Hike at Red Rock

The boys wanted Grandma to take them on a hike, so we went to the Red Rocks. Westyn and Treyson took off like lightening and up the side of the rocks they went and then they threw the whip down to help Carson up, the whip was then offered to pull Grandma up. It wasn't going to happen. The hill was very slippery and I just couldn't get my footing to get to the top. Westyn looked for ways to help Grandma get up the hills. He was so cute.
Westyn made it to the top in no time, peeking through the rocks to find out where Carson and Grandma had gone. Treyson was at the top touching the flag. That was his goal.
Carson and I explored around the bottom edges. It is such a beautiful area. The boys were so much fun to be with. Treyson said it was the best hike he had ever had with his Grandma. Carson said if there was a vote and he could vote he would vote me the best Grandma in the world. They are just too cute.
Utah was so beautiful. They had a good winter and lots of water brought lots of green.

Earthquake

Watching the devastating effects of the earthquake in Japan has sure made me grateful for living in good ole St. Johns. Not that we can't or won't have an earthquake, but there is not much chance we have to worry about a tsunami. As I watched the houses and the cars being swept away by the water, I was so in awe of just how fast your whole life's work can be taken away. I had to wonder why we put so much stock in things instead of relationships, family, our faith. The things that will still be there no matter how big the waves may be.
The torture of not knowing where your loved ones are is more than my mind can comprehend. The picture of the man still holding to his roof, having been blown 10 miles out to sea, not knowing where his wife was. He may never know. That makes loss of house, car and belongings pretty low on the list of concerns.
I have deep respect for these people as they look for survivors. There has not been one story of looting or people breaking into houses and stealing whatever they can find. They were raised to respect their neighbors property and even in the face of this major disaster they are not swayed from their belief.
My prayers go out to these people and all those that may never know where their loved ones have gone.

Why the days are getting shorter.

Last week's devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan has actually moved the island closer to the United States and shifted the planet's axis.

The quake caused a rift 15 miles below the sea floor that stretched 186 miles long and 93 miles wide, according to the AP. The areas closest to the epicenter of the quake jumped a full 13 feet closer to the United States, geophysicist Ross Stein at the United States Geological Survey told The New York Times.

The world's fifth-largest, 8.9 magnitude quake was caused when the Pacific tectonic plate dove under the North American plate, which shifted Eastern Japan towards North America by about 13 feet (see NASA's before and after photos at right). The quake also shifted the earth's axis by 6.5 inches, shortened the day by 1.6 microseconds, and sank Japan downward by about two feet. As Japan's eastern coastline sunk, the tsunami's waves rolled in.

Why did the quake shorten the day? The earth's mass shifted towards the center, spurring the planet to spin a bit faster. Last year's massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile also shortened the day, but by an even smaller fraction of a second. The 2004 Sumatra quake knocked a whopping 6.8 micro-seconds off the day.

After the country's 1995 earthquake, Japan placed high-tech sensors around the country to observe even the slightest movements, which is why scientists are able to calculate the quake's impact down to the inch. "This is overwhelmingly the best-recorded great earthquake ever," Lucy Jones, chief scientist for the Multi-Hazards project at the U.S. Geological Survey, told The Los Angeles Times.

The tsunami's waves necessitated life-saving evacuations as far away as Chile. Fisherman off the coast of Mexico reported a banner fishing day Friday, and speculated that the tsunami knocked sealife in their direction.

Catching Up

Pretty sure my last post was just yesterday but it says it was months ago. These days I can't seem to do anything but work, eat and sleep. My body just doesn't want to cooperate with anything more. My job is pretty demanding, challenging, rewarding and sometimes frustrating all at the same time. I have a pretty amazing staff though and love going to work every day. During this tough economy I am just so grateful to have a good job. The last few days I have been helping my DVA work on a DV case. It never ceases to amaze me what people can do to each other. I come home at night and express my love and appreciation to my husband for all that he has done for me and for never laying a hand to hurt me in any way. He is always willing to help take care of others. He truly has a heart of gold.

I have been reading a book called "The 5 People You Meet in Heaven". It is a story of a man who lived an pretty ordinary life and then he dies goes to Heaven and meets 5 people there who explain why things happened in his life, why some people came into his life and what they had to teach him. It gave the "other side" of the story. There is so much more that we don't get to see or know about. He was shown a time when he was a child and ran out into the street after a baseball. A car had to swerve to miss hitting him. He retrieved the ball and went back to playing and went home happy that he had not lost his baseball. He never knew that the man driving the car had a bad heart and the fright of having to swerve to miss the boy caused him to have a heart attack. He crashed the car, was taken to the hospital and died. He even attended the funeral with his parents totally oblivious to who the man was or that he had played a part in his death. He was just annoyed that his parents had taken him there in the first place. Sort of a crazy book but it sure has given me a new perspective. I highly recommend it. Very short reading.

