Update on Sarah

Sarah is now over three weeks in the hospital, but that is great! Every day is one day closer to a safe, healthy delivery.

The last ultrasound showed that the baby is growing and is now almost two pounds and everything is looking normal and healthy. Let's keep on praying--the Lord keeps those little ones in the palms of His hands!


Another prayer request is for our Monaco friends Renny and Marlene who have just found out that their 35 year old son, Renny II (our airplane pilot last Thanksgiving), has been diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, a cancer of the blood, and will be undergoing treatments soon.

Always something to do

The weather here is purr-fect! Besides playing pickle-ball every morning, we use the pool as often as we can. It's a balmy 84 degrees in the pool, 103 degrees in the hot tub, and sitting in the sun can't be beat.








Hi Brayden and Addy! Just in case you can't find Gramma here I am!

Things to do at VVTT

The mornings are absolutely beautiful here at Verde Valley--just right for playing pickle ball. And guess who's back at it? Mitch!!! Yea!




We have a great great in the mornings including Tracy and Jim and Oland and Marilee--we played with them back in Florida!! I love this small TT world! Back row--Phil, Jim, Mitch, Tom, and Oland. Front row--Marilee, Cindy, and Tracy.







Yesterday we drove to Sedona and the Red Rocks are gorgeous. Of course we stopped for a little afternoon break:


the Prickly Pear Margarita was superb and the Calamari with the Roasted Red Pepper and Chipolte Ketchup was wonderful.








We enjoyed the food on the deck overlooking what else--some more red rocks!!

Update on Sarah

Sarah has two weeks behind her and that is great news. Also the baby has turned around and is now head down the way it's supposed to be! That is also great news. So now Sarah is just laying around waiting -- about eight weeks to go! She figures she will have watched enough TV to last a long, long time.

Keep on praying!

On the road again--Arizona

We have planted ourselves at Verde Valley Thousand Trails, just south of Flagstaff, Arizona. The campground is nestled in the valley of the Verde River. The first picture was taken from the middle of the park, halfway down the 1 1/2 mile road that gets you to our campsite. Big place. Very nice.







We started checking out the National Monuments close by--Tuzigoot and Montezuma's Castle, both Sinagua ruins, but very different from each other.











It always amazes us that people so long ago could build their homes in the sides of cliffs!

Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

We left Albuquerque and traveled about 50 miles over the Arizona border. Our campground is very near the National Park so we spent the day driving and walking the park. The north end is the Painted Desert, badlands of pinks, blues, and grays.





The Petrified Forest on the south end of the park is home to forests of petrified logs, beautifully colored by the minerals that replaced the living wood.

Update on Sarah

It's been a week since Sarah went to the hospital. She's still there and that is good news. Having made it a week, the chances increase that she can keep that little one inside her where it belongs! Everything is still day by day and week by week. She says if all goes well they will take the baby at 34 weeks so we still have a lot of praying to do!

Brayden

It's seems like forever since I've gotten a picture of Brayden that I can post. He has grown up so much. Now that Caryn is working outside of the house, Brayden is at "school".









We now have "refrigerator art"!

The rest of Albuquerque

We had some pretty ugly weather and the rest of the balloon launches were canceled, but we found some other things to do.
We took a tram ride to the top of Sandia Peak rising 1000 feet in about 13 minutes. The view was magnificent!

Day 2 of the Balloon Fiesta

Yes, we got up about 5:30 am. The Dawn Patrol Balloon was checking out the weather about 6:00.

Our plan: find a balloon and volunteer to work!




We got to the field and decided to have breakfast first. Mitch, Jerry, Anna Lee, Jerry, and I got serious about our breakfast burritos and coffee. After all is was still dark.


We got out on the field and wandered around trying to find the rest of our group. All of a sudden there were yells to back up and the Wells Fargo balloon carrying the American Flag to start off the morning flew right over our heads. We could reach up and touch the flag!

What could be more exciting than that?!

Carmen Miranda (aka Chick-a-Boom)

We got down to the field and found the rest of our group. They had volunteered to help the ground crew for Carmen Miranda. She was all spread out and needed to be held up, velcroed up, blown up....

So Mitch worked on her orange,






Shelly, Lois, and Kim held the ropes out front so air could be blown in first to get her blown up before the hot air was turned on. David was holding the rope attached to the top of her head.

























She's all blown up!!! And the crew is now holding her down. She's also tethered to the truck!










The pilot yells, "Back up!", and releases the tether. Play the video to see what happens next!




And there she is--airborne in all her beauty!

The Chase is On!!

