Merry Christmas!

It's almost Christmas Eve! Are you as excited as my children? Tonight we went to a house near ours that is completely decked out in holiday lights and decor: inflatable Santa and Reindeer on the roof, and on the lawn: Santa in helicopter, Santa in airplane, Santa riding on carousel, angels, Christmas countdown (to the second), speakers playing Christmas music, etc. They also offer free sleigh rides with Santa - in a sleigh pulled by 5 reindeer. It was soooooo cold (28 degrees F), but the kids and I had a great time (Ryan was at Scouts). I think we'll be look for this house again next year.

And thanks to Susie and 3 of her girls for braving the cold with us. It was fun to sing "Rudolph" with you and Santa on our sleigh ride!

The Ten Virgins

I was cast for this part long before I even was aware that it was a stage production. For my birthday this year, my visiting teaching companion and friend, Amy Mella, gave me the book "The Ten Virgins" by Emily Freeman. She told me that I reminded her of Leora in the story, the wise virgin who shares her lantern light with others who are lost along the path.

Then in October, my neighbor asked me if I'd play the part of a narrator in our Relief Society's production of "The Ten Virgins: A Musical Parable." I accepted, happy to not have to memorize any lines - the narrators get to read the script - only for her to change parts a few weeks later to play Leora. Apparently, it was meant to be. I had a hard time memorizing my two paragraph monologue, but even harder was the song. I just didn't get it. The night of our performance was the first time it made sense.

The production occurred at our Christmas dinner on December 1. We played to a full house of Relief Society sisters and Young Women. It was a joy to be a part of it. Enjoy this recording of me singing Leora's song "Lantern Light".




On a side note, I found it was quite hilarious to be 22 weeks pregnant, with a nice baby bump, portraying a virgin. I joked with my fellow cast members that it was immaculate conception.

Happenings

First off, a SHOUT OUT and a huge thank you for the anonymous dinner delivery last night. We hadn't been in the door from Sabrina's violin lesson for more than 2 minutes when a knock was at our door. When I opened the door, there was lots of hot food ready for us to eat!

I got to go to kindergarten yesterday and teach the children about holiday celebrations in the Netherlands. They liked putting on the klompen and hats to make them look Dutch. We sang Sinterklaas Kapoentje - if you don't remember how that song goes, check out this website. Several of the kids said that the chocolate initial I gave them was the best chocolate they've ever tasted. I have to agree: pure Ghirardelli milk chocolate is delicious!

We celebrated Ryan's 36th birthday on Monday with this delicious cake.

Triple Chocolate Chunk Cake with huckleberry filling
& huckleberry cream cheese frosting.

The boys had a lot of fun buying and wrapping presents for Ryan and told him what they were moments before he opened them. I told him he should open presents faster if he wants surprises!

Ryan, Hyrum and I got to attend the Orchestra, Band and Choir concert this morning at school. Sabrina plays cello in the 5th grade orchestra and sings in the choir. You may wonder why she is playing cello when she already has private lessons on the violin. Well the reason is, she is leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of the students and didn't want to bored out of her brain, but she really wanted to be a part of the orchestra.

Sabrina is in the center of the top row.

Jolly Old St. Nicholas: Sabrina is not in this shot at all. We were sitting on the exact opposite side of the gym and couldn't get anything nearer. I think the orchestra sounds pretty good for first touching stringed instruments in September.

News Flash: Major Holiday Approaching

There are only 17.5 weeks until Easter Sunday 2010!

My trees should look like this:



My flowers should look like this:



And I should look like this:

April 1999

Or maybe this:

June 2004

Or perhaps this:

October 2006

And now for some answers to the most asked questions:
When are you due? Spring Break, Easter, General Conference Weekend

Will you find out if your baby is a boy or a girl? YES! The moment he or she is born. Right now when we talk about the baby, on odd days he's a boy and on even days she's a girl.

