On the road again.......

Well, we have been here in Ohio for over two weeks now and have felt comfortable enough but it's time to move on. Angela would love to have us stay but we will load up tomorrow morning and travel, Russ driving my parents' truck and me our car, down to Florida. I guess the warmer temperatures will feel good. We'll be staying at our daughter's new home on Eglin AFB. It's always awkward visiting our family members on bases or in embassies. The people in charge of security are nice enough but you still feel funny having someone look at your ID and check you out along with your vehicle. When we're on base we're not supposed to even go anywhere without our "sponsor". When I visited our daughter in Guam, I went for an hour walk every morning by myself and always worried that an MP would stop me and want to see military ID. Fortunately, that never happened. It's especially frustrating when I'm babysitting on base so my children and their spouses can have the rare treat of going out, maybe even overnight, without children. I can't buy anything on base without military ID and if I go off base, I can't get back on without a "sponsor". I expect Russ and I will be tending little Aaron and the three dogs so Keith and Lisa will have an evening out. I just hope we can stay safely, quietly in the house without needing to go anywhere! Here in Ohio, Scott and Angela are living off base for the first time, having bought a house. It's nice to be able to come and go without having to be "checked in or out". Oh well, the warmer temperatures will feel good..............

My hands hurt

Scott, our son-in-law, has gone to Iraq. We try not to think of the danger he is in. Meanwhile, we are working on a suprise for him. Russ, Angela, and I have been tearing out a wall and building in a breakfast bar and computer desk. (I'm assuming Scott won't be reading our blogspot while he's away.) Scott and Angela have talked about doing this for awhile now but haven't yet gotten to do it. It has turned into quite a complex, messy, time-consuming project. I have been spackling and painting in addition to my usual grandmotherly-type efforts to keep the house clean, dishes washed, and helping with food preparation. Those activities along with the cold, dry air are causing my hands to have deep cracks at the ends of some of my fingers. (That's what I meant by my title for this blog.) I usually get them from doing a lot of sewing, but that isn't happening these days. Russ is the "general contractor" on the remodel job and tends to remain pretty dusty and feeling worn out.
Our other daughter, Lisa, and her husband and little boy have joined our little group here. They were here visiting just before Christmas (Lisa had come while Keith was over in the Middle East, where he will be returning for another 3-4 months soon) and had an accident. Somebody drove into the side of their car so it was here being repaired. They drove back to Florida in a rental car provided by the other driver's insurance so they drove back here to return it and get their car back. Keith has been a big help to Russ so I think it has been good to have them here. We also enjoy having at least two of our children together with us. It makes for some chaos on occasion but it isn't bad. We're glad the kids can get to know cousins when possible.
Russ and I are getting pretty wearied of the traveling life. We are praying that the Lord will show us where to go and hoping it will be somewhere we can call home. I miss my Utah house and neighbors. We just don't know what we're to do...........

We spent the weekend in Cincinnati at the terHorst home. It snowed overnight on Saturday such that church was cancelled on Sunday morning. John got permission to have the sacrament at home so he and Russ prepared, blessed, and passed the sacrament then we had a testimony meeting. We were fasting for greater stability in Iraq so the meeting was even more uplifiting. All of the kids, including 2-year old Jarin, bore their testimonies. (For the benefit of those who might be somewhat cynical, none of the kids were coerced even a little bit.) After our sacrament meeting, Janna (7 years old) was appointed to be nursery leader and took her little brother downstairs to play while the 4 adults and two older girls (11- year old twins) read and discussed the lesson out of the Spencer W. Kimball manual. After that we watched a DVD about the pioneer handcart companies and the Sweetwater River rescue and were quite humbled to be sitting, comfortably warm and sheltered with a delicious dinner cooking away upstairs in a crockpot, while watching a re-enactment of the suffering that hundreds of good-hearted, valiant people went through to reach "Zion". We managed to overcome our sorrow for the pioneers enough to heartily enjoy our meal at the end of our fast then added our traditional Sunday night popcorn and ice cream. We are truly grateful for the comfort and ease of our life, along with the freedom. Our two sons-in-law will be leaving for Iraq soon. We just can't seem to pray enough.....

