May 30th - Another Day with the Kids!

I had finished the morning routine and was just getting out the family history stuff when Lisa called and said they were looking for something to do today and thought they might come over and play in the little pool.  I thought it was a great idea!

I had the pool blown up and filled with water by the time they made it here.  Ashby couldn't wait to get in and play.  Brooks decided he wanted to play in the house, so Ashby got it all to herself.  They both had a great time.  Lisa fixed lunch here and then had to go back home to do a lesson.  Brooks took a nap while Ashby had some quiet time. He was still sleeping when Lisa got back, so we just relaxed for a while. 

Bottom line - I didn't get done what had been on my agenda.  But, having the kids over was way more fun and it was not a hard choice!

May 29th - I Love My Quiet Days!

And I had one today.  I managed to straighten the house, do the usual odds and ends, wash 3 loads of clothes - and then I only did what I felt like doing!  Guess what that was!!

Yes, I spent the day on family history.  I finished the rest of the Smith files, the Cleary branch, so now all of my files are done.  Well, I do have a pile of papers that need to be gone through and sorted and filed properly, but at least the files themselves are done.  I managed to get them all into a file drawer, rather than in the individual file boxes.  I am going to have to work on that some more, though, as everything will not fit in the drawer when all is together.  I have several fat files out that I have been working on.  Tomorrow is another day - I will worry about it then!

I even had some time to work on one of those files that was out and made some good progress.  That is really when family history gets more fun - putting together the documents and other records and trying to get the story of their lives figured out.

Bill had an out of town job today, so didn't get in until late.  I ran out of energy in the evening and ended up watching a couple of episodes of Law & Order until he came home.  I was pretty tired, actually, although it is hard to say just what I do to make me so tired!  Having fun, I guess, is very draining!

May 28th - Wednesdays are always busy!

Today was Family History Center day, so I was there all morning.  We didn't have any patrons - AGAIN! - so I was able to work on some of my own stuff.  I love having a calling that lets me do what I enjoy so much.  I just wish there were more people taking advantage, as well.  It is fun to help others.

After the center, my friend and I stopped for some lunch, before taking her back home.  She has borrowed my Pack and Play and the folding high chair, which I also dropped off for her.  Her 8 month old great-grandson (and family) has just moved here and she will be caring for him some.  She will be needing these items a lot - and I am glad she can use them.

I also had to take dinner to some friends this evening, so I had to make another run to the grocery store to pick up a couple of things.  I also made my library run on the same trip.  She called shortly before I was supposed to leave to deliver the food and said there was a terrible traffic jam and she was worried about my being able to get to the house.  There was a bad accident on 316 and they were rerouting traffic.  After talking about it a bit, I said I would just come as planned and if I was a little late, she would know why.  I commented that since I was on the Lord's errand, I was sure He would help me get through. 

I am always amazed when I say things like that, because I suddenly have thoughts of not wanting to test the Lord and that is just what I am doing.  As it turned out, I was able to get to her house without any trouble.  The rerouted traffic had been rerouted again, back to 316, I assume.  At any rate, I only had to deal with the normal traffic and made it to their place right on time.  I did take a moment to say thanks for the blessing!

May 27th - A Quiet Day at Home!

Bill didn't have a job scheduled today so we had a day at home.  We needed to recover from all the activities and fun over the last couple of days!

I made the decision to mostly work on family history, while he did some other things.  I started updating my Smith files.  I got one side of that line done, but will have to attack the other side another day.  I discovered I am running out of manilla folders, so I also put in an order to get some more.  (I love being able to order online and getting free delivery!  I do hate shopping.)  I figure another day or two and I will have all my files done.  I will still have the Cantrell ones to do sometime, but I only do a little at a time.  It is more fun to be doing research!

I even skipped out on the Relief Society meeting this evening - how bad is that!  They were doing ideas for summer activities and places to go with children.  It sounded interesting, but I was just too lazy by then.  That means I even passed up all the chocolate desserts!  They called the evening "Chocolate Never Faileth."  Pretty catchy.

It was a good day and I am excited to be seeing the end of my file update.  Now to reorganize some drawers for them to have a permanent storage place.  Oh, the work never ends!

May 26th - Memorial Day!

My day started quiet enough - Bill had scheduled a job, so he reluctantly took off, finally.  I planned to work on some family history while the kids all went to the parade this morning.  And then it all changed!  Life is like that - you make plans and then things change.  It is what keeps it exciting, I guess. 

Lisa called and said that Ashby had been awake during the night with a bad headache, so they decided to let her sleep this morning.  By the time she awoke, they would have been getting to the parade a little late so they decided to change plans. 