Are your children excited? Yes.
How are you feeling? I feel pretty good most of the time now. It was tough at the beginning. I am really tired, so I try to take naps most days.

We are currently taking advice on boy names.

Days of Thanksgiving 13

1. I am thankful for Google Reader. I spend less time visiting blogs to check if something new has been posted. The only downside: I am less inclined to leave comments because it is not an option from reader, I still have to go to the blog.

2. I am thankful for the Interstate Highway system. We get to clip along at a fast speed to drive to visit family.

3. I am thankful for the family we got to spend time with over the weekend. I missed the ones we didn't get to see.

4. I am thankful that my talk on Service is in the past. It was great to share, however, I prefer to hear others speak.

5. I am thankful for Concrete. The kind you buy at Nielsen's Frozen Custard. I'm thankful that my Brother-in-law Glen treated us to one after attending the Bountiful Temple.

6. I am thankful for temples. Thank you Heather for inviting us to go with you on Saturday!

Days of Thanksgiving 12

1. I am thankful for adventurous children when it comes to trying new foods (occasionally, at least). Tonight they all tried Pumpkin soup and were pleased that it tasted good!

Soup is cooked and served in the pumpkin.

2. I am thankful for naps. I wish I had them more often.

3. I am thankful that Ryan found the lost camera tonight. It feels good to be able to take pictures again.

Days of Thanksgiving 11

1. I am thankful that my daughter said when she arrived home today, seconds after walking in the door, taking off her jacket and backpack, "I'm going to go outside and rake leaves."

2. I'm thankful that after she had created a large pile of leaves and jumped in them a couple of times that she raked them again and then invited her brothers and neighbors to join her in jumping in the pile of leaves. Then they started burying eachother in the leaves and then they cleaned them all up.

3. I am thankful that this flower is still hanging on to remind me of warmer days...

I hope this clemantis sticks around until Christmas.

Days of Thanksgiving 10

Day 9 will be posted when I find the pictures needed...

1. I am thankful for generous music arrangers who post their choir music on the web for free download. I found this one last week when I was searching for an arrangement of Far, Far Away on Judea's Plain for my ward choir to sing. It is awesome.

2. I am thankful for my local church leaders. Stake Conference was this weekend and Every. Single. Talk. in both the Adult and General sessions were on how the Scriptures have changed the speaker's life. Just what I needed to hear this weekend. The challenge given by the Stake President on reading in advance all the lesson materials for Sunday School and Relief Society was timely as well.

3. I am thankful for pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin soup and a myriad of other recipes to use up the pumpkins that Ryan harvested from our garden. YUM!

Days of Thanksgiving 9

Happy Veteran's Day!

1. I am so very thankful for the men and women who serve our country daily in the armed forces!

2. I am thankful for these 3 veterans in particular:

My grandpa, Glen H Christensen
he served in the army in Italy during WWII, leaving his wife and baby girl at home

My grandpa, Theodore W C Bateman
he served in the army during WWII and was on a boat on his way to Japan when the Japanese surrendered

My dad, Glen Earl Christensen
he served in the army in Vietnam leaving my mom and 2 children at home

3. Most of all, I am thankful that these 3 veterans came back home. That is why I'm alive today; because they came home.

Days of Thanksgiving 8

1. I am thankful for visiting teachers who bring me cookie-in-a-jar mix. I can't wait to bake them!

2. I am thankful that I had an opportunity to help my awesome neighbor tonight. She has been helping me a lot lately and it felt good to return the favor.

3. I am thankful that my (older) kids will wake up and get their own breakfasts made. Here is a favorite of Roderic's: toast with nutella. Doesn't he just look pleased that he made it all by himself? And the kitchen was not a big mess - just his face.

Days of Thanksgiving 7

1. I am thankful that my awesome neighbor drives my kids to school each morning.

2. I am thankful for a freezer full of whole-wheat homemade waffles. They are so good for breakfast on mornings when I am not in the mood for cold cereal or oatmeal. Ryan had such a good idea months ago to make a huge batch - he likes to 8x the recipe, but I prefer 4x - cook them all up and freeze them. Yum!

