Seeing Double

You will may recall that we were in San Diego for Christmas visiting Krissie and David. It was a fun time for all of us. There is nothing like spending a few days with our "skinny pregnant daughter" and her attentive husband. Being good hosts they scheduled a variety of fun activities for us. I've already written about a whale watching trip. I posted some of the photos of our whale watching trip on flickr and Krissie said "……" which took me back to another trip and other experiences.

David and Krissie frequently live near water. That's part of being a Marine family. When Krissie was getting married in England JoAnn and I took a cruise to Bruge, Belgium. JoAnn had taken the cruise earlier that year when she visited for 3 weeks.

When the kids were transferred to North Carolina we drove down several times. One of those times we decided we would drive up the Outer Banks of North Carolina to see the light houses and Kitty Hawk. It was a fun day, and a long one. We had left about 4:30 am and returned home about 11 pm, but we also took a half-dozen different ferries. The first ferry was the longest ride - over 2 hours.

Part of a McLean trip always involves photos. It was those photos that drew me to Krissie's comments and made me realize that we do things over and over again that are fun. We have those experiences with each of our children and always enjoy them.

And contrary to most expectations, David did get a photo of JoAnn and I together on the way back in. 

As a side note, when you are on board a ferry or a small ship and outdoors you really can't do a thing with your hair. That's why David and I wear hats - but then neither of us have much hair to worry about!

Whale Watching

This year was a San Diego Christmas. We usually travel to less mild weather, so traveling to San Diego for Christmas was fun and the bonus was to spend it at the Dunn Inn and with our 7.5 month pregnant daughter and her wonderful husband. More on that in another post.

David, Krissie, & JoAnn as we were leaving the bay.

It's been more than a week since we we went whale watching and yet it remains fresh in my mind. After arriving in San Diego on Friday prior to Christmas we took off on Saturday morning to do a little "whale watching." I don't know what I was thinking, as I anticipated a short voyage - which by some standards it was. But I didn't anticipate a 2.5 hour voyage and was surprised after we got on the ship it was that long. However, once we got out on the ocean and started watching for whales the time literally flew by.

Krissie & JoAnn in the cabin just as we are leaving. I'm
the red jacket reflection in the window!

It's been 8 years since I was on a ship of any size for any length of time, and that was a ferry (large) in the English Channel as JoAnn and I went overnight from England to Belgium - and back! That was fun. So was this. This ship was smaller, but still sizable with room for a couple of hundred passengers. And the ocean couldn't have been nicer - just a gentle roll of the ship after we left the harbor and began to "troll" for whales. The captain was quite knowledgable and kept us up to date on all the things that might or might not be seen.

We were rewarded with seeing 3 whales. When I say we saw 3 whales don't get the idea that they were breaching (jumping out of the water) as they were not. Sometimes they do, but today we saw the tales (what I now know are "flukes") which was at the conclusion of the process of breaching (breathing - spray of water shooting up from their blow-holes). We saw a lot of breaching, but only a little of the lobtailing (a display of the whales large pectoral fins. Once out of the water, the whale will either slap the water surface or wave it in the air). It was fun to watch and we shot a few photos. By law the ship cannot get closer than 100 meters, but our captain was experienced enough to anticipate where the whale was going to angle for good views.

We had a great time and followed it with a visit to the USS Midway aircraft carrier where we inhaled lunch and enjoyed a walking tour. Needless to say, by the end of the day we were a smidgen tired.

A photograph of a photographer as we come in
from a morning of whale watching!

A Weekend with my Son!

A week and a half ago on a Tuesday morning  I put JoAnn on an airplane for a week in Boise, ID to visit daughters and grandchildren. I had earlier decided it was a great weekend to visit my Dad. Tim decided he wanted to come too and we talked about travel arrangements finally agreeing he would fly into Las Vegas and we would drive to Modesto, CA with me the following day. He arrived in the evening of the same day JoAnn left for Idaho.

