Darlene and Ron

Judging the Night Parade in Pioche, NV

2010-09-05T10:51:00.003-07:00

Another Labor Day Weekend enjoying "Mining Days" Festival in Pioche, Nevada. For the second time in the past three years, Darlene and Ron were selected as the judges of the night parade. We can not tell if we were so good the first time or that they were really desparate. However, it is plain that they wanted someone who did not live here. The theme is "My Favorite Decade"! Watch the video to see the winners.

London United Kingdom - Day Two

2010-07-26T02:21:00.002-07:00

Even though we traveled to Buckingham Palace early to get a good location for the changing of the guard, our spot for viewing the ceremony was marginal at best. It appeared that guards dressed in a . blue (possible air force) uniforms were replaced by the famous guards in the red and bear skin hats.

Afterwards, we walked through St. James park to Westminster Abbey. We tour the abbey and found it breath taking. We would post pictures if we could, but they did not allow photographs inside. We then tried to take a public tour of Parliament, but the tickets were sold out for today. We happen to walk by the Churchill war cabinet museum and decided to go it. Many of these underground rooms had been left the way they were when world war II ended. We finished the day by walking to Piccadilly Circus and then to Leicester Square . Dinner was at a Pizza Hut. Exhausted, we took the "Tube" back to our hotel. This was a final day to see Europe. We loved the trip.

London, England -- Day One

2010-07-23T23:42:00.002-07:00

We left the ship early in the morning at 7:00am with Ken, Patty, and Serge. Took a taxi to the Dover train station. Took the train into Victoria Station. Here is when the fun begun. There are no "lifts" (elevators) here to get to the "Underground" or the familiar name "the Tube" (London's subway system). So we had to hand carry our large and heavy bags up and down stairs. With Patty and Serge's help, we got on one subway for one stop and then we got off to change to another train while Patty and Serge continued on the train to their hotel. Now we were on our own. We managed to find our next train which took us out to the end of the line at Heathrow airport. There we discovered that we had to pay additional fare just to get out of the subway. We wheeled our bags out to the airport curb to take a shuttle bus to our hotel (NOT complimentary). That bus ride was like Mr. Toad's wild ride!

After checking in and leaving those very, very heavy bags at the hotel, we started our journey back into town. First, walk about a quarter mile to a bus stop. Get on the right bus for a short ride to the subway station. Then reverse the subway ride all the way back into London about where we got off the first train. By the time we arrived at our first sightseeing stop, it was 3:30pm. We had just about spent the entire day just riding trains, buses, and a taxi!

Our first stop was the Tower of London. We attached ourselves to a guided tour by one of the Yeoman of the Guards (he was very informative and funny). He is Darlene's new friend (see above). After his part of the tour ended, we got into a very long, yet well moving line to view the crown jewels. Those gems were unbelievable! We toured a few other buildings inside the castle, but we ran out of time when the Tower of London closed at 5:30pm. We viewed Tower bridge which was just outside of the Tower of London. We then traveled over to the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey before heading back into the very crowded subway system for the hour plus ride back to our hotel. It is fun and the architecture of the buildings are fascinating.

Portland, United Kingdom

2010-07-22T11:03:00.001-07:00

Last excursion today is a tour of the house and gardens of the Athelhampton House. All eight of us got into a bus and first toured the English countryside into Dorchester. We had an hour of free time. Darlene and I found the post office where we exchanged currency into British pounds. Then a short drive further to this estate. The house was first built in 1485 and added to regularly. The extensive gardens were laid down in 1891.

After the visit, the bus took a different route back to the ship through the countryside. We returned to the ship and started packing to disembark the ship tomorrow. As the ship was leaving port, a band played music from the dock and a canon gave a 3 gun salute as we left.

St Marlo, France

2010-07-21T23:07:00.003-07:00

We boarded a bus and traveled an hour to Mont St. Michael, an abbey first built in the 8th century on a rock which is an island at high tide, but accessible at low tide. The tide in this area can change as much as 46 feet. It feels like you are in the land of Harry Potter (which someone claimed some of the movies were filmed here) with the Romanesque and Gothic monastery buildings raising over 500 feet above sea level -- really awe inspiring.

After lunch on the ship, we returned to shore to visit the rampart protected old town of St. Marlo. The narrow streets were filled with shops, restaurants, and people.

Paris, France

2010-07-20T13:08:00.002-07:00

The ships' late arrival into port delayed the start of our excursion into Paris. We traveled by bus two and a half hours through the French countryside. Our first stop in Paris gave us a great view of the Eiffel Tower. After fifteen minutes, we drove through the streets of Paris driving by the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs-Elysees, Orsay Museum, Place De La Concorde, the Louvre and Notre-Dame.

We stopped at the Luxembourg palace (the only place the bus could find parking--Paris was very, very crowded today). We found an exotic French restaurant for lunch--McDonalds. After buying a few souvenirs, we re-boarded the bus for the return journey to Le Harve to embark the ship. We enjoyed the visit to Paris.

Antwerp, Belgium

2010-07-19T07:43:00.002-07:00

Our port call was Antwerp; but we did not get into the city. Theora, Darlene, and Ron booked an excursion into Brussels, the capitol of Belgium. We rode about an hour in the bus to get into Brussels. Our first sight to see was the location of the past world's fairs that have be held here. The most spectacular was the Atomine, a building in the form of an Iron atom.

We drove past the palace of the reigning king. The above gothic monument was across from the king's palace. We continued our journey into the historic part of town, right past this interesting monument (see below). Before this section of the town was re-developed, it was the red-light district. To honor the prostitutes who worked here, Brussels placed this statue of a high-heel, the favorite shoe ware of the ladies.

When we got downtown, we left the bus and started the walking tour. The buildings around the market square were built in the early 1600's and are spectacular. The guide gave us a hour to shop -- yes, we found a chocolate shop to buy the famous Belgian Chocolates. Back on the bus, we drove by the Belgian version of the Arc de Triumph. On the way back to Antwerp and the ship, we drove by the parliament of the European Union and NATO headquarters.

Brugge Belgium

2010-07-18T11:53:00.002-07:00

First of two stops in Belgium, Bruges has the designation as a World Heritage City by the United Nations. It got through both World War I and World War II without bombings or other destruction. Therefore, it has many old buildings and other structures still in use and well preserved. It is like visiting the 14th century. Our tour was first a walking tour in and out of narrow streets and courtyards. After a long walk (an hour and a half) on cobblestone streets, we finally climbed into an open air boat tour of the city by canals.

We spent the afternoon doing an exciting activity called laundry. We are at the half way point and would have soon run out of clean clothes. Once finished in the laundry, we headed up to the forward lounge for "High Tea" service. Darlene had peppermint tea and I had ... Diet Coke! (I know you are surprised by the drink selection.)

Day at Sea

2010-07-17T12:47:00.002-07:00

We sailed all day today from Oslo, Norway heading to Zeebrugge, Belgium. The photo below pretty much describes the scenery all day. Highlights for the day was playing cards with Mom at tea time. Of course she won. We're definitely in the shipping lanes. We have passed many sail-boats and cargo ships along with an occasional oil platform.

Although Patty and Serge's 20th anniversary is still a month away, we celebrated it today at dinner. The cruise ship provided a special anniversary cake. Patty and Serge was surprised.