3. I'm glad that I get to play with Hyrum while the others are at school. This morning we worked on letter names and sounds with a Thomas the Tank Engine puzzle.

Days of Thanksgiving 6

1. I am thankful to the faithful few choir members who show up each week for choir practice without weekly reminders. I'm going to remember to email the rest of them, so we have a bigger choir for the Christmas program.

2. I am thankful for Christmas music! I love that I start the choir singing Christmas music in September. Today I was joking that perhaps next year we'll sing Christmas music all year long -- all the music speaks of the Savior, so it would fit well with any High Council speaker's topic, right?

3. I am thankful for the Primary. I really enjoyed the primary program today on Eternal Families. It was neat to see Roderic sing most of the words to most of the songs. Sabrina played a violin solo that was beautiful (even with all the mistakes her accompanist - me - made). This was my favorite song that they sang: The Family is of God.

Days of Thanksgiving 5

1. I am thankful for a cleaner bedroom. It is amazing how much stuff I can accumulate in piles in a few short months. Here's to hoping our new, cleaner room can stay that way.

2. I am thankful that Ryan worked so hard at cleaning our room, going grocery shopping with me, getting the kids to bed, etc. It is good to work at home on Saturdays. (Instead of being out of town, at soccer games, at parties, etc.)

3. I am thankful that my kids don't complain too much to do their "Saturday Jobs." Hyrum got distracted by my taking his picture while vacuuming. All he wanted to do was pose and then look to see what the picture looks like.

Days of Thanksgiving 4

1. I am thankful that Ryan brought a "stadium seat" into our marriage. I took it with me to the BSU vs. USU Women's Soccer game this afternoon. It helped me stay warm, by not having to sit on the cold metal bleacher. And it has a padded seat and a back rest. Sabrina got to be a ball girl at the game with 5 other members of her soccer team. She was kept really busy during the first half -- lots of out of bounds right next to her. BSU won 1-0. Next up is Nevada in the WAC championship game.

2. I am thankful for my 10 year old! She babysat the boys this morning while I did some Christmas shopping alone. I'd share the deals I scored, but my kids read this too.

3. I am thankful for the rain. It makes me want to read good books, drink hot chocolate and make soup. I do prefer the rain to not linger around for more than 24 hours at a time, though.

Days of Thanksgiving 3

1. I am thankful that my DisneyWorld Photo Pass cd came in the mail! Now I can finish my DisneyWorld blog posts, order prints of the cutest pictures you ever saw (to put in Roderic's birthday book for Kindergarten), AND share a few like this:




2. I am thankful for the teachers that teach my children - at school, at church and violin. They show how much they care for my children.

3. I am thankful that my kids play well together. Have I already mentioned this? Today they are home from school (Parent-Teacher Conferences) and they are having fun building forts, playing legos, on the computer, etc. Hooray! (This means I can spend time on the computer doing my blog!)

Days of Thanksgiving 2

1. I am thankful that my kids wear the stuff I sew for them. This year, I made Sabrina a Minnie Mouse dress and Roderic & Hyrum Jedi robes.

2. I am thankful that my neighbor cuts my hair. I needed a lift, and last night she provided by cutting off about 2 inches. So much nicer to do this morning!

3. I am thankful for the mild weather we're enjoying. The kids have played outside after school for an hour every day so far this week. It is good to have them burn off energy out. of. doors.

4. I am thankful to my Father-in-law for providing us with delicious pears. Ryan picked the trees bare during General Conference, bringing home 5 boxes and we recently spent two days preserving them. Now I have 40 quarts of pear slices to enjoy throughout the year!

