Adventures from April 3rd to April 7th

I am so glad we went to Rebekah's baptism, it turned into a great adventure for our little family! We traveled down to Orderville after school on a Friday and made it just after 6 pm. The baptism was at 7 p.m. so we made it just right. Jacob baptized Rebekah, how cute is that? Just as cute as Christopher baptizing Zachary and Kaber baptizing Isaac. : )

My kids love going to Orderville. So many things to see and do... plenty of real animals. : ) After loads of fun we traveled down to St. George and stayed with Ticee for a minute. We got to take Dad with us. He had been in Orderville for the baptism, too. I loved watching how Ticee treated Dad. She gives him the attention and respect that not only he deserves, but I think he craves it as well. She is a good little example, that girl.

After St. George began the crazy adventure to Blanding to take Dad home! If you remember when I came to college my freshman year with Melissa Richmond, we took our own sweet time and stopped everywhere on the way (sorry Susan and Richard, who were waiting for us). This trip with Dad was just the same. What a great time. Our first stop was Glen Canyon Dam. The kids loved it and I bought them all a book about the Rez, the desert and Native Americans.

There is nothing like driving across the Rez. I love the feel of the Rez, I love the flood of memories and the flood of love I felt for the people I remember. Ahhhh....

Our next stop was the National Navajo Monument. As we drove by I asked Dad what it was. He said there was a walk to a nice ruin, but he had never been there. We have both driven by a million times but have never stopped! We turned right around and drove the nine miles out to the monument. It was a fun hike/walk down to a overlook. All along the way were signs identifying plants and the way Native Americans used them, yucca, buffalo berry, pinion, juniper, Brigham tea... The trail led to a look out and we could see an amazing ruin set back in the rock. It is called Betatakin and is made up of a number of rooms. My favorite part of the walk was see three Navajo men who had hiked down a different trail to collect a plant. I was so close to asking them which plant it was and what they were going to use it for, but I chickened out. I still dream of studying ethno-botany.

We bought little birds for the kids at the Monument. They brought about an unexpected pleasantry for the Biologist mother. The rest of the trip the kids were searching for birds. We were able to identify a number of birds, and to this day the affect has not worn off. We still do bird watching as a family. : )
Next stop came in Kayenta. My mouth had been watering for frybread for hours. Luckily I saw a bill board for "Amigos" restaurant with a Navajo Taco on it. I was determined to go there and buy some fry bread. The restaurant was a little dive, I felt lucky to find it. I went in and they made my two pieces of frybread. DELICIOSO! We all gobbled it up, even Leah!

Next dream of mine was to buy some jewelery. I found a stand around Monument Valley and I bought a bracelet for all of the girls, an arrow head for B, and necklaces, bracelets and earrings for me. Yippee! We drove through Monument Valley at the perfect time, the lighting was beautiful.

Our next stop came at Mexican Hat. The kids loved it. It is amazing. Equally amazing was how well the kids were behaving. They were enjoying the stops more than Dad and I were!

We were driving along talking about hieroglyphics and I told Dad I hadn't ever seen any! He gasped in disbelief and told me to slow down... and turn right here. We were at Sand Island and went to look and the petroglyphs or pictographs... (Someone in the know, please help me with the proper terminology.) A tender mercy that we just happened to be driving in that exact spot that very moment.

After Sand Island came Bluff. I mention the memories of Melissa's birthday when we thought we were so grown up. We went on a little river rafting expedition from Bluff to Sand Island, all by ourselves!

It was hilarious to drive those, what, maybe four miles. But we had fun back in the day. In Bluff Dad showed us a ruin they were excavating right in town. Impressive. And we just had to stop at Twin Rocks for the perfect photo opportunity.

The turn offs to go to Mussi tugged at my heart strings. Crazy as it may be, I really do miss the Rez. It was fun to tell the kids that we "helped" get the chapel at White Mesa. It really is such a tiny little thing. I enjoyed our time there while Dad was Branch President.

I couldn't believe it when we finally made it Blanding, only 10 hours after we had started. I was very nervous about going to the "big house," but I cowboyed up and just did it. Cardon thought there wasn't any food in the house and offered to go and buy something, but we were able to rustle up some grub out of the floor to ceiling cupboard that were full and the special shelves downstairs that roll the cans down, also full. We ended up sleeping on the couch and the floor, mostly because I was nervous about sleeping in any of the empty beds for fear of any fall out.

The next morning we fed the horses with Dad and he took us to the Lance Site. It marks the summer and winter solstice and the equinoxes. It also marks the 5th of April. Dad took his photo album to show us examples of the light and shadow on significant days. He makes a great guide.

This handsome brave casts a shadow on this specific place on the rock. Blast, I can't remember on which day. Any who, it was quite spectacular. After a sighting of a Mountain Bluebird, (R's bird) and stopping to check out where Jim Mike and Billy Mike had their summer home back in the day... we hit the car wash. I was exhausted after the drive home. Oh, but I must mention that the antelope didn't let me down. For as long as I remember, I have always seen at least one antelope between Crescent Junction and Green River. Even though it was tiring, it was so worth it. I need to remember not to let opportunities pass me by. Memory Making for the kids is on my head for now.