Some surprises aren't really all that surprising!!

Jere and I had a very interesting courtship to say the least. We got engaged in December of 1971. Shortly after he left for the Phillipines with the Marine Corps. Although we had planned to get married immediately when he got home, 13 months later, by February of '72 the plan had changed and the wedding date was no longer certain. At that point I decided that I should start dating again and ended the engagement. When he returned from his duty in the Phillipines we resumed dating and after a while got engaged again. This engagement lasted for several months until Jere announced to me that he was going to buy a motorcycle and ride across the country. Tearfully the engagement was again broken off. One evening I went with my family home evening brother up to campus to study, just as friends and just to study. I guess it didn't look like that to Jere though because he was waiting for me when I got back to my apartment and shortly after that we were engaged again. I remember calling my parents to tell them it was on again and being surprised that they were rather ho hum about it. Kind of, "Right, let us know when you are really serious." Well, this time we were and married on May 1, 1974.

Fast forward: Chris asked Morgan Frazer to go to the annual 4th of July Mormon Choral concert. They dated during the summer and then went their separate ways. Periodically they would reconnect and then again part ways. So when Chris told us he was dating Morgan this fall we were rather ho hum about it. Chris tried to prepare me first when he told me that things were going really well with Morgan. Oh sure I thought. And then when he added that he thought he would ask her to marry him, you go boy I thought!! So when I found out that he had actually asked her I was just a little surprised. I guess I just didn't believe that he would really follow through this time. Well, follow through he did and now we are excitedly anticipating a March 21, 2009 wedding in the Salt Lake Temple. Someone told me once, "you know, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!" Go figure!!

Boston Harbor

I made a list of everything I wanted to see and do while we were in Boston. And by the end of the trip I was able to check everything off the list. Some of the things though were by surprise or accident. I had given up on Mike's Bakery but then we were walking the Freedom Trail and there was Mike's Bakery, right on our way. Delicious surprise I might add. The final unaccomplished item on my list was Boston Harbor and I had given up on that since we had to leave on Saturday night and it appeared that we just wouldn't have enough time. Oh well, I thought. We spent the day on Saturday walking the Freedom Trail, visiting historical sites, and finally eating pizza at a hole in the wall that Jere frequents whenever he is there. (I might add that the wait staff consisted of little old men, probably friends of the owner, looking like they had gotten up from watching tv in their shorts and t shirts and had just headed right off to work. I noticed one of them polishing the silverware with his t shirt before putting it on a table, and my water tasted faintly like rootbeer, maybe, probably the glass wasn't clean in the first place!!)

After dinner we headed to the airport, in plenty of time I might add. We turned in the rental car and rode the bus to the terminal. Funny thing, neither of our tickets seemed to be working. And when the ticket agent checked them she informed us that we had missed the flight by several, three, hours. She was very kind, booked us on a flight the next morning, got us a distressed rate at the airport Hilton, and sent us on our way. The Hilton was beautiful and can you believe it, overlooked Boston Harbor. In fact our room had windows that looked right out on the harbor. So I took night pictures. When we got up the next morning fog had blanketed the city. We watched it settle and then lift and then settle and then lift, absolutely beautiful!! I did think about the Boston Tea Party and imagined what the environmentalists would say and do if it were to occur today!!

Visiting New Hampshire

We drove up to Milford, New Hampshire where dad spent some of his growing up years. It was a fun little town, quite charming. We stopped at the town square and ate at the same diner that was there when dad lived there. We saw the house where he lived and walked across the street and into the woods to the "BIG ROCK" where he and his buddies used to play. Also saw the church where he had his first communion and went inside, it was beautiful. It's always interesting to step into the world of someone else. Sometimes it's hard to remember that there was a time when dad and I weren't together. And fun to try to visualize a little energetic boy running around, playing hard, and growing up!

More Boston Photos

I find that if I don't finish my comments when they are fresh it's just too hard to do it later. But some more Boston pictures. The Old South Church in the upper left corner, a huge crack was discovered in the wall of the church just when we were there. Mike's Pastry was recommended to us by many people. It was wonderful!! I just thought the Massachusetts State House was beautiful, lower left corner. And Boston wouldn't be complete without a visit to see Paul Reverek and the Old North Church, lower right corner. There are too many more photos to blog. It was a great trip and I'd love to go back!!

