La Plata Mountains

So beautiful! and what a lovely way to spend Sabbath afternoon. With friends, all terrain vehicles, the mountains, and some old mining towns. I may have gona a little overboard with the pictures, but this is only a sample of them. I'm a bit sad though, apparently I bumped one of the buttons on Tim's camera that I was using and so the last pictures, of when we drove up, up , and up the mountain the resolution is low. so I can't print big pictures from them that I was planning too. :( oh well, live and learn :) Next time I might get even better pictures. :)

The day started out dreary in the Mountains, it was in the 90's plus down in Farmington, and from a distance the mountains looked very dark and rainy. We still went up, and what a blessing it was. Here you go . . . a pictoral coverage of our Sabbath afternoon walk & jeeping trip. I know . . . you're all just a wee bit jealous you couldn't have been here with us. hehe.

We first took this road we had been up with one of the churches last fall . . .
but we ended up taking that road you see, and what a treat and experiance it turned out to be.
Aspens, Evergreens, Hills, Mountains . . . where else but Colorado. This is only about an hour plus away from me. :D
Maybe this was someone's dream home. Or a place for them to make it rich with the little caved in cave/mine next to it. What stories these old places have to tell.
Climbing up the burned out remains of an old large mine. Guess it used to be 3 stories tall or so.
Looking down from the top of the burned down mine.
Pausing for a few minutes to take in the beauty, and a breather. Jenni on the sometimes seen path.
Crossing rivers and streams and getting misted from pretty little falls.

Columbine . . . not sure about the other pretty wild flowers. Anybody?

The men deep in the cave. LOL! it was probably about 20 yards in. Yes, the burly creature is my brother. Kinda shocking isn't it. hehe, what kind of pictures you will get when it's pitch black and the flash goes off.
Trailing behind . . .
our fearless leader.

Enjoying being out of the truck for awhile and watching the river run by.
Driving up and looking back from where we came.
and what is in front of us.

Puppies like sight-seeing too.

there were probably at least four buildings that are underneath all the rubble.

Barn? House? hmm, wonder what this was?

What an amazing backdrop for the people who lived and worked here a hundred years or so ago.

Jay actually crawled up into that delapitated building and I got some pics of him waving from the top floor. Crazy!!!

The babies wanting to come down to where all the youngin's were exploring, but being good girls for J & B who are such dears and sooo much fun to go hiking, jeeping, and everything with. Bad pic of Jennie though.

Playing with Tim's camera settings . . . what destruction on an old mining camp rockslides and avalanches have.

And the spectacular and beautiful views never end. Just get more and more awe inspiring.Waiting for mom to get a move on wears a puppy out. Gemma decided to lay down while she waited for me to finish taking pictures so we could walk down the road.

From a distance . . .

Tim, Jay and Angelina "looking for gold" or silver or iron or coal . . . just looking for some cool rocks in the rockslide that took out part of the mining stucture.
From the road, just before the other mining buildings/town, we saw this old mine and several cabins. So we went exploring here too
This picture does NO justice to the amazing and magnificent view of the side of the mountain. That's looking up, up and UP!

More cabins and mine sites. Jenni checking it out. There were three bunk beds and a firebox in there. the stove is outside now rusting out, you can see it in the bottom right corner.
"The crooked little man and his crooked little house" Think there might have been a land slide?
Aspen with Attitude. hehe . . . it's fascinating to see how the Aspen grow towards the light.

The River? Creek? whatever it is, it's runny fast . . . though right there it doesn't look like it.

A bridge we crossed . . . doesn't look like much, but it holds.


It was getting dreary on the way out, and the sun was going down. It's about 8:00pm when I took this picture

A Chimney out along the side of the road . . . I think at least two houses used that chimney. It's practically on the side of a cliff. The river is right below a few hundred feet.

WOOOHOOOO!!!

I just got exciting news. A friend accepted the open teaching possition at the school where I work! I'm really excited for many reasons. One, he's a wonderful christian teacher who cares about the kids he works with. Two, he is someone who is a team worker, and understands what you do to make a Christian School mission go. Three, another young adult down here in the Four Corners!!! (hmm, I wonder how many more we can get :-) hehe) Four, working with someone I know, and have worked with before is such a stress relief. Five, the principal is more relaxed knowing all postitions are filled, and that she trusts them. Six, team teaching is going to be sooo much more of a team teaching then last year! Seven, his parents, who are also dear friends, will visit everynow and then and that just makes my day!!! :D and there are more, but hey! Seven! a perfect number!

I'm sooo thankful. I've been praying about this a lot the last couple weeks, as have everyone else involved, and I just feel so much at ease. I hope he does. :) God's got awesome plans for this next year, and it is like another miracle and blessing to say, "Hey, you're doing what I ask, and I'm providing the rest". :)

Ok, just thought I'd share my joy!

Goin' Huntin'

yup, today I go hunting. For clay pigeons, broken down printers, beat-up refridgerators and whatever else is out at the shooting area we are going today. Yup, going out to shoot some differant rifles and shotguns and whatever else again today. In this little area where people have donated all sorts of stuff to be target practice. Tim's adding some old broken printers that the school was going to dump. Anyhow . . . it'll be interesting.

Restful Sabbath

It is a peaceful Sabbath. No responsibilities this Sabbath, so we've all taking the day to really rest. Even I did. Slept late today, then




Gemma is still recovering from her surgury . . . doesn't the tube thing look funny? My dad is calling her Frankie . . . as in Frankenstien. Both Girls don't seem to know they are suppose to take it easy for a few days after thier hystorectomies . . . but today, they've sure been sleepy like the rest of us. :) What a relief, since trying to keep thier play limited, as the Vet directed, is rather like telling a frog not to croak.







Gemma likes to put her paw on my face when I put my "paw" on hers. Or on my arm when my arm is on hers. She seems to think she's either human, or I'm a puppy.







She seems to follow me around everywhere I go. Brindi isn't to far behind.




Brindi is a hard one to get on camera, but we got a couple. She became very curious about the smell of my foundation and eyeshadow.




Then saw the flash, and took off and looked miffed. It's not as if she's unphotogenic. hehe