Rain, Jeep, Crocheting, Music, Biscuits...

Monday, June 22nd, after a rainy night, Claude headed out for errands. He had an appointment with Dr. Fine, our podiatrist. The ankle Claude broke in Rome in 2024 is still a bit swollen and probably always will be. He had his toe nails clipped and will go back in three months.

Claude headed to Tire Discounters to have some things worked on his Jeep. He gave me a call because they could take the Jeep right away. I left and picked him up and we headed to Bojangles for a biscuit. The lady at the window recognized Claude, even driving my Buick. It seems Claude had stopped after seeing Dr. Fin for a biscuit. She smiled at Claude and said, "I see you are back and your brought your sidekick with you this time!" We all had a good chuckle. 

When home I continued work on finishing the previous weeks Blog and labeling and filing my pictures for the week. I posted on Facebook and via eMail the Relief Society lesson for the coming Sunday and the announcements for the week. Then I got a good start on the July Relief Society newsletter. 

The Jeep was fixed so we picked it up. 

When home, Claude made grilled cheese with macaroni and tomato soup for dinner. We curled up to watch Castle.

Tuesday, June 23rd, was the day we set aside to go to the temple. We would try the 11:30 endowment session again. This day the endowment room was full of people. That is always a good thing. We had a wonderful session. As we drove home, I shared with Claude some insights I gained this time and Claude shared some he gained. It is interesting we have been going to the temple for 56 years and we are still learning things. 

We did stop at Taziki's for lunch on the way home. Their falafel is so good and I love their rice as the side dish. Yum!! Great tradition we have started.

We were stuck in a long traffic jam on I-64 coming home because of a wreck. 

Once home, I spent the remainder of my day crochet on Joel's afghan. I had all the body of the afghan finished by the end of the day. Only the border and burying the ends of yard were left. Yeah me!!

Wednesday, June 24th, I started my day spending some time going over what the Church has sent about the changes in our Sunday schedule beginning in September. I narrowed it down to two documents. One was a brochure produced by the Church and the other was a one page Word document with specific instructions for Relief Society on it. I shared both of these on the Google Drive with the rest of our Relief Society presidency. 

Claude had a tie he loves that needed restitching in the back. I got the repaired. I also purchased the planetarium tickets for our visit to Nashville. Choice privileges sent me a letter apologizing for the frustration experienced at the Muskegon hotel. They wanted to give me points to compensate but they wanted to put them in a new Choice Privileges account. Since I already have a Choice Privileges account, I really didn't want another. I sent a thank you to them for their generous offer and requested them to please add them to my existing account.

Claude was grocery shopping during this. We haven't done grocery shopping in about two weeks or more. It is the first time in the four years we have lived here that the bread basket as completely empty. Yep, we needed groceries. He had a struggle and he ended up with two carts once the groceries were checked and bagged. Bless his heart. 

I spent the remainder of my day crocheting on Nelson's Christmas afghan. I completed it by the very end of the day. My arm is worn out. Claude really liked this finished afghan. 

We received a request from the Mott's about using my key to the church. Bro. Mott came in from Lexington to borrow the key and get the bag his wife left in the church. They were leaving on a trip the next day and were very grateful there was a key close to get them in to retrieve this bag. Felt good to be helpful to someone else. 

Thursday, June 25th, Claude had a hearing aid appointment. However, he left early enough to make two stops before that appointment. His first stop was Chick-fil-A for their chicken mini's. He loves these. While we mostly have biscuits at Bojangles because they are so good and you can get them any time of day, Claude loves Chick-fil-A's chicken mini biscuits a lot! He left early enough to get him some for his breakfast. Then he went to the tire store to have them reset his gage for oil changes. They did an oil change on Monday and the warning light was still coming on. Then he went to his audiologist. One of his hearing aids was not holding a charge. This happened to the other one a while back. Now the hearing aids are out of warranty. They sent the hearing aid off to be fixed and gave Claude a loaner to wear.

I placed an Amazon order. I have learned to save to a list this things I might want. Then, when I order, it is over $35 and I don't have to pay for postage and I don't have to pay for Amazon Prime. 