Fascinating Headstones

I was really interested in the carvings on the headstones. Some of them are coates of arms but many were rather macbre pictures of skulls, or skeletons, or what looked to me like angry angels or an angry God with and hour glass out of time. I know that death was not a very sweet experience for them. Although it was so common that I don't think people were very surprised by it either. I'll have to do more study about the engravings on th headstones but I just thought they were so interesting. Please note the one with the two angels, one awake and the other asleep. And of course the spelling was very different, I didn't include much but a little. (Click on the collage and it should enlarge so you can see it better.)

Boston's Mother Goose

First I thought the dates were most interesting and then the name, Mary Goose, caught my attention. But when I read in the guide book I found out a little more about Mary Goose.

Boston Visit - 1st Installment

We had a great time in Boston!! As you probably know I love visiting cemeteries and there were two very close to our hotel. It is so interesting to see death dates all the way back to the mid 1700s. The first cemetery is the Granary Burial Ground. Lots of headstones and very close together. I wondered if the people below liked being so close to their neighbors! Notice also the podium, rather convenient for preaching a funeral sermon. This cemetery was especially interesting because it is the burial place of John Lathrop who is one of our rather notable ancestors. There are many famous people who are also descendents of John Lathrop, including Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, George and Mitt Romney, and Joseph Smith. I looked a little for his headstone but I could have spent days reading each one trying to find him so I gave up. His name is the last one on the brass placque on the main gate.

As you can read on this monument, John Hancock is one of the notable people buried here.

As well as the Franklin family, Benjamin, his wife, some of his children and his parents.

Branson Thanksgiving - Oh the Joy!!

It's hard to believe that going to Branson could create such joy in the hearts of parents and children and yet here it is, proof positive. Although if you look closely you will notice that one of the joyful participants seems to be a little more concerned about landing his jump safely than about the fun day ahead!!

Branson Thanksgiving

We went to see The Six. A group of six, no way, brothers who sing acapella. You'd swear they had instruments backing them up but they make all of those sounds with their voices. It was pretty amazing!! And even funny, Jere was nearly on the floor at one point!! Marc is an amazing photographer. I've been working and working and working with my camera and he takes it and starts pushing buttons, which is what he is always telling me to do, and ends up with some very artsy photos. At least he is willing to teach me what he just seems to be able to figure out on his own. So the black and whites are samples of his skill and talent and ability, I call it skilentility!!

The Pink Mini Van

Oh My!!! Now that's one pink car!! And notice the pink accent strip at the bottom. Makes you wonder about the folks who drive it!!

Thanksgiving Pirate Golf

After our great Italian Thanksgiving dinner, a first for us, we headed out for a quick game of mini golf at a Pirate themed golf course. I guess you can't really see much of the pirate theme but it was. We also found some interesting wild life, a walking stick. He was slowly, v e r y s l o w l y, walking down the sidewalk and fearing for his life Jere gave him a ride to safety. Pretty big fellow!! Notice Marc's glow in the dark shoes and Jere's special golf glasses, intended to aid in the finesse of the game!!

The tallest man!!

At first glance you may be wondering why I was taking a picture of a lady racing a wheelchaired woman out of the way. Well, I just didn't have enough time to wait. You see, this really tall man walked by and I scrambled to get his picture. So if you look past the running wheelchair pusher you'll see a very tall man just on the edge of the cement walkway. He must have been well over 7 feet. WOW!!

Branson Thanksgiving

We had to hit the Branson Landing. It's just next to the lake and is a fun place to shop. Can't believe we actually went there on BLACK FRIDAY!! It was busy but not too bad. And yes, that is Jere getting ready to head into the Bass Pro Shop, he doesn't fish! He left with a couple of pairs of pants though. Just as we were leaving the fire and fountain show started. No, that's not a series of bonfires, it's the fire and fountain show. Pretty spectacular!

Thanksgiving with the boys

After spending time in Branson we headed back to Arkansas. After a sumptuous Thanksgiving feast, although it was on Saturday not Thursday we headed out to see "The Lights on the Square." Second year in a row, I guess this is a tradition. They were beautiful and the weather wasn't too bad as you can tell. How about that Razorback done up in Christmas lights!! And sitting on a stone wall can be pretty cold. Check out the photo with Marc, Sean, and Eden and then guess who is feeling it the most. The darkest picture is a little hard to see but it's Marc sliding on the sidewalk. There was just a light mist and it was slick enough for him to slide nearly half the length of the block.

Beautiful way to end Thanksgiving!!