Here's your next new car, Adam E. !

Hey, Adam E. , Erin and I saw this car on our road trip back to Texas and I thought you would like it. I was tempted to roll down my window (ala your dad), and tell the driver what a beautiful body he had, oops, I mean car he had, but the light turned green. I was tempted to follow him, but he left us in his dust. Anyway, this blog is dedicated to you!

Trip Around the World!

I finally got most of my trip pictures imported onto my computer, now I just have to find the time to blog some of them. Believe me, there are many, many photos, some of them pretty good, some memorable, and a few dorky ones thrown in for good measure. When Erin, Jesse and I arrived at Dachau, I was so excited (in a sober sort of way) to visit the place that I have taught about for a few years. I still have pictures in my head that are so hard for me to comprehend. How a bunch of evil people could do the things they did to millions of people is hard to believe, and just being there was weird. I will post a couple of those pictures later. When we arrived in Frankfurt and rented our car, we had to find our way to Heidelberg, which was our first stay. If you talk to Erin, she'll probably tell you something way off base about me being hyper, silly, and snapping pictures at anything that moved. Well, actually, we were the ones moving...in our car. Speaking of cars, we traveled on the autobahn most of the time and that inside lane was officially the "zoom, zoom, zoom" lane. In kilometers, they averaged 140-160. Those were one of those moments I was glad I wasn't on the rental car's "official driver's list." I'll have to share a picture on my next blog that was a sign we saw all over Germany's roads...pretty funny.

I'm Baaaack!

Ok, I'm back, technically, but not back home, physically. I'm at Erin and Jesse's house in Texas. We got here last night, after driving 3 full days (sleeping in motels in between). Erin and I both feel a bit pooped today, but I'm sure by the time I fly out of here on Monday afternoon, I'll feel better. I'm going to post a couple of pictures Erin took, since I'm not home right now to download mine on my computer. Needless to say, we had a great time back east, in Germany, and even sometimes on the drive back home. A quick note about the first day of driving home: DO NOT, I SERIOUSLY MEAN DO NOT, drive through New York City over the George Washington Bridge during lunch hour. It was busy, yes, but the surrounding area was a bit ghetto. I was tempted to roll my window down to make sure we were headed the right way, but I locked the door instead. We were following our GPS, and she (female GPS) kept telling us to turn left, stay right, "recalculating" (when we disobeyed her), we became seriously paranoid. We found ourselves with a birds-eye view of the big apple, and continued on through New Jersey. Whew! What a weird experience.

The photos above pretty much speak for themselves, except the little one's running race. The little one in the middle of the photo, dressed in pink, with a winner's look on her face, was Lauryn. This was Jenny and Adam's weekly experience at their regional hospital's "Fitness University."

No camera, no phone...

I think we are becoming more and more dependent on our ability to talk to anyone, anytime through the use of our cell phones. I found that out today when we went to the beach, near Portsmouth, NH. First of all I forgot my camera (just great when you are on vacation, and going to the beach with your family). I brought my cell phone, but there was no connection out that far. I didn't think we were actually out that far out (east, that is). Erin's phone had no connection, either, and Jenny left hers at home. If I can get any pictures from Erin's camera, I'll post them here. Back to the phone issue...I really felt weirded out, not being able to contact Bill, but happily Jenny and Adam and Erin and Jesse and the grandkids all kept me company!

Paul Revere Rides Again!

Jenny and and I and the kids went into Boston today (7th), and went seeking Paul Revere's house and his statue. Needless to say, it rained (hard) and we only had one huge umbrella for the 7 of us, and yes Jessica's Little Mermaid one. We did get wet, but had a ball! We ate in the Hard Rock Cafe and bought some pastry at Mike's Pastry shop (hey Mandy, are you jealous?). We also tried to find the building of Vital Statistics to do a little genealogy work on my side of the family, but ended up at a huge building loaded with lawyers. You gotta love that GPS! Here's a few pictures of our outing:

I'm in New Hampshire!

Well, the flight from Vegas was uneventful, and boy, let me tell you, that's the kind you want to have. I arrived in Manchester a half hour early, which made it nice. When I got up this morning, I was really dragging, though. Everyone is well (and active), and we are anxiously waiting for Jesse and Erin and the kids to get here in a couple of days. More to come later.

4th of July (2009)

Well it's the 4th, but as I just checked my watch there's only an hour left of it. Bill and I went up to Cedar City to his high school reunion, and here are a few pictures to show you the fun that was had by all. Let me clue you in on a little secret, though. This really wasn't Bill (dad, grandpa)'s high school reunion. His is next year, but he just loves all these guys and girls that were a year ahead of him in school, almost as much as his own class (next year). To make a long story short, Bill contacted a friend of his in this class, and made arrangements to attend the hoopla. A lot of stories and jokes were told (as usual), and Bill got up and told his joke. It was pretty funny, and one of the ladies came up to him afterwards and told him his joke was the cutest! Ah, that's my Billy!

Update on Grandma Ranta and Ben

Well it looks like Grandma Ranta is progressing. She's been moved to a rehab center (not for drugs), and has just recently began to actually walk again. She said she is getting ready for the Boston Marathon! Quite possibly next week she could be headed back to the "Springs". This is where she lived before, and I hope all works out for her. By the way, I had some misinformation on her injury. She didn't break her hip, she broke her femur and they had to put a rod down her leg (almost to her knee). From what I've heard from mom and others, that is a very painful injury. Please keep her in your prayers. Ben: He's getting better. His back is still hurting, and the lawsuit is progressing. He's frustrated because it is taking so long, but has been told that things like this (automobile accidents) take a while to get to an agreement. Thankfully it was the other driver's fault (he admitted it), but nonetheless, it will be a while. Keep Ben in your prayers, also. So that's it for the update on my side of the family's injuries. One more thing. Many of you may already know this, but, Becca and Noah moved into their new house (yep, Becca bought a house), a week ago. Sweet! I'll try to find time to send some pictures of it. I don't even have her new address, yet.

Off I go, into the wild blue yonder!

Yep, it's almost that time. The only thing I feel bad about is Bill won't be coming with me, and I'll really miss him :-( He has to stay home and teach at Dixie College...Boo-Hoo. Seriously, it's fun traveling with my husband. He's not really wild about flying, but get him behind the wheel of a car, and he'd go just about anywhere. I am looking forward to seeing everyone back east, and I promise to take pictures of New Hampshire and Germany. Bill and I are spending the 4th of July up in Cedar at a high school class reunion that is not actually Bill's class. But you know our gregarious Bill, he hung around with many of these kids( kids? how about 60+ ers!) Anyway, we're headed up there Saturday for a cool outdoor barbeque (watch out for the thundershowers). It will be a hoot with Bill telling those wonderful jokes of his and schmoozing with the old gang (and I sort of mean "old" gang). When we get back, after the fireworks, I've got to get serious about my packing. With at the TSA regulations on what you can bring and how much of that you can bring, I'm getting stressed. It looks like I can bring a total of 2 oz. of personal liquids with me on the plane. Who knows what Lufthansa is going to say!