Claude went to take his nap. I had a very quiet house for a while and that is just what I needed. I wanted to work on Raelyn's afghan. I had tried to start this afghan the hotel in Dayton when we were driving home from our Chicago / Michigan run. It was a very difficult pattern to get started and I couldn't focus like I needed to with the television going. Now, Claude was asleep for a while and my home was quiet. I had the yarn and pattern ready to go on the loveseat in the living room. I sat down and went to work trying to figure out this pattern. I crocheted a bit on this third row where the pattern of the afghan really begins. I bet a crocheted and torn out about 5 or 6 times before I was comfortable that I had it right. I could see what they were trying to do. I completed that third row and again had to tear it out a few times till I got it right. The fifth row was a lot like the third row. As it turns out, once I got the pattern down, it repeats two rows for the remainder of the length I want for the afghan. Whew! By the time Claude woke up, I had several rows complete and could see what I was going for. Yeah me!!

Friday, June 26th, I woke up craving donuts from Frank's. I was awake way before Claude. I thought about sneaking in and getting dressed and going and purchasing the donuts before Claude woke up. I kept talking myself out of it. I am still working on my intermittent fasting diet. I am not to eat before lunch time. When Claude woke up, I suggested we go on a donut run. He never turns me down on these ideas. We went to Frank's, got donuts and me a chocolate milk, returned home and enjoyed our donut breakfast. 

I opted to bag anything else I might want to do during the day and concentrate on a good start to Raelyn's afghan. A day of clearing the DVR while crocheting. 

In the evening we went to the Lexington Kentucky North Stake Center for a Watch Party. The Tabernacle Choir had performed at the Hollywood Bowl the previous two nights. Members that don't live in that area were invited to gather at their stake centers and had a watch party to view the taped version of this performance. It has been 100 years since the Tabernacle Choir performed at the Hollywood Bowl. In addition, this performance was a fund raiser for three international organizations that provide care for women and children in dire situations. There would be a host of guest artists who would perform. Claude is the historian for our stake and was taking picture and notes for a history entry.

Donnie Osmond was the last guest artist. He was wonderful. Strong voice. He sang a number of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. He was surrounded by kids from the audience. I am sure they were chosen before and practiced but it was sweet and tender. He let one of the little boys try on the coat. Then he had the choir, children and the audience sing with him the first verse to "I Am a Child of God". Donny sang this in church when he was three or four years old. You could feel the Spirit so strong during this. 

There are two pictures of the final stage bow because the guest artists were so many it took two times at the stage to recognize them all. To the left are Sebastian Arcelus and Stephanie J. Bloch. They are husband and wife. He was the emcee for the evening. We knew him from the television show Madam Secretary. She is an award winning actress from the theater. Together they starred in "Into the Woods" more recently on Broadway. Next to them are David Foster and Katharine McPhee. This is another couple. We watched them perform in Andrea Bocelli's anniversary show from his home in Tuscany, Italy. Between these two couples is a young man, whose name I do not have, who performed "The Prayer" with Katharine McPhee. Then you have Donny Osmond and Mack Wilberg, the chorister and director of the Tabernacle Choir. 

The next stage bow was for the Bonner Family. I saw them several years ago at Time Out for Women. They are excellent. Such energy. It was good to see this three generations of family perform. 

It was an excellent evening for Claude and me. We had BD Mongolian Grill for dinner and then enjoyed this amazing show. Excellent evening. 

Saturday, June 27th, would be a rainy day in our home. I did manage to deep clean our bathroom. The remainder of my day was clearing the DVR. Claude made BLT's for dinner with a pasta salad and corn on the cob. We were 'eating good in the neighborhood'. We watched Castle for the evening. Very low-key day.

Sunday, June 28th, we enjoyed Sacrament Meeting very much. The Wensel's spoke. They moved into the ward and to Georgetown Thanksgiving time 2025. They had three little kids. The parents, Sarah and Daniel, each spoke. Daniel was called a couple of Sunday's ago as the new 2nd counselor in the bishopric. Sarah is a Primary teacher and a Valiant Activity Leader. Wonderful family.

It was Relief Society lesson Sunday, so I spent my morning making sure I had all the sisters on the roll. 

We enjoyed Chipotle for our lunch. Then home for Claude to take a nap. I would watch an episode of Northern Disclosure. 

I will complete my Blog for this week. Then the evening will hold crocheting, working of the Relief Society July newsletter, going over the grid for The Drive with Claude, and/or watching television. Some combination of some of these things. A good Sabbath Day.

Eyes, Travel Grid, Yard Work, Spamalot, Father's Day...

