Holiday Home Tour

Every two years, the Franklin Area Historical Society has a Holiday Home Tour where various historical homes and other buildings are open to the public.  We attended the one two years ago shortly after we moved in, and we decided it would be fun to have our home on the tour this year.  We had lots of fun decorating (I had a lot of fun shopping the after-Christmas sales last year), and we even splurged on someone to help do some deep cleaning before the big day.

On Saturday, December 4, 2021, the day had arrived.  We were the second stop because our house is right across from the Harding Museum, which is the headquarters of the FAHS and where the tour started.  We think we had about 150 people come through.  

Many of our friends and family have asked to see pictures of our house all decorated.  The pictures are in about the same order we showed the house.  The entry, front parlor, then upstairs to the bedrooms, back down to the library, dining room, and kitchen.

From the corner

The front porch
(without the garlands lit)

The Front Parlor

The Entry and Stairs

The Master Bedroom

The Family Room

(aka The Blue Room)

This is actually a bedroom that functions as our TV room because we didn't want a TV on the main floor. The door seen above connects it to the master bedroom.

The Girls' Room

The Boys' Room

We believe this was probably the maid's room.  One gentleman who came through grew up in this room.  After seeing it, his wife remarked: "He said he had a small bedroom, but I didn't realize it was that small."  Our boys have lots more room for their toys and stuff in the basement "dungeon."

The Upstairs Bathroom

I stumbled upon the fox painting on the closet at an antique store, and soon found other fox things.  Our youngest son told people to find 6 foxes in here.  You can only see 4 in the picture.  The other 2 are on a hand towel and a candleholder.

The Library

(aka The Back Parlor)

This is a great place to read a book or nap with a cat.  This has also been Ben's office during the pandemic.  The furniture was reversed, and his desk was where the tree is.  He used the Chinese screen as a back-drop to minimize backlight.  He is currently working in the basement and can't wait to get back into this lovely room when the holidays are over.

This view is through the pocket doors into the dining room.

The Dining Room

The Kitchen

People would exit back to the street through the door on the left you can barely see.  I'm grateful for a large modern kitchen in this beautiful historic home.  We feel so blessed to live here and to take care of this treasure for the future.

We hope you all have a very merry Christmas and a happy holiday season!

Catch-up, Move to Ohio, Quarantine, Etc.

I haven't posted in forever.  Oops.  I can't possibly sum up 3 years in one post, but I will share the most exciting thing that has happened in the last few months.

For those of you who missed it, we are now living in Ohio.  Our move here was very eventful, but although our car didn't make, we all arrived in one piece. 

Our faithful silver van, after our accident in Nebraska.  They brought it to the
hotel for us to go through and get out what we could.

Miraculously, we had no broken bones or even stitches.  We rolled after losing control while towing a camp trailer.  We had great insurance coverage, so aside from some emotional trauma and inconvenience, we really can't complain.

Ben is loving his new job, and we still have moments of disbelief that we are living in such a beautiful Victorian home.

 A little over two weeks ago, schools were closed and Ben started working from home as part of the social distancing strategy for COVID-19.  Whether it was everyone being home all the time or wondering about the outside world, my stress level went through the roof.

I quickly learned that sewing and baking helped me cope.  I love to bake, but it's not so good to eat all the yummy things I make.  I have had a few sewing projects on my mind for the last year or so, and I have been able to work on them!  Their priority rose, my need to sew increased, and I also have a wonderful craft room with my sewing machine out all the time.  (It's in the enclosed balcony above the front door, so there is tons of light.)

I want to do a few posts about my sewing projects, which reminded me to pull up this old blog.

Dear Murphy...

Dear Murphy,

Not that it hasn't been a barrel of laughs with you visiting the last week or so, but I think it's time you found someone else to help out for the rest of the holidays.

I know it wasn't your idea to send my husband on a week-long business trip in December, but you sure have made his absence so much easier to bear.  I'm so thankful that we get to pay over a $1,000 (reimbursable, unfortunately) for a hotel right before Christmas.  Really, what else would I have done with that money this month?  You also worked so hard on my kitchen sink, making it drain very slowly.  You managed to do this not just once, but twice, culminating in a near-standstill after Ben had gone to California.  I enjoyed draining our portable dishwasher into ice cream buckets to dump into the toilet.

It was also a wonderful new experience to shop around for a wheelchair for Sunny.  It was so kind of you to swell her feet and ankles causing so much pain that she couldn't walk.  The subsequent visit to the DMV for a disabled placard was, in spite of tradition, actually a breeze.

Tuesday was St. Nicholas Day.  St. Nicholas stopped by and put candy and trinkets in our shoes. Thanks for encouraging Abel to wake me at 5:40 to tell me that a cat had thrown up on the floor.  I guess you wore yourself out with that effort because I missed your help for the next few hours.  I took K & S to get labs and got everyone to school in a timely manner.  I even had to get a several hours of work done by myself.  You weren't completely idle, however.  Thanks for telling Buster's teacher that he hasn't been doing nearly enough homework. I think it's great when he's up till 9:00 or so hitting the books.  Anything less just wouldn't be appropriate for a 3rd grader.

Wednesday morning you hid Missy's shoes that she needed for Show Choir performances at elementary schools.  How thoughtful!  She missed the bus, and I had to drive her across town to her middle school.  I'm sorry you didn't hide the mysterious black flats she found in her room.  A bit big, to be sure, but she got by wearing her sneakers with her skirt except while she was performing.  I did make it to my doctor appointment on time and even found a parking spot.

