4th of July and Moving

Oh my goodness, these past few weeks have gone by so fast!  When you have a million things to do, I think time speeds up so you have to rush and rush to get it all done!  I've basically just been preparing for the move since we got back from Rexburg, but on the 4th of July I took a little bit of a break (ok...I still did some packing, but we did fun stuff too!)  David doesn't really like big crowds or fighting traffic, so he is not a fan of parades.  But I love parades and feel that it is a necessary Independence Day tradition!  I wasn't sure that Kayenta even celebrated the 4th, but was very glad to find out they did and even had a parade scheduled!  The main event was the 3 day long rodeo and pow-wow, but I'm not into rodeos and felt too white to go to the pow-wow.  So I dragged Asher out to the parade in the blazing heat!

Since the Native's don't celebrate getting their independence (I'm sure they see it more as a day they lost their independence), they turn the 4th into a day to honor veterans.  They are very big in that and the whole parade (all 30 minutes) was float after float honoring veterans.

I kept dumping water on Asher's head to try to keep him cool.  He actually sat in the chair and just watched for the whole thing!  His favorite part by far was any time a horse walked by!

Waiting for the parade.  It was very hot.

My parade buddy!

David also barbequed for us and we had an amazing steak!  And later that night, after the rodeo ended, they set off the fireworks.  I usually spend the 4th with my family and everyone gets together, so I was a little sad we couldn't be with any family.  Holidays are hard when you have to do it all on your own!  David and I both agreed that if we weren't moving right then we probably would've tried to go to Utah or Idaho.  But it all worked out!

On Sunday, Asher woke up with a fever and a cough.  I had a feeling something like that would happen right during the move.  He's still sick today and it's very pathetic.  He's super congested and has a fever.  I've tried all the home remedies I could, but it seems like we're just going to have to let it run its course. 

What makes you feel better when you're sick?  Goggles and a movie of course!

What else helps?  Eating bananas and laying next to your puppy!

Before the sickness.  I love that smile!

I thought he broke the habit of taking off all his clothes during nap time.  I was wrong.

So this is the week we move.  I told my mom this week is going to require a lot of caffeine.  We are going to try to get everything packed by tonight so that we can spend all tomorrow cleaning.  On Thursday we have to go pick up the moving truck from Flagstaff (2.5 hour drive one way).  We'll probably get home around 5 from that and then we'll have to move as much as we can in that night.  We'll try to get help from the ward, but it's still a lot of work!  On Friday morning, Asher and I are driving to Mesquite to get the keys to the apartment and all the utilities set up.  David has to stay in Kayenta because one of us has to be there when they check us out, and they are only able to do that on Saturday.  David and Millie will hang out in Kayenta till Saturday morning, then bring the moving truck to Mesquite after the inspection.  Then hopefully we will find our bishop over there and get some big strong guys to help David move our heavy furniture!  And then Sunday we crash.  It's going to be a crazy week, and having a sick little boy is not going to help.  So please say a prayer for us!  I guess I should go start packing again...

Ward Conference

Yesterday we had ward conference, which in our ward apparently means a 2 hour sacrament meeting and we still have the last hour to squeeze in whatever we can.  I have 2 callings that mean I am busy all during church!  I am the sacrament meeting pianist (3rd time having this calling...and I still don't like it...) and primary music leader.  Primary sounded intimidating because I'm used to wards having a junior and senior primary and each having about 40 kids.  But this ward combines junior and senior, and they still only have about 7 kids show up, and it's usually different kids each week because most people in our ward only attend about once a month.  But I like that it's not a lot of pressure and I can just get up and sing and have fun!

Well yesterday we had the stake presidency speak, and the 1st counselor had, I thought, some very interesting things to say!  He is a white man, but he opened up his talk by speaking Navajo very fluently.  I was surprised because usually you only hear the Natives speak the language.  But the mystery was quickly solved when he switched back to English and said that back in the 70's, he had gone on his mission to this area.  And what a different mission it must have been!