Wednesday morning we went to my campus, dropped off an exam for a colleague of mine to deliver in my class. Then Tim and I were off by about 9:30 am and headed for Modesto. We both agreed the 160 miles from Las Vegas to Barstow had to be the longest and most boring drive you could ask for. However, after we topped off the gas tank - at $4.47 a gallon - Tim took the driving tasks and took us to within 1 hour of Modesto. It was a great drive to have with Tim.

Our goal was to spend as much time as we could with Grandpa and Grandma Ruby. But we started Wednesday evening with a relaxing time with Don and Marti, our gracious hosts. On Thursday we went over to see Dad and Ruby and just to spend time with them. We had also been given an assignments by my sisters, which was to talk Dad into a new television. His old one was even older than my front room television.

We weren't making much progress - Dad can be a tough sell when he wants to stall. We just visited, took them out to lunch at Applebee's. We sat at our tables and realized the baseball Giants were playing the Cardinals. Tim made the comment to Dad saying, "If you had a new television you could see the ballgame that well too." That seemed to be the turning point. Late that afternoon he said, I think I'd like a new television. Tim & I told Dad we would deliver a new TV in the morning.

Tim and I found a great Mexican restaurant around the corner
from Dad's house. Would you believe there are 3 enchiladas
somewhere under there?

Sending 2 guys out to purchase a new television is "dangerous" to say the least. We checked out Walmart, Target, and Best Buy. We had lots of options, but finally made a great decision on a 47 inch television for Dad & Ruby. Yet, we knew we weren't quite done. We decided that Ruby needed her own TV for when Dad is watching sports (which is a lot). We settled on a 32" TV to replace the one that had been in the back bedroom.

We got to the house, set up the new television, and plugged it in and Tim programmed the controller. Having Tim there to program the controller and make sure everything was set up right was a blessing. He is so good at those tasks. Dad told us we could take the old TV to the back room for Ruby. That was when we told him that Ruby got a new television too!

Before we set the 2nd television up we turned on the golf channel and Dad was like a little kid! He loved it! And we sure felt good.

We almost had the 32" set up before Ruby got back, but we couldn't find the remote. Ruby and her daughter-in-law Kathy found it in 2 minutes. We got it programmed and when Tim and I left they were both watching the back room television.

Grandpa/Dad with the Grandkids - and yes "in-laws" are automatically grandkids!

Friday evening we got together with all of the sisters and family. On Thursday Krissie had called and said she and David were going to Sacramento on Friday. They met us for dinner at Jeri's home. We didn't tell Dad they were coming and we were lucky enough Krissie & David arrived at Jeri's the same time we did. Dad was surprised when David was there to help him out of the car. David is Dad's favorite Marine. It was a great evening with family. . I almost forgot - we celebrated Tim's birthday and everyone enjoyed it. Thank you to my sisters who put the whole evening together.

Tim receiving his Birthday Ice Cream from Aunt Marti

Jeri and Marti working hard in the kitchen. John worked hard too, but somehow
I missed him in this photo.

Saturday I took Tim to the Sacramento airport to fly home to his family. Krissie met us near the airport and we had a nice lunch. I drove back, spent a short time with Dad & Ruby feeling good about the visit. I went back to Marti's house and had a nice evening with her and Don.

On Thursday afternoon Tim and I sat on the back patio and dad shared his World War II experiences with us for about an hour. I heard some stories I hadn't heard before. I did record this and will make it available to family.

It's not very often I have the opportunity to spend a few days with one of my sons. I really enjoyed it. The time together in the car was relaxing and enjoyable. To just spend that time together was special for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

G-DAWG!

I'm sitting in the Denver airport waiting for my aircraft to board following a quick 48 hour trip to visit a couple of students working in their final internships and to spend time with my daughter and her wonderful family. It's always a bonus when I can include time for family on my trips. That doesn't happen very often,but then I don't travel for business like I used to, and I enjoy the reduced travel. JoAnn and were trying to remember the last time I left her at home for business travel, and it has been a while.

