I Love This Man

Happy Fathers Day to my favorite man!

Day 9 and 10 - Denver - Grandpa's Birthday and HOME

Short trip today from Sterling Colorado to Denver.  It was so smoggy with all the fires going on in the area.  We went to the mall for a while, had lunch, and then headed to Terri's for grandpa's birthday party.  It was fun to see all the "aunties" and JT kept the boys entertained with his juggling sticks.  Oh, and he made deviled eggs to die for. They were seriously so good.

It was fun to get our picture taken with grandpa and get to see him again for a bit.

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The next morning, Travis and Tyrel and I headed home.  We left Trevin to hang with the grandparents and cousins for another couple days, but the other boys needed to get home because they had Youth Conference the next day.  It was a long trip, but we made good time with just a couple bathroom stops and lunch at Sonic in Grand Junction.

It was a great trip, but so great to be home.  What an adventure!

Day 8 - Hildreth Nebraska

Sean and Kirk left early this morning to catch their plane back home.  The rest of us headed out but not before Heidi and I went back and took pictures of the Winter Quarters temple.  We didn't get any the night before because of the rain storm.

Then, we headed to Hildreth.  It was fun to stop in Hildreth on our family vacation.  I’ve grown up hearing stories about Hildreth.  My grandparents were both raised there and my dad spent a lot of his time there growing up.  They visited Hildreth every summer when my grandpa was on leave from the military.  My dad took us to Main Street Hildreth where my great grandfather Bebensee worked in Clint’s Tavern and also for the Sheriff Department.  My dad would go there and drink sasparilla’s and grape nehi’s.  My great grandmother Bebensee was the town librarian.  My dad showed the boys the alley he and his brother would run down after hopping out the window of the library and where they almost got caught by Officer Rickles.  The jail was on the other side of the alley from the library. I can’t imagine them running very fast down it, it was pretty narrow.  We went to the Bebensee home.  I vaguely remember going there once when I was younger.  I remember the side entrance, the kitchen and the front room.  My dad remembers sleeping in the bedrooms upstairs when they would visit and that his grandma always had homemade donuts when they went there.  We also went to the Evers home in town.  The only thing I remember about it the one time I was there was that it was filled with stacks and stacks of things and I could hardly get around in it.  My great grandfather Evers lived to be 104 and my dad said he remebers bottles and bottles of vitamins and he would take handfuls of vitamin C and other vitamins every day.  When my great grandfather went to get his license renewed when he was 100, they wouldn’t renew it, even though he had 20/20 vision still and never needed glasses.  He worked on the farm outside of town until he was in his nineties.  He was pretty much deaf though, I remember having to yell at him when we talked to him.  We saw the celar that my dad said was always ful to overflowing with fruit, he loved his grandma’s peaches.  It was also where they were supposed to go if there was ever a tornado warning.  Hildreth is still such a “Mayberry” type town, no fast food chains, people stopping in the middle of the road to talk to each other and I’m sure everyone there knows everyone else.  I was hoping the barber shop my dad got his hair cut at every summer would have still been there, I wanted to take one of my boys to get their hair cut there, but we couldn’t find it. We also went to the cemetery while we were there,  I think I was related to over half of the people buried there.  Sometimes I think it would be fun to live in a place that was still so simple.

We also went out to my great grandpa's old farm.  It was fun to listen to my dad's stories about the things they did there.

more info and pictures to follow

We also stopped in Minden to see where they lived there and where dad went to elementary school.  We ate lunch at a diner there in Minden that had really yummy burgers and onion rings.

After leaving there, we went back to Sterling and stayed at the same hotel we stayed at on our way out.

Day 7 - Nauvoo to Omaha

We got up and went back to Nauvoo to go to church and then went back to Nauvoo to see a few more sites.  We went to the family living center and went to the demonstrations on how they made bread, how they made barrels, how they made rope, and a few other things.  It was interesting and the rope demonstration was very cool.  We didn't have much time because we had to get headed to Omaha and Winter Quarters.

