The grass is always greener?

I dunno, it looks pretty dead to me!

We weren't exactly singing, "It's good to touch the green, green grass of home..." when we arrived home two weeks ago. It was more like the BROWN, dead grass of home.

Before we left for vacation we use a liberal dose of Roundup® on our lawn to kill the weeds that had taken over. Of course, the grass perished along with the weeds. It was an intentional kill -- deliberate & premeditated. While we were away, things started looking pretty brown & crispy, so our dear neighbors had a little fun by parking their cars on our lawn & having a "party." When we arrived home, they had a welcome back sign with the photos & a message that read, "Welcome back! We hope that your trip was as fabulous as the party we had on your lawn!" What a hoot!

We wanted everything to be good & dead so we could begin the process of putting in a new lawn. Killing the grass was the easy part. We wondered what the various prospective buyers of the house across the court were thinking as they looked over & saw our sad lawn. There wasn't a "sold" sign up after we got home, so perhaps we are to blame.

We rented a sod cutter, a high-powered garden tiller, and a roller. We borrowed a truck, & had soil amendments & new sod delivered. We also had to borrow wheelbarrows, shovels, and rakes from a few different neighbors. Mr. Smith and I made several trips to Lowes & Home Depot for irrigation parts. It's a good thing the "Depot" is close by. We had several helping hands from neighbors. (Hooray! We are blessed to have good folks living all around us.) Dr. Don even made an adjustment to D's back & neck -- and better still, he made a house call!

After several days of hard work, we have a lawn that looks MUCH better. I am including before, during, and after shots in the slideshow.

We will soon be moving to the backyard to do a few more improvements, but I think we will take a well-deserved break from lawn chores this weekend.

OK-AR-MO-IN-CO-CA

I've been everywhere, man

I've been everywhere, man

Crossed the deserts bare, man

I've breathed the mountain air, man

Of travel I've had my share, man

I've been everywhere

Oklahoma City

Enid

Tulsa

Springdale

Branson

Sullivan

Shelburn

Indianapolis

Denver

Sacramento

Roseville

What A Pity

I've been everywhere, man

I've been everywhere, man

Crossed the deserts bare, man

I've breathed the mountain air, man

Of travel I've had my share, man

I've been everywhere

I've been everywhere

Okay, so I can't make the names of the destinations rhyme like Johnny Cash would have done, but I simply listed 'em as we saw 'em. No, I will not be singing & recording this special version of the song to post on our blog...

We are back from a wonderful trek through the heartland of America. The Smithlings got to visit with both sets of their grandparents. We saw old friends, and lots of relatives -- cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces & nephews. We got to enjoy several incredible thunderstorms, hail, wind, sunshine, but no tornados or snow. Well, there was a trace of snow on the ground in Colorado, so I'll add snow to that earlier list. No tornados. Whew! The violent weather always serves as a little glimpse of how strong & powerful our God is. The lightning displays were incredible! As I watched the lightning streak across the nighttime sky, I laughed as I remembered how as a little girl I used to think that the flash was from the flash bulb on God's camera. He sure took a lot of "pictures" of me back then, and I was scared to death of each flash & subsequent BOOM! (He was probably compiling photos of Little Laney doing naughty things... Now that's a scrapbook I don't care to see!!!)

During our vacation we were in six different states, ate lots of rib stickin' comfort food, laughed, played games, rode bikes, stayed up too late, slept in, worked hard, & ate WAY too much dessert.

While we were in Enid, OK, my dear 86-year-old mother-in-law made 5 pies, yeast rolls, cinnamon rolls, date bread, cherry bread, banana nut bread, cookies, & some other sweet treat that I am not remembering right now. We did our best to take it off of her hands & put it on our hips, thighs, etc. We jokingly say that Enid spelled backwards is DINE, so that's what we do there. There were too many good things to eat in both Oklahoma & Indiana, and all points in between. We all gained a few pounds, but it was well worth it. Our travels provided a lot of fun, but now we are back to the reality of work & school. And we have all adopted a healthier diet -- at least for a while!

I made a slideshow of the trip, starting in Oklahoma & ending in Indiana. The photos tell the story, but if you want to wade through the following text, please read away. Otherwise, just look at the pictures. (It should be at the bottom of this entry.)

Here's a recap of where we went & what we did:

Beginning on March 29th, we flew non-stop into OK City & visited with Mr. Smith's longtime friend Mr. Lemke & fam. We met at a restaurant near the OKC airport & visited over victuals. (Or should I call 'em vittles?)