Days of Thanksgiving

1. I am thankful that my kids enjoy FHE. Last night for my activity, we played "Follow the Leader" and Hyrum asked, "Like follow the prophet?" It was a laugh house to watch everyone have their chance to be the leader. Hyrum would hi-5 the person behind him and say "good job!" when the leader's turn ended.

2. I am thankful that Ryan and the kids survived while I was in Nashville. I enjoyed listening to Roderic's phone messages - telling me about school, if he could play at Mark's house, I just want to talk to you, are you having a good time.

3. I am thankful that my kids enjoy music. Sabrina is playing a violin solo in the Primary program on Sunday, "Beautiful Saviour." She is learning to play the cello in the 5th grade orchestra at school. Roderic wanted a musical lesson for FHE last night. At first, he was going to have us sing while he "played" the piano, but then he decided he wanted to get out his violin (that he hasn't touched or asked to touch in months) and play it. After 15 minutes of practice, he asked Sabrina to play with him on her violin. They played Engelskan from Smaland, a Scandinavian fiddle tune. During Sacrament meeting this past Sunday, Hyrum started singing the theme song to "Indiana Jones" (which he learned from Clara's Indiana Jones xBox game. He sings it all the time.

Thanks to Lindsay for the great idea!

Entertainment for Saturday!

I have been spending this week in Nashville, TN at the Sweet Adeline International Competition and convention. I'm singing with Mountain Jubilee Chorus. We first performed on Thursday afternoon, and we sang so well in the competition that we are one of the top 10 chorus finalists!!!! The finals take place tomorrow, Saturday 10/24 starting at 3 pm. Our chorus got picked randomly to sing last. I think we'll be on stage about 6:45 pm CST. (Of course it could be later, but I don't know.) If you want, you can check out the free web-cast of the contest here: http://www.sweetadelineintl.org/webcast.cfm

And in case you don't remember what I look like in full stage make-up, here is a picture.

me, Aunt Noelle and my mom

Jedi Training Academy

All Star Wars fans will appreciate the coolness of this attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Several times a day they hold a Jedi Training Academy right outside of StarTours. (I thought it was so cool, I sat through it 2 times!) My nephew, Tegan got picked to be a part of the academy and Roderic watched the end of that and thought it was so cool, he wanted to be in the next one. We lined up for the next 'show' and Sabrina got picked. Not Roderic. He was happy for his sister, but disappointed, so we coached him during lunch and he got picked at the next one!

After a 10 or so minute training session with real practice light sabers, where they learned how to activate the weapon, deactivate the weapon and perform a cool series of moves with the weapon, they had to face the dark side!

Darth Vader came out. While he was strutting around the stage, Hyrum waved at him smiling and Darth Vader looked at him and shook his head.

Sabrina's shining moment.


Roderic's shining moment.

Happily, neither of them succumbed to the dark side and we're going to continue to remind Roderic that to follow the force and resist the dark side in real life, he has to control his aggression.

Roderic and Math

Last night I drove carpool to soccer practice. Three 10-year old girls were in the back of the van talking about stuff (loose teeth, how much the tooth fairy should give per tooth, things that make them queasy, etc.)

Roderic decided that it was getting too noisy back there and he said, "It's time for math. It is too noisy. What is 5+5?"
Girls reply, "10"
Roderic "1+1?"
Girls laughing questioningly, "2"
Roderic "16+7?"
Girls still laughing, "23"
Hyrum, "Why are they laughing?"
Mom, "Because they think he is the cutest 5 year old boy they have ever come across!"
Roderic, "What is 6+1?"
Girls, "7"

And it continued until they got to practice...

DisneyWorld, part 1

My sister planned a family vacation to DisneyWorld. We went last week. Disney was offering free dining if you stayed at one of their resorts and we took them up on that offer. We flew on JetBlue buddy passes. We spent less money than we budgeted for the trip! That right there is success. The kids had fun and we had fun watching them have fun.

