Face plant, broken wrist, no dancing allowed….

Four weeks ago we knew that we would soon be leaving our beloved cabin.  Winter, freezing temperatures, and snow were fast approaching.  So off we went to take a farewell hike on our favorite trail, the Pine-Strawberry Trail.  

Less than a half mile into the hike, Danny took a face plant.  He was hiking ahead of me, then suddenly he was….flat on the ground.  There wasn’t even enough time for either of us to gasp or curse.  

Luckily there were no rocks where he fell.  Well, there were rocks, but they were what both of his feet tripped over at the same time, AND why he did a face plant.  What I meant, is that he didn’t fall on any rocks or hit his head on any rocks.  

I specifically saw that he kept his head up during the fall, which is so vital, since he was put on blood thinners after the heart attack last winter.  The doctor was VERY adamant, “If Dan hits his head, we go straight to the closest Emergency Room!!!”

His GPS device was attached to the right side of the chest strap of his back pack, and he did fall on the large GPS unit, cracking or breaking a rib.  And he must have tried to cushion his fall with his right hand, because it turns out that he broke his wrist—at the base of his (already arthritic) thumb.

But being the Superman that my Danny is, he slowly worked at trying to get back into a standing position, and said, “Ouch!  My wrist and chest hurts.  I’m ok.  Let’s finish our hike.”

Three miles later we completed our beautiful and special hike.  After five pounds of ice packs and five days later, we finished packing, closed our cabin for the winter, drove to Nuestra Casa (our home in warm, sunny Mesa), AND went to the orthopedic hand doctor.

Yep….broken wrist and orders to immobilize the wrist with a cast for six weeks.  

So we have been walking every morning before dawn in our beautiful community at Leisure World….

The November “Beaver” full moon lite up the path and our home during our walks….

Enjoying our gardens, the hummingbirds, and the view from our back deck in the afternoons….

Talking to children and grandchildren as much as they can tolerate us.

And wrapping Christmas presents for our dear family….

But, unfortunately, due to the pain in his wrist, Danny has only been able to play his new piano that I got for him a few times.  Normally, he plays the piano the ENTIRE time that I fix our dinner….I love it!

But, something that we both have missed so very much—we haven’t been able to dance for A WHOLE MONTH!  

This is the longest we have ever gone without dancing together.

But today, we held each other close, looked into each other’s eyes, and danced….  

It was simply magical!

Thank you to all our veterans…..

We are so grateful to all of the men and women who have given so much to our country…..to protect us, our children, and grandchildren.

Thank you, dear son, Owen.

Today we installed a new flagpole and put up our American flag….we love our country and want to honor all who have given so much to other fellow Americans.

Thank you to our grandfathers who fought in World War I, and our fathers who joined the military during World War II.  Thank you to our son-in-law, Calvin, our nephew, Paul, brother-in-law, Dennis, and our numerous uncles and great uncles for your service to our country.  Thank you to so many of our relatives, friends and neighbors who have served in the US military.

We mourn the death of all of those who died fighting for our country—some of our own family died fighting for all of us and our future generations.

Many of our ancestors have fought through the centuries for democracy and a free America….all the way back to the Revolutionary War.

We honor every American soldier not just today, on Veteran’s Day….but every day.

Thank you.

What does an Ultrarunner do on her 43rd birthday ?

 Just ask our daughter, Candice…

Well, of course, she runs 43 miles on her 43rd birthday—no matter if it’s sunny, raining, or snowing!

Then you have a birthday party with your daughters and all your friends….

And then you talk to Mom and Dad, so we can wish you a very Happy Birthday!

Our cars are packed, we’re ready to go…..

 

We’re sitting here outside our cabin….

Already we’re so sad, we could cry.  So kiss us and smile for us, cabin, tell us that you’ll wait for us, hold our hearts like you’ll never let us go….

We’re leaving in our truck and camper, don’t know when we’ll be back again…(at least not until spring). Oh cabin, we hate to go….

Winter in the mountains is fast approaching and the temperatures will drop tonight by over 25 degrees.  It will be in the 20’s at night, and only in the 50’s in the afternoons—too cold for us to sit on our deck, watch the wildlife pass by our cabin, contemplate life, our love, and our family.  

So it is time for us to leave, and just like the birds, fly south for the winter.

But before we could leave this lovely home and our dear mountain town of Pine, we needed to take one last hike on our favorite trail on Strawberry Mountain—just a few blocks from our cabin.

The bright fall colors were a special gift as we hiked this morning….

There’s a very special tree that we pass on this hike….the trunk, branches, and base of the tree are covered with heart shaped rocks that other hikers have left at this tree.  Earlier this summer we wedged our own heart rock in a crack in the trunk of this tree.  

We call this tree our “Heart Tree.” 

I had found the heart shaped rock, with a shell fossil imbedded in it, on the edge of the Mogollon Rim where we camped last summer at one of our very favorite campsites.

 

This morning as we hiked on this magical trail of ours, we checked to make sure that our heart rock was still nestled into the crook of the trunk of our ”Heart Tree.”

There it was!  The light colored rock, second down in the row of seven rocks.

We have left our “heart” on Strawberry Mountain….

Tomorrow morning we will close up our cabin, and drive south 80 miles to Nuestra Casa, our sweet home in Mesa….where it is warm all winter long.

We are blessed….we have two homes that we love equally.  As long as we are together, we are happy….

Our precious granddaughter, Aryana, is five years old!

Happy Birthday to you….happy birthday to you….happy birthday dear Aryana, we sure do love you!

How old are you, Aryana?  

Five years Old!!!!

Our Birthday gift to Aryana and Easton….

Aryana, always cheerful and exuberant—through the years….

Our little gift from God, who we love so much, was born five years ago today.