Spring Break - Day 6

Thursday morning Trinity gave me permission to photograph her horse collection.

 She has quite a few, reflecting just why she chose "Horseyreader" as her social media name.

 Her room reflects many of her priorities - I love this picture of the Denver temple.

 And her harp is propped in one corner.

Thursday was JC's sixteenth birthday. Aunt Lisa and Uncle Curt flew in at 7:00 AM and we decided to all go to a recreation facility and bowl after their arrival.

Lisa and Trinity.

Unfortunately, everyone else seemed to have the same idea, and the line was out the door and snaking through the parking lot! So, we parked and discussed what we should do instead.

JC decided that he wanted to get some Chinese takeout and go home and play games.

The restaurant had a huge fish tank. Made me miss Moment back home.

 The food was excellent.

 Lisa and Curt were especially hungry as their bodies were still two hours ahead of us.

When we were all finished, the games began.

 Trinity had bought everyone an orange mustache to wear - no idea why, but it was fun (if not tickly!)

 While we played, Todd prepared some pork roast for smoking.

 Boompa and Trinity playing Code Word.

Jessica flew in at 3:30 and we all went over to Todd's parents' home where Curt, Lisa, and Jessica would be sleeping during their visit. We ate dinner (that smoked pork was delicious!) and then Todd lit the fire pit.

 By then it was getting cool so we all bundled up. (Curt, Jessica.)

 Sarah.

 Todd, Trinity, and Lisa.

JC had a friend flying in for his baptism so we rushed home to open gifts before heading out to the airport.

 His friend, Jeff, was going out, too, so he joined us for the gift opening.

 Trinity distributed gifts while Curt (obviously tired) and Jessica watched.

 JC, Jeff, Lisa. 

Trinity made JC a clever money-tie.

After the gift opening, our kids headed back to Pat and Carmen's to sleep, and I went to bed.

Spring Break - Day 5

Wednesday morning we woke up to about an inch of snow. That didn't keep us from going to the Denver temple.

Sarah told us that the pine tree behind her is called "the President Hinckley tree." It was planted on one of the spots where he stood when the temple was dedicated.

We did family dealings and had Cormilles Isenbarger (Craig's grandfather) sealed to his family along with Sylvia Harris, Isaac Isenbarger, and George Isenbarger. Craig, Sarah, and I acted as proxies.

The Denver temple was dedicated in 1986. It was interesting to see how it differed from the Indianapolis temple.

There is nothing like being in the temple with your adult children.

We met Todd and the kids at Snooze, a breakfast eatery, and then headed to the site of my favorite TV show, Dr. Jeff, Rocky Mountain Vet.

The place was smaller and less busy than it seems on TV. We went inside and looked at adoptable dogs, browsed the shop (Todd bought Bailey a new collar), and Craig saw Dr. Jeff Baier, the exotic vet, as he strode through the waiting room and out the door.

TV crews were actually filming Dr. Jeff performing a surgery while we were there.

When we finished there, we drove out to The Arsenal, a former military base that has been turned into a wildlife refuge.

Three bison were drinking out of mud puddles by the side of the road.

Massive beasts!!

There were a lot of mule deer alongside the road, too.

Their fawns are not spotted like whitetail deer.

As part of the management of the park, there had been a couple of controlled burns.

Prairie dogs were everywhere!

This coyote (look in the center and a little to the right) was stretched out right by a bunch of prairie dog homes. The prairie dogs were quite upset and on alert, chirping warnings.

We came home and had nice long naps, then wrapped up the evening with dinner and watched the movie, Rogue One.

Spring Break - Day 4

Tuesday morning we woke up to sunny skies and cold weather. We headed out early, but took the time to document where we'd stayed.

Yep, the J.C. Inn! How fitting since we were headed to Denver to see JC and attend his baptism!

We decided to see if we could find my great-grandfather's grave in Carwood Cemetery near Leoti, Kansas.

Western Kansas is desolate and lonely. and, the clouds began rolling in soon after we began driving. Soon, we were driving through heavy rain.

Our detour to Leoti took us about two hours out of our way. It rained and rained and RAINED. As we got closer to the cemetery, we realized that most roads were mud and gravel, and they were looking more and more messy as we drove along.

We pulled onto G Road, the road the cemetery is on, with six miles to go, and my spiritual radar started screaming. I knew we were in danger of getting stuck in the mud if we continued, so after going a very short way, Craig put the car in reverse and we backed up and back onto the highway.