Once they all got up, dressed, and breakfast out of the way, they came by to pick me up.  We went by Hobby Lobby to get some new flowers for Jason's grave and then went out to the cemetery.  David and the kids had never been there, so it was a good time to give them the chance.  Brooks, of course, was clueless, but Ashby had questions about Jason.  At first she thought this was where he died, but we explained that it was just where he was buried.  We also explained how it was just his body here, but that his spirit was in the spirit world.  At almost six, she is beginning to have some questions about death and understands an amazing amount.  The flowers we picked were beautiful - mostly yellow with some blue springs in the middle. 

 Statue of Christ and the woman at the well - not far from Jason's grave

Ashby and Brooks by the new flowers

From there, we went to the Duluth Diner, which is just down the road, and had a nice lunch.  After lunch, we headed back home, stopping at Target on the way to buy a new pool for the kids to play in.  We got a large, rectangular blow-up.  The kids were so excited!  They played in most of the afternoon. 

 The pool is big enough for two!

 Watermelon is a must on Memorial Day

Silly Grandpa!  You didn't take your clothes off first.

As it got closer to dinner time, David made a quick run to the grocery store to pick up some sides to go with the hot dogs, hamburgers, and brats that we had to grill.  We grilled some veggies and had watermelon and baked beans, as well.  Very good and easy.

That made it just about the perfect Memorial Day - remembering our loved ones, playing in the water, eating watermelon, and grilling hot dogs and hamburgers. 

May 25th - Just Another Sunday - Great, as Always!

There is not usually much to say about Sundays, as they are all pretty much the same. 

This morning, I worked on my lesson, did a little family history, etc.  Then we went to church, listened to some good talks, enjoyed the special musical number (a 10 year old girl who sang "How Great Thou Art" and did an excellent job), and went to classes. 

My class is working on searching for records right now and we accomplished some good stuff.  Lots of people were gone - most of them at the beach some where - but we enjoyed ourselves anyway.  One of the members of the class is from South Africa, so I used South Africa as my example to show them how to find information in the Wiki on Family Search.  He was really excited to see all the links that come up. 

At home, I had a pot roast in the oven, which means we were greeted with the best aroma!  It didn't take long to pull the whole dinner together.  Lisa and family were delayed at home, though, so they didn't get here until a little later, but it all kept just fine.  They were able to stay for a little while, but the kids were both really tired and they headed on home by 6:30 or so. 

Our home teachers came over a little later and we had a great visit with them.

And so our Sunday goes - not much different than most, but always the best day of the week.

May 24th - Busy Day!

I was up early, as usual, and started with checking things on the computer, posting the blog, etc.  Then I got the house straightened up (with intentions of getting the dusting done later - oops!  Didn't happen!) 

When Bill finally rolled out of the sack some time later, we headed off to Staples to check out a desk chair they had on sale.  Ours are in bad shape - one bit the dust a couple of weeks ago and the other is getting shaky.  It was just their cheapest model, on sale for $40.00.  It looked and felt fine to me, so we bought two of them.  When we got home, Bill had to put them together, which took him a while.  They turned out great and are an improvement over the old ones we had before.

In between everything else, I managed to get five loads of laundry done, including changing the sheets on the bed.  I still haven't figured out how I am still doing so much laundry when there are just the two of us now.  At least everything is clean for now.  I even managed to sneak in a short nap, as I was exhausted - again!


We had a missionary openhouse to go to late in the afternoon.  A young man in the ward is heading off tomorrow for the MTC - then he will be going to France. 

When we got back from that, Bill went out to cut the grass.  I worked on family history just a little, getting the last file made for the Person file.  I still have some papers to go through, but at least all the files are done.  So, it took me three days to make all the files, because I kept finding more documents.  I guess that isn't really bad.  I also spent a little time reading some blogs and studying a few things related to family history.  And, of course, I needed to make sure I was set for my lesson for tomorrow.

It has been a very busy Saturday!  But, we certainly got a lot done.

May 23rd - Kids Up!

I was getting ready to go visiting teaching when Lisa called and said the kids wanted to go to Kids Up, an indoor play area.  I told her that I could go when I finished my visit, probably around 11:00. 

We enjoyed our visit with Bonnie.  Since the message in May is always something from conference, I just pulled the little "flip through the pages and stop at random" trick.  And, of course, it was a perfect message.  It came from Elder Hales' talk about obedience and was perfect.  We had a nice discussion and felt a special spirit while talking.

When my companion dropped me back off at home, Lisa and the kids were already here and waiting.  We took off as soon as I switched out the washer and dryer and headed off to Kids Up.  It was the first time we had been to this facility.  It is owned by the same people who own the other one we have been going to.  The kids had a great time.  The items to play on were different, so it added some new variety. 