We had our first Thanksgiving without any kids at home. We decided we didn't need to cook so we went to Hon Dah to their buffet. They had an amazing spread of food including a chocolate fountain with fruit. The room was decorated for Christmas and really got me in the Christmas mood. After we ate we went to the movie "Unstoppable". It kept us on the edge of our seats which kept us from falling asleep. The next stop was Walmart. It was very quiet as people were waiting for Black Friday. You can have it. I attended Black Friday via the internet. That is the only way to go. No hassle, fights or even getting dressed. I shopped in my PJ's and loved it. It was a good day.

I am so excited for Christmas. It is such a magical time of the year and for some reason this year it feels very magical. All of the kids will be home this year. My intent is to have an amazing Christmas with lots of fun, love and laughter. Can't wait to see everyone and be together as a family. I miss you all so much.

Grateful for Conference

I just finished watching conference and it seems that the things we need to hear always penetrate the heart. I got the sense that there was a warning to us when so many spoke about how we need to listen to our "live" prophets voice and that He speaks scripture to us when he talks. President Monson's talk on gratitude touched me. We do have so much to be grateful for and yet we so often see the lack in our lives instead of all the tender mercies that are extended to us. I have learned to see those tender mercies so quietly displayed in my life.
I loved the quotes he gave:
"To live with gratitude in our hearts is to touch heaven".
"It is a wise man who grieveth not for what he doth not have, but in who rejoiceth in what he doth have".
I began this year with a resolution to show more gratitude for the good things in my life. Conference was a wonderful reminder of that resolution. I was also struck by the admonition to slow down our lives and remember what is important to us. It is so hard to do sometimes. I feel like all I do is work, eat and sleep. I need to take a hard look at where I am and where I want to be. I can't wait to get the Ensign to review the wonderful talks.
This is the first I can remember that I had the air conditioner on during conference instead of the heater!!

New Computer...finally!

The last few months my computer has been acting up. It was a mini Dell and had run out of disk space. Jennifer was able to find me a very good deal on one (Thanks SO much Jen) so I am now back in action. I have lost a whole summer of postings so I'll just catch up and then begin adding pictures again later. I had been traveling quite a bit with my new job, going to trainings. I have had the opportunity to see more parts of the USA, which I really enjoyed. I was asked to apply for a new position and on June 7th I became the new clinic manager for North Country Health Care. I have worked in the health field for awhile and have lived with an EMT most of my married life so I have been exposed to the field in many ways. I also love working with people so it has been something I have really enjoyed. I have spent 50-60 hours a week learning the job so I haven't spent much time in my yard and didn't get time to plant a garden this summer, my poor yard looks like it has been abandoned. But it will always be there waiting for the work to get done. It has rained so much that we haven't had time to mow the grass, then we left for a week-end and it really did look like we had moved out. It took Gary 4 mows to get it back to normal.
It has been a very busy summer and I can't believe that it is almost over. We went to Utah for a family reunion in May. It is always fun to see family members again and I always love spending time with the kids. In July the kids came home for the 24th celebration. I have always loved the 24th celebration. To me it is as fun and exciting as Christmas. Emilee came and stayed for a week with us. We kept Carson after Jen and Tyler left. He had fun playing with his cousins. Trevyn had just begun walking before they came and he really mastered it by the time they left. Emilee and I took the kids school shopping in Show Low. Kyndie had a good time looking at clothes but the boys could have cared less. For some reason I always loved that adventure with my kids so it was fun to go with my grand kids.
We went back to Utah on the 7th of August for Westyn's baptism. It was a very special experience watching him become a member of the church. Watching Dallas and Westyn going into the water to perform that ordinance was a thrilling experience. I knew that this day would come fast. The next thing we know we will be going for his mission farewell. They are all growing up to fast.
Gary and I were also called to be missionaries in the Concho Branch. I loved teaching for 12 years in the Concho School. The people there are very special. We are having a good time going there and enjoying their sweet spirit. I was called to be the Librarian and Gary as the Executive Assistant to the President. As I was driving there this morning, the hills were so green from all of the rain we have had this summer. I felt like I was in a different place, it is so gorgeous. As the summer draws to an end and we look forward to fall and it's awesome colors I am grateful for all the things we have had the opportunity to do. In September I get to go and spend a whole week with the grand kids. I can't wait. If life were perfect, I would get the opportunity to spend time with each of my children and grandchildren every day but I guess that is what eternity is for.

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.