Joe and Mary Ann's personal web site

Our grandson Zion’s first birthday was on April 19, 2025. Aaron and Maria had a party for him on April 27. This post has some pictures from the party. He sure is a cute boy, and growing up fast!

Mary Ann, Father Charlie, and I went to the Verde River on March 6, 2025. We left at 8:00 for the 50 minute drive. It was cold and rainy when we left. There were some light sprinkles when we got there, but it cleared up nicely during the day. We first went to the Box Bar Recreation Site, then ate lunch at the Needle Rock Recreation Site, and finally went to the Verde River Recreation Site. It’s a short drive between these sites.

Mary Ann and I went to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum (BTA) on Feb 14. It was raining that day, so we initially cancelled our plans. But, it cleared up in the afternoon, so we decided to drive out and take our chances. It turned out to be a beautiful afternoon. We noticed a lot of couples there on that day. I wonder why?

Mary Ann and I went to the Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch (RPWR) in Gilbert on Friday, Feb 7, 2025. I noticed in the daily ‘Maricopa County Rare Bird Alert’ that there were some interesting warblers reported there: the Black-and-white Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler. Also the American Redstart and Northern Parula were reported. So we decided to check it out.

Mary Ann and I went to the Pinal Mountains on our 25th Anniversary. The highlight of the trip was spending time with the love of my life in the beautiful mountains!

Zion Samuel Lester was baptized on May 5, 2024, at St. Timothy Catholic Church. Deacon Chris Bassett presided. Zion’s godparents are his aunt, Ella Clark, and family friend, Brendan Phelan. Brendan was out of town, so his Dad, Mike, stood in for him. This post has some cell phone photographs of the event. It was a beautiful ceremony to bring little Zion into the Catholic Church!

Mary Ann and I like to walk for exercise at Arizona State University Research Park. It’s close to our house (about 1.5 miles), and there are three small lakes to walk around (it’s a 2.3 mi walk, and takes 34 minutes). We saw Lark Sparrows there, and I don’t have any good pictures of a Lark Sparrow, so we decided to go to the park for a photography trip.

Mary Ann and I made our annual trip to Aravaipa Canyon on March 21, 2024. I’m only now getting around to the post. A permit is required to access the canyon, and they are hard to get, especially for the west side, since it is closer to Phoenix and Tucson, so the demand is higher. We wanted to do the west side this year, but couldn’t get a permit, so we signed up for the east side. But Mary Ann kept on the lookout for cancellations, and was able to get a spot on the west side at the last minute. We prefer the east side, but it’s an overnight trip (a 4.5 – 5 hour drive), and the west side can be done as a day trip (2 hour drive).

I’m catching up on posting photographs. This post is from Granite Reef Recreation Area on the Salt River, which Mary Ann and I visited on March 15, 2024.

Mary Ann and I went to the Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch (RPWR) in Gilbert on Jan 29, 2024. We were there from about 7:45 to noon.