Oslo, Norway

2010-07-17T02:35:00.002-07:00

Oslo is the capital of Norway and the location of the Nobel Peace Prize (which is obviously not very meaningful now as per the most recent award winner!). We took a bus tour of the city. Some of the views from the hill sides are spectacular. One stop along the way was the new ski jump facility for next year's world championship. (While at this location, our bus drivers side-swiped another bus and scratched up the bus.) Another stop was a park that was beautiful, but bizarre. The park had hundreds of statues of naked men, women, and children in all sorts of weird groupings, including a monolith in the middle of the park carved with naked figures.

After a lunch on board the ship, Dennis, Kaye, Darlene, and I took a water taxi across the harbor, walked about a mile uphill, and visited the Viking ship museum. The museum had three discovered Vikings ships which were hundreds of years old along with other artifacts. These ships amazed us that they survived in such good condition. Then we returned to Oslo for shopping and re-boarding the ship before it sailed.

Gothenburg, Sweden

2010-07-15T21:43:00.004-07:00

Our port in Sweden is Gothenburg, Sweden's second largest city founded in 1621. Our entire family attended the bus tour of the city. Unfortunately, it rained off and on during the tour. Our favorite stop was a botanical garden. The last stop of the tour before returning to the ship was a shopping mall. The mall was a typical shopping center, however, inside were three separate McDonalds restaurants -- all in the same mall. It also seemed like there was a 7-Eleven on every corner in the city.

Darlene used the afternoon to read and Ron fell asleep. The last hour before the ship's departure, a local small marching band performed along side of the ship. We are not quite sure whether it was a high school or college band, but they were good. Then the ship departed Sweden and sailed to Olso, Norway. Darlene caught this beautiful sunset.

Copenhagen, Denmark

2010-07-14T13:55:00.001-07:00

Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark. Our morning excursion was a combined bus tour and boat tour of the city. Many palaces, churches, and statues were observed. The one statue that Copenhagen is famous for was missing! The "Little Mermaid" has been removed and sent to China for the World Expo. The statue will reside there for all of 2010. In its place, they installed a large TV monitor with a live internet feed from China showing the statue.

In the afternoon, Darlene and I walked into the city and cruised the shopping district. Our journey took us through the grounds of the Amalienbforg Castle and the dock where the royal yacht was found, but no yacht. The Queen is out visiting the many islands of Denmark (so we were told). Copenhagen is a very comfortable city to explore.

Kiel Canal, Germany

2010-07-14T02:59:00.003-07:00

The ship, Insignia, traveled through the Kiel Canal in the north of Germany. The canal is about 68 miles long in which we had to pass through two locks, one at each end of the canal. We were on the ship the entire day without any port calls.

The scenery was beautiful with many farms that had fields of grains. We saw many windmills, a few of the historical type as seen the photograph, but mostly the tall, modern wind turbines used to generate electricity. We passed under several tall bridges. About every 10-15 miles there were ferries to transport people and cars to the other side of the canal. People all along the canal came out to wave at us and watch the large cruise ship pass. As we were photographing them, they were photographing us.

Rotterdam Adventures

2010-07-12T12:16:00.003-07:00

We disembarked at Rotterdam. Mom, Ken, Patty, Serge, Darlene, and I took the excursion tour entitled "Mauritshuis Museum and the Hague." The first part of the tour was riding in a bus through the Hague, the third largest city in the Netherlands. The Hague is the seat of government for the country, it is not the capital. Along with being the home of Queen Beatrix, it is also the location of the International Court of Justice which is located at the Peace Palace. (Thankfully at this time, the United States is not subject to the jurisdiction of this court).

We finally got off our bus to tour the Mauritshuis Museum. originally the palace of Prince Johan Maurits. It now is an art museum containing masterpieces from the Dutch Golden Age, including works by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Steen, and Hals. My favorites include the "Anatomy lesson of Dr. Tulp" by Rembrandt, the "Girl with Pearl Earring" by Vermeer, and the "Bull" by Potter.

Summer Cruise 2010 - Amsterdam

2010-07-11T22:24:00.003-07:00

Welcome to our family cruise. On board are my mother, Theora, along with my siblings, Dennis, Ken, and Patty, and our spouses, Darlene, Kaye, and Serge.

Mom, Darlene and I left Phoenix on Friday morning flying first to Washington DC and then on to Amersterdam, Netherlands. We were awake for over 24 hours. I use to now that back in college days, but it is more difficult to manage.

Before embarking the ship, Insigna, we walked around Amersterdam, with all of the narrow streets and canals. We even manage to stumble into the red light district which had prositutes in the windows. The smell of pot was abunate, especially in the drug shops that openly sold pot and the vast varity of different seeds to grow your own.

Our other stops were the Ann Frank house, where that family hid from the Nazis during World War II, and the Van Gogh museum which had 200 original paintings of Van Gogh.

We are now on the ship heading into Rotterdam.

Brett and Erin's Wedding

2009-09-30T11:23:00.003-07:00

Brett and Erin have tied the knot! At the end of sunset on Saturday, September 26th, overlooking Hanalei bay on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, Brett and Erin exchanged vows on the beach. This event was witnessed by Darlene and Ron, Grandma Theora, Erin's parents, Erin's sister and her husband, Barbara, Scott, Kaitlin, and Bart. Also attending the event was Brett's friends Greg along his wife and Lee along with his fiancee.

Hawaii - Day Nine

2009-08-08T00:53:00.002-07:00

No classes today for Ron--only play. After a slow morning start, we jumped in the car to explore Oahu. Our first stop was the Dole pineapple plantation. It was okay, but mostly a big tourist gift shop. Ron did videotape the pineapple demonstration of proper cut and serving of the fruit. Darlene did find some treasures there. Then we drove up the west coast, the dry side, of Oahu until the road ended. We played at the beach and found a lava tube. We headed back to the North shore for another dose of shave ice! Ron got a large pineapple with ice cream.

Darlene, as you see above, got a small "Matsomatto" with ice cream. Then we went to explore the Waimea valley gardens. Darlene spent hours photographing flowers, animals, and plants. At the end of the trail was this waterfall.

People come to swim here all the time, in fact, they post lifeguards there. When the gardens closed, we return to the hotel for a dinner with two other doctors and their wives. It was a great day!

Hawaii - Day Eight

2009-08-07T12:27:00.004-07:00

This morning was the last day of Ron's dental conference. All meetings ended at about 1:00pm. We then headed to spend the remainder of the day at Polynesian Cultural Center.

We visited the different "islands" or sections of the park highlighting each Polynesian island or people. After a buffet meal and some shopping, we attended the show. The show is new as of 3 weeks ago, so it was different than the one we saw three years ago. This one had a circle of life plot; but still a lot of music, singing, drumming, and dancing.

We connected by phone to Darlene's nephew, Michael, who is attending BYU-Hawaii. However, due to his class schedule and previous commitments, we were unable to meet up with him.

Hawaii - Day Seven

2009-08-06T01:19:00.003-07:00

The day started with Ron back at his seminar in the morning. When finally finished, we were back into car and headed our for adventure. Today, we drove south along the east coast of Oahu. We loved the scenery on this side of the island, being on the windward side of the trade winds. This leaves the shear cliffs and valley very bright green.

On the south tip of the island, we found this blow hole sprouting water thru the lava formations.

We drove completely around the southern edge of the island and up thru Honolulu. Then we turned east and took one of the roads that go up to the mountain and then thru a tunnel to get back to the east coast. We stopped along the beach to take photos.

Back at the hotel we enjoyed this sunset.

