Awesome Amazing Grand Canyon

(7 Oct 2010) When the word awesome was popular to be used for everything from "these eggs are awesome" or "you have an awesome tan" or "that was an awesome shot", we took a different tact with our kids. We encouraged them not to use this great word for everyday things, but to use it as a word of reverence. A word set apart for God alone and the things he has made.

To that end AWESOME is a perfectly fitting word for the Grand Canyon. We had just a half-day to visit this incredible site and chose to go to the popular south rim. We got a quick orientation from a friendly park ranger at the visitor center and set out walking on the paved Rim Trail. From the very first view the canyon took our breath away. Not from being scared at standing on a rocky ledge next to a 5000 foot drop off, but from the shear grandeur and majesty of the views. We took our time walking along the rim of the canyon oohing and aahing at this amazing work of God's creation. This truly is a place that must be seen to be believed. The shear size of the canyon - 277 miles long, 10 miles wide, and 5000 feet deep - means that any picture you take is like taking a postage stamp size picture of a football field and expecting that to tell the story. We ended up hiking about 5 miles along the south rim then took the free shuttle bus back to the main visitor center and got in the car to head to a prime viewing spot that the ranger told us about to watch the sunset. We got in place about 30 minutes ahead of time. The wind was gusting probably 20 to 30 mph and the temperature was dropping. We put on all the clothes we brought, braved the elements and were glad we did. Our camera is not good enough to capture the different nuances in the shades of color inside the canyon that occur as the sun is settling into the horizon. We did get some shots looking away from the sun on the canyon walls which give a sense of what we saw. A dusky sort of haze muted the colorful canyon giving it an almost ethereal mystical look.
This is about the 25th National Park we have been to on our trip. It is right up there with Yellowstone as the overall highlight of our travels so far. You really have to come here and see it in person. You will never use the word awesome lightly again!

Newest AF Pilot

(1 Oct 2010) Joy and I came to Del Rio for the 3rd time in a year to join the celebration and accomplishment of our son-in-law CJ completing Air Force pilot training. His parents and sister were able to come down from Alaska to join the festivities so it was a real family affair. Besides winding down his program the kids faced the daunting task of packing up their household goods getting ready to move themselves in a U-Haul which included "clearing" base housing which can be the government nightmare it sounds like. Joy and I came in early to take granddaughter Kylan on a trip in the motorhome for a few days to lighten their burden. In the course of that trip our RV fridge went out for the 4th time in 5 months so we broke down and bought a new one and had it installed.
The festivities for graduation included on Thursday evening, a special retreat ceremony and fly-over with the 3 types of planes they use here, a Friday morning breakfast followed by the graduation ceremony and presentation of the coveted Air Force silver wings, and an evening formal banquet. It was a full day. Katie pinned CJ's wing on after the graduation in front of the T-1 trainer he spent the last several months mastering. On Thursday and Friday we had the privilege of "flying" the flight-simulators used to instruct pilots here.
Saturday we loaded the truck and finished cleaning the house and then had our own family presentation ceremony. Finishing pilot training is an all-around team effort and CJ knows he could not have done it without Katie. Her support was essential to his finishing the course. The family gathered at our RV to give Katie a gift of pregnancy massages and CJ a statue of an eagle in flight. The eagle is to remind them both of the realization that we can't do anything in our own strength, but only as we "wait upon the Lord will we renew our strength and mount up with wings like eagles" (Is 40).
The baton has truly been passed. It was a year ago to the day (1 Oct) that I officially came off the roles of the Air Force. Like ours, CJ and Katie's event marks not only an end, but a beginning. We are looking forward in anticipation to all that God will do in and through them as they commit themselves to him.
We said our tearful good-byes this morning and are already looking forward to a January visit to Fairbanks where we will greet the newest baby Elmes.