House O' Sullivans

Last Thursday, Casey and I woke up ridiculously early, dressed in pioneer garb, and loaded a bus bound for Wyoming.  We spent three days hiking a portion of the Mormon Trail with the youth of our stake.  Casey was the appointed trail boss and I a fiddler.  Just a couple of days before our departure, we assumed the roles of Ma and Pa, when another couple found out that they couldn't come.  Casey and I were assigned to the vanguard handcart in a line-up of ten. It was humbling to walk that section of trail, literally among dozens of pioneer graves.  I learned much about sacrifice and the way that it makes things sacred.  That trail was definitely sacred ground.  The details of the trail and the travail and the fun and my personal reflections remain in my journal.  As I always say, the blog is like the "large plates."  The juicy stuff stays largely in my personal journal. Today I celebrated the pioneers on the sidelines.  I've worked t...

Hallee, Sophie, Zeke, and Grandma on scene I took the kids to the Days of 47 Parade last year on a last minute whim.  I had a 4-year-old, a 3-year-old, and a barely one-year-old and I was working alone.  The kids LOVED it and it wasn't a big deal, like I'd envisioned.   We parked a couple of blocks away and walked down to the parade route just as the first police motorcycles whizzed by and got great seats.   Hallee This year I invited my Mom to come with us.  She loves parades and has lots of fond memories of this one with her family when she was a little girl.  We pulled a repeat this year.  Parked a couple of blocks away from the route, walked onto the scene right as the first of the parade came by.  Got 'em.  This year we scored some sweet spots under the trees and in the shade of the Leonardo.  The ground slopes up toward the building, so we had stadium seating even though we were a few layers back in the...