A Saturday morning

The kids are on a song kick. Eliza is getting ready for Young Women's camp (yes, we are having camp in October) and got a Camp manual. She has been sucking up every bit of information inside that book. I thought about reminding her that camp will happen every year until she graduates. But hey, why quash the enthusiasm? She was poring over the camp songs section and asking about unfamiliar ones, trying to figure out the melody. When she got to "White Coral Bells", I couldn't believe that I hadn't introduced her to that song! So I sang it with her and then we split into a round. Then the other musketeers wanted to join in. I was quite impressed with their ability to pick it up and keep singing in a round! Please forgive my tinny part, someone had to hold the camera AND sing with Jacqui. She could keep up, as long as she had a partner. Same with Grant.

I put my hands up in the air sometimes

Yeah, oh yeah! You know what time it is! It's 'back to school' time! Can I get a whoop-whoop? 

It's 7th, 5th, 3rd and 1st graders this year. Man, talk about tough. I mean, I remember 7th grade. I had a crush on my History teacher Mr. Duffy. No. freaking. way. is this happening to me. And the youngest is in first grade. I thought it was tough sending each kid that first year; now I know that the youngest is the toughest to let go. *sniff* FINE! Leave me to go grow up!!

 

As much as I may complain or kvetch about the insanity that they drive me to, I miss 'em. Not so much the first week or so; more in a couple of weeks. I think I could be okay with a staggered school year where I have two in school and two at home. Not that that scenario exists, I'm just saying I'd be okay with it. 

I also think this is an appropriate time to crow a little about their school. It's wonderful! It's their first experience with an "American style" school. Though what is that anymore? I love the curriculum; it's like the math program was made especially for them. Though a great curriculum is nothing without great teachers to implement it. They all (at least my kid's teachers) want to be there and live for what they do! I love that they say the Pledge of Allegiance every morning at the A.M. assembly. I love that my kids feel comfortable enough, and CAN, run up to their teachers and give them a big hug. I think that touch and contact is a BIG part of any relationship. And I know one bennie that the kids love is the cafeteria hot lunch option. It's not too expensive (which I can't always say for Bahrain) and it helps me out some days.  

So here's to a new school year!  

 (if you can't tell, i'm on a gif kick)

 

Beware the Groove

I think I can confidently state that due to my lack of regular posting, I have lost any and all interest anybody ever had in this blog. I am basically posting into thin air. 

Bahrain has been a tough post. There, I said it. I finally feel like I've got my feet under me again and it's time for summer R&R. The 26th was supposed to be the last day of school. Not anymore.

Yesterday afternoon, I got an email stating that due to possible incidents (roadways being blockaded, clashes with protesters & police, etc.) school would start three hours late on Monday. Then an hour later, another email came stating that because the possible incidents would also impact Tuesday, they would start 3 hours late that day as well. It was already a half day. Another hour and another email and the whole thing is sorted. Monday will be the last day of school for the elementary and Tuesday will start late and run just long enough for the middle and high school students to take their last exam. Yes, the MS & HS take their exams the last days of school. Crazy, I know. We have this site called Gradespeed where the students can check their test results in a week. I'll bet the teachers love that. 

The reason my feathers are still ruffled about this whole thing? We leave for the States on Wednesday night. Instead of having just one day for the kids to undo all my hard work, they'll have two. Another impediment to my progress here in Bahrain is that I lost my maid in the move back in January. (please, don't even give me any grief on that subject, k?) I have been doing it all on my own since then and it's not easy. You try keeping a 5,000+ square foot house clean. So I've been going along, working my groove, and this hits me like a ton of bricks. I tell ya, love my kids as I do, but when I've got a list of things I need to get done that didn't have the kid factor times 4 included, that messes with the math. 

So since they just left on the bus 20 minutes ago instead of 3 hours and 20 minutes ago, I've really got to get off my duff and get a move on. 

 

No Drive

I finally found the picture hard drive. That's a big deal. In such a digital & nomadic lifestyle we lead, backing up our pictures is a must! Also, between the laptop & desktop PCs, pictures & music can get scattered easily. Music purchased on one computer, pictures put here, etc. I try to round things up at least every three months. During "picture heavy" months (i.e. holidays, birthdays, vacation), I'll do it once a month.

