A Dead-End Adventure

These photos are from back in September. Sometimes it takes me a little while to get organized! But I didn't want to forget them, and when you get to the last photos, hopefully you'll feel a little warmer (especially if you're dealing with below-freezing temperatures and blowing snow like we are now).

So the story starts with a rumor I had heard about petrified wood at a little-known destination out in the desert. I found someone to substantiate the rumor. Only problem was that I didn't know exactly where it was. I had a general idea, so I looked at the maps and tried to figure out the best way there. Well, there was a shorter way and there was a longer there. And the longer way would take us up a canyon I had wanted to visit, so I figured, why not, let's take the longer way and kill two birds with one stone. (Not that I'm into killing birds. Unless they are European starlings. I have been very tempted to get a BB-gun so I can shoot them. For the record, so far I have resisted.)

The scenery was beautiful, so I figured that even if the road on the map wasn't truly a real road anymore, we would still have a good time. We had snacks packed, so it would be a good trip as far as the kids were concerned.

We cruised up the very good gravel road, then turned off on a good gravel road, then onto the okay gravel road, then onto the rather poor gravel road that continued to deteriorate. Things weren't looking too hopeful. Still, we persevered, enjoying the beautiful rock formations.

Finally we got to a point where the road seemed a little too narrow for our wide truck. Plus it was slightly washed out.

We didn't want to stop, so we got out and proceeded on foot.

As you can see by Desert Boy's short sleeves, it was a nice day. And with his irrigating boots, he was ready for the next gully washer. I'd like to say he's prepared like that, but more likely he chose the boots because he couldn't find any of his other shoes.

He was thrilled when he found a horseshoe. That was a real treasure.

It was apparent no one had been on the road for awhile. The pinyon and juniper trees have encroached upon the human disturbance. My main focus was on the spectacular rocks that jutted from the trees towards the clouds.

Wouldn't this one be a fun one to climb?

Photo op! (Once again I can't get both kids to look at the camera at the same time!)

We decided it was time to retreat. I'd love to go back and hike more of the old road. I think the trip helped my husband decide to buy the very-used Jeep that is now his hobby. He'd love to go back and drive more of the old road. Perhaps the Jeep will be tough enough.

On the way back, we were treated to some very nice afternoon light. I love how the shadows make all the gullies seem deeper and more mysterious.

On the drive home, Desert Girl started crying and was inconsolable until we stopped.

She had had enough with all the bumpy driving and just wanted to play a little. The gravel on the side of the road was perfect for her bare little feet.

Then she was ready to pose with her chocolate-stained cheeks (and dress) in the terrific light.

Oh yes, we want to see her round belly!

How's that for a mischievous grin? Desert Girl's personality is getting stronger and stronger, and she has a very stubborn streak and a good sense of humor.

Oh yeah!

Okay, almost done.

Have to finish with both kids actually looking at the camera!

Seeing the bare feet and exposed skin makes me wish for some warmer days! 

To think we just went sledding yesterday. Yikes! Ah well, we have to appreciate each season, and before we know it we'll be back to the heat.

Grandparent Fun

 We were lucky to have a set of grandparents stay with us over Thanksgiving weekend. The kids soaked up the extra attention and a good time was had by all. I didn't manage to get many photos except for a walk to the playground. Desert Boy was learning how to walk the dog and thought he was pretty big stuff when he had the leash!

 Desert Girl is walking more, and it was extra fun walking with Grandpa.

 Such great smiles at the swingset!

 It was a chilly day, as you can see by the coats, but it wasn't windy, so it was quite comfortable to be outside.

 Desert Boy was eager to be photographer (one of his many career ambitions), so we let him take a photo. He did pretty well. I like to give him the camera from time to time because his perspective is a bit different (shorter) than mine.

 Then it was time to get the grandparents and grandchildren together. The lack of both my kids looking towards the camera with smiles at the same time is a common theme. Our Christmas photo documents that. Oh well!

 We had lots of fun climbing all over the playground.

 Then it was time to go home and Desert Girl was motivated to walk when she got to hold the leash.

Desert Boy had to show off a little and climb a tree--or at least the bottom of the tree!

It was a fun, relaxing weekend with great company and great food. I'm definitely liking laid-back holidays.

Month of Literary Abandon

Today is the last day of NaNoWriMo. I am happy to report that I've written more than the requisite 50,000 words! My novel is in no way publishable in its current form (some characters had name changes and character traits shift due to memory lapses and the plot has some major holes). But it sure feels great to have another story, no matter how draft, down on paper.

