Wagon Wheels & Baby Dolls

What do wagon wheels have to do with baby dolls? Dayton Ohio East Stake Youth Conference, that's what. This year the Stake planned a pioneer trek for our kids, and Lance and I went along as the "parents" for our Branch. It wasn't long - arrive Thursday evening, trek on Friday, service project early Saturday & heading home by 3 PM. We camped out in tents or under the stars, and enjoyed meals provided by the stake leaders. Here are a couple of videos of the event...
Thursday evening the kids learned the Virginia Reel...

These next three are from the day of the trek. I tried to put it into one video, but it was too big to use...

As you can see, some of the trek was easy, and some of it put the kids to the test. I didn't pull the cart once, and in some of the area's I was lucky just to get myself up the incline. It got pretty steep in places, but amazingly enough, there wasn't much grumbling from the kids. They worked together quite well.

Did you notice some of them carrying baby dolls along with them? Let me tell you about that. Before we took off from the campsite, one girl from each family group was given a baby doll to care for on the trek. Toward the end, Brother Young (Stake YM Pres.) stopped the group and talked about those who had to care for young children or babies while crossing the plains in handcarts and how some of them had to leave them behind when illness or injury took them. Then, he dug a shallow grave and had one of the young women bury her baby. Talk about leaving an impression on a person. I think of all the experiences the kids had durning their eight hours with a handcart, this one left the greatest impact. That poor girl was completely broken up over the thought of what it must have been like to leave a child behind like that.

That wasn't the end of it, though. Lance and I, being the ones bringing up the rear, got to go back and get the baby and get it back to camp undetected. That night at the fireside, Brother Young had the young lady get up and tell her feelings about the experience. He then brought out the baby doll wrapped in a beautiful white blanket and gave it back to her, reminding the kids that because of the Savior's Atonement, those who made such sacrifices in their lives would be able to raise those lost children one day. It was great lesson for the whole group.

All in all, it was a great event for everyone who was able to go. We all left with tired and aching bodies, but with stronger spirits and testimonies. Here are a few more pictures...

Jori & Weston enjoying(?) a dance...

Getting ready for the trek ... will the girls be impressed with the new look?

Our pioneer family...

Jori's baby envy...

Oh sure, it's all fun on the flats...

Down a steep incline the girls really show their stuff ... Who needs men, anyway?

Pulling up another steep ridge...

Post-trek help for sore feet...

Saturday service project clearing the honeysuckle that's taking over Ohio.

Memorial Day Memory

I've been meaning to get these videos and pictures posted for over a week now. Memorial Day in small town Ohio is something else. Every little town has a parade and service at the local cemetery. The BLHS Marching band did two parades and one Memorial Service that morning. We have pictures and video from the one in Middleburg. As we were standing by the road watching the parade go by, Micah collected almost as much candy as he did on Halloween. So, here's what makes up a Memorial Day Parade in Middleburg, OH....

A marching band,
(I tried out the movie maker on the computer for the first time. In case you can't make him out, Chris is the sousaphone in the middle.)

The oldest citizen in the township, (the lady in the trailer, not the gent driving the John Deere)

An oldtime John Deere tractor (every time this green machine came chuggin' by the house, Micah was at the window or out the door like a shot. He loves it. However, he refuses to get on it, no matter how nicely Dean offers!)

A posse of 4-Wheelers,

Fred Dearduff and his miniture ponies,

The rich kids on the block with their toy Escalades,

as well as a few politicians and fire trucks that I guess weren't interesting enough to be saved for posterity. Usually there are a lot of kids on bikes decked out in red, white, and blue, but I guess the 4-wheelers outdid that.

After the parade, everyone gathered in the cemetery for the memorial service where we were reminded by a very conservative WWII veteran/reverend that this country is going to heck in a handbasket if we don't turn back to the God that created us and made possible the founding of this great nation we live in. (I liked this guy. Let's just put it out there like it is. No apologies or pussy footing around the issue.)

Chistopher and fellow sousaphone players at the cemetery

This last video is one Lance would prefer not be saved or shared, but I have to. Listen and you'll understand why :) (We obviously don't sing this song enough!)