He said he spent a little time at a place called Navajo Mountain (pretty close to us).  He said that we may think it's isolated now, but back then was even worse.  It was all dirt roads and they didn't have any cars, so they had to hitchhike or walk wherever they needed to go.  They're "apartment" was really just a room at the back of the health clinic in the main part of town.  It was only them and they didn't have any phones at all to contact the outside world.  And going tracting sounded like quite an adventure!  He said that to go tracting, they would pack up their sleeping bags and backpacks, and hike out to wherever they needed to go and spend the night camping and then head off to the next place.  They would be gone from their apartment for days at a time.  After having lived here, I could see that!  You can see houses so far off the road and so spread apart, that if you didn't have a car you really would have to camp out to visit them.

Well he said one week they left their apartment to go visit some people.  They were gone for a few days and when they got back the Mission President's assistant was there waiting for them.  He said they couldn't get a hold of him (no phone) and they didn't know where he was (out camping) and that he had been transferred the previous week!  It really is a different place here.  I've learned a lot about this culture, but at the same time I feel like I still don't know much.  I can definitely say, though, that this will be a time that I won't ever forget!

Update

I thought I'd just give a little update on Asher.  He is growing up so fast that I know I'm missing some things on here!  Here are a couple little quirks that he's developed:

• He has figured out that pointing will usually get him what he wants.  And sometimes he just points to see what he'll get, not that he really wants anything!  It's actually made him a lot happier because he can show me what he wants instead of me trying to guess.
• This child is going to be a headstrong person, I just know it!  He decides things for himself.  One day we were sitting on the couch and he gets up and starts heading for the stairs.  When I didn't follow him, he came back down and started pointing at his sippy cup (which means he wants to take a nap).  He looked at me like "Come on Mom, it's nap time!"
• He tries to be a big person as much as he can.  He won't eat something if I cut it up for him.  He wants a whole sandwich, a whole banana, etc.  And I thought kids weren't supposed to like the crust on bread!  Not that I'm complaining, but I think it's funny when he eats a sandwich because he eats the crust first.
• I can't give him too much at one time because he likes to stuff as many things into his mouth as possible.  It's not so bad if it's something like marshmallows or crackers, but when he stuffs 7 carrots into his mouth and tries to chew them, things get a little dicey!
• He loves to talk.  He doesn't say many words (right now it's basically "uh oh" and "dada") but he will jabber on for minutes at a time as long as he has your attention!  It's very cute.  Some other words he'll sometimes say are "hi" and "mama".  
• He is getting better at identifying things.  He can get his shoes, socks, and coat when we tell him to get them.  He'll even try to put them on himself sometimes.  I like that he is getting more independent but it also makes me sad that he's growing up!

So here are some pictures of my little one!

Lounging like this is his new favorite thing.  It looks more comfortable when he does it on a bed instead of our dirt backyard!

There are stray animals everywhere here.  But they are mostly very friendly!  I think this cat belongs to one of our neighbors and Asher loved trying to play with it!  He has the Mitchell blood in him-he loves animals!

Asher spent about 10 minutes watching tv like this.

I wanted just a picture of his cute little face!  I kiss those cheeks about 100 times a day.

He has the cheesiest grin!  It's hard to be mad at him when he pulls this face!

We may need to get some beach toys...then our backyard won't be so boring!

 

This is a dress I made all by myself!  I finally got my sewing machine back after having it in storage.  I'm going to try and rotate crafting projects between sewing, knitting, and crocheting.  I like to work on them after Asher goes to bed.  There's not much to do here so I have to find some way to entertain myself!

 

Kayenta

Well we made it through our first full week and are on to the second!  Life here is definitely different from anywhere else we've lived.  Some good, some bad.  But we are just grateful to have somewhere to start out real life!  I'll separate my list of things into things we have experienced and things that people have told us about living here.

What we've noticed:

