Fall Vacation

The past month has been pretty busy for us.  After speaking in Keokuk on Sept. 14^th, we left right after the meetings to head to CA.  We had to make an important stop in Las Vegas to visit our old friends – Donny and Marie Osmond.  They gave a wonderful show to a packed house at the Flamingo.  They sang, danced and joked around with themselves and the audience all night.  We thought they had a lot of energy and stamina for being in their 50’s. 

We drove to La Crescenta the next day and enjoyed our next week with the CA Harts, 

enjoying the new guest bedroom (go try it out).  Chris and Wendy left the following morning, before we even got up,to fly to SL for an alumni conference.  The kids all got off to school (needing very little help from us) and we spent the day with Ben, who was just wonderful for us.  He showed us his trampoline, cars and puzzle skills and entertained us all day long.  Saturday was our busy day with 2 soccer games to attend at the same time – it was split up time.  Thank goodness for the GPS, I’m sure that I would have gotten lost trying to find Elizabeth’s field.  Chris and Wendy got home late Sat. night.

Mon. and Tues. we spent giving 9 physics demonstrations on sound to the Dunsmore School classes – that was fun.  Wed. we visited the new Americana Shopping area in Glendale, which

features a scaled down version of the Belagio Fountain in Vegas, and ended up at the Nestle store for some always desired – 

CHOCOLATE.

We left Thurs. for Berkeley, spending the afternoon with Mike at his new apartment (no school on Thurs.).  He and Echo seem to have settled right into their new environment – lots of good friends and neighbors - Echo can even play on the outside balcony with her new friends.  Fri., Hal’s dream was finally fulfilled, we got to see the Trolley Car museum and the main power station for San Francisco trolley system.  We’ve tried for years, but could never find a parking place along those crowded streets.  We also

found a fortune cookie factory down a scary, narrow alley.  After classes, Mike met us, along 

with a couple of his friends, at a climbing gym in San

Francisco.  Who knew that Mike could climb like that?  The competition lasted several hours with Mike and friend making several successful climbs at varying levels of difficulty.  (I have proof on camera for your viewing pleasure.)  We spent Sat. at Alcatraz (just visiting of course) – interesting place.   

Mon., we gave Mike back his space and headed for SL.  Samantha has developed quite a bit since this summer and is getting quite mobile.  She loves her activity center and jumper and kept us entertained during her waking hours.  I’m sure that she will be very different

 when we see her at Christmas.     

            

After only a couple of days (way to short), we headed for 4 of the southern Utah National Parks - Capital Reef, Canyonlands, Arches, and National Bridges.  We loved the scenery, what a feast for the eyes. Each park is different, each with it’s own beauty.  I took lots of pictures, bet you can’t wait?  I can’t believe that we haven’t been there before – what did we do all those years we lived in Utah?

We spent the last weekend of our trip at Jeff and Grace’s – nice house, with plenty of space for a family gathering.  We even checked out our place of abode for Jan and Feb. – it looks pretty good from the outside, anyway.

The drive home wasn't nearly as fun as the drive to visit everyone.  We stayed occupied with our audio books and food.  Now we need to recuperate and get some home jobs done before the next trip.  Thanks to all of you for a very fun and eventful vacation.

Teen Week

Well, our 3rd annual Teen Week is officially over and we all survived.  We really had a great time, filling every day with fun activities and our special trip to the temple to do baptisms for our deceased ancestors (42 names).  We are going to be very busy during this coming year to complete these names - any volunteers to help?

Besides going to the temple, our week consisted of many activities, such as: riflry, archery, disc golf, service projects (burning wood, delivering meals to shut-ins), pickleball, tennis, go-carts, table tennis, discovering Nauvoo by horse-drawn wagon, looking for ancestors who lived in Nauvoo, finding gravestones of those who died in Nauvoo, 5 minute masterpieces (skits), and learning a new game entitled "American Idol", which

 turned out to be a favorite of all.  This game will be unveiled to the whole family this summer in Wydaho, so get your singing voices in order.  

Thanks go to the parents who have raised such great teens and who support us as grandparents to provide this activity.  We look forward to next year and the addition of yet another teen to the mix.

