And then there were 1400...

Sometimes here in the South we can feel a little secluded from the world. Living in Utah we were surrounded by members of our church. Neighbors, doctors, teachers, and friends. Even strangers on the street shared something with us as many of whom were members of our faith. Here in the south we sometimes walk a lonely road. Misunderstood and often criticized. For a 14 year old teenager that can be alot to bare.

Living here in Alabama, Lisa is the only teenager in our subdivision of 80 plus homes that is a member of our church. In a community of more than 20,000 plus people she is one of only 50 active LDS youth. Lisa is one of only a handful of LDS students at her new High School which will house over 1300 students this year. And she is most definitely the only YW in her Ward that knows what its like to live in Utah and be the majority instead of the minority.

Hence the reason we wanted to send Lisa to E.F.Y. this year. Not only was her roommate a member, but so were the counselors, hallmates, parents, and friends of over 1400 youth who attended her session at EFY!

Dancing the night away...

One night before Lisa went off to EFY her cousin's friends came over to visit. They were introduced and Lisa learned they had just gotten back from a week at BYU for EFY! She was thrilled to have someone to talk to about the experience with and hear everything they did and all the fun they had.

Then they mentioned the "dancing". Lisa was horrified to find out that at some of the dances they actually played the WALTZ and the FOX TROT! Quickly coming to her aid the boys spent the next hour and a half teaching Lisa the dance steps they just learned at EFY the past week! What a fun way to prep for her conference!

Perfect timing...

One of the reasons we drove to Utah this trip was to take Lisa to E.F.Y. (Especially For Youth) at B.Y.U. (Brigham Young University) in Provo. After registering Lisa online for her session at EFY my brother Jonathan called to tell us that he would be graduating with his Master's of Business Administration the same week we were to arrive! What perfect timing! We were so excited we could be there for the event!
It wasn't until several weeks later we learned that he had also been asked to give the commencement address at the graduation services! Keep in mind this is the little brother that use to torment me as child growing up in Hawaii. Who hid my things and teased me in front of my boyfriends. Who dented the front end of our Mercury sedan only to fix it with duct tape and spray paint hoping no one would notice. The same brother who let my mother perm his hair when he was 6 years old and dress him up like a girl. The same little brother who grew up to be an amazing father, husband, and friend. Who could ask for a better brother than that? Congratulations Master Jonathan! We are so proud of you!

Holding onto hugs...

We were able to meet my nephew for the very first time this trip! It took a bit of convincing, but he finally realized we weren't all that bad! He wasn't too fond of Arnold or I but he LOVED Kenny! And Kenny LOVED having a younger "brother" to play with!
My brother's youngest son loved to box! He's definitely got a good swing! And he loved to box with Kenny! I think my brother's daughters were happy for the respite while we were there!

Fun with the cousins...

One of the best parts about the trip is that we were able to visit with so many family and friends along the way!
These are my younger brother's kids who live in American Fork, UT. We stayed with them the entire time we were in Utah! Their oldest is Lisa's age. Their middle child is a year older than Kenny. And their younger daughter is Jessica's age. How perfect is that?

Somehow little brothers always grow up...

While in Utah we were able to visit with Arnold's younger brother, Steven. It was the first time we were able to see him since his return from Novosibirsk, Russia where he served a two year LDS mission.
Before Steven left for Russia we had each child stand next to him and take a picture so that we could document their growth while he was gone. To our surprise the kids were not the only ones that grew while Steven was on his mission. Arnold tried to tiptoe in this picture so that the difference wasn't so significant, but he finally conceded and accepted the fact that his 'little' brother wasn't so little anymore!

To the rescue...

Somewhere in the middle of Colorado we stopped in at a Wendy's for lunch. While in the parking lot we watched a 53 ft semi-trailer turn a sharp corner and proceed to run right over a concrete post designed to help avoid such incidents. The driver of the semi tried to correct the problem by reversing back over the post and inevitably got stuck.
We sat and watched for a few minutes when Arnold turned and looked at me and said, "You know...I have the equipment in the back of the van to help them." I couldn't believe my ears! I called his bluff and said quite smuggly, "Okay...you've got twenty minutes. Let's see you lift that loaded 53 ft semi trailer off of that concrete post." Well the challenge was on. And Arnold proceeded to free the trailer from the post by hand in less than 17 minutes. I knew I had to get pictures because no one would believe me. And of course, Arnold wanted to document his "win". That'll teach me to ever challenge him again.