Hawaii - Day Six

2009-08-05T00:58:00.003-07:00

Ron began the morning in the dental seminar which was the excuse for this trip. There were just two speakers for the morning and the afternoon was free. When the meetings finished, we rescued the rental car from the valet and headed west along the north shore of Oahu.

The first and most important shop was Matsumoto Grocery Store, the home and original source for Hawaiian Shaved Ice. We found the place by the long line waiting outside of it. While we were there, a Japanese video crew for Japanese television arrived with camera and audio equipment to document the place for hometown TV audience. Ron had the "Rainbow" with ice cream and Darlene had "Hawaiian" with ice cream. The best six dollars ever spent.

After "lunch", we shopped for awhile in town and then continued our journey west until the road ended. On the return trip, we stopped at a beach where there was wind surfing with parasails. But what attracted our attention was some sea turtles very close to shore. There were at least three of them feeding. Every few seconds, they would pop up their heads for a breath of air. If you look closely, you can see the turtle's head out of the water and the rest of the body to the left underwater.

We made it back to the hotel in time for the seminar sponsored luau. We enjoyed plenty of food followed by Hawaiian music and dancing.

Hawaii - Day Five

2009-08-04T10:44:00.002-07:00

Today was transfer day from the island of Maui to Oahu. After checking out of the hotel, we drove a few roads we had not managed to navigate yet. Then we headed to the airport with plenty of time to get on the airplane. The trip is only about 25 minutes. But then we were caught in the Honolulu rush hour traffic. We drove to the north shore and over to the Turtle Bay Resort. This is the location of the conference. It is the same hotel as the Shelley family reunion three years ago. Before the sun went down, we drove over to the Laie, Hawaii Temple.

The Temple is closed under going a complete restoration. If you observe closely, the windows are gone and some are boarded up. The grounds are still beautiful and we enjoyed the visitor's center.

We drove briefly around the BYU-Hawaii campus and by this "friend" of Darlene. We enjoyed a meal at McDonalds and back to Turtle Bay.

Hawaii - Day Four

2009-08-03T10:44:00.002-07:00

Today's adventure was the climb to the top of Haleakala.

As it is Sunday, we found a local ward meetinghouse and attended sacrament meeting. It was interesting that when anyone came to the pulpit and started to speak, they would begin with: "Brothers and sisters, aloha." Then the everyone would respond: "aloha". Since it was a fast and testimony meeting, we heard this a lot! It was also fun to enjoy the dress of the people: from suits and white shirts with ties to shorts, aloha shirts, and flip-flops!

We only stayed for sacrament meeting. We returned to the hotel, changed clothes, and headed up the road to the eastern and highest mountain on Maui: Haleakala. It is a national park on the top. We drove up 38 miles to the top climbing up to 10023 feet.

The volcano is dormant, but had last erupted several centuries ago. Therefore, the crater is still very barren.

This view of us is looking out and above the west mountain of Maui, which can be seen in the distance. Right after the photo was taken, the wind (of about 40 - 50 knots) caught hold of the tripod with my camera and sent it flying into the ground. The camera landed directly on the lens, destroying this little digital camera. Therefore, the next adventure after coming off the mountain was to find a Costco to buy a new digital camera.

Hawaii - Day Three

2009-08-02T08:35:00.003-07:00

The Road to Hana was today's adventure. The journey proved more interesting than the destination. The distance on the road is about 54 miles, but it takes hours to get to Hana due to the quality of the road: very narrow, over 600 turns, over 50 bridges (most are one lane - for both directions). The speed limit varies between ten and fifteen miles per hour. This is real rainforest with lush, deep green vegetation highlighted with exotic flowers of all descriptions. This being a rainforest, we did get varied periods of rain which we found very refreshing.

Waterfalls are found all along the way.

Great views of the ocean and coastline would come along the road.

Darlene made friends along the way.

We were underwhelmed by Hana itself. It was not what we expected. We found it old and boring. We finally returned back to the hotel in the evening and enjoyed dinner at a Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.

Hawaii - Day Two

2009-08-01T09:12:00.007-07:00

Ron, still on Phoenix time, got up early and went scuba diving. Joined a boat dive offered by Maui Dive Shops, we traveled out to Mokolini crater for the first dive of about 45 minutes at the depth of 60 feet. It was absolutely beautiful.

Above is a white-tipped shark that wandered by our group. [I used photoshop to enhance its image since it blended in the background so well!]

This little yellow fish joined our group. For a couple of minutes, he swam between another diver and I, turning and weaving right along with us. I think he just wanted his photo taken!

I managed to start feeling see-sick between the dives, so I did not participate in the second dive. I re-joined Darlene at about noon. The rest of the day we spent exploring and driving along the west coast of Maui. While we traveled, Carol called to let us know that baby #5 will be a boy. The future Xanthos basketball team is complete. We are thrilled with her.

While Ron was 60 feet below the ocean surface, Darlene relaxed around the hotel, photographing the scenery, animals, and flowers.

Hawaii - Day One

2009-08-01T08:59:00.002-07:00

Today, Thursday July 30th, was our travel day. With an early alarm going off, Super Shuttle arrives promptly at 6:05am. Off to the airport for an on schedule departure on Hawaiian Airlines non-stop to Honolulu. Many hours later, we walked which seemed like miles between gates to catch an inter-island flight between Oahu and Maui. After a minor mix-up at the car rental counter and a Krispy Kreme donut, we headed across Maui to the "South coast" to Wailea. We managed to find a Tommy Bahamas Cafe for dinner (see above photo). We are staying at the Wailea Beach Marriott Resort.

San Francisco Adventure

2009-06-28T18:57:00.004-07:00

On the pretext of buying new artwork for Ron's dental office, Darlene and Ron took a trip to visit Brett and Erin in San Francisco, California. To make the trip a business expense, Ron and Darlene went to the Art Gallery of Rodney Lough, Jr. to select the new landscape art which will decorate the rooms of the dental office after the new paint and flooring. After spending way too much money for the dental office walls, Brett and Erin met us in Sausalito, CA. We enjoyed dinner together and made plans for the next day. The plans were to drive out to the coast along the Russian River to the Pacific coast, then drive south to the Point Reyes Lighthouse. Friday's dinner was in San Francisco a short distance from Brett's and Erin's home.

Then on our last day in town, we visited Muir Woods National Monument, a grove of coastal redwoods. The above photo was taken there. Our final destination on this trip was the view of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco from the northern angle. Darlene concluded that we had more things to do and see and not enough time to see it all. Ron believes that it means we will have to go back again.

Mt. Rainier Video

2009-06-12T22:23:00.000-07:00

Mt. Rainier - Washington State - continued!

2009-06-06T15:30:00.000-07:00

All day Friday was spent again on and around Mt. Rainier. We stayed just outside the Mt. Rainier National Park at the Alta Cyrstal Resort. Our first stop was a short hike to the grove of the Patriarchs. On a little island of a river, these 1000+ year old trees live. These trees have survived hundreds of years of forest fires because of the moat protection of the river surrounding the island. To get across to the island, we had to cross a cable bridge. Then we hiked what was reported as the "longer yet easier" trail to the Silver waterfalls. It was a good thing we took the "easy" hike, because we found the path to be steep and tough. The photo below is us before the Silver waterfall.

