Giving Thanks!

A big pat on the back goes out there to all of the teachers today. There are two things that strike fear and dread into the heart of every school teacher-- teaching on the day before a holiday and teaching during rainy-day schedule. Our kids' teachers had both today and they deserve our thanks! I can't imagine what a crazy day they had. Enjoy your holiday,teachers, you all deserve it!

Fall Break Day Two

Our first stop on day two was to Tuzigoot National Monument. It was about 5 mintues away from the park where we spent the night. Tuzigoot consists of excavated indian ruins. There is a paved walking trail (yeah!) that you can walk on to explore the ruins. Unlike Montezuma's Castle, you can walk along the ruins and inside a few of the rooms. It's a less known tourist attraction but definitely worth the stop if you're in the area. The kids had a lot of fun climbing around and the view of the Verde Vally from the top is incredible.

Next we headed toward Sedona. We stopped at Red Rock State Park in Sedona. We've been here a few times before; it's one of our favorites. The absolute best time to visit here is in the fall when the oak leaves are changing colors. They were just starting to change when we were there and I think a week or two later would have been ideal. They have a fun, hands-on visitor center for kids and some great hiking trails. Our favorite trail, the Smoke Trail, goes right along Oak Creek. We had a great time throwing rocks into the creek and just sitting on the bridge and listening to the rushing water, a sound you don't hear very often in Arizona.

We drove through Sedona. The main highway that goes through the city was under construction and it seemed like the whole city was torn up. There was no where for us to turn an RV around on a 2-lane highway under construction. So we kept driving through town to Chapel of the Holy Cross. It is a popluar tourist attraction in Sedona. The chapel is built beautifully into the hillside and you can look out over the magnificant rock formations of Sedona. An added bonus: it is a free attraction. But beware if you ever decide to drive there in an RV. The road that leads up to the chapel is narrow and there is no RV parking at the top and no place to turn around. So we obeyed the sign at the bottom of the road that told us to park at the bottom and walk up. Holy cow, I think the hike to Tonto Bridge was easier than this paved road. It was a big..old..long..steep..hill. We looked out over Sedona from the top and looked down on our RV from the top as well. Such a peaceful place.


After driving back through the construction in Sedona we headed toward Flagstaff through Oak Creek Canyon. What a beautiful drive! We checked in at a KOA campground in Flagstaff. We rented a banana bike and the kids had lots of fun cruising around the campground.
That evening we went to Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff. Another great hands-on museum and a cool movie. We went outside and looked through telescopes with the help of the observatory volunteers. We saw Jupiter with its orange stripes and Andromeda, a galaxy far, far away. I didn't take any pictures here as it was dark but this is the large telescope at the observatory. It is over 100 years old.
Still to come.. Day Three

A Funny from E.

E. was singing "Book of Mormon Stories" this morning. Here is what he sang when he got to the second verse:

"Long ago our fathers came from far across the street,
Given this land if they went right to sleep."

Wow, that sounds a lot easier than coming from far across the sea and then living righteously. I think I like his version better!

Looking back and looking forward..

I wanted to take a minute and publicly tell my dear husband how much I love him. It was one year ago today that he was in an ATV accident and fractured a vertebrae in his back. I have been surprised at how many of those scary feelings have been brought back so strongly to my memory today. After returning home from the sand dunes, we didn't realize how serious his injury was and he didn't go to the hospital for 2 days. After seeing the MRI and seeing how close the broken bone was to his spinal cord we immediately knew that the hand of the Lord was carefully guiding his every movement so that he suffered no permanent damage. He was terribly close to being paralyzed and we were blessed to be guided to receive the right care for him. That was a very difficult time for him, for me and for us as a couple. I heard this quote during Stake Conference and it took me back to those many weeks that I cared for him during his recovery.

"Good marriages are created after you get up from your knees at the altar of the temple. Strong marriages emerge out of helping each other obtain your education, struggling financially, dealing with sickness, and coping with the shock produced by the birth of your first child. Life changes and moves ahead in many unanticipated ways. Changing jobs, moving to a different city, raising teenagers, caring for an aged parent, retirement, and similar activities and events are what produce eternal marriages. Overcoming these problems as a team--helping and supporting each other along the way--are what produce a happy marriage. I loved my dear wife when we married 40 years ago this summer, but the love I felt for her then is insignificant to my love for her after these many years of trials and triumphs." --Bruce Chadwick

This past year has certainly been a year of trials and triumphs for us. In an interesting turn of events, my husband then cared for me after I was injured a short time later. While I would never, ever want to repeat the last year, I would never, ever, ever trade the lessons learned and the strength that has come from caring for each other in this deeply loving way. I truly believe that a vital part of creating an eternal marriage is to come out of hard times more in love with each other than before. We've managed to do that so far and I look forward to what is to come in the future. T., you are my hero, my strength, my best friend and the love of my life.

