Blizzards in the Desert & a Giraffe Kiss.

Once again, it has been a while since we've updated this. Quite alot has happened since we last blogged. My parents came for a visit about a week ago, and stayed here for a week. It was really great for my dad to see everything here, just to give him a better understanding of what its like...as for my mom, she's been here like 4 times now total, so she's an old pro. But, it's fun to expose fresh minds to the rez and all its wonders.

On the way home from Flagstaff after picking up my rents, we had a very scary experience. We were on the rez..out in the middle of pitch black nowhere on an endless curvy road, and all of the sudden a GIANT owl eerily swoops down in front of us as if to attack us or ambush us. I came painfully close to hitting it! We all screamed..even Jeffery Howard Sandberg. I'm 72% positive that owl was out to get us. Plus, to make it a little creepier, in Hopi culture an owl is often a bad omen. So, it was an awesome way to begin our trip. While my parents were here we pretty much made the rounds and saw everything there is to see...one day we went to Winslow (my dad needed to stand on the corner..like in the Eagles song). It's a really pretty drive though. It's the kind of land that just makes you want to ewear a cowboy hat, saddle up a black stallion, and ride till the sun sets. We stopped at the Little Painted Desert (a beautiful mini version of the grand canyon..sort of) The next day, we had a massive blizzard..here..in the desert! Despite the snow drifts, we decided to go to dinner with the Pettengill's at the culutral center. It wasn't too bad on the way there, but on the way home, we drove 2 mph down the scary, winding mountain road..no joke. There were at least 10 cars in the ditch..Luckily, with my dad's skillful driving, we made it home alive. We got home, got down on our knees and prayed that school would be canceled, and ten minutes later got the call that it was! We celebrated by making chocolate chip cookies and watching Dumb & Dumber. The next day we slept in, and then my parents and I built a giant snowman in our front yard. I've had a terrible craving to go sledding all winter..so I decided it was time to take care of it. The only problem was that we don't have a sled..the only thing I could think of was a garbage bag body suit. We all went out to the wash behind our house, I put on my saggy garbage bag diaper and shoes, and slid down. I had to go a few times to pack the snow down..after my 5th time down, I was absolutely exhausted from walking up that nasty steep incline. But, I sure got my sledding fix for this winter!

The rest of the week was filled with a few visits to Stan and Beth's, my dad teaching Elijah how to shoot a bow and arrow, diligently watching American Idol, a few visits to Hopi jewlery shops, and simply chilling. For our valentine's day present, the principal took all of us teacher's + my parents on a weekend getaway. We went to an amazing place called "Out of Africa." We got to hand feed a giraffe, some brave citizens even took advantage of the opportunity to actually KISS a giraffe...which is rotten and actually means standing freaky close to a giant animal and letting it coat its goopy slobber all over your pores. We got to stand a few feet away from tigers, lions, bears, ostriches, and zebras..but not in a zoo setting, it was like they were in there natural habitat in Africa. We watched a tiger show, where courageous souls played with the tigers as if they were little infant cats. After our african safari, we went to Prescott and tried to find a nice place to have dinner..on Valentine's Day. Yeah..silly idea. We went to about 5 different places (all had apporx. 2 hour waiting) and finally ended up at good old Outback. It was totally worth the wait though. The next day my parents left to go home and Court and I went on with the group to Jerome, which is an amazing, quaint, European-ish, hippie village. We spent the afternoon there looking at antiques, handmade jewelry, art galleries, and enjoying the mountain range views. Then we drove to Flag, stayed the night in a hotel, and in the morning went back to our stomping grounds. Overall, it was a great week and we enjoyed having my parents here fosho.

We've got several videos to share, but the internet here won't allow that...so, we're going over to Stan and Beth's tomorrow to use their speedy connection. Thus, you can expect another post tomorrow evening..hopefully!