Our next stop was to go to Paradise (Paradise point to be exact, the best view of Mt. Rainier in the park). However, the road to paradise was blocked by a landslide from our side of the park. It is depressing to be told you can not go to paradise! However, in a non-spiritual context, we found we could get to Paradise by driving a long way around out side of the National Park. So we did! Just to find out that Paradise was literally in the clouds. About two miles from the visitor's center, we drove into the cloudy fog with below minimum visibility (we could not see anything!). Visibility was about 15 feet! However, Darlene and Ron made good use of the gift shops. With the approach of evening, we finally left Mt. Rainier National Park and drove to Seattle so that Ron could attend the meeting of the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine on Saturday and Sunday.

Mt. Rainier - Washington State

2009-06-04T22:23:00.000-07:00

Well, Ron and Darlene are now off to the Pacific Northwest. We have two days of playing tourist prior to Ron's dental meeting (American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine) in Seattle. Our first day, Thursday June 4, consisted of driving around Mt. Rainier. Mt. Rainier is a 14000 foot plus semi-dormant volcano. We enjoyed the sights (forest and other assorted greenery with majestic mountain majesty), sounds(rushing water of rivers), and smell (like the little pine tree shaped car freshers). More tomorrow!

Visit to Pioche and Ely Nevada

2009-05-31T07:45:00.000-07:00

Darlene and Ron got away for an early Memorial Day weekend to Eastern Nevada. Thursday morning, we flew Trinidad 25125 from the home airport in Glendale, AZ north to Nevada. Our first stop was in Mesquite Nevada for re-fueling. Then a quick hop up to the Lincoln County airport in Panaca, Nevada. We were met by Darlene's parents, Lee and Peggy Hone. Then we launched into our first adventure.

We enjoyed lunch together at a pizza/sandwich shop in Caliente, Nevada. We explored Kershaw-Ryan State Park followed by a drive into Rainbow canyon. Darlene got a lot of use of her digital camera. Ron mostly shot video (in HD!). In the evening, we arrived in Pioche, Nevada and we stayed in the home built by Darlene's grandfather. Lee was kind to provide us with the use of his 4x4 diesel truck.

For the next adventure on Friday morning, Ron and Darlene drove north to Ely, Nevada, where Darlene grew up. Our first stop was Cave Lake. Then we drove up the mountain behind the lake. We turned around at the turn off of the Success scout camp when it started to snow. We did spot some elk moving through the area. The photo below is of the stream that flowed by the road we were driving.

Surviving the storm, we drove into Ely. Darlene showed Ron the highlights of the town: where her home was (another structure there now), the church meetinghouse (still there), her grade school, her high school (now the middle school), the old post office (now a house), Pete' fast food drive-in (now closed), the train station, the airport, the fairgrounds, the whore houses (this is Nevada!), and the historic downtown area. We attempted to see the large open pit mine, but the road was closed due to construction activity. We spent an hour in the local museum. At the museum was a copy of the pre-historic bear skeleton found in a local cave. One of the team members that found and explored that cave was Darlene's brother, Dennis Hone. We drove back to Pioche.

The adventure for Saturday started by heading south down to Panaca, Nevada. We attempted to visit some of Darlene's relatives, but they were not home. Therefore, we explored Cathedral Gorge state park. Darlene played here as a child. She remembered it being a lot bigger then! She tried to ditch Ron in the caves, but he was wise to her. Darlene did buy a yellow cap in the park's gift shop. The photo below is from just outside the caves.

The rest of Saturday was the family picnic. All four of Peggy's daughters with their families were in town for the first time in a while. Originally planned for a picnic up in a canyon, the threat of thunderstorms moved the event to the local park. The children played on the grass, vast quantities of food consumed, Penny kept trying to take Darlene's camera (identical equipment), and plenty of conversation shared.

On Sunday, we were lazy until time for church. We attended the Pioche Ward along with Peggy and Lee (just sacrament meeting). It appeared that the majority of ward members took the opportunity of the holiday weekend to go away. For the adventure of the afternoon, the four of us with Lee driving, drove up a very curvy and steep mountain road to the top of Highland Peak where a lot of communication towers and similar equipment was located. Lee had worked on the site years before. A beautiful view at about 9500 feet. The same altitude we would be flying home the next day.

Monday, Memorial Day, was anti-climatic. We got up, drove to the airport, took off, and returned to Arizona. A fun trip.

Weekend Visit to the Petrified Forest National Park

2009-05-17T07:12:00.000-07:00

On a spur of the moment decision, we quickly packed our car and headed out to explore more of Arizona. Our goal is to find a road or location that we have not visited together. We took US 60 east thru Apache Junction, Superior, and into Globe. Then we headed north into and out of the Salt River Canyon into Show Low. We found a Hampton Inn for the evening stay and then had German food at the Munich Haus restaurant in Pinetop. The next morning, after discussing our options, we decided to explore the Petrified Forest. The Petrified Forest National Park is one of the world's largest and most colorful concentrations of petrified wood, multi-hued badlands of the Painted Desert, historic structures, archeological sites, and displays of over 200-million-year-old fossils. After a three hour drive back towards Phoenix, we stopped for chinese food at Sam and Son in Scottsdale. Let's add that up: mexican food Thursday with Jody and Jennifer, german food Friday, and chinese food Saturday -- the weigh-in on Monday is not going to look good.

Jimmy Buffett Concert in Phoenix

2009-05-17T07:03:00.000-07:00

Jimmy Buffett returned to Phoenix for a concert for the first time in several years. Jody and Jennifer Johnson drove over here from California to attend the concert with Darlene and Ron. After a fine mexican meal at Crazy Carlos, we headed to Cricket Pavilion for the event. The seats were not the best, but we did have seats and did not have to sit in the lawn. We did enjoy the music and the usual craziness found at a gathering of Parrotheads.

MOTHERS DAY

2009-05-10T20:32:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, May 2nd, Theora and Darlene drove Theora to Phoenix for an appointment. After the appointment, Katie, Barbara, and Kaitlin joined us for a yummy lunch at Applebees. Then fast forward to Saturday, May 9th, Carol called -- Ron and Darlene had a fun chat with her. She was out shopping for a Tux for Anthony. David, Theora Mae, and Nola came to visit later that afternoon and we all traveled over to Grandma Shelley's house. Ron fixed Grandma's computer and we all headed to McDonalds (much to the joy of the two little girls). After eating their dinner, the two little girls enjoyed playing in the hamster trails. While we were there, Steven called and we each had a turn talking to him.

Thank you Steven, David, Carol, Katie, Barbara, Brett, Maury, Scott, Kaitlin, and Bart for wishing Darlene a happy Mother's Day. Darlene received beautiful cards from Theora, Brett & Erin, Barbara, Carol, Maury, Scott, Kaitlin, and of course, Ron. She was also spoiled with beautiful flowers from Ron, Katie, and Brett & Erin. Katie came over Sunday evening and joined us for a grilled chicken dinner (cooked by Ron -- and everyone lived to tell the tale). What a wonderful Mothers Day!

Adventures in Milwaukee

2009-05-10T19:51:00.000-07:00

While Darlene stayed in Phoenix to finish up on the tax season, Ron spent 4 days in Milwaukee for a Dental Conference. The conference is sponsored by BioResearch Associates which is headquartered in Milwaukee. Usually these companies pick more vacation friendly locations for their meetings, but they obviously like it there. The meeting is a high level dental meeting centered around the equipment this company makes: biometric instruments. Any further description gets complicated and very boring to most normal human beings, so I will not continue discuss the content of the meeting.