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We headed to Nebraska.  All of us were again going different directions based on our GPS, but we ended up having to turn around because they told us to meet them in a town that wasn't on our GPS route, so we were about an hour behind everyone by that time and then they didn't even stop there.  You gotta love road trips and caravaning.  We made a brief stop in Ottumwa to see if we could get a grape Ne-hi, no luck....

We got in one doozey of a rain storm and missed our exit for Winter Quarters.  We couldn't even see.  We were running on fumes, so stopped at a gas station before we turned around and found out their pumps were out because of a lightning strike.  So, we turned around and did make it to Winter Quarters.  Our tour guide there was awesome and we kind of had the run of the place to ourselves.  The kids had fun dressing up in Pioneer garb and pulling the handcart.

We were going to stop for pizza at Cece's, but they were closed by the time we got out of there.  So we just went to our hotel and ordered pizza in and ate in their breakfast room.

Everyone had to re-arrange rooms.  Actually, our room was fine, but everyone else had broken beds, broken lights, etc. and took a while to get all settled.

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Day 6 - Nauvoo

Saturday morning we all got up and headed to Nauvoo.  We met up with Ken and Jen and Diane and LaMarr to see some sites in Nauvoo.  We watched a film and spent some time in the Visitor center and got tickets for a wagon ride for later in the afternoon.  We went to the Blacksmith (very cool), the Brickyard and got our Nauvoo brick, the tin smith, and the gun shop.  Then it was time to head to the park for lunch and change into our church clothes.

We then headed to the temple and were all able to do some baptisms.  It was such a cool experience to have all of our kids there with us.  Sean did the baptisms and confirmations for me and our boys.  Kirk did them for Heidi and his kids and dad was able to do some confirmations with mom.  It was kind of cool because one of the names was written in Russian and dad was able to read it and her work was able to be done.  I'm guessing that card kept getting put at the bottom of the pile for who knows how long waiting for someone who could pronounce it.  The wood work and interior of the temple was so beautiful, one of my favorites.  The baptismal font was beautiful!

We changed back into regular clothes and went back for our wagon ride.  It was the last wagon ride of the day and our wagon driver was a pretty funny guy.  It was very interesting and we learned a lot about Nauvoo.  The mayflies down by the river were HORRIBLE.  They didn't bug me, but they were attacking the boys.  I just had to laugh.

After that, we headed back to where the graves of Joseph, Hyrum and Emma and took some photos and then headed back to our hotel.  We had dinner at the park and we are all so sick of sandwiches that we could barely stand it again.  The boys didn't really eat, so we got some pizza pockets for them from WalMart to give them a break from the sandwiches.

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Day 5 - Adam Ondi Ahman, Carthage, Montrose, and Nauvoo

We got up this morning, had breakfast at the hotel and got on our way to our next destination.  We first went to Adam Ondi Ahman.  Through revelation, we know that this is where Adam and Eve went when they were cast out of the Garden of Eden.  The Saints also were here for a time before being driven out.  It was so beautiful!  The trees and rolling hills were just so pretty.  We took lots of pictures and just sat there in the peacefulness for a while.  We left there and headed through the country on our way to Keokuk/Nauvoo.  Sean decided he could live there.  We saw several Mennonites and the country was just gorgeous.  We stopped in a small town (can't remember the name) and had lunch at a park that had a metal slide, merry go round, and teeter totters.  We couldn't believe it!  The kids had never seen such a sight!  As we stopped for gas and candybars on our way out of town, Sean congratulated the workers at the store for growing up in a town with those dangerous parks and living through it (funny man).