Prior to arriving in Denver I discovered I could not get a car at the airport. The state has 4 vendors for car rentals and none were available. That has never happened to me before. So Jeni picked me up at the airport and took me to a car rental location. From there I went to her house and was amazed to find the driveway all festooned for my welcome. Mac explained to me that "G-Dawg" was my text message handle he had assigned to me. I was flattered and the kids love it.

I love the "welcome" emphasis. And yes, visiting families
is a stairway to Heaven.

Spending time with the family was a wonderful bonus to my trip to see the driveway festooned with decorations was just plain fun! JoAnn and I really enjoy visiting family, and that seems to take the bulk of our travel time, but it is so rewarding to see our children and grandchildren grow, mature, and blossom. And each one is an individual in their own right and watching each child and grandchild develop their personality, from the time they are a newborn until - well none  of the grandchildren are adults yet, regardless of what some may think - they get to where they are today. I have great hope in our grandchildren, in what I see in them, in how they conduct their lives, of how they embrace family values and life itself.

The greatest joy in life is family, and together JoAnn and I have embraced our family as the most important focus of our lives.

Oh yes, and the trip, after a couple of business meetings that were very positive we finished off with a late afternoon at the reservoir beach and later that evening a daddy - daughter - granddaughter date to Sonic Drive-in for a little ice cream - and yes it was good, but what was better was to have 3 generations together enjoying one another. It was a great business/family trip and much was accomplished.

Just as I got to the front porch, the kids couldn't resist a little humor at Grandpa's expense - but I do love their humor.

I really wasn't too late, but every time I left and returned
I was reminded by my grandchildren that life is also about
having fun!

Thanks kids for hosting your Dad in such a wonderful way.

PS - Watch for my next post on the 24th of July celebration in Spanish Fork (and yes, I know these are going to be out of order, but I’ve been busy on other projects.

At the Drop of a Hat

Our family likes to get together. We visit the children and grandchildren - they visit us - sometimes in groups - we have Sister's Weekend annually - family reunion every 2 years - we get together on holidays - and more. It's not always all of us, but it may be 2 or more families. We all wish we could make all of these events, but the beauty of smaller get togethers is that we still have a great time and enjoy each other all the more.

Today we have 4 families in San Diego. Krissie and David live there - thanks the the U.S. Marine Corps - and Jeni and Donna decided to come and visit together with their families. That adds 10 additional people to David & Krissie's little 3 bedroom condo (a nice term for military housing). Then Sally and her family (6 more) had their scooter rally in Colorado Springs, CO cancelled, so it was off to San Diego - and at least they brought a tent. That means there are 18 people at Krissie and David's house through tomorrow when they leave for Sacramento and visit David's family for the 4th; Donna, Chris  and family go home; Jeni, Craig and the kids come back to our place for the 4th; and who know's what the Bradley clan has up their sleeve. As I've said more than once, "Our family will get together at the drop of a hat!" and this weekend proves it remains true.

The photo below, which I just received via email from the families in San Diego includes front to back and left to right: Front row: Meagan, Charlotte, Chas, and Bonnie. Middle row: Sydney, Cole, and Alyssa. Back row: Clayton, David & Sammy, Krissie, and Mac.

Traveling Ruminations

Joshua in his favorite pose - running!

Since March 17 JoAnn and I have been on the road visiting family so much it feels almost as if that is all that we have done. And we are not done yet! But we are taking a short break before we travel to visit more family. Our travel since March has taken us to Utah, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, and Missouri. These have all been wonderful trips and were organized around vacations and family special events. You have already read about the Eagle Court of Honor and the Personal Progress Pursuit on this blog. You may yet read about graduation, a new baby, sister's weekend, and a marriage.

