Our new home

We searched today until we found our camera. I thought I would take a few minutes to introduce you to our new home.

We are located on the West side of Colorado Springs, not very far from where we lived many years ago when Larry, Jeanette, Arlo, Craig, Brian, and Anita stayed with us for a while while moving from Texas to the Denver Area.

We have really enjoyed the west side of Colorado Springs. It's slower paced that the newer part of the city. We find it friendly and are happy to be living here.

In front of the house, there is a flower garden. A neighbor helped me determine which plants are flowers and which are weeds. We now have a lot of work to do to get the weeds out so the flowers can flourish. I especially love the different varieties of mint plants in the garden.

Pete, Betty's Dad, really enjoys our back yard because it faces away from the busy street and has a beautiful view of Pike's Pleak.

This house has the only garage that I've ever seen that has both a front and a rear door. We just need to clean the junk out so that we can use it for a garage.

We have lots of pets. There are birds everywhere. They are really good at painting the cars that park in the driveway. We also have lots of ants and bugs.

It was lost. Now it's found!!

I finally found it!!

A Tornado in the Vance house about 1980

When Robert and Andrea's mother and I were younger, we purchased a set of "Living Scriptures". We were trying to be faithful at reading them each night. Better said, we were trying hard to listen to the recorded stories as we followed along in the printed version.

One night as we were listening we heard the sounds associated with a Tornado. Since the kid's mother grew up in tornado country, she knew just what to do. We turned the recorder off and grabbed Robert and Andrea. We lined the tub with quilts and wrapped them both in bed clothing and stayed for a while with them in the bathroom.

When enough time had passed, we went outside and checked out the night sky. It was green and wet, but we didn't see any turning in the clouds. We were both sure that the kids would be safe in their own beds.

We got them both in bed and went back to our "Living Scriptures". As we turned on the recorder, the tornado sounds started again. We both felt rather silly, but we had had a good drill in case we ever had to face the real thing.

Andi and family are safe after having a close call

The news in Colorado today is full of pictures of destruction. We had several tornadoes in northeastern Colorado yesterday.

• Tornados near Johnstown
  
• Colorado Tornados
  
• Johnstown news

The Apple Tree and the Pinafore

Andrea was always an adventurous little girl. She could find the fun and adventure in every situation. On the other hand, she loved to be feminine and girlish.

Each year for Easter, her mother made her a new dress. When she little her brother, Robert, was just learning to walk and talk. She found such an adventure.

Her mom made her a pretty purple dress. It was full length and had a frilly pinafore in front of it. She loved to twirl and watch the skirts flare out. She loved to primp and admire herself in the mirror. She also loved to romp and play.

The kids were out in the yard playing as we busied ourselves getting ready for church meetings. We heard a faint little knock at the back door. When we opened the door, there was Robert. We couldn't understand what he was saying, but it was clear that he was upset so we followed him out into the yard.

As we came around to the front of the house, there was Andrea hanging from the apple tree by the sashes of her pinafore. She had tied them to the branch of the apple tree and had jumped. The sashes were just long enough that her toes reached the ground, but she couldn't stand on her feet. She couldn't untie the sashes because she couldn't reach them.

We rescued her that day from the branches of the apple tree. We tried to tell her that she should think before she leaped.

Betty, I love you

Marrying you was the best choice I ever made. It has been nearly twenty one years now. We have had challenges, but I have never doubted for one minute that I made the right choice.

I fell in love with you as soon as I saw you. You came to open the Family History Library for a bunch of us. You had paint in your hair and on your clothes, but you were beautiful to me. It's unusual for me to be as forward as I was with the opposite sex, but I didn't want to take a chance on letting you get away.

I hate to paint walls, but offering to help you paint was the only way I could think of to keep from losing the opportunity to know you better.

The kids were a hand full as they came to live with us. You loved them and let them know they were loved. You took the challenges that came to us into stride.

As grandchilren have come to our family, the font of your love flowed freely. I know that our children and grandchildren love you just as I do. I pray that I can live my life in a way that I will always be worthy of you.

Trigger finger

It's official. I'll be going in on the 29th of this month to have my hand operated on. I had heard of carpal tunnel, but I had never heard of the trigger finger syndrome. My right thumb is involved and it's quite painful first thing in the morning. Once I've iced it, taken some Aleve for the pain and Advil to get the the inflamation down, it's tolerable.