So close - just six miles away! I was so disappointed.

We drove into Leoti to take a look at the town since my family most definitely had been there. I wanted to see what they had seen.

I stayed in the car (it was still pouring) while Craig went into this State Farm insurance agency and asked if they knew any Honeywells. They didn't, but the older gentleman in charge told Craig we had been wise to not attempt those muddy roads.

The old school (and still in use.) It was old enough that my family could have gone there. Did they?

We headed back to 70 and rolled into Sarah's around 4:00 PM.

Sarah was baking Craig a Keto-safe chocolate pie with Trinity's help. We had grilled chicken for dinner, oven roasted veggies, garlic bread, mushrooms, and pie for dinner. Yummy!

Bailey remembered me and was happy to see me. She is almost totally blind now.

JC has his learner's permit and took Craig and me for a spin mourned the neighborhood. He's a very good driver.

After dinner we played games, including Jinx, an old family favorite!

Hands up!

"Down!"

Having a good laugh as we played together.

We played until about 10:00 and then Craig and I fell into bed. It had been a long day, but a good one.

Spring Break - Day 3

Traveling Day!

Craig got home from five days in Florida with Kyle and his family early Monday morning, so we got a later start than planned. He slept in and I washed his clothes so that he had clean ones for our trip to Denver. We left home at 10:40 and drove until dark.

After talking to Sarah and hearing that they found going 70 rather than 80 was faster and had less traffic, we decided that we would do the same. That meant taking 74 and going through Champaign/Urbana.

We lived there 27 years and in many ways it still feels like home. I felt very nostalgic as we drove past the two towns.

At Champaign we picked up 72 and rolled through the rest of Illinois on it. 

The Mississippi River approach.

Such a beautiful river! But then, having grown up on the Wabash, I am partial to rivers and feel very much at home around them.

After crossing the Mississippi, we picked up 36 at Hannibal and traveled across the top of Missouri. Then it was 35 and headed south to Liberty and Kansas City where we ate dinner at Red Robin and merged onto 70.

By this time, it was getting into the evening and we still had 7 to 9 hours to drive. Craig was game for driving all night, but I was leery of it, so we stopped in Junction City and stayed at the JC Best Western. (We smiled that it was called "JC.")

Fort Riley is part of Junction City, and that is where my Grandmother Honeywell was born and lived until she went to college at Kansas State University in Manhattan. I felt very close to her all evening. Craig suggested I look in the motel phonebook and see if maybe she had any relatives here.

 Her maiden name was Crowl, and I found a Clarence Crowl.

Her mother's maiden name was White, and I found some Whites, too.

I am going to file these away and do some more work on my genealogy. Maybe I will discover that we are, in fact, related.

Spring Break - Day 2

Just before I went to bed last night, I started having back pain, enough to keep me awake after I'd gone to bed. I took a Flexeril and that helped me sleep, but this morning I was still hurting. Around 8:30, after taking more pain meds, the sciatica remained, and so I decided I'd better stay home and off my feet since I have a sixteen hour drive to Colorado tomorrow.

I stayed on the couch for a couple of hours and then decided I felt well enough to put out our Easter decorations.

 In the tubs was the Easter bonnet I wore when I was four or five. I loved this hat and was pleased to find that my mother had saved it when I went through her things after she died.

I puttered upstairs for a while, did some reading, and then took a nice nap after lunch. (I was under so deep, I was dreaming!)

Then, since my back was feeling better, I sliced up an apple and some carrots and headed to the barn to visit Abby.

She was encrusted in mud - rolling is one of her favorite activities, dry or wet, and there was hardly a place on her without any mud!

Sundays we always gather as a family for dinner. Ian was feeling especially cuddly tonight, and I was able to snap this picture of him with Lisa.

Lisa cooked dinner (French dip sandwiches!) and this yummy dessert of a cookie baked in a ramekin topped with ice cream and carmel sauce.

It was very rich - no one was able to finish theirs.

Curt and Vanessa packed up the kids and left around 7:30. Lisa asked me to play Skip-Bo with her, and so we finished the evening off with a couple of rounds.

My back is still twitchy, but having a quiet day seems to have helped it. Craig is on his way home now from Florida and I am expecting Kyle to call any moment now.

Day two of Spring Break has been a good one.