Tuesday, June 16th, we returned home from our Chicago / Michigan trip. We quickly unpacked and I headed to see Dr. Richardson, our ophthalmologist. It was a six month checkup. All went pretty much as expected. I assured him I loved my new glasses for distance seeing. So much better. But the bi-focal part was not working pretty much at all. I can us that part of my glasses when I crochet but all other uses of the bi-focal portion are useless. My lower quadrant of my vision in each eye is getting worse. He checked my retina. It was in good shape. He tried several other things including reviewing the notes from the doctor he referred me to about possible glaucoma. Bottom line...it is cataracts that are doing this. I would qualify for cataract surgery now but the glasses are helping a lot so I will wait a bit for that. I will go back in six months and will need to tell Dr. Richardson when I am ready for cataract surgery. 

We opted for dinner at McCallisters. Then home to watch another episode of the World War II documentary with Tom Hanks and Castle. My body aches got worse at the evening wore on. 

Wednesday, June 17th, I caught up on my Blog of our trip and getting pictures labeled and filed. I did the laundry, my fingernails and watched three Northern Disclosure episodes. That was it for a day of feeling awful. 

Thursday, June 18th, woke up thinking I was much better. A little sluggish but better. So I went with Claude to Morehead, Kentucky to unload a truck from Salt Lake City to help with foodbanks in Kentucky. This always feels good to do. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is donating 250 truck loads of food to different places of need in the United States to support the United States as it celebrates its 250th anniversary (the Semiquincentennial) of the Declaration of Independence. Twenty food banks in this part of Kentucky came to pick up these donations. The truck actually came on Wednesday, June 17th, and the pallets were unloaded from the truck and places in a long line in the Highway Departments shed. On Thursday, every group signed in and was given a paper with the items they would receive and a number of their place in the line of trucks to pick up items. Volunteers were stationed in front of each pallet of boxes. Two men were given checklists of who was coming and what they were to receive. The trucks entered from the back of the Highway Department shed. They slowly drove up the row of pallets at the direction of the two men with the clipboards. As they came to a pallet, they stopped and the volunteers put the number of boxes they were to receive in the back of their vehicle. Then the trucks eventually exited out the end front end of the shed. Very efficient process. Samone Ratcliff is our JustServe Coordinator. She does and amazing job working with all these agencies and preparing all the paperwork for the distribution of goods. Claude was there to gather pictures and notes to write-up a story for the Lexington Kentucky North Stake history. I helped with giving things out and then clearing out the cardboard and pallets as they were emptied. When we finished, I was a sweaty mess and clearly not up to full health. I would go home and to bed. 

Michael shared a photo album he made in Google Photos of him and Bailey. He took her to a cooking class. Michael and Andie have done several of these over the years in Kentucky. Bailey has always wanted to participate. It seems Michael, being the good father he is, made that happen for Bailey while she is home for the summer. Look at the smiles on their faces. Looks like that made great memories and had a really good time together. 

I was supposed to attend our June Relief Society activity. I was clearly not up to it. As the secretary for our Relief Society, I usually make sure pictures are taken. Whitney Garrett, 2nd Counselor, made sure I got these two pictures. Erika Snow let us use her home for the cookout and she provided a talk about dealing with adversity in life. Whitney said it was light in attendance, which is normal for the summer, but they all had a really good time. It was a rainy day so I am grateful the rain held off for them to have this event. 

Friday, June 19th, after a very poor nights sleep, I woke to finish my work on the grid for The Drive, our big road trip later this year. During my night of not sleeping, I made good progress on setting up a good draft of the grid this day. I was trying to find times from one place to another and factor in time at the site to see how many days we would actually need for this trip. This just takes time but if very worth all the effort. 

Claude mowed the front yard.

In the evening, we were to go to the Lexington Opera House to see Spamalot. As we drove, we were in a line of traffic waiting for a chance to turn left during rush hour traffic. I took these pictures of the scenery and posted them with this comment on Facebook: "If you lived in the Bluegrass region of Kentucky, you could enjoy black fences around green fields with thoroughbred horses enjoying their home. Not bad I tell you, not bad at all."

We stopped at Firehouse Subs on the way into Lexington for our dinner. This is our habit. We love their sandwiches and they are right on the road to get into downtown Lexington. When we were finishing the Squires and the Christensen's were coming in for their dinner. So fun to see friends from church when we are out and about. 

