A better adventure to New Mexico for the Smiths

Ahh....Finally....the indian ruins!
We visited the Aztec Ruins National Monument in New Mexico just outside of Farmington. It took about an hour to see if all. Cool place to visit!

We finally made to the Mesa Verde National Park...I never had the opportunity to hike up to an actual ancient Indian dwelling, until now... It was absolutely amazing! It was soo worth seeing!!!

Mesa Verde National Park

A better vacation for the Smiths...

Here are a few pictures of us on our vacation....

Joseph & Alycia a few miles outside of the Petrified Forest in Arizona...I think people can actually camp here.. Yikes!

Myself with the dino...we had to make our picture taking super quick...there were fire ants everywhere..Ouch!

Brent,Alycia, & Joseph in the Petrified Forest...that's an actual Petrified tree stump behind them

Brent,Alycia,the caterpillar, Joseph, and Anna

My kiddos...gotta Love that catapillar

Brent with the painted desert in the background

We visited the Petrified forest and the Painted desert on our way to New Mexico and it was amazing to see all the coolness of living in the desert. It was overcast and a bit chilly (well...what I think is chilly) in July.

I do have to confess to my ignorance though...When we stopped off at a gift shop outside of the Petrified forest park, I couldn't understand why Brent wanted to purchase pieces of petrified wood...I kept thinking...duh? they have plenty of them at the park we could pick up...right? Uh...NO!!!! My family members were horrified when I mentioned that to them..It's a criminal act to take anything from a National Park...duh? I should have known that...good thing I NEVER took anything...

The painted desert was really neat to see also...It seemed almost alien to visit it...If you ever make to Arizona...I highly recommend checking these places out....

Adventures in New Mexico.....

This has to be the MOST stressful vacation I've ever been in....
Brent calls it our "stress-cation".....

Last month we planned on a most anticipated and cooler vacation...to escape the wicked heat of Arizona and relax in the coolness of Colorado, but making a pit stop in New Mexico to see the amazing Indian ruins at Mesa Verde National park and another park near Farmington (where we stayed)...

The drive went well until our 2003 Honda Odyssey's "check engine" light made it's appearance...Aww...it must be the gas cap..we thought... Per the owner's manual, it will take 3 trips for it to disappear. We arrive to Farmington and the light is still on...grrr....We drive to O'Reilly auto parts store and check to see what the problem might be...(they do free checks there)... it gave us a message that we then googled and it said it had to do with the transmission. Ahhhhh!!!! We take it to the Honda dealership...yes...they actually had a dealership in this small town...We waited for 3-4 hours for the results... It needs a new transmission we're told. "Umm...how is much is this going to cost???" I say...yet my heart is racing...
"With parts and labor...$5000" He cooly says...
"Are you SERIOUS???? The car isn't even worth that!!!"
I then ask Brent to chat with the mechanic...
Nope...no quick fixes can be made..

We then decided to leave early and go back to Arizona..drop off the van at home and drive up to Colorado to Brent's reunion in his Altima...50miles outside of Shiprock, New Mexico the transmission starts slipping in the middle of nowhere...on the reservation...no cell towers in sight...

Shiprock, New Mexico

Middle of nowhere New Mexico

Our van being unloaded from the 70 mile journey back to our hotel in Farmington, New Mexico

Once we arrived to our at around midnight, the hunt was on to find a car rental to get us OUT of Farmington....Believe it or not....the ONLY car rental agency willing to do a one-way rental to the Phoenix area was Budget. I will forever be grateful for Budget and will a loyal customer...I too need to make a plug for our cell carrier Sprint....I had a decent signal from the middle of nowhere New Mexico to place a call to AAA to get a tow truck dispatched to our location...I also had data connection...so I was able to pinpoint our location to AAA. Way to go Sprint and Budget for helping us in our time of need!!! AAA...hmm...that's another story....but I do want to say something regarding AAA...If you travel a lot in your vehicle...I highly recommend you getting the "deluxe membership"...they'll tow you for 100 miles...We, of course didn't upgrade....which I'm kicking myself for not doing so.. grrr....

We weren't sure what to do with the van...should we salvage it or get it fixed? One salvage yard offered $500..
."Are you freaking joking?!!!!" was my response...is freaking a bad word??? :/
Another offered $800-1200....but this salvage yard said they could fix it for $2200. That sounded like a reasonable price to have it fixed. We would have to leave it there and drive back to pick it up on our way home from Colorado...

