Jeff's Big Day

In honor of my little brother Jeff's 48th birthday today, I searched for all the birthday pictures from his childhood to share in this post. I was shocked when I found only these two.

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Our mom was very good about celebrating every birthday with a special cake and ice cream, and singing Happy Birthday, even if it was only our immediate family present. She didn't always take pictures, but I still expected more.

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I think perhaps she was still recovering from 5 kids' worth of Halloween whenever we celebrated Jeff's birthday the next day!

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This was Jeff's 7th birthday in November 1968. From left to right we have our brother Darryl (age 5), brother LeRoy (age 9), the birthday boy Jeff, cousins Sandra, Nancy, and Sherry, and sister Karla (age 8).

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This isn't exactly from his childhood, but it's from our last birthday celebration for Jeff before he got married in June 1983.

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It was Jeff's 21st birthday, November 1, 1982. He had returned from his mission to Winnipeg, Canada, just a few months earlier, in August.

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Here is the whole family at the party, although it looks like the camera was high on LSD at the time! L-R: Darryl (age 19), Mom (age 45), Jeff, Dad (age 48), our first nephew Jeremy (7 months old), Karla (age 22), and her husband Brian (age 25).

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We were all so much younger then!

And finally, The Boys, together again 3 weeks later. LeRoy was married and had moved back to Southern California, but Jeff, Darryl, and I went to visit them for a few days. (Sadly, I was 28 and still single...)

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21 Nov 1982: Darryl (age 19), Jeff (age 21), and LeRoy (age 23). Good times!

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Happy birthday to you, Jeff!

Happy Hauntings

Halloween actually began on Friday for many of us teachers. Several students and staff members dressed up. I'm not one to go whole-hog, but I did wear a sweatshirt featuring a cat in a witch's pointed hat.

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The preschool, which is located in my building and operated by high school students, always takes the tots around to trick-or-treat at participating classrooms. Here is the first group to arrive at my door, under the care of one of my students, Jenny.
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Aren't they adorable? They loved the little whistles we gave them, povided by Wyndie's husband Eugene.
Today was hectic, with everyone going different directions, but we all came together around 4:00 to prepare for the trunk-or-treat at church.

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Trunk-or-treats are the big solution to the dangers of trick-or-treating these days. The cities of Show Low and Pinetop-Lakeside both hold a huge community trunk-or-treat each year. Unable to be 3 places at once, we opted for the smaller version at church.

Dylan and his friends Eric and Justin got together to attend the trunk-or treat. Afterward they did the traditional trick-or-treating in the neighborhoods around our home for a couple of hours.

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I tried to capture the moon behind them in this shot. It looked a lot cooler in real life.

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Dylan went as a pirate and Justin as a soldier. Eric went as a stick figure. He got the idea for it online. It's a little hard to imagine until you see him in the dark, so I took the picture of him below while he was standing in our darkened bathroom. (Without the flash it's a bit blurred.)

Where do people dream up these things? It looked pretty nifty, though.

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Sarah and Jacob handed out candy at the trunk-or-treat. Afterward, Sarah babysat for a neighbor who went to a Halloween party and Jacob went trick-or-treating with some friends, Crystal and Ryan. He dressed up Goth-style.
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I got a kick out of watching him try to remove the black eye makeup when he came home. Welcome to my world, Jacob!
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At the trunk-or-treat they had a contest for the best decorated "trunks" and Jacob did a nice job of scarifying our car for the event. We didn't win, but it looked good!

Now Halloween is over, the pillowcases are stuffed with candy, the kids are sleeping off the sugar rush, and tomorrow it will be November. Am I the only one who feels like time is flashing by in a blur?

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Speaking of November 1st, a BIG happy birthday to my brother Jeff, who barely missed being born on Halloween. Hope you have a great day, bro!

Birthday Snow

Our first snow of the season arrived on the night of Sarah's birthday. Not a heavy snowfall, but a generous sugar-dusting. The above photo is the sight that met our eyes when we woke up yesterday morning. It snowed again last night, dropping a couple more inches. It's been many years since we had snow this early in the season.

