Long Time, No Personal Blog

I'm finding it difficult to keep up with this blog since I can barely keep up with my business one.  Most of you keep up with us on Facebook, but we don't tell a whole lot of what's really going on in our lives.  Just so you can keep up, here's the latest:

Gambit and Storm are doing well.  They got to make the long trip to Arizona over the Labor Day weekend and got plenty of attention from all the kids.  The summer heat is usually too much for them, but we didn't get too many really hot days. Their favorite treat is tomatoes and I love to feed them the cherry tomatoes from our garden. Occasionally, I feed them some squash when it grows too big to be tasty for us.

Dexter went from his medium length haircut that ended up making him look like a skater to a shorter cut last week. I'm not sure I'll ever get used to seeing my boys with short hair! Dex has been doing some work with a guy in our ward who is maintaining a piece of property.

Dwayne had 3 birthday cakes!

Dwayne has continued on for some weeks now at his temporary job doing janitorial work at a local high school. His car repairs put paying off his car back a few months, but at least it's working.  One of Dwayne's friends recommended him for a cooking job at Cirque Lodge and he has a cooking interview (audition) tomorrow.  Cirque is a rehab center that often has star clientele like that one Olson twin and Lindsey Lohan.

I got a phone call from UVU's development office inviting me to apply for a job they will be listing soon.  I hate to get my hopes up, but it's got to be a good thing when they call you and ask you to apply before the job is even listed.  Still, I have more than enough on my plate at Heritage.  Upcoming events there plus helping organize a Women's Business Conference for the Utah Valley Women's Business Network. Busy, busy, busy!

Emerson cooking

Emerson is turning into a job collector. He is still working for Alliance Youth Services on the graveyard shift a couple of nights a week and he's still a tutor for Provo School District's Native American program. One family is hiring him to be a tracker for their kids (coordinate with kids, parents, and school to see how things are going and keep kids on track to graduate). The best job is his one at Lone Peak High School.  He is a co-teacher every other day (they are on a block schedule with A and B days) and provides assistance to the special education students in specific classes. Emerson has his own caseload of students and has already done several IEPs. The school is having all the teachers and programs set up their own blogs rather than having it all on the school website. Emerson has impressed a lot of the other teachers by setting up the blog for the special education department and the one for the football team. His reward for helping the football team was a pass to get into any of the Utah high school sporting events. There are some rumblings about a kid at Lone Peak needing him as a tutor and the school's principal would like Emerson to be a substitute teacher on the A days (since he works on the B days).  He's really showing the rest of us up!

Sydney grinding corn on a stone

Grandma Susie's hogan

The sheep that fed our family, our guests, and the medicine man

kitchen, dining room, and social hall

Grandma Susie and her sister, Marion, are always chatting

As a family, we got to participate in the most wonderful event.  Our niece, Sydney, had her kinaalda (Navajo puberty ceremony) and we went down to the rez over Labor Day weekend to help.  The ceremony lasts five days and it seems like you are constantly cooking to feed guests who show up. Unlike most Navajo families, it was the men who managed our little kitchen out there. Emerson, Emery, Gene, Dwayne, and Dexter made the most amazing food and we never seemed to run out.

The kinaalda took place at Emerson's grandma's hogan. His grandma is over 100 years old now, by the way. Some of the things that happened over those five days include running at sun up, noon, and sunset each day; butchering a sheep; digging a pit oven for the corn cake; keeping a fire constantly burning in that pit; grinding corn on a stone; stirring the mixture for the corn cake using sticks that act like whisks and huge buckets; singing with the medicine man all through the night; sewing corn husks together; pouring the corn cake batter into the pit oven, covering it, and baking it; and a giveaway.

Grandma Susie with Dex and Dwayne

Instruction and advice was given to Sydney to help her understand her role and responsibilities as a woman. The giveaway allowed Sydney to give household items and pieces of the corn cake to those important to her and who had helped with the ceremony.  It was tiring (especially for the guys doing all the cooking), but it was wonderful.

Inside the hogan for the giveaway

Inside of the hogan

The pieces of corn cake after being removed from the pit

Sydney's beautiful Navajo bun on the final day

The Tapahe family was complimented on how they protected Sydney and how they all worked together, especially with the men handling the kitchen.  I'm so proud to be one of them and thrilled I could be part of it all.  It probably won't be too long before another niece will have her kinaalda, but this time I will know more of what to do and what to expect. When I returned to work, I noticed I was very refreshed and had a big smile on my face as a result of that beautiful weekend.

Two notable standouts from this weekend - Tyler and Erin. Tyler (Squeak's oldest boy) was home for the weekend and was a huge help with everything. I hadn't seen him since he was probably in elementary school and it was nice to see him all grown up. He's just older than Dexter and he and our boys made us all proud with all their hard work and willingness to serve the family.  Erin is Gene's oldest daughter and she's already had her kinaalda. She jumped right in during the butchering and showed some of the other girls how to make Ach'íí ,intestines wound around fat and cooked over the open fire. Erin is taking her role as a woman very seriously and I know she will make an amazing wife and mother.