new moon

The start of the seventh month, Tishri, and the beginning of the fall feasts.

fam

My mother's sister, Merla, (the only living relative from that generation in our family tree) and her husband Bob, made a special overnight stop on their way from visiting their great grandchildren in Tucson back to their home in Colorado. We spend a delightful day together, stuffed ourselves silly with Mexican and then Chinese food, swapped stories from present and past, and swam a few laps in the pool at their motel. Aunt Mer, in her retirement years, has taken up researching the roots of our ancestors. She has a binder full of names and dates, charts and pictures. As quick as she settled in a chair at my home she was off and running with stories and dates and names and photos. And although I've sat and looked through folder with her before, I still enjoy listening to her tell the stories that she has collected.

contrast

photo credit: Jay

sad thursday

Thursday was moving day for our house guests that have shared and blessed our home and lives for the better part of this past year. The tears mingled with sweat as we packed up the moving truck, a pull behind trailer, then the motor home and lastly the three dogs they acquired while staying here.


Lily will miss her "grandpa" whom she like to hang with as he worked in the yard, and her "grandma" who regularly cooked up yummy treats for the dogs. She will also miss the tussles and snuggles with the other dogs.

Shiloh

Jeremiah

Moshe

We settle in the quiet, thanking Abba for the blessing of relationships and a home large enough to share. And anticipate whom he will next bring our way to touch and mold and shape us into pleasing and useful vessles.

proof...

that smelly things aren't so smelly when you smell them (or don't smell them) in Arizona. I found this dead banana hiding in my fruit bowl...discovered it with my eyes, not my nose. Yet another reason to love living in Arizona!

morning glory

"cooler start to the week...

...high of 99 today" said the radio announcer. Considering we have had temps well over 100 for quite a stretch I guess 99 degrees could be considered "cooler".

getting ready-hopi tent meeting

at the cross

hopi food

Although our goal for cooking during the four day tent meeting was to keep it simple so that no one would be stuck in the kitchen, we did plan the first meal with traditional Hopi foods including Fry Bread, Nukuivi and blue marble soup. I tried to get some close up shots of two of the Hopi Women as they worked with the fry bread dough but their hands moved so quickly it was a challenge.

birthday rainbow

Diane celebrated her 50th birthday on the last day of the conference. When I heard it was her birthday I saw a dance with all the colorful scarves Diane had sewn for us to use in worship. All the women participated as we circled and wove, paraded and prayed blessings for Diane on her special day.

red

For Amy; a "please slow down while I take a photo out the window" shot.

tent meeting in session

please stay tuned

walking in the woods

Last weekend on our way up the mountain to Hopi land we stopped and camped overnight in the pine forest. We set up camp in the dark, gazed in amazement at the canopy of stars, slept peacefully with the cool air seeping through the window screens, and enjoyed a delightful walk through the woods in the morning sunshine.