It's only a 15 minute procedure, but my hand will be out of commission for a week afterward. Some people will do anything to get out of work!!

The human body is a marvelous creation! When everything is working, we don't give it much thought, but when something malfunctions, we realize just how much we depended on it. I have found that I have really gotten dependent on my right hand, especially my thumb.

Be Careful What You Say

Today we live in a multilingual world. More and more we see people who are speaking languages that are not our own. It is a real temptation at times to speak in a language that we think others do not understand.

Years ago, when I was serving a mission in Mexico, my companion and I did that and we were embarassed. This sweet lady came to the door when we knocked. She passed us as she went to the street to buy something from a vendor, and as she passed us going back into the house, she asked us to stay for just a moment.

My companion turned to me and asked me if I had seen the wrinkled nylon stockings hanging around her ankles. I responded that I had and that it was amusing.

When she came back to the door, her stockings were all pulled up and had no wrinkles in them at all. She had been educated in Texas and spoke English as well as my companion and I. We both felt foolish.

When I returned to the USA and entered school, I started an art class at Adam State College. Professor Hatfield had been to Mexico and expressed a fondness for the Mexican culture. I took advantage of that. Every assignment I turned in had some element from the culture I had learned to love when I was in Mexico. With every assignment that I turned in, two girls from Expanola, New Mexico would criticize the work quite sharply using their native Spanish. I listened quietly each time as they found fault with my work. By the end of the quarter, I managed to turn something in that they both liked. In my best Spanish, I leaned forward and thanked them for their kind remarks. That time I was on the other end of the situation.

We are currently in a Ward where we have a Deaf Sister that we are helping. She speaks American Sign Language and we are trying hard to learn enough ASL to speak with her and be understood and to understand. As I watch the interpreters each week convert the talks and songs into ASL, I see a different side of the message. Here too, we are learning the same lessons. It is important to speak so that everyone can understand and enjoy the conversation.

Granny and Papa are going dancing

Granny and I have decided to go dancing, but not in the conventional way. We've joined the Dance Dance Revolution. In case you haven't figured it out, we are not going disco dancing or ballroom dancing or square dancing. It's a video game with two dance mats that test your coordination, endurance, balance and reflexes.

It's so frustrating. Neither of us has the balance that we used to have and we each had to dance with a broomstick. We have the Disney version of the game so the music is completely foreign to us. Granny keeps quitting when the game tells Papa that he winning. Papa looses patience with Grandma and with the game even when it's his own fault. We are not as technical as Matthew, Luke, and Aubrey. We are having a terrible time learning to set the levels of difficulty. Papa's feet are too big and they don't fit on the pad without stepping on the wrong square.

It is beneficial. Granny (that is an affectionate term!) has been going to Curves with a friend and it has been helping her, but Papa can't go to curves. There is some major sexual discrimination going on there. We decided that the PS2 was a cheaper alternative than getting Papa a new membership to the YMCA. When we finished our first clumsy dancing session, we were both sweating up a storm.

We need an education! Maybe we can convince our grandchildren to come and teach us how to control the game. Maybe we can even have our own version of The Golden Years Dancing with the stars.

Ashleigh's Disney Trip in SHORT form

Grandma and Grandpa VANCE,

At Disney I went swimming and I went on rides and I went to buy shirts and I went to take pictures with 4 Disney characters and I went to go see pocahontas! for free!
from Ashleigh

Attitude

Regret is an ugly word.
Every posibble way,
Ghosts lost to the sword of
Regret of what didn't happen today
Eat at the hope of victory.
Try again. Don't feed the regret.

Father

Dear old Dad
Angry at times
Do you love me?

Poor child, Yes I do;
And love very much
Pets, my children,
And loved ones dear

Do strengthen my heart
And make me stronger.
Do I make you feel
Dear and valued child?
Yet what can I give you?

Faith I would love to share
As life quickly passes and
The love for you deepens.
Hear this tender plea
Ever do your best and
Rember remember me.

Our Disney Vacation

Years ago when our children were small, we decided that it was time to take them to Disneyland. My elilelpsy was still giving me difficulty so we decided that we would take someone with us to help us drive.

Randy Vance had just come home from his mission so we asked him if he would be willing to come with us to drive and to help us with the children at the amusement parks. He agreed to come, and we were off.

Randy had just come home from a mission in Scandanavia and he had developed a love for cheese. Everywhere we stopped he check out the cheese to see if there was some type that we hadn't tried before.

