Waterloo, Iowa

Hi Everyone --

We are having a wonderful vacation! We have spent a great week with Michelle and Amber and her family. My mom and Julia and her family came down to Bristol, TN to visit with us. It was just one HUGE party!

We went to Wal-Mart on Monday -- a real treat for us overseas travelers. One store with everything one could possibly want or need -- a real dream come true!

The next day we went to the Hands On Museum in Johnson City, Tennessee. The kids had a great time there -- they could touch and play with everything. A kid's dream come true! We had a picnic lunch beside the river. It was a nice outing.

We celebrated Hannah's 15th birthday on Tuesday with dinner at Applebee's. She even got sung to by the waiters and waitresses and received a chocolate sundae. Corbin thought it was a great idea and told us he thought he should have his 5th birthday party at Applebee's too.

We also went to a Tennessee State Park where we picnicked and then went to see all the animals. We saw wolves and wolf puppies, vultures being fed mice, otters, bobcats, deer by the side of the road, snakes, turtles, and all kinds of fun things. It ws a nice park and we enjoyed it a lot.

Julia set up a cave exploration outing for anyone that wanted to go. Amber and her little ones and I declined. Everyone else was game. We picked up some old clothes at Goodwill and sent them on their way. There was a test area to see if they could handle the small places and everyone passed and even wanted to continue. Doug was behind Adam (12 year old nephew) and thought he was going to die. He just can't handle that teen pace any longer. Afterwards, he chose to follow Julia. He said if she could make it through, he could make it through. Julia kept saying that she wished I had come so she wouldn't be the biggest wimp there. It's good to know I'm good for something! Anyway, they had 3 full hours of climbing, crawling, squeezing, splashing, wading, and crouching. They came out of the cave covered in mud! They showered off as much as they could, but there was just so much, they had to bring some home with them. I rinsed their clothes 4 times before the water even began to run clear. They were exhausted too! There was much comparing of bruises and scrapes and sore muscles. Everyone was walking very funny!

We went to dinner that night at an authentic southern bar-b-que place. It was wonderful! The food was fantastic, the waitress was great, the culture was a real treat!

We enjoyed visiting Amber and loved playing with her kids. There were enough kids to go around for all of us. Doug would take Corbin to Lowes and get things to fix the house. Corbin and Miles were his best helpers. They all loved it! Amber was a good sport and put up with all the commotion, teenagers, messes, and people milling around. Ella-marie was a joy and was just happy to be with everyone. Hunter is 5-6 weeks old and doing very well. He is also a good baby and easy to get along with. We have missed them already!

Friday we set off for Columbus again. It's a 6 1/2 hour drive from Bristol. We made it by 7:30 p.m. We had a fun Mexican dinner of fish tacos and quesadillas. We played Imagine If. . . and went to bed. We left for Waterloo Saturday morning. We had to stop at Borders Bookstore to get a copy of the new Harry Potter book for Hannah (her birthday present). That also gave her something to do on the 10 hour drive to Waterloo. We had a nice trip -- uneventful, good weather, and nice scenery. We are at the Country Inns and Suites.

Church today was very nice -- to see old friends and have lots of hugs! I got to speak in Sacrament meeting since the other speakers had to cancel at the last minute. We have lots to do this next week, but it should be easy and fun.

We hope you are all well and we are looking forward to seeing Emily next week! Go to the blog to see the latest pictures.

Love, Mom


Bristol, TN
July 16, 2007

Hi Everyone!

Sorry this letter didn't get out yesterday! It seems that Amber's house is just always humming with things to do and kids to play with. How can I give that up -- even for a few minutes?

We had an exciting week. We left for our big vacation on Thursday evening. We had a 4 hour drive to Mumbai to get to the airport. Our flight didn't leave until 12:50 a.m., so we had the driver drop us off at The Leela (a fancy 5 star hotel near the airport). We had dinner and then they have a shuttle car that took us to the airport. Our timing was just right. The Mumbai Airport seemed different to me this time than when I was so tired coming to Mumbai in February. We only had to wait a short time, then our flight was called. We were very tired by this time, so we spent this flight (9 hrs 25 min) sleeping. They fed us breakfast just before Amsterdam.

In Amsterdam, we only had a short time to make our connection to Detroit, Michigan. We made it in plenty of time and were on that plane making our next flight. They also served us breakfast, then it was the long flight to the US (8 hrs. 25 min). We got to Detroit at 10:30 a.m. and had to go through all the immigration, customs, etc. We caught a shuttle bus to get to our rental car place. By the time we were done with that, it was noon and we were on our way to Columbus.

We found Michelle's place with no problem and that night we had a picnic with Michelle and Sarah and Sarah's husband Ryan. It was a beautiful day and it was nice to be off the plane and out of the car and on the ground.

We left for Bristol, Tennessee Saturday morning at 9 a.m. and we got to Amber's house at 3:30. The kids were so excited to see us -- as much as we were excited to see them. The hard part is that we are still suffering from jet lag. We just crash in the afternoon. Hopefully, every day will be a little better.

Sunday, Spencer blessed baby Hunter. That was a really nice treat for us.

The pictures are of the kids with their Indian clothes on. Corbin thought they were great fun. Miiles wasn't so sure. Ella-marie was a really good sport. She likes here squeeky sandals, even though she was afraid of them at first. But they are so pretty she just can't resist them.

We are looking forward to seeing everyone soon.
Love, Lucinda