Cats and dogs...

I tried to snap this picture of Kenny and Aunt Sooz's cat when Kenny was rubbing noses with it. I wasn't fast enough so I said "Smile!" and this is what Kenny came up with! Doesn't he look just like the cat?
The kids enjoyed playing with the animals as much as they did visiting with family.

Family...

We couldn't pass up the opportunity to snap some pictures while we were all together in Colorado.
Arnold's parents and Arnold's older sister.

No better place to learn how to drive...

One day at the farm I realized I was by myself and it was quiet all around the house. Then I realized I could hear a tractor off in the distance and knew that Arnold and the kids were up to something! They all took turns driving the tractor up and down Grandpa's field! What fun they had! Now if we could only teach Lisa how to signal and use her rear view mirrors for something other than makeup applying we'd be set!
They stopped just long enough for me to snap this picture and they were off again! For this one Jessica was the driver and it was quite a while before she would let Lisa back on again!

Only in Colorado...

As we were driving around in Alamosa, Colorado we spotted this unusual sight at a drive through in town.
If you look closely you'll see a woman on a horse going through the drive thru. We had to get a picture knowing that no one would believe us!

Shrek up close and personal...

While visiting Arnold's parents in Colorado we had a chance to take the kids to see "Shrek". Not the regular movie version in theaters...but the real life giant version of the horse named Shrek! He stood something like 50 hand lengths tall and had the biggest deep dark eyes we'd ever seen. Kind of a fun way to spend the day with Grandma and Grandpa!

On the farm...

We have always loved the farm. It is so quiet and serene. I loved this picture of Kenny and Jessica. The first morning we woke up I went to see where everyone was and they were just sitting there quietly looking out over the fields. I ran to get my camera but they heard me creep up behind them so I snapped this one instead. I think they were thinking about how nice it was to be back at the farm too!
The kids loved the calves! Lisa couldn't stand the smell so all I got in this picture were the two that didn't care!
The kids were so excited when they saw this slide! We use to have it in the back yard of our Woods Cross house. It served its purpose for many years before we let Arnold's dad haul it off to the farm! The kids loved seeing it again and I couldn't resist a picture!

To the bat cave...

Carlsbad Caverns is located in southern New Mexico and in a nutshell is an underground cavern of rock formations that resemble everything from the mouth of a whale to the top of a chinaman's hat. The park contains 113 caves, formed when sulfuric acid dissolved the surrounding limestone, creating some of the largest caves in North America.
Each formation in the cavern had unique names assigned to them. Some of our favorites were the Big Room, King's Palace, the Green Lake Room, Witch's Finger, Fairyland, and Rock of Ages.
There is an elevator that takes you down to the base of the cavern, but Arnold said that in order for us to fully appreciate the depth and beauty of the caverns we needed to WALK the 1 and 1/2 miles down. So we did. And he was right. It was simply amazing. And the kids loved it. And now we can cross off one more thing on our list of places to show our kids before they grow up and become too old to go on family trips with their parents.

Cactus and caverns...

Jessica has been by far the best picture taker of the trip. None of the others let me pose them and click away like she does. She's a natural. So for the rest of the blog if you see a bunch of pictures of only Jessica its because she seems to be the only one that really enjoys being in them!
Or at least stops long enough for me to take one!

Eight hairy legs...

