The Balloon Festival Albuquerque NM

If you have not been to the Balloon Festival in Albuquerque NM, it is a must see at least once in your life. It is coming up in October of this year. We went and visited our son and some friends who live in Albuquerque a few years ago. Our friends are balloonists so we were able to actually help air up a balloon and watch other ballonists air up to take off. It was so fun! The Stein was from Germany and there was a balloon from Singapore. They scared me because their helium fire was kind of near the basket chords that hold the basket to the balloon! They made it up and back down thankfully! Here are some gorgeous highlights of that trip!

At the balloon Festival they have some treats like people sclulpting wood with Chain Saws! They were so talented!

During that trip we took the Tram up to the top of the Sandia Mountains. There is a beautiful ski area up there!

I think Albuerque is one of my favorite places to visit! There is so much to do. You can hike, you can go shopping at Old Town and eat Authentic New Mexican fare, there are folks selling their beautifully made jewelry, there are beautiful sunsets and spectacular views of mountains. There is also the Michael Thomas coffee shoppe where our grand daughter introduced us the Red Sea Blend coffee! Thank you for reminiscing with me! :) I hope you enjoyed it.

Adventures at The Grand Canyon

Mike and I only took short vacations to visit family in Oklahoma on holidays like Memorial day or Labor day. We had one unusual trip to Michigan for Thanksgiving, and it was great seeing more extended family up there. When we married we already had 4 sons, and there was not a lot of extra beyond clothing and groceries to spend. Family was lovely and the perfect place to vacation with the children.


When we had just 2 girls at home, we surprised them with a trek to the Grand Canyon. It was their first REAL getaway and we knew that our time with them was very short. We wanted to give them some great memories.
I hiked the Bright Angel Trail as a teenager and had such fond memories of falling stars at night, sleeping by the Colorado River and the treacherous climb up. Going down was Easy Peasy. Going up? It took me about 12 hours. Now, we knew we were not going to Hike down to the bottom and back up at our ages! So, we started our treck by stopping in Albuquerque NM,

then the Petrified National Forest in Arizona, and our final destination, The Grand Canyon.

I told the girls to close their eyes until we were right at a place driving to the South Rim and the Bright Angel Lodge so they could take in the whole scene at the same time. There were Oooh's and Ahhh's and much excitement!

We had such a lovely time that Mike and I went 2 years later for our 35th Anniversary. :) When the girls went with us we stayed in Williams AZ which was really fun. We stayed at the Rail Road Car Motel right near Bearazona, which is a Bear drive thru and zoo.
This time we won the Lottery getting a slot at the Bright Angel Cabins! We had such a wonderful time together! Here are some highlights:

What an amazing trip we had! This was our cabin.

The Cabins do not have AC so it was a little warm during the day, but we were out hiking anyway. At night we decided to go and lay on the ground outside by the mouth of the trail to see the stars. As a Kid, I had no worries and just enjoyed the sight. As an adult, after about 15 min we looked at each other and said, we are in a desert, National Park, and there could be snakes! So we went back inside... Ha. We had the best time, and I was so happy to share my great memories of the Canyon as a kid, with the girls and with Mike. It was a dream come true!

Featured Book: 1

I'd like to start a series of posts on favorite books and why they are favorites. There are so many books to read and yet not all of them are worthy reads. I would like to offer some of the books I have found very useful for personal study or in counseling ministry.

The title for today is "Dark Clouds Deep Mercy".

This book has been so helpful to me personally as well as to many friends. It is a book about Lament and how to use the Psalms. It comes with a journal that really is a stand alone journal you can use without reading the book, as much of the book is in the journal. The author of the book is Mark Vroegop.
The book guides you through a series of Personal Laments, Corporate Laments, Laments of Repentance and Justice Seeking Lament. Each section contains specific chapters for the book of Psalms. In it, we learn to 1: TURN: Talk to God even in the messy lives we lead. 2: COMPLAIN: tell Him all about the problem. 3: Ask Ask Him for deliverance, and then 4: TRUST Have confidence in GOD's trustworthiness in all circumstances.
The Author says that trusting in the Lord is the destination of all Lament.

NEXT: there is a section to personalize it and write your own lament. We read, explore, pray and reflect on each scripture passage. It is a great exercise in personal prayer and seeking the Lord. The more you familiarize yourself with the method, you find it easier to pray and wind up with praise and trust.
I hope you grab a copy, especially the journal, and try it out. I'm going through it for the 3rd time.

A Ceiling Fan Funny

There is this great trick to cleaning ceiling fans that I learned several years ago so I wouldn't get dust everywhere using a regular duster. You take a pillow case, cover the blade, and hold it tightly as you slide it off. All the dust is caught inside the pillow case and you simply shake it out outside and wash it and you are done!

Well, today was ceiling fan cleaning day. I picked a pillowcase I hadn't used before. I had just finished replacing the sheets and quilt on the bed and began the job. To my surprise, I was getting dust on the bed! I made sure to grab it tighter so no dust would escape and then went on to the other room. In the second room the same thing happened! So I decided to shake the dust down so it wasn't near the top and then it wouldn't escape. When I shook it, there was dust on the floor.
I looked into the pillow case and to my fun surprise, it was open on both ends! HA
So my lesson for today was to make sure I get RID of that one, and use one that is normal, as in closed on one end!

Old Video Resurfaced

Erika made this slide show for Sarah. I just love it. It brings back so many wonderful memories!

Donato and Erika's Wedding!

My blog had shut down just after Sarah's wedding. Erika and Donato got married 6 months later! sooo 4 years later.....

She had a beautiful wedding with many special guests. Her wedding was a definite tip to Ukraine as it was surrounded by Sunflowers. Big Sunflowers! Donato's aunt decorated the reception hall with sunflowers cascading down the stair bannister and everything was just beautiful!

Every wedding has something funny happen. This time, was no different. I noticed during the early morning before the wedding we had run out of coffee cups. Then I noticed there were no cups, napkins silverware or plates for cake. The caterer's brought larger plates for the food. So as she was getting ready I went in and asked, "Did you plan for drink cups and cake plates, napkins etc? I got this hilarious stare. "Don't worry! I've got it!" Of course Uncle Bob was on his way down from Oklahoma and about 1/2 an hour away. And my sweet friend Lori was on her way. They stopped at every walmart between where they were at the time and the wedding location and bought all the cups and plates and napkins and silverware possible.

SAVED just in time! All was well, I let the bride know it was all taken care of and nobody knew, except you who are now reading this and a few sweet volunteers. :)

You can follow Erika and Donato's adventures in Europe on a 4 month honeymoon by clicking the hightlight.