Good Bye to Elder Murdock and Elder Milne

Well, our area was white washed again!!! We were absolutely shocked. We had Elder Murock for about five months and it was hard to see him go. Elder Milne was only with for two months. We always love these missionaries and consider them our adopted sons. The Lord really knows what he is doing when he calls his sons to serve missions. They are so devoted to the Lord.

Flyling J Ranch

They have a family oriented ranch out here that reminds of Pioneer Village in Lagoon. They serve supper for about 500 people each night and put on very good entertainment. They had a shoot out that was very clean and entertaining for the kids. And of course great singing. The president said "Take your wife out for a DATE NIGHT. So we did.

The Spencers are Coming Thank you

Thank you for coming to visit us John, Julie and Kids. It was a great time and we really enjoyed seeing you. However, now that you have left, we are really homesick. But we have memories we will always remember. We love you.

Wild Animals at Mescalero

Well, of course, we had to visit "Coconut" our pet Elk. When we got there Talverick, the owner came out to help us get her to come over. She was very friendly and has grown a lot. The kids enjoyed playing with her. Then we went into town and a Apache brought over a HUGE tarranchula in a bottle. It is the biggest I have ever seen. The kids wanted to hold the bottle, but they were so nervous I thought they would drop it. But when Jacob acted like he was throwing it over Julie, that was the best. I thought she was going to faint.

We actually spent two nights waticng for our bear "The Shadow" to come and visit us, but I think it is getting too cold and he only comes once in a while. You can't say we didn't try though. Even though the Spencers are gone, he still visits the dumpsters. Good Try KIDS!

Pictures at Mescalero

Here are a few pictures we took at Mescalero. It was fun showing the Spencers around Mescalero and letting them feel of the Apache spirit here.

Cowboy Symposium

Lincoln County and Ruidoso Downs held a Cowboy Symposium while John and Julie were here. They had Music, enertainment and a children's Rodeo where the kids got to participate. So Jared, Joe and James entered in all the events. There was barrell racing, goat chasing, rope throwing, water holeing, and saddle riding. Jared was the most successful and came in third int he barrell racing. We ate stuffed scones, curly potatoes, and funnel cake. It was a great time.

Lincoln County Billy the Kid

We drove by Lincoln County where the famous Billy the Kid lived, spent time in jail and was finally captured and killed. Julie absolutely fell in love with the little town and all the historical buildings there. It had quite a charm all of its own. You could easy be reminded of the old west here on those streets.

Aliens

On our way home from Carlsbad, we stopped of at Roswell, which is the capital of sightings of Aliens. I really can't believe they really believe in this stuff, but some people actually think it is real. After viewing and reading several displays, we watched some aliens land in a space ship and stand before us, with smoke flowing. I kind of laughed until Jared said, "Grandma, the aliens are breathing and moving". So I had to go back to see! Sure enough, you could see the aliens hearts beating and they were moving their heads back and forth looking at us. Wow! What do you think?

BATS!

At Carlsbad, we were able to go the fly out of the Bats in the Caves. We arrived at 6:30 and a ranger told us all about the bats and their habitat and thier importance in the society. Are you aware that bats are necessary to keep the insect population in control. We sat in a large area to wait for the bats to come out. When they first started coming out they were detected by radar and we waited for the big event. It was interesting because they came out in large groups, called families and would fly over the cave, our heads, and then off to get their food. It wasn't scarry at all. But is certainly was interesting! They are thousands of bats that come out each night.

What a Great Week with the Spencers

What a great week we had with John, Julie and kids! We called the president and he said take time and be with your family while they are here. So they kidnapped us and took us to Carlsbad Caverns. This cave is HUGE! We spent hours winding up and down the caves seeing sites human eyes have never seen. About a quarter of the way through a woman said, "how much further is this anyway" Little did I know we were only a quarter of the way through. By the time we finished I had huge blisters on my feet, but it was worth it. Jared, Joseph and James signed up to be Jr Rangers and they kept us on track all the way. The formations were unbelievable and very beautiful. We kept looking for bats but they told us they were in another part of the caves. The history of how a young 17 year old boy found this cave and wandered around with a lantern to explore it is amazing. When we saw the original ladder that they used to get to the bottom of the cave, I said "NO WAY".