Small world

I have been typing my dad's history into the computer now for several years. I just haven't found the time to get caught up to him! Today I was typing January 1990 entries and came across a meeting he went to where the speakers were a man and woman. The woman was Lithuanian and the man from Bulgaria. He said they had recently returned to their homes over the holidays and told stories of their trip. He didn't give a lot of particulars but just wrote, "We don't appreciate our freedom here". I don't think he even remembers that meeting or that entry he wrote. His reaction to stories of Lithuania 17 years ago was the same that Russ and I had while visiting there and learning about about their history. Even dreary, cold days here in the US are more cheerful because there is more immediate hope here. I know there are countless critics of the United States, at home and abroad. But I feel truly blessed to live in a country where I can criticize my government without fear of imprisonment and I can worship without fear of punishment and I am free to travel around and pursue whatever I choose. I think we would do much better to pray for our political representatives than to criticize them. We could have a more constructive impact by writing letters and voting than grumbling and insulting. This is OUR country and will be whatever WE make of it either by our actions or by our neglect!

January 15th

Today is our son-in-law Scott's birthday as well as our grandson, Jeremy Fellows. Happy Birthday to both! We spent the day here in Ohio, rainy and cold as it was, with a slow start and late breakfast easing into playing at an arcade that had a huge indoor playplace followed by a trip to a section of the Air Force museum then Friendly's for dinner. We have been to the Air Force museum here at Wright Patterson Base before but not to this particular section. It houses former Air Force One planes as well as some fascinating prototype test planes. I have known all my life about test pilots and all sorts of innovations in flight but it was really interesting to see some very unusual looking aircraft, some of which were NOT successful. It was also interesting to be reminded of little bits of history as we saw the plane (called "Sacred Cow") that was specially outfitted for FDR so he could get on and off in his wheelchair, the plane that JFK rode in before his assasination then afterward in his coffin with his newly widowed wife near him, and others. It was fun to be able to go to a Friendly's again. We have such fond memories of Reese's pieces sundaes and crowds after church events in Friendly's restaurants.
I can't express enough how grateful I am to have been blessed to be born in a country so prosperous and free. I say God bless America not because of some nationalistic pride but more as a prayer hoping that we can keep this part of the Earth worthy of God's continued blessings. I would hate to ever lose all that we have, in my own lifetime, my children's, my grandchildren's, or ever.

Our Saturday afternoon activity

Since we are now using Angela's computer to go on the internet, it is a little more complicated to include pictures. I hope to do that at some point but not for now.
Awhile ago, Russ and I thought we were going to purchase an RV to live in for an indefinite length of time. We don't really know whether we will do that. We know we can't afford an RV and a house. Today there was a large RV show at an expo center here near Dayton so Russ and I went to walk around for a couple of hours. We saw everything from the little pop-up campers like we lived in when we were building our house on Lake Road in Dryden, NY to huge buses costing well over $200,000! When we were growing up, trailer parks were considered the bottom end of dwelling places. We realize that when you're driving a "house" down the road, weight is a major concern. So these RV's are all made to be as lightweight as possible. Hence, they all look like trailers inside, even the really top end ones. We certainly saw some that would not cause us any suffering to live in them, but we didn't collect any fliers or price sheets or business cards. We're just not ready to take that step yet.
By the way, gas here is at an amazingly low $1.79. Prices sure vary. It was over $4.00 a gallon in Lithuania!

