Grandpa Tom's Favorite Holiday Activity

It has been a couple of months since I posted anything, so I'll start with the most recent pictures and then add some late-November, early-December ones later. As you can see, I love holding grandchildren and even falling asleep with them. Cade and Madison are the two youngest; all 7 are here right now so I am getting a good dose of them, and loving it.

Little Rock, AR

My view out my hotel window was of the Arkansas River and this baseball park. It really was a very beautiful place. I hadn't known what to expect and was pleasantly surprised with how nice it was. They have developed a very nice "river walk" that I enjoyed. There are lots of bridges and one of them is for pedestrians only.

Here is the President Bill Clinton Library. It is quite impressive, even if the man himself is less so. It was a very nice short walk from my hotel.

Gardner Village Witches!

Yesterday Tom and I went to Gardner Village in Salt Lake. Every year in October they decorate with witches everywhere! A little chilly but none the less a fun adventure. I think I only spent $6.00! I need Nicholle with me...she always inspires me...it's almost a waste of gas to drive up there and spend so little! (take note of that very small bag in my hand) Last year we had our Young grandkids with us...soooo fun!

Gourmet Cooks

Yes, we are now gourmet cooks! Linda made the pizza crust, I cooked it on the grill. Then we top it with olive oil, salt, pepper, fresh tomatoes from our garden, fresh basil, and fresh mozzerella cheese. Being empty nesters has its advantages some days.

Drawing to an end...fun with grandkids, worn out grandparents!

Amy even dressed up in a period dress and cape. It was heavy!

Blake liked the guns and "bullets" (artillery shells) from WWII.

We enjoyed going to the museums on Jefferson Barracks. Cade enjoyed climbing on an old cannon.

St. Louis, Part II

Tuesday we couldn't find jackets for the school kids (Linda was cold), so we did what grandparents do--we went to the mall that evening and bought new ones! They seem to love them; that is the jacket and sweater Blake and Amy are modeling. Then today after the bus picked them up, grandma Linda, grandpa Tom, and Cade walked the Jefferson Barracks 2.7 mile trail. We are just coming in to the final stretch in the picture you see. Jefferson Barracks is a fun place with all sorts of things to see and do. After school, Amy and grandma Linda bought Cade his birthday present from us and he seems to really like it--the cool bike he is riding! Only a couple of crashes.... Then we collected leaves and grandma helped them make wax paper placemats for our dinner. All in all, a very good day!

St Louis with the Holman grandchildren

We got to St Louis Saturday, and Jenny left for Ireland on Sunday morning. After Church, we had a great meal of mashed potatoes and gravy, chicken, salad and ice cream or home-made apple torte. Yum! Blake ate 1 1/2 chicken breasts and two big helpings of potatoes and gravy. We also played Hungry, Hungry, Hippo and then went on a walk where the kids climbed trees (see Amy still up in one), threw rocks in a culvert (see all three sitting by it), and relaxed. Cade is so cute and tried to imitate me relaxing (see picture). Already today Blake and I have been to McDonald's and picked up Home Evening treat at Krispi Kreme Donuts! It reminded me of going on Saturdays with Matt. Blake chattered the whole time and loved getting stuff to eat. What fun for me!

Little Debbie's Cosmic Brownies

Okay, so Nicholle had issues with me because I dis-ed Little Debbie's Cosmic Brownies without having had a Little Debbie Brownie in a long time. Maybe it was better than I remembered. Maybe the "Cosmic" (with pieces of candy on top) would make a difference. Nope. 280 calories and 20% of daily fat calories and a funky aftertaste. Sorry Nicholle.

Enough about mustaches, let's get back to grandkids!

We are empty nesters again after a fun, fun, fun summer with our children and grandchildren. Here are just a few pictures, we have tons more if you want to see them? The kids seemed to love the sandbox, the hammock, making jama pants or wearing batman jammies, eating, acting crazy at the grandparents-grandkids picture (I guess we should have gone to a professional), and making us soooo thankful for each and every one of them!

