Danielson

(Gila Cliff Dwellings) Our last sight-seeing adventure before we left Glenwood was a Saturday trip to the Gila (pronounced He la) Cliff Dwellings. We went with Jeff & Alyce, the camp managers. The dwellings are only 38 miles from camp if you can fly there, but if you have to drive it’s a distance of 150 miles~~remember that we’re in the mountains, and the roads can’t go the shortest distance! And the miles are windy (and windy) and slow going. But soooo worth it! There are seven caves involved, and the Mogollon Indians had forty individual structures built within these caves. The first documentation of the caves was in 1884, but the anthropologist that discovered them revealed that vandals had already damaged walls and roofs, and removed the pots and tools. I thought cliff dwellings were ... read more

(South West Bible Camp) We’re nearly finished with two weeks, half way through this project, and I’m just now getting around to blogging…..thank you for bearing with me! Last time I mentioned how quiet it is here, and I’m telling you again, it’s quiet! But the thing is, everyone is so friendly that we have things going on all the time! The Senior Citizen’s Center is right across the highway (not highways like we knew in Phoenix, though!), and they serve lunch every day for $2. Some people go every day, and some on select days, but everyone goes on Thursday….well, everyone except the Danielsons. Seems that you have to be a senior citizen to eat there, unless you’re willing to pay $8.25 per meal. We’re not. Not senior citizens and not willing to pay ... read more

(Sunshine Acres Children's Home) In January and February when we were wearing shorts, the locals were talking about how cool the weather was this winter…well now that it’s in the high 80s, low 90s, we’re talking about how hot it is (don’t buy into that “dry heat” thing) and the locals are saying it’s not hot at all! It’s all relative, I believe! Mesa is so full of snowbirds, and as they’re preparing to head home, I can’t help but wonder what this town does when they’re gone. One of the RV resorts said they have a winter population of 1800 (in one resort!) and a summer population of 200! I don’t know if some of the businesses close during the summer, and then reopen with the population explosion (in October) or if they just go ... read more

(Phoenix Christian School) We’re on our eighth week at this project, and when we’ve been on one location that long; it’s really difficult to leave. The staff here has been so gracious to us. The motivating factor in moving is the blessings that await us at the next project. We’re only moving 35 miles (we’re going to make the whole trip in one day!!) to Sunshine Acres Children’s Home, in Mesa. It’s just south east of here. This has been a physical challenge for our men~~they laid concrete, roofed two classroom buildings, painted the playground equipment at the preschool, as well as outside staircases, did quite a bit of electrical work, and put a roof between the two wrestling buildings. They also helped us paint the school kitchen, as it took all of us, and ... read more

February 6 (Phoenix Christian School) So much has happened since I last blogged that I hardly know where to begin! Let me start with a health update~~thank you to the people who have inquired about our health. This flu, and I use that word loosely, because the doctor called it bug~~and we paid for that professional summation~~was an upper respiratory infection, and we coughed and sneezed and blew our noses for three weeks. There was comfort in the fact that all six of us were experiencing the same symptoms, because at least we knew no one would die from it….unless we all did. But we’re all well now, and the other six stayed well. Two of our daughters, Sara and Megan, came to visit! What a thrill it was for us to have them around. I ... read more