Sitting backwards on the see-saw.

 Too much Dancing with the Stars?  She loved the lights.

 

Being very silly!

After they were played out, we stopped at Del Rio for some lunch.  Then we went back to the house.  The kids wanted to stay at Grandma's house, so we spent a quiet time.  Brooks took his nap.  Ashby read some books and watched some Disney Jr.  Lisa and I rested, too.

This evening, we attended the graduation party for one of the girls at church.  She has chosen to attend University of Georgia next year.  She was accepted into the music programs at both UGA and BYU, with scholarships, but after a lot of soul searching decided that she was needed in Georgia.  I am sure she will do really well.

May 22nd - Ashby and Brooks Spend the Day

Lisa called early this morning and said she had a list of errands to run and that the children wanted to come to Grandma's house to play in the sprinkler.  Would that be OK?  Excuse me, would that be OK? - Uh, Yes!

I worked on family history until they got here mid-morning.  I had a pile of documents and things to file in the Person file that I worked on yesterday.  I ended up having to make a few more files, as the docs went back another generation in several cases.  I got a good bit done, though, before I got interrupted.

The kids came dressed in their swimsuits, all ready to attack the sprinkler.  They had a ball.  We were out there all morning and then some.  The playhouse had some spider webs and was pretty dirty inside, so we also hosed it down really good and got it cleaned up a little.  They ended up playing in there a good bit, too.  Eventually, they wanted a pool, which we don't have, but a couple of plastic bins (the short kind for under a bed) worked perfectly.  They had three of them lined up like a train and with the hose going and Brooks bringing "food" from the playhouse, they just laughed and had a great time.

It was finally time for lunch, so we came in, got cleaned up, and cooked some mac & cheese (the unanimous choice every time they are at Grandma's).  They also had some Doritos and some fresh pear.  It was 1:00 before we finally had lunch, which is much later than they normally eat.  They were pretty hungry, too, after all that hard play outside.

They spent the rest of their time playing in the house.  Let's see, they had the tic-tac-toe game out - they played Barbies on the steps - Brooks decided he wanted to play Legos - Ashby played Barbies and Dancing With the Stars.  They are so funny.

Lisa finally finished all her errands and pamperings and showed up.  She had ordered a toy for Ashby the last time she was here and it had come in.  And, good timing, a toy I had ordered for Brooks came in today.  They were both excited for something new.  Eventually, Lisa was able to get them in the car and off for home.  She had company for dinner and really needed to get home to get going on it.

I was exhausted when they left, but it was so much fun.  They were both very good and there was very little sibling stress.  They actually played together most of the time.  I did rest and watch a couple of TV shows.

What a day!

May 21st - Genealogy Study Group

Today was our monthly Genealogy Study Group meeting held at the church.  This is the community group, not a church group, but we offer them the use of the building for the meeting.  I had to do a short presentation - just a book review.  I chose a book about Newspapers and it went well.  The main presentation was the state genealogist for the SRA (Sons of the American Revolution).  I really enjoyed it.


After the meeting, my friend and I stopped for some lunch and then headed home.  I did a few things that needed doing, but I pretty much wasted the rest of the day.  Well, I guess it wasn't wasted, but it wasn't all that productive either.  I was so tired that relaxing seemed like a good thing to do!

May 20th - And I Didn't Vote!

I know - bad me.  I had every intention of going to vote in the primary today, but I just couldn't get myself out the door.  I have probably only missed voting a couple of times in my life - so now I must add one more time.  The problem?  Lazy - probably.  Fed up - certainly.  I will make a better effort in the run-off.

What I did spend my day doing was family history.  Well, I did a couple of loads of laundry and the usual "have to" stuff, but mostly I worked on my files.  I have been updating my files - making a few changes and getting them more consistent.  I have four files - one for each grandparent line.  Two were completed a while back.  Today I completed the third.  It just takes a while to get each file set up and the right stuff copied, etc.  Looks nice, though!  And so much easier to use than what I had done before.  One of these days, I will tackle the fourth file.  Then, someday, I will attack Bill's side.  Lots of work, but lots of fun.

May 19th - Family History and Empty Nesters

This has been a rather busy day.  I had one of my Sunday School class students come by for several hours to work on getting her going in family history.  She has been attending the class, but is overwhelmed with computers, so has not really done much.  I think we got her going and hopefully she will be able to take it from here.  If not, she will come again another day and we will work some more.  It is always fun working with people one on one, especially when they find something they had not expected!