In between these trips families visited us from Idaho and Utah. Families from Colorado and Idaho have yet to make a visit this summer, but they are planned. So even when home, we seemed to keep awfully busy. The next two weeks we will be visiting San Diego and then Modesto, California.

Mother's Day in Iowa

We love our opportunities to visit family. Not only does it make us feel good about how well our family is doing, but it gives us a chance to see our children and grandchildren as they grow and face the joys and challenges of life. It is rewarding for us to see the personal and professional development of each of our children. We are always totally amazed by what they're doing, how much they are doing, and how their families seem to be blossoming.

At the end of our last trip we spent time with my Aunt Marge and her family in Missouri. We always look forward to this visit. We take time to catch up on the family, talk about travel, family history, and the like. It was a chance for me to spend a couple of days going through historical records of the Merriam family that my grandfather had collected and organized. I scanned almost 200 documents and photos. Some of those will appear in future posts of this blog. What I discovered was that I didn't have enough time to get all of the Merriam family information. That means another trip to the midwest next summer, but this time we will drive and not fly!

Our newest pride and joy - Nicholas!

I also have plenty of family pictures that I will be sharing along with stories about our recent and future trips on this blog. Of course the challenge is finding sufficient time to write all of these blogs. So bear with me and have patience.

Radiator Springs lives

JoAnn and I are away for a quiet weekend of doing nothing. I'm not telling where. It's just not where anyone would expect us to go. And it seems to be perfect. It's quiet. No telephone. Television when we want it. A mini-suite with really comfortable chair, couch, and beds. It also has a pretty good breakfast.

Now for a bit of a hint. I went out for a walk this morning, just to stretch my legs and make sure they still worked. As I was walking down the road I went by the police station and looked up. Wow, there was the sheriff from Radiator Springs. Not only that, but when we look at the terrain around where we are staying it even looks like Radiator Springs. Naturally, I couldn't pass up a chance to take a photo. So, here's the Sheriff and we are close to Radiator Springs. What a great weekend.

Wordless Wednesday

Remembering Summer

Family reunion time in Iowa with almost all 16
grandchildren sitting still.

Summer is officially over. How do I know? School has started, or in my case, I'm back to work at the university. But what a great summer it has been. For the first time in 10 years I took the whole summer off - granted, not by choice. But the reality is that I'm more prepared for fall then I have been for a number of years. I know there are those who scoff at a "summer off," but that's one of the reasons I went into higher education. Most of those summers over the last 35 plus years have involved travel, research, writing, and an occasional class. This summer I had great hopes for all of those things and the travel provided the best experiences of all.

It's not an official reunion without cake
and ice cream - and LOTS of it!

Trips to Idaho, Utah, and Iowa were stupendous. We were gone for almost all of July and into August and while we thought that was a little long, there were a lot of years when a 3-week vacation was standard for us, but as the children left home and started their own families we found we had not single, but multiple destinations to visit including, at various times, Utah, Idaho, New Mexico, Iowa, Michigan, California, Colorado, New York, North Carolina, Missouri, and England. That idea of a single summer vacation has morphed into year-round vacation opportunities that are usually shorter. Much of the notion of a 3-week vacation was built around the need to drive from the mid-west to California. Now we hop a plane for those longer destinations.

Summer used to be a time for our families to visit us, but since we moved to the desert there is less interest in seeing us during our summer head and more incentive for us to visit further north - or to the California beaches.

The Allen's hamming it up!

Yet, our summer trips remain a staple of our opportunity to visit family. We have a longer period to stay at each home and we can try to get quality time in at several homes. This summer we were able to spend time with the Bake and Bradley families in Idaho, the Hansen's in Utah, the McLean's in Iowa, and JoAnn spent time with the Dunn's (less David) in San Diego. By the time late August got here we were ready for a quiet few months at home, but we are already planning Christmas in Idaho with a new grandson.

