Cookies Galore!!!!!!!!

My goodness.........keeping up with all the baptisms and dinners etc..............I am really getting good practice at cooking.............usually make 2 batches of cookies for each baptism and at least two dishes for the potlucks..................yummy!!!!!!!!!!!

Amazing Day!!

Great day at church...............we had to open the 2nd set of doors at the back!! Also their was a baptism at 1:00 for Kay, Stephanhie & Kirsten Tabaha........................the Tabaha family lives in Hunters Point (close to St Michaels)..............and is a HUGE family complex............today when they came to Primary and Young Women - they doubled the size of those organizations........we were all SO excited!! What wonderful people. Many of the women have been members, but not active in the church and were so thrilled to be back.......The girls were 14, 9 and 11...........darling girls. As I helped them dress in white, we all got the giggles...........and yet after the baptism they all wanted to talk and thanked everyone for coming - especially the Elders for teaching and baptizing them..........wonderful day! There must have been about 40+ family members there to witness the baptism...............

Our Elders......

Elder Mears (from Spokane) Elder Wilson (from Yakima) and President Romero Brown who serves in the stake presidency here. Great men!

Senior Couples..............

These couples serve all over the reservation...............from Utah, Idaho, Washington, Arizona......retired BYU professor, RN's........from every walk of life. We enjoy them all and have developed some wonderful friendships with them.......This was a neat afternoon - good food and the lake was beautiful - weather was overcast and cool - great day! We left about 4:00 to get home for the ward potluck dinner party...............the speaker was Brother Flake who gave the history of the ward here from the very beginning on and had some of the other bishops, etc who had served here as guests to the dinner.

On the Way to Bowl Canyon..............

Senior missionary couples outing today up at Bowl Canyon at Lake Asaayi.......this was on the drive up - the purple flowers covered much of the landscape and were pretty awesome!

Different Baptism

Friday afternoon about 4:00 our water shut off completely.............for all of St Michaels........the Price family had scheduled a baptism for their son Jaden at 10:00 on Saturday.............They had a lot of family members flying in from Seattle and some driving from Utah. They were getting pretty nervous about it all............so Elder Hafen got on the ball and called President Brown who owns Navajo Lands Inn (motel) and asked to use the indoor pool at the motel....so President Brown blocked off the pool from 10-11 for the baptism on Saturday. Started the meeting at the church - drove up to the motel - back to the church for the closing part of the program. Jaden will certainly remember his baptismal day!! The grandmother gave a beautiful talk....

July Career Workshop

Career Workshop was delightful - we only had three participants, but we had a ball all day. Darlene, Leanna and Joakin (pronounced Walkeen). Joakin is a Catholic....everyone had such fun with one another and everything that we taught them. It was a wonderful day. They were so appreciative and progressed so much throughout the training of the day. I guess the difference we can make here is "one by one"....................

Talker Family Baptism

Baptism on Sunday July 18th for two children of Frank Talker. He is well known here and left the church when George P. Lee did, so it was quite a miracle go have him let the Elders teach his children and then give his approval for their baptism. Joseph is 14 years old and Nicole is 17...There were 50 people at the baptism and it was wonderful! There are more family members taking discussions now and should be baptized soon.

Brown Family Wedding Reception

The Wedding Reception for Darrell Brown and his bride (a red headed Irish girl). It was held in the cultural hall with a big catered dinner and a fun program. The groom's parents gave Pendleton Blankets (which everyone here loves) to the bride's parents in a fun little ceremony. The bride and groom cut the cake and then served it to everyone - I loved that!

Adventure Day Again........

We took Shannon out on a Saturday before she left to go back to school to see some of our favorite places - up by Navajo NM. You'll see the "Bless your Heart Tree"...and of course the prairie dog that wanted to say "hi" to everyone! (They are everywhere here!)

Another Friend...............

Our dear friend Shannon, who we met at the Fort Defiance Indian Hospital while she was doing her rotations there as a Physicians Assistant student in medical school here in Arizona. We have loved having her here in the ward and in our home.......we just adopted her and she has loved us back..........

Four Legged Disaster Strikes

After bragging about the garden...........last night we had a cow somehow make it through the church yard (cattle guard) and down into the garden...................he enjoyed half a row of corn and smashed about 4 or 5 onions!!!!! Phooey!!!

S'mores............

Most of the Navajo People had NEVER tasted a s'more - can you believe that.......it was pretty fun watching their reaction............(fire pit is in the Elder's front yard).....

July 5th Cookout..............

We had about 20 people to a cookout - it was fun. We made a LOT of food................people here enjoy eating.............variety of people - the young Elders, Daniel Laughing, 3 new convert families, some young adults from the ward, a young woman interning as a PA at the hospital in Fort Defiance........fun group........

July 5th - Johanna's Property

Spent the morning in the mountains with Johanna Henderson to see the rest of her property up by Kinlichee...............what an incredible day - beautiful, beautiful!

Family Home Evening with Holyans........

Sunday evening we had a delightful evening with the Holyan family - Ray, Paula, Corey, Rayel, Bray and Grandma, Aunt Paulette and Aunt Anne. Beautiful drive up Blue Canyon and fun time together........

Life on the Rez............

Just a few shots of the Rez..............beautiful skies - the dog who spent a few days with us - the progress of our little garden and some horses riding by during a ceremonial ride.............