Well, when we got back at the end of June, we had all three drives. After Mairyn's birthday, I could only find the music & document drives. The picture one was nowhere to be found! That little drive has *everything* on it. Everything since June 2003, which was when we got our first digital camera. I searched high and low. Nothing. I knew it had to be somewhere, but it was always nagging me at the back of my mind, "Where is that drive?" Finally, three nights ago, I found it! And in quite an accessible place. It was with the other LARGE external hard drives. It is small, the size of a passport. Not that I hadn't checked that place a dozen times already. Oh well. All is right in the world, my pictures are safe & sound.

I have spent the last two days updating the drive. Transferring files from different computers to the central photo loading zone and freeing up literally GIGS of memory. It's just always so stressful when I'm deleting duplicate files that the computer found and it asks me "Are you sure you want to delete this file?" Yes? Didn't you just tell me it's a duplicate?? Anyway, I've been stumbling down memory lane, looking at everything! I also discovered a file of scanned pictures that I forgot I had! See, our children straddle the digital & film world. For Eliza & Mairyn; the best camera we had was a WalMart disposable box camera. And then before Spencer left for Jordan (May 2003), his parents gave him a digital camera. So our digital picture files begin with June 2003.

But the downside to all this is that I don't have hardly any physical pictures of the two younger kids. I was *very good* about putting pictures in albums. Not scrapbooks, just picture sleeves in an album. That, for me, is organized. The kids love flipping through them! But those hard copy pictures end when Mairyn is about 1 year old. So I'm going to make some albums that include the rest of our children. You know, actual proof that we have 4 children, instead of a 3 1/2 year old and 1 year old, as our albums would lead you to believe!

Here's a gee-whiz collage I whipped up for myself. I wanted to compare the babes and I actually had pictures of all 4 at about the same age, 2-3 days. (eliza & mairyn's I scanned in)

top L-R: Mairyn (3 days); Grant (2 days);

bottom L-R: Eliza (2 days); Jacqueline (2 days)

All together now: Awwwwww!

I'm in a funk. I've been in it before. I've got this road block in my mind. It's time to bulldoze it into oblivion.
Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't.
~ Eleanor Roosevelt

I've got this quote in plain sight of my desk. I pep myself up with it every day. I'm not going to beat myself up about the pictures I haven't posted. I am not going to let what I "should have done" affect what I am trying to accomplish; which is *anything* at this point. I'm working on gathering all the pictures (and other stuff) from the last 6 months into one place. They've been digitally scattered due to our transient life since March. Yeah, call me a spoiled expat brat for feeling displaced and inconvenienced because of my host country's problems. You wouldn't be the first.

Here is the obligatory "First Day of School" picture. All of them off to the bus at the same time. And they all come bursting in the door at the same time every afternoon. This is a first for me. Give me a few weeks before I start to miss them. It was such a long & hellish summer, we all need a break from each other. And there you have it; my first blog post with both 'damn' and 'hell'. I think I just saw a pig fly past the window.

Oooh, pretty shells!

Or at least we thought they were shells. I booted the kids out the door this morning before 9am. The heat index was 106F and it was only going to get hotter. (p.s. they all stayed outside for a grand total of 12 minutes.) What drew them back to the door (besides their rosy, sweaty faces) was Mairyn prancing back to the house with a handful of these adorable, petite shells. She had washed them off at the hose and wanted to save them. I got out a tiny bottle & let her drop them in.

"Why don't you go find more so you can fill the bottle?" I was hoping this would encourage them back out after the H2O refuel. It worked and they went back for Round 2. For all of 26 seconds. The three-headed monster (Mairyn, Grant & Jacqui) came galloping back inside screaming, "They're alive!! There are snails in the shells!!" Sure enough, they showed me the little bottle with the itty bitty shells climbing up the sides. Eliza poked her towel-swaddled head out of her bedroom long enough to ask if she heard us right; that something was alive. (she had just finished a shower & was "getting ready". For what, I don't know)

That's when Grant suggested I run get my camera because I should take a picture. Ooo-kay, I guess I take a lot of pictures of everything. We thought we'd tip the bottle on it's side and let them crawl out on their own. I got too impatient and just turned it upside down. They all came tumbling out. The kids were afraid the snails might get squooshed, but I reminded them that they had first found these little guys as shells, they know when to pull it all in and retreat.

