Off to College!

Hi, again--

I had to come home and post!  We just took David to the airport, and he's in the air flying right now.

Ready or not! (David is ready...Mom? maybe not)

Our alarms went off at 3:45 a.m., so we could be in the car driving at 4:15 a.m.  His flight was at 6:00, and we got him there on time.  Yessssss :)

The only thing was, they changed the flight, to one that left at 7:50, so we could ACTUALLY have slept another hour or so.  Ugh! :(

Cheering Squad to send him off :)

one big suitcase...that is all.

But that's okay.  David amazes me just a little...I went into his room last night, as he was finishing packing, and I looked around.  He had ONE big suitcase with him! And a rolling carry-on, and a messenger bag with his laptop in it.  That's all.

Telling a story?!

We did ship one box of bedding out, ahead of him a week ago, so he can make up his bed and sleep there tomorrow night.  But he fit all of his clothes, shoes and jacket included, plus a desk lamp, into that one big suitcase.  I mean, we even told him he could take two big suitcases.  He didn't need them.

Early smiles -- a little groggy maybe

Teresa opted not to have the early wake-up call.  She said her goodbyes the night before.  So Frank and I, Kara and Angela got up and drove with him to the airport.  After David checked in, the man at the counter said the other counter would give us a pass to go to the gate with him.  It turns out, they would only give us ONE pass.  So we went closer to the security line, then we parked ourselves on a row of benches to wait awhile.

Gourmet Breakfast, Airport Style

Some of the waiting included breakfast, and of course his last breakfast in Boston, for awhile, should be from Dunkin Donuts, right??  (They're everywhere here!)  We had bagel sandwiches and donuts.

Frank and I have so many great memories of college.  It's a transition time for all of us, but exciting for sure.  Good Luck David, and have so much fun :)

Kari

P.S.  He just called, and the day went off without a hitch!  No delays, and he took the Skytram in Dallas to catch the second leg of the flight.  Landed, retrieved his luggage, and found Suzanna.  He'll stay at their house tonight, and check in to his dorm tomorrow.  A good day for him!

I Blinked

Hola, Familia!

The month has been a whirlwind, but that's what summer is all about, right!  (The post title, "I Blinked," means that the month flew by.  "I blinked, and August was over!")

Never mind those relaxing-sitting-on-the-beach commercials for tropical vacations...THIS summer, at least :)  We still have 1 week of summer left until school starts, and we're milking every second for all it's worth!  A few things August had going for it:

SOCCER CAMP.  Kara had not one, but two soccer camps.  One of them was in Cape Cod (I know, Poor Girl, right...)  Almost her whole soccer team went.  2 team members have family summer houses on "The Cape," so the 14 girls who w
ent split up between those houses.  Soccer Camp was from 9a.m-noon each morning, and the rest of the time they spent at the beach, eating, sleeping, playing.  A week-long slumber party, more or less.  She had such a good time.


YOUNG WOMEN's CHURCH CAMP.  Both Kara and Teresa look forward to church camp each year.  This year Teresa was a "YCL," or "Youth Camp Leader."  Kara was a 2nd year camper.

I spent roughly 2 of the camp days on the "cook team," prepping meals, serving them, cleaning up, and starting over again for the next meal.  I have new respect, now, for the people who plan and prepare meals for 100+ youth at a time!  It is quite a process.

FOSTERING a PUPPY.  Teresa puts in hours of volunteer time with Save-A-Dog, a dog rescue organization about 5 miles from us.  We fostered a puppy for a weekend, until her adoptive family was ready to take her.  A good reminder to me, how nice it is to enjoy someone ELSE's dog, and then give her back to them!  "Eden" was a cutie.  She was some kind of a lab mix.

Teresa serving, taken last fall

VOLLEYBALL.  High school volleyball has started up for Teresa.  Tryouts were last Thursday, Friday, and now Monday and Tuesday of this week.

GETTING DAVID READY FOR BYU.  The time has come!  David finished up his internship last week, and has had a few days to see friends and say goodbye to them as they head off to school.  His big day is tomorrow (Tuesday), yes, now less than 24 hours away.  We asked him, if he wanted Frank or I to fly out with him, and he thought about it briefly.  "No," he said, "you don't have to go."

