27 Monday Jul 2015
Posted in history, Traveling, Uncategorized
Mesa Verde, a stop along the way.
Highway 160 Road Trip
Exiting I-25 at Walsenburg, Colorado, onto Highway 160 leads to a long westward drive to a wealth of beauty and interest. This most certainly includes Mesa Verde, just east of Cortez, Colorado. In early June 2015 I planned a road trip to the Grand Canyon with my daughters and our exchange student Lea. Mesa Verde and 4 Corners Monument were “stops” along the way.
Mesa Verde. Is so much more than a stop along the way!
25 Saturday Jul 2015
Posted in Truth, Uncategorized
As the days continue darken in this country, of the free and brave, hold fast dear ones, to your confidence and hope in Christ. Let’s not fuss nor pick at one another, but instead encourage and strengthen one another. That is what protects from unbelief and the trickery of sin.
That is what will let the light shine in the darkest of days.
22 Wednesday Jul 2015
Posted in Traveling, Uncategorized
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My Beloved, Builder as he is sometimes known, built a doll house for our youngest a few years ago. She loves it and has filled so many productive quiet hours designing and decorating the house. Then after awhile, she saved up the money to purchase another kit. This one SHE built and now simply asks Daddy Builder for help from time to time.
When our oldest daughter, Nikki, heard about her youngest sister’s passion she sent us info on “must sees” in her old neighborhood …Denver. Top of the list…The Denver Museum of Miniatures, Dolls and Toys. As we continue our Colorado Staycation activities, I felt we had to make sure to visit this museum while all of my older kids were out of town in June.
Doll houses, miniatures and toys from past generations and loads of information on Native American, European and Asian cultures fill this charming old house just blocks from Denver’s City Park. Previously known as Pearce-McAllister Cottage, 1880 Gaylord Street, this house is now the home of the Denver Museum of Miniatures, Dolls and Toys. There was just one gentleman staffing the museum when we visited, and he was quite kindly and helpful. Back in the kitchen area, the Oak and Berries Tea Room is where the lovely Roxanne Rose serves tea to visitors. You must call ahead for a reservation as the Oak and Berries Tea Room is a very popular spot! For reservations call Roxanne at 720-351-5123. We hadn’t called ahead as we were taking a rather relaxed approach to the day, and I didn’t know exactly when we would be at the Museum. Well, the tea room was hoppin’ busy and it wasn’t until we were about finished with our visit through the museum that Roxanne approached us. She is a lovely woman and we are looking forward, when time allows, to head back to Denver for another visit to the Museum and for tea!
Looking upstreet at the Somewhere Gazette
From when this house was a home
When this house was a home, can you see the details? Love this house!
Stairs to the 2nd floor
my favorite display!
Love Love Love the display in the picture above! Reminds me of my grandmother’s dining room (where her similar sewing machine was) and the fabric store!
Now this doll house, below. It is made from an 1890 Gun Case. It is filled with hand carved furniture and hand thrown pots. The rugs are Navajo and Granada. This exhibit is on loan to the museum, so isn’t supposed to be there permanently.
Gun cabinet doll house
If you find yourself in the area and have a morning or afternoon to visit, this museum is full of delightful displays and is an enjoyable way to pass a couple of hours.
A couple of throwback memories!
17 Friday Jul 2015
Posted in Education, history, Traveling, Uncategorized
This summer has been completely wonderful so far. While we’ve experience and witnessed some very hard things, I’ve seen a lot of growth and understanding among my daughters, my husband and myself. We’ve traveled a bit, some of us more than others and I’ve finally been able to mark off a small dream…. my youngest 3 daughters, our exchange student and I visited the Grand Canyon! But this post is about a place we found on the way to the Grand Canyon.
Welcome to Arizona and the Navajo Tribal Lands
On the way to the Grand Canyon we stopped in a small Arizona town called Kayenta. A few miles north of the town, a billboard caught my attention and we decided to stop at the Burger King. The Burger King? Yes!
Inside the Burger King in Kayenta, Arizona is a tribute to the Navajo Code Talkers of World War 2. Just this past year my daughters had learned about the code talkers in history, and I am thrilled to have found this small museum display. There are glass case and framed art & information all about the part that the Navajo Code Talker played in the second World War. Many of these men were from this area and the community holds a wealth of information about their opportunity to serve in the US Military, despite the way they have been wronged by our country’s government in the past.
While there are glass cases inside the Burger King, just outside, on the other side of the parking lot there was another museum building full of WW2 artifacts, a video and many Navajo historic displays.
I was able to find this book at our local library. It is a very gentle introduction to the contribution of the Navajo people in World War 2
Outside that small museum there were also 2 model hogans
We spent about an hour and a half at this place and I want to recommend to you, if you are passing through north eastern Arizona on Highway 160, stop in at the Burger King for some lunch and a little history.
So tell me, have you ever driven through Kayenta? Visited the Navajo Code Talkers Museum?
15 Wednesday Jul 2015
Posted in One Life, Uncategorized
Do you love cute earrings? Oh my. I do enjoy a pair of pretty or fun earrings! But rarely will I spend the money on anything but simple silver hoops. That is, until I discovered the Fair Trade Friday Earring Club.
In mid-June I was given my first pair of FTF Earrings, I mentioned them here on the blog. These earrings have quickly become my favorite. They are unique, lightweight and have meaning.
A woman named Bipana made these earrings as a means of support for herself and her family. She is the mother of 2 precious children and a refugee from Bhutan who now lives in Texas. As a part of the refugee project, Bipana and several other women create handmade items and sell them to provide for some of their basic needs. Mercy House Kenya has partnered with the refugee project as a means to empower women, through Fair Trade Friday.
Mercy House exists to engage and empower women around the globe, and to offer them the everlasting hope that comes only through Jesus Christ. The founder, Kristen Welch found that asking God how He could allow so much human suffering presented her with the hardest opportunity to answer His question of her. And Mercy House Kenya was started. My family is inspired by the work of Mercy House Kenya and I am so excited to be able to share how you can join in on the work that is being done and help support women, living in extreme poverty and hardship, earn a living.
You can watch a video about Kristen Welch’s journey here.
Now, you don’t have to travel to Kenya, or someplace far away to make a difference in this world. But you can partner with Mercy House Kenya and take an opportunity to purchase beautiful handmade items, which are fairly traded, from women artisans. When you make a purchase through Fair Trade Friday or the Earring of the Month Club, you will receive beautiful items that you can keep and use, or give as gifts. The women who make these items will receive fair compensation and continued opportunities to make and sell their fares. I gave considerable thought to the idea of joining the earring of the month club and adding it to our monthly budget. I am not sure I can do this every month, but I have made a short term commitment to the earring of the month club. I can hardly wait to see what arrives in my mailbox later this month!
I hope that you will consider checking out the site and the next time you need to purchase a gift, to consider purchasing one of the lovely and unique items offered by Fair Trade Friday.
11 Saturday Jul 2015
Posted in Compassion International, Education, Gratitude, Joy, Letter Writing, Life Long Learner, One Life, Parenting, teens, Uncategorized
For this Sponsorship Saturday post I am excited to share that in June we were blessed by the opportunity to take a trip to the Grand Canyon. What started out as a plan to take another trip with my youngest daughter while her older teen sisters were away, turned into an exciting opportunity to wait and take all the girls to Grand Canyon. I was so excited about this trip, as I’ve wanted to see the Grand Canyon for as long as I can remember. Life has not ever had me anywhere near that part of the United States, until now. After playing with google maps for several days, I decided that “now is the time.”
By Quiet Waters 