My Birthday and Prayers

My birthday was last Sunday and I had an entire weekend of celebrations! I share a birthday with Nick's sister Taresa, and his other sister Natalie and niece Jessie also have birthdays in May so we had a big party for all of us on Friday. On Sunday, my family took me bowling and we visited family graves. It was a great weekend, with the only downfall being the nasty cold I am still fighting that arrived at the end of the semester. Enjoy the cute pics of my family! Also notice the adorable new addition to the family, Halle the bulldog baby. Nick's sister Natalie got her as a birthday present and she and Chavez are new best friends.

Also, my mother-in-law Tami is in the hospital fighting a bad lung infection. She is doing better and we hope she'll be released sometime tomorrow, but to anyone who reads this say a quick prayer for her recovery!

My Trip to the Desert

Well I am back from my trip and it was AMAZING! I was planning on a big post with lots of pictures, but I've found that it's very hard to put my experience into words. I have posted a few pictures, but most of the stories are being kept for me. If anyone has ever visited a place with a culture that is so drastically different from our own, you will understand my difficulty in explaining.
A few things we did on the trip:
-Given the honor of visiting a petroglyph site and attending a Kachina dance ceremony on the Hopi Reservation.
-Lessons on basket weaving and pottery making from a beautiful Hopi woman in her home.
-Home made fry bread!!! I can never eat it at the fair again...
-Spent a day at the Hopi Day School and worked with the kids there- I want to move there the people are so gracious and the kids are incredible.
-Hiked Canyon De Shelly on the Navajo Reservation and saw the White House Ruins that date back to 1100 AD.
-River trip down the San Juan with a Navajo guide who showed us more ruins and explained the geological features that have formed over millions of years.

It was a long 9 days, especially with 8 other girls... but it was such a great experience. If anyone has the chance to visit, I would definitely recommend taking the opportunity.

Celebrations!

This is a post of celebrations. First, yesterday was baby Chavez's birthday! He is two years old. We aren't sure when he was really born, just that it is around this time, so decided to give our Mexican a Cinco de Mayo birthday.

Second, today is my sister-in-law Natalie's birthday. Happy Birthday Nat! I heard that she got to do a lot of everyday mom stuff instead of something exciting, but I hope she had a good day anyway.

Last, congrats to me! I got a 4.0 this semester, and even though it is tacky to toot my own horn, I am really excited that I managed to pull off those A's. Also, I am leaving on Saturday on a school trip to the Navajo/Hopi Reservations for 9 days. A couple of my good friends from school are going as well, it's going to be awesome. Hopefully I will get some good pictures, and remember to post them.