We enjoyed Spamalot. We have seen this before but we didn't remember exactly what was in the show. I remembered the first one focusing a lot of the comedy sketches of Monty Python and their movie "The Holy Grail". This production was all about a play on "The Holy Grail". They were good to includes hints to the fact they were in Kentucky by including a line from "My Old Kentucky Home" in one of their musical number and other things. That recognition is always fun. Like other entertainment that gets an update for today's audience, they added some bawdy humor that really didn't need to be there. They did this to my last live viewing of "Les Miserable". I loved this play and always got us tickets when it came to town. After the last viewing, I have never gotten tickets again. While I totally enjoyed laughing at old British humor in Spamalot, I really did not care for the bawdy additions. Not necessary.

One of the things that we are seeing with productions nowadays in this big screen added to the set and amazing scenes projected onto it. Some are so very lifelike it is unreal. They combined this one with some set features that were solid and the actors could walk on them, stairs, doors. It really is an amazing addition to theatrical performances. 

Saturday, June 20th, it felt good to wake up after sleeping well. I was up way before Claude and went right to work on The Drive grid. I was able to complete this really good draft and print two copies. Next Claude and I will go over what I now know and determine what to cut out of the trip and what to leave in. 

Claude wanted to get the back yard grass cut. However, these amazing rain, wind, thunder and lightning storms and brought lots of branches from the trees to the ground. I went out to pick up these branches. Claude started to cut the grass where I had cleared branches. Then he got the manual trimmers and clipped some of the low hanging branches. Claude cut the rest of the grass while I cut up those branches and put them in the garbage and trimmed back my ivy. We were grateful to have the yard in shape and I always enjoy when we work together in the yard.

Claude would lay down for a nap. I watched a documentary on the brain. I saw this one once before and saved it to give it a second viewing. Lots of information about how the brain works and I didn't get it all in one viewing. It was interesting to view again.

We had decided to go to dinner for Father's Day on Saturday afternoon as we felt it would be much less crowded. We went to Montana Grill. My guy enjoyed a bison steak. He does enjoy a good steak. I had bison nachos. These are definitely the best nachos we have every had anywhere. 

When we got home, I realized Claude's sandals were sitting on the floor. I remembered pulling out his big cowboy boots for the kids to play in. We all do this with adult shoes and little kids feet. I felt the need to try on Claude's sandals. I took this picture and shared it with our family on our family Facebook page. "Time for a chuckle...Remember giving little kids adult shoes to play in? I found Claude's sandals and thought I might try them on. Go ahead...have that chuckle now!"

In the evening, we watched Castle and I did some crocheting.

Sunday, June 21st, was Father's Day. The Primary kids sang two special musical number. The Young Women gave beef sticks to all the fathers. I am not fond of this as a Father's Day treat. They give mothers a My Old Kentucky chocolate candy bar. I wish they did that for Father's Day as well. Claude loves beef jerky but definitely doesn't care for a beef stick. I played the piano for Primary. The ladies covered all the men's callings so they could meet together the second hour and have ham sandwiches. Now, that is a better Father's Day treat!

Claude and I went to Jimmy John's and picked up sandwiches for our lunch.

When we got home, Jake and Claude talked for a bit. It is always a good thing when we talk with Jake. He shared some insight into how they are using a remake of a part of the hospital in the new version of Scrubs. Fun to hear them chatting. 

I gave Claude an Ariat shirt. It is dark blue and made of a fabric and in a style that breathes. It has a piece of cloth sewn into the tail that is the type of cloth you use to clean your glasses. How cool is that? When we were at the rodeo in Las Vegas, all the cowboys were wearing Ariat shirts. I felt like my cowboy should have his own Ariat shirt. Claude was very happy with it. 

Claude had a great nap. Then we went to Dairy Queen for an ice cream. Claude loves a peanut buster parfait. I had my usual small strawberry sundae. 

When we got home, Claude picked out our television viewing for the evening. It was a very nice Father's Day for him. 

Preparation, Hayden's Graduation, Michigan Family...

