Day 03 - Lots of Water and Buckets 'O Gold

Today started out early when we got a frantic call from Heidi asking if we could watch Mae and Penny so she  and Jayson could take Calvin to the hospital.  Apparently, Mae has been exposed to a friend's child who has whooping cough and last night Calvin began coughing quite a bit.  This was very scary for everyone because of the seriousness of this disease in babies.  (Heidi and Jayson's close friend lost a child last year from whooping cough).

After Heidi dropped the girls off at Joy's, where we are staying, Deb and the girl's called Craig and wished him a happy birthday.  Then they took a walk up to the park and also to Mae's preschool to visit the many animals that are there in the farmyard that is part of the property.  They had a lot of fun and it eventually tuckered Penny out.  After her mom got home with Calvin, Penny went home to her bed to take a nap before coming back in the evening for Joy's birthday party.

During this time, I traveled up to Orem to get some parts and tools to repair the outside hose bib and the pipe that split this winter when it froze.  I then went to Costco to get some chicken to marinade for Joy's dinner.  When I returned, Mae helped me repair the pipe while grandma Deb went shopping for Joy's birthday.

Unfortunately, Teresa called and said they decided to sit the party out rather than take a chance and expose Haylee and Oliver to the risk of whooping cough.  (Though the doctor feels Calvin is probably safe, they went ahead and started him on antibiotics and took a blood test that takes 48 hours to receive the results).  We missed having them here, but it was a good choice to be safe.

While we were grilling the chicken and veggies (which were delicious), a good old fashioned desert cloudburst came rolling through.  It was in the 90's so it reminded me of the rain storms we would get when I was a kid living in Gila Bend, Arizona.  It smelled good when the rain started to fall.  There was a few really good thunderclaps that came with the storm that I am not too sure Penny was fond of.

Joy and Penny joined Mae in the stormy fun!

What can you say about this cuteness...

A beautiful double rainbow followed the storm...

Grandma and Mae have never met a mud puddle or stream of water that they do not  like!  Mae eventually "went swimming" in the puddle at the end of the street that was left behind by the storm.

Calvin got to see his very first rainbow...

Jayson posed with a very wet Mae while he sat and took a very much needed break from a very hectic day... (besides the hospital experience, he drove to Park City to cater this afternoon and then drove back in time to attend the birthday party).

We had a great meal, finished off with grilled peaches and pluots filled with ice cream, as we sang Happy Birthday to our daughter Joy!  We had a nice time as we enjoyed the laughter of the kids and grandkids... a sound we will never get tired of.

Nature's show finished off with a nice sunset...

Tomorrow, we will leave Utah and continue our journey to the east as we travel to Tennessee to see our son Brandyn and his family. 

We need to be there on Friday next week and we want to explore the country as we go... It is always a surprise where we will end up along the way...

Stay tuned to find out.

Scott.

Here we go again... Road Trip 2011

Well. it is long overdue, but finally we are underway for Road Trip 2011 a.k.a. Road Trip IV. The journey has some planned stops (Tennessee and Utah), but the rest of the trip will be an adventure that unfolds as it happens... just like the other road trips I through III.

We do plan on visiting Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, and North Dakota so we can say we have traveled in all 48 lower states during our four roadtrips since 2006 (we did not go on one last year due to my health issues that are now corrected and no longer a concern). All other destinations will unfold spontaneously according to our whims and choices at the time. The only rule is that we need to be back in HappyRock by October 15th so we can go to Corvallis and see BYU trounce Oregon State in Football!

We have completed Day Two, which has brought us to Utah to see six of our kids and five of our grandkids (it seems like our trips always start here).

We left Happyrock, USA on Tuesday morning about 1000 and drove ALL day and part of the night to arrive at Joy's home in Springville at 0130. Today, (well, actually yesterday now that it is 0100, we spent some very enjoyable time with our grandkids!)

We started out visiting Mae, Penny, and Calvin...

We had a great time playing with the girls in their new clubhouse that Jayson built as they pretended they were operating the latest J Dawg franchise... I think Mae could actually do it if she had some help with the books! She even set up work schedules for all of us that actually covered all of the days she planned on being open... watch out Jay, here she comes.

Mae is going to start preschool in a few days and is very excited to do so. She is a very good sister to Penny and her new brother Calvin, who is now 9 weeks old and cute as a bug's ear with his firey hair and amazing blue eyes! Penny is very active and so full of laughter... you can tell that she really loves life.

We had a nice afternoon visiting with Jayson and Heidi.

We made a quick visit to the Springville Art Museum, where we met up with Heidi's mom. The girls looked at the quilt display and Mae and I studied the amazing kinetic water feature that is the centerpiece of the museum. In fact, Mae and I decided we are going to build one on the back patio next to the clubhouse.

Then it was on to American Fork where we met up with Joy after she finished work to help her with a project. After a quick dinner, Deb and I headed to Lehi to see two more grandkids... Haylee and Oliver.

Oliver is six months old now and growing up fast... he is 21.6 pounds of strapping boy... he can actually do sit-ups! He has the most amazing smile and a very calm and sweet disposition.

Haylee started first grade this week and is a very pretty girl that is growing up way to fast!

Haylee was so excited to see us and we had a very nice visit with Ryan and Teresa before heading back to Springville to meet up with our daughter Katy.

It was great to see everyone today. Everyone has gone home now and Deb and Joy are asleep... it is quiet (except for an occasional snore or two), which has allowed me to get started again on the journal of this trip.

Tomorrow, we will do some things around here that Joy needs to have done that only Dads can do... then we are all going to get together tomorrow evening for a early Birthday dinner for Joy (because we are going to be in Tennessee on the actual day).

Friday, we will resume our journey across middle America as we travel to our next major destination - Dunlap, Tennessee. It is here that we will spend time with three more of our grandkids, Ammon, Kaleb, and Hyrum, while their parents Brandyn and Jen go on a cruise! We will also be there for Kaleb's 8th birthday... a very special day for him... more later so I do not spoil the surprise.

Stay tuned for more... and a special thanks to Tyler and Jess for house-sitting while we are gone.

Scott