On the road again...this time I drove 23+ hours to Rexburg.  Bill and I decided that Garrett could really benefit from having a car in Rexburg. Because I don't have any serious commitments here---no job or school, it made the most sense for me to make the trip.  I loaded up with audio books and snacks and headed out early on Saturday.

 By Sunday I had more than half of the trip behind me.  Much of the drive was rural with nothing much to look at.  This, however, is Jackson Hole...I have only ever heard of it.  It was such a quaint little town.  I'd love to go again.  This time in the summer time.

 Just outside of town the Teton Pass begins...It was unbelievable!  A 10% grade up...which obviously was a 10% grade down the other side.  It was snowing...I was a little stressed.  But all went well.  I stayed wide awake, thanks to drinking huge amounts of Diet Coke and listening to 3 entire books....oh, there were lots of snacks consumed as well.  Whatever it took to keep me awake and entertained:)

I took zero pictures of Garrett and myself...I'm not the best at remembering to take pictures.  But he was excited to finally have his own transportation.  We loaded him up with 240 pounds of bagged rock salt in the bed of the truck and some new windshield wipers...he has a nice snow scrapper and hopefully he'll be ok in the snow.  The only way to learn how to drive in the stuff, is to actually do it.  I am tired of traveling...happy to be home again.

 On October 26th our Stake participated in a "day of service".  Grant's best friend, Kyle Steele, came with us.  It was a blessing having him with us.  Grant was mush happier to be there because he had a friend with him.We volunteered at a cemetery in Farmersville, a town north of where we live.

  It was interesting work.  Many of the head stones had settled and were uneven. Some were even over grown with grass.  The task was to uncover and level the grave markers.  Some of the markers were easier to level than others. 

 These lovely ladies beautified the area...they picked up trash and pulled weeds. (Sarah and Becca Hay and Jillian Gardner.)

This group owns the cemetery.  They call themselves the "Odd Fellows".  I visited with one of the men for quite a while.  They are basically a service organization who began caring for widows.  Really, really good people. It was an honor to serve them.

Because I had a milestone of a birthday coming up, I decided to plan a trip to visit some wonderful friends...I landed in Cincinnati, Ohio and drove two hours to the Indianapolis area, Fishers to be exact, to visit an old friend from BYU Married Student Housing...Heather Kinard.  We have kept in touch over the years through Christmas cards and phone calls, but have only seen each other a handful of times over the past 20 or so years.

Not the safest thing ever...snapping pictures while driving. I don't recommend my children doing this...or my husband.

Heather and I headed downtown to have lunch with Dave (her "other" half.) He gave me a little tour of the downtown area.  What a beautiful city.  Not a big place...just my size.  It was clean and not crowded.  Indy reminds me of Portland, Oregon.  I loved it!

 This statue is in the center of town...because I have a short memory, I cannot remember the significance of it.  I do remember that at Christmas time, they string lights from this thing and it becomes a giant, amazing Christmas tree!

The Indianapolis area will soon be blessed with a temple!  It is about 15 minutes from Dave and Heather's home and sits within their stake boundaries.  Dave is the Stake President there so he will be closely involved in this process.  It's an exciting time for the Church members in this area.  They currently are in the Louisville Temple District.  About a 2 hour drive.  This will be awesome!

And here we are on the Kinard's front porch.  They have an awesome house!  I felt so at home while I was there. Heather and I always joke about our parallel or mirror lives...so many similarities.  Being in her home reinforced those feelings...same taste in decorating, same comfortable feeling, same washer and dryer and the same love of Japanese Cherry Blossom from Bath and Body Works! We are like twins from different mothers:) We think alike. I just wish I were as darling and young-looking as she is:)  I have some pretty cute friends.  I had a wonderful time in Indiana.  A couple of days of non-stop talking and sharing, was just what I needed!

And this was much of the view outside my window as I traveled the 3 hours east towards Jennie's house in Georgetown, KY.  It was an awesome chilly, rainy, fall day. I stopped twice along the way to answer Nature's call...old age is setting in...both of those stops were at Cracker Barrel restaurants.  I love their country store and have been known to purchase clothing there...no such luck this time:(

Kentucky, here I come!

Because my birthday was coming up, the Jenkins decorated for me!  How thoughtful was that?!

Jennie had these printed off for me...boy do I feel old looking at the price of things...!  A stamp now costs .48.  When I was born a stamp was only .05!

She even included some pictures of us on a couple of trips we took and this cute can of suckers with the caption that reads "It sucks to be 50!" Ha Ha!!! She'll know soon enough!

 !

 Jennie treated me to a visit to Shaker Village.  It was so interesting.  This lady was amazing! She sang old Shaker hymns and told of the history of the Shakers.  There are only 3 Shakers still living...the men and women weren't allowed to touch...so, no procreation.  They died off eventually...duh.

We also went to a little town called Midway and shopped and had lunch.  It was a great trip to KY.  The Jenkins made me feel special.  Jen even made me an awesome chocolate/salted caramel cake.  Lots of good time visiting and hanging out.  I am blessed by wonderful friends! Just wished we lived closer.

The awesome long escalator at the Cincinnati airport...it was actually much longer...It reminded me of the long ones in London.  So cool.  Although it was great seeing my friends, I really missed my family and was happy to be heading home.  As much as I love my friends, I love my family more...I am truly blessed.