Hi everyone,

Did I mention in our last post that we were stranded at Great Falls overnight?  The airplane had mechanical problems.  No big deal, but airlines sure do test one's patience.  The airlines did give us vouchers for hotel and meals.  We ended up flying via Denver and Dallas on our way to Iowa.

This summer I published a book - actually I published the same book twice.  I collated all the blog posts from India, added pictures and put them all in a book.  I wanted to do the printing myself.  We would have required a new printer, a page folder and a book press but it sounded fun to me.  My plan was vetoed and I published the book through 'Blurb' instead.  It was a very painful process as Blurb supplies their own program which I had to learn, was not intuitive and was slow and cumbersome.  If that wasn't enough, it doesn't even have dahl masala in the dictionary. 

When the first book arrived, Brice took one look at it and exclaimed that I had used the wrong font.  I used the 'official' John Deere email font which should have been good enough.  But no, I used a sans serif font when I should have used a serif font.  Lucinda took one look at the book and said that the pictures were too small.  Oh well.  Changing the font and increasing the picture size took most of the summer.  Anyway, there are only two copies in print.  When you come and visit we'll show you the book.  (You could visit Hannah who has the original copy, but be prepared to seeing the wrong font and small pictures.)

Brice and Breann left yesterday for BYU.  Brice's internship in Waterloo went well.  He is not sure, however, that he wants to write software for John Deere. 

This week Craig and Heidi plan to move to Peoria.  Craig got a good job at Caterpillar.  Many thanks to Matt for helping him find the job.

We really enjoyed having everyone live with us.  It was great to have a chance to 1. Get to know Craig and Brice as adults and 2. Get to know their wives.  We really like Heidi and Breann.  That being said, no one else should feel obligated to come and live with us so we can get to know them better;)

That's it for this week.

Love,
Dad

p.s - Below is a picture of the zip line.  Can you get feel yourself plummeting down the moutain?

p.s.s - More wedding pictures, including mom and I making bouquets can be seen at  http://silly-willeys.blogspot.com/


Zip lining down the mountain

Hi everyone,

Lucinda and I went on vacation to Montana and Canada for Heather's wedding.  We decided to go out early and visit Glacier National Park.

We had a hard time finding a place to stay near Glacier but finally found a place in White Fish on the west side of Glacier.  Since we wanted to drive through Glacier anyway, why not stay of the far side?  We were totally surprised when the resort was part of the Big Mountain Ski Resort.  I am more of the type that wants to experience the great outdoors on a close and personal level instead of a city slicker that prefers seeing the wilderness from a hot tub at a ski resort - but we decided to buck up and stay.  It turned out of be a nice placd and we enjoyed ourselves at the resort.



Looking towards Glacier National Park

We decided to take the ski lift to the top of the mountain and hike down.  The trail went through the forrest and not the ski slopes.  We crossed some open areas and said to ourselves that those certainly were not ski slopes.  We were wrong.

The trail was about 6 miles long and took all afternoon.  The were one tired pair of hikers when we were done.

We passed on the mountain biking, but found something else to do . . .

Hiking down the ski slope

Lucinda mentioned to me that she always wanted to go down a zip line.  Who would have every thought?  I wasn't about going to be left behind, so we went down together.  They started with a short line, then a little bit longer and then the third line that was 1,900 feet long and way above the trees.  They said that we reached 60 mph.  All I know is that our eyes were watering so much that we couldn't hardly see anything.  We went down a total of seven lines and really enjoyed the experience.

I asked Lucinda what else she had always wanted to do but hasn't.  So far, she is keeping mum.  Maybe sky diving?

Zip Line

The next day we drove throug Glacier National Park on the 'Road to the Sun.'  We stopped at the pass to stretch our legs and walk around.

We found a trail at the pass for hiking.  You can see the cut in the cliff on the picture on right, 1/2 way from the road and the top.  The trail was plenty wide, unless you looked down.  The trail went to a chalet in the moutains.  We didn't have time to hike all the way or spend a night in the mountains.  We had to go to Lethbridge and meet Aunt Julia and her family.

Heather and Braiden were married in the Cardston Temple.  The reception was at the groom's house.

I have been very bad - no post since early April! 

In that time, we painted the garage door, Brice came for the summer and we visited Matt and Emily's house over memorial weekend.

