Vacation - 4

The vacation has long come and gone but I do want to get the rest written.

We were meeting Kelli and Jenni's families at Montezuma.  We went to the well and they were at the castle.  Turns out they are not at the same place.  We took advantage at being at the well and hiked to view the history.

Behind mom and dad above is this little abode.  It is hard to imagine raising a family in this dwelling set in the hillside.  I freak out with the kids on flat surfaces I can't imagine that worry.

This little lake has water that comes from below if I remember correctly. Formed long ago by the collapse of a limestone cavern, over one million gallons of water a day flows continuously into the Well.  It is called Montezuma's Well, but Montezuma was never anywhere near it.  Some explorer misnamed it, not knowing it was the Sinagua people.

We left the cave and met with the families at Montezuma's Castle.

  What fun.  Tyler introduced us to the many wonders of Oreo cookies.  Besides it deliciousness you can also play games with them.  Put an Oreo on your forehead and with only your facial twitches move it to your mouth.  I saw Tyler achieve this twice, of course I saw it hit the ground many times.

Sherry, always a good sport, gave it a try.  It may look like she succeeded, but alas no.  It flipped off her tongue onto the sanitary picnic bench.

This is perched up on the hillside, which again gives me shudders imagining raising a family in a hillside dwelling like these.

They used to let visitors climb some rickety ladders to go into the ruins, but the travelers damaged them too much and the park rangers have not let people go into them since the 1950's.  

 It was very impressive to see what people can do with their resources.  

Photo-op time.

Junior Ranger and his sidekick.  Carter was very funny running around the station and then pushing himself back against this mural ready for his photo moment.

A morning full of hot sun over one hundred degrees and lots of walking leads to a bench full of dehydrated exhausted travelers.  

Vacation -3

One of our days in Sedona was to Chapel of the Holy Cross.  It is very interestingly perched in the rocks.

Just after we walked up the hill, finally making it to the top and the marvelous view, my batteries ran out.  I was pretty disappointed and trying to plan my plea to my sisters and parents on why we needed to come back.  

To my delight and my family's great relief the church had a gift shop in the basement which sold batteries.  So now a bevy of beautiful photos.

In the gift shop we found postcards with this rock formation. I believe it was called "Madonna and Child". I was thrilled to see it right off to the left of the church.

View from the top side.

Troopers!

Beautiful country with gorgeous women.  After the church, shopping was on the schedule.  But first, lunch at a very "close" restaurant.  

It's great finding out all a camera can do, like timed pictures.  I just need to figure out how to place it a little better.

More to come, yea I know you can't wait.

Vacation -2

Our first adventure in Sedona took us up a very windy road past Cottonwood to a semi-ghost town of Jerome, Arizona.  It used to be a mining town, but now seems to be an artist colony.

The winding steep roads were exciting with my sister's stick shift so I was glad I was not driving.

The state park was closed so we didn't see much of the mining history, but here is what we would have seen had it not been closed.

We saw signs for a Ghost Town.  We were kind of wondering what kind of place we had come to when you could see maybe a hundred abandoned vehicles and junk sitting everywhere as we drove in.  We were ready for an adventure and an adventure we were going to have.

Dad had had to endure many shopping trips in the morning and a quilt store on the way to Jerome so we didn't fault him when he found his "quilt store" in abandoned old cars.

This photo was in an old dentist office featuring many of the old tools they may have used.  See how close you think they came.  I personally like the bottom one better.

We did need more hands, but it was fun.

Tragedy did befall us.  Sherry inhaled wiggly bugs.  If you look close enough you can see the teeny black dot.  I'm glad it wasn't the tarantula I thought must have crawled up her nostril.

Kelli also experienced a trauma.  On our way through the rusted machines a big wasp swooped down on her unprotected hand and stung her.  Jenni saved her and found ice for the reddened skin, but Kelli was a little spooked the rest of the walk.  Anything that moved sped her to a safer place.

The mine entrance near the Ghost Town.  