I stayed inside the hotel almost the whole time. However, the exception was Saturday night. It just so happened that the Arizona Diamondbacks (the "home" team that we have season tickets for) was playing in Milwaukee against the Brewers. They played four games there that weekend. The BioResearch Associates company organized a "field trip" to the game Saturday night. Over seventy attendees at the conference loaded into a yellow school bus and headed to the game.

It should come at no surprise that in a city named Milwaukee ("the town that made beer famous"), a ball park named for a beer company ("Miller Park"), and a baseball team named the Brewers that there would be some drinking of alcohol present. What amazed me was the amount of beer drinking going on! I have never seen so much drinking in one place at one time. It seemed that every adult had a beer in their hand, inside the stadium and outside. There were falling down drunks everywhere. I swear the only thing sold in the stands was beer. And there I sat wearing my Diamondbacks hat. Fortunately, they seemed to be happy drunks and very friendly.

Although the Diamondbacks have had a terrible season and a losing record, they managed to win that game. So it was nice to have the bragging rights on the ride back to the hotel on the bus.

Flying for Make-A-Wish

2009-04-27T20:17:00.000-07:00

Ron had a great excuse to go flying! One of the local oral surgeons (also a member of the church) has a son involved in a Boy Scout eagle project. The boy's eagle project involved organizing some pilots with their airplanes to give rides to children in the Arizona Make-A-Wish program. We lined up on Saturday morning at the Glendale Airport terminal and loaded up the children with a parent for an hour flight.

My passengers were a young man and his mother who drove over an hour from Queen Creek for the flight. They seem to really enjoy the trip. I was very pleased to nail the landing, especially since the other pilots were there watching.

I even got a T-shirt!

Little Theora's 4th Birthday Party

2009-04-27T19:53:00.000-07:00

After picking up Grandma Shelley in Scottsdale, Ron and Darlene drove to a park in Tucson for our granddaughter's 4th birthday party. Her actual birthday was a few weeks early, but this Saturday was the best day for a party. Unfortunately, the day proved to be very windy -- not the best for an outdoor party. But the children seemed to have a good time. Family members present, beside Darlene, Grandma Shelley, and Ron, were David and Melissa (parents), Nola (sister), Maury (Aunt), and Connor and Cash (cousins).

Can you tell that we are related?

A little wind blown!

Tax Season Is Over

2009-04-16T22:44:00.000-07:00

April 15th has past and Darlene crossed the finish line! Her Liberty Tax office did extremely well, increasing her business volume by 70%. Darlene will still be very busy for at least the next few weeks. It amazes us how many returns she does after the tax deadline. But she will not have to put the very long days and late hours for a while. Ron is looking forward to getting her back!

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T09:22:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrate the Atonement and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ. The Atonement is the single most important event in the history of the universe. Christ took upon himself the sins of the world. Only through his Atonement can we become pure and clean to re-enter the presence of God. Without His love and grace, we would be lost. He led the way on the path to eternal life. Our task in the life is to join Him on this path. We need to learn to love much and do the best that we can. Christ's grace will make up the rest. We pray that we will always remember Christ -- HAPPY EASTER!

Spring Visits By All Nine

2009-04-12T08:53:00.000-07:00

Between tax season and school spring breaks, all nine children visited us in our home within a few weeks period. Unfortunately, we could not get everyone together at the exact same time. Bart came by first for help on his computer and to get the tax return completed. With Darlene's tax service, the majority of the children received free tax return preparation. On Cayson's birthday, we went to dinner at Red Robins where we enjoyed the company of Thad's and Maury's families. Then Brett flew in to get two teeth crowned. Both of his teeth were completed within three hours on a Saturday by use of Ron's CEREC technology (for further information, see www.arrowheadlakesdentistry.com). Later that night, Barbara along with Scott & Kaitlin came over. Kaitlin went swimming (If we had known her intention, we would have heated the pool!) Hours after Brett flew home on Sunday, Carol arrived with George and all of the boys. This time, the pool was heated for Anthony, Aaron, Christopher, and Ben to swim. Melissa and her girls, Theora and Nola, were up at the beginning of the week followed by David visiting at the end of the week. Katie came over and joined the fun. Steven flew down from Utah for two days while Carol was here using one of our about to expire Southwest Airline Rapid Rewards tickets. The next Sunday, we got to see Maury, Brian, Connor, Cash, Posey, along with Thad, Lacy, Cayson, and Carly at Carly's blessing. We loved getting to see everyone.

Day at Sea Followed By Visit to Freeport, Bahamas

2008-12-05T19:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we sailed from Honduras between Florida and Cuba towards Freeport, Bahamas. We spent most of the day listening to lectures from Dr. John Lund. Very informative and interesting information. The morning lecture concerned relationships. The afternoon session was about the Book of Mormon on the topic of forgiveness. At dinner Thursday night, Theora and Darlene got up and joined the conga line and danced around the dinning room. They are such wild women! On Friday, we disembarked in Freeport. The shopping district was a 20 minute taxi ride away. The "girls" shopped for about 3 hours while Ron found a park bench and read a book. The group had a farewell meeting right before our last dinner on the ship. Tomorrow will be a long day since we have to get off the ship, get shuttled to the Orlando airport and fly home to Phoenix. We hope you enjoyed reading about our cruise.

Roatan, Honduras: Scuba or Shopping!

2008-12-04T06:40:00.000-07:00

For the first time, we split up for the shore excursion at Roatan Island, Honduras. While the “girls” went shopping, Ron went Scuba diving.

Ron joined a group of divers from the ship that were driven across the island. There I was outfitted for the trip with all necessary equipment. The dive boat sailed around the island to a spot where I could see the cruise ship. I descended to a bottom depth of 85 feet and had a bottom time of 26 minutes for my first open water dive. It was a truly awesome experience. I took a lot of photos. When returning to the boat, I discovered I had lost my sea-sickness prevention patch. Therefore, while waiting the required time between dives, I became quite sea-sick. The rocking and rolling of the ship was bad. So I skipped the second dive. As soon as the dive boat docked and my feet hit solid ground, I started feeling better.

Theora, Patty, and Darlene went on a shopping adventure. We hit most of the immediate stores located close to our ship then Darlene wanted to see the Cameo store where they actually make the Cameo’s. Patty decided not to go with us and stayed shopping at the local stores. Theora and I had an adventure with the taxi driver. We went through narrow streets flying by other cars, dogs, and people. As we approached a check-point our driver nervously put on his seatbelt. The check-point consisted of at least a half-dozen uniformed men carrying rifles, pistols, and AK-47’s. Wondering if we were actually going the right way (because we passed by the ship and headed away from it) Theora and I asked our non-English speaking driver if we were going to the Cameo store. He would laugh and say he didn’t speak English. We arrived at the Cameo store and checked out the beautiful Cameo’s. They were expensive so we went back towards the ship. Patty found us and we successfully found a couple more items to purchase then went back on board the ship.

More Mayan Ruins, this time in Belize

2008-12-02T18:20:00.000-07:00

Getting to the ruins location was not as crazy as yesterday, but an adventure still the same! After just barely making the tour due to a time zone problem, we moved from the ship to shore at Belize City by a tender. Belize City does not have a dock big enough for the cruise ship. We instantly boarded a bus and rode 50 miles north. At our stop, we had a very early lunch and got into a jet boat. The boat took us upstream at 25 miles/hour plus winding in and out on the New River. After about 30 minutes on the river we arrived at the ruins. Our principal speaker, Dr. John Lund, said that this ruin site of Lamanai was to be the primary candidate to be the Book of Mormon city of Gid. We saw several Mayan pyramids and climbed the highest one, the High Temple, about 140 steps at a very steep angle. (Darlene pointed out that the building was NOT built to code!) Once again, a truly awesome experience. To get back to the ship, we did the reverse process of speed boat followed by bus. Darlene, Theora, and Patty even had a few minutes for shopping. Another good day.