Use your imagination!

So the kids & I were reading about video making and watching some stop-motion videos and we were inspired! They wanted to make a stop-motion movie, too. Unfortunately, they are not patient enough for the process.





So we took pictures instead.

Come out, come out!

That phrase always makes me think of Glenda the Good Witch in the Wizard of Oz. "Come out, come out, wherever you are/To see the young lady/who fell from a star" But we're not calling on the good citizens of Munchkinland, we're calling for fairies! This weekend, we made fairy houses. And Grant made a sprite house. He said fairies were only girls, so I told him sprites were boys. Whaddaya gonna do?

I made little villages under trees and in the bushes when I was little. The premise is that if you build a little house for the fairies, they'll come live in it. But not if you don't keep it pretty & only use things found in nature, so that it will blend in, just like the fairies & sprites.

This is Eliza's house. She had a brilliant idea to tie the twigs together with long grass to make arches for the roof. And she's pretty proud of that little 'bed'. And that's a fairy scarecrow, to show the fairies that it's safe to sleep here.

This is Mairyn's house. She may have had a little help from me, but she did the decor. See the yard for the fairy? That date tree bark has a little hollow in it, that's the bath. She did find a discarded piece of blue cord and that's the towel rack. It is man-made, but hey, we're running a bit short on acorn caps and pine needles.


Here's some shots of the girls deep in their labor of love. It took some convincing; it's still a bit warm outside & who can blame them. Who wouldn't want to hang inside in the A/C instead of crouching under a tree in 99F weather? I made some lemonade & fairy snacks for them & we sat in the shade weaving little ladders for the playground and tying plumeria leaf stems together. I wanted this to be some 'creative independent playtime', but it turned into a whole girl affair. You won't see much of Grant. He liked the idea, but ultimately found more joy in digging holes & climbing trees. And destroying some of his sister's creations.

Jacqueline: Ga-rant! You woo-ind my house! {translation: grant, you ruined my house}
Grant: Well, something would have ruined it! That's why you make them, then they'll be ruined!

{I prefaced all this house building with the reminder to only use things found outdoors, naturally, so if the wind blew it over & it got ruined, it wouldn't pollute the fairy's habitat. My reasoning: when they are abandoned next week, I won't have trash blowing all over the yard. But the whole nature thing, too. ;) And I saw this as a big insight into the boy's reasoning. You make things so they can be ruined. The whole build a lego tower then knock it over doesn't seem so pointless anymore.

First day of school

It has been a long time coming. I watched with longing & envy as mothers sent their broods off to school all month. I do like having kids at home. But kids at home during transition, not good. We have, effectively, been living out of suitcases since the first of August. We will continue living on the contents of our luggage until our household goods arrive. From trying to find enough diversion for them in the hotel to convalescing from jet lag in an empty cavern of a house and not being able to play outside, it has been a long month. But no more.



I think this morning was the only time I have ever bounced out of bed at 6:15 a.m. The kids wanted to show their excitement, but they were still 3 hours behind on jet lag. Sleeping through the night, but not getting up at quarter after six. I had to force breakfast on them, then we went outside for pictures & waiting for the bus. It took about 10 minutes for my camera lens to de-fog before we could take any pictures. Then the bus was about 15 minutes late. But that gave the kids some time to meet the other 'bus stoppers' in our neighborhood.

It was a half day and the kids dubbed it a success! They all like their teachers and can't wait for tomorrow. I'll remind them of that in the morning. One thing I am particularly excited about is hot lunch. They haven't ever gone to a school that serves lunch. I don't think it'll be an option for every day, but definitely gives me more options! For example, tomorrow is beef stir fry, rice & mixed veg. I couldn't pick a better lunch!

Night Sledding

I'm improving, I'm only a week behind on posting pictures about the current activities. We took advantage of the last wheezes of winter and spent a night up near the Tetons in a cabin with our good friends, The Whoolerys. There was an awesome "official" sledding hill nearby. "Offical" meaning there was a tow rope to take you to the top of this foothill. Sledding so fast your eyes water. Though the towrope was out of order, so we hiked to the top each time we wanted to sled down. But that provided worn out kids for us adults.

