I’ve always liked overalls, especially on little people. Maybe that’s because I wore them myself at an early age. In those days, however, I called them “weewalls”. I don’t actually remember that but it’s one of those things that parents love to repeat!

Last time I was in Calgary I went shopping for a sewing project. I found a great pattern and some gorgeous corduroy so here’s what I made. They’re a little big at the moment but should fit Jami-Lee perfectly when winter comes.

Could you make a headband to match, Melaina asked when she saw what I was planning. Here’s what I came up with. Thanks for the inspiration, Janis!

Now that I’m back in Calgary, I need to make another trip to the fabric store. Wonder what I’ll come home with this time?

Once a mom, always a mom. Kids grow up but sometimes they still need their mommies.

Melaina woke up early Tuesday morning with a sore throat, a fever and feeling like death warmed over. Caring for an active two year old and his three month old sister was more than she could manage so her sister-in-law picked Drew up and took him out to the family farm near Cochrane where she and her children were spending a few days.

The following morning, a visit to the doctor confirmed that Melaina was suffering from strep throat so she asked if I could come down for a few days to help out. I wouldn’t have been able to if it wasn’t for my good friend, Louis. Richard had left with our vehicle on Monday morning to spend a week or so helping his brother put up silage and I was without wheels. On Tuesday, however, Louis dropped in to say that he didn’t like the idea of me being alone without a vehicle. He loaned me his truck and when he heard that Melaina was sick, he told me to feel free to take it to Calgary if I wanted to.

I drove down Wednesday afternoon and spent the past couple of days grocery shopping, making meals, washing dishes, doing laundry and changing lots of diapers. It hasn’t all been work though. Drew came home from the farm and we’ve read books, made playdough and enjoyed walking to the playground together. I’ve also had lots of cuddle time with baby, Jami-Lee.

Melaina is clearly on the mend today. Though she’s resting now, she’s baked bread and cleaned the bathroom today and I suspect that she’ll be well enough for me to head for home tomorrow. We’ll be back for more time with the grandkids later this month though as Jami-Lee is being baptized on Melaina’s birthday, August 29.

Drew and his new kitten

Our sleeping princess, Jami-Lee

This evening I did something I’ve never done before. I mowed the lawn! To most people that might not seem like a very big deal but to me it really is.

When I was a child, my father didn’t allow us to play in the yard while he was mowing. Perhaps lawnmowers were more dangerous in those days. I’m not sure but I do know that he was afraid that the mower might throw a rock and one of us would be injured. I’m not sure why this precaution on the part of a caring parent translated into a fear of lawnmowers for me but I was a timid child and it did. Then, many years ago, Richard tipped the mower a bit too much while cutting on a side hill and it did indeed throw a rock with such velocity that he suffered a deep gash in his knee requiring several stitches. That only served to validate my fear.

When our boys were old enough to start mowing, I feared that one of them would lose a hand or a foot or at very least, a toe to that dreadful machine. Knowing deep down that my feelings weren’t logical, however, and not wanting to handicap them with their mother’s foolish fears, I allowed them to go ahead and I’m pleased to report that to this day, they both have all their limbs and digits!

For years I said that if anything happened to Richard, I’d have to hire someone to cut the grass. At first, I was completely serious but as years went by I knew that this probably wasn’t really true. My fear was, however, a handy one to hang onto. After all, if I was afraid of the mower, I wouldn’t ever be expected to use it! Richard, sweet husband that he is, indulged me in this. In recent years, however, we laughed about the fact that I could operate huge tractors and combines but not a simple lawnmower!

Richard left yesterday to spend a week or so helping his brother put up silage. I didn’t go with him this year because I’m being treated for tendinitis in both shoulders and Fred’s machinery would be too hard on them. Before Richard left, I noticed that the grass was getting a bit long and asked him to show me how to start the mower. He cautioned me that I might not want to do that. It wasn’t my shoulders he was concerned about though. He laughingly reminded me that if I mowed the lawn once, I’d never be able to use fear as an excuse to get out of doing it again!

I know that had I asked him too or had he even just known that Richard was away, the kindly neighbour who mowed for us while we were on holiday would have happily come over with his gigantic John Deere ride on and done it for me. I actually wanted to do it myself though; to prove to myself that I had in fact overcome yet another one of my crazy fears. I doubt that my physiotherapist would be thrilled to know what I was up to but, hey, I iced my shoulders as soon as I was done and I feel good!

While we were on holiday a tree fell on our house!

On July 12th a freak storm hit Sedgewick and the surrounding area uprooting mature trees, breaking off others and generally wreaking havoc. We were camped just west of Denver that night and didn’t have internet access so we were totally oblivious to what had happened until about 24 hours later when we began receiving messages and photos from concerned friends and family. Perhaps that was just as well. By the time we heard the news, the tree had been removed and people were able to assure us that the damage was minimal. A friend had also checked our basement and let us know that, unlike many others, it was totally dry. We felt very blessed to have so many caring people watching out for us!