So we will get up at a ridiculous time Tuesday morning to put him on a 6 a.m. flight!  We sent out a box of bedding last week, and our friends Lee & Suzanna who live just 2 towns away from Provo will pick him up in Salt Lake City.  He'll stay with them for one night, then go to BYU to check into his dorm on Wednesday.  He is pretty excited.

furnace...  water heater...

LAST UPGRADE.  Today and tomorrow we have a crew here, changing over the house's heating system from oil to gas.  (This photo is from the Internet. You get the idea...)
This concludes about 5 big projects, starting last March, which have made up "Round 2" of our home improvements.  I'll highlight them in another post.  Round 1 was five years ago, right when we moved into the house.  Two rounds is enough, I think.  Forever.  Bleh.

The calendar marches forward!  Have a wonderful week!  Kari

Quebec, Canada

Bonjour!

We returned a few days ago from Montreal and Quebec City, in Canada.  Actually in "Quebec," which is also the province.  They speak more French there, we found out, than they do in Paris-- (what?)  Yes, they actually cater more to English-speakers in Paris than in Montreal.

(NOTE: if you single-click on the photos, you can see them bigger.  Much better, if you can get it to work on your computer.)

Beautiful, beautiful.  What a nice place!  And for the most part, there ARE a lot of English-speakers.  We attended church Sunday, and listened to the service in French.  It's kind of cool, though, when you see it in print or hear certain words, you can find similarities to English words, and "kind of" figure out what some things mean.

BASILICA.  Montreal has a grand and ornate cathedral downtown.  Downtown Montreal does feel European, with cobblestone streets and outdoor markets.  Here is one of the Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal.

OLYMPICS 1976.  They had the Olympics in Montreal.  Remember this gymnast?

BOTANICAL GARDENS.  Now they have turned the whole Olympic complex into beautiful botanical gardens.  Here are a few of the things we saw there.

INSECTARIUM.  Next to the Gardens was an Insectarium.  Thousands of insect specimens, some of them live.  Here are some of the non-live ones.

1 in 4 living creatures on this earth is a beetle!!!!!

 

Rhino beetle.  Wild, huh!

TOWER.  They also have this cool elevator-ride tower you can take to the top of the world, or close to it!  You can see great views of the city.

TEMPLE.  We stopped by the temple on our way out of town.  It wasn't open that day.

QUEBEC CITY.  This has a really pretty skyline and "old town" feel, again with the cobblestone streets.  We ate dinner at a cafe-type place, and our server offered to take our picture.  The photo itself turned out dark and grainy (I had taken it off of "automatic" and the settings were wrong for the lighting).  But I'm including it because I just noticed the guy at the table behind us.  HE wanted to be in our picture too!  See him?

Photo Bomb, I suppose... :)

 CIRCQUE du SOLEIL.  The unexpected surprise of the trip was to be told by the lady at the information booth was that the Cirque du Solei does a show every night in Quebec City.  Ticket holders get seats in this outdoor theater.  But if you're willing to stand in line and roll the dice on getting in or not, they let people stand and see the show for free.

So...there were a ridiculous number of people waiting for the free-standing-room-only spots.  Like 4,000. Really.  But we were amongst the first 1000, I would guess, that were allowed in.  The whole show was either up in the air over your head, or high on the stage in front of you so your view was awesome, no matter where you were!  So we stood.  It was a very fun show.

MONTMORENCY FALLS.  We hiked around and down the side of a pretty waterfall.  Their "Claim to Fame" is that it's 30 feet taller than Niagara Falls.

Also of note: Kara has braces now! Round 3 for the Whitesells.

Bonus: rainbow in the mist!

In the winter the spray freezes, and forms a huge ice-mountain.  We saw pictures of this.  But of course in August it's just spray.

ARTWORK.  Oh, and here is a great painting on the wall of a building, in downtown Quebec City!  Go ahead, click on it to enlarge it.  It's amazing. :)

 

So, that gives you a taste of our trip.  It's always a treat to have a change of pace in a different environment.  I am not a huge fan of loooooooooong road trips, but this was a good hop across the northern border.

