A Perfectly Peaceful Day

Darrell and Marta Moerch invited the TOHC group to spend the day at the Cat Walk located in Glenwood, New Mexico. I had heard of it before but I had never been there. It is a little piece of heaven.
It is an old gold and silver mine, now turned into a park. The cat walks have been added so that you can walk and view the remains of the mine. We think that we have come so far but looking at how the men built and orchastraed that mine made me wonder. They stood on boulders and somehow poured cement blocks on them. They had to have repelled down the sides of the mountain to drill holes for the metal hooks. It is mind boggling to me the work that they did.

The spring runoff had waterfalls running at full steam. The power of water is amazing, how it changes the rocks and cuts its way through whatever it needs to get through.

It was so green and beautiful. The sound of the running water and the warm breeze made it a perfect, relaxing, healing day. This was the end of the trail. You can get off the trail and begin hiking up the mountain but it was pretty rough terrain. Two miles was good enough for the adults so we turned and headed back.

As we were walking up the path a park ranger stopped to talk to us. He told us that there is a legend that says if you can throw a rock and hit it into the hole in this tree, you will have good luck for a year. It seemed easy enough but he said he has only been able to do it once. Of course we all had to try it. Two of the kids made it! The first being one of the girls, so of course the boys couldn't let a girl win so they threw rocks until they made it. When we got back down to the entrance of the park we carried out picnic lunch to a table and enjoyed just relaxing and eating. We put our tired feet into the water, it was freezing cold, but it felt so good. What a wonderful day. We all had a great time. I would love to go again before it gets too hot.

Special Moment

I am not quite sure how to write this entry except to say that I want to record a very special and emotional moment in my life. Tuesday May 11, 2010, my TOHC kids met to do a critique of the Mock Disaster. My president turned the time over to David Gunnels for a surprise presentation. David walked to the back of the room and picked up this boquet of flowers and a paper and stood in front of me. He said that each flower represented one member of the coalition and that he would like to read something he had dedicated to me. He read the "Starfish, Making a Difference" story. It is about a young man on the beach. To a local writer who has come to the beach, it looks like the man is dancing in the early evening sunset. When the writer approaches the young man he finds that he is throwing something into the ocean. The writer inquires as to what the young man is doing. The young man exlains that the tide brings in starfish and when the tide goes back out, it leaves the starfish behind to die. He further explains that he comes to the beach each night to throw starfish back into the ocean. The writer tells the young man that there are thousands of starfish that come in with the tide and that he cannot possibly make a difference. The young man bends down and picks up a starfish and throws it back into the ocean and says ,"It made a difference for that one". After he read the story, he talked about how being a member of TOHC had changed his life and thanked me for making a difference in his and making a difference in the community. David has come such a long way, has grown so much and is an amazing young man. I am so honored by what he did. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your life!

Mock Disaster Drill

For the last 3 months the TOHC coalition (Teens Opposed to Harmful Choices) has been planning a mock disaster drill for the St. Johns High School students. On May 5, 2010 all was in place and ready. Sixteen agencies had been invited to the drill and all of them came through. It was amazing. I am so proud of the work this group did. The drill went off without a hitch.
The students were moulaged prior to the drill to simulate injuries occuring in the crash.

The city crew loaded the vehicles to be used in the mock crash. They were also there afterwards to clean up for us. You guys rock! The collaboration between all agencies was truely amazing and went together like a work of art.
At the High School two cars were placed in head on crash position. Now we await the crash victims.

A third car was placed across the street, having come from the bus barn slamming into the other cars, losing control.

The car rolled over and came to rest on it's top, killing the driver and only slighly wounding the passenger.

St. Johns Fire and EMS work using the jaws of life to prepare this car for the 6 victims of this crash scene.

One victim would be life flighted to the hospital by Guardin Air, one adult pedestrian would be life flighted by Native Air. Five students would be taken by ground ambulance with life threatening injuries. One of them would be paralized for life.

After the drill students were invited to an assembly where the disaster was brought together. Students heard the 911 call that went out. Lights were lowered and a funeral procession began with the Arizona Rangers carrying a casket down the center isle and onto the rising stage. A short life history was read about the deceased student Jordyn Plumb, after which a funeral procession left the stage, each placing a flower on the casket. Taps echoed as the the procession exited the stage. The spirit of Jordyn Plumb appeared on stage telling students that she thought she knew it all and had life figured out. A decision to use drugs led to her untimely, tragic death. A video which the team filmed, depicted a drug buy at "the tree", the use of the purchased drugs and the reckless driving which led to the accident. To end the video, statistics of drug abuse and it's relationship to vehicle crashes was displayed. Following the video three agencies presented information to the students. The Arizona Rangers, Apache County ACCENT and Native Air.

To end the presentation I went to the stage and asked the TOHC students to join me. As they came on stage, their peers arose and gave them a standing ovation, letting them know that they had heard the message. It was a very emotional closing to an amazing event.

I can't close this post without saying THANK YOU to all who particapted with us and made this event the success that it was. Special thanks to my husband who is always behind the scene doing what needs to be done to ensure success. Thanks honey, you are amazing!!