Along the way, we stopped at the Grand Canon. I was in awe at the magnitude of the canon. No picture or film can begin to describe the magnitude of that magnificent place! It begs to be experienced in person.

We stayed with Bonnie and Emery when we got to California. They were living in Torrence and Shandi was a tiny baby that had cholic. She cried most of the time that we were there. They took us to Redondo beach which was a beautiful plalce. I enjoyed the ocean, but I did not enjoy the sand in my swimming trunks nor did I enjoy cleaning the oil from our skin after swimming in the ocean.

The trip to the Disney theme park was a trip that I shall never forget!! Emery drove the lead car and we followed. I had never seen anything like the freeway through LA. Somehow we took an exit we shouldn't have. We took the next on ramp onto the freeway at what seemed like a hundred miles an hour.

The amusement park was quite an experience! There was a death on the monorail the day we were there. Some teenage boys decided that they didn't like the ride and got off it in the middle of one of the tunnels and then were hit by the next car through the tunnel.

Many rides were not available to me because of the lights and were not available to Robert because he was too short. We ended up waiting while Randy and Andi and her mother took the rides.

Both of the kids enjoyed "It's a Small Small World". They thought it was cool when the ghost sat beside them in the Pirates of the Caribean, but Robert didn't like it when the explosions in the water were too close to the boat.

Robert and I went into the Haunted mansion. We went into the elevator and the walls began to grow taller and taller, he reacted. He turned to me in all the courage he could muster and said, "Daddy, I love you, but I won't come back in here!"

Neither Robert, nor Andrea liked the costumed characters.

Now that Betty and I are in our second childhood, we think that it would be fun to go to Disneyland ourselves. We can't afford it right now, but we can both return to the memories we have of the times we did go.

Sunday Dinner

Andrea and her children were here for the weekend. It was so nice to see them and visit with them. My favorite part of the visit was the dinner table.

Popo came and we had Sunday dinner together. It was fun to talk to the kids about "going out" and "going with" and "being in love". To Matthew who is sixteen, going out was a group activity. To Luke, who is 12 it meant something altogether different. To Asheligh, who is six. going out meant kissing. That sent Andrea into a frenzy!

We talked about first crushes. It was fun to find out that Grandpa Wagner's first crush was Annie Romney, his first grade teacher.

I have always enjoyed family meals around the table. Those are times that we have shared thoughts and concerns. We have shown affection to each other by actively listening to our family members. In so doing, we have learned about each other. It seems that these media saturated times are taking some of that away from us.

Alamosa's in a bad way!

Hey... can you believe how scary it would be to not have any water to eve basically bath in? My gooness, I take many things for granted!

Andrea

We're off to Longmont tomorrow

We are going to Longmont tomorrow for the wedding of Tonya Martinez and her beau. We'll be coming right back to be with Popo for Sunday. He really did not want to be alone on Easter Sunday.

This Martinez family are wonderful people that Betty and I met when we were working as missionaries in the Spanish branch in Longmont. They are from the part of Mexico where I served my mission almost 40 years ago. Seeing people from Torreon is as exciting as seeing people from Manassa.

We'll be staying the night with another Martinez family. They are from Honduras and have become really close friends. We always enjoy visiting with each other even though at times, we get lost somewhere in the language barrier. Sometimes understanding the words doesn't help understand the message that's being conveyed. The one thing that we do understand is the love that we feel for each other.

It's hard to accept the fact that we cannot turn the clock back, and we can never go home to the home of our childhoods. It's fun to reminisce and share memories, but we are where we are and we are when we are.

Beware of gifts

A small USB mouse seemed like a super gift. It was a bit small but was easy to pack into my brief case and take with my new notebook. I struggle with the touch pad on the bottom of the keyboard. I keep ending up in places I didn't intend to go.

I started using the little mouse pretty heavily because it was a good substitute for the touch pad. I started waking up in the morning with a horrible pain in my right thumb. Before long it started feeling weaker. I talked to a physical therapist and she told me that the pain, weakness and numbness are symptoms of corpal tunnel syndrome and that it could be caused by the small mouse.

I am back to using a full size mouse and the symptoms are abating. Hopefully I'll be back to posting more regularly on the blogs again.

BIRTHDAYS

I checked the mail on Thursday evening for the first time in a month. THAT ISN'T GOOD! Ashleigh had three cards in the mail for her birthday that was a month ago! So she didn't get her cards until Friday night when we got home from school and work. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPPPSSS.