In Support of Matt's Mustache

Matt's sibs and parents wonders why all the uproar about his mustache. We think mustaches look good on all Holmans.

Sharon (actually S. Royalton), VT

Today, Sunday, we spent most of the day at the birthplace of the Prophet Joseph Smith. First we attended church and really enjoyed worshipping with the good Saints in the Sharon area, although most of the people in attendance were visitors. One of the missionary brethren took our pictures in the visitor center and by the momument (38 1/2 feet high, one foot for every year Joseph lived). We spent a couple of hours just walking on the trail around the site (pictures at home) and decided we'd love serving a mission here. There are five couples here in the summer, three in the winter. You are really out in the country (15 miles from a grocery store), but the beauty is extraordinary.

Maine, Freeport, L.L. Bean

We ended our tour of Maine with a day in Freeport, the home of L.L. Bean, our favorite outdoor clothing catalog store. Notice the pictures from Sharon, VT above and our matching L.L. Bean shirts. We know you kids will think that is so adorable (translation: you will retch). We couldn't carry all we bought; so we shipped two bedspreads and pillow cases. A fun day and really not too expensive.

Phippsburg, "Lizzie Bright & the Buckmeister Boy"

If you haven't read "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary Schmidt you should. Phippsburg is the town it takes place in. The Church is where the minister's boy faced down the town's powerful to try to save the Blacks on Malaga Island from being driven off. I took a picture of the island, the lobster traps and the bouys marking the lobster traps off Malaga Island. We talked to the pastor of the Chruch, a really nice guy, and he said he hasn't read the book, but gets people coming by every once and a while. All in all, Phippsburg is a typical, cute, very small village (no real center of town) and fun to visit. We also liked the light house out on the bay.

Maine July 2008

We started our New England holiday in Maine. One of our favorite places was Ogunquit with a beautiful mile long trail along the Atlantic shore. The bridge I am on is the only pedestrian drawbridge in the world (so they say). Note Linda standing in the Atlantic--it was hard to get her in the water! Weather was perfect, not many other people, and we were just overcome with the beauty of the land and the ocean.

Our 4th of July--older Holman's style

Our 4th was dull by most people's standards, but we had fun. First, on the 3rd (to avoid the crowds) Linda, my parents and I went up Provo Canyon to Nunn's Park and cooked and ate a great breakfast--scrambled eggs, bacon, fried potatoes, toast, and drink. It tasted absolutely great! Then today we attended the big Provo Freedom Festival Parade. I forgot to take a camera--sorry. But it was very fun; great floats, bands (if overdressed for the weather--see previous blog post), balloons, horses, etc. Then early this evening, Linda prepared a great outdoor meal. Hamburgers, a new and tasty corn salsa, corn chips, and a new Italian ricotta (?sp?) cheesecake that was very good! Josh, Kristy (?sp?), Logan, Kristen (?sp?), mom, dad, Jane, Linda, and I enjoyed the meal in our beautiful backyard.

Next post: New England! We leave for Providence RI on next Wednesday. Bet you can hardly wait to see our pictures.

Lovell Parade! Linda is a Star!

The Lovell parade was a big part of our trip to Lovell, Wyoming. It was Linda's 40th high school reunion and as you can see, she was the star of her class, standing for our picture. I included the "real" tree expert for Logan to see; the fire fighting guy. Note that the Lovell High School band had the good sense to pput the band members in shorts and shirts, unlike the Utah bands we saw in the July 4th parade today in full, heavy uniforms.

Moving Memories

Start at the bottom and you see the process. Linda went through everything in every drawer, closet, corner, etc. and decided what to do. We ended up taking about 7-8 pickup loads to the "burn pile" where the old pig house used to be and then burned it. We also took 2-3 loads to the dump of unburnable things. One load had 800 lbs. of old canned good and bottled goods Linda and I pulled out of the basement. The house looks great but it was hard to part with much of the stuff.