Monday Adventure

Today was a different Monday for me.  I liked it! 

I went to the Grand Falls of the Little Colorado.  It is

between Winslow and Flagstaff. 

My good friend, Leslee, invited me and a couple of

friends to go.  I got the biggest kick out of Leslee.  She is the

best tour guide.....transportation, snacks, drinks and fun.

This is looking south at the top of the falls.

Looking west over the falls into the canyon.

Full view.

Looking north.

San Francisco Peaks from the falls.  Looking west.

Tourists.  Carol, Me, Sharman, Jenny and our

guide, Leslee.

Leslee stopped for the trains.  We all got out and

watched them go by.  This is a new car carrier.

No more caboose cars.  These two on the back actually

are pusher engines.  The cars in between are double

loaded so the front engines need some  help.

We ate at La Posada in Winslow.  It is the old Harvey Hotel

and restaurant.  We could see the trains go by.  It was cool.

Entrance to the courtyard.

Courtyard.  So pretty.

Another view of the courtyard.

The order of our priorities.

When we put God first,

all other things

fall into their proper place

or drop out of our lives.

Our love of the Lord will govern

the claims for our affection,

the demands on our time,

the interests we pursue,

and the order of our priorities.

Ezra Taft Benson

Today David's day started with a 6:30 am meeting with the Stake President.

And  it ended after a 7:00 pm Stake Fireside tonight.  I  kept thinking of this

quote today.  But I would say it this way ~ When we  put God  first,

all other things fall into their proper place

or get squished, pushed,  or shoved out of our lives.

I say that with a chuckle  but "drop out" of our lives

seems too gentle of a phrase when David's life doesn't

have time to think about dropping anything.

The Gila Valley Temple

We had a youth fireside late this afternoon.  Our guest speaker spoke

on Temples.  We wanted to have this fireside before we take our

youth to the open house in two weeks.  We watched a beautiful

video of photos of the Gila Valley Temple and I was so touched

by the blessings of the Temple.

Then I started thinking of the location in that valley.  And thought

that those folks down there are so blessed to have a Temple

built there.   It will bless so many lives.

 That valley blessed our lives. 

Besides having a history on David's side of the family

we also have current events that tie our hearts to this area.

Our oldest son, Peter, met his wife, Brittany at EA.  Jill met Laura,

who is John's sister.  Laura got them writing to each other

while he was on his mission.  Tim's time in the Gila Valley was

one of choosing one of two roads.  I will always remember the day

he called to tell me that he had decided what he was going to

do and he wanted to go on a mission.  And then Heidi met

Jeremiah in Thatcher. 

Good things have happened there.

OH! What a beautiful morning.

Oh, what a beutiful morning.

Oh, what a beautiful day.

Ya...right.

Can You feel that?

Can you feel Spring?  I am sooo happy it is finally Spring!  We have

even had days without wind!  It is like we have been let out of prison.

I can walk wherever I want to....no more paths through the snow...oh

that ugly dirty snow is finally gone.  Yahoo!

These are my new babies.  Tomatoes.  I have grown

them from seeds.  I move them three or four times

a day into sunny spots and a grow light.  They

are heirloom seeds and these should grow into a

purplish red tomato. 

These are not my children.

David and I were heading out the other morning.  He went out

first and said, "shhh...come and see this".  It was our cat, Scout,

curled up on the porch chair.  Ya.... it is so cute.

These are not my children.  But they are the other beating

hearts that live with us.  And this was cute. 

It is really about the competition.

We had a young couple from our ward over to dinner last night.  I was surprised

to hear them say they watched Dancing With The Stars.  It is fun to watch

but none of my children watch it and roll their eyes at me when I ask them if

they "watched it last night". 

I have a couple of complaints about the show.  1} lack of wardrobe.  Those

girls!  Put on some clothes....paaaleeese.

2} Kate Gosslin.  I know she has been through so much.  It shows in her

dancing.  So Tight!  Looking at it another way...she isn't any good.

But she keeps getting voted to stay.  The others who have been voted

off weren't much better but she needs to go. 

Then there is American Idol.  A lecture on the word "Idol" is

for another day.  My favorite is Crystal Bowersox.  But

I also like Lee and Casey.  {If you don't watch the show

the names don't matter.} 

Besides this being entertainment there is the added

element of COMPETITION.  We miss competition.

Well, we miss watching competition.  Athletic competition.

But this is not a bad substitute.

