The toured being tourists

I took this picture as we were sitting outside the bookstore at the Grand Canyon a few weeks ago.  We had seen two Amish families inside with their children, perusing the items and being tourists just like we were.  I love this picture- the non-straight walk of the little boy as they go off hand in hand into the sunset, just like any other Grand Canyon visitor coming out of the bookstore that afternoon.

Except that they were Amish.

It was very refreshing to me that this time, they were the tourists. 

Where I live in Pennsylvania, I'm used to the tourists going to them. 

Now I know where they go to get away from it all.....

wrapping it up

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for following this blog and sharing it with others and taking the time to read what I posted.  I thoroughly enjoyed doing it, and it was a good way to keep in touch.  It was great to be able to update you on our work and progress each day, and I believe it helped those who were praying for us and thinking of the team to stay connected. 

I am sure I speak for the team when I say that we are settled back into our lives in Pennsylvania, but we have Keams Canyon on our hearts and minds now.  You can't simply forget about an experience like that- when you spend a week and live and work right alongside other brothers and sisters in Christ toward the same purpose and the same goal, you change. Worlds meet that had never met before, and from then on you are never the same.  We are praising God for the opportunity we had to be used by Him.

I'll say goodbye on this blog for now  - if you're interested, I also blog at Chocolate for the Heart and I'd love to see you there!

In Him and by His Grace- Beth Coulton

a traditional hopi meal

We were honored to be the recipients of some authentic cooking while we were on the reservation.  Kay made us a delicious Hopi dinner full of traditional ingredients.

There was hominy soup -

that could have been made with mutton, but for us, she used beef.

Yummy rolls...

Then there were the blue corn flaky tortillas, which melted away in your mouth because they were so light and airy.

The tortilla recipe starts with indian corn which is grown everywhere- and not watered.  It's planted, and left on its own until the harvest.  Thus, it gets very dry.

The other secret to the flaky tortilla-like shell is in the preparation.  Once the cornmeal mixture has been prepared, it's cooked on a stone over an open fire.

And pig's brains are used to grease the stone.

Moving on....

Inside these corn husks, which are used solely for the wrapping and presentation in this recipe (a lot of work but with beautiful and appealing results) are wads of thick blue cornmeal that is almost like candy to the Hopi children.  They have a sweetness to them that's hard to describe, but apparently they don't last long at a local gathering. 

We were hungry, and it all was delicious.  Kay put a lot of love and time into preparing that for us during the day so that she could have it ready by dinnertime.

Dessert was 18 of us sitting around the tables, each taking a turn to tell a little about ourselves. Which turned into a lot about ourselves.

 It was a most wonderful evening.

new friends

I wanted to introduce you to some of the people we met while living at the church in Keams Canyon.   They are all near and dear to our hearts.

This is Edison.  He is married to Kay.

This is Kay. She made us a traditional Hopi dinner mid-week.

This is Gibson.  He's the caretaker of the property and is Kay's brother.

This is Emiline (along with Kay and her grandson Rick standing behind).  She's Gibson's wife and Edison's sister. 

Getting the picture? Brother and sister married another brother and sister.  And the four of them are the pillars of the church right now, along with Emiline and Edison's sister Virginia.

Who is David's grandmother.

Obviously, family is extremely important to the Hopi.  It is one yardstick they use to measure wealth.  That and crops.

This is the Piantedosi family who works with Chief missions.

Nick and Leslie, and their children Olivia and Matthew.

Their help and contribution were so valuable to our visit.

And there you have it- those that we rubbed shoulders with all week, dug trenches with, shared meals and had lots of conversation and laughter with.

We are all the better for knowing them!

we're back.....

We are home!  We landed in Philadelphia last night at 6 pm and most of us were up and out the door to work this morning, back to our day jobs.   I found that as I returned to my regular routine, I was very aware of what was most likely happening 2000 miles and three hours behind me.  I'm sure today all of the team was thinking of the week we just spent together and what we accomplished by God's grace and with His help.

Don - Excellent locksmith!

Marty - Next stop, NASA. He wore the suit. And beautified a bathroom.

Best pals- Matthew and Digger. (aka Will)  His nickname says it all.

Buddy hung with Steve while he ran electric...and every other time.

Scott can be proud of those pipes! That's a thing of beauty!

"What? You're not working? You're diggin' for rocks?? Come over here...I have something for you to do...."   Thanks for keeping us on task and on track Fran!

Me updating the blog daily (or more) from Gib and Emiline's house.

Jo tried her hand at taping and spackling - good job!  Although she was along to help me cook, once her talents were discovered I lost her to the construction crew.

Those are the individuals from our Davisville team.  In tomorrow's post I'll show you those we met and grew to love while we were there. They are forever in our hearts!

on second thought....

After thinking about it last night, I realized there are many more pictures to share and stories to tell from our trip.  And what better way to do it than through this blog!  So.... I will continue to update it after we get home. We'd love it if you'd stick around for a while!

We are pulling out at 8 am and heading to the Grand Canyon, which is about a three hour drive from here.  After the Grand Canyon, we will have about a five hour drive to the hotel for tonight.  Tired bodies are just fine to be sitting for a while today, taking in the sights through the van windows!

I'm so glad we had this time together...

This will be the final blog post for this trip as tomorrow at 8 am we leave what we've come to know as "home" for this past week and travel to the Grand Canyon for Saturday afternoon, staying in Phoenix overnight in preparation to fligh out at 11 am on Sunday.

Words cannot express what has taken shape in our lives and our hearts this past 6 days as we've worked with Gib, Emiline, Edison and Kay.  We've also gotten to know one another as individuals and as a team which is always so much fun. 

We've broadened our horizons, our worlds and our faith in ways that could have never happened if we hadn't come on this trip.  

And a hearty thanks to each and every one of you who have prayed for us and also who have checked in on us through this blog- it has been viewed almost 1000 times since I started it late last week.  I'm so thankful it's been a helpful tool for communicating with all of you who are interested in what we're up to out here!

Looking forward to returning home and telling our stories......

Beth for the Arizona team