The tree was not ours and the damage was indeed very minor involving only fascia, soffit, eavestroughing and shingles at one corner. There was also damage to one section of the fence.

Other than falling victim to the neighbours’ tree, our property was virtually untouched. The golf course did not fare as well, however. We heard reports of 50 to 60 trees down and had a hard time visualizing what that must look like. Yesterday, we went for a round and found ourselves focusing more on what had happened to the course than on the game itself. In my opinion, a few of the changes are positive ones. An overhanging branch that has been my nemesis since I started playing the game is gone! Hallelujah! A couple of shaded greens will receive a lot more sunlight than in the past which may or may not be good for the grass. Only time will tell. There are a lot of bare spots, however, that take away from the beauty of the course and sadly, some interesting challenges have been lost.

Last night we went out to Louis’ farm to check on the crops. Though the wind had almost flattened a large storage shed and blown one of its heavy doors across the yard, the crops themselves are looking great. The wheat is just beginning to turn colour and as long as the weather doesn’t create any more havoc, we should be ready to begin harvest in a few weeks.

When we traveled with our children, I used to ask each of them “What was the best thing about today?” as I tucked them into their sleeping bags at night. Their answers often amazed me. It wasn’t always the big things that impressed them. Sometimes things that I had hardly noticed were most special to them.

Today, as we made the final leg of our 8675 km trek through ten states and three provinces, Richard and I asked one another a similar question. “What was the highlight of this trip for you?” Richard answered easily that for him it had been the Cross Cultural Orientation event that we attended in Olathe, Kansas. While I agreed that that weekend had been both informative and inspiring, it wasn’t as easy for me to choose one thing from the past five weeks that stood out above all the others.

After thinking about if for a bit, I chose three best things. First of all, spending time with my best friend from high school was very special to me. Secondly, Moab and the time that we spent exploring the spectacular red rock desert surrounding it were all that I had hoped for and had to be included on my list. Then, like the children, I chose something small but something that I’ll long remember. It was unplanned and unexpected but for me, sitting outside the trailer in Kansas City after dark and being surrounded by the twinkling of fireflies was truly magical.

The Quad cities of Davenport and Bettendorf on the Iowa side of the Mississippi River and Rock Island and Moline on the Illinois side were as far away from home as we would to go on this trip. Though we weren’t planning to take the most direct route possible, from there on we’d be moving in a homeward direction. We didn’t get very far though! As soon as we got out on the interstate yesterday morning, it was obvious that we had a vehicle problem!

We’d actually been suspecting a problem for a couple of days. The check engine light had been on, then off, then on again and we’d started to notice an unfamiliar whine. Now we had no power! Believe me, it’s no fun crawling along a busy interstate at 40 or 50 miles per hour!

We managed to limp into the small town of Durant and find a garage. They were pretty sure we had a transmission problem which was also our greatest fear. After cooling off, the vehicle responded a little better and they recommended that we take it to the Chev dealership a little further down the highway at Iowa City. We had a little difficulty finding the place but once we did, we learned that though the transmission fluid needed to be flushed and replaced, the transmission itself was fine and the problem originated with the catalytic converter. It needed to be replaced.

The good news was that though the vehicle is no longer covered by warranty, the catalytic converter was! GM would pay for the replacement including installation! The bad news was that there wasn’t one available anywhere in the state of Iowa! One would have to be brought in from out of state. They could have one there by this morning but we’d have to pick up the cost of shipping. And, of course, we’d have to find a place to spend the night!

The dealership recommended the Heartland Inn and after phoning around, I discovered that they did indeed offer the best deal. We packed up the basics for an overnight stay, left the trailer in the secure lot at the dealership and were delivered to our hotel by the dealership shuttle. They were definitely doing their best to take good care of us!

Since we were without a vehicle and there didn’t seem to be much of interest within walking distance, we spent the remainder of the day hanging out at the hotel. The fact that it had a nice pool helped a lot! The shuttle picked us up shortly before noon today and 25 hours after pulling in, we were on our way again.

Yesterday, when I was beginning to stress out over what might be wrong with the vehicle and how we were going to cope with this unexpected setback, Richard reminded me that simply having a vehicle at all, not to mention a trailer to pull behind it and the opportunity to enjoy holidays like this one, puts us amongst the world’s most privileged people. Wow! That really put things in perspective for me!

Our main reason for coming to the Kansas City area was to attend a two day cross cultural orientation event at MidAmerica Nazarene University in preparation for possible short term missions work with the Church of the Nazarene. It was both informative and inspiring. The last question we were asked to discuss was “What’s next for you?” At this point, we’re not sure. We’ll simply continue to wait for direction. When the time comes, as I’m sure it probably will, that our skills match up with a need in the field, we’ll be ready to go.