And thank you, Janae, for sending me this great picture. It is now my very favorite!

Fall Break Day One

At first we had no big plans for Fall Break. We thought about taking one day and doing a day trip somewhere close by. As we started talking about where to go, the plans progressed and our little day trip turned into a 4 day RV vacation. What was so amazing was that we started talking about it on Sunday afternoon and left Monday afternoon. Totally spontaneous.....totally unlike me. I'm one to research a vacation and mapquest everything and print up an itinerary. (In the past I've been known to put that itinerary in a binder! My family is smiling right now! :) ) But not this time. We're going to try to be spontaneous. We called Cruise America and they had lots available for rental the next day. We picked it up on Monday afternoon and after some quick packing, by Monday evening we were headed to Payson. We cooked dinner in the RV while we were on the road. We got to Payson at bedtime but the RV places were already full. So much for being spontaneous!! But did you know that you can park an RV overnight in WalMart parking lots? I know, so redneck, I was NOT going to do that but there was no room in the inn so we did anyway. It wasn't so bad, there were a lot of other RV's there as well. So we closed all the curtains and went to sleep.
The next morning we drove to Tonto Natural Bridge, just northwest of Payson. I had never been and my kids hadn't either. This was one of everyone's favorites from the trip. We hiked down to the bottom of the bridge. It was a moderately difficult hike. (Especially if you had broken your ankle earlier this year! But I really wanted to go with my kids and not be the bum mom again who couldn't do stuff so I toughed it out.) They did great, even E. made it. The view from the bottom was phenomenal! It was so awesome to hear the kids' responses when the first saw the bridge. Awesome that a natural wonder could provoke the same response as a cool sports car. T. and the older kids hiked under the bridge while E. and I stayed behind.

The second picture shows how big the bridge really is. Can you see my family in the center with their navy blue jackets on?

And here is a prime example of a typical 13-year-old boy. You probably can't read the sign that says,"Do not enter beyond this point." He obviously couldn't read the sign either!

Then it was back up the trail. It was steep! Funny how you don't notice how steep a trail is while you are going down! We noticed this sign at the trail head after coming back up. Maybe I should have paid attention to it before going down....maybe not! My kids were proud of me for doing the hike and that was totally worth it.

Then it was on to the gift shop. Here's a disclaimer about gift shops. I absolutely love them. I love going to the gift shop as much as I love going to the place that we're visiting. I think I have passed this along to my kids because we can't seem to leave a place without stopping in the gift shop. We have simplified the process though. Each child has something that they collect while traveling that makes choosing a souvenir so much simpler. For example, PK collects pins. So whenever we go to a gift shop, he get to buy a pin. PC collects pressed pennies. A. collects snow globes and E. collects post cards. (Yes, last child....the least expensive souvenir. Hmmm..what have we learned along the way?) SO you can bet that everywhere that we went on this trip included a stop at the gift shop.

After Tonto Natural Bridge we headed west to Montezuma's Castle. Ahhh.. a paved walking trail. I will say that it is so awesome traveling with older kids who really understand the historical significance of things. They have learned about these places in school and are genuinely impressed with what they are seeing. So much fun! Montezuma's Castle is such a wonder. We saw pictures from the 1930's where tourists could climb ladders up and explore the ruins. Women in dresses in those days and men climbing the ladders with one hand while holding a baby in the other. Needless to say, you can only observe from afar but it is still so impressive. Take a set of binoculars if you go. Take more than one set of binoculars if your kids are going with you! :)

We continued west and drove through Cottonwood to Dead Horse Ranch State Park. We found an RV spot there to hook up for the night. Here's the deal with the hook-ups. You do not have to hook up at night. If you don't hook up you will need to use the generator to run the microwave, any of the electrical outlets, and the air conditioning. The lights will still run on the battery. The generator is noisy and if you are staying in an established park they usually have a rule against using it. It also uses gas to run and the rental places will charge you fee for every hour that you use it. If it is cold outside you will need to run the furnace at night and will need to be hooked up for that. We were COLD during our night at the WalMart parking lot with no hookups. It would be ok if it was summertime and we were camping somewhere without a hookup. But any other time you will want the heat during the night. Also, if you use a lot of water (like a family showering and flushing the toilet all day) you will need to do a sewer dump about once a day. So this is where staying in an established park is a good thing.