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Along with the snow came a cold snap, and I had to turn on the heater for the first time. I hated to do it, but inside the house the temperature was 58*!
The kids and I went to El Rancho last night to celebrate Sarah's birthday (since she had school on the actual night of her birthday). We had a good time, especially when Sarah gestured with her fork and sent a large piece of burrito flying into Jacob's glass of root beer!
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When we left the restaurant at 7:30, the temperature outside was only 20*. Today our high temperature was only 33*. I love the snow, but I'm not ready for this much icy air yet! Thank goodness there's a warm front moving in this weekend, bringing at least another week of warm weather (in the 70s) back to us. Bless you, weatherman!

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This just in: Today (Friday) our district superintendent emailed everyone this clip from Channel 12 news out of Phoenix, where a video from our rural high school was featured. It's very short, but has some fun scenes of snow around the school and a nicely-done report by a student. Enjoy!

http://www.azcentral.com/video/#/Pinetop%20weather%20report/46794905001

Twenty Birthdays

My firstborn is no longer a teenager! Tonight was Sarah's 20th birthday. We didn't really get to celebrate because the boys and I were in school all day, and we came home just in time for Sarah to rush off to NPC.

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Poor girl: here it was her birthday, and not only did she have to take a test in biology, but she also had to give her first oral presentation in English Comp II. She was very nervous, but it went well. She was the first in her class to present, and the professor told Sarah she set the bar high for everyone else to live up to!

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When she got home from school, we did sing Happy Birthday while she blew out the candles on her cake (above). And now, a fun retrospective of the birthdays in Sarah's life:

27 Oct 1990: One-year-old Sarah loved that birthday cake!
26 Oct 1991: At age two, Sarah seems suspicious of the birthday cake!
24 oct 1992: The gifts are taller than three-year-old Sarah!
27 Oct 1993: Four-year-old Sarah has gotten the hang of this whole birthday thing!

29 Oct 1994: Says five-year-old Sarah, "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth..."

28 Oct 1995: Six-year-old Sarah hopes to blow out her candles before brother Jacob does! (Jacob was four.)

28 Oct 1996: Is seven-year-old Sarah plotting an extra-special wish?

27 Oct 1997: Sarah thinks it's great to be eight!

27 Oct 1998: Sarah now feels that it's fine to be nine!

23 Oct 1999: Sarah had 2 cakes for her tenth birthday. This first one was 4 days before her birthday, when she had a big party with lots of girlfriends over to celebrate...

...and this one on her actual birthday, Oct. 27, with just our family. Doesn't she look perky and cute in the new short 'do?

26 Oct 2000: Sarah was in heaven when she turned eleven!

27 Oct 2001: Sarah says her twelfth birthday was her favorite. We celebrated with her cousins and other relatives at a park in Mesa while we were there for the weekend.

27 Oct 2002: Sarah officially becomes a teenager when she turns thirteen!

27 Oct 2003: Sarah with her brothers on her fourteenth birthday. Dylan was 6 and Jacob was 12.

27 Oct 2004: Fifteen-year-old Sarah with her birthday presents. Mom surprised her at school with the balloons and the cup filled with gifts.
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Oddly, I have no photos from Sarah's 16th and 17th birthdays. We remember that Sarah and I went to see the movie Elizabethtown for her sweet sixteenth. I don't care for chick flicks, but Sarah and I both love to gaze adoringly at Orlando Bloom on the big screen! It's a mom and daughter thing...

3 Nov 2007: Sarah celebrates her 18th birthday with two of her best friends, Emmi and Tahna.

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Happy birthday, my sweet Sarah! It's been an amazing twenty years!

A Grand Nephew

Tonight was the BIG football game between Show Low and Blue Ridge High Schools. Pretty much everyone I know in town was there. Not me. Given the intensity of the rivalry between the two schools on the football field, and given my loyalty to Blue Ridge, and given my pride in my nephew Marcus who plays for Show Low, and given the fact that I'm supposed to keep my blood pressure down, I opted to stay home.
My nephew Justin and his wife Alisha didn't want to miss the game, of course, but their 15-month-old Aiden has a little head-cold and couldn't be out in the chilly weather. I was so happy to help them out and have my little grand-nephew as a guest for the evening!

