Rhode Island and Mini Vacations

18 inches, two weeks ago in the backyard...
it's all gone now!

Hola, familia!

SUNNY DAYS. We have had an unseasonably warm week! It melted our snow. No, really! 13 days ago we had the 2nd of 2 big snowstorms, and there was 18 inches of snow on the ground.
And for the past week we've had temps in the 50s, 60s, and (gasp) 70s one day! All the snow is now gone.

OUT OF TOWN. Frank has had multiple trips this month, and I think there are NONE scheduled for March. He had a nice visit with his parents last weekend before his conference in Orlando. Tonight he flies to Chicago for a few days.

ceiling in the grand ballroom

NEWPORT MANSIONS. Since he worked the holiday last Monday, Frank took Friday off, and the 3 of us took a day trip to Rhode Island. Kara has just finished the early 1900s in her American History class, and she gets extra credit for going to museums and other historic sites. We toured 2 of the Newport Mansions in Newport, R.I.: Marble House and Rosecliff.

Rosecliff main staircase

Marble House was built by the Vanderbilts in the late 1800s. The stories of entertaining were pretty over-the-top! The Marble House construction cost 11 million dollars...in the late 1800s. Yes, convert that to present-day money and it's upwards of 120 million dollars for this home. They were expected to entertain all summer, so they "budgeted" (ha) $500,000 for the summer (again--convert it to present day money and it's 12 million dollars for these parties). The expectation for the summer was 6 dinner parties (12-course, for maybe dozens of people), and 2 overnight shindigs for over 400 people. For the overnighters, they would provide music, food, wine and entertainment for all those people, all night until 8 or 10 in the morning.

**Okay my favorite story was the hostess who was not satisfied with just a live band, so she flew out the entire cast of a Broadway show, including lighting and sets, to put on the Broadway show for her guests. :o :o :o (WHAT??!?!)

The end of this "Gilded Age," as Will Rogers coined the phrase, was about the time the Titanic sunk in 1912, and then in 1913 our country's Income Tax began. When the ultra rich people could not keep ALL their money, they reigned in the spending a little.

MINI BREAK OUT WEST. Teresa and David had a 3-day weekend last week: BYU gave them President's Day off, and they both enjoyed a change in scenery.

Teresa went to Bryce Canyon with some friends from her Wildlife Science department. The group grew from it's original 7 or 8, to 17 at one point! Beautiful hikes through natural rock formations. It snowed on them Saturday, then cleared up Sunday. A good time was had by all.

David went to visit Zoe (our neighbor, his friend from high school, now a senior at the University of Minnesota) for a couple of days in Minnesota! There was a fancy event they attended, and took this photo. I think it was even nice weather for him, 40's maybe, in February in Minnesota :) :) :)

I will wrap up now, and post some pictures!

Teresa mission update...I guess they had a question on the health part of her application, and instead of someone calling her to ask about it, the application kind of sat in somebody's inbox for 3 weeks. So Teresa and our Stake President called and left messages and emailed various people...no answers...Then finally she talked to somebody helpful. Teresa THINKS the clock might be re-set now, and they'll give her an assignment? Time will tell.

Have a great week! Kari

Snow, Airports and Abraham Lincoln

Grand Tetons Idaho/Wyoming 2014

Hello, Family--

It is a sunny weekend and that makes me so happy. It's 53 out there right now!

What happened this week...hmmm. (P.S. remember you can click on the pics to make them larger.)

We had a snow day last Monday. Oh, here's something "exciting!" Monday morning (no school, and the storm was still snowing), the snowplow guy for our street rounded the corner and then stopped, I guess.  The truck behind him did not think he was going to stop, so he ran right into him. I opened our blinds to this. (You can't lose the police around here...those jackets are BRIGHT.)

TIME OUT OF SCHOOL. We are now in the beginning of our "February Break." Each February, and each April, we get a week off of school. This is good for the skiers to get in some skiing, and for the people who need warm to go somewhere warm. Also all those nasty germs in the school buildings can be withOUT a host for the week, so they die. Begone, germs!

BUSINESS TRIP. Then there are those whose husbands/dads have conferences to go to, in Orlando, so they travel someplace warm but stay inside the whole time...this makes sense to someone, I am sure?!?!? Ha.

Internet photo, Ft. Lauderdale airport

Frank went to Ft. Lauderdale yesterday, then drove to his parents' house in Moore Haven for the weekend. He said the whole world and their dogs were in the Ft. Lauderdale airport, embarking on cruises or otherwise traveling. Many East Coast schools are on vacation.

Kara and I will see him Wednesday night. We are staying here, where it is...NOT snowing! And the temps are in the 40s and 50s this week, so some of the white stuff may even melt away. (Ooohh--supposed to be 64 on Thursday, I just looked. Happy Days :) :) :) )

Grand Tetons 2014

HOSTESSING. Here is a picture of Kara as she walked out the door, for her first day as hostess, at Prime 131...she was a good sport and let me take a picture. ("Really, Mom, I'm going to be late...") Ha! Frank and I went to the restaurant when she was there. I refrained, and did NOT embarrass her and take a picture of her on-the-job.

