Memorial Day 2010 and the Ride back to Utah with Brayden

AFTER WE LEFT GALVESTON, OUR LAST STOP WAS SAN ANTONIO WHERE WE SPENT MEMORIAL WEEKEND WITH KIM, BRYCE, AND THE GRANDCHILDREN. Kim and Bryce prepared us gourmet meals and wouldn't let us help with anything. They really spoiled us. This left us free to play with the grandchildren.

We went to Church with them on Sunday. On Memorial Day, we hung out at their subdivision's community pool. We all love the water, so this was a fun thing to do. On Tuesday, the day after, we left for our return trip to Utah with Brayden in tow.

One of our favorite things to do with the family is to throw a water torpedo. Sooner or later everyone will get in on the game.

Brayden has fun with his big brother.

Kimy and Karston get some instructions from their dad.

The pool was very refreshing.

We had a relaxing Sunday hanging out at the house.

In a quiet moment, Kimy shows Grandpa how to use her cell phone.

THE DAY AFTER MEMORIAL DAY, WE HEADED BACK TO UTAH WITH BRAYDEN. Brayden would stay with us for 4 weeks.

The ride home was a long one, so to help pass the time, we gave Brayden a laptop and activities to do. Grandma sat next to him in the back seat.

Once a day Brayden got to watch a video on Grandpa's laptop.

We played Old Maid and Crazy 8's over and over and over again. Brayden loved them and it helped pass the time. Brayden especially liked it when he fooled Grandma and won, as he is now doing passing the Old Maid card to her.

We wanted to give Brayden the experience of seeing Carlsbad Caverns and the bats. This was our second trip to the caverns and Brayden's first.

He got got bored in the caves and the bats didn't fly until after dark, so we couldn't see them very well.

Brayden was a good sport at the Caves, but in hindsight, we should have skipped Carlsbad and hurried back to Utah as his real anticipation and enthusiasm was what waited there.

We camped at trailer parks along the way. Brayden helped Grandpa set up camp. We had to make room for the kayaks, which we had taken along to play in at Lake Greeson, Arkansas. Ed and I also went on a ride in the dark on a lake where we camped at Galveston. There was a full moon that night and produced a great memory.

We stopped in Moab for lunch. It was a nice break.

The playground equipment was the best we've ever seen in a park. Brayden had fun and it was hard to leave and continue the drive home.

UTAH, HERE WE COME!!!!!

After Arkansas--Houston and Galveston, May 2010

After we left Arkansas, which comprised the first half of our May vacation, we drove to Ed's brother's ranch in Texas. We stayed there a couple of days.

The Ranch!

Ron calls the horses to dinner.

They come running!

He trains like the "Horse Whisperer" and they follow him.

We take out the horses in the morning, before it is too hot! Cyndy enjoys the ride!

Ed's confident in the Saddle and rides like a pro! The ranch dogs like to tag along.

After the ranch, we drove to Galveston, spending three days in the city where Ed was born. At last, he was able to return to the place of his birthright. We visited the Houston Space Museum (not as spectacular as the Shuttle Launch that Derek had seen in person in Florida a few days prior, but interesting, non-the-less.) It was a walk down memory lane to see how they used to do it without computers and using slide rules. What miracles were accomplished back in the 60's!

That was then, this is now!.... Moments before take-off of one of the last space shuttle launches. Derek is excited! (Just thought I'd throw in a photo of his.)

The next two days were spent taking in a few of Galveston's sights. There was more to do than we had time for. Galveston was a lot more fun than we had ever imagined.

With only two days to sightsee, we spent half the morning touring the Old Opera House. In hind sight, we wish we had toured one of the historic mansions instead, but Oh, well. Maybe there will be another time.....

Couldn't visit Galveston, Ed's birthplace, without walking the ocean! (The oil spill had not yet reached these beaches.)

Last Stop before heading for San Antonio was the Moody Gardens in Galveston. We spent a whirlwind day and half seeing all the exhibits and many IMAX 3d movies, culminating with Avatar that evening. We had a blast!

Arkansas Vacation

Okay, it's been awhile. I'll start at the first and add some blogs of the later stuff on another day.

Our vacation began with a trip across country dragging our 5th Wheel and boats behind the truck which was loaded with boxes of stuff for Kim. ( We were glad to unload it all after toting it for 3 1/2 weeks throughout our trip.)