As we entered New Mexico Arnold nonchalantly looked over at me and asked if I saw that "spider" crossing the road. A little confused, I asked him, "What spider?" When he said, "That Tarantula!" I thought Kenny was going to explode! So we had to do a U-turn and back track a few hundred feet until we finally found him quietly crossing the road.
Lucky for me my camera had a zoom lense so I was able to stay as far away from the spider as possible. After a few pictures the spider decided he was ready to crawl back into hiding. In unison, Kenny and Jessica both asked, "Can we keep him? Pleeeeaaaaase?!" I looked at them both and said with a smile, "Sure...if you plan on walking home." Needless to say that was the end of that conversation.
State number four was New Mexico. We enjoyed the unique landscape and the adobe style homes. We certainly weren't in the "South" anymore.

Time sometimes stands still....

The days we spent with Granny were so fun! The generation gap between her and the kids slowly began to fade as we spent time visiting, reminiscing, and looking through treasures she had kept safe and sound over the years. We even fit in a manicure and pedicure for Granny while we were there! Jessica thought that was the greatest thing ever! Next to putting on the choir concert of all the songs she had learned this year and getting Kenny to dance for Granny! We don't think he would've done it for anyone else!
One of the things I loved the most about the trip is the way Granny's face would light up when she saw Arnold enter the room. She and I talked for hours about the time they spent together while he was a young boy. All the fun things they did. The memories they made. All the trouble he caused.... Of course, Arnold denied all of it, but a little bit of it seeped out when we took this picture. As a boy Arnold would run in and out of the room and Granny would always get after him to slow down. He always would...but just long enough to smash down her hair with the palm of his hand. Granny took such great pride in her hair with all the combing, teasing, and spraying...I can totally relate to that! What a fun memory for them to have and an especially memorable picture for us to share!

Don't mess with Texas...

After a sixteen hour drive straight through Mississippi, Louisiana, and almost all the way across the state of Texas we arrived in Pecos where Arnold's grandmother lives! We had a fun visit with her! The kids have grown up quite a bit since our last visit with her when she says they were still "running around like babies". While in town we visited the Pecos zoo (a drive through zoo where you literally drive past all the animals watching each one from the comfort of your air conditioned vehicle. Trust me! It is unlike no other and the only way to visit a zoo!), the local playground (only a few hundred feet from the famous drive through zoo), and the local Walmart!
The blue bottle tree is something the kids hear about from Arnold all the time. He remembers as a child going to visit Granny in the summer and collecting the blue bottles to put on the "tree". He and granny were out and about one day when she spotted the "tree" and told Arnold how beautiful she thought it looked. It was just a dried out branch from another tree but its branches twisted in a way that made it pretty and unique. Arnold pulled the tree out and carried it home. Dug a hole and placed it in the spot it still sits today in the corner of the backyard at Granny's. The kids counted 78 blue bottles. It was fun to get a picture of them standing next to the infamous blue bottle tree!

One thing we miss the most about being so far away is the chance to be around family. Being able to visit Granny in Pecos, Texas during our trip made us realize how lucky we were to see her and enjoy hearing all the things she remembers about Arnold growing up. We'll cherish the time we spent with her in Texas!

In the beginning...

A day after school let out for summer we embarked on the biggest road trip in Schloemer family trip history! The van was rigged (by Arnold himself) to allow each of our three children their own seat and a sleeping quarters for anyone who felt it necessary to snooze in between states! The sleeping area even came equipped with two seatbelts - one for right over the chest and another to cover the area above the knees. Arnold wanted to ensure we weren't going anywhere unless we were 'safe'!
The first state we passed through was Mississippi but we missed a picture of the welcome sign so the first one we have is from Louisiana. As we passed through each state on our trip we tried to catch a picture of its welcome sign. In most cases they came out well. In others it was either too dark or we missed the sign by a few seconds. When that happened we either turned around for another shot or kept going and watched for another sign along the way!

Endless summer...

Well after five weeks on the road we are finally back home safe in our own beds! What a fun vacation we've had! We logged over 6000 miles and traveled through 17 different states! (Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and finally back home to Alabama!) Whew! Talk about a road trip! We have lots of photos but little time to spare between loads of laundry, unpacking boxes of souvenirs, preparing fireworks for the 4th and getting Lisa and I ready for our Five Stake Youth Conference! Hopefully, by the end of the week I'll have some photos uploaded. Until then! Have a great summer!!!