Mayan Ruins at Tulum

2008-12-01T18:29:00.000-07:00

On first port of call, Cozumel, we reached today. During the shore excursion, we visited the Mayan ruins at Tulum. It was a major task just to get there. First, we left the ship and walked for a half a mile. We were loaded into a taxi for a ride of about 8 miles to the ferry port. We caught the ferry for a 30 minute trip from the island of Cozumel to the mainland of the Yucatan. On the mainland, we met our guide named Helaman. His parents joined the church before he was born and most of his siblings have Book of Mormon names. We was very informative and interesting to listen to his stories. We walked again for about a half a mile just to loaded into a bus. The bus ride lasted for about 45 minutes. Then disembark the bus for another quarter mile walk. Finally got on a tractor pulled tram for a mile trip to the ruin site. The Mexican officials were very weird. They allowed all still cameras, but video cameras required a three dollar fee. Fine, I will pay the three dollars. But then, they decided that my Canon HD Video camera was too "professional" and I was prohibited from using it even though I paid the fee. There is no logic to this. However, the ruins were awesome. A lot of the symbolism ties very well to the Book of Mormon and Christ's visit to the Americas. We took a lot of still digital pictures. After two hours at the ruins, we reversed the whole travel experience. Tomorrow, we visit more ruins in Belise.

Day at Sea

2008-11-30T18:21:00.000-07:00

Ahoy mates! We are at sea sailing between Florida and Cuba heading to Cozumel, Mexico. Since we are in a group with other LDS Church members, we attended a sacrament meeting held within a bar in the ship. Our speaker for the day for both the sacrament meeting and our on-board lecture is Dr. John Lund. The sacrament meeting talk is about how we need not be "perfect" in this life to gain exaultation; that perfection will come later if we would at least live worthy of a temple recommend and endure to the end. The lecture in the afternoon is about evidence from the Book of Mormon and recent Scientific findings that clearly shows that the history of the Book of Mormon occurred in Meso-America ( some of the ruins we will see the next two days will be from this time period.) At dinner, the Cruise Lady, Diane Larsen, and her husband sat our table. [Note to Tawnya Huntsman: The Cruise Lady wants you, Varsel, and us to join them on the tour of Israel next year].

EPCOT and Embarking on the Cruise

2008-11-30T09:36:00.000-07:00

Friday, November 28 was spent at Walt Disney World’s EPCOT park with Theora Shelley (the elder), Darlene, and Ron. We stayed twelve hours and were on our feet the entire time. This was Darlene’s first visit here. We successfully visited many countries, watched every movie, and took every slow ride available. Unfortunately, the illuminations show, the big laser, light, fireworks, music, etc. was scheduled later than usual because of the Thanksgiving holiday; therefore, we had to miss it and leave early to pick up Ron’s sister, Patty Bushman, at the airport.

On Saturday, November 29 we celebrated Darlene’s 23rd anniversary of her 21st birthday. She scored big on the birthday gifts with a new Canon camera and a cruise to the western Caribbean. Then she opened the door of cabin to find the room decorated in "Happy Birthday" signs and garland along with a dozen long-stem red roses in a vase with a big red bow! Darlene was wonderfully surprised. Basically, the day used the whole day just to get to the port and on the ship, the Carnival Glory. It is a big ship, but the floorplans are a bit strange in that we have to go up and down stairs to get to rooms on the same deck with sometimes walking thru restaurants to find our way. My mother and sister are two cabins away.

Meeting Aaron and Trans-Siberean Orchestra

2008-11-27T20:04:00.000-07:00

I know ... I am a poor blogger ... so it has been 3 months since I have posted --- I will do better.

On Katie's birthday, we got to meet Katie's "friend" Aaron. We highly approve of this young man. We met at Westgate center in Glendale and ate at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville. Accompany us were Bart, Scott, and Kaitlin. For Katie's birthday, she received a special balloon crown. After dinner, attended the Trans-Siberean Orchestra performance at Jobbing.com Arena. This is an absolutely fabulous show, with rock and roll Christmas music along with some rock and roll style classical music. The light, laser, fire, snow, and other special effects were amazing.

Liberty Tax Training in Las Vegas

2008-08-28T20:58:00.000-07:00

Darlene received four days of training for her Liberty Tax business in Las Vegas. Ron flew the airplane to and from the courses. What was very unusual was that every other time we have been in Las Vegas for classes, it was Ron who attended the classes and Darlene had to find something to do with her time during the day. This time, Ron spent the day alone. He walked a few miles each day, arranged for the show tickets, and worked on the family and dental office webpages. Visit the family pages on this site and www.arrowheadlakesdentistry.com to see the changes. At night we watched Menopause the Musical (which Darlene was up on stage dancing!), Stomp, and The Jersey Boys. The Jersey Boys is about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. It was excellent.

Five Plays in 3 Days

2008-08-15T06:54:00.000-07:00

The second week in August found us in Cedar City again. We had five plays scheduled for that extended weekend. We flew into the Cedar City Airport on Thursday, rented a car, and headed out for some site seeing. We drove into Kolob Canyon, the north part of Zion National Park. The canyons are spectacular!

We then met with the builder of the townhouses in Brian Head ... which will not be built for at least another year. (We are considering buying a 1/8th ownership of a 2 bedroom townhouse up in the ski resort). After enjoying dinner at the Main Street Grill with Darlene's family, Lee and Peggy Hone, we attend our first play. This play is part of the Neil Simon Festival ... Fools. This is a story about a Russian town cursed with stupidity in which a young school master has just 24 hours to educate the young maid he is in love with before he becomes stupid himself. Before the play, the director joins the audience in a discussion of the play. Quite fun.

On Friday, Darlene, in the spirit of the Bataan Death March, forced me to walk for two miles and breath in all of that healthy air. I told Darlene that it made my lungs burn ... just not used to the fresh air. Then, Darlene enjoyed the Iron County museum of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers (which of course, all of my daughters are eligible to join ... get your application now!) while I did some work on the computer. Then we met Lee and Peggy again for lunch. All four of us went to the afternoon's next play, Fiddler on the Roof. Excellent production. After a few hour's break, then off to the evening performance of Othello. This play of the Utah Shakespearean Festival is given outside in a replicate of Shakespeare's London Theatre. Extremely well done performance.

Saturday morning arrived. After another 2 mile forced march, we gathered Lee and Peggy with us and drove up to Brain Head. We showed the the lot with all the dirt pushed around where the townhouses are supposed to be built. Then we drove to the top of Brian Head mountain with an elevation of over 11,000 feet. We could see 3 states at distances of over an 100 miles. We drove back to Cedar City for lunch and the matinee performance of Cyrano de Bergerac ... the lead actor was magnificent. The final play in the evening was Two Gentlemen of Verona.

We loved all the plays. We flew home on Sunday.

Barbara Graduates from Nursing School

2008-07-26T14:40:00.000-07:00

Barbara completed Nursing school this week. She opted out of the formal pinning ceremonies; therefore, we took her out for dinner at the Keg restaurant in Tempe. Accompanying her at the dinner was Grandma Shelley, Scott, Kaitlin, Darlene, and Ron. She is pleased to have finished, but the battle is not entirely over. She still has to pass the Arizona licensure exam and find a job. But as well has she has done, finishing in the top of her class, she will deal with those issues easily!

