Along with the good...

Ohhh, what a week.  I told you all about the trip to the Gila Valley Temple last weekend, but I really did not tell you everything about it.  I am going to add to the story today.  One of the things that I have noticed about going to the temple is that if something can go wrong, it probably will.  Someone will fall, someone will cry, someone will need me, someone will argue and fight.  It just seems to be that way, and we do much better if we just expect the difficulties and deal with them. 
I have often wondered why that happens.  I have thought a lot about it throughout my life and have come to the realization that Satan does not want me to go to the Temple.  He would much rather that I stayed home.  He would much rather that I did not get the spiritual nourishment that I so desperately need in my life.  I have come to realize that he will do anything he can to "ruin" the experience for me. 
Our trip to the Gila Valley was no exception to this rule.  It started out hard.  We wanted our son Josh to go with us, but he did not want to go.  So, the rest of us went without him.  It was a four hour drive each way.  We went through the forest, the mountains, the canyon, and the desert.  We so a little of all the different regions in Arizona.  We listened to books on tape and talked about the temple.  We arrived there with no additional disappointments.  We were able to walk around the grounds, take pictures and take the girls inside.  We were able to go to dinner afterward. 
I brought my amazing new camera along for the ride.  We took several pictures at the temple and along the way home.  On our journey, we went through the Salt River Canyon, which has some pretty amazing views.   It is not quite as impressive as the Grand Canyon, but it comes pretty close in it's own way and has a lot of beauty.  We saw several cars that had gone off the windy road over the years.  It costs too much in time and money to tow them back up the steep sides of the canyon.  So, some of them are still down there.  The girls decided that they had to get out and look at the various stopping points to see if they could find any cars.  As they told me, "It is so sad!"
While they were looking for cars, I decided to go hiking down the canyon a little way.  The view were drawing me close to the edges of the cliffs in my hunt for the "perfect" picture.  I was hiking along toward a particularly inviting vista when I heard a distinct rattle.  Yep, you guessed it.  It was a three foot long black Arizona Timber Rattlesnake.  It was right by my leg.  I leaped into the air, screamed at the girls to run to the car, and kept backing away from the snake.  For some reason, he was very aggressive and kept coming toward me.  Finally, I threw caution to the winds, and ran up the hill to the car.  I did not get bit, but of course, my husband wanted to see the snake, and than he wanted me to go back down and take a picture.  This is one time I told him "NO".  Not that it did any good.

I will never understand the fascination that men have with snakes!  There was another woman with her husband, child and dog there.  She was with me every step of the way!  We were up on the ledge yelling at the boys to leave the snake alone.  My husband is there telling me how it can't strike farther away than it is long and all the boys were trying to get a picture.  I was waiting for the thing to fly and have men for dinner! 
Anyway, it was a rather traumatic end (for me) to a very great day.  But, you have to admit, that it was definitely an interesting way to try and ruin the day.  I am just thankful that the snake didn't manage to bite us.  Most of all, I am thankful that we went and felt the spirit that day and were able to share it with our children.  I suspect that I will have a few more dreams about black snakes and husbands before I am able to put that part of it completely behind me!