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We headed straight to Carthage, Illinois and Carthage jail where we met up with Diane and LaMarr.  They had received permission from their mission president to join us there that day.  Ken and Jen and their girls were also out visiting, so we all were able to spend some time together and do the Carthage tour together.  Another great presentation.  I was amazed at the dungeon cell (I guess it was actually in the upstairs, but it felt like a dungeon)  Somehow in all my years growing up, I didn't realize it was there.  I just thought they spent the whole time there in the room upstairs.  It was a humbling experience to hear the presentation, see the bullet holes in the door, and be in those same rooms where the prophet of our church had once been.

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We left Carthage and headed to Nauvoo and to the Hotel Nauvoo for dinner.  It was a big huge homestyle buffet.  The food was really good.

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After dinner, we decided we wanted to spend some time with our own boys since they had been riding with Uncle Greg the whole time and we hadn't really seen them the whole trip.  We went over to Montrose, which is on the opposite side of the Mississippi River from Nauvoo.  As the Saints crossed the frozen Mississippi river as they were being driven out of Nauvoo, they turned around and saw their city burning.  We went there right at dusk and it was cool to see the temple light up and to see what it might have been like  as they Saints were being cast out of their beautiful city and leaving their temple.  The boys threw rocks in the water and had a rock skipping contest.

We went to WalMart to grab a few things and then Sean and I went to the laundromat with dad to do some laundry since the hotel only had one washer and dryer. Diane and LaMarr met us there and we sat and talked with them while we did our laundry.  It was fun to hear their mission experiences and visit with them for a while.  They came back to the hotel with us and the boys came down and visited with them in the lobby.  The boys had fun swimming at the hotel as well.

Day 4 continued............Liberty Jail - Harley Davidson

We left Independence and all headed towards Liberty Jail.  It was kind of comical because everyone's GPS sent them in different directions.  Our car got their first and everyone else took FOREVER.   We finally all got together and started our tour.  Looking back (since I'm writing this after the fact)  I think this was one of my favorite parts of the trip.  The church has done a great job with the replica and the whole feel of the presentation there.  I was reminded of all that the early leaders of the church went through to restore the gospel as we now know it.  So much persecution and sacrifice so that we are able to have the gospel here on the earth today.

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After Liberty Jail, we decided we wanted to try to see the Harley Davidson factory on our way back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.  We got there, and it was closed.  Just our luck.  We did walk around and look at all the bikes outside.  They are all owned by employees and they have this cool little motorcycle parking lot and they looked cool all lined up there.

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Everyone headed back to the hotel, but our car (Kirk, Heidi, Sean and I) stopped by the Harley Davidson dealership and looked around.  Sean wanted a Harley hat and we got t-shirts for me and the boys.


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We headed back to the hotel, relaxed for a bit, and then headed to Jack Stacks BBQ because apparently it is some kind of a sin to go to Kansas City, Missouri and not eat BBQ.  It was good.  I'm not a super big fan of BBQ, but it was good and now I can say I've had Missouri BBQ.  On our way back, we realized we were only about a mile from Kansas City, Kansas, so, we decided we wanted to say we had been to Kansas so our car went there, got some gas in the car, and then went to Baskin Robbins for an ice cream cone.

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Back at the hotel, Sean and I sat outside because we wanted to see fireflies.  We saw them, they are pretty cool.

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Day 4 - Independence, Missouri

We got up, had breakfast at the hotel, and headed to Independence this morning.  Sean and Kirk were getting a kick out of all the people in Kansas City that seemed to have no regard for crosswalks.  We saw numerous people just crossing big huge busy intersections diagonally at just random times I guess hoping people would stop for them.  It gave us all a good laugh.  Kirk was driving and his instructions on his phone for how to get places was totally different from my parent's Garmin and Greg apparently was getting different directions than both of us as well.  We were all turning different directions and all went different ways, but we all seemed to end up at the same place at the end.

We went to the visitors center in Independence and one of the Sister missionaries took us on the tour.  We started downstairs and saw some of what the early Saints endured, being kicked out several times from several places.  It was amazing what they endured.  They had a set up of the printing shop where the first copies of the Book of Mormon were printed and an actual first edition there on display.