Monday, June 8th, was a very normal day. I finished up the Blog from the previous week and labeled and filed my pictures. I posted announcements for the next couple of weeks for the Relief Society sisters on Facebook and via eMail. I walked my treadmill. Then I cleared some things from the VCR. I read the missionaries letters that come in on Monday. That is always fun. The I spend and inordinate amount of time trying to figure out how to get around in Chicago for our trip to attend Hayden's graduation from DePaul University. I tried to find a picture of Claude and me to put in the frame I put Harry Potter cloth around. I found the picture I wanted to use. This led me to changing the family picture in LDS Tools. Unsuccessful at that. Not sure what the problem is. Tried several pictures and none seemed to successfully upload. In the evening I crocheted a bit.

Tuesday, June 9th, was a rainy day. As in...it rained all day long, almost. I woke up two hours before Claude. I am seeing this as a pattern.

I went back to trying to determine public transportation in Chicago for Claude and me. I figured out where the stops were located we needed, what line they were on. To get to graduation we would need to change lines and that does not look like a clear shot at all. Send Hayden a text to be sure I am understanding it correctly. 

In the afternoon, the rain clear for a bit. I hurried to Kohl's to try and find a new blouse to wear for Hayden's graduation. I found a dress and a blouse to try on. The dress was so nice but a little too low cut. I felt I could add a few hand stitches and make that work. But when I raised my arms, it was too short. I liked the blouse okay but it had some lace on the sleeves and around the tail of the shirt. I was sure about the second washing that would start to unravel. I ended up with a nice outing and no purchases. Claude and I laughed about the fact that one of the reasons he loves me is I am in no way out of control in spending, even if I really wanted to something. I am a very practical person. I like that about me. 

Claude made us biscuits and gravy for dinner. Yum. It was so flavorful. I am learning that with this intermittent fasting diet, when I do eat, I really want to eat something with flavors I really enjoy. Sure don't want to waste my times to eat on anything that is not something I will enjoy. 

Claude and I both felt very dizzy this day. Claude is still recovering from whatever cold or flu that he has had. I was concerned I was getting it. Not good before a trip.

Wednesday, June 10th, I ended up having a very bad night. Reflux something awful. Don't have that very often. Slept in the guest bedroom with lots of pillows to keep my head up. When I finally got out of bed, I determined I was taking a down day. I felt feverish and achy, voice was raspy, coughing and sneezing. Didn't want to get what Claude has. So I allowed myself a day to minimum things. I would do laundry and change our hotels on our trip and then clear the DVR. 

In the evening, Claude suggested we drive-thru Arby's for dinner and bring something home. We did that. This is often how we eat previous to traveling so we don't have leftovers in the fridge. I would crochet a bit in the evening. 

I felt a little better by the end of the day.

Thursday, June 11th, was our final day of preparation for our trip. I updated my Blog through Wednesday, stopped mail service for the duration of our trip, added my credit card to my Google Wallet, folded the last load of clothes, watched some Nova documentaries and packed. In the evening, I would crochet a bit. 

Claude got a package in the mail from Nissa. It was his Father's Day gift. It has the names of his children on it: Nissa, Andie and Jake. It is a Star Wars theme. When the very first Star Wars movie came out (Episode IV), we took our little children to see it at a theater in Denver. We waited in a line around the theater throughout the entire movie to get in to see it. We did that will three little kids. That was in 1977. Our kids were born in 1971, 1973, and 1975. They were little I tell you. They stood with us and totally enjoyed the movie. We have been Star Wars fans ever since. Great gift from Nissa to her dad. 

Friday, June 12th, our hope was to be on the road to Chicago by 9am. We were up before my alarm which gave us enough time to get a biscuit before hitting the road right at 9am. Yeah us!!

The drive was fine. We kept getting alerts about possible tornados in northern Indiana but that never happened. In fact the rain cleared by the time we got to Indianapolis. We would make one stop along the drive (which was to have been 5 hours) in Lafayette, Indiana. I had a little memory of my sister, Neffie, living there are the beginning of her marriage. She and Mike did live in his father's home in Lafayette for a year while his dad, who was a professor, took a year sabbatical. 

The Marx crew left LaGrange, Kentucky after we did. We kept in contact via text. 

Claude missed the exit ramp onto I-90 when we got south of Chicago. We thought we had it right but we were in the wrong lane and ended up on the south side of Chicago. My mind kept going to the Jim Croce song "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" on the southside of Chicago. Google Maps immediately rerouted us and we did make it to the hotel. Much later than we anticipated but we made it. We found parking in the garage that Michael told me to park in. I had prepared a list of the addresses we would possible need in Chicago and plotted the three spots we needed most. There is a red dot in each of these three place with the Hyatt House on the left, the theater in the center of the Loop and Wintrust Arena for the graduation in the lower left by the green line.