We drove in our rented "Endeavor" to Enid to D's childhood home -- Let the eating begin! Yum. At G-ma Smith's, we installed a new hot water heater, added new railing on the front porch, cleaned gutters, cleaned inside the house, visited, & ATE! We also got to attend church services with D's mother.

We visited D's aunt & his Krueger kousins & their respective families, out at K's farm. The kids got to go swimming with their 2nd cousins. Once again, there was plenty of good food, conversation, and an evening thunderstorm for our entertainment.

After spending four days with "G-ma Smith," we drove to Tulsa. It was a little bit disappointing to drive by our old house on Granite Avenue, as the old neighborhood has changed a lot. However, we were not disappointed by visiting with the Boyce family. M and N had a great time catching up with each other. Once again there was food involved in the visit. We ate at Zio's, which used to be one of the kids' favorite places to eat. The pasta was primo! We took a late night driving tour through T-town, and we just HAD to drive by the rather imposing praying hands statue on ORU's campus. I've gotta hand it to Oral -- that statue certainly makes a statement, and causes one to stop & reflect a bit. I wonder if the phrase "larger than life" was inspired by those hands. :-)

Next we were off to Branson, MO, to meet up with the Thompsons. We took the scenic route through Arkansas. It was a lovely drive, and it added a new state to the list of places the kids have been. Mom, Dad, and UJ met us on the afternoon of D's 49th b-day. We stayed at a lovely log home that was only a few months old. After a hearty meal at Landry's, we saw the New -- not to be confused with the OLD, mind you -- Shanghai Circus. What a wonderful show! We had 2nd row seats, so we were up close & personal to the contortionists/gymnasts/acrobats. I'm still not sure how they do some of the things they did... An INCREDIBLE thunderstorm and gourmet "birthday" ice cream finished off the evening.

The next morning, after we made eggs, bacon, and French toast for breakfast, the kids went to a place nearby to drive go-carts. Around noon we headed the caravan up the road to my uncle's home in Sullivan, MO. Before we reached Indiana, we stopped to eat dinner in an old barn in rural Illinois. (There's a nice restaurant that's in an old barn -- very authentic & quite rustic. There are no animals in the barn.) Yes, there was an over abundance of tasty food, and lots of bread, and dessert!

The road trip stopped in Shelburn, IN, at my parents' home late on Friday night, April 4. (As an aside, on April 4, 1987, Mr. Smith proposed to me. Awwwww! Isn't that sweet?) Saturday was spent just hanging out. We went to church on Sunday morning. I got to see one of my old HS buddies, Randy & his family after the service. The last time I saw him was at our 5 year high school reunion, 23 years ago! (Wow! Am I really that old? I must've made a mistake in my calculation...)

On Sunday afternoon, the Mitcheners came by for a visit. It had been way too long since we had seen our dear friends, so it was no surprise that we spent about 24 hours catching up. It's true that "friends are friends forever, if the Lord's the Lord of them." :-) Although we had not seen T&V for several years, we picked right back up where we left off. We are blessed to have many dear friends like that.

Niece R was "back home again" from Pittsburgh for the weekend. It was an added extra bonus getting to see "Puff" without having to travel to Pennsylvania. We also caught a glimpse of our nephew "Spot" and AFMMT. Oh, and I forgot that we got to visit with Cousin John, too. UJ spent a few days in Indiana before returning to Denver. The Smithlings always enjoy spending time with their uncle, and they were sad that he had to leave Indiana before we did. Sadly, wet weather prevented the outdoor fireplace from being completely rebuilt on Mom & Dad's property. I guess we will have to make a return trip for that project.

We helped with a few other chores around the "ranch," did a little shopping (the girls found some great deals on clothing & shoes), & the kids had a blast running around the property. There was so much firewood collected that one night Miss Millie built a fine bonfire so we could roast marshmallows to make s'mores. On the morning we left, Mr. Smith, Liesey, and I planted an annual flower bed that should burst forth in living color very soon. It was sooo cold & windy as we were digging in the dirt, but we managed to finish just as the first raindrops fell. Brrr!

The flight back to CA was uneventful, but we did have to spend a little more layover time in Denver than we had anticipated. We finally arrived home to two very lonely kitty cats, an empty fridge, an enormous stack of junk mail, and a very dead lawn. (More details about that later...)

And so ends the summary of the family vacation. Whew!!!! Did you notice a recurring theme everywhere we went? Family, friends, food, FUN, and fantastic weather pretty much sums it all up! We were blessed indeed by this trip, but it sure feels good to be back in my own little bed of pig feathers.