Summer has been good to us. We have enjoyed it. We expect to continue to enjoy it in the future and while it remains the foundation of our vacation, we now visit year round because we love seeing our families. We feel blessed by these opportunities.

Grandma celebrating her birthday with all of her very
best friends - her family!

Cemetery Hopping

Last weekend JoAnn and I were in Modesto, California visiting my dad, his wife, and my sisters. We had a wonderful time with family and did lots of things together. As we got ready to leave I looked at the work related things I could take with me and placed each one aside as I packed on Thursday evening. In at the end I just took my iPad, which was perfect.

One of the things JoAnn and I wanted to do was see local cemeteries where our family are buried. On Saturday JoAnn and I went out the Lakewood Memorial Cemetery in Empire. My grandparents are buried there along with JoAnn's parents. It's probably been 30 years since I was at the cemetery and seen my grandparents site. I had never been to JoAnn's parents site. It's been a long time since she was there. We had to go to the office to find their grave site.

On Monday we drove up to Dixon, CA, not far from Davis, CA and stopped at the Silveyville Cemetery where a number of JoAnn's mother's family are interred. The secretary at the cemetery was so helpful. They keep all of their records on cards that are individually typed. In fact they had an old fashioned manual typewriter of the kind that JoAnn and I learned to type on in the early 1960s. I haven't seen one of those for years - especially in an office. They had a computer too.

As I stated, the secretary was incredibly helpful. Each 3 x 5 card had detailed information on the front and the location the back that listed the individual and individuals who were buried adjacent to the person's card. As JoAnn looked at the back of the cards she found additional people that she had heard her mother talk about, or had met at some point during her childhood. What turned out to be a search for a few people turned out to be a search for many people. The secretary photocopied all of the cards for us, located all of the gravestones on a map and sent us out, but not before offering to have someone help us. Fortunately while this was going on I went out and walked around and got the lay of the land. It was, by today's standards, a small cemetery. We found and photographed all of the gravestones.

It was fun to spend a day together doing family history. Now we have work to do at home to fit the names we found to the family. It made a great weekend with our family even more memorable.

The Glass is Half Full, Half Empty, or All Over Me...

When I was a child we traveled for holidays and summer vacations. As our family got older most of that travel occurred in an International Harvester Travelall (the equivalent of today's Suburban). We could spread all over the car (seat belts were just beginning to be introduced and not many cars had them), romp, roam, occasionally get yelled at (and yes, we usually deserved it). I was usually the one who got in the most trouble and times have not changed a whole lot.

Not our Traveall, but it sure brings fond memories. JoAnn and I drove it to Oklahoma
with Donna & Jeni for the 3 months we spent at Fort Sill. We pulled a U-Haul trailer
with it for our household goods. That is another story. This is what I learned to drive on!
photo courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevincollins/4842741366/

One summer we were driving across the desert from Arizona to California. We did not have air conditioning in our car, so it was very hot. We had the thermos for water and that kept us hydrated. We were coming in to Yuma, AZ on this afternoon and I made a comment that was not well received by my mother. I did a lot of that. She had just poured herself a glass of ice-cold water. She turned, looked at me, said something that I don't remember, and threw the glass of water in my face. Everyone was stunned until they realized I was the only cool person in the car at that moment. We started to laugh and laugh. The tension eased, I was cool, and the drive went on.

Classic Monday

Just a little reminder of our spring trip to North Carolina to visit David & Krissie. Our 20-hour tour of the outer banks was awesome - especially all the ferry rides we took.

Classic Monday

Today Mike and Allison leave for their adventure moving from Idaho to Indiana. It seems just like yesterday that we were embarking on the same adventure. Between 1972 to 1977 we lived in Ventura, Ca, Fort Sill, OK, Provo, UT, Manhattan, KS and landing finally in Ames, IA. Most of that time was spent with me receiving a masters and doctorate degree at Brigham Young University and Kansas State University and starting my first academic job at Iowa State University. For us it was quite and adventure, and at times challenging. We didn't have much money and most of the time I worked 2 or 3 jobs.

