Thank you to the Hefel's for their incredible hospitality and generosity. They did not know us, we had never met but they made every effort to make us feel at home and the food... oh my, the food was awesome!



We spent most of our time out under Becky's beautiful pergola listening to the tree frogs, watching the Hummingbirds in the Honeysuckle, and of course, eating.

The sweat lodge...

The sweat lodge itself represents our mother's womb and the process of being "reborn." Inside, the lodge is heated by the Grandfathers, which are large river rock stones, some about the size of footballs, that are heated in the Sacred Fire. The stones are occasionally dowsed with the medicine water consisting of sage, cedar, bear root, and sweet grass and those participating in the sweat are encouraged to drink the medicine water to help cool off. Grandmother also told us that the medicine water is good for migraines.

Before.....

After...

We participated in the Sweat twice during the weekend. The experience was completely different each time and the second was about a half hour longer than the first. Healing sweats can be considerably longer.


Several people have asked me, "What does it feel like when you come out of the lodge?" When we came out the second time it was dark and about 64 degrees. It was a little bit of a shock after being so warm, much like a newborn infant I suppose and we were cold and incredibly hungry. But it was a refreshing feeling... something that you immediately say, "I want to do that again!"

It has been a long time since I have laughed and cried this much in one weekend! Alisha, thanks to you I learned that even plastic deer need to eat and are surprisingly well behaved. Rebecca you taught me that it does not matter if a road is straight or curvy... they can still be windy!

But more importantly this past weekend confirmed my belief that no matter how long or far you have been apart from someone, if you are truly "sisters" no time will have passed at all.

And speaking of time, I have not worn a watch since before this trip and I have no intention of putting it back on. I am embracing the concept of remaining on "Indian time" as much as possible.

This is the town of McGregor Iowa. It looked a lot like downtown Mayberry USA however they did have an awesome contemporary coffee shop. We were told that the nearest grocery store was about 15 miles away. I could have spent all day just walking from shop to shop.




So, to my sisters Sacred Red Willow Woman and Dancing Raven,

Please know that I will hold the memories of our June trip close to my heart. I pray the spirits will bless us with many more trips in the future. Each of us has our own personal issues we have to deal with and I believe that this trip was the start of a new beginning in more ways than one for all of us. Words can not adequately express what we took away from this incredible journey and knowing that we did this together makes it all the more special.

Little Hawk Woman

We spent a long day in Overland Park last weekend. Syd worked very hard to meet a reading goal we set and her reward was lunch at the Rainforest Cafe and a visit to Build-A-Bear Workshop.

We made a quick stop in Lawrence on the way home to eat at my favorite place on Mass St; Jefferson's, for some baked oysters and fried pickles. Yummmm. And of course, had to see my favorite lil' Jayhawker....

I'm not sure what they are looking at but the girls were a little freaked out by all the 'street people'. It was a day packed full of running here & there, ice cream waffles cones, and "building" a new buddy to take home (her name is Lilly by the way).

"What the he.... !"

Somebody want to tell me what is wrong with this picture? No, I'm not referring to all the dirt on my vehicle. I'm talking about this purple monstrosity I inadvertently discovered after apparently driving around oblivious for two freaking days!

My first thought was how the heck did this get by me. My second, and more disturbing thought was where have I been since Tuesday night and how many people have seen this on my car! Dang it! Why, why, why did I have to pick this week to start golfing!!!

Okay little prankster.. you got me. I'll give you credit for that. But if you think for a minute that I don't already have some ideas flowing, you're saaadly mistaken. Game on.

Class of 2008

Our oldest nephew Brock graduated from high school this weekend. It is a little difficult for us to accept that he is grown up and will now be moving on to the next phase of his life. It is also a big reminder of how old we are getting. It seems like just yesterday he was our little ring bearer in his little tiny grey tuxedo and here he is all grown looking so handsome in his cap and gown.

Brock, I don't know if you know this or not, but your family is very proud of the man you are becoming. You haven't had an easy life and there is a lot of stuff you have had to do on your own but you have not let that get you down and more importantly you haven't given up. This has not gone unnoticed by the people who love you and just know that we will continue to support you in whatever you take on next.

Oh and Ps., "You have to stand up for yourself because nobody else is going to do it!" (Aunt Connie, 2008)
We love you kid!

Gone fishin'

Syd and her Daddy got up early Sunday & headed out to the river to do some fishing & exploring. Her sister had gone a few days earlier with some of her friends & lil' Sis felt left out. Going fishing with her Dad is all she talked about all weekend.

