Sarah - the Outside Cat

Thought we should take a moment and present our adopted foster cat ... Sarah!  She followed Cody and Paige home from a walk one night and has been an outdoor resident ever since.  We originally named her Oliver-Hoo (there's a story behind each of those names) but Tyson quickly renamed her Sarah when he got back from Scout Camp and that name has stuck ever since.  We leave the garage door open slightly to give her a place to escape the thunderstorms and brutal heat of summer, but she comes and goes otherwise.  Not sure who she belongs to, but tomorrow Paige and Tyson are going to go around to some nearby houses and see if anyone's missing a cute little calico cat.  Our cat Tommy is in love with her and would be sad to see her go though ... as would the rest of us.

 

Anniversary Get Away

While the boy was away at Scout Camp for 6 days, Cody and Paige escaped to a bed-and-breakfast for an anniversary get away. We stayed in the beautiful "Garden of Eden" room at the Mulberry Hill B&B in Pleasant Hill, MO ... about an hour and a half away. A quaint place and a great time celebrating 17 years of marital bliss and harmony.

Another Midwest Scout Camp

We thought going into summer that Tyson would be attending a Scout Camp in Colorado but as it turned out, he got to spend one more camp here in Kansas ... which meant he got to enjoy another year of fireflies, suffocating humidity, and more severe weather. That's "life in the Midwest."

His troop spent 6-days at Camp Naish in nearby Bonner Springs. While he didn't get to shoot rifles or other activities that he hoped for, he did knock out some important Eagle required merit badges. That should be enough to move him to the rank of Star. Hooray!

We had a severe thunderstorm come barreling into the area on Friday night (read: 1am "late" Friday night) ... and while Mom and Dad enjoyed the fascinating light show from the safe, comfortable confines of the living room, they couldn't help but think about their boy out camping in the storm. Luckily they had good Priesthood leaders with them ... that, and a 3-foot thick storm shelter to protect them in the wee hours of the morning.

Family (History) Vacation

Our family's original vacation plans had called for some time up in the mountains of Colorado ... but with our house in Kansas still on the market, we had to come up with an alternative plan. That plan included a tour through some Mormon church history sites along with some family history along the way. We left Kansas City on Wednesday and headed to Nauvoo, IL (about 5 1/2 hours). After we spent a couple of days there, we followed the Mormon Trail across Southern Iowa to Council Bluffs and Winter Quarters outside of Omaha, NE ... then returned home on Saturday afternoon. Here's some highlights of our trip:

• Saw 3 temples in 3 states
• Participated in temple work as a family in the Nauvoo Temple
• Watched 2 plays: "High Hopes and Riverboats" and "Rendezvous in Nauvoo" ... the latter ending at 9:30 pm at the same time that a strong electrical storm ripped through the area.
• Took a 45 minute carriage ride through the area, during the time of the day when it rained the hardest.
• Visited the Carthage Jail where the Prophet Joseph Smith was martyred.
• Visited the Old Nauvoo Burial Grounds where Cody has an ancestor buried.
• Learned how the early Pioneers made bricks, bread, rope, and other 1840 necessities.
• Visited the Nauvoo homes of early church leaders.
• Stopped at countless Mormon Pioneer sites along the Mormon Trail of Southern Iowa including Garden Grove and the Kanesville Tabernacle.
• Looked and searched for more ancestors in other cemeteries ... didn't find their headstones but felt the peacefulness and serenity in the cemeteries.

We were grateful for the time spent together and what we were able to learn and experience as a family. Our pioneer heritage is part of who we are and their experiences have had an influence of each of us. It was a trip we were glad that we were able to take ... even if it meant staying in a Hampton Inn rather than a tent in the mountains.

Multiplying Like Rabbits

These little fellows have been ... well ... multiplying like rabbits this year!  We've always had a healthy crop of squirrels in the yard but this year has been a bumper crop as far as rabbits go.  The dog loves to chase them and the cats wish they could chase them.  Even Ty chases one or two from time to time.  

But the best part is when they're left alone.  They will sometimes experience a state of total euphoria where their little bodies just can't contain all the joy and happiness they're feeling and they end up jumping straight up into the air!  It's the darnedest thing you've ever seen ... a known phenomenon called a "bunny binky."