Graduation, Samantha & Lost Luggage

April was a very busy month for us, but very rewarding.  After spending the 1st of the month with Missy, Clark and Samantha, we returned to Utah for the graduation of Jeff and Grace - CONGRATULATIONS!   We thought when this occurred that we would be through with our children in school, but Mike is enjoying another round of studying and tests, so we are looking forward to that graduation now and then Jeff will return for his Master's before long.  KUDOS goes to Kristina as well for getting her Iowa Teaching certificate - way to go.

While in Utah, we enjoyed getting to know Samantha a little better - what a cutie.  We could see quite a bit of change in her in just the 2 weeks we were gone - they do grow pretty fast, don't they?  Jeff and Grace even got to join in holding her - are they next?

  

After a nice visit, we returned to Illinois, only to find out that the airlines lost my luggage - horrors, no make-up, hair dryer, curling iron, medication, slippers, favorite clothes.  Thank goodness it was found and they sent to 

me the next day, but I had to scrounge for left-over make-up early in the day, so I could look decent going to the dentist's office that morning.  

Now, it's May already and before you know it, it will be time for summer fun and our Hart family reunion - we better get planning.  It's going to be a fun summer - can't wait to all be together.

Crazy Trip - Nice new Friends

Hal and I arrived at Missy and Clark's last night after a very interesting day of travel.  We traveled all the way to Sidney, NE the first day, anticipating arriving in SL in the early afternoon.  We checked the weather and road conditions on the web before we left and things looked pretty good (we were a little concerned because it had snowed in SL the day before and the storm was moving NE, but it looked to have gone out of the way).  We drove to Laramie and the roads were all really good.  We were almost through Laramie, when the traffic came to a complete standstill.  As we worked our way forward, we found a sign that said that I-80 was closed and that all traffic must exit.  Trucks began to park along the side of the road and we decided to do the same.  The stalled traffic was stretched for miles behind us.  We watched some vehicles exit and cars and trucks were parked along side every road close to the freeway just waiting for the freeway to open.  We soon learned that there had been a huge 20 vehicle accident ahead and that fuel had been spilled over the roadway and that it could be hours, maybe a day or 2 before traffic was allowed to go through.  

Not knowing what to do, we drove around town and stopped at a resturant for lunch where we saw the people who were parked behind us on the freeway (you become friends with those in the same situation) having lunch there as well.  They had a satellite connection on their computer and were looking at alternate routes to their destination.  After discovering where we were headed, they found us an alternate route (230 So. to Steamboat Springs and west on 40 to Vernal and then into SL), which we decided to take, even though it was going to add several hours to our trip.  

The drive went really well until we hit a pass where the roads were snow packed and the wind was blowing so hard that the snow was blowing all around and it looked like a snow storm had hit.  The driving was very tense and scary - Hal did a great job of driving, while I kept my head down reading a book to him, because if I looked at the road, I would get so nervous and tense.   The whole time we were driving through this mess, we kept asking ourselves, "Did we do the right thing coming this way?  I-80 is probably open by now and the traffic is flowing smoothly." After 8 1/2 hrs. of driving we arrived in SL at 10:30 pm.  After checking the web this morning, I discovered that I-80 is still closed in several spots through Wyoming, so if we had waited in Laramie until it opened, we still would be there instead of here holding this new little doll.  (She's adorable, by the way and oh, so little.)  Another thing that we found out was that during the 20 vehicle accident - there was a fire that resulted from the spill and damaged the road surface.  Boy, are we happy that we took the southern route - thanks to our unknown friends.

March has arrived

This has been a long winter - but March is here and the promise of spring, right?  March also has the promise of lots of birthdays, Easter (this year) and a new baby - we're excited.    All week long the weathermen have been predicting snow, but Macomb escaped all of the storms, which we are very grateful for, but it was still cold.  It's suppose to be warm and dry enough here tomorrow that we might just get out and play some tennis.  Whoopee!!

Grandpa and I have spent most of our time this past week doing our normal activities - draperies (for me), genealogy (both of us), preparing for the Stake Basketball Tournament (grandpa), and taking walks at Wal Mart (best way to get exercise on cold days) - not to terribly exciting, huh?  