The next morning, we hit the hill again. I took more pictures than sledding this time. The night before, Jacqui & I got going a little too fast and overshot the end of the sled run. Jacqui was fine, my gluteus maximus and right shoulder took the impact. Whew, haven't done that in a long time! We had a great time enjoying our last winter for a long, long time.

Spring has sprung

For want of a better word, I am feeling: apathetic. I think it's the after-effects of a long, long winter. The cold & isolation have wrought their havoc on me. It's been keeping me from things I usually enjoy. Blogging, for instance, hasn't held the same luster it used to. And then I would see others blogging and wonder to myself why I couldn't do something so simple. Well, I'll save you the long, drawn out apologies and not leave you with anymore empty promises. It seems like 'promises' is all I have been posting about every time I come out from under the storm clouds. I'll post. I promise. Whoops, more promises.

The weather has been b-e-a-utiful this past week. I took the kids to the park on one of these days. It was almost 50F. Whoever thought that would feel downright balmy?

I think Mairyn's expression sums it up. Hooray for winter coming to an end!

Eliza was feeling the warm weather vibes, too.

Grant deep in 'Boy Heaven'; playing in the mud.
Jacqui was running around too much for me to catch a good picture.
She didn't want to waste any of this wonderful weather.
Just in case it was teasing us with empty promises.

I give up

I really, seriously don't even have time for this today. Who says I don't believe in escapism? A run down of today.

7am --> Alarm goes off.
7:05 am --> Wake up
7:10 am --> Really, I'm getting up
7:15 am --> I HAVE to get up. *kicking myself out of bed*
7:20 am --> Rousting 4 sleepy children that, ironically, want to keep sleeping. Why can't they do this on the weekend?
7:30 am --> Pack snacks for school because it's just a half day.
7:38 am --> Switch Grant's shoes to the right feet. There's a 50/50 chance of getting it right, but not in his case.
7:45 am --> Shove graham crackers in everyone's hands and hustle them out to the van.
7:46 am --> Start the van and realize I need gas.
7:50 am --> Gas up and then remember that we left the snacks at home.
7:59 am --> Finally back on the road and heading to school.
8:13 am --> Arrive at school only to be told that the power is out, so there's no school. Crap. The high schoolers & middle school can stay, they have some projects. Eliza hops out and runs inside. I have 3 children in the back seats screaming mutiny.
8:26 am --> Home and dressing kids in their snow get-ups so they can go outside and not be inside. I ask each child, multiple times, if they have to go to the bathroom. "No, Mommy!" is the consensus.
8:40 am --> After me asking, "Are you sure?" just as many times, they trample out the door.
8:50 am --> Jacqueline is pounding on the front door to let her in because she has to pee.
8:51 am --> I open the door to a Jacqui standing in a pool of pee.
8:52 am --> Guess who doesn't have to pee anymore?
8:57 am --> Her clothes are changed, coat back on, but sans snow pants. You know, because of the PEE!!
9:05 am --> Grant comes bounding back through the door imitating a Zulu warrior march crossed with a Sufi dancer. Oh wait, I was wrong. He just has to pee.

And it's only 9 am. Is it time to go back to bed?

What's the bra-blem?

two peas in a pod

Sunday morning. Everyone bustling around, getting ready for church. The kids were pretty much on "self-maintaining" mode while I was hunting high and low for my bra. I do own more than one, but this was the last clean one. I asked both older girls if they had seen it.

"No, Mommy," they said, "Have you looked in the laundry room?" Mairyn asked me.

I told her, no I hadn't, but that my bra hadn't been downstairs. I took it off in my room last night.

"But it can't hurt to look, so you go down and look, Mair." I said.

Two minutes later, she appears in the hall, "Hey Mommy, here's your bra! It was in the laundry room after all!"

Something was suspicious about this whole dialogue. I asked her why she thought to look in the laundry room and she immediately blurted out,

"It was Eliza's idea!!"

Huh? What was whose idea? "Eliza! Come here! Why were you two playing with my bra?"

*cricket* . . . *cricket* . . . *cricket*

I still never got a straight answer out of them as to why they had my bra in the first place.

