Sunday, October 26, 2008

More Photos

Click here: More Grand Canyon & Sedona pics.

Grand Canyon & Sedona

The hubby & I had a great time with ETK & Baby in the Grand Canyon!

We stayed just outside of the park in a small town called Tusayan, AZ, and so we just a few minutes away from the South Rim. We hiked every day! The first day we did part of the South Kaibab trail, the second day we took it down a few notches (the South Kaibab was STEEP, but great) and did the Rim Trail, and the third day we hiked part of the Bright Angel trail. We tried many of the restaurants, and they were mostly mediocre at best. BUT what do you expect from a state park. ;) However, we really enjoyed the breakfast & strong coffee at Cafe Tusayan. We didn't try lunch or dinner, so not sure how those meals rate. I imagine probably not that great from what I briefly read from reviews online. BUT one does not go to the Grand Canyon for the food. You go for the BREATH-TAKING views and awesome hiking. I really enjoyed it & will definitely go back sometime. Maybe next time we'll get to stay at one of the cabins or lodges in the park. Or maybe even in the historic El Tovar.

Hubby & I spent our last night in Sedona, AZ. What a beautiful town! I wish we had spent a few more days there. Also, breath-taking views. We didn't have time to hike, but had some time to check out some of the shops and art galleries, snapped some great photos of the red rocks, stayed in an awesome hotel, and had an AMAZINGLY delicious last meal at a great Italian restaurant called Dahl & Di Luca Cucina Rustica. Very dee-lish & very romantic. We dined on the patio with an outdoor fire place & a musician. It was a great way to end our vacation.

We had a great time & were glad to share most of our time with ETK & Baby. :)











Tuesday, October 21, 2008

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away men's initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.



Addendum to this...(Thanks for informing us, Ian!!!):

From an internet source:

William J. H. Boetcker (1873 – 1962) was an American religious leader and influential public speaker.
Born in
Hamburg, Germany, he was ordained a Presbyterian minister soon after his arrival in the United States as a young adult. He quickly gained attention as an eloquent motivational speaker, and is often regarded today as the forerunner of such contemporary "success coaches" as Anthony Robbins
. An outspoken political conservative, Rev. Boetcker is perhaps best remembered for his authorship of a pamphlet entitled The Ten Cannots. Originally published in 1916, it is often misattributed to Abraham Lincoln. The error apparently stems from a leaflet printed in 1942 by a conservative political organization called the Committee for Constitutional Government. The leaflet bore the title "Lincoln on Limitations" and contained some genuine Lincoln quotations on one side and the "Ten Cannots" on the other, with the attributions juxtaposed. The mistake of crediting Lincoln for having been the source of "The Ten Cannots" has been repeated many times since, most notably by Ronald Reagan in a speech he gave at the 1992 Republican convention in Houston.

There are several minor variants of the pamphlet in circulation, but the most commonly-accepted version appears below:
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot help little men by tearing down big men.
You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.
You cannot build character and courage by destroying men's initiative and independence.
And you cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they can and should do for themselves.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

We Survived Ike!

Well, we survived Ike. Thankfully, my family and I got through the storm without major problems. We are ok, my parents' home is fine, and our cars are ok. We did have a lot of trees down & a lot of debris, but it is mostly cleaned up now. The house and my sister's car were JUST missed by trees. Thank God they weren't hit. The house only sustained a small hole in the roof, which is now patched and the power lines were severed, but also repaired. We had NO electricity for 2 weeks! Thankfully Dad has a generator and we were able to have the fridge plugged in, fans, cell phones, and eventually we plugged in window A/C units due to the increasing heat after the storm passed. We got electricity back on this weekend. Let me just say that I LOVE ELECTRICITY, HOT SHOWERS, AND A/C!!! These trully are luxuries that we take for granted. I sooooo appreciate them now if I didn't before. :)

My family and I sure are blessed. As you have probably heard and seen, so many people here were not so lucky. I hears some of the people I know in Galveston lost their homes or nearly lost them and much of their property. Some lost their lives. The losses are horrific. AND I AM SOOOO GLAD hubby & I had already sold our home before the storm....we don't even know yet how it did through the storm. Our old neighborhood is much closer to the coast compared to where my parents' home is. I hope it is ok... but thank God we aren't there any more!!!

Here are some of my storm pics....