A last look at New Mexico

I love it when I visit family or friends and they show me places, not necessarily tourist spots, that are special to them.

Emilia took me to one of her favorite places, this stretch of road through a tunnel of trees. It is now one of my favorite places.

One of my favorite rides was on the Rail Runner into downtown Albuquerque. It was just a two block walk to Ryan's office from the station where I got to see their beautiful decorating done on a dime. We took a walk around downtown and then ate at Tucano's next to the transportation hub that is light rail, regular train service, and bus station before taking the train back home through the dark. Tucano's is a Brazilian style barbeque and it was delicious and fairly priced, much better than our Phoenix choices for Brazilian. Emilia ate chicken hearts to her own heart's content.

But Tucano's may not be her only favorite place to eat. On her birthday, she chose Outback. Something to do with a "blooming onion." She is wearing a birthday girl button chosen for her by her husband. My brother, Farrell, and his wife, Eveline, along with my sister, Jolene, joined us for dinner. There was lots of conversation (some of it silly Farrell/Ryan style.) Yes, my only brother and my 2nd son are a bit like two peas in a pod and only they understand some of their shared humor.

Things to Remember:
* Temple visit with Emilia and Jolene
* Checking out Eveline's new kitchen
* Making friends with the "grand dogs" Max and Lucy
* A drive to Belen where they were making a movie in the old downtown
* Roll making with Emilia on a rainy day (and Emilia's yummy chicken tortilla soup - perfect rainy day food!)
* A gigantic hug from Ryan as I left him at the airport

Things I love, My siblings

A week ago I gave a talk to a large group of women. I posted a part of that talk about my mother and her example of being a life long learner. My uncle Keith, Velva's younger brother, just scanned this picture of Velva and her children and shared it on the Nyborg Cousins My Family site. It was taken on the ranch in Idaho near Drummond during one of our summer visits from Arizona in about 1967. I'm not certain of the exact year. I'm also not certain which side trip we took that year, but I know that there was one.

I really love my siblings. Fortunately my mother guided her family in a positive, faith-filled way during the physical decline of my father during these years. The loss of a man being able to fulfill his roles as a father and husband plus the added care he required could have fractured a family just through the stress of it all. Instead, it drew us closer and we learned to rely on and support one another. No we weren't a perfect family, but we always stepped up for each other and we still do.

I was taken from school on my 16th birthday to go get my driver's license. Mom was more than ready to share the chauffeuring duties of getting everyone to and from their many activities. Summers found us rotating meal planning and grocery shopping duties. Thank goodness for the Saturday morning chore jar (and for a middle sister, Lynette, who loved things clean.) My sweet little sisters took turns walking home from their elementary school to make sure that my father would have lunch. My brother, Farrell, became our Priesthood holder. We sewed many of our own clothes. I think the three oldest girls in the next picture are all wearing dresses which I sewed. When I left on my honeymoon, my outfit had been created by my sister, Lynette. We just knew that we needed to work together to make it work. We also had great respect and love for our mom, a woman who exemplified service and family first.


Here we are in a "cleaned up" version from about the same time period. My dad, by this time, was bed-ridden and unable to travel to Idaho or the photographer's studio with us.

Last April, we siblings hosted a Nyborg family reunion here in Arizona. Many of our cousins traveled in reverse, from Idaho to Arizona for a visit. Some of them took side trips on the way. Once again, Velva's children worked together.