Later, I made a library run to return some books and pick up some more.  I also stopped and picked up a watermelon to take for refreshments this evening.

This evening was Empty Nesters and we watched the movie, "The Saratov Approach."  We had seen it when it came to the theater here, but most had not.  We had a fun time.

May 18th - Graduation Party!

Ashby had wanted a party for her kindergarten graduation, so we had that today.  I had gotten some decorations from the dollar store.  In her mind, decorations means a party.  One of the things was a sign to stick in the front yard.  When she saw that, she got so excited!  Coming in the front door, she almost ran past us to get a look at the rest of the decorations.  Very funny.  There wasn't much, but it was enough.

For dinner, we grilled brats and boneless chicken thighs.  Because of the rain, I used the indoor grill.  Of course, mac and cheese were on the menu, too, along with some veggies.  For our big dessert, we had chocolate fondue.  She was over the top excited about that, too.  Actually, everyone was!

It was a fun party.  We didn't do much other than what we always do on Sunday evenings, but it was enough for her to think it was really special.  What a cute girl! 

The rest of Sunday was pretty much normal.  Which, of course, means it was the best day of the week!

May 17th - Lisa's Music Recital

We went to Lisa's music recital this afternoon - 14 piano students and 4 vocal students all performed.  They did a great job.  The theme was Disney.  Some were so nervous, but that is why they do recitals!  All did a good job, though, and we could see that they have improved since the last recital.  It was a fun couple of hours.

Before that, it was a normal Saturday.  You know, cleaning up the house, doing laundry, etc.  I had to go out and do some grocery shopping, which then means getting it all into the house and put away.  Not too much exciting to share there.  Bill usually picks up the groceries, but I do it when it is coupon shopping.  Kroger sends out the best coupons based on shopping history and I am the one who gets to do that trip.  There was over $20 in coupon savings.  I don't do much with coupons - seems like too much time for the savings - but it was a pretty good return today.

This evening, we picked up a calzone from Johnny's NY Pizza for our dinner.  Yummy.  And easy.

May 16th - Babysit with Brooks!

Lisa was asked to sing at a funeral, so she dropped Brooks off here after she took Ashby to school.  He and I had the best time.  He started out with the Thomas the Train stuff and played with that for quite a while, adding the box of cars.  Then he decided he needed a snack - probably because he noticed the gold fish crackers that Grandpa had sitting on the table (they were purchased for his priests quorum, but who is going to say no to a 3 year old?)  Then we went outside and played catch with the football for quite a while.  When we came back in, he decided he wanted to play with the beans.  I keep an under-the-bed plastic bin with dry beans in it.  It makes a great alternative to playing in a sandbox.  Actually, I have both a beans and a rice bin, but today the beans won out.  He played in that for a long time, with the dump trucks.  He is fascinated with filling the truck and then dumping out the beans.

By then, he was getting a little tired, so we watched a little bit of Mighty Machines for a quiet time.  After some lunch, was back at the playing.  He was so good.  He is learning to pee-pee in the potty and my little potty plays music when the child pees, so he had to do that three times!  He was so proud!

Lisa and Ashby got here after school - about 2:00.  That was when Brooks kind of lost it.  It seems that Ashby had earned a new toy and they had picked it up on their way.  She was so excited and wanted to play with it and Brooks decided that he should get to play with it first.  A bit of a tantrum ensued, leading Ashby to lock herself in the toy room to get away from him.  It was actually kind of funny.  Brooks hasn't quite learned how to delay satisfaction - especially when waiting involves the other person being your sister!

Needless to say, it was very quiet when everyone left.  I managed to get in a pretty good nap.  Although I am not sure I accomplished much else.  A little bit of this and that, but nothing worth mentioning.

It was still a great day.  Brooks has gotten so cute and just makes me laugh!

May 15th - Stay at Home Day: I Love It!

I know that I am basically a lazy person - otherwise, I wouldn't love being at home alone all day quite so much.  Today was one of those days.

I did do a few useful things - like changing and washing the bed sheets, doing a second load of laundry, working on my office desk (major work, I must say!), straightening the house, etc., etc., etc.

I had a headache this afternoon - change of weather, I think.  No rain moving in, but the temp is dropping by 20 degrees, so something is changing.  Anyway, that led me to relax a little.  I did not nap, but I did finish the book I was reading, plus I watched a couple of episodes of Law & Order in the evening, since Bill got home late.

I didn't get any work on done on Family History, other than a little bit for Sunday class and for my book review at next week's Genealogy Study Group meeting.  Maybe tomorrow!

May 14th - Family History Day - with a Mess Up!