Cousin Time

Grant and his cousin Paul

When my sister-in-law Becca & her kids came over to the 'Burg this last weekend, we had a blast! We took them to R-Jump at the Rex. I mean, where else would we take them? The Rex rocks! The rear annex of the building has been turned into a bouncy paradise. Bouncy castle, bouncy slide, bouncy obstacle course, well, you get the picture. It's also cheap and you can bounce for an unlimited amount of time. In reality, the kids can handle about an hour, maybe an hour and a half if they're super hyped. All in all, a fun time.

The best action shot of Paul I could get

A peeking Jacqui

The finesse of Mairyn

p.s.
eliza was there, I just didn't get a chance to catch her in action. she is just on the border of being too old for this.

The Bends

I have hit the parental jackpot. I have all 4 children in school 3 days a week. The older ones go to school every day, but Jacqui has now joined the ranks of preschool. Alhamdu-allah! Sorry, I don't have a picture yet. Friday was her first day and she loved it! Though I would like to add that getting 4 children dressed, fed, lunch packed and out the door is not as easy as it looks. Especially when the two middle ones (7 & 5 yo) already act like teenagers when the morning comes. Both of them wrapped up in their blanket cocoons, wincing when I flip on the light. I have to physically pull the covers off and even still they are left shivering in the fetal position. Or like Mairyn this morning; flopped on her stomach, head under pillow, arms pinned under her torso, left knee pulled up to the ribs, the other leg splayed out and that little, pinchable bum sticking up in the air.

Getting out the door this morning was akin to herding chickens. Because from what I've heard, you can't herd chickens. One headed to the car, another still buttering toast, yet another deciding they needed a second potty break and Jacqueline standing beside me, clutching her lunchbox, asking me if it's time to go to her school. We made it through the slickery roads and once they unloaded, I pulled away from the school, and felt *weird*. Not like I missed them, but that the van was empty. I was having some separation anxiety from my littlest, I mean, she's only 3. Then I reminded myself of the next 6 hours of uninterrupted time I had, and I relaxed a bit. But the thing that doesn't add up, the factor that seems to bend the space time continuum, is that I have less time. How is this possible?

I Hit the gym and had a nice, hot shower by myself. Yes, I didn't have to reach out and help put a doll dress on or get a tissue or let the child get in, too.

**sidenote** And you know what met me when I pulled into my driveway? My next door neighbor, shoveling my snow. He looked up a bit sheepishly and said that he had hoped to get to this yesterday and was apologizing! For what? I thanked him profusely and then he said, "Well, just so you know, there are about 4 of us in the neighborhood that keep an eye on your driveway. So we'll get to it, we don't want to see you out here!" Aw gee, let me go grab a tissue! **end side note**

So I guess it's not a factor of not knowing what to do with myself, it's finding time to cram it all in. I think of something I need to do, then internally argue with myself how I couldn't do it today, and then, the light bulb flicks on and I go, "Oh yeah, I don't have any kids with me!" I may need to bend that continuum further to accommodate all of the ideas I have! Let me say it again, Alhamdulillah!!! Even if it may feel like swimming upstream, I have 19 1/2 hours a week of time to myself. Well, until this Friday when school lets out for the holidays. For 2 weeks. Poo. I'd almost forgotten, getting ahead of myself I guess. Then I will declare it again, as of January 4th, I will have 19 1/2 hours a week of time to myself. To quote Skippyjon Jones (yes, go to the link, it's a wonderful children's book series.): Yip Yipee Yippito!!

Making Memories

I'm so thankful to have grandparents that can still take kids 'on adventure' like when I was a kid. We found some huge sugar pine cones up on the mountain yesterday. And we get to take these babies home! Just in time for Christmas.

Mairyn & her great-grandpa on the back porch

Zip begging for scraps and Jacqueline being the willing enabler

And finishing the day by making hot chocolate and homemade whipped cream with Great-grandma. Yum.

What he's done

Unfortunately, I think I may be the only person with a song association to the post title. One: It's a really awesome song on Guitar Hero. Two: if you are familiar with the first Transformers movie, it's a song in the soundtrack. Also, it's the first thing that popped into my head when I heard Eliza's announcement.

