Gosney Visit to Monument Valley

Devon's parents and sister, Catherine, came to visit us last weekend. The first thing that we did with them we do not have any pictures of, but I still want to record the adventure. The first thing we did was to hike up to "teardrop." We had only driven up the back way with Lewis, but many people told us this was a pretty easy fast hike- you just follow the trail. What trail? We got a little lost, and there wasn't much of a trail to follow. Finally Devon (with Spencer on his back) and Terry made it to the top- but they had to pretty much scale the mountain to do it, the less adventurous girls didn't think that looked like fun. I guess from now on we will check out the hikes we plan on taking visitors on before we actually go! There are no pictures because Devon was carrying Spencer instead of the camera, and I always forget to take pictures!

After our hike we took a tour of the 3 hogans by the school. The construction inside is pretty neat.


Spencer thought this Hogan would make a great new bedroom for him. What could be better than a bedroom covered with dirt?!


On Saturday we went over to "the valley." There is a loop road that you can take to look at many monuments up close. The road was very bumpy. We saw a lot of small cars driving it- but we all piled into the 4-runer to save our car.
These are the mittens. You can see them from our house, but they look more impressive close-up.


The monument behind us is called "Three Sisters."


This one is Elephant Butte- can you see the elephant?


This one is camel butte. Not as obvious as the elephant, but at least it has humps.


This one is called Rain God Mesa


The tallest one in this picture is Totem Pole. Apparently Clint Eastwood climbed it while he was shooting a movie here. I can't remember the name of the movie, but it wasn't Dirty Harry.


This is artist's point. I think this view made the bumpy drive worth it. It was so beautiful!


Later in the afternoon we drove to Mexican Hat. This is Devon and I in front of it. Devon was having everyone else try on his new cowboy hat.


Here is Devon's mom in the new hat. Can you tell that rock formation is supposed to be a hat?


Spencer especially liked this stop on our trip because he could get out and explore. Grandpa is giving him a great ride on the walk back to the car.


The last thing we went to see was Goosnecks. I think it might have been the most spectacular thing we saw too. The pictures don't do it justice. This was one amazing view- but the kind of view where you have to keep Spencer securely strapped in the stroller.



If you want to see all of this amazing stuff- you have to come visit!

Silly Spencer

We were trying to get Spencer to say some words on video- but he didn't want to sit still. This video turned out so cute that I had to post it!

Piggies

Spencer is learning his body parts. He still gets a little confused with the nose- but otherwise he has got it down.

Spencer's animal sounds

Spencer is getting very good at talking. He knows many animal sounds. We had to take a video because he has such a cute little voice and he makes pretty funny faces too!

Pumpkin

We got some pumpkins from our local FFA garden. Jack, the teacher in charge gave Spencer a special one just his size. Spencer was so excited about it that he would not let anyone else hold it. I tried to help him out so he could climb up the stairs on the way home, but he would have none of it. He even held onto it once we got hom, but we had to take it away so he could take a nap.

Cute Spencer

On Sunday we took some pictures of Spencer outside. they turned out pretty cute. I can't believe how fast he is growing!

I love it when he folds his arms, they barely reach across him.

I am making Spencer a monkey costume for Halloween, but we found this one in a box of clothes that my sister gave me. It is good to have a back-up in case mine does not work out!

Monument Valley Homecoming

Last week was Monument Valley High School's homecoming. They had a classic homecoming parade with exciting floats pulled by local trucks.

After the parade Spencer got to pet one of the horses- he thought that was pretty neat.

Also, there was a great bonfire night. Homecoming- what memories!

Spencer is a boy who always enjoys a challenge. He has mastered the neighbors bike that he is big enough to use, so he insisted on moving up to the tricycle. His feet do not reach the ground from the seat- but that will not stop someone as inventive as Spencer. Nope, he just sits behind the seat- reaches out for the handle bars, and away he goes.

Mesa Verde September 27, 2008

On Saturday we went to Mesa Verde with our friends the Whitakers. It was a beautiful drive with all of the leaves changing. There aren't many trees around Monument Valley, so it was nice to see some. There was a fire in Mesa Verde a few years ago- that is why there are dead trees too- but it makes a cool picture!

We went on a guided tour of "Cliff Palace," one of the largest ruins in the United States. This is a view of it from the top- where we started. Yes, we climbed all the way down there- and back up!

These are the scary stairs we had to walk down to get to the ruin. They don't look so bad in the picture, but they are more scary when you are carrying one child on your back and holding a 2 year old's hand! I'm glad I didn't have to scale the cliffs like the people who actually lived here!

This is Spencer and me. I carried Spencer because Devon is a better picture taker. This backpack makes Spencer a lot lighter- but I was sore the next day.

This is Lara climbing up one of the ladders. I could not believe how well Sadie and Lara did. They were regular mountain women!

Lewis carried his daughter Mahrin the whole way. If I was sore the next day I can't imagine how Lewis felt!

This is a closer view of Cliff Palace. It was huge. I just wanted to go inside and see the rooms and stuff. I especially wanted to know how they got to the rooms that were up so high!

So along with a guided tour comes a tour guide. Spencer did not enjoy the part of the tour when you stand still and listen. This is how he felt about it!

These are hand and toe holds that people used to climb in when they lived here. i think their children must have learned to climb before they could walk.

It took Spencer all of about 2 minutes to fall asleep when we got in the car. He zonked out right in the middle of his peanut butter sandwich.

This is us down in a Kiva. A Kiva is a round room underground. They were mostly for religious ceremonies.

On the way out of the park we had to stop to take a picture of the beautiful view of the fall colors and the valley below!