Bill had taken the van in for some work yesterday, so we ran by to drop him off at the garage this morning.  Then I headed on over to pick up my friend and we went to the Family History Center.  All was going well until we tried to unlock the door to the center.  The key wouldn't go in!  We tried everything we could think of until I finally called the director and left him a message that we couldn't get the key to work.  Meanwhile, we went into the classroom next door and worked on stuff we had both brought.  He eventually called back and said he would contact the PFR to get it fixed.  We stayed our full shift, just in case a patron showed up.  This was probably the first time that we were glad no one came!

From there, we had lunch at a pizza place next to the church.  We were checking it out and it turned out to be very good pizza!  I then had a couple of errands to run, so she came with me to the Dollar Store to buy graduation decorations for Ashby's party on Sunday and then to the library to return and pick up books.  I then dropped her off at her house and headed on home myself.

The rest of my day was more on the lazy side - some computer stuff, a rest (no sleeping today, though), odds and ends. 

It has been a good day, but frustrating with the FHC door. 

May 13th - Ashby's graduation!

Today was just a normal Tuesday - doing the routine stuff around the house, working on family history, etc.

Our excitement for the day was attending Ashby's kindergarten graduation this evening. 

They did a very nice program and she was very proud of herself!  She wanted a party afterwards, so we will have a party on Sunday at Grandma's house!

May 12th - Trying to Get Back to Normal

I was exhausted today!  I think the week's vacation and then Mother's Day just plain did me in.

I did manage to get five loads of laundry all done, which took a pretty good hunk of my day.  I also had some things on my desk/computer to clear off.  Other than that, I didn't get much done.  I managed to sneak in a short nap between a couple of the loads of laundry.  I even cooked a real dinner - surprise!

I also enjoyed doing a little texting with the roomies.  It is hard to let go after being together for a week. 

Maybe tomorrow I can really get back to normal - then again maybe not!  At least I have clean clothes!

May 11th - Happy Mother's Day

Well, I got through another one - Mother's Day, that is.  And it was actually a good one. 

Sacrament Meeting was really good.  Instead of talking only about mothers and how super-human they are, we had normal talks.  The youth speaker spoke about the First Vision.  A missionary sister spoke about mothers, mainly using a talk by Julie Beck about "A Mother's Heart."  It was really more about all of us needing to develop some of the qualities of love, testimony, etc.  Very well done.

The final speaker was a young man about to leave on his mission.  He has had a bit of a struggle in getting his testimony.  Actually, it might be more accurate to say that he has always been honest about his struggle to gain a testimony.  Anyway, he has achieved that, so made his own decision to serve a mission.  He gave a very good talk, full of emotion that one would not expect to see from him. 

My class went well, although we got so involved that we ran over a little.  I don't think anyone else really noticed, though, as Relief Society always starts way late anyway.  They forgot to ring the warning bell, so I wasn't even aware of how late we were.  I guess we were just having too much fun!

Relief Society was the regular lesson, but all of the sisters were in attendance, as the priesthood covered everything for them.  I don't think everyone was in there, though, as the room didn't seem much more crowded than usual.  Whatever.

The big question is always what gift they are giving to the sisters.  Our ward has gotten into the tradition of giving each woman a large Symphony candy bar and they continued that today.  That is so much better than a flower that is dead by the time you get home!

At home, Bill started working on dinner.  We had grilled plank salmon, baked potatoes, fresh carrots, peas, watermelon, and corn muffins.  David had to mix up a rub for the salmon, as we were out, and he came up with a pretty good one.  Everything was really good.

It was fun having the kids here.  I don't always see them during the week, but they had not been over last Sunday before I left, so it seemed like a really long time.  They brought a cake that Ashby made.  They played outside a while and entertained us in a multitude of ways.  So fun.

That is what I like about mother's day - being with my own family just having fun.  I don't like over the top fussing - just honest love and caring.  It was a good day!

May 10th - Day 6 - Roomie Reunion Las Vegas

Well, today was heading home day.  Not so happy, but every good thing must end.

Joyce had the first flight out, so we drove her to the airport at 6:15.  Then back to MA's for some breakfast.  Jack picked Connie up and they took off around 9:00.  That left MA and I with a couple hours before it was time to take me to the airport around 11:00. 

My plane was a little delayed.  At least, the plane I was supposed to fly out on was delayed coming in, so that put us about 20 minutes late.  But, we got in to Atlanta about 8:40 (they made up a few minutes) and then we had to wait for another plane to leave the gate before we could go in.  I met up with Bill and we came on home, picking up some tacos on the way.

It has been a wonderful week.  I do so love these roomies and am forever grateful for being randomly placed together our freshman year at BYU.  We are now at 49 years - and still counting!!