Have a great week! Kari

4th of July in Boston

Hi again!

I have to post about the 4th of July week.  We had so much fun when Frank's family came to see us!

Just 3 days after we got back from Trek, we had family visitors.  That doesn't happen very often, so it was very exciting. :)  We also got to show off a few home projects that have just barely been completed.  I'll post "before" and "after" photos in another post.

Grammie D & Papa Dave, plus Dana, Andy and Nick came to see us!  We had to pick and choose some highlights, to give them a flavor of our fun area.

BOSTON FIREWORKS.  Of course we had to take the "T" (public transportation train) into Boston for the fireworks on the evening of the 4th.  If you've never seen this show, you need to!  Even if you watch it on t.v.  It's phenomenal.

This year did not disappoint, and we even had good weather for it!  Lots of police to keep things organized, and a pretty orderly exit on the trains, even at 11p.m.

KAYAKING to the NORTH BRIDGE.  It was pretty sweltering (low 90's, bout 70% humidity), but being on the water at least gives you the mental image of "coolness."  Maybe.  It's about a mile kayak trip from the rental place, to the North Bridge in Concord.  Yes, the bridge where the Revolutionary War started.  I never considered myself a real history buff, but this stuff kind of "grows on you" in New England.  It still amazes me that all these inexperienced, rough-around-the-edges common people pulled it together to fight against the very organized, experienced British soldiers.  Successfully.

WALDEN POND.  This is one of my new favorite places!  I just love Walden Pond.  It's a state park now, and a public swimming area.  They post a lifeguard by the roped-off area, and you can also go anywhere else on the lake, at your own risk.  I hiked around once while Kara & Nick were in the roped off area, then we hiked to a different section and they swam some.  It's such a peaceful place.

BUNKER HILL.  One more stop was the Bunker Hill Monument.  Like I said before, even if you're not a "history buff," you really do have to appreciate the people who were willing to sacrifice so much for a cause they so believed in.  If they hadn't done that, I would sure be living a different life than I live right now.

So, the 4th of July week was indeed a fun one.  This is a good place to celebrate the Independence of our country.  Even if you're not a "History Buff!"

Have a great week!  Kari

Boston Trek Days 2 & 3

We got up that 2nd morning and like I said, put the soggy sleeping bags in big plastic bags.  We attempted breakfast by boiling water...some kind of cooked oats, I believe, although the kids preferred the muffins provided.  We packed up our damp belongings and loaded up the handcarts again.

Luckily we didn't have to bring elephants with us.

We started out walking with our handcarts, knowing we'd have off-and-on sprinkles and sometimes rain throughout the day.  Sometimes the sun broke through the clouds.  In the afternoon, it did actually rain on us...hard!  We walked maybe an hour in the pouring rain.  Ugh.

Blessings throughout the trip were obvious, in hindsight.

NO THUNDERSTORMS.  Even though it poured on us for much of the first night, there was NO thunder, and NO lightning.  That would have moved the experience to a different level of discomfort!  We would have had to all get up at 2 or 3 in the morning, and move all of our stuff, drenched and miserable in the process.  We had NONE of that :)

Tug-of-War between "families"

BREAKS in WEATHER at the RIGHT TIMES.  There were activities planned mid-day, including laying out blankets in a big field to make our lunches.  Lunch was followed by an hour of pioneer-type games!  These included tug-of-war, stick games, and relay races.  Those blocks of time were perfect, and the kids had a rejuvenating lunch and good time playing.

PIONEER BABY.  One of the "Ma's and Pa's" in the group brought their 5-month old baby! Yes, she is braver than I am, but that was really a highlight for some of these youth.  It was especially sweet to watch some of the teen aged boys with this little baby.  They just loved her.

Little 5-month-old baby time--so sweet!

SQUARE DANCING.  The evening activities included square dancing, and again--NO rain!  It was a perfect activity to get all the kids involved and moving and laughing.  A good time was had by all.

