It was a roller coaster of emotions!  The joy of being in the arena in Melville, the pleasure of seeing our son on the ice among some top-notch curlers and the nervousness of the competition. 
We, the fans of Daniel Selke and Team Howard, sat in the same section and made plenty of noise when cheering.  Our family was well-represented.  My step-mom, Dinah, stayed with us for the three days.  Mark drove from Gladstone; Caylea drove from Nipawin; Walter's brother Ed was watching on line and I was texting updates to my sister and Mom.  (Paula surprised us by showing up for Saturday morning.)  It was an exciting few days!
The guys curled their hearts out!  Daniel had a great event and missed very few shots.  They won three games and lost three games...so with the triple knock-out system, after the third loss, they were done.  But the fact that they made it to Saturday morning was a huge victory in their first appearance as a team at the provincial Tankard!
So proud of the team.  And so exhausted after the emotional ups and downs!
We had a couple days at home to prepare for our next adventure - Phoenix!
For the past three years, we have flown to Phoenix to meet as an Executive Team from NCEM.  This year, we had Dan and Deanna Woodard as facilitators, helping us learn more about ourselves and each other and God.  The focus was on Crucial Conversations, Crucial Accountability and Core Values.  The last day we discussed some of our current challenges and brainstormed some possible approaches for solutions.  It was encouraging to find we are on the same page in many ways.  God has brought unity and understanding over the past three years of serving together.
Thursday evening, the Phoenix Coyotes played hockey and it was "Riderville Night"!  We wore our Rider jerseys and saw lots of other Saskatchewan fans in the arena.  Fun game.
We went to the Heard Museum on Saturday, to watch the Native American Hoop Dancing competition and check out the Native displays.  Great!  Then at 5 pm we went to listen to the "Liberty Quartet", a Gospel group.  Wonderful music.  But we who are considered middle-aged, brought the average age of the crowd at that church down to 70 years old!!!  It was an enjoyable evening.  As the concert closed, I leaned over to suggest "Let's eat at Cracker Barrel", and just then Jason said he was thinking the same thing!  Southern Gospel music...southern home-cooking!  Perfect.
Sunday morning, we attended the morning worship service at Siloam Baptist Church on the Gila River Reservation.  The Southwest Indian Ministry Center where we stay and hold our workshops, are part of a mission with staff who serve as missionaries around the world.  This center has missionary/pastors on reservations in the U.S. So it was special to experience the similarities to the First Nations churches we have attended.  Some of the folks remembered us from two years ago.  The pastor preached an awesome message on Revival leading up to their special meetings this weekend.  2 Chronicles 7:14 - "If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."  Powerful scripture that I remember from my first year serving at Morning Star Ministries teaching Sunday School.  We still need God's healing;  we still need to humble ourselves and pray and seek the face of the Lord!
Monday morning, our teammates were flying back to Saskatoon.  So Walter and I relaxed and cleaned up the lounge and kitchen we had used.  At coffee time, we went to say our good-byes to the SIMC staff before heading to Hobby Lobby.  Yes, we enjoy shopping at the craft and hobby shop!  Then we headed to Costco to replace Walter's carry-on luggage.  It had developed a significant hole and was not going to make it back home intact!
Finally, we still had the whole afternoon so we found a Zoo & Aquarium to hang out at.  It was a warm day, cloudy but so perfect.  We enjoyed the various monkey/gibbon/lemur section, many birds including macaws and parrots. We also saw some lions and tigers, but they are lazy and not too interesting to watch.  There was an indoor section of reptiles and a nursery of mammals.  Just as we came near a shelter, the heavens opened.  It actually rained in the desert!  So we ducked in and after about ten minutes, the rain shower passed by.  We decided to grab some lunch.  Near the restaurant was the aquarium section, so we wandered by the tanks of tropical fish, sharks and seahorses.  It was a delightful way to end our time in Phoenix.
By the time we drove to the car rental return, grabbed the shuttle back to the airport and got ourselves through security, we had about an hour to spare.  The final leg of the journey was a direct flight home.  We watched the inflight TV and napped a bit.  Landing at YQR at midnight, we retrieved our carry-on bags and texted for an Uber.  Home and in bed before 1 am.
And that's how it's done!