Day 2: Endless Things

Sunday morning was educational. I rarely take time to look at what I have and if I really need it. Transferring all of our trip possessions from one van to the other made us consider what was really necessary, if not in life at least in a trip to Alabama. And really, we were overloaded. What do we really need in life? I think I can sum it up in Family, Friends, and a good pizza crust recipe (which we didn’t think to bring along).

 

I had transferred all of the bags from the old van and added to them the bags from the room, and was feeling pretty proud with the way I had arranged everything. I’m kind of proud of my ability to stack boxes and bags in a tight space to use up all of the available space. As I was comparing myself to Peruvian wall builders, other packages started arriving in containers that wouldn’t stack: blankets; bags; loose items, and it occurred to me that we weren’t even close to getting everything in.

You might remember the story of the last time we came to Alabama. We flew in to Atlanta with three bags per person (this was 5-6 years ago when you didn’t have to pay for each bag) and found ourselves at the rental car company with 7 people, 21 bags and a Dodge Caravan. After loading the largest bags behind the seats, kids in the back, bags on the kids, we realized that this was going to be a long, uncomfortable trip. So we asked if they had anything larger, hopefully in the GMC Safari size range. All they had was a Chrysler Town and Country, which is actually just the upscale version of the Caravan. They said it was larger, and we decided to try it out. The first thing I noticed is that it was missing a  seat. The second thing was that there is a large bin behind that back seat that just about doubles the cargo space. That was great, but the staff was puzzled about the missing seat. “I’ll check around back, where the van was. John, can you call around; see if the detailers took it out for some reason?” A few minutes later I unfolded it from the floor, which gave us even more space.

Unfortunately for this trip, there were no replacements and no hidden storage areas. Bummer. 9:00 we left Pine Bluffs and the van that fits our family, kids wedged in with books, blankets, game boys, and other, um, uh . . . junk. Mapquest doesn’t do as good a job at estimating times as TomTom. And neither does the job nearly as well as reality. Reality put us in St. Louis at midnight (the Arch is still impressive at midnight at 55 mph, with other cars buzzing around you and a GPS unit telling you to exit right and stay in the left lane; too bad I didn’t listen quickly enough). It was about that time that our plans changed to a short rest stop at a rest stop and mad dash to Hartselle. Judy and I switched driving, and the kids slept folded up through half of Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee. So our day didn’t end in the traditional, pillow-aided way, but we’ve been resting some since.

Tomorrow, the reunion.

Alabama trip day 1: Notes from room 13

• Sometimes it is best to sleep through the final steps of preparation, especially if they tend to take the entire night.
• If you plan to leave the morning after high school graduation, don’t be surprised if the graduate is too tired to remember basic essentials, such as a cell phone.
• The bass line of rap music is not conducive to sleep.
• When the Check Engine Soon light comes on, it’s not good to assume that means “after the vacation is over and we have put an additional 4500 miles on the engine.”
• Pine Bluffs, Wyoming does indeed qualify as the middle of nowhere.
• If you break down somewhere other than the parking lot of the Days Inn where you booked your reservation, make sure you do it before 4:00 24 hours before your reservation unless you want to pay for the stupid room anyway.
• Car rental companies in Cheyenne close at 2:00 pm on the Saturday before Memorial Day and don’t open again until the following Tuesday.
• You can indeed buy a van on first sight, no research, without your wife present, without a penny in your pocket.
• A dead van is worth $50 dollars in Wyoming if you are only passing through.
• A Pontiac Montana hold half as much travel junk as a GMC Safari.
• The bass line of Mexican mariachi band at a Spanish wedding is not conducive to sleep.
• Is 13 really the only available room left at this motel?

All about Kyle

 

It’s Kyle’s birthday today, so I wanted to do a little tribute for him, like all of you do for your kids on their birthdays, but then I became overwhelmed by all of the pictures we have and couldn’t decide where to start.

Mothers seem to be able to distill their children’s lifetimes down to a few perfect pictures that characterize the transitions that each child makes as they develop. Dad’s I’m afraid, tend to miss it. I don’t know why. It’s like a dream Judy had soon after Kyle was born.

Judy dreamed that she was looking at a picture of herself and a teenage boy standing in front of a car outside of out house. She was delighted that he was handsome, tall, and happy. Being a guy, I wanted to know what kind of a car it was and if it was mine.

 

He was the largest of our children, and continued that way until he entered preschool. Now he is one of our thinnest.

