Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Of Cactus and Mountains...

It started in the dark and cold of 4:30 in the morning. I hauled my suitcase downstairs, grabbed my phone off of the charger, stuffed it in my purse, tried to make my hair look decent. (I hate the anti-bobbypin policy airport security seems to have. Due to much prayer, my hair-do  didn't turn out nearly as bad as I expected. lol)



Flying was amazing. Once we got above the clouds, it was like a whole different world! The "Delta" cookies weren't too bad, either, in spite of their looks ;) "Expect great things from your beverage cart" I guess... ;)



Note to self: It's never wise to balance a full cup of steaming coffee on one knee while looking for your camera. Especially in front of everybody. Chances are, it'll spill on the rug.

Due to the lack of sleep, I drank so much of this stuff - which, by the way, I can hardly stand because it's so bitter - that I was actually vibrating.



THIS is what was waiting for us outside the airport doors. We were shocked. I guess the brother who picked us up from the airport worked for a funeral home and his boss offered to let us use "the car"! He was pleased to be using it for a happier occasion that usual. lol:)

Jessica n' Me riding in the limo ;)




Met lots of new friends - and some old ones, too! Had a blast with all these people.

On the last night a few of us went out for pizza. I hadn't laughed that hard in forever. It hurt so bad, but I just couldn't stop!



On the second night of the services Dad said a few words and then sang a special. Of course, I played the piano for him. Unbeknowst to me, the guy who was playing for the song service was actually an organist who didn't feel comfortable on the piano. Before I even started to play, he recruited me. I declined, but he exited the stage before I could argue further. I was officially stuck. ;) Due to a whole lot of prayer, the song services went well and I was happy to be useful. lol





Originally, we were supposed to have the meetings in a tent, but the weather got nasty and we ended up (thankfully) being able to have them in the high school. While Dad and the most of the other able-bodied fellers were taking the ripped tent down {in the driving rain,} a few of us (Me and some Crees ;) got tired of waiting and headed off to find some amusement. We went to the Cultural museum and the courthouse, too - where we were greeted a photographed by/for Apache officials. 
Psssst....they mentioned me (the lone straggler from WI) in the 2nd column.




Me an' my Daddy ;)



It rained most of the time we were there, but the last morning was gorgeous!

 
All in all, the services were awesome, the fellowship was terrific, the flight was good and I had a blast. I just hope they do it again next year!! So thankful that I was able to go. :)

4 comments:

Bethany d said...

Looks and sounds like an amazing adventure! Although, my apologies about the bobby pins...honestly, airport security. ;) I can sympathize and empathize with your fear of hair-dos without bobby pins.

timbuck2mom@gmail.com said...

Sounds you had quite a trip. That is hilarious that you were picked up in that Cadilac... a real welcome.

Anonymous said...

I couldn't find your venison vlog to comment. (That was where I first posted). I wanted you to know, I was on a time crunch with butchering deer and was going to have to do one by myself with no help from my family, so I decided to cook all the legs (the majority of the deer) - two legs at a time in my turkey roaster with your technique. I cooked the first two legs overnight at a low temp and the next two during the day. This is probably the most tender venison we have ever had. It seems everything I make with it is just so delicious. I wanted to tell you thank you and also tell you this tip. It saved me having to cut the majority of the meat off the bones. The bones literally were falling apart after it was roasted. Chris W. (from AR)

Anna said...

@ Chris W: AWESOME! So glad that worked out for you! Thanks for telling me about it :)