After picking up the van at the repair/salvage yard, we made our drive back to the deserts of Arizona...

This is where Charcoal was fixed..

About 50 miles outside of Heber, Arizona the "D" drive light began to flicker....uhh...not good...turns out it was another transmission issue!!! :((((((((

We said a prayer as a family that we'd make it home okay...I had to drive carefully and NOT rev the engine...That was sooooo difficult for me.... I felt like a grandma driver... please don't take any offense to those grandma's that may be reading my blog.. :)))) Brent followed behind me in the Altima and we made home fine...The van didn't give me any problems and drove well, but we decided to purchase another vehicle and trade-in Charcoal...She was a great van and we've had many great memories, but I'm now the owner of new Nissan Pathfinder and I LOVE it!!!



If you follow me on FB...this was the story behind the pics and our adventure....I'll post pics of our more happier trip to New Mexico soon...

Driving and taking pics aren't too safe...but I had to take a pic of the "Welcome to Arizona" after our stress-cation out to New Mexico.....I love you Arizona!!!!

Change??? I hate change!...this has nothing to do with Obama :P

Is hate too strong of a word? Hmm....Perhaps I should've used the word "dislike" instead.

About a month ago, Brent's company was bought out by a telecom company based in Colorado. We're not sure of where that will place us. Will we be staying put, here in Arizona or will we have to move? I do love the weather here in Arizona...no snow to shovel and sandals are worn almost year round.

We're going to have to be patient and see how things play out with this merger.

Fingers are crossed that we stay put...well...mine are anyways....

Our lives are a bit less chaotic these days...

Well...
Our foster baby ..Baby M is no longer in our care and it's been about 2 months since she left our home. I didn't think I'd get as attached as I did, but I guess I'd be heartless if I didn't cry the whole drive up to drop her off to the new foster family and the drive back home. It was one of the most difficult things I've had to do in a long time. I still get a lump in my throat each time I see the pictures we took prior to her leaving.

Doing foster care has it's challenges...The system is broken...CPS is understaffed and underpaid...and I have my opinions about the judges (but I won't even go there)....

There are many blessings when doing foster care...
Seeing a child smile for the first time in months...hearing the child giggle for the first time...consoling the child when they need comforting after months of being neglected by their relatives...

I'm currently going through mixed emotions when it comes to doing foster care...I have not stepped into the nursery since Baby M left our home. The clean clothes are still folded and in the basket, waiting to be put away. Perhaps I'll have the courage this week to organize the room...hmm..we'll see...

I know that Baby M will never remember us, nor will we ever see her again. I feel so thankful that we were able to be there for baby M in her time of need. All we could do now is pray that things will go well in her life. A thought just occurred as I wrote the first sentence...that I would never see her again. I'm now thinking of my kids...my husband...my family... How utterly sad it would be to never see them again after I died... I don't know what I'd do if I were ever in that situation... It makes me grateful for the truth that I have in my life...Being a member of my church and getting married and sealed in the Temple, I will forever be with them throughout the eternities...

Hiking in January????

I can honestly say that I LOVE living in Arizona...uhh...during the winter!
We decided to hike a portion of South Mountain in the middle of January! It was only in the 70s and the weather was fantastic.


Brent has a couple of stowaways in his backpack....Baby M. and a couple of colorful sock monkeys...

Changes in the Smith home...

Yikes!
So much has happened in the past few months...I don't know where to begin...

Our family is still doing foster care and we have a new addition that came into our home the day before Thanksgiving and will be in our home for a few months more...She is a darling little 8 month old little girl that came into our care at five months old. It's been an adjustment since our last baby is now 11 years old! hahaha! She's been thriving in our home and has made huge improvements since coming here.

I can honestly say that our Heavenly Father answers prayers... The day before this little one arrived, my neighbor across the street came over and dropped off an infant carseat that they were no longer using. A couple of weeks before that, Alycia's friend's mother dropped off several baby items when she found out we were doing foster care. Coincidence? I think not. As we were getting ready for church one Sunday, I watched my dear husband holding Baby M. in his arms...a scripture came to mind (in Matthew 25:35) when Christ said "For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in".... I'm so grateful that we have this opportunity to serve and help out these little ones in their time of need and that Our Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers..