Engle Family Christmas Party

I was in charge of the Engle family Christmas party and project this year.  I choose the National Guard to do the family project for.  We were given two families with a total of 8 children to purchase Christmas for.  It turned out better than expected and the feeling everyone commented about was that it was probably the one that has felt most "right" in all the ones we have done in the past several years.  I think they will be someone we do again in the future.  The Christmas party was so much fun.  After attending the Bartholomew party last year, Ken said we should do a Wild West Themed party.  So, that is what we did.  The menu consisted of bbq hamburgers, baked beans, relish tray, fruit tray, green sherbet and 7-up (cactus juice), water with lemons and limes, and the chocolate fountain with apple pie and ice cream for dessert.  Ken handled all the games - he had a stick horse race for all of the little kids.  Randle put one of his twins on the rocking horse and ran holding the horse.  It was cute.  They did it several times and so each of Randle's girls got a chance on the rocking horse.  Each finisher received a 50 cent piece as they crossed the finish line.  The kids had a great time.  He also came up with an adult obstacle race - Riding a stick horse, run the width of the cultural hall, then rope the rocking horse from about 6 feet away, once the horse was roped you rode your horse to the next station where you picked up a Nerf dart gun and shot a stack of cans until you knocked one or more down.  The you rode your horse and took your gun to the next station where you were to shoot a dart through a hole in cardboard and then your moved to the next station (again with your horse and gun) to shoot a hanging target.  The winner was the first to complete the obstacle course.  It was really fun to watch!  The next activity was called "The Twelve Bags of Christmas". There were 12 brown paper bags that each contained an item associated with Christmas.  By feel you were to guess what was in the bag.  A prize was given for the person who guessed the most items in both the adult and kid categories.  We also had a homemade cowboy boot piñata.  It really was a lot of fun!

2012 Quick Highlight Review

January - 

Holly, Katie, and Brady came to visit for one month; 

new Eagle Scout Project workbook and Eagle Rank Application required as of Jan 1, 2012.

BrynLee turned 2

February - 

Holly and kids went home

Holly turned 27

March - 

Rick & Holly's 7th anniversary

Ken's nephew Stephen Floyd Bartholomew married Heather on March 23, 2012; 

Rick turned 30.

Lee turned 29

Rick's sister Pearl diagnosed with Inflammatory Breast cancer.

April - 

Career Exploration Services and Provo Vocational Rehab office remodeling began

Our 31st Anniversary

Baby shower for niece, Dusty

Nephew Randle & wife Melissa have a set of Twin Girls - Cami and Tes

May -

Trevor was born - May 8, 2012 (Holly and Rick parents. Delivered by his dad!)

Beth spent 7 weeks in Tennessee helping Holly

Ken and Amy went camping for Memorial Day

June - 

Ken turned 54

Beth, Holly, Katie, Brady, and Trevor came home to Utah - flew into Provo airport!

July - 

Office remodel finished

7-peaks water park swimming almost weekly

Pioneer Day Rodeo - 1st rodeo for Katie, Brady, and Trevor

Pioneer Day Parade and celebration

Chad fixed Chinese for the family

Holly and kids went to Scofield and stayed at the cabin for the weekend

Rick did a rotation in Oklahoma City

August -

Braxton was born August 1 (Lee and Joee parents)

Attended Cami & Tes' blessing in Evanston, Wyoming

Catered "Thank You" Dutch Oven lunch for co-workers

4-wheeling at Sand Dunes with Holly, Katie, Brady, and Trevor

Holly and kids flew home with Holly's sister-in-law Stephanie

Rick did a rotation in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Beth resigned from the Blackhawk District staff

Webelos Woods weekend - Nephew Colton was a participant 

Beth turned 53

September - 

Attended Braxton's blessing in West Bountiful

Attended Engle Family Fishing Derby at Scofield

Attended niece, Kaisha's, dive/swim meet in Kemmerer, Wyoming with Diane, Mom, and Amy

Attended Brigham City, Utah, Temple dedication

Katie turned 4

October - 

Driving Pearl to radiation several times a week began

Brady turned 2

Joee turned 31

November -

Still driving Pearl to radiation several times a week

Lee & Joee's 7th Anniversary

Lee & Joee & kids came for dinner Sunday after Thanksgiving

December -

Pearl still in radiation

Sub-for-Santa for Utah National Guard

Amy turned 24

Hosted Engle family Christmas Party

Visited with Lee and Joee in West Bountiful

Hosted family Empty Nester/Single Adult Christmas Eve dinner

Video chatted with Holly's family Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

Took mom to The DaVinci Exhibit in Salt Lake 

Rode Frontrunner from Provo to Woodscross (stopping in Salt Lake to see the DaVinci Exhibit along the way) to visit with Lee & Joee and family - Delivered Bo's birthday gift

Bo turned 5

Life is always interesting

It has been a while, but here is this week's update.

On June 5th, we had family pictures taken.  We missed having Lee, Joee, Bo, BrynLee in the pictures, but will add them as soon as we can.  We will need to have family pictures taken again once Holly and Rick add their baby in October.  Maybe in December we can get everyone together for a quick picture.

This week was our Ward "Slip 'n Slide" Luau at Peteetneet School in Payson.  It has a hill that they cover with really heavy plastic/vinyl that is about 5 feet wide and 12 feet long.  There are anywhere from 4 to 5 lengths that make the slide.  At the top is a PVC pipe that has been perforated and hooked to a hose to make the sprinkler at the top.  It is a lot of fun.  Well, the event was a big hit especially with the teenagers.  The only injury the whole evening was me. The wind was blowing and so in order for the kids to slide, adults were sitting on the plastic where each length was overlapped to keep the plastic down.  Two young men headed down at the same time (one just ahead of the other).  The first young man came close to my edge, but was able to stay off the edge.  However, the second young man was spinning and out of control and went diagonally across the plastic and plowed right through me. I was hit really, really hard in the rib area and had the wind knocked out of me.  I didn't feel too bad until I went to lift a piece of plastic and realized that my ribs really hurt.  I went home that night and iced them.  I hurt bad enough that I didn't get much sleep.  After work the next day I was swollen and really hurting so I again iced everything and laid down until I had to go to a Roundtable for Eagle Project Approvals. I took Ibuprofen and went to bed and slept better.  Friday I went to the Temple with my friends, but by the time we left the temple my side was so swollen you could feel the swelling.  I was also having trouble breathing.  So, I called and got an appointment to see the Doctor to see if I had broken ribs.  I knew that if I was in pain that could account for the shallow breathing, but wanted to make sure it wasn't more serious.  The x-rays showed no breaks, but that they were all bruised.  He told me it could take up to 10 days before the bruising comes out and that in order for it to heal I needed to stay down (lying down) as much as possible for the next week.  Today I have found that as long as I recline or lay down there is no pain and the swelling is minimal.  If I get up and move then I'm sore and the pain and swelling increases.  So, I've done as little as possible.  It's driving me crazy.  A couple of more days though and I should be on my way to being healed.  Good news from all of this - my bones are still strong for my age - no osteoporosis!!!

Test drove a 2000 Dodge Caravan (11K miles asking $3995) today along with a 2004 Buick Rainer (85K miles asking $10,995).  Didn't buy anything.  Now we'll see what happens next.  Still looking!

    

Holidays

It has been a very crazy month here at the Bartholomew residence.  We were excited and thrilled to have our out-of-state children home for December.  Holly and Katie flew in the evening of December 5th.  By the time we got home, it was 2:30 Tennessee time and they were both wiped out.  Holly's brother-in-law Steve accompanied them which really helped Holly.  My nephew Thomas and his girl friend had their baby blessed on the 6th.  

Our ward party was onthe 8th and the Primary was in charge.  We did a "Polar Express" skit including songs which turned out absolutely wonderful. Santa visited, but Katie would have none of that.  She started to scream before Holly could even place her on his lap. However, she would smile as long as she was farther than arms length away.

Amy's 21st birthday was on the 10th and a close friend, Nate Caldwell, commissioned from the ROTC at SUU on the 11th. So Holly, Katie, Steve, and I made a quick trip to Cedar City to celebrate with Amy and participate in the commissioning for Nate.  We returned before the big storm.

We had a week of shopping, sewing, and getting ready for the Bartholomew brother/sister party on the 20th.  Holly and Amy really helped me out by sewing my gifts together for me.  It made it nice so I could play with Katie when I got home rather than sewing all night. I think Holly wanted to keep my from sewing at night so the sound of the sewing machine wouldn't keep her and Katie up any longer than needed.  The girls were also a great help in getting the party together and making it a success. I couldn't have done it without them.

Rick flew in and joined the fun the evening of the 21st.  It snowed on the 22nd and caused havoc with the roads here in Benjamin.  Rick and Steve took my van to go play with their brother Chad and learned that minivans do not like slick roads and do not slow down like you would expect when you expect them to.  I totally feel for him as he didn't just slide, he slid through an intersection (trying to turn north at the same time) and hit a truck heading south.  It is an awful feeling and will take a while to get over.  The ticket was the only "injury" received, but both vehicles are pretty banged up.  Oh, well.  Maybe my next vehicle will have 4-wheel drive!

Christmas was really nice.  We had a great time opening gifts and just enjoying the morning.  The Jones clan all met at their brother's in Provo and had Christmas dinner and then joined the Engle clan for clam chowder that night.  Lots of fun.

On the 26th we went to Lee and Joee's to exchange gifts.  It was the first time the majority of the family had been up to their new home.  They have purchased a home in the West Bountiful area.  They have a very nice 4-bedroom split-level home with a deck and a big back yard that is fenced.  They took everyone on a tour of the house and then we opened gifts.  Bo was really excited to play with Katie.  Joee had snacks.  Katie kept trying to escape the kitchen with food and so we shut the door so she couldn't leave.  However, Bo could hear her crying and trying to get out and so he opened the door from the other side, grabbed Katie's arm, and took off running with her towards his bedroom. It was really funny.  We had to bring them both back and explain that Katie could play once she was finished eating.  The visit was nice.  

On the 27th, the Jones clan got together again for Chad's daughter Mikayla's blessing.  Ken and I didn't attend as I needed to help with Primary that day.  Both events worked out well.

On the 28th I went shopping and bought a new camera. I am excited to have a digital camera that will actually take a picture without a huge delay.  The pictures are look great as well.

The 29th was another quiet day as it snowed.  It was a lot of fun to play with Katie. She has sure changed while she has been here. Her speech has really improved. She hasn't really slept very well, but she has played cute.  We have also found that she loves pretzels!  If we couldn't get her to eat something, she would resort to the pretzels.  She would even choose the pretzels over candy and cookies.  That evening we got Katie all decked out in her snow gear along with her parents and let her play outside in the snow.  She had a great time!

The 30th dawned with more snow.  Early in the afternoon we bundled Katie back up in all her snow gear and she went snowmobiling with Aunt Amy and Uncle Steve. She also went for a sleigh ride behind the snowmobile.  I was surprised that she didn't come in absolutely frozen, but the outside of everything was wet, but nothing else. She came in and was really glad to lay down and take a nap.  She slept for over an hour and a half.  The 30th is Bo's birthday.  He turned 2 this year.  It was still snowing when it was time to leave for Bo's birthday party and the roads were really bad so we left Amy home and took the truck. Katie had gotten up with a runny nose and a cough and so Holly had decided they would not be able to go to the party, which was a good decision.  It was great to see Bo again and his reaction to us. He loves his grandpa Ken and just giggles and gives hugs to grandma B.  He is fascinated with trains, CARS (Disney movie), and toy cars.

The 31st was spent playing in the snow again, doing laundry, and packing.  The Jones boys and Nate made a "jump" in the field and used the snowmobile to pull them on their skis and snowboards. They named the sport "snomoskiing" and "snomoboarding".  We took Katie out again, this time with grandma.  She was so bundled up that the only thing exposed to the cold was her eyes.  She couldn't even walk in the snow because she couldn't bend her knees due to all the padding.  She played for about an hour and then decided to come in the house. Holly spent the day getting all of their stuff packed. That evening we went to my mom's for New Year's Eve card games and snacks.  Katie got really wound up after about 11 pm and was going full strength at midnight.  Needless to say she did not sleep very well that night.

Jan 1st we got up, had breakfast, and went through the house to make sure that Rick, Holly, and Katie had all of their belongings in one location.  Rick then weighed each of the checked luggage to make sure that nothing weighed more than 50 pounds.  We were then off to the airport.  We had them at the airport around 11 a.m. for their 12:55 p.m. flight.  I was surprised at the number of families that were traveling that day.  I think there were at least 2 kids for every adult at the baggage check-in.  I miss having Holly, Katie, and Rick here, but I'm also glad to be back to our quiet house. Holly reported that Katie was glad to be home and play with her own toys.

Jan 2nd was the day that Amy left for Cedar City.  Now it is truly very quiet at our house.  However, Amy has ended up with another car problem.  Something is shorting out the wiring to the blinkers and blowing the blinker fuses.  She lost the blinkers at about Beaver.  Hopefully, she will be able to figure it out!

Sunday was early morning Church and I spent Saturday night sick.  I didn't want to go, but Ken reminded me that I needed to be there for the changes in Primary.  I made it through the block and then went home, still feeling crappy.  Around 8 pm I started to feel better.  Haven't got a clue what caused it.

Today was back to work and a ton of emails and work to do.  The surprise for the day was that a water main located under the front parking lot for the State building burst around 7 a.m.  They turned the water off to the building around 9 a.m., but didn't close the building.  Everyone had to go the County building next door to use the restrooms.  They got the water back on around 2:30 p.m.  The next big event for the day was the 4.1 earthquake in Cedar City at 9:24 a.m..  Amy said it woke her up, but no damage.  Great day!

Another week gone!

Where has July gone? It is the 17th of July. I can't believe time has gone so fast. I have several projects I've decided to work on. The first project is to put in more solid and permanent shelves in the sewing room/bedroom upstairs. I have the shelves that we took out of our pantries when we remodeled the kitchen and so decided to use them. I have a picture in my head of how I want the shelves to look, but don't have a clue how to make it happen without doing some real woodworking. I told Ken what I wanted done and he told me how we can do it and he will help by cutting the wood for me. So, my project for today changed to cleaning and organizing the room instead of building shelves.

Here is the list of my projects:
Build shelves in East half of closet in upstairs guest room/sewing room
Clean out desk and organize sewing supplies onto shelves
Make curtains for upstairs guest room
Move Amy's twin bed upstairs when she moves on the 31st
Sew outfits for Katie for her birthday

Empty storage pallet in NW basement room
Move 2nd twin bed into NW basement room
Move Vanity into guest room in basement (Lee's old room)

Paint ceiling upstairs to make it all one color
Faux paint kitchen with cream paint sponged off
Paint south wall, dividing wall and hall way with white exterior semi-gloss paint
Paint west wall
Paint both bathrooms upstairs

Goal - to accomplish the above before Labor Day! Now, making time to accomplish it all!!

Heading home Day 7

Thursday, July 2, 2009. It was so nice to get up cool without being sweaty. The only thing we had planned for today was to visit with Kay, Bill, Josh, and Kaisha, and then head home. We got to break in Kay's new kitchen and it was nice. We ate out on the deck. Bill took Ken and went to the shop where he had a project he needed Ken's help with. The came back for lunch and then went back and worked until 6:30 p.m. The rest of us just visited for the day. We arrived home at 9:30 p.m., unloaded only the necessities, and went to bed. It is good to be home!

Heading Home Day 6

Wednesday, July 1, 2009 - After breakfast we headed for the Journey Museum in Rapid City. It has information about the people and the land around Rapid City. Again, we found the same entrance fee of $10 per person, even after the brochure said that it was free. We saw everything we could that was free and then went across the street to a thrift shop. We had a good time both places. Amy entered a raffle for a gun at the Museum and bought a decoration for her apartment. We then went back to the hotel and checked out and went to the transmission shop. The motor home was ready for us to take, we just had to pay the bill ($1213), drop the rental car off and pay for it ($114), and then we were on our way. Today we are planning on stopping at Martin's Cove. The plan was to walk the trail if we had time. If not, we would see as much as we could and then get back on the road. Because of the late start from Rapid City, we didn't get to Martin's Cove until after 5 pm and so took a quicky tour and head for Kay and Bill's place in Kemmerer, Wyoming. We fixed and ate supper on the road and arrived at Kay and Bill's at 10:45 p.m. We visited with them after midnight. Their house is wonderful. We parked out front and spent the night! It rained during the night and cooled off enough that we needed a blanket.

Heading home Day 5

Tuesday, June 30, 2009 - Rapid City, South Dakota. Well, the news is that they have another motor home ahead of us, but they should be able to start on it sometime today. By 3 p.m. were were supposed to know if they would finish today or whether we would have to wait one more day. Having the rental car meant we could still do the touring we had planned for the area. Our first stop was Mount Rushmore. It was extremely busy compared to the other sites we have seen on this trip. It was pretty awesome to see and then learn about how it was made. We spent most of the morning there. Then we went to a place called the Cosmos of the Universe. It was a gravitational anomaly that was very strong. We took the tour and have pictures of Amy standing on a wall and hanging from a chin-up bar but "hanging" diagonally. We also have pictures of me being eye to eye with Ken and then a whole lot shorter compared to him than I really am. It made my head spin and gave me another type headache, but it was worth experiencing. We then went to the Big Thunder Gold Mine. Here we just watched people pan for gold as the entrance fee for the tour of the mine and to pan for gold was $14.00 a person. It seemed that everyone wanted the same fee - $10 per person or more - to do anything no matter how small. We drove back to Rapid City and the transmission shop and was told that it would not be done until tomorrow. They offered to move the motor home out so we could stay in it, but then would have to move it back in the next morning to work on it. We decided to find a hotel room for the night as well as a laundromat to do laundry. The cheapest place we found was motel 6 and it was still $80. At least we'll have air conditioning, a swimming pool, showers, and electricity for the night.

Heading Home Day 4

Monday, June 29, 2009. The day started out really good. Everything was going smoothly. We drove to Mitchell, South Dakota, where we stopped and toured the Corn Palace. Then we head towards Rapid City. We stopped for gas in a town called Murdo. That is when our good day ended! Ken filled up with gas and then noticed that we were leaking fluid. He pulled the motor home to another part of the service station that was used for parking big rigs. When he got underneath, it was transmission fluid. It looked like the main seal on the transmission had gone bad. He started up the motor home to see how bad it was leaking and the fluid just poured out. Worst nightmare come true! We had to call and find a transmission shop who could fix it and then call to get a tow truck to tow us. It turned out that the closest shop that could work on us was in Rapid City - 136 miles away. They arranged for the tow truck to come, but we had another issue. Only one person could ride with the tow truck driver and there were 5 of us. So, we had to arrange to get a rental car and have it towed out to us. Six hours later, we were on our way into Rapid City. We arrived at the Aamco shop at 11:30 p.m. and decided to stay in the motor home for the night.

Heading Home Day 3

Sunday, June 28, 2009. We got up this morning and went to the Nauvoo Temple grounds. As it was Sunday, the gates were locked, but we were able to walk around the perimeter and view the temple. It was very nice. Another time, I would like to be able to go and do some temple ordinances. From Nauvoo we headed for Council Bluffs, Iowa. Again, the weather was cooperating. It was warm, but mildly humid. We arrived at Council Bluffs late afternoon and took a tour. The tours are starting to sound exactly the same! We were able to see the names of those who were in the different companies that left from Council Bluffs. The missionaries also had histories that went with the names and so I asked for copies of those who names sounded like they belonged in the family. Now I just have to see if they really are or not. We toured the building and then headed for Winter Quarters, which wasn't very far away. Here we asked if we could just visit and skip the tour. The missionaries were very gracious and agreed to let us just wander the visitors center. We then walked over to the cemetery and the temple grounds. Very peaceful. After that we loaded back up and drove into South Dakota to a campground. We were into the campground and settled for the night before 8 p.m.

Heading Home Day 2

Saturday, June 27, 2009. We started the day out by going to the Carthage Jail. As we were waiting for the tour, we were asked if we knew what day this was. I couldn't think of anything special, but we were told that it was the 165 anniversary of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum and that there would be a special presentation that evening. It was interesting to see the jail and to picture where Hyrum and Joseph were both killed. I was surprised by the size of the jail and how different things could have been if they had been kept in the actual jail cell. The missionary giving the tour gave us a lot of information about the jail and the circumstances that I did not know. After the tour, we headed for Nauvoo. We had seen the Mississippi River from the west side in St. Louis, but we were now seeing it from the east side as we approached Nauvoo. I was surprised by the narrow roads in Nauvoo. We had also been told that Nauvoo is extremely busy during the summer, but there were very few visitors. It was very quiet. We took the wagon ride around Nauvoo and then visited different locations. I was able to get genealogy information about several ancestors for myself and Ken from the Land and Records office. We attended two show that evening. The first show included a sister missionary who served with mom and dad in Liberty. At the second show, a girl from Amy's ward at SUU was part of the cast. It truly is a small world. We found our campground around 10:30 p.m. and settled in for the night.

Heading Home Day 1

Friday, June 26, 2009

We are heading home today. We had breakfast and then loaded everybody and their stuff up from Kevin and Cindy's. When we got to the motor home, Katie was so excited to be inside. She was ready to go and didn't understand when we put her outside and shut the door. It was hard to say goodbye, but we will see them in September. On to our next stop. Today's goal was to reach Carthage, Illinois. It was a nice day for driving. We got into Carthage around 8:00 p.m., filled up with gas, bought supper, and then headed out to find the campground. For the 1st time we ended up with the GPS really confused. After going 10 miles in one direction, the GPS told us to turn around and go back the way we had come. So, we turned around and went the opposite direction - back 10 miles - and then another 10 miles in the same direction when it told us "You have arrived." We were on a narrow road in the middle of fields - not even a house or structure anywhere. So, we drove until we found a place we could turn around and we headed back to Carthage. We had been told about another camp ground just 1 mile outside of Carthage and so we tried to find it. We were not having any success. Finally, we stopped and asked for help and were told that the original campground we were looking for was in the original direction we were headed, we just had to keep going another 5 miles or so. We were on our way again and the GPS again told us to turn around at the spot it had done it before. We turned it off and kept driving. Sure enough, it was about 5 miles further. We pulled in and got set up. By this time, it was 11:30 at night and we had already put 60 miles on the motor home. We were glad to get into bed.

