Pinon's Playoff Hopes Gone

Pinon football missed going to the Playoffs by one tenth of a power point due to the loss the team had against the team in Sedona, Arizona.  Getting into the playoffs was practically a sure thing after defeating Ganado, but there were quite a few people warning that a defeat against Sedona might bring it all to an end.  1/10th of a point!

It has truly been a great season for the boys and I hope to see many of them on November 1st for Wrestling!

Bird in the High School

I wish I would have brought my camera today.  I wanted to upload the photos from the chili cook off tonight but decided to leave it home and focus more on work.

I spotted a small fat brown bird in the high school and I tried to get it out but it kept flying away from me.  Harley, a student of mine, helped me close some doors and open others so that we could guide the bird outside.  It was an exciting few minutes, a few times I got close enough to the bird that I could have gotten some pretty sweet close up pictures if only I had brought my camera.  Oh well.  At least the bird is outside where it belongs.

Saving another kitten

Don't worry, we didn't adopt another animal.
I was outside the high school one night to get some air while I was working on certification to be a coach in the state of Arizona.  I kept hearing this cat whine but I couldn't see any cats nearby.  Finally I spotted the small guy.  His fur is exactly like Hope's.  The main difference between him and Hope is that he is almost HALF Hope's size.

The kitten had been hungry and decided to stick its head into a milk carton, the only problem being that it couldn't get its head back out again.  I walked over to the crying kitty.  I expected it to run away from me as I got closer to it, but instead it curled up into a ball of fright since it could not see me.  I gently removed the carton from its head.  It looked up at me for only an instant and then ran away.

The next school day I sent a group of kids out to clean up around the school, by the cafeteria was especially bad.  Moral of the story?  Please pick up your trash and fix your animals.

Abby the Football Dog

Just as the second half of the Ganado game was about to begin a puppy ran onto the field which caused the game to stop.  The poor confused stray animal didn't know what to make of all the uniformed teens and adults shouting.

I lured the animal to me with a hotdog and carried it to safety.  Pam's friend Emma adopted her and named her Abby.  She is a cute and submissive little puppy.  We left the game in order to take care of her since she wasn't a big fan of all the noise at the game.

Pinon Football Going to the Playoffs!!

For the first time in school history, thanks to last night's 24 - 20 win over Ganado; Pinon Football has qualified for the playoffs!  I left after the first half to take care of something.  I came back with Pam's Mom, Angel, and Bo to watch the final minutes of the exciting game.

Pam and the Pinon Marching Band!

For the first time in years the marching band uniforms were put to use last night to play the National Anthem and a school fight song.  Since Pinon has no fight song of its own Pamela borrowed the one from Notre Dame, which is actually a commonly used song by high schools across the United States.  I was very excited for both Pam and for the kids.

Time with Mom and Dad - Lake Wheatfield and White House

We had a picnic with Mom and Dad at Lake Wheatfield.  I've been there in winter, summer, and fall now.  Summer I mainly just drove thorough.  In winter I walked on it.  It was a nice time with my parents in the shade taking in the sights.  It's good to have places to go where the trees are bigger than "Big Tree" and things are greener.

We talked about a lot of different things with my parents.  One subject that came up a lot was how strange the trees were.  There are many of them that are growing in every which direction and some that seem to have branches growing in the wrong direction.

 We wanted to go back to Canyon de Chelly to check out the White House Ruins.  I was hoping that Dad and I would take the hike down to them since I haven't gotten to do that yet.  Dad heard that it was three miles and decided that he was too tired.  Oh well, I'll hike it one of these days.

 Mom thought these swirling patterns on the rocks were pretty cool so she had me take a picture of them.

That's as good of a picture that I can get of the ruins from the top of the canyon.  I hear that close up they are amazing.  Around a hundred people used to live in this settlement that we are looking at.

 This tunnel marks the beginning of the hike down to the ruins.  Dad had his picture taken by me at the entrance of the tunnel, then he took my picture on the other side of it.  The rocks that form this tunnel aren't really attached to the mountain, which made us wonder if the outer rocks would fall off the cliff one of these days.

Anyway, Dad and Mom are back in Utah safe and sound and Pam and I are doing well.  We are very excited that my Mom in law will be here this week.

Time with Mom and Dad - Canyon de Chelly

This stack of rocks that make the pillar on the top of this mountain is considered sacred.  No one knows how those rocks were stacked so perfectly.  The people believed for a long time that it was a man guarding the canyon.  It is still believed by many traditional Navajos that this pillar was built by the spirits to protect the area.

 Here we are at Massacre Cave Overlook.  This is where Spanish Soldiers attacked the Navajo people in 1805.  The Spanish describe it as a battle rather than a massacre, but that's history for you, it all depends on who is telling the story and why.

Here are some pictures of what are left of the ancient ruins from the Anazasi people that were here long before the Navajo.

The next several pictures are from a different location in Canyon de Chelly called the Mummy Cave Ruins.  It's called that because of two very well preserved mummies that were found there.

Everywhere you go in Canyon de Chelly there are artists trying to sell their wares to the tourists.  Mom and Dad ended up getting us the bear from this stand.  The line on the bear going back from its face is its lifeline.  The white circles on its back are for the four seasons.  The hand on the bear represents welcoming people into your home.  The cross shape on it represents the four directions.  The triangular lines represent our connection with bears in that we both need water to survive.  To the side of the bear there is also a symbol for the circle of life.

After this we went to Lake Wheatfield for lunch and then to White House Ruins.  It's getting late though, so I'll save those pictures for another posting.

Mom and Dad are home safe now and we are very grateful for their visit.  Love you Mom and Dad!