Fried Pickles - Really?

I see that it has been awhile since my last blog - well actually three months. A few things have happened since then! Thanksgiving and Christmas came and went - and a good time was had! Erin and her family came for Thanksgiving and that was great fun. Of course we dragged them down to see the Arabia - We take everyone there who comes to visit because it is soooo awesome! We all then went to Megan & Matt's home in Arkansas for Thanksgiving and that was great. Jesse flew in and Susan and Laura came so we had everyone but Richard and Gary - they were missed.



After Thanksgiving I went home to Utah with Erin and spent two weeks there. I had a great time - spending time with Erin, Matt and the boys, Gary, Eileen and Mom. I got to see all of Eileen's kids and their families and that was fun. Gary came and took me to see Hale Theatre's "Christmas Carol" and that was great fun. I got to go to the Tabernacle Choir's Christmas Concert with Erin, Karl (my brother) and our nephew, Steven and that was awesome. I was able to attend two concerts presented by Alex's school - Alex plays saxaphone in the band and he sings in a jazz choir. It was very impressive! Then it was home to quickly prepare for Christmas.

Christmas was quiet at our house with just Bill, Susan, Laura and me but it was nice to be together. We all went to some friend's for dinner Christmas day - thanks Cliffe's for a wonderful feast. We did have our traditional ableskiver's for Christmas Eve but they were a failure of momental degree! The day after Christmas Bill and I headed down to Arkansas to spend a few days at Megan's home and had a fun time there. We were able to keep Bill in one spot for five whole days! We did some fun things while there; visited the Clinton Library in Little Rock, took a tour on the trolley (that was fun!) and walked the Big Dam Bridge. This is a bridge that spans the Arkansas River over a dam (hence the name). It is a walking bridge and was pretty awesome.






So on to the reason for the name of this post. While in Arkansas it was mentioned that we should go to Fat Daddy's, a local eatery, and have fried pickles. Well now I had never heard of fried pickles - have you? We didn't get time while we were there so last Saturday Bill and I went on a quest to find fried pickles in our area. We found them at Tom Foolery's, a local eatery, and I must say they were good. Bill said he probably wouldn't go out of his way to get them again but I would! And I am sure they are good for you - they are a vegetable aren't they? Anyway, we are now settled in for the winter hoping for Spring to come soon and with it maybe some more visitors. We love visitors!!!

Freedom Rock and Bridges of Madison County

This weekend we decided to take a little one day road trip and visit Freedom Rock in Iowa. We have seen pictures of this rock for a few years on emails that came around and when we found out we were only a few hours away we decided to go see the real thing. It is painted by a young man who has been doing it for about 10 years, he started painting it while in high school. Every year he paints a new scene and has it ready to dedicate on Memorial Day. The front of the rock is a tribute to the soldiers in some of our major conflicts. The north side is dedicated to the Viet Nam veterans. The green helicopter actually has ashes of 12 different Viet Nam veterans painted into it. The east side is a dedication to the Medal of Honor recipients so far in the Global War on Terror and the south side is a tribute to our wounded and disabled veterans. If you are ever driving through Iowa on I-80, take a minute and get off on exit 86, go South about 1 mile and see the rock for yourself.

The trip had an unexpected bonus - while driving to the place where the rock is we went through a town called Winterset and there was a big sign that said "Welcome to Madison County, Home of the famous Madison County Covered Bridges." Well - that was something we had to see!! We were only able to see three of them - but what a treat. We also ran across a sign that said Mt. Pisgah, Mormon Trail Historic Site, so of course we checked that out too. Check out en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Pisgah_(Iowa)
for a little information about the place. All in all - A very fun day!

Our Amazing Trip to Washington, D.C.

Last week Bill and I went on an amazing trip to Washington, D.C. We only had Thursday afternoon through Monday evening to do all that we wanted to do - BUT we got a lot done. We saw everything on our list. This was Bill's first time to go to D.C. and he had a wonderful trip. His favorites were the Viet Nam wall - it is an amazing monument - and the Washington Cathedral - again and amazing place. I knew he would enjoy seeing all that stone in one place!! We were able to spend some time with my brother and his wife, Karl and Gisela, and that was a treat. When I was trying to take their picture in front of the Supreme Court building, a policeman was about to write out a ticket and was calling to have our car towed - that's why the frantic look on the faces. We were also able to attend the Washington D.C. temple. It is a beautiful place and we feel fortunate to have had that experience. Bill had so much fun he is ready to go on another trip, and for you who know Bill, that is an amazing thing in itself.

I wanted to say a little about the monument at the Pentagon. There was a bench for each person killed in the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon. Their name was on the end piece and if you were facing the Pentagon while you were reading the name they were killed in the Pentagon. If you were facing away while reading the name they were killed on the airplane. The youngest person killed was a 3-year-old. You can see the benches face different directions and they were in lines of the year they were born. An interesting monument and very moving.