Tennessee Day 7

Thursday, June 25, 2009. Today we got up and Kevin fixed sour dough pancakes and waffles for us along with sausage and bacon. It was wonderful. Today was our touring day. We also returned the rental truck. We visited the Smokey Mountain Knife Works store along with the Lodge Factory Store and the Coleman Factory store. We purchased items at the Knife works store, but not the other two (too expensive). We then drove into Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, where we went to the Ripley's Aquarium. It was an awesome experience. We spent about two hours at the aquarium. Katie had a great time and loved seeing all of the fish. She also got to touch a few. We then headed back to Harrogate. We stopped for supper in Tazewell on the way and then stopped in Harrogate and bought fireworks. We later sat on the porch and ate watermelon and lit fireworks. Another very relaxing day. It was a little more humid today, but feels like rain. The only bad for the night was the skunk that visited AGAIN, but didn't stay like it had the previous two nights. It rained during the night and cooled everything down.

Tennessee Day 6

Wednesday, June 24, 2009. Today started out with lawn mowers going and people walking the trail at the park. Then, we had a knock on the door and were asked who we were and why we were camped in the park. We were asked to move the motor home to the fire station so people wouldn't get the idea that it was okay to camp at the park. So, we moved the motor home and the moving truck to the Fire Station and drove Rick's truck to his parents' place. Laundry was the necessity of the day. While the women worked on that, the guys figured out a way to get Rick's trailer up behind the house to store until they have a place to live. We then went to the town of Cumberland Gap. We also took a tour of the school where Rick will be attending. It was very impressive. We then went shopping at the Mall in Middlesboro, Kentucky. The best purchases were shoes. We BBQ'd for supper and then watched a movie. Nice and relaxing! The bad for the day - we had just opened the windows in the motor home and gotten into bed when a skunk decided to visit, again. He didn't just visit, he decided to camp out right under our window. He was pretty rank and so we had to close the windows. Not very good for sleeping!

Tennessee or BUST! (Day 5)

Tuesday, June 23, 2009 - Another traveling day. We arrived in Harrogate, Tennessee, around 1 pm. We were all glad to get out of the motor home and into an air conditioned home. The motor home would not make it up the road to Kevin & Cindy Jones' home and so Cindy had arranged for us to leave the motor home and moving truck at the local park. Rick unhooked his truck from the moving truck and drove it up to his parent's home and unloaded the truck. Katie was so excited to be in her walker and able to go where she wanted when she wanted. We all relaxed and enjoyed the hospitality of Kevin and Cindy. Katie's heat rash is evident today around her ears. She has been a real trooper! Cindy had arranged for us to stay at the City park that night. It was nice and quiet with a slight breeze to cool things down. We had been in bed about an hour when we could smell a skunk. He decided to stay with us the rest of the night. So much for open windows!!!

Tennessee or BUST! (Day 4)

Monday, June 22, 2009 - St. Louis Gateway Arch was our first stop of the day. We arrived about 9 am. The first incident was when we were trying to find parking and found we had to make a U-turn with the motor home and the trailer we were pulling. The trailer jack-knifed and cut the fiberglass on the motor home, but we were able to get turned and parked without any further damage. The arch is really neat to see. While we were in the top of the arch, we were able to see the river below and noticed that the "parking" areas were all under water from all of the flooding that has been taking place. No wonder we couldn't find parking! We spent over an hour site seeing and then got on our way. Our goal for today was Louisville or Lexington, Kentucky, and to stop early enough to enjoy the evening. The drive was uneventful except for the heat and humidity through Kentucky. The landscape is very green and lush. Today I put Katie in front of the passenger seat on the floor to play so she could take advantage of the AC. She played for a long time and then seemed to be tired so I put her in her car seat, but then she was upset because she was hot. I finally put her in her car seat on the floor with one vent of the AC blowing on her. She ate and played there for several hours. We called Rick's dad and got the name, address, phone number, and cost for staying at the Kentucky Horse Farm RV park. We decided that we would stay there and so went to Lexington. The GPS took us on a scenic farm detour to get us to the horse park. It was really pretty. We arrived about 7 pm and got set up. This was a very nice RV park. We fixed supper and then Rick, Holly, Katie, Amy, and Ken went swimming. After that we all cleaned up and relaxed. Katie was so excited to be out of a car seat, the motor home, and not hot. However, we noticed that she has a heat rash from all the humidity and heat. Another day and we will be in Harrogate. NO WALMART PARKING TONIGHT! Hurray!!