2ND NIGHT.  It was almost comical to watch the adults "set up camp" that 2nd night.  Everybody prepared for the worst, thinking we might get the rain we had previously, on the 2nd night too.  More tarps appeared.  Lots of duct tape came out.  People were doing all they could to avoid the pooling water and waterfalls on the kids this time, if it was going to rain so much on us again!  The blessing the 2nd night: NO RAIN. :)

Here is our camp, from across the pond, that last day.  (Tents belonged to the staff: photographers, food organizers, camp doctor, etc.)

CROSSING THE RIVER (well, tiny stream).  This was a cool part.  They told the story of the Martin handcart company who left a little late in the fall and unfortunately ran into early winter weather, a snowstorm in October.  The people were out of food, were not prepared for the cold, exhausted and starving in the snow.  On November 4, 1856, they came to the Sweetwater River, 100 feet across with big ice chunks floating in it.  The people were so disheartened by that river that some of them sat down and cried.

Somehow word got back to Brigham Young, who had already arrived in Salt Lake City.  He asked the other pioneers, who were settled, somewhat, after having been there for months already, to go to the stranded pioneers and help them.

Many people in Salt Lake left that very day, backtracking on the trail they had come in on, so they knew it well enough.  Others gathered supplies and left within the next couple of days.  They got to the river and saw the people struggling on the other side.

A handful of men, most younger (early 20s maybe), got into the icy water up to their waists and chests, went across and started carrying people to the other side.  Over and over again they did this.  They helped the handcart company through this overwhelming obstacle.

APPLYING IT TO OUR CHALLENGES TODAY.  We tried to apply these pioneer lessons to our lives today.  I told the kids in our "family," that they would never be asked to walk for 4 months in the snow.  It just was not going to happen.  But we ARE asked to do hard things in our lives.  There is sickness, death, abuse, addiction, divorce, and unemployment.  Sometimes our own lives seem daunting, and sometimes we have friends going through really rough times.  The Lord gives us good, supportive people to help us during our trials.  And sometimes, we can be there for others, helping them through their trials.

Going through a Trek experience like this, I told them, shows us in a small way, that we can do hard things.  We CAN do things that are not pleasant.  We can also help OTHER people, who are going through hard things.  With the Lord's help, we have it in us.

Here is a small "river crossing" that we had on the last day.  It's really just a tiny stream, and the youth had the option of being helped across, or not. (There was a bridge right next to this crossing, and if they didn't want to be carried they could just walk across the bridge.)

I can't include all the details, really, that people went through during "Trek."  I will say, that I have a new respect for the leaders who plan events like this: they have to have a thousand details squared away, and expect the unexpected.  Keeping that many kids safe and relatively happy...there are lots of opinions and ideas to take into account!  Food, lodging, supplies, getting permits and permission to walk on both public and private lands with handcarts in 1800's costumes.  Camping overnight on private farmland.

I came away from this weekend thoroughly exhausted!  But I also felt like this experience, for the youth, is invaluable.  They form bonds and build confidence, in a unique setting and circumstance, with people they come to know and trust.  Hopefully they also felt the spirit of the Lord's love at different moments throughout.  I know I did.  I was very grateful that Frank and I were able to go.

Boston Trek 2013 Day 1

Boston Trek 2013

Stand in Holy Places

This is a synopsis of our "Pioneer Trek," kind of re-enacting the migration of the Mormon Pioneers across the plains in the mid 1800s. More than a reenactment, however, it was a chance to honor those who have come before us.  Honoring their faith, their endurance, their resolute loyalty to their cause and their beliefs.  We studied their personal history stories, learning of their hardship and trials as well as their successes and growth.

Our Trek was Thursday through Saturday.  This post will cover the first day.

ANNIVERSARY.  Oh, and by the way, did I mention that Thursday was our 21st anniversary!  Yes, what better way to spend the WHOLE day together, hiking and pushing handcarts with 100+ Pioneers!  I made bumper stickers for our handcart.  Here are the first day's bumper stickers.

CLOTHING.  The kids and adults are encouraged to wear Pioneer-type clothing.  Sometimes you can borrow dresses, aprons, bonnets or skirts from other people who have gone on a Pioneer Trek in years past.  Men and boys wear brown or tan pants with a long-sleeved shirts that does not have a collar.  Suspenders, possibly, and some kind of a hat.  Maybe a vest too.  There are also online stores that sell period dress for the 1800s.