I was in my room trying to talk to Spence on Skype, alone, without any interruptions. Some other kindergarteners in the neighborhood had just gotten home, and so Grant & Jacqueline were busy running around the backyard with them; Mairyn & Eliza were happy playing & herding them around. I had had about 10 minutes of peace when Eliza came running in.

"Mommy, Mommy do you you know what Rider has done?"

"No, what?"

"He pooped. He POOPED in the driveway." (Rider is like, 2)

Really? I wasn't too concerned. I told her to go tell Rider's Mommy and she'll get it cleaned up. I asked if anyone was getting near it. No way! Alright, just go play on the other side of the yard until it's cleaned up. I moved with the computer out to the kitchen because it was about lunch time and kids would be getting hungry. That way, I could stay on Skype and help kids. I was at the table with my back to the door when I heard it open but no slam.

"Who was that?"

*cricket*cricket*

"Who came in the door and left it open?"

Silence. I thought I heard something down the hall so I went to investigate. It was Grant. He was scrabbling at the bathroom doorknob, but hiding his hands from me.

"Grant, what do you need?" I asked.
"Rider pooped Mommy." Grant blurted out.
"I know. Did you get into it?"
"No, RIDER pooped." he said again.
"I know sweetie, HE pooped. Not you. But what's wrong?"
"Well, his poo got on my bike wheel and I tried scraping it off and . . . uh . . . " he trailed off.

He had been trying to scrape the poo off of the wheel. Great. We deep-cleaned those babies, scraping under fingernails and even clipping them. And Grant did not protest. Usually, plipping (clipping) nails is akin to Chinese Water Torture. No screaming this time. He wanted the poo OFF. As did I. Over and over, he kept repeating,

"Rider pooped. Not me."

This kid was in preservation mode. For once, it was not something he had done and he wasn't taking the rap for it. No way, no how!

What we did with our Saturday . . .

Every Friday, there is a Farmer's Market from 4-8pm. We decided to wander through this week and discovered such a wonderful atmosphere! Fresh fruits and veggies, of course, were the expected fare; but there were fresh cut flowers, herbs, local honey, homemade textiles, hot corn on the cob, cotton candy, and face painting. All of this, set to the tunes a local DJ was spinning on the lawn. We got there a little later than 4, more like 6:30pm. The kids saw the face painting and had immediate tunnel vision. That was the only this existing in their world. It was $5 a face and they would be going to bed in 2 hours. Not going to happen. I told them that if they stopped their whining and fussing, we would have time to go over to the craft shop and buy some face paints. I would paint their faces in the morning so that they could have it for the WHOLE day we were in Idaho Falls instead of just for 2 hours tonight. They weighed their options and everyone voted for Saturday morning. We went over to Porter's and spent $11 and in the morning, I painted their faces for our day on the town. The rest of the day was spent running to do school clothes shopping, grocery shopping and general errand running. Everyone kept asking where we got it done, if there was a fair in town. Hmmm, maybe I should start charging!

What a day!

A snapshot from South Dakota

So the last day of our cross country journey was, well, hard to sum up. What should have been a 9 hour drive turned into a 13 hour trek.

We pulled out of Fort Collins, CO right on schedule at 6:15 am. We plow north and about 8 miles outside of Laramie, WY, I heard this weird, thumping noise. And right as I'm passing a convienient pull out area. Great. I'm trying to figure out if it's coming from the engine? No. A flat tire? But I'm not losing speed. I pull over anyway, step out and hear a loud, hissing noise coming from the rear driver's side tire. It had to be the one facing the road, huh? Right when I pulled over, another van pulled off in front of me. A tall guy in a baseball cap steps out of his minivan, laden with his own 4 children and wife.

"Can we help you?" he asks.

Through my tears, I can only nod my head and show him the offending tire.

"We saw you about a mile back and noticed something wrong with your tire. And then we saw the kids in back and you alone in the front seat. Thought you could use some help."

So him and his wife help me start unloading the back of the van because that's where the spare and jack are so well hidden. We start talking a bit and they are moving cross country too, from Virginia. Herndon, Virginia. They've been there 5 years since they graduated from BYU and now are moving back to the valley. They moved to the Herndon ward a few months before we moved out. It's a small world. He finishes up, we repack the car with the flat tire at Eliza's feet and I thank them profusely. I know I could have changed that tire, done it before, but I didn't have to. I did not even have time to stand on the side of the road and wonder what I was going to do.

