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.