Unfortunately, we have come down with the flu and when I say we, I mean the WHOLE FAMILY! Ryan started it off on Saturday as we were checking out of the hotel and it has been slowly making the rounds through the family. I believe Sabrina is well enough for school tomorrow, but not Roderic. Hyrum started a fever tonight. I'm next. So this post is going to have to suffice until I feel a lot better.

And I have good things to talk about! Character meetings, Jedi Training Academy, Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, Grand Gatherings, puke on airplanes, cameras breaking, Orlando Temple. Stay tuned.

Traumatized

On Saturday, we decided to make a practice bike ride to school. We went with our neighbors because I'll be riding in the mornings with the kids (Roderic goes to Kindergarten!). On our way to the school, the neighbor girl fell down and scraped up her leg. We kept pressing forward - after a break to rest and reassure the 6 year old - and thought it would be a good idea to put a first aid kit on my bicycle. We played for a while on the toys at the elementary school and then got ready to return home. On the ride home, Sabrina fell down, after making a sharp turn. She scraped up her knee - even put a hole in the capris that I made. We rested again for a while. She complained that both of her arms felt weak and they were shaking. She didn't think that she could make it home, but she did. After we were home and ate a ice cream popsicle, she still complained of her right arm. I wondered if it was broken -
she broke this arm when she was 4 while getting off of a friend's trampoline - but nothing was obvious. No swelling, no bruising, no bones sticking out. I wrapped it in an ace bandage and she said that it felt a bit better. I convinced Ryan that there was no need for us to take her to the ER because she wasn't in dire pain. We kept her arm wrapped Sunday and Monday. After school, she said that it had hurt to write and color. Tuesday afternoon I got an appointment for her to see the Dr. When I picked her up from school to go to the Dr., I asked her how her arm was and she said it wasn't so bad. I wondered why I was taking her to the Dr.

We waited for the Dr. for quite a while. Let's just say that waiting in the exam room for a half an hour at 3 pm with 2 young boys was not a joy. The Dr. looked at her arm asked her where it hurt and poked and prodded her arm. Then he ordered an x-ray. The x-ray came back and he stared at it for several minutes, then he came over to Sabrina and poked and prodded her arm and asked if what he was doing hurt. He repeated this 3 times. Then the diagnosis:


A "Green Tree" fracture. Meaning that the exterior of her bone is intact but the interior is broken. She gets to wear a splint for the next 2 weeks, after which time she should be healed. Ouch. I asked about soccer, violin and bike riding. The Dr. says that she can do anything that doesn't hurt. So she'll play soccer, but not goalie. It hurts her to hold the violin bow, so she's taking a break from lessons this month. The splint impedes her holding onto the bike handle, so she'll be riding her scooter to school for the next week and a half. We'll see what else she has troubles with.

While we were at the Dr., I asked about Roderic getting the remainder of his shots for kindergarten. The wait was agonizing for him! He received 3 in his thighs. The nurse and the doctor gave him Laffy Taffy for the pain. Then we stopped for ice cream cones on the way home. He is still complaining that his thighs hurt.

They're trying to SINK me!

I signed up Sabrina and Roderic for swimming lessons at BSU this summer on the recommendation from a few friends. Roderic was placed in level 1, which was good for him. He was so stiff, wouldn't do "bobs", tried to have a death grip on his teachers when they were working with him, etc. After the second day, he came home saying, "They're trying to sink me!" His teachers called him "Roady" - a nickname Roderic liked, but only coming from them. I am not EVER supposed to call him that. By the end of the 3 weeks, he did "bobs" at the start of the lessons, and wasn't nearly as stiff when the teachers would help him float and do strokes.

Sabrina was in level 4. She worked on several strokes: freestyle, backstroke, breast stroke, sidestroke. She improved a lot over the 3 weeks of lessons. She would still like to work on her dive, and butterfly stroke (they only did that one on the last day). She said it was a lot of fun to play water polo on the last day of class.