We started this adventure with 2 children and completed it with 4. In August, 1974 we moved from Provo, UT to Manhattan, KS with JoAnn 8 months pregnant. I can't believe we did that. We drove our Volkswagon bug into the moving truck and packed around it (not a smart thing to do, but what did I know). Within 4 weeks of our arrival in Manhattan Suzanne was born and 13 months later Tim was born, but I'm ahead of myself and that may be for another day.

We borrowed my parent's International Harvester Travelall to tow a small trailer to Ft. Sill, OK where we spent 13 weeks at the Armor Basic Course. It was our first long trip and JoAnn's first living experience outside of California. The photo to the right shows Donna and the quality of car seats in those days. Behind her we had a cot set up and that was where baby Jeni slept while we traveled.

When we got done at Fort Sill we drove back to central California where I dropped off JoAnn and the girls to spend time with our parents while I spent a week at Fort Irwin with my National Guard unit. I then went and picked them up, drove up over to BYU, dropped the kids and JoAnn off and then took the car and trailer to Las Vegas where I dropped it off, then back to central California to pick up my car and back to Wymount Terrace married student housing. You can see the quad and apartment buildings right behind the photo of JoAnn and Jeni. I was done driving for the summer and didn't care if I drove again or not.

That was the start of our great adventure. Good luck Mike and Allison - you too have begun your great adventure and we wish you the best and send all of our love.

PS - If I got any of the facts wrong let me know.

Wordless Wednesday

Friday Night Lights - 9-Year Old Style

We are on the road again. I just finished leading a workshop in central Utah so we are taking advantage of visiting with our Utah children and grandchildren. Since they grandchildren are 2 boys we took in a ball game and a play on the book, "Friday Night Lights", which was written about Texas football, but seems to aptly apply to Spanish Fork baseball.



Our 9-year old grandson plays baseball and I think he enjoys it. He is the right fielder, which means he stands 3 feet behind the basepath on the grass and sometimes watches the game. Actually a couple of hits were directed to him and he was on top of them before they got by, not that I'm sure they were hit hard enough to get by him. His throw is a bit of a shotput effect and is pretty good shotput form. The important thing for this 9-year old is that when he threw the ball it went where it was intended, even if it had a high arch.

Getting on base has a pretty standard model - 4 walks to every hit - and then, once on base, it's all about base stealing. For 9-year olds base stealing is about seeing the ball go by the catcher, watch the catcher run to the wall to get the ball and then have it register in their mind that they can steal. My favorite part is the slide. If you run towards a base, any base, you must slide. If you don't quite make it, well then you reach out with your hand and touch the base. If you didn't get to slide during the inning you walk towards home plate and take a slide. The rule? Every boy must go home with a bit of the basepath on their pants. It may be the most important component of the baseball game.

Was it fun? You bet. I think the boys had fun. I know most of the parents had fun. That is what it is all about - having fun! None of the boys took it too seriously and I only saw a couple of dads who took it too seriously. The umpire is 13 or 14 and did a great job. In the preceding game before he made an error and a lady was all over his case. Thank goodness the game was almost over. I went up afterwards, called him over and said, "You are doing a great job. Just ignore the parents." He seemed appreciative someone said he was doing a great job.

Baseball is about fun. If it's not fun then why play it. Kids are forced to take too much seriously in this society and too many parents have to make sure their kids live out their sport fantasies (or frustrations). Keep the fun in the game - and win occasionally, but enjoy it for what it is - a game.

Did I mention that the ballpark has the best hamburgers and fries I have found. Actually Spanish Fork has the best little hamburger joints I have ever found. Friday Night Lights in Spanish Fork is about baseball, boys, families, hamburgers, and fries. Does it get any better than that - I don't think so. Well, maybe they could add fireworks!