You remember that our house was very dark with dark siding, windows, doors and garage door.  We put on much lighter siding last fall.  It clashed with the windows and doors, but we didn't like the dark siding that came with the house.  Also, the birds and squirrels were poking holes in our house.  We put light trim around our windows.  Painted the doors different colors, but what should we do with the big and dark brown garage door?  Replacing it would be expensive, so we decided to try paint.  We scrubbed it with comet and floor soap.  Painted it once without success as the brown shown through.  Painted it again which covered the brown and looked pretty good.  Let's hope it will last.  (If not, we might have to move out)

You will note the motorcycle in front of the house.  That came with Craig and his family - much to his parents chagrin.

Brice received an summer job with a software company that works for John Deere.  He works in the same office that I do.  We we though that working in the same office would solve transportation problems as he is without a car.  He decided that he didn't like starting work at 6:30 am and found my bicycle.  That worked pretty good, except that my bike was in storage for three years and hadn't been used very much since then.  The tires might have been a little old.  After two or three flat tires between our house and John Deere, we both all new tubes and tires.  So far, knock on wood, no more flat tires.

Brice is lonely.  Breanne had to stay in Prove for the spring term.  She is coming next week and we are excited to see her.  I suspect that Brice is a little more excited that we are.  Anyway, Brice has been brave.  I don't think that he is entirely convinced about this baby thing.  He has been spending quality time with Owen and Kent. 

We had a good visit with Matt and Emily and their family over memorial weekend.  Everyone from here went - mom, dad, Brice, Craig, Heidi, Owen and Kent.  It was good to have someone besides myself for Zach and Quinn to jump on.  Brice was their favorite target.  Below are some pictures from a hike in a park near Emily's house.

And of course, we had to stop by the Machine Shed on the way home . . .

Love, Dad

This past weekend we went to Spokane where Hannah and Andrew had a reception with Andrew's family's friends. They hadn't lived in Spokane for a couple of years, but they still had lots of friends. The reception was very nice. Martin, Cindy, Sammy and Cortney came. Julie, Amanda and Grandma Wright came. Cliff and Diane came. Lucinda and I came.

While in Spokane, we drove to Coeur d'alene, Idaho. It is kind of a tourist town next to a beautiful lake which is surrounded by pine tree covered mountains. There was still a little snow on the ground. We had lunch at an all you can eat Brazilian barbecue buffet. We ate way too much.


The next day we went to downtown Spokane. There had a very nice park there next to a waterfall. Lucinda loved the carousel and the tram ride.


Name that relative:

Pictures from Hannah's wedding. Hannah absconded with all the pictures that Bev took, but we had a few on our camera.










The princess has lost her slippers


Levi's new friend



Decorations for the reception:


Off to face the world:

It has been a busy few weeks for us as we get ready for Hannah's wedding. Hannah picked up a sheet while we were in India for a bedspread. (She is always planning ahead.) Lucinda finished tying it with the help of Heidi and Emily. Neither Hannah nor I were much help. We put in on our own bed to she how it looked. For you that are interested in this sort of thing, the sheet was not very square which made the tying much more difficult. You can see the happy elephants dancing around the edges.


Even though I didn't help with the quit, I too keep busy. This is what our new bed looks like. It came out pretty good - even if I say so myself. No one has found, or at least we kind enough not to mention, the obvious flaws in the workmanship.

It didn't have a center brace which made the bed much bouncier and also tended to sag in the middle. I thought that was s design feature. Not everyone agreed so I had to put a block under the middle for support.


Andrew arrived at our house this week. He thinks that driving from Washington state to Iowa is too far. It took him three days.

Yesterday Hannah went to the temple. The weather was warm and a little rainy. You can see the buds on the trees and there were lots of tulips in bloom in beds around the grounds. Craig and Heidi and their family drove down. Emily and Matt and their family came too. Afterwards we all went out to dinner and had a good time.

This coming week will be a busy one as Hannah is getting married on Thursday with a reception on Friday. You're all invited!

Big event this week. We added two more names to our family flag - Alice and Kent. OK, we're a little late. Don't be too hard on use.

You will note Andrew is hanging on by a tread. Don't worry Hannah, there is no subliminal or deep and dark hidden agenda, I just thought you should be married before we added him to the chain.

We are extremely happy for our children and grand children.

Love,
Dad