Camping in Oak Creek Canyon, Arizona

Mother's Day Weekend – May 9,10,11 – Matt, Lesli, Solomon, his friend Daniel, Daniel and myself went to Oak Creek Canyon to go camping. Daniel and I got there ahead and found a place at Pine Flat, the first campground you come to going toward Sedona. The others were packed out. We got our campsite up before dark. Matt brought two extra tents that he found while working and gave us one of them that looks like a Hogan.

The next day, Matt and Lesli slept in. I couldn't find the milk so I gave Solomon and Daniel dry cereal, really dry, some snack food and fruit. They went off to check out the creek behind us then we all headed toward Sedona and packed a lunch for later on. We didn't put the sandwiches in the cooler so they got a little warm.



We checked out the stores, the galleries, the arts and craft items, Navajo and other native jewelry. I took tons of pictures of the beautiful red rock cliffs that surround Sedona. We stopped at an ice cream place but the cones were $5 each. I wanted one but just bought the two boys one.

That night we had to buy some wood to have a fire and Daniel had seen a huge piece of wood by the creek and tried to haul it up. He was mad we didn't bring an axe. Our axe handle was broken though so that wouldn't help. After talking with the Campground supervisor, he said he'd try to bring a chain saw and axe next time he went to the storage. He knew there was plenty of wood laying around. Well, Daniel had a crazy idea to just put that log, about a foot wide and 12 feet long into the fire pit that night. He managed to burn a little off the end. Of course that was a no, no.


The next day, Matt made some wonderful egg mixture. First he cooked up some onion and some sausage and then mixed egg and potato flakes together and put in the pan. The potato flakes make it more filling and you get your dose of potatoes at the same time without frying them up.

Afterwards, we sat around and went through the pictures that my sisters and I went through a year earlier also on Mother's Day. We had a wonderful time checking out the relatives and me when I was a young girl. We were interrupted by the Park Ranger who said we were supposed to be out of there at 1pm but it already was 1:30pm. So, we rushed around and got our stuff together. I took some last minute pictures and we headed toward one of the jewelry stops toward Sedona. There also was a Dairy Queen there and we all got some cold refreshments, looked at jewelry and then Matt and
Lesli wanted to buy me something so I found a Hematite rock bracelet.



We said our good-byes and promised we'd all get together again soon. I keep thinking in the back of my mind, why am I still here in Gallup? I have such a great time with my family but then I have to resign to whatever the Lord wants for me. I am glad to serve the Lord here but miss my kids. A lot of this is because of Richard being gone and they seem to supplement my need for the love I gave out. They are such respectful kids, loving and caring and sensitive. They don't mind me talking away about anything and I am comfortable with them all. There has always been the respect and also the admiration. I hear from their friends and their wives how much they love me and want me to come to Phoenix to share in their lives.

So the time I believe is coming where I'll be saying goodbye. I have missed so much and emotionally feel drained at times. I encourage myself in the Lord but still there is the human element that is missing in my life. Everyone is too busy with their own lives to care about me. I won't get the kind of emotional support here nor will I be challenged to grow which is what my husband did. I have to challenge myself everyday to not only read the Word but find materials for my worship team to help them grow.