TRAVEL.  Trek is approximately 21 miles, walked over a period of 3 days and 2 nights.  Everybody walks, and some pull handcarts behind them.

OVERNIGHT.  We have tarps and stakes and ropes.  We make our own "tents," with the handcarts in the middle!  There are a few real tents, mostly for "support staff."  We have 6 or 7 photographers, designated food people, games/activities people, and trek captains.  Those people do not have "families," and they take care of the rest of us. We can use their tents for changing rooms, at night.

"Ma and Pa Whitesell" for the weekend :)

OUR FAMILY: Frank and I (“Ma and Pa”), Ethan 14, James 16, Nadia 17, Michael 14, Laurie 17, Lilly 14.  Nadia and Laurie have gone on Trek, 3 years ago.  The rest (including Frank and I) are new to it.  Lilly was just baptized 4 months ago!  We all meet each other, load the cart and have lunch in the park before we leave.

THURSDAY, DAY 1.  The youth, all 14 to 18 yrs. old, meet at the Boston Temple in Belmont and start the day with service, cleaning up the grounds and weeding/planting flowers and other plants.  The adults drive straight to the trailhead, to meet them in a lovely park by a lake, where all of the handcarts are parked and ready to be loaded.

The youth arrive on buses.  We prepare and eat our lunches, and get to know each other a little bit.

We also learn some about our "Pioneer Family," which is for us Hyrum Smith and his wife Mary Fielding Smith.  Hyrum was martyred along with his brother Joseph Smith in Carthage Jail.  The next leader of the church was Brigham Young, who started organizing groups to travel west.

Mary Fielding Smith, though now a widow and would be traveling alone with her children, decided to travel west.

Of course the people who happen to be visiting the park today are more than a little interested in what we are doing...  20 handcarts lined up in a public park, with 130 people dressed in pioneer clothes is not a common sight in the Boston area!  People drive by and take pictures of us with their cell phones.

Handcarts with all of our stuff!

Our 3 companies of wagons line up to leave in order.  The other park visitors sit or stand by the sides to watch the parade.  One woman says as we pass, "I hope you're prepared for tonight.  It's supposed to rain cats and dogs on us!  I'll pray for you!"  It was foreshadowing, I suppose.  She was more right than any of us wanted to imagine!

We walk along the trail, with 4 of our kids pulling up front and the rest of us in back, holding the safety rope.  The first day has us warming up by walking about 5 miles.  It is overcast and cool, in the low 70s.  Perfect hiking weather.

2 of our "family," making butter by the Dutch oven

We get to the field where we are to camp that night.  First we must set up camp, and this hay field is waist-high.  Over time we trample and roll over the hay.  We start the coals burning, as they will warm the Dutch oven which will cook our dinner.  The tarps are stretched out from the handcart in both directions.  They are staked down.  We can put our sleeping bags on the ground and be covered.  Frank also sets up a "Dining Fly." This is another cover, with space for us to sit under and we can talk together during our devotional this evening.

Dinner tonight is chicken and rice inside the Dutch oven.  The kids have a chance to make butter, shaking a jar of whipping cream until it thickens.  We also have s'mores.  Just after dinner it starts to rain.  We duck under our Dining Fly and continue to eat and talk.  The rain lets up a little, then stops.

We go to sleep around 10:30.  It seems like a good set-up for our family for tonight.

Frank sets up our makeshift "tent"

Around 1:30 my eyes pop open.  The steady rain is drum-beating on the tarp above my head.  I can hear the tarps flapping when the wind blows.  Then it rains harder.  And the wind--Oh, the wind!  Who know how much noise a tarp would make in 30-mile an hour wind!  The tarps are still staked, but they are flapping and banging around.  The rain is pouring now.  It is all so loud!  I try to dose off and get some rest, but end up checking my watch about every 15 minutes for the rest of the night.

