The Santa Rosa Wash is flowing.....

Rain has been frequenting our area for the past few weeks - mostly on Sundays for some reason. Unlike other areas, the water does not seep into the soil quickly. Instead it sits there for weeks at a time. This bridge was constructed and opened about a year ago - just in the nick of time. The second picture was taken in December 2008 and shows the wash from the other side and how we crossed the wash before the bridge. When the rains came we would have to detour around - you can see why! Duchess and I took a little bike trip down to the wash to see the water up close. I was amazed at the current! Usually the water is so shallow it just sits there! This time it actually looked like a small river. Even the rivers around here (which are normally dry) are now running and posing some problems. Just yesterday four horseback riders trying to cross the water were swept away. Gratefully all the riders were rescued but sadly one horse had to be put down from injuries suffered. One horse was still stranded on a sandbar last night. They say still waters run deep and this was the case here. The experienced riders had been crossing at the same place many times but this time the water was too much for them. One of the newscasters said that no where else is a dry river bed common and when filled with water is considered a flood. Because of flooding throughout the valley years ago the dam and Lake Roosevelt were created and now water flows into the canals and is used for the needs of the people.

Pacana Park adventure

Sitting by the pond - watching birds, people, cars, etc.

The biggest loser................

These will be her "BEFORE" pictures:

Duchess began her diet about three weeks ago. Larry thinks she has lost a couple of pounds but I am not so sure. She was 11 pounds overweight so no more treats all day long!!! She has been so good about this new plan - as if she doesn't know what's going on! I think Larry has had a harder time not spoiling her with the treats but he is coming along. The vet said a pound a month weight loss would be fine so that is what we are aiming for! I'll keep you posted on how she progresses. Is there "The Biggest Loser" for dogs? Hmmmm.

(Friday, February 26th - We were out and about today so we took Duchess with us and stopped by Petsmart to weigh her. Remember, Larry said he was sure she had lost about 2 lbs? Well the scale said she gained 1.2 lbs. I can't believe the scales weigh the same. In fact - I don't believe they do. More exercise!!!!) We're off to the park for a run!

Indexing can be addictive.....

(To see this a little larger just double click - when finished hit the return arrow in the upper left corner of your screen. Note: You'll be able to see my total number on the bottom left of the screen.)

I have been indexing census records - among other records - for a while now and just reached another milestone 18,045!!!! Usually there are 50 lines on each census to transcribe but other countries have different forms. I have only done the United States and Canada Federal Census Records but I did do some French Canadian census records in French. Other forms I have transcribed include marriage, birth, and death records for the United States and Canada; land taxes for England, and State census records.

There is also a point system given of which I have earned 26,559. Here is an explanation of how these points are calculated: "Points provide a way for you to track your personal indexing contribution to FamilySearch. Points correspond to records you have indexed, adjusted for degree of difficulty (since some projects are much more challenging than others). All records receive at least one point, but more difficult indexing projects may give anywhere from two to ten points per record."

One of the main reasons I contribute is so that these records can be more available to those searching out their ancestors. I have been able to find so many of my ancestors through the census records and hope that may more will be found! And soon! Guess patience is not one of my strongest suits....oh well. I'm still working on that one.

An interesting check and balance system is in place with FamilySearch - two different people transcribe the records and if they do not agree a third person, or arbitrator, reads the records and makes a decision on what is correct. I think this is an ingenious (and inspired) way to transcribe more accurately than just one person doing it on their own. I know because some of the records are so hard to read because of fading or damage to the document. (When the US Federal Census records were first started they were only being used to count heads basically and were not always taken care of properly. Now those same records are also used for genealogy research.) Unfortunately the 1890 census records for the United States were destroyed in a fire so they are no longer available but other than that we have records dating from 1790 to the present at 10-year intervals. This year is a census year so take the time to complete the form and return it promptly. This information also helps our cities, counties, and states get funding based on the correct number of inhabitants.

Twas the week before Christmas.....

Larry got a great deal on some used pavers a few weeks ago so we decided to see what we could do with them. Here is the before picture:

Here are the after pictures. We did put sand in between the pavers but haven't taken a picture yet. Love the added space!!

We were pretty pooped after laying the pavers - mainly because we had to hand carry them from the side yard to the back. Our wheelbarrow gave out after the first load - the tire went flat and could not be filled! We have more stones waiting to make a pathway but that project will have to wait until next year!!! Maybe New Year's Day???

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin' keep those doggies rollin'........

We had a wonderful time with Dale and Carol last weekend. One of the things we saw was the Western town of Rawhide which is not too far from where we live. When we pulled up there were a lot of cars but no one in the town so we dubbed it a "Ghost Town". As we were walking in we could hear the loudspeaker playing Frankie Layne's rendition of Rawhide - see the words -------->


Interesting that the Conastoga wagon has a "motorcycle parking only" sign in front of it!

We caught Larry and Dale redhanded loitering and sent them directly to the portable jail.

After walking around for 15-20 minutes we were approached by one of the workers who asked if we were part of the private party. Since we were not she told us the town was closed until evening. We grabbed our cowboy hats and left.

Coming home from work I witnessed just a little taste of our Heavenly Father's artistic talent! I was stopped at a red light for the first picture and then hurried out of my car at the library to take the next two pictures. The last one was taken after I came out of the library - just a few minutes made a world of difference, don't you think? If you double click on the photos you can see them a little more clearly. Too bad the photos don't do the color justice!!!