Visiting in Utah

I've been meaning to blog about our visit to Utah to see Jacob, Millie and Ellery but just didn't get around to it until now. We left on Thursday the 13th of August and came back on the 18th. WOW! "I tell ya what, wow", we had sooooo much fun. Jacob and Millie were great hostesses and Ellery was the icing on our little vacation cake. She is so dang cute and such a happy little girl. (Well Thad I now have a pretty good idea how you feel about Enok and his attachment to you, it's great!) Ellery warmed up to me pretty darn quick and I loved every minute of it, well except for the few times she wanted to be with her boyfriend 'Uncle Bent'. She talks almost non stop and I even got to where I could understand the majority of what she was saying.
Not sure if this is right but I think on Thursday we played the card game Rage that evening which was a lot of fun.
Anyways on Friday we went to Mona Resevoir and the kids and Thad all swung out on a rope and dropped, flipped and flopped into the water. I wish I had the pictures downloaded to post but I don't.
Millie's sister and her husband came and they were a lot of fun. Brandon was so determined to do a back flip and by darn he did it and of course Jacob and Brandt couldn't be outdone so they accomplished that little talent too. We had a picnic there and Brandon had brought an inflateable boat and we all took turns and paddled around. Lovely, lovely day. Millie had to work that night so she left around six. I could tell she really didn't want to go and she wasn't feeling to great either. Thank goodness she was able to come home at midnight. Jake ordered pizza and we just hung out.
Saturday we got up late got ready for the day ate breakfast and chilled for awhile then lunch time came around and we decided to go eat soup at Zupas cuz it was overcast and rainy that morning so soup sounded good. It was reeeeally good. Ellery liked the soup I got so I shared with her and she pretty much ate what ever anyone else would share. That girl loves her cheese. The sun came out so we decided to go on a hike to Stewart's Cascade (another word for waterfalls) What an exhilerating hike! Jacob walks pretty fast even with Ellery on his shoulders but we kept up. It was a mile and a half to the falls and the vegetation and scenery was breathtaking. Loved that part of our trip. Brandt didn't go with us, he missed out but he got to hang out with some missionary companions and played soccer and it was his birthday so I think he had a good time too. That evening we played the game Apples to Apples, I had never played before....what a kick! We got pretty silly and laughed and laughed and just had a lot of fun playing. Yes I did buy the game. We also had bought an ice cream cake from DQ for Toasty's birthday, yummmy!
Sunday was church and just a resting, nappy kind of day. We were invited to Millie's parent's house for dinner so we went and as always had a very nice time with them. They are so hospitable and we have always appreciated it. The dinner was yummy of course and the company was just as good. All her family was there and we played a sort of "gambling game" which was interesting, no money of course. Later when we got back to Jacob's place he was all hiped up about the hike he was going on so he met with Jacob Wall and they were getting things together.
Monday Jake left for his hike and we had Millie all to ourselves. She's hilarious, she has such a great sense of humor, lucky for Jacob. We went to Costco and then took her to lunch or it may have been the other way around, doesn't matter. Ellery kept wanting to either go to the 'big park' or the 'purple slide' at 7 peaks. It just wasn't warm enough. Thad and I went to go visit my cousin Lois for a few hours and had a nice time with her. Risa stayed with Millie not sure what Brandt did. We had a cookout with Karen, Kathy, Carrie and Hazel Wall out by the pool. Carrie had grilled some chicken breasts that were fabulously limey. (I love lime), we brought a potato salad and I'm not sure who made the fruit salad but it was good too. Carrie and Millie swam with the babies and the rest of us just sat and visited. It was such a balmy pleasant evening with good company. Brandt later drove to Salt Lake City to meet up with some friends. I told him not to get in too late since we were gonna leave early the next day. Good kid he obeyed. We went back to visit Lois again so we could see Jim. After that we (I) had to go to sconecutters and have a scone, by darn. Yes it was yummy of course. Then we went to Macey's and bought some Grandma Sycamore's bread which was really cheap. They don't sell it in Az any more so I bought 8 loaves and gave some to Tev cuz Bret loves that bread. We bought some snacky things for the trip back home. Ellery was already in bed when we got back so we didn't get to see her before we left the next morning. She was still asleep when we left so 'boohoo' for us. Thad had an abscessed tooth so it was pretty crummy for him on the way home. Thank goodness Brandt was willing to drive and he pretty much drove most of the way home. Risa and I watched the Mentalist on her compy and we did crossword puzzles and just did the best we could to entertain ourselves. Even though the ride was long we did have an enjoyable trip back. I'm so grateful for being able to visit with Jake and his family and get to spend time getting to know them better. Thanks again Jake and Millie we can hardly wait to see ya'll again.