The hotel was the Hyatt House Chicago-Medical University District. It was actually a hospital building the Hyatt converted into a hotel. It has the widest hallways I have ever seen in a hotel. We checked into our room. Very nice room. A little kitchenette which we would not use, a sofa behind the television, a king bed with a small bathroom to the side. We would be very comfortable here for one night. 

We met the Marx family in the lobby of the hotel at 4:45pm. I had thoroughly researched public transportation. We were greatly relieved when Michael said he was driving for everything. Andie had carefully picked parking lots near where we would need to be and, in come cases, pre-paid the parking. They drive a mini-van. Michel would drive with Andie as co-pilot, Joyce and Claude would take the middle seats. Bailey, Hayden and me would occupy the back seat. It worked out great. I could tell my body doesn't want to bend as easily as it needs to to get in the side door, between the middle seats and turn around to sit in the center of the back seat. The Mini's were very good to hold my hair out of my eyes and I held onto the backs of seats. We were extremely grateful to Michael and Andie for doing all the logistics for the trip. 

Our first stop was the Richard M. and Maggie Daley Building. This is part of DePaul University Campus in the Loop in Chicago. There are theaters in the basement level of the building. We would view Hayden's movie "Detective Orion" there. Way cool. This was our first Hayden siting of the trip. 

The movie was excellent. Hayden really did a great job. The movie can be viewed on YouTube using this link Detective Orion. It lasts about 30 minutes. 

After the viewing, we waited as Hayden chatted with others who came to view the film. It was fun to watch him interact with others majoring in his same field as well as actors from the film. 

We then drove back to the area of the Hyatt to a location with several restaurants in it. Hayden picked 5 Guys for dinner. Claude treated and we enjoyed a family meal.

Michael took everyone but Hayden back to the hotel. Then he and Andie took Hayden back to his apartment. Claude and I were in bed by 6pm Chicago time. That would be 9pm Kentucky time. We had a 5am alarm Chicago time for Saturday morning. We hoped to get some sleep during this night. 

This night it was time for Ramon to return to Madrid, Spain. He has been the exchange student at the Roper home this past year. We have enjoyed getting to know him a bit. This Roper kids have loved having a big brother. Sweet memories and lasting friendships were formed. Parting can be hard on the kids particularly.

Saturday, June 13th, we were up at 5am. After showering and packing, we took our luggage to Andie and Michael's room to store until we returned in the afternoon. The family gathered in the lobby of the hotel at 6am. Michael had the car waiting. We left to get Hayden at 6:15am. Off to Wintrust Arena in Chicago for the graduation. 

Michael pulled up to the curb and we all got out except for Andie. They went to find the parking space she had secured. There would be three graduation this day at Wintrust. It is a carefully orchestrated affair. There are only 4 tickets per family. You have to see if you can secure unused tickets from others. Hayden did secure one ticket. That gave us 5 slots for 6 people. We had assured Michael and Andie that they, Bailey and Joyce could go if they only got 4 tickets. With Hayden's finding one additional, we had to determine if Claude would go in and I would watch the streaming or if I would go in and Claude would watch the streaming. An answer to my prayers came Friday evening. Andie was on a parents of students graduating from DePaul group. She found a parent with one extra ticket and they were actually going to be in the building with the theater we were in on Friday while we were there. Andie connected with them and got that ticket. This meant all of us could go inside Wintrust Arena to watch the graduation. What an answer to prayer! Joyce, Claude, Bailey and I got in the mass of humanity waiting to enter the building. Hayden went to find where the graduates lined up to enter the building, Andie and Michael left to park the car. We would text them where we found seats. It all worked out. Amazing!!

This is Hayden in front of Wintrust Arena before he went to find where the graduates lines up. The next picture is how Andie had the top of his mortar board decorated. I loved this decoration. 

We found our seats as the graduates were entering the building. Hayden is waving at me. The entire floor of the arena was full of graduates and the center of the back of the arena up in the stands was full of graduates. There would be two more groups this large as the day went on. We commented how grateful we were that Hayden was first in this schedule. It was cooler when waiting to get in and not bad when we left. 

They would put a QR Code on the jumbotron every now and then. You could scan it and get a link to post a greeting to your graduate. Michael and Andie each posted a greeting. Andie's is in the lower right corner and then I cropped the picture to get just the greeting. 

