Los Lunas Mystery Stone

We’d heard about the Los Lunas Mystery (Decalogue) Stone after we moved to New Mexico. It took us 2 years to get directions and actually drive/walk to find it. The road was so muddy that we found it was easier to walk in the snow where the ground was a little harder. Despite our efforts to stay clean, our shoes were caked with mud; we took them off before we climbed into Emily’s car!

The Mystery Stone is a large boulder on the side of Hidden Mountain that bears a very regular inscription carved into a flat panel. The inscription is interpreted to be an abridged version of the Decalogue or Ten Commandments in a form of Paleo-Hebrew. The stone is controversial in that some claim the inscription if Pre-Columbia, and therefore proof of early Semitic contact with the Americas.

The first recorded mention of the stone is in 1933, when professor Frank Hibben, an archaeologist from the University of New Mexico, saw it. Hibben was led to the stone by an unnamed guide who claimed to have found it as a boy in the 1880s. The 1880s date of discovery is important to those who believe that the stone was inscribed by a lost tribe of Israel. One argument against the stone's antiquity is its apparent use of modern Hebrew punctuation; other researchers dismiss the inscription based on the numerous stylistic and grammatical errors that appear in the inscription.

Because of the stone's weight of over 80 tons, it was never moved to a museum or laboratory for study and safekeeping. Many visitors have cleaned the stone inscriptions over the years, likely destroying any possibility for scientific analysis of the inscriptions' patina. Nevertheless, comparing it to a modern inscription nearby, geologist G. E. Morehouse estimated that the inscription could be between 500 and 2000 years old and explaining its freshness and lack of patina as being due to frequent scrubbing to make it more visible.

Whether the stone was carved by ancient Nephites/Lamanites or a modern hoax, I’m glad we visited the Los Lunas Mystery Stone.

Ron's Little Princess

Who would have thought that Ron would have a Little Princess? He loves Abby so much (and so do I). She has such an expressive face and is quite the cuddler.

2011 Primary CTR 7 Class

Who would have thought that I'd be called as a Primary teacher for the 7- turning 8-years-old. And then to give me a class with four boys--not a single girl! I am one of four daughters, I have two daughters of my own, I was a Girl Scout Leader--give me girls! But I knew that that Lord had a purpose in mind for me. I was able to learn how to teach boys who will become the Priesthood holders of the future. My heart broke on December 18 when I had my last class with Cody, Daniel, Jaxon, and Logan. They will move to Valiant 8 and I will get a new class. I'll have five girls and one boy and a chance to learn to love six more of our Heavenly Father's sweet children.

Christmas in New Mexico

There is a special feel in the cold air of New Mexico at Christmas. We've already had our first snow of the year and the low temperature was 0°. It's been fun to decorate the outside of our house (considered a Spanish Territorial design) in southwest fashion with luminarias lighting the way for the spirit of the Christ child to your home. Ron found a way to weight down the luminarias on the roof so that they didn't blow away during the Santa Ana winds. The inside of our home is full of traditions from many years together. Laura was down the weekend we decorated the tree and it's fun to remember where each of the ornaments came from. They all have special meaning to us--the vegetable ornaments from Gordon's Nursery in Yelm, the German ornaments from the Davis Family, the woven hearts that Lucy made containing an English penny, and, especially, the ornaments the girls have made over the years. The speakers in Church last Sunday asked us to remember to put "Christ" in Christmas this year. We have tried to ponder more about what the Savior's birth means in our lives. We are truly grateful for his birth, life, atonement, and resurrection.

40 Years with the Forest Service

Although I actually hit the 40-year mark on March 9, 2011, the ceremony to award length-of-service certificates was held on December 15, 2011. The ceremony acknowledges the employees of the Albuquerque Service Center; I work for the Human Resources Management group. In addition to a pin and certificate, ASC awards Nambé giftware to employees. The 5-year piece is a small bowl and the pieces get larger with longer length of service. My 40-year tray is the 2nd largest piece that Nambé sells. Nambé is an eight-metal alloy whose major component is aluminum. It was developed in 1953 by Martin Eden, a former metallurgist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Nambé Mills, Inc., was founded in 1951 near Nambé Pueblo, about 10 miles north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The alloy has the luster of silver and the solidity of iron but does not contain silver, lead, or pewter. There are five ASC employees who hit the 40-year mark this year, but I was the only one at the ceremony. As I told many people, it seems like just yesterday that I started work at the Olympia Forestry Sciences Laboratory. I figured it would be a good place to work for a few years. It was 38 years before I left the Olympia Lab to work in Albuquerque. There aren't a lot of 40-year federal government employees who have spent their entire career with the same agency and most of it at the same location. Emily told people that I started as a baby at the Lab--my Mom pushing me around in a stroller doing some filing. It's been a great 40 years and the ceremony made for a very special day.

This monument is dedicated to the Mormon Battalion, the only religiously based regiment in US military history. The monument is located off Interstate 25 between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico. The unit served from July 1846 to July 1847 during the Mexican-American War. 500 Mormon volunteers marched almost 2,000 miles from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to San Diego, California. Many say the Battalion march and service was instrumental in helping the US secure much of the American Southwest, including new lands in several Western states, especially the Gadsden Purchase of 1853 of much of southern Arizona.

Praying Mantis

Ron found this praying mantis when he was cleaning out the garden today. I was surprised at how big the praying mantis is; it was at least 2 inches long. New Mexico has bugs that we aren't used to seeing in Washington--stick bugs, children of the earth, and lots of beautiful butterflies.