A few weekends ago Erin and Nathan came up to visit.  What fun we had sewing up a storm for the new baby girl soon to arrive in the Meyer family.  Christopher and Megan are eagerly awaiting their firstborn and we are anxious to add a little girl to the growing number of grandchildren.  She will be our third grandchild, but our first granddaughter.  I often think these days how thankful I am for God's faithfulness to me.  How God has blessed me with my family and what gifts my children were and are, and how my grandchildren are such special gifts.  It's not a coincidence that God calls children, "gifts."  If only everyone understood that a child is a gift from a God who is so intimately involved in our lives.  Wouldn't it make a difference if every time we saw a baby, we saw, really saw, God's hand print on them? 

May you enjoy God's gifts to you today..............

Last Wednesday we went out to visit Greg and Kathy and then went up the canyon to Anna Blackwater's summer place (one of them).  She made Navajo fry bread and we had Navajo tacos.  Kathy provided the chili beans and toppings. No one makes better Fry Bread than a Navajo Grandma.  It is the ultimate "comfort" food!  In fact when my oldest son, Christopher saw the picture of this fry bread, his mouth just watered!  Christopher spent one summer living with Grandma Anna and her family and I'm sure had lots of fry bread!  Grandma Anna was embarrassed that no one had swept out the hogan (no one has lived in it for some time, so it was a bit dusty), but no one cared.  The picture here of the little house is a house that I visited when I was a little girl with my family.  I remember visiting it (probably in the early 1960's) and Grandma Anna's mother Hazel inviting us in for coffee.  Miles and miles from electricity and running water, you could have eaten off the floors, they were so clean.  We never did figure out how so many Navajo families kept so clean so far from water and electricity.  Our mission was without electricity (and so of course running water) for two weeks one year when the generator burned to the ground, and boy, was it a lot of work trying to keep us all clean!  I asked if anyone lived in this little house anymore, and was told that no one lives there.  There's something sad about a house that has been abandoned.

  Jeff and Barbara (far left) came to visit us for a day or so (came on Saturday and left Sunday afternoon).  We had a wonderful time with them, but it was too short, so we will drive out to the mission on Wednesday (where they are now) and continue our visit.  They brought some friends with them, Barry and Karen, and they are showing them the real "reservation."  We will meet up with Greg and Kathy there also.  While they were here at our house we had Pete, Heather and boys and Beth and Paul and Kevin over for a Saturday night barbecue and Sunday lunch.
Paul took Jeff, Barry and Karen out to the Bisti bright and dark-thirty on Sunday morning.  They trekked through mud up to their calves and the sunrise they went to "catch" really never materialized due to the cloudy sky....they had "fun" anyway!  Barry is a photographer and of course so is Paul.  Jeff is too (like the rest of us!).  Barbara, Doyle and I were the smart ones, we had coffeecake and coffee on the deck for Breakfast and enjoyed the beauty of our backyard.  Barbara and Jeff hadn't been to the house in quite a few years and were suitably impressed by our gorgeous yard and beautiful garden.  It's great when you can even impress people from the Northwest by the green in a yard in the southwest!

  I have to say that little Jonathan is quite the little farmer.  On Sunday afternoons his mom and dad and little brother come for the afternoon and evening.  It is his favorite day (according to his parents), and I think I know why.  This past Sunday he and his little brother (who is finally getting including in Paca and Jonathan's escapades) took the "tractor" (our riding lawn mower) to the back pasture and took a skunk to meet its "maker" and then they "explored" all the "old" haunts.  I found out later though that the "jackpot" was when Paca caught a snake and gutted it and Jonathan got to see a fish in the snakes mouth.  Now for all you "city folk" out there, snakes eat our fish out of our pond almost faster than we can stock our pond, so they are not our favorite little creatures.  We don't really like skunks and raccoons either, they both wreak havoc in our garden.  So, before people leave nasty comments about "wildlife has a right to be here too", just let me say this..............they are welcome to stay in our yard as long as they don't eat my food and stink up my yard and pets!"    (I have a problem with little critters that think I plant gardens just so they can eat my food!)