Search, ponder, and pray

I am trying to take a moment to collect my thoughts. I have too many and they are too scattered. I left my mother slowly, painfully, sometimes discouragingly trying to recuperate from her injury/surgery. I left my dad feeling at a loss as to what to do with himself and how to best help Mom, including trying not to irritate her. I left my sister Deedie trying to weed out a house full of stuff from two families blended into one that is not quite all independent and established in separate living places so she can move with her "new husband" to Louisiana, leaving only my brother Bill as a representative of our family who all used to live there. Will I ever return to Dryden, NY for anything but possibly a funeral? Here at Angela's the temperature has truly dropped and there is a bit of snow sifted over the grass. I went with Angela last night, shortly after our arrival here, to a book club meeting. They had read a book about the life of Helen Keller, which included stuff about Anne Sullivan. What awesome women! We saw the two younger boys off on the school bus this morning because Angela and Scott had to go to an orthodontal appointment to explain their oldest son, Tanis's, upcoming $5,000 worth of corrections. It's not that his teeth are that bad, it's that the "expertise" is that expensive.
We still don't know where we're going or what we're doing. We so appreciate friends who have listened to us, talked to us, and are interested in us. Maybe, if nothing else, this year has been an opportunity to try to know each other better. So far, it's like the rest of life: the more time passes I feel like I know less rather than more and feel less capable rather than wiser and better experienced. I can't help but wonder if I were to be in one place for awhile, if I might become comfortable and familiar enough that I would feel more confident. I guess we'll just have to keep searching, pondering, and praying.

The winter that wasn't

Yesterday it was sunny and in the 50's here in upstate NY- beautiful weather! However, it certainly doesn't feel like the beginning of January. There are none of the usual signs of winter here- piles of dirty unmelted snow that linger under trees and in culverts, clusters of stones scattered over the edges of lawns from where the snowplow pushed snow out of the roads. Even the plants are getting confused- trees are starting to bud and some bulbs, like tulips, are starting to push through the ground. To add to the strangeness of it all, this weather isn't limited to upstate NY. Winter resorts in Europe, in the Alps, are really suffering economically due to the lack of snow. People in Lithuania kept telling us that the weather there was going to change- it was going to get really cold and snow, but it never did while we were there. You can't help but wonder what this "confusion" of weather means.........

International travel and hidden talents

You might be wondering about the title I chose for these two pictures. Before leaving Lithuania we went out into the country near Vilnius to go horseback riding. Susanne and I didn't actually ride- mostly because we didn't want to make them have to gear up more horses and it was really cold and we just figured that if we didn't ride the others could have longer turns. Jarom, Nicholas, and Louisa all did very well riding around the arena inside a large quonset building. James and Russ decided to ride, too. When we re-entered the US, we had to declare at customs that we had visited a "farm, ranch, or other pasture" and that we had "touched" animals. We told the guy that we had gone horseback riding and all he wanted to do was look at our boots which he declared to look clean to him. I don't know whether it was really that small a deal (I think the concern was hoof and mouth disease) or the fact that it was New Year's Day just made him not want to hassle us. JFK airport was truly a ZOO! The Delta guy that took our checked baggage said it was way worse than Christmas had been. The line for Delta International check-in went outside the building and way down the sidewalk. We were really happy that we were going to domestic check-in! In total, we were in the process of "traveling" for about 24 hours. We tried to doze on the plane but since we were following the sun and not everybody seated near windows wanted to close the shutters, there really wasn't ever a good atmosphere for sleeping. Once again, we truly gained some respect for James and Susanne and other families like theirs that travel with young children pretty regularly. The planes are crowded and often too warm and noisy; the airports are likewise. There is no place to escape! And then there's the change in time- your biological internal clock is telling you it's time to sleep but it's not night yet. Or, your body wants to be awake but you desperately need sleep. I don't know how business people or anybody who does that kind of traveling regularly can deal with it!
The other picture is Russ on Christmas Day on his grand debut as a magician. He had been practicing for a few weeks and did a few magic tricks to entertain the family as well as the missionaries who spent most of the day with us. He did really well and we were all proud.