What's next? I'll most likely try to edit and revise to have it ready to go for the Pacific Northwest Writer's Association literary contest in February. You have to pay to enter but get two good critiques on the beginning of your story. And maybe I'll try the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. That one's free, but you don't get as much feedback. Nevertheless, I've found it's always good to have a next step or you end up with manuscripts lying around. Yes, that is spoken from experience. And yes, someday I will get back to past writing projects and see what I can do with them!

And of course, in the meantime, I'll keep blogging so I can make sure I'm writing (almost) every day!

Good luck to you in whatever your goals are!

Happy Advent! and Our New Nativity Advent Calendar

Today is the first day of Advent, which includes the four Sundays before Christmas. It's a time of preparation for remembering Christ's birthday. I've always associated it as a rather festive period, but after a little Internet reading I see that in past centuries it wasn't all that way.

We have an Advent wreath with four candles on the dining room table. The first week we light one candle each night, the second week, two, and so on. Desert Boy loves that we get to play with candles and fire.

We also brought out some Christmas decorations yesterday at Desert Boy's request, and the house is looking a little bit brighter, with our one-foot Christmas tree up, fake Poinsettias, and other assorted decorations. We'll keep bringing them out over the next weeks so we have new things to look at. One other thing we got out were Advent calendars, where we open one door a day to see a Bible verse and a secret picture.

I just haven't been happy with those little cardboard Advent calendars, so I was trying to figure out something more interactive. I saw that they had cool felt and magnetic Advent calendars online, but they were a little pricey. I found a neat design for making your own felt Advent calendar, but that looked like a little too much work (and I'm not particularly crafty). Finally, I came up with a rather easy idea for our own nativity Advent calendar.

The first step was to go through old Christmas cards. (Yes, I've saved them since we've been married. Do other people save their Christmas cards? I know some must. I just don't want to think of myself as a hoarder.) I found the ones that had Nativity scenes or things that could be put into a Nativity scene (like birds and dogs and cats). Desert Boy had the job of cutting them up.

We also had to clean off part of the refrigerator. It was nice to have a white slate.

I decided that I would put up a little stable on the refrigerator and then have pouches below with numbers and each day we would add something to the scene.

All I had was white posterboard, but we did find a variety of construction paper so we could make it colorful. Desert Girl was most helpful (okay, not really.) She wanted to be a part of it all.

Here's probably the most technical part of the project. I got a ruler and marked out squares 2.5 x 3 inches. Why that size? It just looked right. Fortunately that turned out to be a size that would fit well on the posterboard. Then I gathered up a big stack of construction paper and cut it out.

I drew a number in pencil on each piece of paper and Desert Boy traced it in permanent marker. It was good number practice.

Then it was time to attach the number pouches to the posterboard. The kids weren't really much help for this part. There is definitely a limit to one- and four-year olds can do. I also found out that even if the cap of a gluestick has been left off, if you cut the gluestick in half, there is some sticky part left. I stapled the numbers at the edges of the posterboard for a little extra reinforcement.

Then it was time to tape the posterboard to the refrigerator. (I still need to buy some magnetic tape. It's just that I didn't feel like driving 100+ miles round trip to the nearest store that might or might not have it.)

Desert Girl helped put the different cutouts in the pockets. She made some of the animal noises as she did so. We will have a lot of animals in our stable this year!

And here's the finished product! It will be fun to see how it goes.

And if we can keep Desert Girl, aka Emzilla, from destroying it.

Happy Advent! Do you have any Advent traditions?

Indoor Riding

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving! We enjoyed a delightful day with family and friends. I even managed a 5k Turkey Trot that made me feel really good and guilt-free throughout the rest of the food-rich day.

I didn't manage to get any photos of Thanksgiving as in the recent cleaning frenzy I misplaced both my cameras. I have since happily relocated them and downloaded photos from them. This set brought a smile to my face, hope it brightens your day, too!

We brought the riding horse into the living room, and the kids had so much fun bouncing on it one night. I'm not sure what caused their halos in the photo above, but I loved their expressions so much I decided to use the photo anyway.

This one's a winner. You can see how many teeth Desert Girl has now. In July she only had four, but they started popping out quickly after that. This was definitely a wild hair day for both of them. Desert Girl was wearing a shirt with a cowgirl and horse, so I think she was ready for a ride.

Part of the fun was that the horse kept bucking them off. Riding double made it happen even more frequently.

Oops! Off again.

I like Desert Boy's hair!

We might be getting a little out of control.

Off again! It's nice that on the cold days and evenings they can burn a little energy this way!