Birthday Week-end

Jaron and Sharla came home for the week-end to celebrate Jaron's birthday. They came from warm 80 degree temperatures to the cold and wind but we had a good time. Jaron got spoiled. Jaron can cook a mean steak on the grill and we women can add just the right touch to the rest of the meal. Oh except for the rolls that didn't turn out, sorry Jaron.
On Friday we decided we would attend a Saturday session at the temple. We had such a good time. I love going to the temple.

I did learn that Satan is alive and well and does not want us entering the House of the Lord. I thought I had renewed my temple recommend when Sharla got married but found out it had expired. I called my Bishop and he told me to come down. When I got there the book was locked up, he called is councelor who came down unlocked the filing drawer, handed the book to the Bishop and left. Bishop opened the book to find no recommends!! We tried to call but the councelor was not home yet. So my Bishop tried the lock with his key which previously would not work...... it opened! I breathed a sigh of relief as I had to meet the Stake Presidency before 8:00 and it was 15 minutes till. We finally completed that stage and I ran for my next appointment. Running in the dark is not a good idea as you can't see little things. Suddenly I found myself flat on the ground, alittle out of breath and hurting. Knowing I only had a few minutes I got up and knocked on the door, holding my breath. I completed the task at hand. Got back in my vechicle, uttered a prayer of thanks that God's power is greater than Satan's and went on home. When I got in the door what had happened began to hit me. My left rib was either bruised to broken, still not sure which one. I spent a pretty sleepness night. The next morning I was unsure that I was going to be able to go. I am amazed at the power and strength that our Heavenly Father offers when we ask. The trip was good and the peaceful spirit in the temple was healing for my soul.

The windy cold week-end gave way to a snowy, cold blizzard. The kids left Sunday afternoon in this weather. When they got to Snowflake they said it cleared up. We had hard, bolts of thunder followed by snow, weird. It did help settle the dust though. It was a very wet snow so it was funny to see the green grass poking through the snow.

My girls, the runners.

Saturday April 24, 2010 Jennifer and Kelsey ran in the Hurricane 1/2 Marathon and 5K race. Kelsey had never run before so she decided to run the 5K. Jennifer had run 2, 1/2 marathons and the St. George Marathon so she ran the half. They both did so well!! Kelsey came in 4th place in the woman's group. I'd say that it pretty darn good for a first time. She said that she felt so good. It jazzed her up. I think she may have the running bug now too!
She felt so good in fact that we got in the car to find Jen and cheer her on and when we found her, Kelsey got out and decided to run the remaining way with her. They were running at a good and steady pace. Jen looked pretty tired but we cheered her on at several different points in the race.

Jen came in 9th place in the women's group. She said she was ahead a good deal of the time until she hit the "killer hill" and then she lost some time. She had no idea how hard that hill would be to tackle. She said the ambulance kept driving by and at one point she wanted to get in but I knew she wouldn't. When Jen starts something she will finish it. She loves running the marathons.

The family gathers to congratulate the girls on their accomplishment. I couldn't be prouder of my girls. They did so well. What a good feeling to accomplish something so hard.

Jen looks beat. Her muscles are starting to ache so it's home for a hot soak in the tub with some Epson salts and a good rub down. You both are so amazing to me. I love you tons!

Little People are My Favorite Kind of People

At 7:30 am Carson came bounding into the room, jumped on the bed with tons of kisses and announced that I needed to get up because I was going to school with him!!! I had a bad case of jet lag but I wasn't about to miss that opportunity. It was Friday and that meant "show and tell". When it was Carson's turn he told the class that he brought his Grandma for show and tell and that I had flown on an airplane to see him. I took a bit of a long way around way to see him. When we got home it was time to play. He decided that Grandpa would make a great bucking bull on the trampoline. They had so much fun. When Grandpa declared that he was worn out, he came looking for Grandma. He told me that I wasn't a very good bucking bull. I laughed so hard I couldn't stay up. We did discover that I was good at another game though so it was ok. Carson said "Grandma, I just love it when you come because you always bring me exciting stuff and we play fun things together". I sure love coming too Carson.
Saturday Em, Dallas and the kids came. It is always so fun to have the family together. I am so glad that they came. It was Dallas' 30th birthday so I kept the kids and sent them off to have a birthday lunch and some time alone together. The kids love to see each other and play together. They can't get enough of each other. We jumped on the trampoline, they rode bikes and played with the neighborhood kids. Trevyn was content to climb on the big wheel. He would climb up and stand and be so proud and then he would cry because he couldn't get down. So I'd put him on the lawn and he would crawl back up. We went for a walk in the stroller. He loved that and relaxed so much that he fell asleep. He was so cute. The next time we see him he will probably be walking!! He is growing up so fast.

That night the kids had a hard time settling down. They didn't want to go to sleep for fear they would miss a minute of playing together. When they did finally go to sleep they were snuggled up together. They looked so cute and peaceful. Kyndie was mad because she had to sleep in the room with Grandpa and Grandma. She wants to be right in the middle of it all too. Sometimes it's hard to be the only girl. We had such a good time playing with them. They are all getting so big. I sure wish we could be with them everyday!! I love you kiddos soooooo much!!