Summer Sweetness

Babies sleeping are always sweet.

Tree-ripened apricots are also very sweet. Our friends the Paffords had a tree loaded with them. They kindly allowed us to pick more than we could handle on a Sunday afternoon and treated us to breakfast burritos for lunch. They've taken work with the Belen Church of Christ, beginning this last Sunday. We pray for their good work there and thank God for the time we've had together. Lord willing there will be more opportunity to meet together as we can arrange it. Sigh. Heaven will be VERY SWEET, indeed.

Pounds of sugar added to sweet apricots is REALLY sweet. UG!

The color of jam is so pretty! Okay, well it may have turned out more like syrup than jam but it's still good.

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Mountain air is especially sweet. This year our family found about three days to go camping. Scott worked/s several weekends this summer, so with the time we headed to the Zuni Mountains in western NM.

We left early enough to join the Thoreau congregation for morning service, were treated to lunch at the home of Mendy (Acre?sp?) and Mark Newman, and then showed a good camping spot by them very near their home. Their daughters were at camp while we were, so the idea to meet with the church there originated there.

We set-up our tent; ate dinner; put the kids down; and then in the dark, up drove the Newmans with water and a shovel. We had realized there was not the water available in the area that the maps showed. They were so sweet and thoughtful. Praise God for family!


Ranne said to Scott after Scott make this awesome cooking fire, "It's the eternal firepit." I guess that meant he liked it and thought it looked sturdy. The description didn't really make me think of a campfire's construction though.

Oh the joy of eating at camp: standing up, we eat; perched on a rock, we eat; we eat while running from bees who like our food....

The spot. It was, actually, in flash flood area (a sign was posted by the entrance). It stormed nightly the biggest storms residents in that area could remember. From what the forest service woman said on the morning we left, it did flood in every area other than ours. Praise God for protection. Sigh. She said the last night we were there, there were 11,600 lightening strikes in the area from our camp to Mt. Taylor. Many hit the cliffs on either side of the canyon by the tent. You could see the shape of the bolt through the tent walls during the storm. I slept with two boys curled up next to me while Scott stood under the Jeep's hatch to stand watch. Very exciting to say the least. Next year we're going to try to miss monsoon season and go in Sept.

The flooded creek.

He did not enjoy this walk. There were lots of interesting bugs, spiders, and even a snake. I really like this picture.

Pretending to be a tiger hiding and ready to pounce

Trey seemed to like the walk.

Break time.

This little collection of rocks was right behind our campsite. They spent most of their time there pretending and lounging.

This may be Scott's favorite part of the outing: collecting firewood.

Mr. Ornery himself. We brought him a little yellow jacket to wear. He was so, uh, into everything and a bit pesty that we began calling him after the bug: Yellow Jacket. What a delight, the age of discovery and investigation.

Naptime. The weather was blessedly cool so naps were actually possible in the tent.

The guys fishing Bluewater Lake. I think Ranne caught a coat wire.

Lastly, I just really like capturing the tired, dirty faces on the way home from our various trips. Here are the post-camp shots. Their faces are coated in chocolate milk we bought at a rest stop on the way back to town.