Upstairs, the kids spent a lot of time thumbing through the Books of Mormon in the display with the globe of the world. They were translated in many different languages. They found the Russian one and took it to my dad because we had told them that he had learned Russian when he was in the Air Force. He told them the difference in the alphabet and letters and then read to them a little bit. They were pretty impressed, as was I, that he could still remember how to read and speak Russian.

We saw the building of The Church of Christ built across the street from our church's visitors center. Sean thinks it looks like an upside down screw. We saw the site that was dedicated for a temple by Joseph Smith and went to the Church of Christ Visitors center, but it smelled musty and old and no one was there to tell us anything or help us out, so after standing around for 15 minutes, we gave up and left.

We left the Visitors Center there, grabbed some drinks (it was fairly warm and muggy), and took off for Liberty Jail.   More to come on that in the next post

Day 3 - Kansas City, Missouri

Pretty much all we did today was drive.  We went from Sterling, Colorado to Kansas City, Missouri.  We were going to stop in Hildreth, Nebraska to see where my grandparents were from, and where my dad spent a lot of his time growing up, but we were worried about the long drive and getting there in time to pick up Sean and Kirk as they were flying in to Kansas City.  We stopped at a rest stop somewhere in Nebraska for lunch and the kids played frisbee a little bit and then we were on the road again.  We got to our hotel and we were right downtown, so we decided we were too tired to find a park to make dinner and took all the kids to Burger King a couple of blocks from the hotel.  They were all very happy with that.  Greg and grandpa headed to the airport to pick up the guys while we hung out in our hotel rooms and rested.  Since we only had two beds, Trevin ended up sleeping in the window.  The hotel rooms had these really big deep window ledges and we set him up with extra blankets and pillows and he slept like a king.  The guys were dead tired when they finally arrived at the hotel and were glad to finally be there and be able to rest for the sight seeing the next day.  It was good to have Sean with us.  One of the fun things on the drive there were all the places to buy Fireworks.  We didn't stop at any but planned on stopping on the way back to get some.

Day 2 - Sterling, Colorado

We got up today, had breakfast with the Breakfast Nazi lady in Grand Junction, who was very grouchy, she yelled at Heidi, and she got mad at Trevin saying he wasn't old enough to make his own waffle in the waffle machine at the hotel (come on, he is 13 and has been cooking things since he was like 5, how hard is it to pour pre-measured batter into a machine and close the lid.)  We headed out and stopped in Denver to get some groceries and had lunch at a park, eventually, when we finally found one.  The one mom programmed into the Garmin wasn't really there, so we wandered and found one eventually.  Then we headed to Sterling, Colorado.  We warmed up dinner that we had brought in the microwave in the hotel, and the kids swam again.  The bottom of the pool was really rough, so they all ended up with cuts all over the bottoms of their feet.  I didn't take any pictures today, so all you get is words.

Day 1 - Grand Junction, Colorado

The first day of our family trip wasn’t too long.  We just went from our house to Grand Junction.  We stopped for sandwiches in Price and went in circles for a minute following dad to get back on the freeway. Mom forgot the food and the pan for what we were going to eat at the park that night, so we ordered pizza and ate by the hotel pool.  The kids were totally fine with that, go figure.  We ran into a HUGE dist storm right before we got into Grand Junction and were all lucky enough to come out without any accidents.  We couldn’t see in front or behind or to the side for probably at least 100 yards, it was pretty scary.  My first impulse was to slow down, but then I was worried about the vehicles behind us running into us, so we tried to pull over to the side and drove on the shoulder until we got out of it.  When we got out, there were semi’s and cars spun out and in a mess on the other side of the road, so we were lucky that none of us got hurt.  Scary way to start the trip, so we were glad we had said prayers before we left.  Uncle Kyle met and visited with us at the hotel that night as well.  The kids had a blast playing in the pool and the boys were all excited that they got a hotel room to themselves (with Uncle Greg, becuase he is the “cool uncle”.)