Nebraska, Days 2 and 3 of our vacation

Our days in Nebraska were very hot!! I think I heard everyone say at least a hundred times how hot it was. We were grateful for air conditioning and that we weren't walking like the pioneers. On Friday we enjoyed a tour of Chadron State with Rebecca. She really liked the campus. We really liked the air conditioning in the buildings. We had lunch at a fun park. I think the mosquitoes had lunch at the same time.

We spent Friday night in Valentine, Nebraska. The sign said it was the heart of Nebraska. We played Frisbee golf and just hung out. It was fun to see some of Nebraska. Nebraska has lots of small towns. We saw on sign I wanted to get a picture of buy missed. It said, "When you leave our town you are entering the middle of nowhere."

On Saturday we enjoyed seeing the Winter Quarters Temple, Pioneer Graveyard, and Visitor's Center. The Visitor's Center was really neat. The younger children liked dressing up as pioneers. We didn't actually go into Omaha, but we saw the skyline from the road. We crossed the Missouri River for the first time on this trip. We decided to keep driving down the road because we couldn't find an RV Park near Omaha. We ended up staying the night in a parking lot with no water or electricity. Our fridge quit working in the night so we packed the fridge and freezer with ice. We figured out the problem in the morning. I guess we think clearer in the morning than we do in the middle of the night.

Our Summer Vacation 2010 Day 1

We tried something this year that we had never really done before, a long summer vacation. We planned to go to Mount Rushmore, Church history sites in Nebraska, Missouri, and Illinois, and then to the Mall of America in Minnesota. Our trip lasted 14 days and we drove 3400 miles. We had a wonderful time together. We bought a trailer to pull so we wouldn't have to get motels or camp out. It worked really well for us.

We left on June 24th and drove to Mt. Rushmore. We got there just in time to watch the evening lighting. We have been there before and really love the evening lighting. It is a powerful presentation about freedom and the things that our Nation should stand for. It is always a neat experience to see the lights come on the mountain.

Joshua's heart surgeries

I thought some of you might be interested in seeing more about the surgeries Joshua has had and the one that is still somewhere in his future. He had a BT shunt when he was 9 days old. The Glen was done when he was almost six months. The Fontan is what we are waiting for. He has to reach 30 pounds before the doctors want to do it. He weighed in today at 18 pounds. Typically, the children are between the ages of 2 and 4. I found these clips to be very interesting.

Click on one of the links below:

BT Shunt

The Glen

The Fontan

Clogging Performance

MaryAnne and Emma had a clogging performance in June. MaryAnne really wanted us to video it and put it on so her grandmas and grandpas could see it. They did a great job. I always really enjoy watching them clog.Bethany was there and ready to clog, but no one from her class came so she just watched.

Where did May and June go?

I think I am just a little behind. I don't know where May and June went, but I will try and catch up. Rebecca graduated from seminary on May 17th. When we got to the Stake Center in Cody for graduation Neil and I were surprised to see her name on the program as a speaker. I asked her if she knew she was speaking and if she was prepared. She had kept it as a surprise. She did a very nice job talking about her seminary experience.

Rebecca and Bethany went to EFY at BYU June 7-12. They had lots of fun. I don't think they ever really learned the campus and they would probably still get lost today if they were there. We also went to the Sharp reunion in Provo. It was lots of fun to see everyone. The rain held off until the very end, but then we got drenched!

I had my birthday on June 23rd and got a really nice, fun camera. There will be pictures coming. We left on the 24th to start our vacation, that will be another post and there will be pictures I promise.