Chad & Aubrey's Trip Out West

We left on August 2nd, traveling with some good friends from Pennsylvania,

and drove all night...Here we are driving over

a mountain range early the next morning.We got to the valley where we lived as little guys at about

7a.m. or so N.M. time. We lived at the foot of this mountain

for several years.

A mountain peak in the distance...

In MO we grow bugs in great quantities-
In N.M. they grow them for quality!
Notice this huge insect/scorpion thing that
Chad found in the bathroom. Our friend, Matt
in true "Matt drama fashion" is pretending to exterminate
him with a toilet plunger! Actually we let the big fellow go
outside--we understand he's rather old.


They've had alot of rain--notice the green hillsides.

Playing Dutch Blitz with our friends:o)

I wanted to think of something intelligent to go with this picture,

but there isn't anything intelligent about it!:-D

As you can see, Matt is a blast to hang out with!:o)

The wedding that we attended in Arizona-

The bride, Jenny and her family.

We all used to play together when we were little kids.

Jenny & Micah, the happy bride & groom~

Sunday, after church-

we had church with an old friend and her husband

from the valley...this is in their nice yard.

Hiking with friends~

Looking down on the Gila River out of a cave that we climbed up to~

Rachel, Aubrey, and Benjamin in the cave

Benjamin, Rachel, and Chad on their way back down-

The whole party standing in the Gila River!
L. to R. Carolyn, Rachel, Matthew, Hannah, Benjamin, Bethany,

Jeriah, Chad, Maria, Aubrey, Elizabeth, and Hannah B.

After the hike we met the rest of the group at a

picnic area and had supper-

Thanks for the great food, y'all!:o)

From Isaiah 35
"The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them;

and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing:

...they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God."

A van load of us on our way to hike up

to a mountain peak not too far from the valley

A horny toad we found on our hike.

We used to love catching and playing with 'em when

we were little boys.

Beautiful scenery from the mountainside-

Hiking up the trail--

Part way up the mountain, it started raining and due to the

high elevation it was considerably cooler.

So we found a little cabin when we got to the top and built

a fire to warm us up.

From the fire tower you can see a great distance!

That lighter strip in the mountains is the valley where we used to live

and where our friends, who we were visiting, still live.

Benjamin, Bethany, Elizabeth, and Rachel on

the hike back-

Cactus--lots of cactus in N.M.!

Chad and Chris scaling a cliff-

They made it to the top!

Our friend's baby~
Hi Becky!

Another evening picnic after we got

down off the mountain~

Roasting hot doggies and marshmallows~

N.M. grows the most awesome roses-

They must like the dry climate-

But not all was fun and games, and hikes and picnics!:o)

No, we had alot of fun working too, and were glad to be able to help our

friends with a project they're working on.

They are turning this building into a coffee house/bakery.

They already bake for their living so it'll be great when they can move into

the new building, which they hope to have done by Thanksgiving.

And we didn't always work when we were s'posed to be

either! Don't tell the boss I said that!:o)

Yup, that's Matthew cutting up again!

Chad's favorite project on the job...

Building a privacy "FENCE":o)

Another Hike!!!

This time it was just some of us guys-

Chris, Jeriah, Chad, and Aubrey-
This time it was to the hot springs.

Just by way of interest, we found a dead elk

beside the trail- a young bull. We didn't figure out what had

caused it's demise. We're not posting a picture of that though!

Aubrey-

Chad-

No, don't try it Chad!:-D

This hike probably had some of the most beautiful scenery!

Chad and Chris in the Gila River

The hot springs- these were about 95 degrees

On the way to the City of Rocks we stopped to watch this

guy who had caught a black-tailed rattler. He was "milking"

it with this board.

City of Rocks State Park-

Another icon from our early childhood.

A species? of horny toad that none of us had ever recalled seeing before-

We got to celebrate our birthdays with our friends there--

Thanks for the wonderful cakes, you girls did a great job!

(No insult meant, if you helped, Benjie!!!:-D)

Hi down there!

Chris, Chad, and Benjamin

City of Rocks-

Helping in the bakery-

Chad & Bethany washing dishes, Matt slicing bread,

and Elizabeth & Rachel wrapping muffins or something.

Our last evening in the valley...

We had a great time traveling with and visiting with friends-

Thank you all for making our trip so enjoyable!

Also thanks to all of you who prayed for our safety on our trip-

And most of all to God...thank You for the privilege to travel and for

Your mercy and the blessing of coming home safely.