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At first he was a little shy. He doesn't know Great-Aunt Mary too well, and he'd never met Diego before. I settled him with a bowl of honey-nut Cheerios and Sarah surrounded him with toys. She chose to stay home and enjoy Aiden with me rather than going to the game.
It didn't take Aiden too long to get comfortable with the Cheerios and toys! Meanwhile, Diego was on his best behavior, eyeing the Cheerios longingly from a safe distance, but waiting patiently.
Poor Aiden! He hadn't had a nap and he clearly didn't feel well, but he was still happy and active and determined to stay awake. Every now and again he'd start to nod off, but he'd force those eyes back open. He was up and on the go for more than 3 hours.
After he rolled around in the spilled cheerios for awhile, Aiden explored every inch of the living room. Diego followed him around, hoping those clingy Cheerios would fall off the clothes and onto the floor.

They got to be good buddies, and Aiden enjoyed alternately feeding Diego from his little fist and teasing Diego by holding it out, but then quickly putting it in his own mouth.

Aiden emptied a laundry basket full of jackets and beach towels. I noticed he was rubbing his face in the plush towels and I thought he was getting close to losing the battle against sleep. Not even close.

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Then he discovered the silky-soft stadium blankets I keep folded in a pile on the hearth behind a chair. He kept crawling back in that corner to roll in the blankets. So I picked up Aiden and a blanket, put him on the ground with his head on a towel, and covered him with the blanket.

That did it. He kept his eyes open for nearly 15 minutes before succumbing to sleep, but he never moved. He loved the feel of that blanket wrapped warmly around him. He was still there, all snug, when his parents returned at 10:00.

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As for the big game, I'm happy to say that Blue Ridge remains undefeated. I'm also glad to report that my nephew Marcus was unstoppable and played a great game; Justin tells me they announced him as the "Master Blocker"! All those young players play hard and play to win. Good job to both the purple-and-gold and the green-and-gold athletes!

Good Riddance

For 14 days I had to wear this little "cardiac event monitor." It wasn't bad at first: less bulky than a Holter Monitor (which is only worn 24-48 hours) and fewer wires to contend with. I even figured out the smoothest way to arrange it under my clothing so the box and wires weren't too obvious, and trips to the restroom weren't too much of a hassle.

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In the beginning it was even kind of comforting, knowing that it would record any strange heartbeats that, hopefully, my cardiologist would be able to decipher later. The device had a record button for me to push when I felt an arrhythmia begin, and it would record automatically if it detected irregularities that I didn't feel.

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I had several events during the first few days, which I duly recorded. And then it began recording events when I felt perfectly fine.

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It freaked me out! I thought I always felt my irregular beats, but now that false sense of security was gone. I had to fight back the stress and practice deep breathing for a few days.
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After several days passed, I developed a rash near where the two leads connected, under my right collar bone and on my left rib cage. I thought I could take it, and I endured the itching and burning for a couple of days.

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Then the upper rash thickened and developed blisters. When the blisters began to weep, I finally removed the monitor for a day to give my skin a chance to recover.

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It didn't help. So, for the final week of the ordeal, I played an on again, off again game of wearing the monitor as long as I could, and taking 1-2 days off in between.

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Obviously, I had an allergic reaction to the adhesive on the patches. Luckily my heart behaved itself during that time. Nothing was recorded--or felt--by me or the machine (when I was wearing it).
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Tuesday was my last day on the monitor, and it was with great relief that I called Fed Ex to schedule a pick-up.

Yesterday the truck stopped by and they whisked away the small box.

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I was never so thrilled to see an irritating visitor drive away!

Autumn Leaves Are Falling, Falling

A strong autumn wind has been scouring our giant oak trees free of dead leaves. Our driveway is blanketed with a crispy, curly brown carpet.
The weather changed abruptly on the first day of fall, September 21st. Our warm mountain summer disappeared, literally overnight, when temperatures dipped below freezing that same night.
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The sudden change in temperature quickly brought about the annual coloring of the non-evergreen trees. We get many visitors from the Phoenix and Tucson areas this time of year, just to enjoy the changing of the leaves.

The above photo of a tree in my front yard was taken on October 7th. Golden brown fronds were just beginning to curl among the green.

This is the same tree (from the opposite side) yesterday, October 17th. In just 10 days the wind has made a good start of stripping the branches.