May 9th - Day 5 - Roomie Reunion Las Vegas

What a beautiful morning - cool and sunny.  We started the day just sitting out on the patio, talking and enjoying the weather.  Then Maggie fixed us pancakes and eggs for breakfast. 

Once we got dressed, we headed out to Red Rock Mountain.  The rock has layers of iron that has turned the rock bright red.  Very beautiful.  We enjoyed driving around the scenic loop and seeing all the different rock formations.  In addition to the red, there were a number of other interesting shapes.  Some of them looked like the mounds we build at the beach when we let wet sand drip and pile up like big globs. 

We stopped for a while at the visitor's center and, among other things, we watched the desert tortoises that they have fenced in there.  It is an endangered species and gets a good bit of publicity locally.  We also bought us a souvenir in the gift shop - a keepsake for our reunion.  We chose a pendant of the desert tortoise that says "Treasure Friends".

We had a late lunch at a favorite Mexican restaurant - very yummy, again.  After eating, we headed back down to the strip to see the Bellagio conservatory, which is decorated in a spring theme.  Beautiful, as always, with tons of flowers and the butterfly house.

We then made a stop a Town Square, a huge outdoor shopping area, so we could shop at Charming Charlies.  It is a fun place with tons of accessories, jewelry, purses, scarves, etc., all reasonably priced.  From there, we headed to Luv Its frozen custard stand and had some very wicked sundaes.

What a big day!  And our last - boo hoo!

May 8th - Day 4 - Roomie Reunion Las Vegas

Fortunately, Maggie is feeling better today.  Once we all got up, had some breakfast, and got moving, we headed out to the temple.  It was a beautiful day and we really enjoyed it.  The big surprise was that Joyce saw a friend who is serving a mission here.  The place was full of missionaries and she was in the dressing room.  She had introduced Joyce and John all those years ago.  It was one of those "tender mercy" moments.

We also had fun taking pictures afterwards.  As I said, there were lots of missionaries and a group of them was walking up just as we were leaving and we asked if they would take our picture, which they did.  Then we took their picture.  We all had a few laughs with that event.

From the temple, we went to have lunch at BJ's, which was very yummy.  Then, we headed back, got comfortable, and watched the rest of the Sweden mission pictures.  I really loved seeing Joyce's pictures and hearing all the stories that went with them.

We pretty much just relaxed the rest of the day.

May 7th - Day 3 - Roomie Reunion Las Vegas

Poor Maggie.  She was not feeling well last night - fever, bad back ache.  She was hoping it was nothing, but she didn't have a good night either, so her husband ran her to the Quick Clinic this morning to have it checked out.  It seems she has a kidney infection, so she was given an antibiotic.  We decided that this was a good day to stay in and have fun.  Other than her being sick, we had a good day.

Among the things we chose to do:  read, do games, talk, laugh.  We took a couple of hours and looked at some of Joyce's mission to Sweden pictures.  That lasted until a we needed naps.  Hopefully, we will find time to watch the rest of it.  We also had quite a family history discussion - starting with just one question from Joyce and off we went.  Fun for me, of course. 

Dinner was a cookout with steak and salmon and great sides.  We spent the evening being just as relaxed.

It doesn't sound like much, but we all actually thoroughly enjoyed the day.  We were all able to relax with no pressure that we should be doing something else.  We laughed a lot.  We talked a lot.  We just enjoyed being together.  That is the whole purpose of our trip!

Now, hopefully the meds will help MA feel better by tomorrow, so she will enjoy it all a bit more, too.

May 6th - Day 2 - Roomie Reunion Las Vegas

We slept in this morning.  Of course, I was awake by 5:45 - 8:45 in Atlanta - so that was actually pretty good.  I just stayed in bed for a while though, checking email, etc.  I gave Bill a call, too, and we had a nice chat.  With the time difference, it is hard to call in the evening when he is probably already asleep!

After breakfast, showers, lazing around just a bit, we headed out to Hoover Dam.  It is supposed to get warmer each day this week, so we wanted to go while it was still cool.  We didn't do the tour, but stopped and viewed the dam at a couple of different places and took plenty of pictures.  I saw the dam when I was bout 16, so that was so long ago that I don't remember details.  What amazed me was how low the water level is.  It really emphasizes just how severe this drought has been.  I was also impressed with the new bridge that has been built across the gorge - it is beautiful and another piece of amazing engineering.  We also drove across the bridge and went a few miles down so we could see the bridges that were built over the highway so the big horn sheep could safely cross the road.