All in all it was a great day. 

Summer Fun - 1

Warning:  This is the my scrapbook of my two weeks vacation.  Read at your own risk.

I spent the first week of my vacation down with my parents in Utah.  My main focus being my four kids living here.  

One day was spent at Sherry's mountain "cabin".  The girls and their grandpa enjoyed a long four wheeler ride through the mountains.

Mom enjoyed finding a quiet place to read.

It has been fun visiting, shopping and eating with my kids.

I enjoyed watching Nick play softball.  It brought back memories of watching him at home and watching my brother Rob on the same field.  I couldn't find anywhere to take a picture without the fence so it is there.  

It was the last game of the year for them so I took advantage of the photo op.  

The second week of my adventure takes place in Sedona, Arizona.  Our trip to this beautiful place was gorgeous.  Lots of construction and lots of time watching Sherry pass multiple cars at a time (okay it was a passing lane).

I'm loving the red rock look.

My traveling companions.

My sisters and I took a walk in the bearable temperatures around our "glorified trailer park" resort.  

I didn't realize the walk was to be from one vending machine to another.  (Okay, she was buying water for us.)

Dad's breakfast was waiting for us when we got back.  I figured out how to use the time on my camera but we need to find a different angle next time.  It was 106 yesterday.  Just a side note.

Release

The seniors had an auction to earn some money.  Dale bought this beautiful young lady to help in the yard.  I had heard she knew how to cook Chinese food (she is from Taiwan).  So cooking dinner for us was the plan.  

Above she is laying rice on a roasted seaweed sheet.  She adds the ingredients below...

rolls it up and they become these good looking rolls.

NO raw fish for us, the seaweed is fishy enough.  Dale added a lot of Yoshida's Sweet and Savory sauce and really enjoyed it.

These wontons were my favorite.  They had sausage and cabbage and we dipped them in the Yoshida's.

A favorite of the boy's was the Egg Drop soup.  

Dinner is served.  

The release part of this blog involves school being over!!  I spent the day doing recess duty for a much smaller  group of boys - mainly two special towheads.  

New Bike.  He was so excited to be going to school to ride it he woke me up at 5:30 ready to go.

Ryker found probably the only mud puddle in the playground but sat for a long time throwing mud around.

The helmet stayed on throughout the day, even though it was Rissa's.

For his aunts, and anyone else interested.

Babysitting has never been so much fun!

Nothing Better

There is nothing better than seeing two boys test their limits.

There is nothing better than coming home from school and having a three-year-old come up and ask, "How was your day, Mama Rae?"

There is nothing better than watching little feet get the feel of life before venturing farther.

There is nothing better than watching a little three-year-old mimicking his dad and grandpa and having friends wherever he goes. (He invited some wide-eyed boy at the park to play trucks with him)

There is nothing better than seeing a sweet face look up to you in happiness.

There is nothing better than getting the mama crazed one-year-old to the point where he enjoys being with you.

There is nothing better than having your grandkids around to spoil.

My Friend

About 15 years ago or so I met an incredible teacher.  I believe I subbed as a para in her kindergarten room, basically chasing down my nephew who kept running away.  When I got the okay to student teach in Manson I quickly requested Sheri La Mar.  I loved watching her with her students.  She completely gave them her attention and love.  Throughout the months I student taught in her first grade classroom she was always encouraging, but also offering ways to improve.  The next year I was offered a one-year job teaching first grade.  Working with Sheri again was amazing.  We had a great time.  Chocolate, especially M&M's, became a shared love.  I missed working with her and her very sunny attitude towards life when I moved to fifth grade.  You just couldn't not smile when she was around.  When she found out she had cancer she started a blog to keep people informed and titled it "Smile".  I loved her attitude and the way she kept fighting.    She is now smiling in a different place, blessing those there.


From the musical Wicked


 I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true.

But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you 


Thank you Sheri, for helping me grow as a teacher and a person.  You will be missed.