The rain stops around 5 a.m.  As adults, we are more than a little discouraged by the volume of water that has collected during the storm.  The kids cannot sleep, so they get up and walk around and talk.  One girl in another family says happily, "I'm sleeping in a puddle!" and she laughs.  This helps lift some spirits.  About 1/3 of the group is soaking wet or at least partially wet.  Their sleeping bags are like full sponges.

Our 'family' tarp set-up worked well on one side, but not the other.  The girl's side stayed dry, as did the center under the handcart, where Frank and I slept.  The boys' side did not fare so well.  Their tarp pooled and then spilled, right on their heads.  Rude awakening: eeeeewwww!

So the leaders ask for all of the soaking-wet sleeping bags, to be put in plastic garbage bags.  One adult spends the entire day in a local laundromat.  He uses all dryers available, putting in quarters and drying out sleeping bags.

I have to admit, I am pretty amazed at the good attitudes of the teens around me.  While I mentally grumble and cringe at the soppy conditions, the kids take a lot of it in stride.

Summer is finally here!

Hi!

It has been a fun couple of weeks, with wrapping up school activities and final concerts, etc.  I know I have been driving a LOT, so that means the girls are keeping busy.

LIFE LESSONS.  David is 2 weeks into his internship, so he's not helping me drive anymore :(

His "life lessons learned" so far with the full-time job...
1) Your "gross" income does not equal your "net" income.  Ouch #1.

2) Taking public transportation (commuter train) in to work ...wait for it... costs money. Ouch #2.

3) It also takes time to get TO and FROM work.  To catch a 7a.m. train, then walk from the train station to the office ... He leaves here by 6:40a.m. and arrives home around 6:20p.m.  Many people get an hour for lunch, that they're not paid for... He is gone 11 1/2 hours, and only gets paid for 8 of them.  Ouch #3.

LAST DAY.  Monday was the kids' last day of school.  Kind of late this year, but what do you do, right?  I tutored for the last time this year on Monday, also.  I just work one year at a time.  The district does not guarantee the tutors jobs more than that.  But as far as I know, I will do the same job again in the fall.  No official notification yet, but they have "told" me my position will be the same.

NOT my toes, BTW!

TMI (Too Much Information) WARNING.  Just to give the story closure (I hope).  2 months ago we hiked the Grand Canyon, and both my big toenails got all bruised, I guess from hitting the end of the hiking boot for 9 hours straight.  I lost one!  Eeeewwww.  The new nail has grown in about 1/2 way.  So now, summer and sandals and toenail polish season is finally here, and I have to wear a band-aid instead.  :(


TREK.  Every summer, the church youth in the region go on a 3-day "Youth Conference." It can be 3 days at a local university,  where they stay in the dorms and attend devotionals, listen to motivational and spiritual speakers, as well as lots of social activities with each other.

Every 3 or 4 years, however, the youth conference takes the form of "Trek."  As in, "Pioneer Trek."  The pioneers moving west and settling the untamed territories there, are actually a big part of our church history.  Those people believed in something, and were often persecuted for their beliefs.  Many were chased from their homes and had to leave everything they owned, to follow their hearts and a prophet they believed in.

"Trek" puts the youth in a pioneer-type setting.  The youth are grouped into "pioneer families," and each "family" pushes handcarts, cooks and eats outdoors, and for 3 days lives the life of a pioneer.  We also have devotionals, and give them opportunities to study scriptures and discuss gospel principles.  The purpose is to help the youth think about what they, themselves, believe, and to give them a chance to think and pray, and strengthen their own testimonies of gospel principles.  We hope they can come closer to Christ through these discussions and experiences.

Frank and I were asked to be one of the "Ma and Pa" 's of a "pioneer family."  We will have 7 or 8 youth (14-18 yrs old) assigned to our "family."  We have pioneer clothing, and we'll load up a handcart with everybody's stuff!  Our trail meanders through the outskirts of a camp the church owns in New Hampshire.  We'll hike 21 miles over a 3-day period.

Trek is this Thursday through Saturday.  Since summer is "thunderstorm season" in New England, our prayers right now are focused on "good weather" for the trek.  I'll report on it when we get back.

Have a great rest of the week!  Kari