After reserving our spot at the park, we drove up the mountain to Jerome. Neither Trevor or myself had been there before. It's a little mining town perched high in the mountain. It is considered a "ghost town." I was surprised at how high it is situated up there. Literally built in the side of the mountain. We went to the mining museum there and learned about the history of the town. It was all really interesting, even to the kids. We drove around a little bit. I will say that I was a little (a lot) nervous about those windy, narrow, really high roads in that RV. It was one of those really cool places that you'll probably only go to once, but still worth the tripEven though PK is not smiling in any of the pictures, he is having fun, I promise. This shot shows how the town of Jerome is perched way up there in the mountains. You can see it in the middle of the picture where the rock changes color.

We went back to the park for the night and had fun making cowboy dinners and smores by the campfire. By the way Whitty Family smores consist of roasted marshmallows and Keebler Fudge Stripe cookies. Way better than graham crackers and Hershey bars!
Still to come...Day 2

Eight is Great!

A. turned 8 in October. What a magical number for a little girl! At our house we begin celebrating the moment you wake up in the morning with a birthday breakfast and presents. Sometimes this is quite early if your birthday falls on a school day but it is a really exciting thing to wake up to.

A. was baptized the day after her birthday. She was so blessed to have so many family members come for her very special day. Our ward was in charge of the program that month so our bishop conducted, A.'s primary teacher gave one of the talks and her former Sunbeam teacher and current piano teacher gave the other talk. It made it all the more special!

A. was baptized and confirmed by her dad. She looked so beautiful all day. Her Grandma D. made her dress, the second of her three white dresses. (blessing, baptism and wedding) I've scheduled a photo shoot of her in her dress and will post pics later.

An extra special moment was when her cousin L. arrived at the baptism. He had brain surgery earlier that same week and we all were so surprised that he felt well enough to come. His story is miraculous and we were so blessed to share the day with him.

It was so fun to get together and visit (and eat) after the baptism. We ordered subs from Steve's Krazy Sub. They made this cute sub in the shape of the number 8. We were surrounded by our awesome family. It was an incredible day!

Groundbreaking

I heard a news report about a new study that proves that, on average, women have more bacteria on their hands than men. Hmmmmm...changing diapers, cleaning the bathroom, sorting dirty socks and underwear into the laundry, preparing raw food, wiping up the floor, wiping noses, wiping bums.......ya think????

Really, any money spent on this study should have gone to me because I could have told you the same thing.

The Silver Lining

A few things to be happy about in case you're disappointed about last night's election results:

--Michelle Obama will be wearing some really great clothes.
--We will finally have a president who can give a great speech. Let's face it, even if you don't agree with what he is saying, the man is an orator. I don't think we've had that since Ronald Reagan. Clinton made me cringe and Bush...not the greatest speaker. But after listening to Obama last night, even I felt pretty good.
--Maybe race won't be such an oppressive issue in this country.
--Prop. 102 passed as well as Prop. 8 in California
--Rumor has it that Janet Napolitano might leave Arizona to be a cabinet member

--And I bet your air conditioning didn't turn on at all yesterday!

Just in case you forgot..

Thanks, Ann! I love the Kool-Aid moustache!

Please bless the refreshments..

Did you attend your adult meeting of Stake Conference Saturday night? It is always my favorite church meeting of the year. But I think this year it was extra special because 88 stakes in Arizona held the same meeting on the same night. We went to a restaurant after for a treat and it was amazing to see the restaurant full of women in dresses and men in white shirts and ties. The servers who worked at the restaurant seemed baffled. I wonder how many restaurants around the state looked the same way. (Because we all know that Mormons can meet without having refreshments! :) Imagine every stake center in Arizona, filled with men and women, husbands and wives, mothers and fathers who come to learn how they can be better people. All of us at the same time. Think of the force for good that we can be if each one of us tried a little harder to be better in our families and communities. It was really awe-inspiring for me.