  I thought I would clear up some misconceptions about these little houses.  My original "Teenie Weenie" houses had irreparable damage made to them over the winter, and I thought I would never have any more.  However for my birthday, Erin made or rather re-made two of them again.  They were made better than the first ones, and I love them.  The top one has grapes as you can see (made out of yarn) and the bottom one even has lemonade ready for the visitors.  Wouldn't you like to be a "Teenie Weenie" and come for a visit to my back yard? You are welcome anytime and if by chance you aren't a "Teenie Weenie" you are welcome too!

Tyrone and Carletta Hardy celebrated their Tenth Wedding Anniversary by reaffirming their wedding vows in a beautiful ceremony at the First United Methodist Church in Farmington, NM.  Tyrone's mom is a good friend of ours, Lucy Benally and my sister and I grew up together at Immanuel Mission.  We have kept in touch with the family all these years and are included in all their important events as they are in ours.  Tyrone and Carletta have three beautiful children and have had their struggles, but we are so happy for them and proud of them as they made it to  this important milestone. 

Their reception was at the Civic Center and we had a lovely roast beef dinner.  I enjoyed seeing Lucy's adult children, Arcenio with his family; Emilio and a new baby girl named Kimberly (after Arcenio's sister, Kimberly who was murdered a few years ago); Angela and her four children and Tyrone and his family.  We sat at a table with Lucy's sisters, Julia and her daughter,  Emily and Priscilla and her grandson; Laban Herbert and Sam Benally.  It was good to get caught up with all of them.  It felt like a reunion from our old elementary school days at Immanuel Mission.

     Today Beth and I met an old high school friend, Lynn for lunch at the Absolute Bakery in Mancos, CO.  It was a beautiful day for a lovely drive up and back.  It takes about an hour and a half to travel the route and it was well worth it.  Beth hadn't seen Lynn for over 30 years, I've seen her a lot more, but it's always good to reconnect, even if there isn't much time anymore. 

Last night we celebrated Doyle's birthday at Vanilla Moose in Aztec, our favorite soft-serve ice cream place.  It was opened in 1983 and we took our children there.  Now we take our grand children!  Goodness, doesn't that sound old? 

Beth got Doyle a book called "Fast Food Nation."  I'm anxious  read it.  I imagine I'll never want to eat "fast" food again............unless I make it! 

Erin and Nathan are here for the weekend and brought their latest addition to their family.  This little kitty was rescued from the humane society in Santa Fe and is only three weeks old.  The Humane Society got her when she was just a few days old.  She is a tiny little thing, but very courageous.  She was ready to take on our dog Sia when Sia tried to greet her.  Sia loves everyone and has always loved cats.  Aarafel (the kitty) isn"t so sure about Sia, but hopefully she won't take on the dog when we're not here. 

Listening to this old fan during the summer brings back memories of my childhood.  It is noisy, sounds almost like an airplane getting ready to take off, and it produces a great breeze, and I love it.  It is up high on my piano so no little fingers get caught in the nasty blades............that wouldnt feel very good if they got caught in there.

I spent the day putting a second coat of deck stain on our deck in our greenhouse.  After putting the first coat on I wondered what ever possessed us to pick out the color.  We bought the stain last year and never had time to put it on, so today I finished it up.  I love the color and will be really glad when I can move everything back in.  It takes about two days to dry even with the door and windows open and the fan going.  I kept thinking it was going to rain when I was staining the floor and tried to hurry so the cotton fuzz wouldn't blow in the front door.  At times the cotton from our cottonwood tree makes the back yard look like their are tissues everywhere and when the wind blows it looks like a snowy blizzard.

June 20 was Father's Day and my birthday and we celebrated Daniel's first birthday which was June 21st.  We had a total of 18 of us for a barbecue on Sunday, the 20th and the highlight of course was Daniel's First.  This past week he has really taken off...........walking by himself that is.  He thinks he is quite the "big boy".  He is valiantly trying to catch up to his big brother.......in all things.

One of my favorite gifts was a DVD series called "The #1 Ladies Detective Agency."  I got it from Greg and Kathy and we have been watching an episode each night.  It is funny and very entertaining.  I also got taken out to lunch several times this past week for my birthday.  I got two plants, some books and a Durango Joe's coffee card.

Today I scrubbed the deck floor in the greenhouse and started to stain it.  Doyle finished up the staining for me.  We hope to clear out some of the plants and do some painting (the ceiling) in there in the next few weeks.  It has needed to be done for quite some time.  There are always projects to do in an old house.  (I guess that's why people buy new houses!)