August 2007

We did such a fine job making geranium cuttings in the fall of '06 that HJ would have been proud! The potted cuttings were put on a table in a window with a southern exposure and we tended them all winter long. We planted allium bulbs in the fall. In the early spring of '07 we potted begonia bulbs and germinated hollyhock seeds in trays. I wanted some hollyhocks like the ones Britzells had that grew through our east fence...the ones we used to make flower dolls. We took care of our plants and seedlings then planted them outdoors before leaving for China. We were pleasantly surprised at how well they did, and later in the summer we were rewarded with some pretty flowers. I wish I had taken more pictures.




Our vegetable garden produced well and kept us busy. On August 10th we had checked our corn and decided the next day we would pick it, shuck it, blanch it, cut it from the cobs, bag it and freeze it. The bean crop was dwindling after producing plenty for canning. We were picking beans when the phone rang. It was Jodi. She said the doctor was taking her baby that day due to some complications. She had been scheduled for August 21st and I had planned on going to Oklahoma to help, but this was only the 10th! We called Kim and told her she could have the entire corn patch. We asked for Bryan to mow the lawn. (It's nice to have someone in the family live close) We scrambled for subs at the temple, in primary etc. We threw some clothes in the car and took off. 9 hours of driving that afternoon and evening took us to Gallup, New Mexico where we stayed the night. It took 11 more hours to complete the journey. We went straight to the hospital where, thankfully, mom and baby were both doing fine. Miles was just an itty-bitty baby...much smaller than his big brother, Owen, had been at birth. Miles is our 15th grandchild. He broke the tie so now we have 7 granddaughters and 8 grandsons. Miles was originally scheduled to be delivered on cousin Tanner's 7th birthday. He ended up arriving on cousin Courtney's 12th birthday instead. Reed's main job was taking care of Owen while I tried to keep the house orderly and prepare meals. We stayed with Jodi and Ty for six nights and started the long homeward drive.




On the way home we stayed the first night in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We visited the temple there.






The next day we made a detour to check out the Snowflake, Arizona Temple. We thought it was pretty. We liked the community and especially the area surrounding the temple.







We decided to make this into a sight-seeing vacation the rest of the way home so we drove to the Grand Canyon. After viewing the South Rim we drove to Marble Canyon to spend the night. The next day we saw Jacob Lake where Kim worked one summer. Then we viewed the canyon from the North Rim. As the crow flies, the North and South Rims are about 11 miles apart, but by car it is over 200 miles.






We continued on through Bryce Canyon, then up through the scenic route---Tropic, Escalante, Boulder and Loa. We saw some spectacular scenery. It made for a very long day, but we decided to head home to sleep in our own beds.