Ah, this poor neglected blog..how I miss you. I will be back, soon.

A visit with Mat and Kellie

We got a special treat the first of August when Mat and Kellie visited from OR. It was unexpected because no one really knew Kellie's brother was getting married until it happened. It was a quick visit so we made the most of it--indoor theme park.

Uncle Mat can make the silliest kiddy rides seem fun enough to ride over and over again.

Then there was the mini golfing. I'm glad we didn't break any windows.

It was hard to say good bye to my brother. It's funny how months can go by and when he's here, we slip back into our roles and I'm the protective sister and he's the whimsical brother. I miss Mat most the day after he leaves.

Back once again

I am back. I told someone it feels like I had a baby---all this time spent on someone else--then finally one day you wake up and decide to take charge of your life again. So-- with that in mind, I will catch up on the last month of our lives. Some wonderful and important things happened in August and I didn't write one of them down. So here goes...

A sweet moment

Just hours before we had to say good-bye to the Daines, Jensen stole a quiet moment with little Marcus.

So long..but not for too long..

Last summer my kids said good-bye to the Coombs grandparents who moved to New Mexico to retire and they said good-bye to Scott and Shelbi who moved to Chicago. We got through that, although it was tough, because there were lots of visits. Then this week, they had to say good-bye again to Kristin, Steve, Nadia and baby Marcus. It was not easy.

The Sunday before they left we celebrated Nadia's 8th birthday. It's awesome to be eight and be baptized. I just wish we were going to be there to see her big day. Their house was all packed up so we gave her a little key chain with pictures on it of all of us. Anja gave her a heart necklace with their pictures in it.

This group of cousins is closer than most. They've been though a lot together and grown so much.

Nadia had to wait four years until there was another girl around. It was good timing because we got to keep all of the wonderful hand-me-downs.

Little Marcus is just getting to the point that he's fun and can interact with us. Anja had him giggling so hard.

We said our quick good-byes on Sunday knowing we would get one more day of fun before the "real" tears.

It seemed so strange to think this would be the last Sunday we'd all spend together for a while. Sitting out on the back deck, feeding the fish and jumping on the tramp. Grandpa taught all the kids to jump rope on Sunday afternoons. We have wonderful memories of these lazy summer nights together.

Day 6

It started out fine. We got things packed up and ready to head out. Our original plans called for Silverton, Colorado but we talked to several people who had just come from there and they said it wasn't worth the price so we decided to head south and see the four corners area. I was waiting for Rich to pull the car around when Carter walked up and told me the car wouldn't start. It was a hard morning. Rich was so calm and took care of everything then prayed that we would know if we should stop, turn back or keep going. The car started and we took off.

 Rich calls this picture, "A Family Divided"...

There's really not a whole lot to see at Four Corners. It's just the fact that you can say you've been there.

 Then we hit the road and headed back north. I think we listened to Anja sing "Baby, Baby" about a million times. I wanted to scream, but she was happy and being good.

We stopped in Blanding, Utah for lunch and took a picture since this is where my Grandma Bywater grew up and the Eichenburger roots first took hold of the Gospel.

The trek is over and we had a great time. More importantly, we still love each other and haven't ruled out a second trip to Moab. I don't know that we could take more than six hours in the car but this was a success as far as fist road trips go. But, I still think if the option is a car or a plane, we'll take the plane.

Day 4 and 5-- Cortez, Colorado

We drove..and drove.. we stopped in Monticello, Utah and saw the temple..then drove some more..finally we made it to Cortez, Colorado and a wonderful Holiday Inn Express that had a wonderful family suite with separate rooms, a king bed for us and bunk beds for the kids. After this many days we were all ready for a little space. We spent the first afternoon/evening poking around this small town and visiting the cultural center for a little history lesson. We also stopped at the Welcome Center to buy our passes for Mesa Verde National Park. I about died when the ranger said they either take cash or out of state checks! Really? Who takes out of state checks? We had to find an ATM.

The next we headed into the park. It was amazing to climb so high on top of the mesas and thing, "the Indians used to walk this!"

 Our first stop was Cliff Palace. Probably the most photographed dwelling. This is the view from above before the hike down.

 Once you hike down the canyon, you have to climb the ladders up.

It's amazing to see these dwellings up close and walk where others walked hundreds of years ago.

 Then there's the hike back up to the car through small carved out caves and stairways.

Then lunch. I am so glad I read up on all these parks and knew we had to pack food and water in to all of them because there are no services and you are SOOOO hungry after all that hiking.

 Next we headed to Balcony House; probably the second most photographed dwelling. It was the first one discovered by a rancher about 100 years ago. This dwelling is only accessible by climbing up a 30 foot ladder. Children must be able to do it themselves--not a problem for my skirt and pink flip flop wearing girl!

 Then there are the tunnels--a tight squeeze for adults.

 Then there's the ladder at the end of that tunnel.

Then you are there! It's named because it's one of the only dwellings with a balcony. When the ranchers found it they actually crawled up inside the house and slept out on the balcony for a few days while their cattle grazed below. Pretty amazing when you figure the wood and mud holding the balcony on was over 700 years old.

 This was the view from the front of their house.

 Then there was more climbing into a series of back caves the Indians used to get from one house to the other without walking around the front. They also believe the caves collected fresh water and were used as storage in the winter.

 It was a little hard to walk down into a dark tunnel.

 Then we had to scoot through a cave on our bellies! Not easy for us grown ups! Rich's shoulders barely got through!

Then back up the ladders. It was AWESOME!

 We visited a few more dwellings and Kivas and then did a little shopping. Anja found a doll..

..and Jensen used all his money to buy a real piece of pottery. Cool!