Jacob and Dylan spent a good part of yesterday raking and bagging leaves and pine needles. Our resourceful neighbor Barbara took half the bags off our hands for her compost pile. (She also likes our rabbits' poop.)

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Dylan clambered onto the roof to clean out the rain gutters. We could have snow any time in the next few weeks, so it's a dirty job that couldn't wait.

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Following my doctor's orders, I'm trying to make time to walk more often. The following photos were all taken during yesterday's walk around my neighborhood.

Living in an evergreen forest as we do, we don't get the vivid oranges and brilliant reds you see in the autumn forests back East. But I still love to see the pale greens and yellows, the browns and oranges and brownish oranges, peeping out among the tall pines.

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I adore every season. That's why I choose to live in an area where we can enjoy all 4 distinct seasons. Yet there is something special about fall, when the leaves change and the air becomes crisp and the smell of woodsmoke fills the air.

I love passing this tree every morning on my way to work. It's called a quaking aspen because its thousands of tiny, round leaves dance in the slightest breeze. It makes the entire tree seem to shimmer. And now it's shimmering gold.

No autumn colors here, but I think this open field is beautiful. It looks so rustic.

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Welcome, Autumn, to our mountain home!

Baby Doll Dreams

A couple of months ago as I walked past Sarah's bedroom, I was startled to see a tiny baby laying on her bed. After a second, I realized it was her old baby doll, all dressed up in real infant clothes.
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Of course I had to tease her a little, about my 19-year-old daughter still playing with dolls.

On the other hand, it's far better to have her playing with dolls rather than boys at this time in her life, while she's focusing on college. The real babies will come soon enough!

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Maybe I'm just being fanciful, but I feel that the many years I spent playing with baby dolls (not Barbies) helped me develop the nurturing instincts that prepared me for motherhood in some small but important way.

Was I still playing with dolls in my adult years?

Well... Maybe "playing" isn't the right word, but perhaps "visualizing" is a better fit. I dreamed of being a mother for many years before Sarah finally came along and fulfilled those dreams.
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This was my bedroom in 1986, when I was 32. The doll was handmade by my former sister-in-law, Lynda. I dressed him in a real baby outfit and imagined cuddling my own infant someday.

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Sarah was born three years later, and then 20 months after that Jacob joined us. Dylan completed our family six years after Jacob's birth.

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Those maternal yearnings did not go to waste, and neither did the baby doll wardrobe.

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And maybe I'm biased, but I think Jacob looked far more cuddlesome in this outfit than the doll ever did!

3,000

After a failed attempt to begin blogging in February 2008, I finally started this blog successfully with my first post on July 28, 2008.

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It was about my new car, the first red car I've ever owned. Exciting stuff!

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I had no idea whether anyone was reading my blog, despite my emailed invitations to maybe 100 people. No one left comments on my first 6 posts, and posts #7 and 8--almost a month later-- only got one comment apiece.

That was okay, I told myself. My primary purpose was to record family history for my children and their children.

Still, my secondary purpose was to get back in touch with family and friends who lived far away, and then stay in touch, so I was a bit disappointed.

Then on Sept. 8, 2008, my sweet niece, 19-month-old Callie Jayne, was accidentally run over in her driveway and I began posting updates on her condition. I was amazed at how many people kept telling me they were following my blog.

That's when I realized I was getting visitors who read the posts but didn't leave comments. And that's when I put a counter on my blog. Just out of curiosity.
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I was amazed when the counter actually started counting! It wasn't exactly spinning, but the numbers were definitely climbing. I was thrilled!

And last weekend, just a year later, the counter recorded my 3,000th visitor. I am both humbled and astounded. When I began, I never expected to enjoy visits from more than a handful of friends and family members.

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I want to say THANKS to you who care enough to look in on my family from time to time. You are all wonderful and oh-so-very welcome here!

The LONG Weekend

Jacob was gone to Winslow all weekend (he just returned home last night), but Dylan and his friends more than made up for the empty space left by Jacob's absence.

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Let's just say it was a very looooong weekend!

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I do not allow Dylan to spend the night at the home of friends, but on holiday weekends I occasionally let him invite one friend to stay the night at our house. Since we are on Fall Break, a 4-day weekend, I told him he could invite a friend for one night.

