Living After the Manner of Happiness

We started the morning eating breakfast on the rooftop terrace of our hotel.  It was a beautiful morning following a much welcome night of sleep.  The air conditioning was working so it was much quieter with the windows closed.  We decided to take a taxi to church this morning as the closest one was about 5K away and we were not quite sure how to find it and no one in the hotel knew the area to direct us.  Wise choice as the taxi driver had to look it up in his map book (similar to our Thomas Guide) to even know how to program it in to his GPS unit.  He was a bit unsure when he got to the area as it was residential and he knew we were going to church; however, I looked over and saw the familar logo on the building, even though I did not recognize all of the words.  I can honestly say that I have never been in an LDS church (not temple) with marble floors.  As we walked in we were greeted by one of the bishopric counselors who spoke a very little Englis...

Our first night sleeping here was quite an adventure.  We are staying in a wonderful hotel that is kind of a cross between a B&B and a hotel.  They gave us a lovely room at the front of the hotel.  Last night our air conditioning wasn't working for some reason.  When we returned to our room last night, the room was extremely hot and stuffy, so we had to sleep with the window open.  The temperature was great, but it meant that we heard all the going ons on the street below.  We went to bed late enough that it was not a problem falling asleep.  Neither of us slept soundly until the early hours of the morning.  Just before 8 I was jarred from a deep sleep when the garbage man dumped a trash can full of bottles into his truck.  Once I got my bearings and my heart had slowed down a bit, I looked over to find Mike sound asleep with his noise-canceling headphones on.  Smart man!  We love the noise of the street during the day when we'r...

Africa - Benin 2015, Togo 2015, Ghana 2015 Antarctica Asia - India 2018 Australia (2026) Europe - England (1990, 2015), Rome (2012), France (2013, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019), Switzerland (2017), Germany (2017, 2018, 2019) North America - United States (see post on 50 states ), Mexico (1981, 1990, 2014), Canada (1992 1999, 2000) South America - Brazil (2001)

1.  Alabama (2007) 2.  Alaska 3.  Arizona (1976) 4.  Arkansas (2016) 5.  California (1977) 6.  Colorado (2006) 7.  Connecticut (2016) 8.  Delaware (2023) 9.  Florida (1997) 10.  Georgia (1997) 11.  Hawaii (2004) 12.  Idaho (1982) 13.  Illinois (2003) 14.  Indiana (2007) 15.  Iowa (2012) 16.  Kansas (2006) 17.  Kentucky (2006) 18.  Louisiana (2010) 19.  Maine 20.  Maryland (2023) 21.  Massachusetts (2016) 22.  Michigan (2024) 23.  Minnesota (2024) 24.  Mississippi (2010)  25.  Missouri (2006)  26.  Montana (1984) 27.  Nebraska (2012) 28.  Nevada (1977) 29.  New Hampshire 30.  New Jersey (2023) 31.  New Mexico (2010) 32.  New York (1999) 33.  North Carolina (2009)  34.  North Dakota (2024) 35.  Ohio (2009) 36.  Oklahoma (2015) 37.  Oregon (1988)  38...

Think back to when you got your last pair of shiney white tennis shoes.  Shortly after school started this year, Backman picked out these new shoes.  He loved the shiney newness of them and each day would wipe off any dirt or imperfections, determined to keep them looking new as long as possible.  About a month or so after getting his new shoes, he went to a carnival with some of his friends.  It had been raining a couple of days prior and so the ground was quite soggy that evening.  Without even thinking, he put on his new shoes and headed out.  Once he got to the carnival he realized that it was going to take some work to keep a lot of the muck off his prized shoes.  Somewhere during the course of the evening, one of his friends misstepped and his foot landed on top of Backman's shoes leaving mud and muck ALL over them.  (To Backman's credit, he did not let this put a damper on his evening.)  When he returned home at the end of the evenin...

Backman and a teammate were interviewed yesterday by a local TV station about being selected to attend the National Select Training Camp next week at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.  Here is what aired last night on WSAV . Here is the article from another news station in town,  WTOC . Here's the video clip that aired on  WTOC on 10/26/09. Here is the article that ran in the  Savannah Morning News on 10/28/09 Here is the article that ran in the  Bryan County News on 10/31/09.  Here is a clip from the camp.  He is the backstroker in the closet lane when Coach Silver is being interviewed.  USA Swimming

Several weeks ago Coach and I decided that we wanted to do something for Flyboy's 18th birthday that would create a memory. With him going to the academy in June, there really is not much he wants or needs for his birthday other than a couple of pair of combat boots, which he was able to get at freshmen orientation earlier this month. With Backman's birthday just six days later, it seemed to be a perfect time for a big outing. We wanted to surprise them with something they would never guess and so after putting our heads together we decided to take them kayaking off Tybee Island. Coach called and made the arrangements and we were set. Then it got even better and Volleyball girl had some certification that she needed to obtain that was being done on the break between semesters and so she would be home on the designated day of the trip. We told the team to set the day aside and left it at that. It has been fun over the past few weeks to see the guesses that have come in. T...