We enjoyed the day, and I got my usual first-of-the-season sunburn in the shape of a V on my upper chest. (Gee, such a great accesory to go with the stylin' doesn't-really-fit swimsuit this season!) We ended the day at the movies, where Micah inhaled a small popcorn and large soda, and then promptly puked it all over Lance and himself. Poor Lance. He's always in the wrong spot at the wrong time when it comes to our kids and barf.

There you go. Our latest fun family memory in a nutshell. Hope you enjoyed it!

What Would You Do?

Another Wal-Mart story. Just for the record, I bought only what I needed and stayed within my $$ limit for once. Here's what happened, though. I went in with two intentions - get only what I needed and remember to have the cashier price match Kroger's 2 for $5 price on the milk. So, shop, check out, and make a dash through the drizzle (fog?rain? Ohio weather, who knows?) into the car. Get in and grab the receipt to look it over quickly before heading over to get gas. I usually look over the receipt before I get out the doors, but today it happened in the car. As I'm looking it over, so very pleased with myself for doing so well with staying in budget, I notice that (1)- I forgot to have them price match the milk, and (2) - I paid $.o9 for a 10 pound bag of potatoes. According to the receipt, I saved $3.38. W-T-H???

Big sigh. Is it worth it to go back in? Yes, I want the price match on the milk, but hey, the "savings" on the potates more than covers the difference on the milk. Do I really need to take the potatoes back and pay the right price? It's not like I walked out of the store without paying for them. That would be a no brainer - take 'em back and pay. I paid what it scanned for, and it's certainly not my fault the bag wasn't priced correctly. Little Voice says TAKE THEM IN! YOU KNOW YOU SHOULD! Why is it that it seems like the Little Voice whispers at other times, but screams in situations like this?

What would you do?

GRRR. Fine, I'll run potatoes and milk back in. Come on, Micah, let's get a little wet again. Two minutes later I'm at the service desk being told this was obviously not the right price, but they can't change it. The produce guy needs to go reprice all the potates, so I get the potates for less than a dime! The milk? To heck with messing with that! I think the potatoes more than covered the difference in the price of milk, thanks anyway.

Blessings? Yes, little blessings.

The Big Five-O!

Can you believe it? Lance turned 50 on the 19th of May! He's officially over the hill, and heading down the other side. He's doing it in fine form though. Here are a few pictures to enjoy...

age 2

With best friend, Paul Hatchett. Nothing like a 'do and duds to age a guy!

80's Stylin'

Hmm. The rest of us change hair do's. Lance changes facial do's.

Putting out the bonfire on the cake (50 candles! We discovered we need to replace our smoke dectors after he finally got it out. Plenty of smoke but no alarm.)

With the help of my sister Laura , her husband Mike, and my friends, Cassie and Sandy, I was able to pull off a surprise party for him. His response as he walked in the door to a crowd yelling " Happy Birthday!" was - "Well it took her long enough. I didn't think she could do it." (He managed to pull one on me a few years back. Another story for another time) We had a few friends over and had Lance's favorite meal - fried chicken, mashed potatoes w/gravy, peas and carrots, biscuits, and strawberry shortcake. He thoroughly enjoyed it, which is a good thing, 'cause I'm not sure it'll ever happen again! Maybe if he makes it another 50 years.

My thanks to all who came and helped us celebrate, and especially to those of you who helped me get it together. Happy Birthday, Lance!

