Trip to the Rim

We're exploring and learning about our new State and so far, we've loved it all. Yesterday we were invited on a berry picking adventure to "The Rim" with a group of friends. I wasn't sure what The Rim was, and it was kind of funny to me that we had to drive 2 hrs to find berries!


Here's what I found out about 200 mile long Rim:
In the geographic center of Arizona lies the “Rim Country”, so named by the overwhelming presence of the Mogollon Rim. The Rim is an escarpment 7,000 feet plus that presents a dramatic drop of over 2000 feet to the communities below. It is covered in forest and grass land, and has been the home to Native Americans, cowboys, ranchers, farmers, hunters, fishermen, and nature lovers for centuries. It is a land of extreme beauty, natural endowments, and historical significance.

Other towns may have woods, lakes, and mountains, but nobody else has the Mogollon Rim! Technically, it’s known as an escarpment, as opposed to a canyon. But, together the Mogollon Rim and the Grand Canyon constitute Arizona’s two most spectacular landforms.

from http://www.paysonrimcountry.com/MountainRecreation.aspx



It rains a lot there, a rarity in Phoenix, so people in Phoenix love to drive out there just to experience rain. I confess I haven't lived in Phoenix long enough to enjoy standing in cold drizzly rain... maybe next year. The views were spectacular though and it was nice to get out of the 110 degree weather and have a day in the
60s. It is so high up, the clouds are below and there are frequent lightning strikes, so there were lots of trees that were twisted and burned by the lightning, another thing that made the trip just a little tense. The girls were concerned about getting struck by lighting, I assured them I was taller and I'd get struck first. Karianne didn't like it when I knelt down to pick berries...

Desert walk

Brent and I got a rare date night last night. We took an evening stroll through the desert. Fantastic! This is "monsoon season" here and there were rare rainclouds in the sky. It made it so nice and cool and the sunset was beautiful. No rain where we were, but when we got home we found it had rained at our house. Not a big deal probably to you, but the first time it had rained here in over 90 days!

There is a Power whose care
Teaches thy way along that pathless coast,--
The desert and illimitable air,--
Lone wandering, but not lost.

From "To a Waterfowl" by William Cullen Bryant

Happy Birthday Amy

AdoptionTalk: Amy Eldridge of LWB Speaks

AdoptionTalk: Amy Eldridge of LWB Speaks

Great, great blog entry with an overview on China and adoptions now. You need to read this if you think you want to adopt from China.

Swimming in Sedona

One thing we're trying to get used to in Arizona is the way people pull off the road and go exploring. You can camp, hike, swim or just explore and just pull off the road and park. Monday we headed up to Sedona for the day. I wanted to try out Slide Rock, it's a State Park with a mountain river flowing through it. A rock has a smooth gradual slide going down to the river. We got there only to find the park closed. Man! But we had passed cars all along the road parked along the road and people swimming in the same river. So we followed suit. We parked and hiked down a little and found a beautiful secluded spot with a mountain stream flowing through. It was glorious.




After we played in the water for a few hours, we headed back into Sedona did some window shopping and had dinner on a balcony of a restaurant to enjoy the beautiful scenery. What a life.

Orphan Alert: 13yo computer whiz ageing out soon

From WACAP:



URGENT This thirteen year old is in danger of aging out and never being able to have a family. He spoke to us in a soft voice, but clearly stated that his main interest is—computers! His favorite subject in school is computers and and his favorite out of school activity is also working on computers. With a repaired cleft lip and palate, his speech is understandable, though as he counted in English a slight lisp was noticeable. A bit shy, he did ask if everyone in the room was supposed to be speaking in English! Watching him later in our meetings, it was clear that he has an engaging personality, a good sense of humor, likes to entertain others and is a leader among the other children, He showed a competitive, but very appropriate spirit in the group games. By breakfast of the second day, he had lost any shyness, not hesitating to approach, asking with a smile the English word for the item he held up—a hardboiled egg. A nice boy in need of a family! He also has a blood disorder.
LZ.0197.16675. 01.

There is a $8550 Promise Child. Regardless of income, families can qualify for the Promise Child Grant for this particular child. Married couples may ask about exceptions to parental requirements for this particular child. Are you a little older, or have a lower income so you need an exception to one of Chinas requirements to adopt. WACAP (www.wacap.org) is a non-profit adoption agency. Please contact FamilyFinders@ wacap.org for more information. There is no fee or obligation to review his photos and file.

thought for the day

" All Honor to Jefferson- to the man, who, in the concrete pressure of a struggle for a national independance by a single people, had the coolness, forecast, and capacity to introduce into a merely revolutionary document, an abstract truth, applicable to all men and all times, and so to embalm it there, that today, and in all coming days, it shall be a rebuke and a stumbling block to the very harbingers of a re-appearing tyranny and oppression."

-Abraham Lincoln on Thomas Jefferson

Montezuma's Castle

We visited Montezuma's Castle just south of Sedona. It's a fortress built into the rock on the side of a mountain. It's not really made by Montezuma, It was made by the Sinegua Indians and several hundred of them lived in it before 1400 A.D. Explorers originally thought Montezuma had made it and the name stuck. It looks so miniature in our pictures but believe me it's very big. And we loved the huge Arizona Sycamore trees all around the park!

Sleep vs play

Nap time wins out over playtime, once again. You may not be able to see it,
but she has a toy clutched in her hand.

The Bible

I had lunch with some missionary friends Sunday. They are not missionaries to China but they recently were able to visit there. They told me they were in Beijing,China and they were privileged to go to the home of a fellow believer in Christ. He asked if they'd like to see his Bible. He kept it in a baggie, it was in bad condition with loose pages, the binding was broken, the pages were brittle and breaking. The man told my friends that he was a 4th generation Christian. His mother had given him the Bible, it was his grandma's Bible, and her mother's Bible before that. His great grandmother had gotten the Bible from the man who had shared the gospel with her, Hudson Taylor. How awesome is that? Hudson Taylor is my hero. Mr Taylor, your legacy is still making a difference today, it is worth it all!

Orphan Alert: Boy ageing out, grant available!

This thirteen year old boy was abandoned at birth and has been living
in a foster home for the last nine years.He needs to be adopted before he turns 14. He is in school and is described as a tender and docile child who follows the teacher's advice, finishes homework on time, and gets along well with other children. He has a deformity of his left hand which does not affect his studies. He is very self sufficient, communicates well and is often called fun loving.ID: SQ.0297.16761. 01

There is a $9550 Promise Child grant/waivers. There is NO income requirement to qualify for these adoption grants/waivers.

Exceptions: If you do not meet a requirement to adopt from China please ask as some exceptions may be granted.

WACAP (www.wacap.org) is a non-profit adoption agency. Please contact
FamilyFinders@ wacap.org or call 1-800-732-1887