Valentine's Day

We have had 42 Valentine's days together and for the very first time we left home to spend time together. We should have done it when we had 7 kids at home, but who could afford it then? After Church yesterday, yes we are good Mormons and made ALL of our meetings yesterday, we headed off for Laughlin, NV, about 85 miles from Las Vegas. We got a room on the 17th floor with a, and I quote, "Panorama Room" which means we had floor to ceiling windows and a view of the parking garage, roofs of other casinos, and the Colorado River.

We went for a walk on the river walk, unlike any other river walk I have ever been on. It goes along the casinos for a little less than a mile. There are water taxis, jet skis, dinner boats, and it's all on the Nevada side of the river. The east side of the river is Arizona and a timezone away.

We did the riverwalk and got all excited about the Dairy Queen sign. You all know I'm a sucker for Dairy Queen. Well, as it turns out, it was just that - a sign. We walked all over the casino it was next to and no Dairy Queen anywhere.

Later in the evening we went across the river to Bullhead City, AZ to have dinner. We had found a restaurant in the yellow pages (and I use that term loosely down here) with the name of Iguana Mexican Cafe. With a name like that the food has got to be great. As we were driving along looking for the place we passed one, but not the one I had inputted into the GPS. It looked like a greasy spoon, but we decided to keep on going. We finally got off the main drag and started down some dark side streets of trailers with pickups and cars parked out front. As the neighborhood deteriorated I finally caved in and said, let's go somewhere else. We had passed a Mexican restaurant on the way and drove back to it. The food was great even if it too was a little older. On the way in the restaurant I'm following JoAnn and the hostess and as I pass a table I see a colleague from 4 doors down (from the 5th floor at Beam Hall). I could hardly believe we had driven to Southern Nevada and there is a friend. JoAnn thought I had just gotten lost (again), but that wasn't the case.

We are off to see the sites today and then home for an early afternoon. Happy post-Valentine's day everyone.

Newbies

If there is anything constant in our family it is change. We figured since we, or I had to be in Salt Lake City, we could just drive on up to Boise and check things out. There is a good reason. Daughter 3 is due any day now with her 5th child - Hattie. And Mike gets married on Friday, October 23.

On Saturday, that's today, his fiance Allison (photo below) is going to the Boise LDS Temple to receive her endowments. If you aren't LDS I will only say this is a very sacred ceremony and prepares them for their marriage the following week, which unlike most we see, includes being sealed for time and eternity. We wanted to be present for today's experience and support her and Mike.

Over the past 15 months JoAnn and I feel like we have been on the road almost constantly on family business. It's not really business, but it is support. It includes 3 new babies, a funeral, 1 marriage, a family reunion in Colorado, Christmas in Des Moines, 2 college graduations (note some of these activities are still in the near future), baby blessings, Aaronic Priesthood ordinations, visits to my Dad and Sisters, and visits by families to Las Vegas. There is one common thread in all of this - family. Our move to Las Vegas was truly a blessing. We are now able to share more of our time with all of our children and grandchildren. That is exciting for us. We enjoy these times and experiences. I feel like I know the roads to Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, and California and the sky-ways to Iowa. They have become common to us.

When we lived in Indiana it was so much more challenging to make these visits. We felt like we missed a lot. Not now and while I know we will slow this pace down, it has been fun.

Papa's Car

Our 3rd daughter's youngest son calls me Papa and at almost 2.5 that's just fine with me. Truth is he could call me anything and I wouldn't care, as long as he knows I'm his grandpa and JoAnn is his grandma.


We had a lot of fun at our reunion (more on that in later blogs) in Breckenridge, CO and on Monday morning six families began departing for different parts of the mountain west and midwest. We left about 30 minutes before 3rd daughter's family and headed west down the mountain. I figured Grand Junction was a perfect place to get gas and maybe drop by a grocery store and grab a sandwich from a deli for lunch.