The basketball tourny turned out really well, thanks to all of Hal's hard work and last minute coolness.  He has spent the last month or so sending out emails, organizing and planning for this event - LOTS of hours.  All looked good - the teams were all signed up and the schedule of play was completed, then Sat. morning came and several of the teams just never showed up.  That was very disappointing - they haven't done this to him before.  So, Hal had to scramble to figure out new schedules, which isn't fun to do when everyone is standing around asking questions and wondering who they are to play next and where.   Being in charge sometimes isn't fun.  Despite all of the problems, everyone seemed to have a good time and all teams were able to play at least 2 games, so they all went home happy - we think.  The day started at 7 am and ended at 4:30 pm for us - long day.  So, that's over for another year.

Here's to good weather for all this month.

Can you do this?

We have heard that it is genetically impossible for some people to curl their tongue like this:

Can you do it?  We would like to take a survey to see who in our family can do it and who can't.  Send in your answers - pictures accepted.

We survived

After a week in snowbound IA, it was nice to get home and actually see some grass (brown as it is).  We are only 2 1/2 hours south of them, but what a difference in the weather.  We truly enjoyed our week as substitute parents - thanks Marisa, Kayla, Tyler and Alayna for being such good kids and treating us so kindly.  We had a really fun time playing games, going to Marisa's concert, watching Kayla's basketball, and giving the science presentations to Alayna's and Tyler's classes at school.  We didn't enjoy getting up so early in the mornings, but we did get a break on a couple of days when school was cancelled or delayed.  For sure, it's never dull when we're with the grandchildren.  We're happy that Bob and Kristina had such a great time in Florida.  We're available, for a slight fee, if anyone else wants a break from the parenting role for a few days.

Too Much Snow

We are at Bob and Kristina's this week, taking care of the kids while Bob and Kristina are off to sunny Florida for a well deserved vacation and celebrating their 15 yr. anniversary.  We plan to give our science presentations to the kids classes this week, but school was cancelled today (Tues.), due to weather, and we don't know what will happen tomorrow.  There is at least 3 ft. of snow on the ground and apparently more expected sometime this week.  When Bob and Kristina landed in Florida, they just had to call and tell us that it was sunny and 83º, while we could only boast of being 8º.  They are driving around a little Bug convertible, while we are trying to stay warm inside the house.  At least it is sunny today, just cold.  We've been playing our fun game of Hyperdash, video games, reading and whatever else we can come up with to ward off the boredom.  This could be a very long week, but we will survive.

Well, it looks like we are off and running with our new website, thanks to Clark, who started it up for us.  Check it out at hart411.com.  We're pleased with the interest you've shown.

What a fun last 3 months we have had - we've added a new member to our family, spent Thanksgiving with 1/2 of you, enjoyed a fun-filled week with Missy and Clark and a unexpected visit with Chris and family, brought in the new year with Bob and family, left the cold weather behind and enjoyed a week with Jeff and Grace, and played parents to Jared, Ian, Alyssa and Abigail while Debbie, Trent and Lauren went to Dallas for a dental convention.  We are now home and feeling a little lonely (although, we are surely enjoying our own bed and our own bathrooms).  Those months just flew by - the saying is true, "Time flies when you are having fun". We truly enjoyed spending time with each of you and hope that we weren't to much trouble.  Oh, that we could all live in one little corner of the world together and see each other on a regular basis - I'm afraid that it isn't to be, so you will just have to put up with our visits.  

It has been pretty cold and wintry here since we have been home.  We got teased with 50º temperatures one day, but it quickly turned cold and snowed again.  The only good thing is that it could help our "moisture level". :)  I do know that our new fireplace has received a lot of use and we have loved having it to warm up those cold days and evenings.  There was a stretch of time that it was running nearly all day, just to keep up with the cold outside - what did we do without it?

 We wish Jeff and Grace well as they start their new work careers tomorrow (Mon., Feb. 4th).  Mike started his classes at Expressions 1 1/2 weeks ago and we wish him well, also.  I haven't heard any complains yet, so, no news, is good news, right?

We hope you all have a good week,

Love,

Mom and Dad