She was very excited to have her birthday cards. The Hannah Montana card has been played 1,000 times. She purchased a hello kitty ring, earings and a glitter roll-on with her birthday money. We also purchased a book.

Matthew turned 16 ON FRIDAY!!! He spent the evening with an old friend. They went to a convention. He'll have to tell you about that. He was at his Dad's early in the evening and we picked him up in the morning.

We made a play date with Betty Ann when Ashleigh called to thank them for the birthday cards! We'll be headed to Colorado Springs on Saturday March 29. We are excited to see the new Vance family home! :D

The houses that we have called home

When I first got out of the service, Andrea and Robert's mother and I lived at 3 West Cheyene Road. We lived there when Andrea was born. The house at one time was a luxurious single family dwelling. It was converted by someone into six separate apartments. When we first lived there, it looked like a huge log house by the side of a babbling brook. When we lived in that house, Terry Golly and Dale Walters were our neighbors and close friends.

When Andrea was just a few months old, we purchased the house on Montrose Ave in Stratton meadows. When we moved in, the house was a bit run down and had no grass. Over the years, we added a lawn and garden and planted grass. We lived there for a lot of years.

We went through a divorce after being married for 13 years. When I was looking for an apartment, The best option I could find was 3 West Cheyenne Road. The house had been given a face lift and was no longer a Log building, but the inside was largely unchanged. I got a job managing the apartments to pay for the rent. I actually lived in the same apartment where we lived when Andrea was born. When the opportunity presented itself, I moved into a different apartment in the same building. Mom came and lived there with me for a year. I lived there when I met and married Betty.

Betty and I soon moved to a home on 31st Street. It was cute little 2 bedroom home with a nice large yard. We lived there when Larry and Jeanette moved back to Colorado from Texas. They stayed with us for a short while as they got settled with a new employer and found a home of their own. I think at that time, the three oldest were with them.

One day, while out walking, we saw a home 1 block north of where we lived that was for rent. It had 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, a two car garage, a covered patio and a small yard. We lived there when IBM closed the plant in Colorado Springs and we were transferred to Longmont, CO.

Our first home in Longmont was a duplex with 2 bedrooms and a very small living room and a kitchen. This little place on Collyer was just too small.

We found another duplex on Martinez Street. We liked it a lot better, but it had electric heating. It was really expensive to keep. While we lived there, Andi came to live with us. The yard was so small that I could mow it in about ten minutes. If we barbequed in the back yard, it was almost impossible to talk over the roar of passing trains.

We eventually bought a brick home on Fairbanks st. It had four bedrooms and an attached garage. It was here that we lived when Robert came to live with us. It was here that we lived when Matthew was born and when Andre got married.

Not long after Robert left home, we bought a house one block north of the Fairbanks house. Does that sound familiar?

We came to Colorado Springs to be closer to Betty's Dad. We lived on Mesa Road in the house of our dreams, but it was too large and to expensive to maintain.

We just recently moved to our current home on 30th Street. It's about a mile from the other house. It is considerably smaller, but it's adequate for our needs and we are learning to love it.

Ashleigh,

"Ashleigh,"

the document starts out saying. Ashleigh is requesting that I play her in her little homework game. She plays Ms. Danzl. She plays her well! She's a good little teacher!

Miss Ashleigh, aka Ms. Danzl, said that I received a 10 out of 10 possible. But I had to retake the test because it had to be in her format. I was playing around too much waiting for her to speed up! ;-) She did VERY WELL! Now myself, not so much!

The red marks are where I should have had more space and the sentence is upside down because she demaned that I filp the page over and write my sentence on the back. I demanded that we use one whole side before flipping over! This is our compromise, I flipped and folded, so that we'd use the entire front of the paper.

Ashleigh being cute while playing in the lavatory. I've always loved this picture of her!! She's so sweet, and her blue eyes are mesmorizing to me! The flower was a cute little excesory!

The picture above is when we were visiting Nebraska for Jeff's Grandfathers services. Their family home was relocated onto a farm, and looks like it belongs there! It's so cool that their home was recycled like that! I were allowed to visit! That was a fun family history adventure I was allowed to share with them! Ashleigh wouldn't leave this poor dog alone!

Being silly one evening!

The squeezing of poor little Mika! Mika is tolerant of Ashleigh's loving!