• Everyone here drives really nice cars!  Our car (which is 10 years old) is one of the older ones in town.  Housing is super cheap here so people can afford nice cars.  The bishopric came over last night and we were asking them about buying a house here and they said a mortgage would be $300-400 a month.  Right now we pay $195 for a 3 bed, 2 bath townhome.  Housing is ridiculous!
• Our shopping options here are limited.  There is one grocery store (just a local place), an Ace Hardware, a Napa Auto Parts, and actually quite a few fast food places (McDonald's, Burger King, Sonic-David's favorite, Subway, and a local pizza and Chinese food place).  Because things are so limited, we have to drive 1.5 hours to Page to go to Wal-Mart.  Most people here get the little stuff during the week and then once or twice a month drive down to Page to do the big shopping.
• The McDonald's and Burger King are super nice!  Way nicer than the ones in Rexburg and Orem.  They both have a huge playground and McDonald's had a bunch of touchscreen tv's by the playground where you could play games.  I was super surprised about that.  But because it was so nice there they also had a security guard.
• Children here kind of just go wherever they want.  At the grocery store, McDonald's, church, you see a lot of kids and not too many parents.   I get the feeling the motto "it takes a village to raise a child" is very much emphasized here.
• People here are very nice, and also very poor.  David says he can tell that a lot of the kids here live in poverty because their clothes are worn out and don't fit right and they're a little dirty from living out on the plains.  The Navajo people are kind of funny.  To look at them, you would think they were angry all the time because they just have an angry resting face, but once you start talking to them they are all smiles and friendly and helpful!  They are very open and accept people just as they are.  I was worried they wouldn't be open to us because we're white, but that fear was quickly taken away.  We have been welcomed here very warmly.  
• We have learned that rules here are generally more like guidelines.  As long as you aren't stupid and make other people mad, you can pretty much do whatever you want.  
• The nicest buildings here are definitely the government buildings.  The schools, Correctional Facility, Post Office, etc.  
• The ward is very nice!  And very small.  More of a branch than a ward.  And I get the feeling they have a lot of less active members.  And I already have a calling!  When we walked in, about the 2nd thing the Bishop asked us was if either of us played piano.  I said I did and so he had me play piano in Sacrament.  So I'm now the pianist in sacrament and Relief Society.  Before this they had a teenage girl who was trying very hard to play out of the simplified hymn book, but she didn't have a lot of experience with piano.  Everyone was very excited to hear my very imperfect playing!  It's kind of a confidence booster knowing that even though I mess up a lot, they like hearing me play.  
• There are dogs everywhere!  Some are strays, some have collars, but almost all of them are super friendly.  Asher loves this aspect of living here because he just loves animals!  
• It's actually really nice living so close to the schools.  Almost every day Asher and I go over to the elementary school playground after school and play there for a little while and then walk over to David's school and hang out in his classroom for a little bit until he's ready to come home.

What we're heard from other people:

• Unfortunately, drinking and drugs are very prevalent here.  They don't sell alcohol on the Reservation, but there are a lot of bootleggers that bring it in.  One of the speakers in church yesterday said he knew of 3 just right around his house.  And we've heard of a lot of people say people in their family are alcoholics.  It's very sad.
• Someone in our ward had us over for dinner last week and David asked them if there was anything that he should avoid saying so that he wouldn't get in trouble.  He told us that some topics to avoid were bears, snakes, and most importantly death.  He told us a teacher had a student who was sick for 2 weeks, and when the student came back, he very jokingly said "look who's back from the dead!"  This was such a big deal that the school board ended up hearing about it.  So although most things are pretty normal, you do have to be aware that the Navajo culture is still very alive here.
• We have had many people tell us to make sure we lock everything up.  And I have decided not to keep anything of value in our car.  Almost everyone we've talked to has said they've had their car broken into at least once and the principal of David's school said he had a bike stolen from his front yard.
• If we needed to go to the doctor, we would have to go back over the Utah border to Monument Valley.  They have a clinic here, but it's only for the Native's unless it's an emergency.  I have read on a newsletter and have seen that they are building a new hospital here, though.  It's a pretty big one, about the size of the one in Rexburg.  It will have all the regular hospital wings including Labor and Delivery, which right now the nearest place to have a baby is about 1.5 hours away.  So if we do decide to stay here for awhile, that will be nice to have it so close!  And I'm pretty sure this hospital would be open to everyone.

I can't really think of much else at the moment.  I'm sure I'll add more later.  But here is a video of our place so you can see that as well as some other random pictures.  Now that we have a lot of room, we would love to have visitors!  But be warned, there isn't a whole lot to do right in town.  You have to travel about 2 hours in any direction to find big attractions (Grand Canyon, Arches Nat'l Park)....but we would love to be a home base if you did want to do that! 

Asher refuses to eat unless he's sitting at the table with us, and since we don't have a booster seat, I had to use our waffle maker!

This is part of the elementary school playground.  There's another big playset behind me.  They have the best playground I've ever seen!  It's actually a lot better than any in Rexburg or the ones we went to in Orem.

My boys. :)

And here's a bonus video of Asher and David!