ahleesejo/13th b day - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

ahleesejo/13th b day - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

13th B Day!

We all had a great time celebrating the big 1-3 for AJ and Viv. On Sunday we went to the Lava River Cave and hiked down into the center of the earth, or at least a little ways toward the Center of Arizona.

Monday we went to the movie "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and we all enjoyed it. Then we went to Outback (yum!) and had a great dinner. The kids got ice cream and humiliation for dessert...everyone sang Happy Birthday to them and it was great fun.

They will (are supposed to, anyway) be sending emails to say thanks for the cards and gifts, but just in case that process breaks down....THANK YOU for the nice remembrances...they were truly appreciated.

If anyone makes it down this way (esp thinking of Joc, Nathan/Maria, Jeremy/Amber) we MUST take you to the Lava River Cave. You rock climbers would love it. I myself am giving thanks for Motrin, as the hike is quite a workout!

V Bar V

Petroglyphs at the V Bar V Heritage Site, near Sedona.

Today we went over to a great little State Park and toured the V Bar V Heritage Site. Its an entire rock wall of Petroglyphs and I was struck by how similar they are to some I saw in Hawaii when we lived there. I guess there are only so many ways to carve a sun or a person into rock. This site is unique in that there is a stone outcropping that casts shadows on certain figures at different times of the year, and today the shadows fell on corn planting; thus the theory is that the ancients would watch this "calendar" and when the shadows hit the planting symbols they would plant corn. I don't know what they did if it was cloudy on that day :-).

It was a nice little excursion, and reminded me of how things that seem like such immediate needs are rarely timeless. The corn planting probably got done by these folks in time for a good harvest, but the thing that was timeless was the rock art. The anniversary of Dad's death is upon us again, and I am reminded of the timeless lessons he taught me. There were mundane things (like hanging pictures straight and fixing a toilet handle) that are pretty important to everyday life, and then there are the timeless lessons...how to transition to the spirit life with joy and confidence, how to treat people on a day to day basis, and how to be a good parent.

On a lighter note, baseball is in full swing, so to speak, and AJ is on the Diamondbacks. He plays outfield, and is settling into a new team just fine. The coach is much better than the mutant that he had for a coach last year! There was a bit of parent drama at the last game, with some yelling being done when a player got hit by the pitcher, but that isn't the norm here, and most of the folks seem really nice. It gets cold here during the evening games (like nights at the Passion Play in Spearfish used to feel!) so we welcome earlier games.

Guess that's about it for now.

sky visit

What you do NOT see in the family picture is that a huge Condor was flying overhead while the guy was taking the picture. We were all watching the Condor and the guy was saying "Look over here! Look over here!" and we were saying "Look at the rare bird flying right over our heads!" It was pretty funny.

photo album; sky's visit

 
 
 
 

Sky's here!

We've had a busy few days with Sky here from NYC. He's enjoying the fresh air, we are enjoying seeing him. Its nice that Sage was here recently, and now Sky, so it helps Arizona feel more like home all the time. Photos to follow when I figure out how to make them appear.

One year later...

A year ago Mom died. It seems like it was much longer than that, most days. I told my friend Chris that I was surprised at how much it still hurts sometimes. She said that after her Mom and Dad's deaths she found that it still hurt just as bad but not as often for quite a while. That helped me to know I'm not just being a crybaby. Losing Dad was a bit different, Mom was still here, the house was still "ours", the loss didn't feel as complete. Anyway, I keep plugging along, and every once in a while have myself a good cry. Today feels like it might be one of those days. I remain very proud of all that my brother and sisters did to make Mom's final wishes happen. When I tell people about how we managed all that they are very touched and tell me I must have an amazing family. I agree. So Eunice, Corrine, Jer and Phyl--thanks. We did good.