As we heading back to Boulder City, we stopped at the city park and playground to see if there were any sheep.  We were amazed to discover about 45 of the big horned sheep right up next to the street, grazing happily on the beautiful green grass of the park.  People were playing tennis on one side and a child was playing in the playground on the other, but the sheep just kept on grazing.  They were quite impressive, even though they are kind of shaggy right now with shedding their winter coats.  There were some lambs, as well as ewes and rams.  We spent quite a while watching them and they were fascinating.

We then headed on into the historic center of town.  It is a lovely town center, with lots of antique shops, etc.  We flipped a coin to see which restaurant to eat at and ended up with Dillinger's.  The theme was the outlaw Dillinger and had very good burgers and sandwiches.

After lunch, we went on back to the house and spent the rest of the day there.  Connie brought out picture books she had made with photos from our previous reunions.  We had a blast all sitting on the couch and looking at it and remembering.  She had made one for each of us, so we have a great keepsake!

The rest of the afternoon, we read, napped, talked, laughed, and generally relaxed and enjoyed each other.  We had dinner in - flautas from Costco - and spent more time talking, laughing, and relaxing.  To be honest, there was a teary moment here and there as we remembered things.

Day 2 has been another rousing success.  The problem is that we are all already worried about how fast the week is flying by!  But, we are still enjoying every minute.

May 5th - Day 1 - Roomie Reunion Las Vegas

NOTE: I am not always getting my posts up every day, but I will get them there - I am getting the posts done, just not the uploading.

The first thing I want to mention is that 55 years ago today, I was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I was 12 years old, and it has made all the difference in my life.  I am grateful for all the blessings that have come since.

One of those blessings was attending BYU and being randomly put with 5 other freshmen in Heritage Halls.  Three of them have become some of my closest friends ever.  And, this week we are spending in Las Vegas together.  Excited!!

Bill and I left the house about 7:30 this morning on our way to the airport.  My plane left, right on time, at 10:40.  It was due to get in to LV about 12:15, but we made it about a half hour early.  That may have been because of a medical emergency that occurred on board.  A man had a seizure and passed out.  They were at the front of the plane and I was toward the middle, so didn't see anything.  But, I knew something was up when the asked if there were any people with medical training on board.  There were, and they must have handled everything OK.  I am wondering if the plane was given clearance to speed up a little in order to get in to the airport as quickly as possible. 

When we landed, we had to stay seated until they had taken care of the emergency.  Then I was able to head down to baggage claim where Connie and Maggie were waiting.  So fun to see them!  Joyce was supposed to have arrived at the same time I actually got there, but her plane was delayed, so she got in about the time I was supposed to - kind of funny.  Important thing is that we all made it and are set for a great week.

We headed on out and found a Mexican restaurant for lunch.  It is Cinco de Mayo, after all!  The place we went to was offering a great special in honor of the day and I had the best enchilada ever.  Yummy.  From there, we went to Ethyl M's, which is a candy factory.  They were making snickers bars, I think it was, but not much really going on.  They also have a beautiful cactus garden, which we enjoyed walking through.  Many of the cactus are blooming now and it was really very beautiful.

From there, we went on to Maggie's house to get settled in and relax a while.  Her new home is lovely.  It was also good to see her husband, Charles, again.  He is being very welcoming to this houseful of women!

By early evening, we were ready to eat again, so we all piled in to Charles' big truck and he drove us down to the strip.  From the car, we watched a little of the Belaggio fountain show while sitting at a red light, as well as just having fun with the "people watching."  We were headed to the Aria Casino, which is new since we all got together last time.  It is huge and beautiful - just like all of them.  One of the restaurants is called Lemon Grass and it is Thai.  We were able to order five entrees, which were served family style, so we ate all of them.  It was the best Thai I have had- so good.

After a walk around the Aria, including some pictures at their big wall of water, we drove down the strip on our way back to the house.  What a great evening.

By then, we were all pretty tired - especially me, dealing with a 3 hour time change, so we went on to bed fairly soon.

Day 1 has been a spectacular success!!

May 4th - What a Busy Sunday!

Our morning started normal enough - except that Bill didn't have to go off to any meetings since he has been released from the bishopric.  He did spend a good bit of the morning working on his lesson for the priests quorum.  I spent the morning working on several things, like my own lesson.

Fast and Testimony Meeting was good, as usual.  My lesson was the 2nd part of lesson 4, so we were in FamilySearch, trying to learn how to use the Person page.  I think we had some good questions answered. 