The balloon is launched and the crew asks if we would help with the chase and recovery. Duh--yes!!! So the real crew gets into the truck and the five of us pile into the open bed to....









speed down the streets of Albuquerque. Hadn't
done that forever either! The balloon was down about seven/eight miles away.




Tragically, one of the balloons had hit some power lines (killing one pilot and injuring the other) so the streets were blocked and we were rerouted.




Our balloon was already down, but it must have been a good field, because all of a sudden there were balloons coming down all over the place. Because the wind was a little high, we were all over the place helping to get the gondolas stopped before they were dragged all over or tumbled about.







When the rest of the balloons were safe, it was time to get serious about our work. The flying crew had already straightened her out, but we went to work folding her in on herself and getting all the air out.









She was then carefully stuffed in her rucksack but a little (or a lot) of "mass" was needed to get all the air out if possible.

Mitch and David supplied the "mass".









She was carefully loaded into the truck and we were almost ready to head back.












However, there was the opening of the champagne to celebrate the flight and a funky little ceremony that was a lot of fun.

The fourteen of us enjoyed the celebration. Champagne at 9:30 in the morning isn't too bad!

He-Bee and She-Bee

These are some crazy balloons. They are two balloons are are launched at the same time. They go up holding hands (velcro, the real industrial stuff!).

Then, if the wind is right--they kiss in midair. Eventually the wind sends them apart to land separately.

Just for Stacy

This is one big Spam can! And you should have seen the lines--you would have thought they were giving away $1,000,000!

John and Pat--again!

It is so much fun to run into friends in all different parts of the country--and here they were again. We knew they would be in Albuquerque and were able to spend a couple of nights playing "Hand and Foot".

Updade on Sarah

Sarah has made it past the 72 hour point. She says that is the first milestone, and that means the chances are better that she can make it to one week. She has been moved from the high risk floor to the perinatal floor at Abbot-Northwestern where she has a team of new doctors and nurses taking care of her. She takes one day at a time. Addy has been able to come up and visit and is very curious about all the buttons in the room. Sometimes she even gets to eat in her mommy's room.

Keep Sarah and the baby in your prayers.

Albequerque Balloon Fiesta Day 1

The day started early: 6:00 am and the Dawn Patrol Balloons go up to check on weather conditions.












By 7:00 the Special Shapes balloons are filling up and getting ready to fly. There were about 100 special shapes balloons from all over the world.













Click on the picture to get the "big" picture of these great balloons.












Not only is the color special, but listen to the sound!





Jayne and Bill after a great Mexican lunch buffet at El Pinto.















Later on we did a little wine tasting. It should make the NightGlow very interesting.

On the road to Albequerque

We started to head out about 7:00 am, but not before I scraped the windshield of the car. Unbelievable!







We stopped at Acoma Pueblo, a 400 year old pueblo atop the mesa. Look carefully and you can see some old adobe homes still inhabited on the mesa top. They have no running water or electricity.



We walked back on the steps carved into the rocks that were used in ancient times to access the mesa.






Betsy and Ed after some more heavy duty eating and shopping.

Joe's Birthday

After a busy day of sightseeing, we took a break. Connie had made a huge pot of chili and with everyone adding to the meal, we had a great Happy 73rd Birthday party for Joe.

Please say a prayer for Sarah

Shayne called today to let us know that Sarah is in the hospital with complications in her 24 week pregnancy. Her water had broken and she had gone into early labor. The contractions have been stopped and they are now waiting to see how everything goes. Shayne says she will have to stay hospitalized until the baby is born, hopefully in three months. Please keep Sarah and the baby in your prayers.

Day 14--Wolf Sanctuary and Navajo Weaving

Every day is a busy day! This morning we visited Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary where 60 wolves have been rescued from various places that could no longer keep them, many from private parties who thought they could domesticate, like a dog, these wild animals. The stories of each animal were sometimes funny, sometimes sad.


Listen to the wolf call (with a little imagination--we had to get the wolves started)!




After a traditional lunch of blue corn mush, fry bread, and vegetable stew, we saw a demonstration of traditional Navajo spinning and weaving. The history of the Navajo includes a war lead against them by Kit Carson.

Day 13--El Morro National Monument

The morning started out rainy, but we don't let a little rain keep us down! By the afternoon, the sun was out and off to El Morro we went. El Morro is in part Inscription Rock. As the natives, the Spaniards, the pioneers traveled by the rock they inscribed their message.











Here are some petrogylphs from the early natives. On top of the rock is a 1400s Zuni
pueblo with a square and a round kiva.







Then came the Spaniards. This message was dated 1649 and tells how they claim all the land and all that belongs on it for Spain.




We hiked up the side of the rock on onto the top revealed a spectacular view. Inside was also a box canyon which was beautiful.