We got away late and so only had a brief stopover at our friends house in Texas. On Mother's day we traveled the upper part of Texas, in communication with Eddie and Kathy traveling above us through Okalhoma. Bryce, Kate, and Kimball were flying overhead, landed at Little Rock and drove down to our campground at Lake Greeson, a beautiful, wooded lake that we had all to ourselves for the first week. We all got there within an hour of each other.

The adventure began the next day with our diamond searching. The last five minutes of the second day, Eddie found a beautiful 71 point yellow diamond. Mother Nature formed it perfectly and it is ready for mounting in a ring for Kathy.

Bryce, Kate, and Kimball stayed 4 days, Derek joined us on the way home from his own adventure seeing the space shuttle take off in Florida. Kathy left when he did to visit her sisters in Pittsburgh before leaving for the Marshall Islands today (June 14.) We stayed a total of 12 days in Arkansas before leaving for Texas, and Eddie stayed for 14 days.

Besides diamond searching, we all took our turns on the Kayaks, went on nature walks, (one into a swamp in the diamond park,) Ed and I rode our bikes, got in on a "Diamond Days" celebration where a family sang gospel blue grass music, and we enjoyed several butter pecan ice cream cones at a little shack in Murfreesboro.

First stop on the trail: Gene and Teresa's in Belton, Texas.

First day in Arkansas, 2nd part of our adventure. Camp is set up!

Lake Greeson, Arkansas

Ducks by the lake

Funnel Spiders behind our trailer, after a rainstorm

Spiderweb hanging from a tree. Impressive!

Morning and off to a good start!

At the diamond field.

Troughs where we clean out the dirt!

It's a process!

Kimball gets into the act!

It begins with a shovel of dirt.

After it rained, it got very muddy. The boots helped some.....

I liked the solitude of a mud puddle near the river bed better than the troughs for sifting my dirt. But it was a mucky affair--like making mudpies!

Ed helps with the shoveling.

Which bit of dirt holds a diamond? (Only Eddie knows)

The guys liked to take an extra bucket back to camp to finish off the day in the lake.

There's more to life than digging for diamonds. The boys take out the kayaks!

Tarzan vine in the swamp by the diamond mine.

Nature trail at camp. Eddie's on his unicycle.

Resting on the lush, green trail.

"Arki", the turtle we rescued from the road....

....then released him by the lake, where he hurried into the water,

and we watched him swim to the other side.

Early morning mist on the water.t

Eddie's perfect yellow diamond! Sigh.....This is what the trip was all about!

Is it Happy Easter or Merry Christmas?

It snowed last night. Ed measured up to 8 inches in places in our back yard. We had already taken the plow off the 4-wheeler, so he had to make do with the snow blower.

Will Spring ever come?

A Wonderful General Conference Weekend!

April 2-4, 2010

Conference weekend started out Friday night with our attending our missionary reunion (not Ed's from many years ago, but our's.) It was nice to see our missionary president and his wife. It's been over 18 months since we left our mission. We also saw the Calls, the couple that replaced us, as well as the two American missionaries we got close to on our mission.

Saturday we watched conference while I cleaned the house. When Ed went to the Priesthood session that evening, I had four friends over for a "ladies night out"and we played the card game "golf", ate snacks and visited.

After conference on Sunday, we drove to Salt lake and picked up the Grahl's. Paulo Grahl is over the S&I program in Brazil and is as fine a man as you will ever meet. He is fluent in English and translated for President Benson at the dedication of a Brazilian temple last year without using any notes. He was very intune to our difficulties when we first went on our mission and got us the help we needed.

After picking him and his wife up, we drove to the Call's house in Sandy for dinner. Nata Tobias, S&I coordinator who trained Ed, his wife, daughter, and her husband joined us, as well. It has been a year since we saw them. Their daughter and husband have lived in the US for 7 years attending school. After her baby is born in July, they will return to Brazil.

Randy and Carolyn Johnson, former Belo Horizonte East Mission President (from California)

Debbie and Alan Call, the couple who replaced us.

Eating together: Us, (Ed and Cyndy), the Calls, Stew Higham, missionary in our city when we first got there, another missionary, and Micah Ingalls, a missionary who arrived and served with Elder Higham for a couple of months. When Elder Higham left the city, Elder Ingalls taught Juliana, the young girl that came to our apartment Monday nights for dinner and the missionary lessons. Ed baptized her and Elder Ingalls confirmed her.

Sunday Dinner. Counter clockwise: Ed, Nata Tobias, Paulo Grahl, Culeika Grahl, Debbie Call, Alan Call, Gustavo, Camilla, (Tobias' daughter), Tati Tobias.

Tati and Cyndy--Good friends!