A beautiful funeral

Well I went to a funeral on Monday for a very dear friend of my family (Borrego). The lady's name was Pearl Tortice Lee she was part Apache and Hopi I think. My family knew her ever since I was a little girl. My dad was their first Branch president when they were baptized. I LOVED being in that Lamanite branch as a young girl. In fact that's the only church I really remember going to. I do know I went to primary in Show Low 2nd ward for a time but I didn't actually go to a ward til I was 12. Very many happy memories, I feel very fortunate to have been able to be raised in that environment. Oh I also went to Mass quite a bit as a kid too, another story.
Pearl's two oldest girls were the only babysitters I ever had and then when I got older I babysat my younger siblings. They were the sweetest girls and so nice and kind, just like their mother. She was NEVER pretentious about anything and the gospel was one of the most important things in her life. Pearl and her husband were going to the temple clear up until she got sick doing her family's work. It looked like she wore a white camp dress for her temple dress, I thought how cute. She had the kindest face and smile I have ever seen . We have kept in touch with them through all these years. The stories her kids and grandkids told were so funny, I had NO idea that she had such a sense of humor but she was very shy too, so we all didn't get to see it much except through her kids, who are hilarious.
When we went to the veiwing on Sunday, Pheobe just broke down and sobbed when she saw my mom and then sobbed some more when she saw me and my sister. She said she was fine until we showed up, then she told my mom she was her other mom. What an honor for my mother.
BUT.....the most beautiful part about this funeral was the chapel and the cultral hall filled with all Native Americans and a few white people scattered here and there. You don't see that too much and it just made my heart feel full. I love these people sooo much, not as a whole but the ones I've known and grew up with. The spirit there was so humbling and strong. I have not felt that in a long time. Usually I come away from some meeting feeling drained but this time I came away feeling so energized and happy from all the love that was shown to me and my family. What an example as to how we should treat each other in our own wards. Hopefully I can remember that and make an extra effort to be friendly, loving and accepting to all in my own ward. I don't put myself out there too much.....bad Llama. OH! and another dear friend showed up. Her name is Claralynn (used to be West) but I can't for the life of me remember her married name. Her dad was white and her mom was Apache. I thought Claralynn was the most beautiful girl and woman I had ever seen up to that point in my life and.....she still is very beautiful. She sat by us and hung out with us the whole time. Happy, happy, joy, joy. It was a great day and reunion. Just thought I would share the joy.

Paz

Got a call Tuesday morning asking for help cleaning up the Stake building after some vandalism. They wanted us to show up at around 2:00pm to allow the law enforcement personnel to finish their investigative process. I asked what equipment would be needed and the Elder's Quorum president said that as far as he knew, we would be picking up broken glass and doing general cleanup. So I envisioned some broken classroom windows and possibly even some plate glass of one of the entry areas. I also figured we would see the usual four or five elders and a handful of high priests to tackle the job. I arrived at the Stake Center shortly before 2:00 and there were at least fifteen cars and trucks there and more arriving and dropping people off. Kids from age five to out of high school were already busy gathering up trash and broken glass and vacuuming the rooms most heavily hit. Almost every picture in the building had been either smashed, cracked or soiled somehow. Cleaning products had been taken from the janitorial closet and spilled on the carpet and some furniture. The library was hit particularly hard with materials torn and flung and a lot of the lights broken. Bishop Lindsey's office had been thoroughly trashed and stuff scattered everywhere. We had been busy picking up the mess for around fifteen minutes when we got the word that Bishop Lindsey wanted us all to meet in the chapel for a short meeting. We gathered quickly. There were probably sixty or more of us there. First Bishop thanked us for showing up then asked the HP group leader to say a prayer. In that prayer Brother Short asked that the troubled heart of the person or persons who did this would be able to find peace and that we would be able to avoid the temptation for vengeance. Then Bishop thanked us again and said that the authorities had no idea who was responsible nor any reason why this happened. He said it was not our concern to worry or fret about that but wanted us to know that he planned to have Mutual the following night as usual. I have to say that THAT was one of the shortest, most spiritual meetings i have been to. We got back to work and soon had the bulk of the task completed. A feeling of calm prevailed as we finished up. It was almost as if no one wanted to leave the building. I am grateful that we were able to share this sacred experience. It made me wonder if it might be a preparatory event as things in the world continue to decline (in one sense) and wrap up.

Happy Birthday to Meeeee!

As most of you know we went to Mexico again this year. Love it, love it, love it.
We left on my birthday so I thought that was a great way to spend the day of the beginning of my existence. The trip down is really not that bad, weeellll maybe cuz Thad is so good about driving the whole way there and back. Anyways fun was had by all if you happened to read Tevs blog and look at her pix. It is so nice to just hang around and chill even though it's hot down there ya can still chill, we don't plan much as far as going places and seeing things and running, running, running to one event or another. I realized a long time ago that just being together is enough and we don't need to have every inch of our vacation 'booked'........ but that's just me. Oh and it's quite a bit cheaper than having to pay to get into some park or museum or whatever, plus I'm pretty tired and crabby after doing something like that. Don't get me wrong I do enjoy that kind of stuff but not as a regular vacation thing. Everyone is different and enjoys things differently. I'm a lazy vacationer (just saying what everyone is thinking). It was especially nice that Risa could be there and like Tev I wish we could've had more people come but you do what ya gotta do and make the sacrifice to go without everyone. Tough job...I know.
Just so everyone knows we plan on doing this as long as we can so hopefully ya'll will try to fit it in your summer plans sometime in the future. We want to share the fun with everyone. Happy rest of the summer! TA! from MAW