Life on the High Plains

Just a few shots from the wedding. Saturday, October 27, 2012.  A beautiful day in Maui, Hawaii.  My beautiful daughter makes a beautiful bride. All I can say is elegance.  Dana is a very classy lady.  The dress is perfect for her. Dana with her bridesmaids--Michelle (the newest addition to our family), Kim, and Merritt Adam waiting for Dana's entrance. Such a beautiful setting.   The ceremony was very touching.    A kiss to seal the vows. The wedding party.   A proud mom and dad. The weather was perfect for dining under the stars.   Sisters Jillian and...   Mary           Dana and Mr. Beans The first dance.   We are so lucky to have Adam in our family.  Such a nice guy who I can tell truly loves my daughter and will cherish her for the rest of his life.  His family is incredibly nice.  I feel like o...

We decided to take a drive down "The Road to Hana" today. Here's a little info about the road: 52 Miles 59 bridges 46 of them one lane some dating to 1910 620 curves Typical drive time 3 hours each way The drive to Hana wasn't too bad.  We saw a couple waterfalls, stopped to have a picnic lunch and feed the wild cats (Hawaii is overrun with feral cats). We found a nice beach and enjoyed playing in the surf for awhile. Played with the camera.  Took time to "smell the roses". Then around 4:00 we decided it was time to head back.  I was thinking the drive was about an hour and a half...but it was three hours and we had a rehearsal dinner to be at (well, there wasn't a rehearsal so it wasn't really a rehearsal dinner.  Maybe a pre-wedding day dinner.) I doubt that anyone has ever driven the Road to Hana quite that quickly.  We all did our share of screaming and backseat driving.  As w...

So I've been really bad at blogging this week.  You see, we're leaving for Hawaii on Wednesday and this happens to be finals week for the class I'm currently taking.  In an effort to not have to worry about homework while in Hawaii, I've been killing myself trying to get it done ahead of time. A ten page paper was due today and a twenty page paper is due next Sunday.  Yikes!  That's a lot of research. Anyway, it wasn't all work this weekend.  Yesterday Jillian, my friend Kim and I went to Denver to see Memphis at the Performing Arts Center.  I didn't really know what to expect from this musical, but all I can say is "It was fantastic!"  The talent in the touring version of the Broadway show was exceptional, especially the gal who played Felicia.  If you have the opportunity--go see it.  Be aware though that it does contain language that may have been used in the 1950s when it came to race relations. Source:  http://memphisthe...

Irv and I took a road trip to Idaho Falls yesterday to spend a few days with my dad who is having a minor surgery today. Irv took the wheel which allowed me to nap, read my book, but mostly watch the scenery and take pictures. Now, if you've ever driven across I-80 you know there isn't much scenery.  It seems even worse this year because everything is so dry. Our trip in Wyoming started with some tire pressure issues.  The front tire picked up a nail, but Irv was able to pump the tire up so we could continue our trip.  New cars all have a tire pressure light which can be very annoying at times especially when it comes on when the temperature takes a dramatic shift up or down.  This time though, it alerted us to something we wouldn't otherwise been aware of. There are two things you see a lot of on I-80:  windmills and semi-trucks.  We seemed to be the only car in the midst of hundreds of trucks. When you get about half-wa...

I always knew there must be a sporting event that lasted longer than a horse show.  When Jillian was showing Doc we always had a lot of long days that usually started with a lot of frustration when the horse refused to load into the trailer.  Funny thing though, after 12 hours at a horse show he was always willing to get in the trailer to go home. Anyway, Mr. Beans had his first wrestling match this past Saturday.  Now, I have to admit that I missed the first 6 hours of the match because I had a paper to finish up for the class I'm currently taking.  I did manage to make it to the gym in time to see Mr. Bean's final match. Here's Mr. Beans ready for action. Here he is on all fours. Now the other kid is on all fours and Mr. Beans is on top.  They seem to take turns doing this.  Why?  I don't know...this was my first ever wresting match and I know zero about the sport. I do remember watching Rulon Gardner at the Ol...

  Our hard working son-in-law celebrated a birthday today.  He's been working so hard preparing for his unit's deployment to the National Training Center (NTC), that we didn't get a chance to celebrate with him.    Unfortunately, Brian doesn't get to join the rest of the family in Hawaii for Dana's wedding.  Instead, he gets to spend a month at NTC in the desert of California.  Poor Irv is going to have to spend a week with all the women in his life.  Thank goodness for Mr. Beans and our soon to be new son-in-law who has a brother and dad who Irv can hang out with.   Hope you had a good day, Brian.  We owe you a dinner!

I went for my second round of physical therapy today.  On Friday, the doctor mentioned that dry needling might be a good option for me.  He asked me if I had a fear of needles so I lied and said "no".  Although I don't think I have a fear of needles, just the pain they cause.  I have vivid memories from my childhood when the doctor cured everything by giving a shot of penicillin.  I can remember being five or six years old with my mom at the doctor's office and I was screaming and crying and hiding behind a chair because I was about to get a shot of penicillin.  Thank goodness they don't do that to kids anymore.  I learned to get over my fear of needles when I was pregnant with Dana.  It wasn't until then that I learned I was RH negative and because of that, they had to take blood everytime I went to see the doctor.  I thought the procedure would be like acupuncture which I've heard isn't too bad.  With dry n...