And he was fiercely independent. He never realized that he being smaller than everyone meant that he wasn’t supposed to be able to do what everyone else did. If dad could go leave the house at 6:30 on a cold morning, Kyle could, too. If he wanted cheese, he could get it from the refrigerator and the knife from the block; but Mom would be better at cutting it. She’d know what to do if you held it in front of her face as you woke her up.

He loves spending time with his brothers and sister.

 

Well, most of the time.

He’s stretched himself by learning developing talents such as dance and piano. He’s surprised me by his excitement about piano. When  he was asked to be a party boy (I hope that’s not prophetic) in the Nutcracker, I figured he’d get bored and frustrated with the practices. Instead, he was excited to go and enjoyed the production.

 

He’s good at making friends.

And enjoys relaxing.

I love his smile

Happy birthday, Kyle.

Berrett’s Eagle

Yesterday Berrett got a couple of letters from VIPs, which reminded me that I never got to the point of actually blogging his great accomplishment this year. Yes, Berrett is an Eagle Scout now. His Eagle project was to put in a low-ropes course at Trefoil Girl Scouts Ranch (it’s a camp for girls, not a place where they herd girls).

 

He got a group of scouts together and the owner of CLAS in Provo and we went up and placed some short posts in the ground.

Then he went up later and they cut the posts to size, cut slots in them and cut some boards to length. It’s called a ropes course, but there aren’t any ropes involved. (Weird.) Instead, the group has to figure out how to get from the first post to the last without anybody touching the ground in between. Boards of varying lengths are stacked at the beginning, so they also need to decide which board to use and which gap to cross (there’s a red herring gap to throw them off). Here’s an action shot.

After a successful board of review and waiting for other eagle candidates to get their paperwork in and boards completed, Berrett finally had his Eagle court. Dad and Mom came, Todd’s family came, but he became ill and had to leave, and others were kept away by weather, but it was nice to be able to take 3-generation scouting pictures,

Family pictures,

Etcetera.

He does look kind of happy, doesn’t he?

The court of honor was in November. Since then he has been awarded a bronze palm and will have earned a gold palm by the next court of honor. We’re sure proud of him (sniff)!

And the letters? From none other than Gary Herber (Utah governor) and Barak Obama (president, I believe).

Pictures from another time

I spent a month scanning in pictures, so I've got to do something with them.

Remember when Thistle, Utah was replaced by a lake? Not very many people were able to see it, but because I was working for the county at the time, I was able to see it from the landslide itself (on my last day of work, no less).

The lake was acually wider than this stitched picture makes it look.

Next, Mom and Dad at Squaw Peak in 1987.

Grandma Carter feeding TJ his first birthday cake. (I think TJ made the first attempt by himself)

Dad and Lia in 1992.

Lia and Judy in pink.

A family picture in our back yard.

Kelli's high school graduation cake.

Thank you for letting me be random.

What we did on our summer vacation

Now that summer is about over, I thought you might like to see a few pictures from our summer trip to Washington.

Stopping in Twin Falls to visit with the Van Burens.

We took pictures at the temple and then a quick trip to Shoshone falls and then to their house for dessert before we were on our way again.

Then to Manson to visit Dale, Rae Anne, and family. We came at a hectic time, got to see most of the kids, and got some hands on training from Dale and Rae on how to spoil your grandson. Should come in handy. We also spent some time on the lake, of course.

 

While we were there, Dale took us up in a helicopter to get a good look at the lake. It was a gorgeous ride, and was a highlight of the trip, just behind visiting Dale and Rae, the Van Buren's, Sharon, Brad Nora and Family, the Wells, and all the others that I haven't mentioned, in no particular order, unless you want to be first on the list (hopefully nobody is offended).

We were there over the 4th of July, so we were thrilled to attend the Manson Independence Day Parade (even got our picture in the local paper).

Then it was off to Seattle/Tacoma where we spent time with Sharon. We took a trip to Pacific Beach and enjoyed the ocean, and took a ferry ride to Seattle.

We also visited with Nora, Brad, Ukiah, and Aslin, and with the Wells and Udarbes while we were there.

Our last stop was Anacortes to visit with Judy's Uncle Lonny and Aunt Bunny. Lia and Berrett enjoyed the suit of armor while Kyle assumed the position of Chief Elevator Operator.

It was two weeks full of activity and rushing about, visiting with people we don't see often, and relaxing and enjoying family and friends.