Boo: Before and After

Boo went to the Hair Dresser today.

BEFOREAFTER

We have had Boo for almost a year and it has also been almost

a year since she had her hair cut.  It was looking sooo bad.

I was interested in what would be revealed when we

got a look underneath her coat.  Not too bad!!

I thought she would be fat.  Not so.  Good girl!

You can't tell from this picture but she does

have a Poodle body.  Dang it!  Why couldn't she

have the Poodle hair that doesn't shed. 

A Word to the Wise

Check your overall bib pockets for stuff

before you wash them.

 

Salt River

I took this picture of "The Falls" on the Salt River just east of the bridge on

one of our trips home from the valley. 

We were impressed with all the water from the early spring runoff.

But then I started studying this picture.  I spent alot of time at this spot. As a small child I  only remember driving through the canyon.  Sometimes my dad would stop at the bridge and we would watch the water and then we would go on our way. 

It wasn't until I was in high school that we started going down

to Salt River to be in the water. The water was much lower in the summer.

We even had Mutual activities at the Falls. The leaders would

bring hot dogs and we would swim.  Day or night it didn't matter.

It was a great place to sunbath.  I worshipped the sun.  What a mistake. 

Our high school student council had an end of school party

there when I was a junior.  I got in a mud fight with a boy named

Rick Toronto.  Throwing mud and shooting spit wads always

makes me laugh so hard. I laughed hard that day.

I went down with a bunch of girls once.  We were headed home

when her dad's jeep fell apart.  Something just fell off.    There we were

coming up the canyon and just having fun and she

 couldn't steer the jeep.  She stopped

in the road and we pushed it off at a rest stop.  I went out into the road

and started directing traffic.  I could have been killed.  But back then

there were very few cars on the road at any given time.  One car

that came by was another friend's brother.  He lived in the valley. He knew me. 

He alwayscalled me "ugly". 

 He just leaned out the window and said, "hello, ugly" and drove on. 

I don't remember how we got home.

I quit liking Salt River  when early one summer a boy 

I grew up with drown there.  My brother was with the group the boys

that had gone down to swim.  

Everyone was in the water when they realized that Billy

was struggling.  He was a big guy and he was panicked and

they couldn't get a hold of him to pull him to shore.  My cousin, Chris,

said that he had a hold of him and was pulling him into 

the bank thinking he had saved him.  He turned to pull Billy

on shore and Billy wasn't there.  

Billy's family consisted of his parents, him and one older brother.

I remember feeling so sad for them.  His folks were quiet people

who were so pleased with their sons.

I also felt bad for the boys that were with him.  I had been doing

something in the evening and headed home when word started to

spread.  I found Jeff sitting on the hearth of the fireplace with a

blanket wrapped around him and his head bowed.  I went over to him and just hugged him.

I remember thinking that that didn't help him feel better.

It is still a beautiful canyon.  I love to drive through there.  I clocked it

once, with David driving, and it takes between 8-10 minutes on

each side.  16-20 minutes of viewing enjoyment.

Top Ten List

I really enjoy it when big name people address an audience at BYU ~ particularly when they are not members of the church.  It seems to me that it says something to the audience as well as to the speaker.  Although I am very seldom a fan of BYU I am a fan of General Petraeus.  He addressed BYU about two weeks ago and started with this Top Ten list. 


As Gen. David Petraeus began his remarks at BYU Thursday night, the commanding general of U.S. Central Command shared his sense of humor by reading the following list, which was received by waves of laughter and applause.


General Petraeus' Top 10 reasons BYU grads make good soldiers:
10 — They have already been on many a mission.
9 — Army chow is no problem for folks accustomed to eating green Jell-o and shredded carrots.
8 — It's not a problem if they don't know what rank someone is, they just refer to them as Brother or Sister so-and-so.
7 — They never go AWOL. They just call it being less active.
6 — They will seize any objective swiftly if you tell them refreshments will be served.
5 — They know how to make things happen. In fact if you ever need a base built quickly in a barren wasteland, stride out to where you want them to start, plant your walking stick down and say in a loud voice, "This is the place."
4 — They have innovative ideas for handling insurgents — like assigning them home teachers.
3 — They always have a years' supply of provisions on hand.
2 — They are the world's most reliable designated drivers.
1 — They understand how far Iraq has come over the last seven years, and they think that Iraq's old spot in the "Axis of Evil" can now be filled by the University of Utah.

                                                                   Funny :)