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