close and personal. Good thing I have kids, because of all the times I have visited the well, I never knew it was there!
The well from above with the cliff dwellings of in the distance.
The well naturally drains on the other side of the well and the Sinagua tribe used to irrigate their farm land. Simon enjoyed trying to catch the water bugs. Unfortunately, he was not successful.
At the end of our visit to the well, we ran into a couple that had 6 animals between them, including a wolf that Simon enjoyed petting. It had the most gorgeous blue eyes.
A great day! Today, we are off to the Renaissance Festival. 