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On Friday, Dylan informed me that he'd invited FOUR friends for a sleepover. Gulp!

(Is it just me or does Diego look like Rin Tin Tin in the above photo?)
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I didn't want to hurt the boys' feelings, so I made it clear to Dylan that in the future only ONE friend will be invited per sleepover, and then I resigned myself to a house full of noisy boys.
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What was I thinking?! Not a good idea for one who is supposed to be reducing stress and lowering her blood pressure!
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It began when Eric showed up Sunday morning. The sleepover wasn't supposed to begin until 4 pm, but Dylan loaned Eric some Sunday-go-to-meetin' clothes and he attended church with us.

When we got home from church at 1 pm, Dakota was waiting for us in our driveway. Justin and Tony arrived closer to the scheduled start time.

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At left are Tony, Dylan, and Eric. Wedged between the two boulders, down close to the ground, you can just barely see Justin. Dakota did not join the boys for this hike.

We had burgers and chips with dip for dinner Sunday evening. I allowed the boys to stay up till 1 am before I sternly demanded lights out and silence. Yet the silly talk and laughter continued, keeping me up until 3 am. I finally had to threaten to call their mothers!
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Of course, they were all awake and noisily competing on our Wii game system by 7 am. Groan...

Seeing my stress level skyrocketing, my wonderful Sarah stepped in. She made the boys chorizo for breakfast on Monday and then she loaded them up and drove them to nearby Mogollon Rim Trail for a long hike.
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These photos were all taken yesterday during their hike, though the pictures are labeled "07/01/2008" (Sarah needs to adjust her camera). Sarah took her beloved Diego with her, naturally.

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After the hike, she loaded them up again and took them to the Show Low community pool for a swim.

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It gave me a few lovely hours of peace and quiet. Thank you, Sarah!
By 7:00 last night, the boys had returned to their own homes. Just in time for Jacob to come home and immediately invite his buddies Kyle and Marcus over to watch a video.

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Thankfully, they all stayed in the boys' bedroom and watched the movie quietly.

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Now it's just me and my children again. The house is quiet because everyone is exhausted and sleeping late.
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And I still have one day left of my holiday weekend!

Meteor Crater

The only way to actually set foot outside the complex and hike the rim of Meteor Crater is to take the guided walking tour. We took the final tour of the day, which left at 2:15.

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The half-mile path led us around the west side of the rim, giving us spectacular, unfettered views of the crater.

The rules say you must wear closed shoes, and the guides are meticulous in enforcing that rule. While it isn't an extremely difficult hike, the path is tricky and covered with these powdery rocks and pebbles, which were created by the shock of the meteor's impact and blasted out of the crater.
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I huffed and puffed up the first hill (there were many small hills), but after that I did well and managed to stay at the front of the pack. There were more than a dozen of us in the group.

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The guide stopped several times to point out interesting sites and lecture about the history and geology of the crater. It gave us all a chance to catch our breath.

While it's not as breathtakingly awesome as the Grand Canyon, Meteor Crater is an incredible monument to the power of nature.

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I tried to imagine the magnitude of the impact, how the ground must have rumbled and rolled, how powerful the sound of the blast must have been. All life within 20 miles of the impact would have been killed.
The tour stopped for a final photo op at the outcropping of red rock I pointed out in my last post.

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The guide offered to take this shot of Dylan, Sarah, and me on the ledge above the crater floor.

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The first picture on this post, with Dylan seated on the red rock, was also taken here.

After hiking the half-mile back to the museum (my cardiologist would be proud of my 1-mile trek!), we continued our workout on the paths behind the complex.
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The steps on the left lead up to the highest observation deck, while the path on the right leads to the lower platforms. Here, Dylan and Sarah wrestled over the telescope.
We walked down to the lower decks first. There were plenty of telescopes available on these platforms, no need for wrestling matches!
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At the bottom of the crater are unsafe mine shafts that have been fenced off. An American flag and a 6-foot tall plywood Astronaut are attached to one fence, but they aren't visible from the rim with the naked eye.

Dylan's favorite subject is science, so he enjoyed the crater. However, he's still a 12-year-old boy and was often distracted by lizards near the path.