Roadtrip 2008 - Day Eleven

2008-07-20T20:59:00.000-07:00

Our last day, we drove from Cedar City, Utah home to Phoenix. Our only interesting stop along the way was the St. George Temple. This is the first Temple built in the West and has been in use since then. The temple is simply beautiful. We hit significant rain outside of Kingman, otherwise the trip was uneventful. After a total of 3684 miles, we arrived home. We loved the whole trip.

Roadtrip 2008 - Day Ten

2008-07-19T16:21:00.000-07:00

We had a firm appointment today. We have tickets to see two shows of the Utah Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City, Utah. So, after enjoying a hot Krispy Kreme donut, we traveled 210 miles south from Provo in the morning. Our first tickets were for Shakespear's The Taming of the Shrew. My favorite line was: Petruchio: "I understand you have a daughter Kate, lovely and virtuous." Baptista: "Well, I have a daughter Kate!" The evening's entertainment was Moliere's The School for Wives. Both plays made us laugh. We are spending the night in Cedar City.

Roadtrip 2008 - Day Nine

2008-07-18T21:46:00.000-07:00

To head south, we entered Yellowstone National Park again and spotted along the way: a golden eagle, a young bald eagle, coyote, red fox, elk, and bison. Darlene did have to buy one more item from the gift shop in Yellowstone. We passed through Grand Teton National Park. We stopped for photos of the mountains and an another stamp into our National Parks Passport book. Our only other major stop was in Jackson, Wyoming at the National Museum of Wildlife Art. It had a mix of animal paintings and sculptures. Most of the day was travel to get to Provo, Utah to see Steven (at the Sonic Drive-in where he works).

Roadtrip 2008 - Day Eight

2008-07-18T06:09:00.000-07:00

We return into Yellowstone National Park and drove the entire loop, heading south first down to Old Faithful. The only detour was half-way up into the northeast entrance to view the Lamar Valley (on our quest to find bear). Old Faithful geyser was faithful, erupting as predicted. We finally found a black bear; but it was during a thunderstorm, so our photos could be better. We stayed again in West Yellowstone, Montana.

Roadtrip 2008 - Day Seven

2008-07-17T08:01:00.000-07:00

We left Cody and made our entrance into Yellowstone National Park. The park is beautiful. Although you can still see underlying evidence of the 1988 fires, the park has recovered well. The bison appeared about everywhere we went. The elk could not be found until late in the evening. We entered on the east, drove up the loop by the upper and lower falls of the Yellowstone River, over to Mammoth Hot Springs, and then out the west entrance to stay the night in West Yellowstone. The photo of the falls is the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River.

Roadtrip 2008 - Day Six

2008-07-16T07:45:00.000-07:00

We navigated through the Big Horn Mountains on US-14 to find Cody, Wyoming. If you did not know about Buffalo Bill Cody before arriving here, it is impossible to claim ignorance after. Everything is Buffalo Bill this, Cody that, etc. We spent the entire afternoon in the Buffalo Bill Historical Center which consists of five museums: the Buffalo Bill Museum, the Whitney Gallery of Western Art, Plains Indian Museum, Cody Firearms Museum, and the Draper Museum of Natural History. Buffalo Bill mastered, maybe invented, the art of self-promotion. I was pleased to see the "Winter Quarters" statue in the Western Art Museum. Darlene scored in the gift shop.

Roadtrip 2008 - Day Five

2008-07-14T20:41:00.000-07:00

North into Montana, we headed to Little Big Horn Battlefield. There we learned that attacking thousands of Indians with only about 400 men is a stupid thing to do. Once again we learn the importance of correct intelligence before going to war. I liked how they have placed markers where the combatants fell, giving you a feel of the dynamics of the battle. The third photo is the site of Custer's Last Stand. The fourth photo is the a sculpture which is a part of the Indian memorial made of a thick metal wire. I really looks cool against the scenery. Leaving Montana, we drove into Wyoming up into the Big Horn Mountains to about 10,000 feet altitude. There we walked three miles to see Medicine Wheel (last photo) which is an ancient site of Indian worship. We finished the day back in Sheridan, Wyoming.

Roadtrip 2008 - Day Four

2008-07-13T20:45:00.000-07:00

Being a Sunday, Darlene decided we should attend church. Usually, I am a heathen on vacation, but I agreed. We found the local meetinghouse in Rapid City, South Dakota via mormon.org. The youth speaker spoke on the Book of Mormon, the wife speaker spoke about testimonies, and the husband spoke about the messages of latter-day, living prophets (I add this information because Darlene accuses me of not listening to the speakers). We suffered through the organist playing the Battle Hymn of the Republic as a dirge, not a march. On a whole, this experience was uplifting and edifying. Then we hit the road, re-entered Wyoming, and found Devil's Tower, the first National Monument in the country, so declared such by Teddy Roosevelt himself. This another awesome site. We finished the day at Sheridan, Wyoming. At the hotel, we discovered we have stalkers ... a LDS family from St. Louis on the way to BYU Idaho to pick up their son. They had stayed at the same hotel as us last night, attended the same Sacrament meeting as us this morning, and showed up at tonight's hotel. It was nice to meet them.

Roadtrip 2008 - Day Three

2008-07-12T20:36:00.000-07:00

Darlene and Ron made their first entrance ever into the State of South Dakota. Now life is complete. However, the two stops we made were truly awesome. The first is the Crazy Horse Monument where the construction will continue until our grandchildren will bring their grandchildren to see it. Impressive! Next we visited Mount Rushmore. A beautiful magnificent sight. We stayed in Rapid City, South Dakota for the night. Stay tuned for further developments.

Roadtrip 2008 - Day Two

2008-07-12T06:23:00.000-07:00

We drove 350 miles from Colorado Springs, CO to our first point of interest, the Mormon Handcart Visitor Center. Located here is Devil's Gate, the opening thru the mountain where the Sweetwater River flows and served as major landmark for all of the major trails in the early West: the Mormon trail, the Oregon trail, the California tail, and the Pony Express route. Darlene and I walked several miles into Martin's Cove, a historic stopping place for the Martin Handcart Company when trapped by the early season snow storm. Both Darlene and I were spiritually and emotionally touched by the stories of sacrifice, suffering, and struggles that took place here. There were a lot of antelope and deer which grazed freely near the paths. One of Darlene second cousins is serving a mission at the visitor's center (see photo below). The last photo is of Independence Rock, a stopping point for many of theses early pioneers, many of which carved their names into the rock. Our stopping point for day two is Casper, Wyoming.

Roadtrip 2008 - Day One

2008-07-11T06:17:00.000-07:00

Darlene and I headed out on the great American highway system. My Acura's odometer now has an additional 800 + miles. We drove up the Beeline Highway to Payson, to Heber, and then to Holbrook. The course turned easterly on I-40 into New Mexico. We took a left turn in Albuquerque onto I-25. The stop for the night is Colorado Springs, Colorado. Hopefully, the next posts will be a little more interesting, but day one was planned as the longest day of driving.