We'll be doing lessons from them again next year, for sure!

Sew Fun

Sabrina needed a new dress. We picked out fabric and made it. Unfortunately, the size I made for her is a bit on the small side. In fact, I discovered that it would not be possible for her to be able to put it on if I sewed the sleeves, so it's sleeveless. And, it is short - knee length. Needless to say, we'll be passing it on to some friends soon. (We've already purchased some new fabric to make the larger size.)

Gibby Midway Invasion

At the end of June, we took a quick trip to Midway, UT, nestled in the mountains on the East side of the Wasatch Mountains, to spend some time with Ryan's family. We ate good food, played mini-golf, played giant chess, slept in the closet (Roderic's idea), rode the Alpine Slide and Alpine Coaster in Park City, and had a lot of fun.

Searching for a Star!

When I heard that our local music store (Dunkley Music) was having a music contest last month, I got excited about having Sabrina enter it so she could have a recording of her playing her violin. After a few hours of thinking that way, I realized that I was wanting to push her into this because I wish I had recordings of ME when I was younger. (Once again trying to relive my childhood through my children.) So then the wheels started turning in my brain. I called my friend Fe' and asked her if she'd be my accompanist (she said YES!). I called Dunkley's to schedule a time and find out more about the contest. Each contestant got 1 hour in their recording studio (recital hall), a blank CD to lay down track and a chance to win one of 6 $50 Gift Certificates.

I prepared "American Lullaby" by Gladys Rich, since I sing it so often to my children. When I went, I brought along a book of Broadway musical songs to sing and record (like it was going to take a full hour to record a song well enough to be judged).

In order to post it here, I've put the song to a photo slide show of my 3 babies - from birth to age 1. They look a lot alike.



I have received news that I did not win one of the gift certificates. I know I will enjoy the CD I recorded immensely for years to come. Oh, and I'll be preparing even more songs for next year's contest. I need more than just 3 songs performed by me on a CD.

Set the table = White Token

My parents gave us "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey. I liked a lot of what he said, in fact I'd been doing quite a bit of it. What intrigued me was commission for kids. We were counseled by our bishop several years ago to provide a way for our kids to be able to learn the law of tithing. So we started to give an allowance that they could then pay tithing on. Except it felt like they were paying tithing on money that we were already paying tithing on. It wasn't their increase.

After learning all about Dave Ramsey's commission system, I made up a chart for each of the kids - at first I didn't include one for Hyrum because he is only 2, but after a month of watching Roderic and Sabrina earn tokens, he wanted to be included.



We pay the kids as they do their work in tokens (poker chips) and then once a month we have banking day where we exchange their tokens for cash. The kids get different amounts of money for their tokens. For example, Sabrina: White token $0.15, Red token $0.30, Blue token $0.60. Roderic and Hyrum: White token $0.10, Red token $0.20, Blue token $0.40. (Doesn't that sound like the money list in the Book of Mormon (Alma 11), except we don't have a token that is worth the sum of them all!)

Everyone who helps with the task earns a token, regardless of when in the process they join. (See Matthew 20:1-15) We want the family to work together. And when it works, it is wonderful! Work gets done together; the kids know what we want them to do; they are able to have money to spend and save.

Thank you Krazy Coupon Lady!

In case it's not apparent, we have train enthusiasts lovers in our house, and have wanted to take them on a train ride with Thunder Mountain RR in Banks, ID for some time. The cost has kept us from pursuing this. Enter my new find of Krazy Coupon Lady's blog and we got to go for cheap! Thank you KCL! All I had to do was tell Ryan about it and he called up and made reservations for our family.

We drove up to Horseshoe Bend after a rainy morning garage sale and to enjoy the Wild West Train ride. There were some actors who were playing the Hatfields and McCoys on their way to become rich in Idaho gold mines. It was entertaining. My boys just loved walking on the moving train -- no menacing seat belts or restrictive car seats here!

they made me pose with the gun

Fire Station Tour

Remember when the firefighters were in our neighborhood doing checks on the fire hydrants and they invited us to come up and tour the fire station any time?