Tennessee or BUST! (Day 3)

SUNDAY - June 21, 2009. Another early start to our day. This is our day to tour LDS Church history sites. We drove to Cameron, Missouri, and parked in the Walmart parking lot there. Mom, Rick, Holly, Katie, and Amy took the BMW and went to Adam-ondi-ahman and Far West while Dad, Ken, and myself stayed with the vehicles. The day was nice, but muggy. It got warmer as the day went along. Today we had the generator going running the AC and it really helped. We had planned on visiting with Ron and Nadene today, but with all of the delays, that was not working out. I talked with Nadene and explained some of what had happened. I felt bad that we were not able to get with them. After the rest of the group returned from their site seeing, we headed for Liberty Jail. We enjoyed the tour and the chance to visit the jail. We loaded up and headed for Independence, Missouri. On the way, we were trying to get Katie to sleep and so left the generator running with the AC going. Well, about half way to Independence the generator quit and would not restart. Not good! Once we got to Independence, I wanted to visit the Church of Christ Temple. I have been to Independence three times and still had not seen inside. We went there first and learned that they would be closing in 30 minutes. So, we took a quicky tour. It was interesting. Then we all went over to the LDS Visitor's Center in Independence and again took a quicky tour. The feeling between both places was noticable. We were soon again on the road and headed for St. Louis. Holly had told me that she wanted to get as close to St. Louis as possible Sunday night. We made to within 40 miles of St. Louis when we again stopped at a Walmart for the night. We are getting good at the Walmart tour! The humidity has been absolutely horrid! We are dripping wet and can't cool down. Today, I took Katie out of her car seat for part of the drive to St. Louis and let her stand next to the window. She was dripping wet from being in her car seat. The only time she gets upset is when she is thirsty, hungry, or too hot. She isn't eating a whole lot, but drinking everything we give her. She is so good!

Tennessee or BUST!! (Day 2)

June 20, 2009. Saturday. My dad does not sleep!! At 5:45 am he was trying to get out the door of the motor home because he couldn't sleep. This meant that everyone else was soon up and we headed for the Cabella's National Headquarters in Sydney, Nebraska, where we fixed breakfast and checked out Cabella's. Going to bed late and getting up early and traveling gives me a headache! Katie was not too happy about the early hours and traveling, but she did go back to sleep after an hour and slept for two. She was much happier after having pancakes for breakfast. She loved being able to be in her car seat belted in and still see out the window. The worst was the humidity we encountered. She would sweat so bad when she slept that her hair was dripping wet. We tried everything to cool her off and finally found that a rice ice pack seemed to work the best. We travelled towards Lincoln, Nebraska, and the GPS did a great job until we hit a detour and the GPS "freaked" and led us into the streets of Lincoln to get us back where we needed to go because we had "missed" our turn. After winding through the streets of Lincoln around the detour, we were finally headed towards Missouri. We decided that the best place to stop was at St. Joseph, Missouri, as it was closest to the LDS Church sites we wanted to visit. It was coming up 7 pm when we called an RV park in St. Joseph to see if they had any openings. Their recording said they did. We arrived around 8:30 p.m. and found that the park was full (there was one open space but it had carpet down.) While deciding what to do, Rick checked on his tow bar and found a major problem - one of the "hinges" had completely broken off and so he was pulling it by one hinge. So, we found the closest Walmart and Ken, Dad, and Rick worked on the tow bar until after midnight. Another late night! Staying in the Walmart parking lots are free, but we seemed to spend more money shopping than we would have staying at an RV park. However, Walmart also had what was needed to fix the tow bar! Katie did very well traveling today. She liked the attention of having someone ride next to her while she was in her car seat and facing a window she could see out of. She also like the breeze from the window blowing on her. She still got hot, but didn't complain. She has been a great little traveler.

Tennessee or BUST!! (Day 1)