After the meetings, we had a Linger Longer pot luck dinner.  I must admit that I was not too happy about this whole thing.  Actually, the list of "why it is a good idea" is quite long.  The list of "why it is NOT a good idea" had mainly one thing on it:  I had to cancel having the kids over for dinner.  It just so happens that one thing trumped the long list of good things, so I was probably the only person in the ward who was not happy about it.  I stuck it out, though, and brought a big pot of goulash (Bill's request) and tried to be pleasant and social. 

By the time we got home, I had about an hour before I had to take off again for a Family History consultants meeting.  That went well, and only lasted about an hour.  Back home, I still had to start my packing for my trip tomorrow. 

And then, to end my day, I just had to finish the book I was reading, since I was close to the end.  Made a late night, but I probably would have had trouble going to sleep anyway, since I am excited about leaving for Las Vegas in the morning.  (Isn't it amazing the talent that readers have in creating good reasons to stay up late reading?)

A very busy Sunday, with no time to rest or see the kids - makes it a mixed day.

May 3rd - What a Beautiful Day!

Today was a perfect weather day - probably the only one we will have!  LOL! 

I spent most of it doing the usual Saturday stuff - some laundry, dusting, straightening, etc., but I must admit that I didn't really deep clean - just too much effort.  I also spent most of the rest of my free time working on family history.  I had gone in to look at something way back on one of the lines and discovered that Family Search is a bit of mess on that family, so I have been trying to clean it up a little.  Very time consuming, though, especially since I don't like to change information without documentation.  So, I have also been doing some research to make sure that what I am changing is now correct.  Fun.

We had another couple invite us to go out to dinner with them, so they picked us up and we went to Cracker Barrel.  It was a fun time, catching up with them and having a great meal. 

Such a beautiful day!

May 2nd - Friday!

I was supposed to keep Brooks this morning, which would have been fun.  But, at the last minute, his daddy was able to take him, so I missed out.  Oh, well. 

Instead, I did a few things around the house, including making a library run, and then buried myself in family history.  That is pretty much it!  Get buried in family history and nothing much else happens!

Actually, when Bill got home, he was tired.  We had planned to go to the temple for ward temple night, but it was too late by the time he made it home.  We ended up going out for dinner, though. 

And that was my Friday!

May 1st - May Day & Strawberry Picking!

Happy May Day!  A memory from my childhood:  On May Day, we would make small baskets of some kind, fill them with candy, and deliver them to the doorsteps of friends.  We would leave the basket, knock on the door, and run.  It was important not to get caught!  I was usually allowed to deliver 4 or 5 such baskets.  That was enough for my mother.  It was always a big deal to receive some baskets, as well.  It was proof that you were important to someone! 

We didn't do May baskets today, but Lisa, the kids, and I did go down to the strawberry fields to pick strawberries.  They were having a special - a free gallon for each two gallons you paid for.  There were the four of us, so we got four gallons, one of which was free.  The kids loved it!

When we finished picking, we headed back towards home, but made a stop at Del Rio for lunch.  They do love their Mexican!  It was such a nice day that we sat out on the patio.

From there, they dropped me off at home and headed back to their house.  What a fun few hours we had!

At home, I finished up what I hadn't gotten done before we went, including three loads of laundry.  I even managed to sneak in about a 10 minute nap - before the dryer buzzer had me up again.  It was a "do nothing" evening, too.  We ate left overs and played on our computers and watched a little TV while eating.

What a great day!

April 30th - A Really Busy Day!

Today was my family history center day, so Bill drove me down.  My co-worker and I had a nice morning working on our own things, but we had no patrons - again!  We need to do a little more advertising, I think. 

There was a get together of some of the people from the old Atlanta Ward - back in the 50's and 60's - because one of them was visiting in the area and had wanted to see everyone.  That was why Bill had dropped me off at the center this morning.  He picked up another sister in our ward who was part of that group and then they picked me up at 12:00.  We then drove on down to where the lunch was being held.  There was a good turnout and we enjoyed ourselves.  Most of these people are actually 5 - 10 years, or more, older than Bill.  He was just a teenager at that time.  But, they still enjoyed catching up with each other and learning about others who were not there.

We got home around 4:00 or later and were both so tired!  It can't be that we are getting old!!!!  We both relaxed a bit, although I didn't take a nap that late.  We just had BLT's for dinner, along with the leftover pasta salad I had taken to the lunch. 

Bill's new calling is as Priest Quorum Advisor, so he still goes on Wednesday nights for activities, but at least he doesn't have to stay late for bishopric meeting anymore.  I was already in bed reading when he got home.  I finished another book, Still Foolin' 'Em by Billy Crystal.  I enjoyed the book - very funny and strong on family.  Just wish he didn't like to use foul language quite so much.

So what a busy day - maybe tomorrow will be quiet!