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He managed to capture one, but it escaped. Here he is pursuing it off the path. I reminded him that nasties like scorpions also inhabit the area!
Finally, we climbed a long flight of steps to the top observation deck. My legs ached, but the view was amazing!

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The high-desert plains stretched out more than 40 miles in all directions. In the further distance were the volcanic mountain ranges so common in this area. Gorgeous!

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In this shot you also see one of the lower platforms.

We shot pictures on this highest ledge, posing alongside visitors from England, Australia, Germany, and Japan.
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The wind had really picked up by this time. Dylan was leaning into the wind, shouting, "There's nothing but air behind me, Mom. You might wanna hurry up and take the picture!"
Sarah opted to put the boulder between herself and the ledge. I love her hair here, a testament to the strength of the wind!

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You'd think wind erosion would be a concern (it reaches 100+ mph in this area), but it doesn't disturb the interior too much. They receive less than 7 inches of rain annually, which helps prevent water erosion.

I also liked this pensive moment, with Sarah sitting on the rim and contemplating the world at her feet.
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It was a great, impromptu day trip, an opportunity to see the hand of God in the world around us.

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And time well spent with my children!

In Starman's Footsteps

Sarah and I were so proud after we hiked all the way to the bottom of Meteor Crater.

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Just kidding! Except for an occasional scientist and actors Jeff Bridges and Karen Allen (for the 1984 movie Starman, which concluded inside Meteor Crater), no one is allowed in the bottom of the crater anymore.

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We had to settle for posing in front of a big photo, complete with dirt and rocks, in the museum.
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Meteor Crater is only 18 miles from Winslow, so after dropping Jacob off, Sarah, Dylan, and I proceeded to the "best preserved impact crater on earth."
We live just 2 hours from Meteor Crater, so it was embarrassing when people asked if I'd been there and I had to say no.
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In the distance (4-5 miles away) you can see the rim of the crater, the massive piles of earth thrown out of the hole on impact. The dark area on the left is the museum complex perched high on the rim.

This is the complex, which includes the museum, a small theater, a Subway restaurant, and staff quarters. It was too big to get the whole thing in the picture from the parking lot.
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The aerial photo below will put the size of the crater into perspective. It's almost 1 mile across.
You can see the complex at lower left, left of the square gray parking lots.

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The distance around the rim is 2.25 miles. We took the guided tour, a half-mile hike. It ended at the red-rock outcropping at lower right, where there's a chunk of the rim gouged out. It's the only route into the crater.
Once inside, we got lunch at Subway and ate outside next to the American Astronaut Wall of Fame.

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It was pretty windy, which is common on the high plains (elevation 6,000 feet). That's why Sarah was chasing blowing napkins!

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On the monument we found the names of:

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Alan B. Shepard, Jr. "First American in Space"
John H. Glenn "First American in Orbit"

Neil A. Armstrong "First Man on the Moon"

Sally K. Ride "First American Woman in Space" and

Sharon Christa McAuliffe

(the teacher who died in 1986 when the space shuttle Challenger exploded after launch)

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Prior to the hike we watched a 10-minute movie about the meteor's impact and affect on the surrounding landscape. After our hike, we explored the museum.
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This is Dylan with the Holsinger meteorite, the largest remnant of the 150-foot meteor that created Meteor Crater. It was found nearly 10 miles away. It weighs almost 1,500 lbs!

We had a lot of fun inside the museum. There were many interactive games and activities. Dylan's favorite was a computer simulation in which you designed your own meteor to impact (or miss) earth or any other planet. You chose the size, mass, velocity, and trajectory--among other specifics--and then you sent it toward the planet. We each destroyed earth a few times. Sick fun!

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And we learned so much. For instance, the official name of Meteor Crater is the Barringer Meteorite Crater, after the man who bought mining rights to the property in 1902 (his descendents still own the crater) and first proposed that it was an impact crater. Scientists originally thought it was volcanic in origin.

We loved this glassless window, which perfectly framed the surrounding landscape. At first we though it was an actual painting!

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Here, Dylan is looking out on the San Francisco Peaks, where the city of Flagstaff is located. The tallest peak is Humphrey's Peak, the highest point in Arizona at 12,633 feet.

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Tomorrow, I will share pictures of our hike and the crater itself. There were just too many great shots to fit into one post!