Jessie's Visit

Jessie came to visit. She came toward the end of July and was able to stay over two weeks with us. We had a great time creating! We sewed swimming bags, made leaf print bags, sewed headbands and Jessie made a cloth portrait of her dog, Lexi. We also did lots of other stuff includng a trip to Colorado to help Laura move out here. While in Colorado Jessie got to see her BFF in Fort Collins, Tyque. Her grandpa and I really enjoyed having her and look forward to next year to do this again.

This is Jessie and her friend Rachel in the process of making their swimming bags.

Jessie, Rachel and Laura at the Precious Moments Chapel.

Jessie, Rachel and Laura again at the Precious Moments Chapel.

Jessie and Tyque in Fort Collins.

Jessie and Rachel with finished swimming bags.

Jessie with picture and cloth portrait of Lexi.

Jessie and Rachel with Gus T. Bear (see earlier posts about Gus)

Then James came to visit

When we took Liam back to his parents we traded for James and he came to stay for a week. We really enjoyed his visit here and above are a few of the pictures from his visit. The first one is at the Liberty Jail - that is always an interesting tour. As you can see Grandpa is still a little taller than James - HaHa. The next picture is taken at an exhibit called The Basketball Experience (or something like that). James and Grandpa really enjoyed that - it is an interactive exhibit and James got to participate in a pick-up game while there. He measured his feet against those of some of basketball's great players (Shaq ONeil's is a size 23 and James is a 13 - How would like to have to buy those shoes!). Next is taken at a restaurant in North Kansas City called Chappells. The owner is a great collector of sports memorabilia and the place is full of sports stuff. This picture is taken by a Heisman Trophy. The last picture is of James with some friends of ours, Matt and Steven Untch, at a Royal's game, which they all enjoyed. The last night James was here he was invited to play tennis with some friends of ours so now has been introduced to yet another sports activity. The week went by fast - and James we loved having you here!

Liam came to visit

Liam came to visit this week and what a fun time it was for grandpa and me. He came home with us from Tulsa and was here for a week. He got to go swimming a couple of times with some friends here in Liberty and we went to the Children's Peace Pavillion down in Independence. On the 4th of July we went to Liberty's 2nd annual 4th Fest. I think Liam had a good time - grandma and grandpa got a few more gray hairs (if that is possible). We forgot how hard it is to keep track of a busy 8-year-old in a crowd. It was a fun time - there were lots of games and activities for the kids and entertainment. Our Bishop's son sings in a group that performed - Called Kitchen Sync - and they were awesome - it was fun to see them. And of course there was the community band. They were a lot of fun. Then came the fireworks - they were awesome.It was an amazing feeling sitting in a crowd of people in a small town in the heartland of America celebrating the 4th of July and I was glad to be a part of it and very grateful to have Liam with us. One of the songs that was played during the fireworks was "American Soldier" and I am proud to say Liam sang along and knew all the words. After it was over he turned his head and whispered in my ear - "grandma, that song always makes me cry" - Well me too Liam!

As I can't figure out how to label each picture, I will tell you what they are about in order. The first one actually should have been the last - it is of Liam going home. The second was while we were waiting for the fireworks to start. We were actually having more fun than it looked. The next one is Liam and his new balloon friend at the 4th Fest. Next is Liam waiting for a table at the Smoke House BBQ. Last was taken at the Children's Peace Museum.

Mother's Day in Arkansas

A few weeks ago I asked Megan how hard it would be to wangle an invitation to come to Arkansas for Mother's Day. She was gracious enough to invite us so Bill and I packed up and headed down to Cabot. We had a really good time being there, seeing how much the kids have grown and checking out flea markets. The pictures were taken at a beautiful place called The Old Mill. One of the highlights of the trip was going to church with the family and listening to Matt give a talk in Sacrament meeting. He did a great job - Way to go Matt! The lady who spoke before him gave a lot of his talk and it was fun to see him up there scribbling away revising and rethinking - as I said, he did a great job. While there Jessie and I challenged each other to a walking program. We bought pedometers and set a goal to walk to Salt Lake City, like the pioneers did. We will each keep track of our miles and when we reach it we are going to treat ourselves to something great. Don't know what yet - have a few years to decide. At least that's how long it will take me to walk that far. Check out our mileage keeper at the bottom of the blog. I am eagerly awaiting the stimulus check from the government so I can stimulate Circuit City's economy by purchasing a new camera so look for further posts with pictures from my new camera. Next week we are off to Colorado for Laura's graduation and to meet up with several of our kids and families. Should be a great weekend.