June 18, 2009 - We have planned for six months to help move Holly, Rick, and Katie to Tennessee. Ken purchased a 1994 Ford Fleetwood Pace Arrow, Class A, 33 1/2 ft motor home for the trip. We had repaired a couple of the problems we knew about and were excited to get on the way. However, things did not start out very well. Mom and dad came over about 10 am (the time we had indicated that we wanted to leave by) and mom's ankle and leg were swollen and had all the signs and symptoms of having a blood clot in her leg. We finally convinced her to head for the ER while we finished getting things ready. No blood clot, just stressed out leg and ankle from working on the cabin! They were gone a little over an hour and Rick and Ken were still getting Rick's truck's drive train disconnected and stowed. We were finally on our way around Noon. Everything was going great. The vehicles were all functioning great and we were making good time, despite the heavy loads we were pulling. Nine miles outside of Green River we heard what sounded like an explosion followed by a thumping sound. Ken pulled over and we got out to look. We had a blown tire (inside) and the wheel well panel was missing. Rick and my dad were running back down the road to retrieve it. We were 9 miles from Green River, but 19 miles from the closest tire shop and it was 4:00 p.m. with Big O closing at 6. We headed out and hadn't gone much more than 12 miles when we ran into construction and stopped to let traffic go by us. That was when Rick discovered that he had a problem with the tow bar he was using to pull his pickup. Ken and Rick wired everything back together and we were on our way again. It was slow, but we made it to Rock Springs Big O Tire at 5:30 p.m. They had one tire that would fit and enough time to put it on before they closed. Rick was able to fix his tow bar at the same time. We did learn that the tire had done additional damage when it blew - it cut all of the wiring that ran through the tire wheel well to the rear of the motor home. We had electrical tape and Ken taped everything back together. By 6:15 we were back on the road and decided to drive as far as we could before stopping. We were only about 5 miles outside of Rock Springs when Mom radioed asking where the paperwork was for Holly's car as they were being pulled over. We all were wondering what was happening because we were 10 miles under the speed limit and everything else was legal. The officer stopped them because there was no license plate on the front of the BMW and in Utah we are required to have a front plate. Dad explained that the car was his granddaughter's and he was driving it to help them move to Tennessee. They were given a "This is not a citation" and soon joined us. We found another problem about 40 miles west of Laramie when Ken turned his lights on to drive. He lost his speedometer as well as all of his lights on the dashboard and his tail lights. Blinkers, brake lights, and running lights all worked. Great - something else going wrong! We made it to the Walmart in Laramie, Wyoming, around 11:30 that night. We were shooting for Sydney, Nebraska, but only made it to Laramie with all of our challenges. The most positive was the fact that Katie had a good time and did not have to be in a car seat the whole way. She could get out and play every time we stopped and when she was hungry we could feed her without stopping, and when she needed a diaper change, we could do that without stopping either. Walmart is noisy at night and has bright lights!! Tomorrow has to be better!

Another couple of months gone and I'm writing again. I'm NOT very good at keeping a journal, as you can tell. Well, several things have happened since I last wrote. Lee graduated from Utah Valley University on May 1st. We went for his convocation (where he actually received his degree) and then left. President Monson was the speaker for commencement, but Holly, Katie, Sarah, Josh, Mom, and myself were headed for Cedar City as soon as possible and we still needed to get Dad's truck and get everyone loaded. We left about 1 pm. As we were getting ready to leave, Ken was getting ready to head to American Fork to purchase an RV we found. The trip to Cedar City was for Holly's brother-in-law's graduation and to move Amy home for the summer. Mom also wanted to go and visit her brothers who live in St. George.

Once we got to Cedar City, mom called her brother Bob to see if we could come and visit them on Saturday. It turned out that Bob and Sandy were going to be in Cedar City attending Sandy's grandson's graduation on Saturday and so we arranged to leave immediately and visit with them. We didn't get back until after 10:30. It was a very busy day.

On Saturday we went to visit with Dee & Linda in St. George. We had a really good visit and again hurried back to Cedar City to meet with the girls for graduation activities and to finish packing Amy up. Sunday we loaded up the truck, said farewell to the Jones family members, and headed for home. Everything was going well until just about Mona when the front passenger tire blew. Holly was driving and did a good job getting us onto the edge of the road. We called Ken and Dad to come and rescue us as we could not get the tire off from the bottom of the truck. It took about an hour and then we were back on the road. It was good to get home!

I had the opportunity to speak on Mother's Day in Church. That was a unique experience as I was given the topic of "The Lord blesses mother's when they do what they are supposed to do." I was the last speaker and spoke about some of the challenges I had faced since being a mother and the blessings I have received while facing the challenges. I was supposed to have taken 10 minutes and ended up taking closer to 20 minutes and had everyone in tears.

I am playing the organ at the Provo temple every-other Friday late afternoon and that has turned out to be a blessing. My roommate Trudy from college also works the same shift. I had not heard from or about her for two years and ran into her at the temple. We now talk every time I see her. It is great to renew that friendship. I'm also get more relaxed at playing and not making near as many mistakes.

For Memorial Day, we took our new motorhome and went out to "Joy" on the west desert. We have not been since May 1997. We learned about how things worked in the motorhome and had a really good time. We convinced Ken's mom to go with us and that made it even better. We borrowed my dad's four wheelers and took them along with our four wheeler. Even the weather cooperated until we were ready to come home. I think Rick and Holly had a good time and Katie seemed to adjust to camping very well. Amy had a good time as well.
I've not done very well on my diet. I did great for the first week and then it all went downhill. I have not lost any additional weight, but I've been able to maintain. The exercise has helped to keep things tightened up. That has been great!

Yesterday was a first - I had a rootcanal done. The Endocrinologist said that it was terribly infected, but everything went well. I hate have anesthesia of any form. It sure wipes me out. I really didn't feel the pain, but have noticed today that it is a little sore. I am on antibiotics, anti-inflamatories, and pain pills for the next week. I'll see how things are after that.