Kansas City sits on the border between Kansas and Missouri. This morning we crossed the state line and spent most of the day on the Missouri side. We began by worshipping at Kansas City First Church of the Nazarene and then made our way to Country Club Plaza, considered by many to be the city’s crown jewel. Spanish inspired architecture, statues, tile mosaics and sparkling fountains make this 14-square-block shopping and dining district a perfect place for a Sunday afternoon stroll.

Kansas is known as the City of Fountains. There are over 200 of these public works of art in various locations around the city. We saw several of them in the Plaza area as well as one in front of Union Station, the second largest working train station in the US after Grand Central Station in New York. Built in 1914, it quickly became one of the city’s most prominent landmarks. Today, it houses a science centre, theatres, restaurants and a model railway display that would thrill some of the men in my family!

Bloch Fountain at Union Station

On the way back to the campground, after crossing the border back into Kansas, we stopped for a few groceries. I also decided to check out the shoe store that’s just down the mall from the grocery store and guess what I found? Red shoes! Super comfortable, I love them totally, red shoes! What could be more appropriate than buying red shoes in Kansas? Even better, not only were they on sale but the store was having a buy one pair, get the second pair half price sale so I also bought the same shoes in black!

Over the past two days, we made our way across the breadth of Kansas on the I-70, the interstate that’s also known as the Main Street of Kansas or America’s Main Street. Along the way, almost every little town or city has its claim to fame, some because of interesting landmarks, others for political or historical reasons.

Abilene was the childhood home of Dwight D. Eisenhower and Russell, where we camped last night, was the birthplace of 1996 presidential candidate, Bob Dole. Lawrence was founded as an abolitionist settlement in 1854 and nearby Lecompton is known as “The Birthplace of the Civil War Where Slavery Began to Die”. Though we read about each as we passed by, we didn’t stop at most of them. We did, however, stop to look at the 24 foot by 32 foot reproduction of one of Vincent Van Gogh’s sunflower paintings that sits on an easel almost 80 feet high in Goodland, one of the nation’s top sunflower producers. We also stopped at Oakley and ate our lunch at the foot of a larger than life statue of Buffalo Bill Cody or “Cousin Bill” as we fondly refer to him since Richard is a direct descendant of his aunt! Apparently the Buffalo Bill legend began just a few miles from Oakley when Bill, at that time a buffalo hunter supplying meat to the construction crews working on the Pacific Railroad, won a contest with fellow hunter, William Comstock, to see which of the two Bills could kill the most buffalo in an eight hour period.

In many ways, Kansas reminds us of southern Alberta with it’s wide open fields and big sky. It’s much hotter though and at the moment, at least, much more humid. The thermometer reached 40C (104F) yesterday and a heavy rainstorm last night left today very muggy. In fact, it feels much like a summer day in Japan complete with the whine of cicadas, a sound we haven’t heard since our summer there! I have a much better internet connection sitting outside under the awning but I actually have to go inside the air conditioned trailer once in awhile to cool off! Another indication of the difference in climate between Alberta and Kansas is the fact that we saw combines at work in the fields and it’s only the middle of July!

We’re now comfortably settled in a campground on the outskirts of Kansas City and ready to attend a two day cross cultural orientation event at MidAmerica Nazarene University in preparation for possible short term missions work with the Church of the Nazarene. I think the Lord must have saved this spot just for us! The campground, which is located about 15 minutes from the MNU campus, is very much a city parking lot type but we have the end site at the back of the campground next to the dog run. Instead of looking out on another trailer 6 or 8 feet away, we look out on a lovely little wooded area & are shaded by a grove of big trees. Apparently the campground stays very full & they recommend reserving well in advance but I called yesterday morning and this was one of only two spots that were still available!

It wasn’t a hike but we spent several hours walking today! From store to store we went searching out bargains. We love American factory outlet malls and made sure to include a huge one located at Castle Rock, between Denver and Colorado Springs, in our travel plans.

The recent recession has hit the United States hard and that was never more obvious to us than today. The Castle Rock Outlet Mall has space for approximately 115 retail outlets but about half of them sit vacant! For whatever reason, it seems that clothing outlets have fared best and we visited many of them today. I have no idea how many garments I tried on! It would have been very easy to get carried away and buy more than we needed but we managed not to. We did come away with some wonderful bargains though. I bought two pairs of capri pants at Gap for less than $12 each. Richard and I bought four items at Izod for a total of less than $60. Any one of those items might have cost that much at Golf Town or in our golf club pro shop.

In addition to clothing shops, we also visited several shoe stores and Richard found a good buy on running shoes. I, however, did not find what I’ve been looking for for the past few months. Red shoes! I’m not sure why but I really want a pair of red shoes! Since I started looking, I’ve seen several pairs I liked. Unfortunately, they’ve always been on someone else’s feet. Tomorrow I’m going to Kansas; Wizard of Oz country. I really should have had red shoes.