On the road again!

 A couple old pictures before leaving Austin. You must love the bus adventure.

 Wes wanted a prego picture. Me with pink eye and 16 weeks along (now 19).

 Sometimes we try for family pictures...

 Touching Levi Newell Kendall's name

 With Grandparents Keller!

 Cousins! This is Lincoln's "cheese" face.

Men at the wedding. Royal entertained the boys by touching his nose with his tongue. Boys.

Hello from Colorado! I’ve missed a couple of weeks, so I’ll give a quick chronology (okay, we know it won’t be quick): on Monday, May 14 we left Austin and drove to Salina, Kansas. The next day we finished our journey to Golden—just in time to secure our apartment (complete with a key to a 24 hour gym!), and find a mattress for Levi and and pack-n-play for Lincoln, clean a bit, then go to bed. I can only explain our trip as miraculous. Our boys travel well; living far from everything has perfected their skills, but thirty hours driving in two days takes a toll on anyone. Usually we can see when people pray for us in hindsight, but this was one of those beautiful moments when we recognized how present those prayers, angels, and help are all the time. Crazy as it sounds we thoroughly enjoyed our little jaunt. Praise to the truckers who honked and waved and simply existed for Lincoln! Praise to the multiple backhoes and excavators for Levi! And praise to the green fields, rocks, horses, cows, dogs, and God’s creations so that we could all ooh and ahh over them. The boys sang, talked, and played with trucks the entire way. Amazing.

We set up house on Wednesday and Thursday. Primarily, this meant scrambling through the suitcases to figure out what we brought, buying dishes, towels, sheets, and groceries. We’re still looking for a bed-thing for us and a table and chairs, but that will happen. 800 square feet is positively roomy when empty. Living on the fourth floor increases my gratitude that our stuff is stored in Texas—not only is it easier to clean and dance around in, but we didn’t have to haul too much up the narrow stairs! We live just steps away from trailheads into the mountains and a zillion stores, churches, libraries, etc. are within less than three miles. We’re excited to settle and explore.  The apartment smells a bit like musty dog urine, but I’m oversensitive to silly things like that. After scrubbing every cranny multiple times and baking cookies, hope increases.

On Friday, we piled back into the car, drove through Wyoming (lots of wind, yet no sagebrush. Can you sing “Colors of the Wind”? Then you’ll find the redemption in Wyoming) to Utah where we stayed with my sister’s family. The boys loved getting out of the car. They loved running, playing, and spending time with Bodie. So cute.

Saturday we shared a tender experience as Diana received her endowment. We were asked to be the witness couple. Seeing all those people rejoicing in the temple and making covenants for themselves and those they love just thrilled me. Wesley and I haven’t been to a session together for a while. The Spirit and joy there, especially as we watched Diana and met Kelly, isn’t something I can fully articulate. The Lord is merciful to us and helps us open our eyes and hearts even when they want rest. We’re glad to be awake!

Before the session, we stopped at Temple Square with some of the Cole clan. Levi counted temples and churches with glee. We saw the Christus. Lincoln shouted, “JESUS!” and Levi pondered, then said, “Jesus has holes in hands and feet. Holes!” We’ve been talking about it in more detail since then. I love trying to explain our Father’s plan for us, our Savior’s humility and love, and the individual care He takes for us represented by those “holes.” We also took the boys to touch Levi Newell Kendall’s name on the pioneer statue. We told them about our pioneer ancestor (one of Levi’s namesakes) and how he scouted and guided other pioneers across the country while we drove from Texas. I don’t know how much they understood. Levi loved finding his name, though.

We spent the week between Preston and Logan with my family. Levi ran out of the room every morning looking for Bodie, Pop Corrie, or Gram Stacy. Lincoln soon eased back into his usual routine of holding small objects and wandering, slowly opening cupboards, and then sneaking in to tease Levi. We spent some time with my grandparents (and their cows), rested, and I ate more than my fair share of cheese enchiladas with red sauce for Joule. Lincoln’s expanding vocabulary now includes “eyes,” “teeth,” “ears,” and “nose!” He couldn’t eat during one dinner because he discovered Pop Corrie’s eyes and needed everyone else to notice them also. Grandma Buttars gave him a set of little colorful bowls which he contentedly stacks, shuffles, fills, dumps, stacks…a very happy boy even sleep deprived and teething! Bodie and Levi surprised us all by how well they shared. All the boys showed off their professional basketball skills; yet the walls at the Frischknecht house remain standing! Through all of this transition, Levi impresses us with his potty skills. Our travels encouraged him to be more independent and efficient, a blessing we didn’t anticipate for a while. The boys even slept well. We look forward to a consistent schedule now, but they’re teaching us a lot about settling and adjusting to wherever you happen to be. Go Levi and Lincoln!

We loved being with our family for Diana and Kelly’s wedding on Friday. What a wonderful group she married into. Kelly is obviously a good man. Watching their affection and conversation made me excited for their future. And it gave me more opportunity to celebrate my Wesley. I adore him. Marriage, particularly eternal marriage, just fills me with giddiness. Welcome to the family Kelly!

Another cool experience. We stayed with great-Aunt Jeannine (Christine’s aunt) on the weekend. Her shelves overflow with family history. She and Christine have been working on four years of Grandma Mary Musser Wright’s journals. Jeannine wants to make them more readable and publish them. She’s edited them and then felt that she could do no more. She felt that help would come. Then she saw me: a “professional writer.” Now, that’s an overstatement, but I’ve been praying to know how to gain a stronger relationship with our ancestors and communicate their stories to our little family. One of my recent students took my class strictly for my benefit rather than hers; she writes and researches her family history and has been doing so for years. Working with her made me see that I need to do so also. When Jeannine showed me the journals I thought, Wow! We were both prepared for this! I don’t know that I’ll contribute to the project much, but we’re excited.

We partied with the Longmores. Levi and Lincoln attached permanently to Tressia, Hiram, David, and Royal. Royal and David are now associated with the temple and exploration—a good combination if you ask me! Gram Cole played with trucks and cars and Grandpa Cole showed them the wonder of outside and dogs even while they were here and there and everywhere with wedding stuff. We love our family!

We drove back through Wyoming yesterday. With stops and all of that, we arrived home around 11 p.m. tired, fulfilled, and ready to discover our present life.