TETONS. Here are some pics I just found of almost 3 yrs ago when we went to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. These are the Grand Tetons, 2014.

Well, my allotted blog time is up! Hope your weekend has gone well.

In honor of my favorite president--taken almost
5 years ago, Gettysburg PA

Happy President's Day tomorrow, for those people who get the day off...(I guess you can still be happy about it, though, even if you DON'T get the day off. That's called "Having a Good Attitude.")

Kari

Snow Days, Sunshine and Dancing

Hello Familia--

(Using the wolf Peanut shared, after Groundhog's Day...)

Happy Snow shoveling from the Arctic North! We've had a week of S.N.O.W. here in Wayland, some with Frank, and some without.

After I had started clearing off cars Thursday night

SNOW DAYS. Frank spent the week in Atlanta, so he had some warmer temps than we did. The weather service predicted "8-12 inches" for us last Thursday, and we put the yardstick into the snow in the backyard. 10 inches!

Then today (Sunday) we got some more. It's still snowing. Maybe another 8 inches, I'm not exactly sure. It should stop by morning. We had last Thursday off of school, and they've already cancelled for tomorrow. 2 snow days in one week. I started feeling a cold coming on Friday, and today it's in full swing. Hoping that every day it gets a little better.

SUNSHINE in the DESERT. I took a few pics in Arizona when I was there. It was not WARM while I was there (Mom assures me that since I left, the temps have reached into the 70's and 80's. Thanks, Mom :0 :0 :0 ) While I was there it was more like in the 50s during the days. But I did have some sunshine one day, so I took a walk with my camera. Cactus makes some very interesting photos.

What else exciting this week? Kind of same-old-same-old, after we dig ourselves out.

RUMBA. Frank and I learned some Rumba steps on Saturday--Carole Ann, in our church congregation, is a dance instructor and she agreed to teach some couples some basic dances. Okay, we have NO experience...but she's a patient teacher!

HOSTESS JOB. Oh--Kara got a job at a restaurant very close to us, "Prime Grill 131." She'll be a hostess on weekends, and maybe one other night of the week. THat means she greets people at the front door, and seats them. They're only open for dinner, and close at 10 during the week. Yay, Kara!

Frank has a short couple of days in NYC this week, then to Florida the end of the week. Conferences in Orlando, plus he can go see his mom and dad :) :) :) Sunny Florida here he comes!

Last photo...I didn't post David & his group of high school friends, as they got together over Christmas time. They went to one of those "find your way out of the maze" places, where you have a certain amount of time to figure out the clues and get out. Here they are in front of our house, before they left for their Boston outing.

Have a great week!  Kari

Clocks, Prisons, Shedding Skin

Hello and Happy February!

Yes, we are really into February -- and that means we made it through January! YESSSS!

Internet groundhog

PUNXSUTAWNEY PHIL. The groundhog in Pennsylvania who sees his shadow, or not, saw his shadow, so I guess that means 6 more weeks of winter.  But even if he does NOT see his shadow, isn't Spring Equinox (March 20) STILL six weeks away? I never really got that...

One of my students asked what Groundhog Day was, and I said it was kind of a made-up holiday. Because there are not many holidays in January, and Valentine's Day is still a ways away.

TICK TOCK. Still waiting on Teresa's mission call...I keep telling myself they did NOT lose it...ha! They say you'll know between 10 days and 3 weeks, and today it has been 18 days. We'll probably know within a week or so.

**Actually we Skyped with David and Teresa tonight, and Teresa got a text from the Stake President that her mission file online says "In Process." So they did NOT lose anything, for real. We are just learning patience :) :) :)

 (Here's a photo I took way back when (2006) of one of my very favorite clocks, to help me pass the time.)

Big Ben, London

These internet photos show the hotel today

FORMER PRISON. Last Thursday, Frank and I went to a University of Michigan meet-the-Dean night, at this really cool hotel in Boston.

center: those balconies overlooking the
atrium were guard lookouts to watch
prisoners during their exercise time

 Back in the 1800's, it used to be a prison. They did a remarkable job of renovating it, using the same architecture, into a nice hotel. It was called "The Charles Street Jail" in 1851, and now they call it "Liberty Hotel."

TENNIS. Kara has been practicing serves and playing tennis, to get her ready for the high school tennis season which starts in April.

PLANES, TRAINS and AUTOMOBILES. Frank travels to Atlanta this week, then Minneapolis, for meetings and various conferences.

FOOTBALL. Patriots and Falcons play today for the superbowl title. It's a pretty big deal around here, and it's probably too bad we're not die-hard football fans! We live in a very sports-fanatic region! Since we've been here, today is the 3rd time the New England Patriots made it to the Superbowl Championship.

SNAKESKIN. And lastly, Komodo shed his skin again and Frank measured it. He is now as tall as Frank! Yes, a family member has grown to matching Frank's height...our baby snake (sniff) has grown to be 6 feet long.

Here's Frank, a couple of years back, when Komodo was "only" 5 feet long...

...and a blast-from-the-past "cute kid picture" from a few years back...like almost 10. (May of 2017.)

Have a great week ahead!
Love, Kari