Murder on the Clothesline Express

I have a delima. Not major, but still a delima. To kill or not to kill. Carpenter bees. A few summers ago, I started noticing some holes appearing in the clothesline, and every once in a while I would see a large, fuzzy black bee go buzzing by. No problem. I don't mind bees. I've always had a "I don't bother you - you don't bother me" kind of relationship with them. Having been stung a couple of times, I've done my best to just leave them alone. After helping Christopher through a couple of years of bug collecting for 4-H, I learned that carpenter bees are pretty harmless. The males aren't equipped with a stinger, and the female are generally too docile to use theirs. However, the carpenter bees that have invited themselves to use my clothesline for their home have lately become quite aggresive in their quest to keep me from using my clothesline! Usually, when I go out to hang clothes, there is a male warrior out there in seconds defending his territory. He likes to do dive bombing fly-by's right about head level, and then he sits there hovering and buzzing at me in an attempt to drive me away. Well, today it was a different story. In the past when he gets all huffy with me, I swipe at him with whatever piece of wet laundry I have in my hand, and he backs off and hovers at a respectable distance. Today, he wouldn't give up, and when I let him know this was MY clothesline and I wasn't going away, he went for reinforcements. Do you know what it like to have two big, hairy bees ganging up on you? One went for the back of my head and one went for my face. Yes, I know they can't sting, but it was a bit of a heart-pounder. I swiped. They flew off a short distance, did a little war dance and came right back for round two. I quickly hung the last of the socks, and headed into the house. My only thought was "Where's the RAID?" I guess my delima isn't really a delima, because I'm going to win this one, even if it means killing the little pollenators of the back yard. I realize they serve their purpose by helping the green things to grow, but it's my clotheline, and I intend to use it. So, now that the next load is done washing, I'm off to do battle with the carpenter bees. Onward, clothesline soldier!

Bee Battle follow-up

The little buzzers were waiting for me! One at the back door as soon as I opened it, and the other waiting at the clothesline. This time, I started at the far end and all was happy until I got to the other side. Then the fly-by's commenced and the battle was on. I'm still alive and so are they. But guess what? The Orkin guy will be here Friday for his bi-monthly service, so enjoy life while you can, you little buzzy sqatters!

Micah's Best Kind of Day

Today is the kind of day that everyone needs to have. It started with helping Mom make a batch of bread, and waiting impatently for it to be cool enough to eat. Next, inhaling a couple of slices while Mom gets lunch packed.
Then off to the library to meet best bud, Justin Coleman, for reading time. Today, Mrs. Nancy gave everyone a super cool frog toy that jumps right off the table. Couldn't get enough of that! After the library, it was off to the park to eat lunch, then climb, slide and play...

turtle riders...

taxi drivers...

down the slide...

WHAT A RIDE!

After Dad got home, it was outside and onto the mower, then down to the creek to throw rocks (he can throw them clear across now) and tromp through the leaves and muck. Life doesn't get much better that this!

Who's Child is this Anyway?

So, if you don't recognize this guy, this is Chris at Epcot. The Ben Logan Marching Band goes to Florida every four years, and this was the year. It was quite the trip.They went to most of the theme parks in the Orlando area, as well as spent a day a Cocoa Beach. They also went to a Medieval Times Dinner Theater. It was a busy trip. The band marched in the pre-parade parade the day they went to Disney World. Apparently that was the least pleasant part of the trip. Marching in full winter uniform in 80+ degree weather sound like fun, anyone? To add to the discomfort, they spent all day at the beach (don't forget your suncreen!) the day BEFORE they had to get into those wonderful uniforms that keep you warm on a chilly night during football season in Ohio. Who scheduled that? All in all, it was a great trip. An added perk was that they went during the week of spring break, which had to be cut short in order to make up some of the snow days. Thus, while the rest of the students were back in school 3 days earlier than scheduled, the band played in the sun for a whole week. Some people have all the luck. I'm glad he go the chance to go. Getting our family to Florida for a vacation isn't at the top of our list these days. We'd rather head west to be with family if we're going to take a trip. Anyhow, in this second picture these guys all decidedto get some head gear that reflected their heritage. What a hoot! Don't you wish you were there? Surpise of all surpises, the boy with a bottomless pit for a stomach actually brought home $4o of food money that he didn't use. Oh, and a gift for his mother. Wasn't that thoughtful of him? It would have been if I hadn't reminded him before he left that there had better be something for me in his bag when he got home, or someone could get hurt. They were getting back on my birthday, after all. Now I have a lovely rose that will never lose it's bloom. If you ever happen to be at our house, I'll show it to you. Well, that's enough of this - laundry is calling my name.