The professors all marched in and one came in first with the scepter. She held it until all the professors were in and then she placed it in this stand. Not sure what it was or the significance.

Eugene Jarvis gave the Commencement Address. The school is named after him. He did an excellent job with is address. He told about his life and would pause after sharing and event and say, "The lesson is..." and then share the lesson he learned from that life experience. He is an American game designer and video game programmer, known for producing pinball machines for Williams Electronics and video games for Atari. The school Hayden has attended at DePaul University is the Eugene P. Jarvis College of Computing and Digital Media. My favorite quotes from is address was "We are losing our soul to the scroll." So very true. I once heard that the person who invented the scroll thought it would help people to work more quickly. They much regretted the fact that we lose hours of our lives to scrolling Facebook and other things. 

I loved this picture of Bailey taking a snooze on her Grampa Claude's shoulder. Claude loves these quiet moments.

At the end, they asked all the mothers to stand up to be recognized so the students could give them a round of applause. Then they asked the fathers to stand for the same recognition. Then the grandparents. Very nice touch. 

That brought us to the point to read the names have the graduates take their walk. This is Hayden's walk to get the diploma cover!

Then a little video of the moving of the tassels to signify you were truly a graduate. I put a red dot at one point in the video to show where Hayden is sitting. 

Just as the professors started their recessional, they released a lot of very large balloons and the graduates had a Jimmy Buffet experience for their final hurrah!! So fun.

This was all completed between by 11am. There was not one hour to empty Wintrust Arena and the fill it with the second commencement exercise of the day. There would be a third later in the day. This meant that the door we enter to go through security now had a wall of people waiting to enter. The escalator to take you downstairs was a mass of humanity. The corner where Michael dropped us off at the beginning of the day now had two groups of people, one waiting to enter and the other trying to get out. Imagine people trying to get a picture of the graduate with the arena behind them, the tents selling commencement souvenirs, and the list goes on. Michael and Andie told me to get everyone across the street from the arena in front of a restaurant. The car was parked in a lot behind the alley behind the restaurant. Great planning on Michael and Andie's part. We made it through the mass of humanity and across the street. I was able to get this cute picture of Hayden's empty diploma folder. They will received their diploma in the mail in a few weeks. 

Andie and Michael met us and we all walked to the alley. Michael told us where to stand and wait for him and Andie to bring the car around. Then we all boarded the mini-van and headed to Pompeii for lunch. A little trepidation here on my part as Pompeii s where I fell in Ital and trashed my shoulder. The food was excellent and we had a good meal together. There were leftovers aplenty for Hayden to take home to dine on over the next couple of days.

We used the driveway of the Pompeii to take a few family pictures. 

Michael would take us back to the hotel. We would go to Michael and Andie's room and change clothes. Michael drove us to the parking lot and showed us where to pay for parking. That is where I made my big guffaw! When you entered the parking garage, you get a ticket from the machine. When you are ready to leave, you take the ticket into an entrance to the hospital where there are machines to pay. I put the ticket into the slot, the machine registered what I needed to pay. I got my credit card and put it into the slot with what appeared to be a picture of a credit card. Whoa is me. It was the same slot I put the ticket it. I could barely get my fingernails on my credit card but not well enough to pull it back out. Some aids or nurses were coming down the hall. I asked if they had tweezers so I could pull out the credit card. Nope. One of them tried to put their credit card in on top of my credit card in hopes to pull them both out. This only pushed my credit card in beyond being about to retrieve it. The office was in the parking garage. A nice man came and unlocked the machine, got out my credit card and the ticket. We started the process again and I put my credit card in the correct slot. It worked and Claude and I were off to Muskegon. That is about a 3-hour drive. This would be the trip with a different motel every night. 

We made it to Muskegon, Had a bite to eat a Wendy's. Filled the car with the best gas price we saw since leaving Kentucky. Hallelujah. Then we checked into the Muskegon hotel. 