She did need to get some advice from her Mom though before they left... "Mom, what do you think, should I wear my red parrot hat or my green frog hat when I go fishing?" I told her if she was going to the river then she definitely needed to wear the frog because there are no parrots at the river.

When big Sis came home from fishing with her friends, it was 50 degrees out, she was wearing her swimsuit & was covered in mud from head to toe. I almost didn't let her in the house. Not Syd though. She did not like getting her feet muddy & insisted that Dad wet a rag for her right away so she could clean them off. (No doubt whose kid she is!)

"Go KU, Da Da!"

In a house "divided" you have to start the brainwashing at an early age. Clearly Blake is progressing nicely. Good job Sis!

"I will call him....Mini Me!"

"It's like Bible school Native American style."

My Iowa friend, Rebecca has arranged for us to take part in the Miner's Creek sweat lodge and spiritual retreat in Iowa this June. When she mentioned it I didn't even hesitate. I've always been very open minded to new experiences and plus it's an over-due opportunity for us to spend some time together. After I heard her stories, my curiosity had the best of me. I have all the details now and I must admit, I'm a little nervous. She told me to think of it as Bible school, only Native American style. Okay, that makes sense.

Our guide on this experience is a woman named Starwalker. She is an Ojibwa-Cree Spiritual Healer from Michigan. The first day we are taking part in a sweat lodge ceremony. The purpose of a sweat is to achieve spiritual renewal and purification of the mind, body, soul, and spirit. It's a ceremony that Native Americans have practiced for hundreds of years. It was sometimes used by men to seek guidance and success on their hunting trips. For others it was used as a means to cure illness. We are also taking part in a Naming ceremony the following day. This is to find our Native American name, clan, and colors.

There are different ceremonies taking place throughout the week but we are only doing the ones that are scheduled for the weekend. I have a small list of offering items that I need to get to take with me such as tobacco and berries. There are also strict guidelines as far as what you wear in the lodge, fasting, etc. I'll be sure to report back on this experience as much as I can. I anticipate that it will be an emotional but purifying weekend.

Happy Mother's Day!

Both of the girls gave me the sweetest presents for Mother's Day. Sydney wrote an adorable poem about what makes her mommy funny, mad, happy, etc. and apparently my favorite food is "just about anything!" (Oh she knows me all too well.) I'm just proud she didn't say margaritas!


Gentry handed me a little bag and said, "Here you go mom... Sorry, it's kinda stupid."

This tiny little card reads:

"This is a special gift
That you can never see
The reason it's so special
is It's just for you from me.

Whenever you are lonely
Or feeling a little blue;
You only have to hold this gift
To know I think of you.

You never can unwrap it,
Please leave the ribbon tied.
Hold the box close to your heart,
It's filled with love inside. "

I was reading this aloud but when I got to the last line, I couldn't get the words out and my eyes were full of tears. I know she was probably wondering why anyone would get so choked up over an empty box! But I am pretty sure that anyone who is a mom or is close to their mom would completely understand why I thought this was the best gift ever. Happy Mother's Day....

It's a start....

I had to be confined to the house Sunday to work on a final project for school but once the temperature got up to 79 degrees I had to move my work station outside for a bit.

I don't even care that I got sun burnt because it was totally worth it.

Play ball!

Softball officially started this weekend but it felt more like football weather. The 9 and under B's played a two day tournament in Manhattan. Sunday was nice but Saturday was a totally different story.
This is Gen's first year of kid-pitch and it's a completely different ballgame, no pun intended. The pitches are faster so batting is a bit trickier for her right now. The confidence level she had is going to take some time to rebuild. After striking out, then walking, she did manage to hit a triple. She also has a good sized battle wound on her ankle where she got smacked with a ball.

Once upon a time....

Once upon a time there was a girl who was sick to death of cold weather. She dreamed of someday seeing the sun shine and since mother nature was not cooperating, she was reduced to day dreaming instead.

She could not wait until the day she could burrow down in her chaise lounge in the back yard & feel the heat soaking into her skin...

and watch the sun dance off the water .....

She would mix Mojitos with fresh mint her friend was nice enough to give her and ....

she would invite her friends over to play.

They would laaaaaugh and joke until they got hungry and then they would chow down on whatever was cookin' on the grill.

(Oops, that's not from the grill! But just as yummy!)

Then, once their tummies were full, her friends would all go home because the sun had gone down and the girl was starting to get grumpy. But the next day, the sun would be back and they would do it all over again and they lived happily ever after.