WARM AND SUNNY VACATION PLAN

Donna and I were planning to take a vacation to the Midwest in August to see the Rocky Ridge home of Laura and Almanzo Wilder. We had seen all the other sites when we went there a couple of years ago. On our trip there we saw so much. All the Laura Ingalls sites, Mount Rushmore, Wall Drugs, the Corn Palace and also after Laif joined us we saw the hometown of Walt Disney and the Mark Twain sites.

While Donna and Laif were gone this last weekend, I spent hours pouring over the towns in the midwest close to Mansfield, Missouri where the Rocky Ridge farm is. Mansfield is absolutely in the middle of nowhere. It is fairly close to Springfield, Missouri . There is an airport there and then you would have to drive there. Kansas City and St. Louis are quite a distance. Even in those cities there was not much that interested us. There is Branson but I don't want to go there. It is called the Las Vegas of the midwest. The shows are so expensive and except for one show the others did not interest me. Now we have completely changed our plans.


After more time pouring over places to go and even thinking maybe Hawaii, we finally decided on Cancun, Mexico.

We booked an all-inclusive vacation package from Costco. It is one of their buyer's choice packages. All is included----airfare, hotel, all meals, transportation to and from the hotel. We will have an ocean view. The pictures of the resort look wonderful.

We will be leaving on June 24th and coming back on June 30th. The flight is what will really be hard on me because I think it is about a seven or eight hour flight. On the way to Cancun we will have a stop-over in Phoenix and on the way back we will have a stop-over in Charlotte, NC. The main thing I must do is get up and walk at least every two hours. Donna said she will see that I do. Hopefully I will sleep a lot.

One other problem we will have to work out is that our flight from Sea-Tac to Cancun is very early. Our flight leaves at 5:15 am but Donna says we will have to be there at 4:15 because it is an international flight.

In case you are wondering how we changed from August to June is that Laif will be leaving for Egypt for work on the 19th of June and won't be getting back until about the same time as us. Donna only has a short day of school on the 23rd and then she is through with school for the Summer. Donna thought this would be a good time to go.

We will get all the details worked out and in the meantime I am so looking forward to a warm sunny place. Donna said it is exactly what she wants to do too. We will spend a lot of time in beach chairs. There are pools by the hotel and also hot tubs. Donna can go swimming and I can do the hot tub. There are places to shop.

We were thinking about taking the Myan Ruin trip but it is an all day trip. From 7am to 7pm. I am not sure we want to do that. We just like the idea of a very relaxing vacation.

FRIDAY, THE 13th

I hope everyone had a good Friday, the 13th. Myself, I have never had bad luck on Friday, the 13th. We did have a calf born on a Friday, the 13th. He was mean and always tried to attack people. He would put his head down and butt you as hard as he could. I am sure Dan and Darrell remember when our big black Lab saved them from the calf. The calf was charging, ready to attack when our Lab went for it's throat to make it back off. I think that calf would have been mean no matter what day it had been born.

In case you are worried about Friday, the 13th' there is only one this year.

Fear of Friday, the 13th may be the biggest superstition of all time. In a report done in 2004, between $800 to $900 Million dollars are lost each Friday, the 13th as a result of people avoiding travel, wedding plans, moving and so on.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt would not travel on the 13th of any month and would never host 13 guests at a meal.

CINCO DE MAYO DAY

Cinco De Mayo day--another gloomy day for us. Today is Cinco De Mayo day. It is just another cloudy day here. We had such a gorgeous day yesterday. It would be nice to have a week or two of nice days.

My subject today is the weather-------On the KOMO weather on the Internet today there is an article about Seattle weather in April. The caption says " SEATTLE SETS A RECORD FOR THE COLDEST APRIL ON RECORD"

In addition to setting the temperature record, we were high on the charts for it being the wettest April on record. The month tallied 4.47" of rain--good for the fourth-wettest April on record behind 1991 (6.53"), 1996 (5.37") and 1993 (4.54").

Overall Spring has been gloomy---When you combine our record chilly April and our fairly chilly March, we find that 2011 is the seventh-coldest March-April on record with an average high of 52.0 degrees. The record is 1955 at 49.5 degrees, which featured the coldest March on record. (In fact, 1955 was the coldest overall year at Sea-Tac Airport) 1955 was the 25th wettest March-April, so while it was certainly colder then, it wasn't nearly as wet as this stretch. 2011 wins for the gloomier Spring.

Now that it is May, I hope to see a lot of sunshine. I did see a beautiful Hummingbird a couple ot times so that is a good sign.

IT DOES NOT FEEL LIKE MAY

Yes, finally I am back. I just got lazy about posting. Rachel does such a fantastic job because she has so much to write about all the time. If it was not for the calendar I wouldn't know it was May. It feels more like March. We did have a nice weekend. I guess we just have to enjoy the few sunny days we get. Maybe we will have a hot summer. That would be great for me.

I did have a nice trip over to Debbie's on Friday, April 29th. Diane came over to help Donna with Calculus. (I am not sure I spelled that right not to mention that kind of Math is way beyond me.) Anyway Donna needs to brush up on it because she is going to be taking a test for it to help her for teaching. Diane and Donna worked the whole day on it.

So, anyway, I had all three of my girls together. It was so nice to see Kent and Erik too. I went with Debbie, Kent and Erik when they went to clean the Church building. I have nice memories of that building. Clayton so enjoyed going to Church. While Clayton was still alive, we read from the Book of Mormon almost everyday. In the earlier years we went to the Temple a lot. We would always stop and visit Jack and Ina Sparks on our way back.

This month is always a little hard for me. I can hardly believe how long Clayton has been gone. He died May 16,2008. All the men I have been married to are gone. Dave Thompson died September 3, 1994 and Dave Otte died on May 8, 2001. Dave Otte and Clayton shared the same birthday--August 2nd (not the same year) and they both died in the month of May.

Now enough about the past.-----I am still here and though I miss everyone who has gone before me I am here for some reason so I do my best to enjoy life. I know that I will be with my loved ones again someday.

I have so much to be thankful for. I have a nice place to live and I still enjoy life and I am in good health. I have so many comforts in life. I have lived to see all my children grow up and to see grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I have had hard times but all in all I am having a good life.

I have a friend in the Church who is Donna's assistant in the library and also she is our visiting teacher. Her name is Eloise and she is such a nice person. Sunday I found out we have something it common. Donna had been teasing me and had turned my salt and pepper shakers around and was putting my TV remote at an angle. I can only stand it for so long. Laif happened to mention how Donna had been tormenting me with the remote and Eloise said she is the same way. She says she has to have everything lined up. It always makes me feel better when I find someone else who is like me. We are the normal ones, don't you agree?