The Disappearing Navajo Sheep

We leave our RV Park, go across the bridge to Arizona, past the gas station and then we see one field after another like this one.
One day we past several fields covered with hundreds of sheep. There were big sheep and little sheep all eating the green stuff whatever it was. I saw one little lamb eating a plastic bag and I wanted to turn back and get it away from him. We were in a hurry so we didn't stop to help the lamb or to take a picture. We said, "We'll take a picture the next time we go to Bullhead City." Two days later, we came back with a camera. NO SHEEP! No sheep anywhere. Not only were there no sheep, none of the fields had fences around them. We began to think we were dreaming them up. And then a couple of weeks later, we were talking about the Disappearing Sheep and THERE THEY WERE! Papa said, "Quick get the camera!" …We had forgotten the camera. I took down landmarks so we could find the field again. We came back the very next day. No Sheep. Does anyone have an idea what might be going on with the sheep?

Sisters

More than Sisters--Friends for Life. Becca doesn't really know just where Megan is these days but she asks about Megan everyday. Becca misses her brothers and sisters and this blog thing our family has started is a big help.
My sister Cathy(your Aunt Catherine) is on the left. I am on the right. Those were our goats. We lived on a farm. I was probably 6 years old and in the 1st grade. Do I look a little like Emma?
Florence, my grandmother's sister, is on the left and her sister my grandmother, Catherine is on the right. My grandmother was very helpful when I started doing our family genealogy. I was so surprised when in one interview I had with her she started telling me about Florence's wedding. She even remembered what food was served at the receiption. When Florence got married my grandmother was only 7 years old. I was interviewing her when she was in her 70's.
The back row left to right: Marilyn(Gramma), Cathy(Aunt Catherine) and Donnie(Uncle Donald). Sitting in the chair on the left is my Gramma's sisster, Florence and she is holding my cousin, David. In the chair on the right is my Grandmother, Catherine A. Taylor and she is holding my cousin Danny. Danny is David's older brother. This picture was taken 50 years ago.

USA Today

A routine we started in Europe was to read USA Today every day we can. We like its relevant articles, including the weather maps. And Mom has discovered that there is a daily sudoku. So, here in the desert we continue this routine. Becca and I drive to one of the vending machines around town and she likes to take the quarters, play the slot and claim a paper. It's a fun fadda-daughter activity.

Becca holds her three quarters

Here is one of our USA Today vending stands













Becca demonstrates her fine small motor skills


Success!

We had Big Kids, Little Kids & a Wonderful Tree

Kelly was a wonderful big sister and a big help to me. Megan was a beautiful, wonderful free spirit. It was a good thing I had Kelly to help me watch her. I think I took these 2 pictures. I really like them. Kelly is so pretty and happy. I think she is in high school. Meg is 3.
The great thing about this photo is that you can tell right away that the Little Kid is Ganon and the Big Kid is Jon. Ganon and Jon have been called by each other's name for a long time. Most people could not tell them apart. Some people did not even know we had 2 sons. Jon's early years were spent in Kailua I Ward so whenever any of them saw either of the 2 boys they thought he was Jon. Ganon was born in Kailua II Ward boundaries he was constantly called Jon and Jon was called Ganon. The boys still tease me because I would get their names wrong too but I would add the correct name immediately after the wrong name. Thus Ganon became Jon-Ganon and Jon was Ganon-Jon. Jon Michael went to BYU years before Ganon and yet when Ganon showed up he was very surprised to be called Jon by total strangers who thought he was Jon. This is not the whole story though. Few people know that when we were deciding on a name for Jon, we decided we would name him Ganon Patrick. We didn't know anyone with that unusual name and we thought it was so Irish. Then a woman in our apartment building had her baby a couple of weeks before I had Jon and she named her child Ganon, an idea she got from me, no doubt. We were very upset. We decided to name our first child after his father (well sort of). We didn't see any reason for the "h" in John so we changed that. We had never done any of our genealogy so we didn't know then that if we had named him after his dad he would have been John James Connelly the Fourth which Jon says he would have liked. For a long time doctors told me not to have any more children and I listened to them. After we were able to go to the temple and pray a lot we decided to have more children. Ganon was such a blessing to us that we might never have had. He got the special name. And we have all be confused ever since.

Photogs AND Models

This photo proves that there was a time when Megan was the tallest. They were brother and sisters but most of all friends. Ganon was their leader. I knew they were off on a new adventure when I heard Ganon yell, with a swoop of his hand, "Come on, Girls". The girls, including Becca, loved Ganon. They would follow him and put up with his rules.
Ganon and his girls were pals.
This is my favorite one. Believe me no one told Ganon or Amanda how to pose for this picture. I think John took these pictures for his photography class. He was plusing up his skills and using his beautiful children as models. It turned out to be a good plan.

Family Photos ('72-'82)

This is not a very fancy picture but the kids are all looking at the camera so I got a nice shot of them. One the left side of the table is Marvin Ericsen and my sister Catherine. The boy next to her is not her son Timothy James. That one is Jon Michael and then Tim. On the right side of the table is my dad's 2nd wife, Betty, then Kelly (wearing one of the outfits I made for her when she started Kindergarten) then me and John. We went to spend Christmas with our families in 1972. I don't think this is Christmas dinner, I think it is a Bar-B-Q in my dad's back yard.
In the Summer of 1979, we traveled across the country to visit our relatives and see the country. My Gramma Van Kirk was very happy to see us. She is holding Ganon's hand, Jon is holding Becca and Kelly is looking at Ganon, and I am holding 6 month old Megan. This was the summer before we traded jobs with a guy in Capistrano Beach. Kelly and Jon would be attending the 7th and 8th grade. That was the school where Kelly started playing the flute. What was the name of the school, Kel?
Jon Michael is holding Ganon, Grampa Van Kirk is holding Megan and Rebecca, and Kelly is holding Amanda. This photo was taken at the airport in Honolulu in November 1982. That would mean that Amanda is already a year old. Jon would be 16 and Kelly 15.

November at Nu'uanu Pali

We were such tourists. We even had the tour bus driver take our picture. It wasn't as windy as it usually is. We did see bees walking on the ground though.

Along Route 66

There are lots of outcropings of rocks along Route 66. The cartoon "Cars" shows many of the features of Route 66. We passed this one on our way to Lake Havasu. Do you think it looks like a baseball glove? Papa says it is more of a Catchers Mit. In "Cars", the rocks looked like the tail fins and hood ornaments on cars. Gramma thinks the "Catcher's Mit" is really fun and could have been in the movie.