Shelley Family Reunion 2008 -- Provo, Utah

2008-07-11T06:14:00.000-07:00

Since I was in charge of organizing this reunion, I might not be considered objective. However, I believe the reunion was a success. The first event was the luncheon in the Hinckley Alumni and Visitor's Center on the BYU campus. The food was good, especially the "peach" desert. BYU produced a video about my Grandfather, John F Shelley, and my father, R Gene Shelley. Along with a talk by my sister Patty, my mother was very happy with the dinner and the number of extended family to join us. We assembled that night at Dennis and Kaye's new home in Highland, Utah. After the many guided tours of the house, and the excellent food, I handed out all of the tickets for the rest of the reunion events along with reunion lapel pins and lanyard. We also took a few minutes to visit the Xanthos home in Alpine (George's parents).

The next day on the Fourth of July, the grand parade occupied the morning. My favorite entry was the Lamas. The Seven Peaks Water Park took the afternoon. In the evening, we attended the Stadium of Fire. The event started with skydivers, a huge American flag, very large number of dancers, then a concert by the Blue Man Group and Mylie Cyrus. Finally, the largest fireworks display I have ever seen.

Saturday started with a family breakfast at the Marriott hotel. Grandma had most correct answers on the quiz about Dennis, Ken, Ron, and Patty. Imagine that! Then Darlene and I took Brett, Erin, Barbara, Kaitlin, and Scott around the BYU campus, the BYU Bookstore, and the Provo Temple grounds. The evening event was the train ride on the Heber Valley railroad with the mystery comedy performance. Melissa won!

The last event was to visit Temple Square in Salt Lake City and viewing the broadcast of the Mormon Tabernacle Chior. Impressive. Now looking forward to the next reunion in New York in two years

Shaw Reunion - Parowan Gap

2008-06-28T21:41:00.000-07:00

We traveled from Cedar City to Venice, Utah (a suburb of Richfield, Utah). Darlene's father, Lee Hone, hosted the Shaw Reunion, the family of his mother. Other than a five year old, Darlene and I were the youngest present. The oldest and only living member of her generation is Darlene's Great Aunt Luzon Shaw Nebeker, age 89 (see photo), the sister of Darlene's grandmother.

A short history story: Darlene's great, great grandfather, Abraham Shaw, walked five-miles to hear the missionaries speak in England. After hearing the gospel teachings from Heber C. Kimball, Abraham knew in his heart this was the true church. Abraham was baptised and promptly disowned by his family for joining the Church. He and his first wife Margaret immigrated from England in 1841 on the first ship of LDS people from a foreign land. They purchased a farm eight miles east of the Nauvoo temple. In 1848 they were ready to start west but Brigham Young asked him to remain behind at Winter Quarters and help other immigrants to prepare for the journey. In 1848 he was ordained a Seventy by Brigham Young. Finally three-years later in 1851 they were able to head west with the Isaac Bullock Company. Abraham played a big bass fiddle and furished music for most of the socials. When the first choir was organized in Provo, Utah they played for it.
Darlene's great, great grandmother, Jane Lawrenson Shaw, was Abraham's second wife and also was from England. In 1856 she pulled a handcart with the Daniel D. McArthur Company to get to Utah. Jane walked all the way pulling the handcart and her little sister, who was to young to walk.
Darlene had met her great grandfather Thomas Shaw. He was the youngest of 11 children, born in 1878 and passed on at Christmas in 1960. Also her great grandmother Carrie Gottfredson Shaw who was born in 1883 and passed on at Thanksgiving in 1961. They were sealed in the Manti Temple.

Back to the reunion: The reunion was held in the Venice LDS Pavilion, a cute name for a covered picnic area attached to the meetinghouse. We enjoyed lunch and everyone shared stories for about four hours.

Returning to Cedar City, we discovered that my sister (... favorite sister), Patty Bushman along with her family was attending the Utah Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City. We arranged a meeting, watch an outdoor performance, and bid them well as they went into one of the plays.

At Darlene's suggestion, we drove out to Parowan Gap, a rock formation where ancient Indians left petroglyphs. This one drawing that is "V" shaped is believed to be a solar calendar. We flew home Sunday.

Our Day in Southern Utah

2008-06-27T18:27:00.000-07:00

Darlene and I flew our airplane to Cedar City, Utah this morning. We shall attend the Shaw Reunion in Richfield, Utah tomorrow (Darlene's Father"s Mother's family). Darlene slept almost the entire uneventful flight. Avis provided wheels and we headed up Cedar Canyon. Our first stop was Cedar Breaks National Monument (see photo above). Scenery is spectacular! Next stop was Brian Head. We have a deposit down for an 1/8 fractional ownership of a townhouse there, but the project has been put on hold. Stay tuned for further developments. We then drove on Highway 143 past Panquitch Lake to the exciting town of Panquitch. We just missed the hot air balloon festival. Quickly dealing with the utter disappointment, we proceeded south on US 89, then west on Highway 14 through Duck Creek and back down Cedar Canyon to Cedar City. Currently, the town hosts two festivals: Groovefest (a music festival in the park) and the Utah Shakespearean Festival. We attended neither. Instead, we ate dinner at Applebees and Darlene went shopping for shoes.

Dinner at Katie's Casa

2008-06-24T09:51:00.000-07:00

Katie invited us along with David, Melissa, Theora, Nola, Thad, Lacy, Cayson, Carly, Maury, Brian, Connor, and Cash for dinner in her home on Sunday, June 22. This was the first time that Darlene had the opportunity to hold Carly. The meal was excellent (Katie can come and cook for us anytime she wishes). After dinner, we without wee-ones (Katie, Darlene, and Ron) escorted Connor, Cayson, Cash, Theora, and Nola to the little neighborhood park and playground equipment near Katie's house. Nola loved the slide, but could not figure out how to get started. So Darlene (such the good Grandma) would climb up into the jungle gym and give Nola a little push to get her moving down the slide.

Thoughts on Mother's Day from Darlene

2008-06-21T09:04:00.000-07:00

Thank you for a wonderful "Mother Day"

A heart filled with love and thankfulness

A head filled with ever growing memories

A special thank you to my Mother-in -law for making me feel so

welcome into the family and to all our children for making

me feel like a special "Mom"

Thank you Ron for bringing us together. Thank you for the wonderful family you have brought me in to. And thank you for our little family. I love you!

Thank you Theora for the wonderful "you're special to our family"card. You make me feel so welcome.

Thank you Barbara, Kaitlin, and Scott for sending the beautiful pink card thanking me for support, encouragement, patience and wisdom.

Thank you Carol, George, and boys for sending the wonderful "Happy Mother's Day" pictures designed by all the artists.

Thank you David, Melissa, Theora, and Nola for the huge "Happy Mother's Day" call.

Thank you Brett and Erin for sending the wonderful blue flowered "Thank you for your love" card and the gorgeous orchids.

Thank you Katie for taking me out to a wonderful "Happy Mother's Day" lunch.

Thank you Bart for calling during work break to say "Happy Mother's Day."

Thank you Steven for going with us to our "Happy Mother's Day" lunch.

Thank God for Mothers

If life were without water,

Where would we be?

If life were without mothers,

There would be no you or me.

We all need to take hold, of how precious life really is,

and not take for granted the gift of love and the ability to give.

Thank you to God for creating us all

For giving us mothers

So we can stand proud and tall.

Humans are no accident, no mistake or error

We sometimes live our lives in fear of this,

Even to the point of terror.

But when the truth is told, and recognized by all,

God does not create rubbish.

He knew what He was doing when He created us all.

However, the best gift of all is in giving us loving and caring

Mothers who love us unconditionally through and through.

None of us are perfect, that includes ourselves and family.

Hold onto how precious we are and thank God for all mothers.