We pulled off the highway, got gas for the car and pulled back out into traffic. JoAnn asked where we are going and I said straight ahead (south on a city street) to look for something to eat. Just then the cell phone rang and it was daughter number 3. "Hey Dad we're going to Burger King for lunch."

"Where are you?"

"Right in front of you." And they were! While we were getting gas they had pulled of the highway and as we pulled out of the gas station they were turning left literally right in front of us. Had the light been different we would have missed them.

"How did you see us?"

"I didn't, little Deano said, 'There's Papa's car.' And when I looked it really was you."

So we had a bonus coming home, we got to spend extra time with one of our families.

Fireworks in Utah, Baby in Idaho

Doesn't that sound good and a little bit later this morning we start the grandparent journey northward. First to experience fireworks (real fireworks, not the kind I cause) in Spanish Fork and then on Monday to see that new little girl (see photo in previous blog) in Boise. I know Charlotte is the reason we give to head north, but when we get a chance to visit 9 of our grandchildren in one almost straight line (with just a little curve west) you can't pass it up. What I haven't figured out is how to keep the line moderately straight and add Denver and Des Moines. I will keep working on a plan to achieve that.

And yes, this photo represents how I feel packing the car sometimes, especially when we traveled with 7 children.

Images From Nevada's Past

Welcome to Walking Box Ranch - The Home looking at the front entrance from the north side. The master bedroom is located on the 2nd floor and has the porch.

A few weeks ago on our way to Albuquerque, NM JoAnn and I stopped by an historical site called "Walking Box Ranch." I am helping on a project with the Public Lands Institute at the UNLV to work on a business plan. It is a historic ranch near Searchlight, Nevada built in 1931 and made famous by its owners, Hollywood silent movie legends Clara Bow and Rex Bell. Rex Bell was a cowboy who went to Hollywood and became famous. Today the ranch land has been restored to its natural state with some outstanding Joshua Trees up to 30 feet plus in height.

Back gate at Walking Box Ranch. If you look closely at the center and upper part of the gate you can see the walking box brand which looks like an old movie camera on a tripod. Pretty clever thinking. If you click on the photo it will open a window and show a larger view of this photo, or any other photo in my blogs.

Since we are relatively new to the desert the beauty of the Joshua trees was outstanding. The following description of the original property states, "The ranch is divided into two distinct sections: the 40-acre headquarters parcel, which comprises the historic ranch house and other ancillary facilities; and an undeveloped 120-acre parcel, which contains critical habitat for the federally-listed desert tortoise and more than 300 native species of plants and animals. The Nature Conservancy, a non-profit conservation organization, has conservation easements on both parcels for maintenance of the ecological and cultural integrity of the ranch." We didn't see any desert tortoise, but we saw a couple of might big jack rabbits.

The courtyard. I did not show the pool at the front of the photo. It is not in use. At the other end of the courtyard is the great room - dining area.

As part of the visit we had an opportunity to view the ranch site and especially the house. According to UNLV's public affairs office, "The ranch house is significant for being an uncommon local example of the Spanish Colonial Revival style, a sharp contrast to other Southern Nevada ranch houses." It is a beautiful ranch house and has been kept up by different owners. JoAnn and I both enjoy visiting such places and when we can get a back door tour it is even more fun. Most of my photos from the ranch on are my flickr account and I have shared a few here.

The Great Room - Dining Area.

In the not to distant future Walking Box Ranch will be open for public viewing. It will be a lesser viewed site since it is off the beaten path, but when it is open it will be well worth the tour, especially if the house is open. If the house isn't open the desert environment will be a great visit. There will be plenty of interpretation on the site.

The Library. Originally it was the children's play room.

JoAnn and I really enjoyed it.

Out on the property there are a few good shots also. The wagon adds to the beauty of the site. It's hard to realize this was a working ranch with irrigation, hay, and cattle.