Shanta Wedding

We were invited to a Catholic Wedding at the Rock church in Mescalero. It was quite the affair. The brides father (who is well to do) spent 16-20 Thousand dollars for this event. It was freezing cold and all the girls were freezing in their strapless gowns. The ceremony took about 1 1/2 hours by the time they marched in. She had 8 brides maids who were all accompanied by an escort in a tux. They had 4 flower girls who had escorts as well and a ring bearer. The ceremony was a little different. The Priest came in his jeans, then appeared in a monk suit, and then changed into his priestly robes. His sermon was about Adam and Eve and how Adam asked the Lord to sent him a soul mate to live with because he was lonely. Then he said the Lord put Adam to sleep and took part of his brains out to make woman. I kept waiting to see if he would say he was joking, but he never did. He never did say "Until death do you part" either. They said many set prayers, in which the audience said the words "Lord help us all"

Then we went to the Apache Community center where they had a big feast and dinner. It was very crowded. Later that evening we went to the Inn of the Mountain Gods for cake and dancing. We didn't stay very long there, but all in all it was a very busy day. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

More Sandhill Cranes

Here are more Sandhill Cranes on the FLY IN

Sandhill Cranes

Then when we thought we had seen it all, we came to another pond and watched the sandhill cranes come in. We couldn't believe it!!!! It was unbelievable. They were so beautiful especially against the setting sun. I have never seen so many birds. There were camera men everywhere taking pictures, so I did the same. I hope you enjoy them. This really worth the trip and it takes place every fall and every spring.

More Snow Geese

More Snow Geese

Snow Geese Fly In

We thought the wildlife preserve was fantastic tbut the best was yet to come. On the way out of the park we saw busses coming in with lots of people. So we stopped to see what they were looking at. They were waiting for the FLY-IN of the Snow Geese in the Park. It seems they FLY OUT at sunrise and FLY IN at sunset. They said it was phenonimal so we decided to wait an hour and see it. It was unbelievable!!!! When we first looked up into the sky we saw thousands of bird in the sky coming in. Then I shot a picture when they got a little closer. Then I shot a picture as they were flying overhead. I have never seen such a sight. They all landed by a pond right next to us. We thought this was the picture of a lifetime and were glad we waited. They are the most beautiful birds you've ever seen and they honk and make all kinds of sounds. They were the SNOW GEESE

More Bosque Apache Bird Refuge

Here are some more pictures from the Bosque Apache Bird Refuge

Bosque Apache Bird Refuge - My Birthday Present

On the way to Albuquerque we stopped by the Bosque Apache Bird Refuge. Wow what a sight!

You all know how much I like to watch bird and this place was full of them. We took a tour around the preserve seeing hawks, eagles, cranes, geese, ducks and all kinds of wild life. It was wonderful.

Here are pictures on Albuquerque

Sorry,

Here are the pictures on Albuquerque

Albuquerque Visit

Hi Kids,

We had to make a trip to Albuquerque to the VA hospital for dad's test. So while we were there we tried to find a meetinghouse, but to no avail. The first one was closed because of frozen pipes and the next one no one was there. A man drove up and told us it was regional conference. So we drove to the Albuquerque Temple to see it. It is a beautiful temple, just like all the others. It looks very southwestern and I wish we could have gone in.

I love to see the temple and someday I hope we will be able to attend this one. Perhaps on our way home from the mission field next year.

Rio Grande River

Of course, dad had to have a picture of the Rio Grande River. It is called the BIG River.

It used to be the main roadway in the olden days. Right now it just looks like a regular river. Here are some pictures of it with snow and ice on it. It was beauitful though. Maybe later on we will see it in a different light.

Valley of Fire

Oh the way to Albuquerque we stopped by the Valley of Fire. Oh well, it wasn't much but I took a few pictures anyway. It is a large deposit of lava rock from a large lava stream that just bubbled out of the ground. There was no volcano. The most interesting thing was the picture of the lizard that is common there. It puffs up when it sees danger and gets larger. It reminded me of the creature on Jurassic park that got bigger when it saw that man in the jungle. I think it would scare me to death. We had lots of signs of danger for rattlesnakes (which I was greatful it was winter time) and a cougar warning. They have placed a cougar warning all over Ruidoso because they have an over abundance of cougars that are coming into town looking for deer because of the weather. They have warned everyone to be very careful if they are close to wooded areas or if they have animals close by.

SNOWBOUND IN RUIDOSO

We are SNOWBOUND!!!! It started snowing on Monday afternoon and kept snowing all night long. We woke up to snow covered driveways and roads all over Ruidoso. The mission president said, "Do not drive in the snow"! So we stayed home all day being thankful for heat, a place to stay, water and food. On Wednesay, the snow was so deep that we couldn't get up our steep driveway so we had to stay home again. However, the heat was off when we woke up. It was so cold I thought my hair was cold. We piled on all the blankets we had to keep as much heat as possible. Then we realized we had no water! Oh my, that was a wake up call. We began to assess the food we had and the water, because we have to buy our water in large 3 gallon jugs because the water here is no drinkable. Four hours later the heat came on. Thank goodness!!!! I cooked some hot muffins for us and the missionaries. They were eternally greatful because they don't keep much at the apartment. But no water. One of the members brought over a large 5 gallon jug to help keep the toilets drained. Yuck! Thursday, we still couldn't get up the driveway and everyone in Ruidoso says they are snowed in unless you have chains. Most of them don't have water either or the pipes are freezing and breaking. We got a call from a member asking for a blessing for her husband who was in the hospital so we shoveled ourselves out and pushed ourselves up the driveway to the highway. Dad gave a blessing to Wade Kinzumah who was happy to see us. Then we called Priscilla, who is a grandmother who just got custody of her two grandchildren because her daughgter was put in jail and was almost out of gas. So we drove her to Tullarosa to get money to pay for her heat. We thanked the Lord for blessing us and keeping us safe. Still no water. The next day we woke to no water but we had to leave for Albuquerque so we filled up all the water bottles for the missionaires and headed out of town. We were looking forward to getting to a motel to get a shower!!! It made me think how vunerable we were and very unprepared. Think HARD about how you would do in a situation like this!!! I am posting some pictures of our snow. Notice the snow that has piled up on the roof and hanging over the edge. We noticed it and thought how dangerous it would be if it fell on us. Of course, the fearless missionaries, knocked it down in a hurry. We left some oranges in our car and when we returned we had our own homemade frozen orange juice. The oranges were so hard they bounced like croquett balls, very hard! We are safe so don't worry, but they are expecting more snow and the wind is so cold it get 30 degrees below zero. Ooooohhhh! Freezing.