Drive to Colorado! We had quite a trip – went to a truck stop to get some sleep, it was really windy, Doug got out to get some blankets out of the back, and some stuff blew out of the car. We thought it was just receipts etc, and did not bother to chase them down. 3 hours down the road at the next gas station we discovered that one of the things that blew out of the car was Doug’s wallet!!! We drove all the way back to the truck stop, and thankfully, there was Doug’s wallet, laying on the street on the side of the road. Also, our gas gage was sticking. We thought we had 50 miles to empty, decided to wait until the next town 30 miles away, half way there on a hill the gas gage started plummeting, pretty soon we were down to 8 miles to empty, then 5 then 2 – I thought we were going to have to walk to get gas, and we were next to a federal penitentiary facility! We coasted into the gas station with it reading 0 miles left. I guess we really lucked out twice! Then we got to Colorado, and that morning there was a big plane wreck at DIA – a plane that went between Denver and Houston. Considering all the things that could go wrong, it is a miracle that any endeavor ever succeeds.
Sat Dec 20th – Wed 24th
For the first part of the trip we stayed at Dorothy’s.
Here we are trying to get pictures of the kids on Sunday morning before church. I guess I need to learn how to Photoshop them together if I am going to get any good pictures of them!
It was fun to go to the Golden ward and see everyone again. The student ward overlapped, there were only about 15 people there. They had a little Christmas program with snacks, it was fun.
Kids in Dorothy’s back yard playing in the snow.
Tuesday Dec 23rd
Grampy’s 90th birthday party!
We all went to the white fence farm, lots of people there. We let the kids have their own little table, had to tell the waitress no more bowls of corn fritters for the kids! Autumn ate I don’t know how many. Mom had everyone stand up and tell who they were and how they knew grampy. Joe was the loudest of course, saying everyone should have an uncle like Jack. Granny and Grampy looked really good considering Granny’s fall and Grampy’s little surgery (he got the stitches out yesterday). It was great that they can still get out and do this kind of stuff, that we had this time together.
They had the place all decked out for Christmas, a Santa and Mrs. Clause, very exciting.
Wed Dec. 24th – Christmas Eve!
For Christmas eve mom found a spot where we could go have a bonfire / horse hay ride. Everyone brought food etc. It was really fun. Tony and Jeanie brought a really good potato / chili soup, and there were hot dogs, marshmallows, etc. Everyone looks the same as last year except for the kids, Emily is taller than her mom now.
We sang songs – horribly off key and without a conductor. Anjee I think knew the most words to the songs, Ellie introduced us to a few new songs.This one can be sung in a round:
WHY DOTH NOT MY GOOSE
Why doth not my goose
Sing as well as thy goose
When I paid for my goose
Twice as much as thine
Nammy said autumn gave the horses some great BIG kisses
Roasting Marshmallows – Seth had quite a torch out of his!