Sunday, June 14th, I got my shower. Then Claude went in to get his shower. He called out to me that there was no hair dryer. On NO!! I checked all the places and could find now hair dryer. I called down to the desk and they said they would check. 40 minutes later I had heard nothing. I had been sitting over the air-conditioner with a brush all that time trying to get my hair dry. I was not a happy camper. No return calls. I told Claude he should bring the car to the front, I was going in the lobby to have a chat with the front desk. I explained my frustration at no hair dryer and no response after 40 minutes. They shared how busy they were. Not good form. I told them I understood but I could have at least had a phone call saying they didn't have a hair dryer. I stated I wanted a reduction in my room rate. She looked at me in disbelief. She said she would have to get her manager for that. Then she just stood there and looked at me. I said, "Now?" She said it would take another 10 minutes. I didn't have 10 minutes. We had to be on our way to church. I assured her I would speak with the Choice Privilege people. Goodness. I don't like to be that way. I worked in a hotel and know the process. The room should have been checked by a housekeeper when it was cleaned to be sure all was in order. The housekeeping supervisor should have then checked the room to be sure all was in order before they released the room to the front desk. At least two people could have noticed no hair dryer. Then to not even try to respond for 40 minutes is very wrong. I went to church with my hair still a good bit wet. Ugh!

It was a delight to attend church with the Roper family. Katelyn was giving a talk about preparing to go to the temple. The Raelyn sang "I Love to See the Temple" for the special musical number. 

When Sacrament Meeting was over, I went to Primary with Katelyn. Claude and Drew went to Sunday School together. Joel jumped right up when they asked for a volunteer to say the opening prayer. Then they sang Happy Birthday to him and another little girl. Look at the grin on his face.

After Primary, Raelyn had an interview with the Bishop. Drew and Katelyn went in with her. Joel decided to join them. We sat in the waiting area with Emelia and Kennedi. Emelia found the best spot for them to be. 

Our tradition with these kids is to go to McDonald's for lunch after church. We picked up Paul and he had lunch with all of us. Joel showed us how to do the Moon Walk. 

After lunch, we stayed at McDonald's with Paul and had a wonderful visit. The Ropers went home so Drew could get and nap and hopefully the kids would nap as well. Drew would have to go to work that night. After a good visit with Paul, we took him back to his apartment. Then we headed to the Ropers. 

This is Claude and Joel trying to fix a toy he got for his birthday. 

Drew and Katelyn had a hockey game that evening. Claude and I would watch the kids at the hockey rink while they played. This was a treat for Claude and me. We had all four kids to ourselves for the most part. Their little personalities shined. Kennedi enjoyed my old sunglasses. Joel showed us his Ninja skills and explained his games. Emelia liked to draw designs for princess dresses. I had a little book of paper I keep in my purse. She used it for her drawings and some markers found in the diaper bag. She loved the elastic that held the pages down and the silk ribbon to mark the page. She loved that the pen could be secured in the elastic. I gave her the little book. I had others and home and she was very happy to have a book to continue creating fashion in. Raelyn wanted to watch the hockey game. She went in with Savannah, a friend whose hubby plays on the hockey team. Katelyn told Raelyn she had to go out with us. Claude was watching the game through the window from the lobby where we had the other kids. I suggested he take Raelyn back in with him to watch some more of the game and I would stay with the other three. He heartily agreed. Raelyn came around to where I was sitting and gave me the biggest hug and kiss on the cheek with a huge Thank You. Bless her heart, she really wanted to watch the game. How thoughtful to recognize that opportunity given to her. 

Kennedi would taunt Claude and then run off in peels of laughter when he responded.

Claude reciprocated by taunting Kennedi with a turn in the trash can. 

This time with these little ones was precious to us. 

We had reservations at a hotel south of Grand Rapids on Hwy 131. There were back roads to it from the hockey rink. It was a lovely 30 minute drive. The lady at the front desk suggested a diner for us to have some dinner at. It was the 76 Diner and the food was delicious, great servings and well priced. 

Monday, June 15th, we drove to Chelsea to have lunch with Jake. Soot was out front and we said it to him. Jake chose The Valiant for lunch. I had a cheese calzone. It was perfect. The crust was excellent and the marinara sauce was superb. I ate half as these things are huge. Jake would text me on Tuesday that he had the other half for his lunch and really enjoyed it. I think I have found my meal at The Valiant for future reference. 

We dropped Jake back at his apartment about 2pm. He had to get ready for work. We really enjoyed our time with him. We no headed for Dayton for our next hotel. We would have a little dinner at Cracker Barrel before settling in for the night. 

We had a great trip this time. All the visits with family were meaningful and felt really good. We had safe roads and only a little rain as we left on Friday.