I got back on the freeway and turned around in one of those median driveways. The ones where cops sit and wait to catch speeders. The ones that have a huge sign that says, "For authorized emergency vehicles only." Yep, I fit. My vehicle is in an emergency.

Scrolling through the "Auto Services" menu in Gina (the GPS), I pick the first one that has 'tire' in it's title and have her direct me there. I poke along at 55 mph the 8 miles back to Laramie and find Advanced Automotive and Tire. I pull up and walk into the office. A nice guy in there asks me what he can do for me. I explain the flat and much needed repair of my tire. He says that he'd be more than happy to help, but he's still getting the necessary tools to patch tires. But don't worry, he has a friend that can do it. He notices my license plates and says,

"1M, that's Rexburg, right?"

Yes, yes it is. He then kind of hems & ums a bit and then asks me,

"Well, then, ah, if I could ask, um, are you, uh, LDS?"

Yes, yes I am.

"So am I! Nice to meet you. My son and his wife are at BYU and just had their first baby last week!"

He pulls out pictures, and I mention that my parents used to live in Laramie. Yes, he remembers them. He then gets out his card, flips it over and writes his cell phone number on the back. I am to call him if I have any more problems today. No matter where I am, just call him up and he'll come or find someone who can. And if we find that we have to stay the night, please, call him up and we can stay with his family. I, again, thank him profusely and drive over to the garage where they patch my tire and give Optimus a clean bill of health.

Now, we have been delayed by 2 hours; the kids are hungry and I know that crackers and cheese sticks won't suffice. It's still only 9:30 am, so we find a breakfast place and they fill their little tummies. 10:10 am, we're back on the road and everyone is happy. I do get a little nervous as I pass between mile marker 306, hoping that history won't repeat itself. It doesn't and things are going smoothly. When we reach Rawlins, I have a half tank and decide to fill up. In Wyoming, you never know! After gassing up, right as we are easing back onto I-80, Jacqueline starts barfing. Great. Fortunately, there is one more exit for Rawlins and we pull off. I try to clean her up, but handi-wipes just won't cut it. There is a Best Western across the parking lot and I run in to ask if we can use their restrooms. They oblige and I bring J in, along with clean clothes. I clean her up and as I'm rinsing clothes in the sink, she's dancing a little jig by the paper towels. Ok, she seems fine! Maybe it was just a little car sickness.

Maybe not. About 2 hours down the road, she starts barfing again and keeps at it for the next 5. Each little hotel I see, I am sorely tempted to just give up for the day. I just can't. Though I am sick of driving, I'm sick of sleeping in hotel rooms, bringing in our toiletries and underwear, not having enough pillows or blankets. I just can't do it anymore. We finally limp into Rexburg and park in the driveway. Is this just a mirage or are we really here? We are.

Another South Dakota view

P.S.
I wish that I could say that I slept like a rock, am rested and ready to dive into all the work I have to do here. But I can't. Jacqui still wouldn't keep even water down late into the night. She spiked a fever and slept restlessly. About 1 am, she started keeping down her drinks of water. She would wake up about every 30 minutes for another drink, then lay down again. She's sleeping fine, now, after a breakfast of juice and bread. And no more fever. Insha'allah.

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Family Pictures

Getting a family of 6 to cooperate on a group picture is not easy. Which is why I'm so happy about this latest family picture. When we went to Boise for my brother-in-law's wedding, we made sure we took the kids to see and walk around the Boise Temple. I brought my tripod since they were still dressed in their dressy clothes for church. I set it up and we got it on the first try! I took a few more to try and get a better one, but that one was a winner. Wow, surprise, surprise. I like this one below the best, but alas and alack, Jacqueline is not looking in the right direction. If I was better with Photoshop, maybe . . . .

I'd also like to start a family picture tradition. Have one posed and then let everyone do their own thing and have a crazy one. And then frame them side by side. I'll have to do that next time we have one!

I also tried to get the kids into formation and get a good one. We eventually did. Though it's a long process as you can see.

Final product, i.e. the best of the bunch, meaning no arms up or sneezing and everyone with a mostly pleasant look.


A surprising spontaneous snap