Well, I took them up on that offer for Roderic's 5th birthday party! The kids got to see where the firefighters eat, sleep, exercise, relax AND climb in the fire engine! The firefighters gave them all helmets and Jr Firefighter badges. Even better was that the firefighters remembered these boys from their hydrant checks. Totally cool!

Roderic was really excited to see his birthday couch when he first woke up.

I made 2 fire engine cakes for his birthday. They were yummy, although all of us decided that we don't like pull-apart cherry twizzlers (I used them for the hoses and windows on the fire engines).

Summer Reading

Our Library! has a summer reading program for kids that we participate in every year. The kids need to read or be read to 3 hours and 20 minutes. When they complete this, they get all sorts of cool prizes from local businesses (BOGO Ice Skating (Idaho Ice World), Free kid's meal (Applebees), free Fries (Carl's Jr), free Sundae (Elmer's), free ticket to Stampede Rodeo, free baseball ticket (Boise Hawks), free pass to Discovery Center of Idaho, free book, etc.). Sabrina finished reading 3 hours and 20 minutes before the end of June. Roderic and Hyrum have about 30 minutes left.

They also have a summer reading program for adults where for every 2 books you read (for yourself or to children) you get to enter a drawing for a cool prize. This has gotten me to think about what books I've read this summer.

• The Black Candle by Catherine Cookson
• The Tale of Desperaux by Kate Dicamillo
• Dear America Series: Survival in the Storm by Katelan Janke
• The Bailey Chronicles by Catherine Cookson
• Behind Every Good Man by John Bytheway
• Dear America Series: My Face to the Wind by Jim Murphy
• Her Good Name by Josi Kilpack
• Hoot by Carl Hiaasen
• Austenland by Shannon Hale
• The Chosen by Chiam Potok
• A Wrinkle In Time by Madeline L'Engle
• The Promise by Chiam Potok
• Dear America Series: A Coal Miner's Bride by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
• Dear America Series: Freedom's Wings by Sharon Dennis Wyeth

What books have you read?

It Happened on the 10th of May in 1869....

That is the first line of a song that I learned in the Fourth Grade when studying about the Transcontinental Railroad. (It is the only line of the song that I remember...)

Over Memorial Day weekend, we decided to stop at Promontory Summit, Utah to see where the transcontinental railroad was completed. We've got 2 young train fans, you know. And the rest of us are fans of history.


Did you know that EVERY day from May 1 to Labor Day, they bring out the Jupiter and 119 Locomotives? And, EVERY Saturday and holiday they have live reenactments of the Last Spike ceremony? We arrived shortly before 10 am and got to watch them bring out the Jupiter. Then we got to wait a while, work on the Junior Ranger program, shop in the visitor's center, talk to the knowledgeable Fireman who works on the Jupiter - what a cool job - Ryan talked, and talked, and talked to him, and took photos. We watched them bring out the 119 and then waited some more. And then we watched the reenactment, getting a little sunburned along the way. (We had sunscreen in the van, we just didn't put any on.)

The reenactors got to wait in their period clothes.

All the kids completed their Junior Ranger requirements.

The fireman.

We got to be in the re-enactment of the "The Champagne Photo". Sabrina and Hyrum are holding the Arizona Spike and the Gold Spike. (Ryan was the photographer.)

Andrew J. Russell’s “East and West Shaking Hands at Laying of Last Rail" (aka The Champagne Photo)

Right before the reenactment began, Ryan was asked to portray the Mormon Bishop that President Brigham Young sent in his behalf (I don't remember his name). For his part, he got to stand and wave to the crowd.

It was a really neat place to visit, so when you've got a chance, go visit Golden Spike National Historic Site! We're making plans to be there in 10 years, for the sesquicentennial celebration.