You must have gone to special effort that afternoon to make it so that everyone needed to be picked up at nearly the same time from 3 different locations.  Also, I wanted to make special mention of your help with Sunny's computer at coding club.  You made her first class so memorable by making it not work right.  Unfortunately, she was able to share a classmate's computer and work well in a team.

I'm grateful for the time change you encouraged for Young Women's.  I liked driving to the church at 6:30 to drop off at scouts, at 7:00 to drop off for YW, and 7:30 for scout pick-up.  I'm just sorry I don't live farther away from the church so it could have taken even more time.

Today you really did a fabulous job.  Missy's shoes were still missing, and she had another performance.  I drove her to school to chaperone.  There were 2 buses, as ordered, but somehow they sent enough seats for 115 elementary school kids, not middle schoolers.  Adding the wheelchair bus was a special touch.  It was great to have 3 kids packed to a seat with a huge gaping hole in the middle where no one could sit.  I only regret that you didn't do more to get me out of watching those 2 choir performances, but the phone call from Sunny was a great try.

As we arrived at the second school, I got that call from Sunny.  She informed me that her new kitty was out this morning, and when he came home, he was limping and evidently in great pain.  Upon my return home, it was such a pleasure loading the cat in the crate and taking him to the vet on Sunny's lap in her wheelchair.  It made my day to have more medical bills to pay.  Again, it's not good to have too much extra money laying around at Christmas time.

This evening, I feared you'd stay behind while I took the kids to my mom's house for dinner and decorating the Christmas tree.  I'm so glad you came, though.  Abel coming down with a fever was just the perfect touch to add to this week so far.  And really, you shouldn't have gone to the effort of injuring Sunny a little more so she couldn't even crawl very well anymore.  I fear you might have strained yourself.

So you see, as grateful as I am for all of your help, I really don't think I'll be needing it anymore.  Ben comes home tomorrow, and I'd hate for you to see him undo your hard work on our drain.

Merry Christmas!  And please let me know next time you plan an extended visit.

Sincerely,

Robin Kendrick

Fuzz Aldrin and the Big Bad Broom

The newest member of our family is an adorable 1-year-old cat we adopted.  Here, Kandy is trying to sweep the floor, but he is not making it easy for her!

HSP Update & GoFundMe

K & S are both feeling much better, and their labs are looking pretty good.  Sunny still copes with stomach pain on a daily basis, but at least she isn't walking around the house holding her stomach.  Unfortunately, the medical bills are still piling up.  We have done our best to manage them, but we just can't do any more!  So we have made the difficult decision to ask friends and family for a little bit of help to meet our obligations.  If you can help, please click on the GoFundMe link in the right side-bar.

I'd also love to work for the money!  If you know any friends or family that are looking to buy or sell a house, I'd be happy to help them.

Thank you!

St. Patrick's Day

We hope you had a happy St. Patrick's Day.  We did!

No more homebound instruction

Today Sarah was "released" from the hospital homebound program. Why? Two reasons: first, she actually tried to go to school for a couple of days but couldn't last more than a couple of hours; second, they need a new doctor's note saying how long this is expected to go on to renew for the program. Well, duh, they tell us HSP lasts 4-6 weeks and it's already been 8! We have no idea how long it will go on!!! I'm thinking I'll just have to pull her out of school now until she's better and do homeschool or something online. This program seemed so great at first, but now I'm pretty annoyed with it. And HSP. Definitely annoyed with HSP. It's so hard to see her in so much pain every day.

Roller coaster

I just have to post and say I'm sick of this roller coaster ride. I took Sunny to school to see her teacher for a few minutes this afternoon. She was so pitifully happy to see her and the few classmates that were there. She hasn't been back to school since Christmas break. Can't wait for this to be over...for a while, at least. We're really hoping she can feel well enough to go to the Valentine's party on Friday.

HSP Updates

Kayanna is still dealing with HSP.  Now, apparently, Sarah is having a flare-up as well.  I am now tracking this on a separate page.  So if you want the latest updates on them and their condition, you can click on the page "Living with HSP" in the right sidebar.

Thanks for your concern and prayers on their behalf.

Kayanna and how everything spiraled from there

This has been a tough week for our family.  About 10 days ago, Kayanna had what looked like a spider bite on her ankle.  We watched it for a few days before taking her to the doctor.  Our preferred pediatrician was out of the office, so we saw her partner.  She looked at the "bite," and then she looked at the rash going up Kayanna's leg.  It was pretty minor, and I thought it was an allergic reaction to the cream she had been putting on her eczema.

"It looks like HSP," she said.  At first I disagreed.  Sunny had HSP (Henoch-Schonlein Purpura) when she was three or four, and the spots looked different than I remembered.  The doctor ordered blood work, so I took Kayanna to the lab and then took her back to school.

On Saturday, she was blessed to go to the Saturday morning session of General Conference with her grandparents.  Upon returning, she complained of pain in her feet, and they were indeed very swollen.  Her rash was worse, too.  At this point, I agreed with the diagnosis.  As the weekend progressed, she could hardly walk on her feet, and she spent much time doubled up with stomach pain.

Tuesday Ben took her back to the doctor.  Her kidneys are now affected, and they seriously considered admitting her to the hospital.  She was allowed to come home, however, provided she can continue to eat and drink enough to stay hydrated.  She was also prescribed some pain meds.  With HSP, all they can really do is support care.  Nothing can be done to shorten the duration or reduce the severity of the symptoms.  (More about HSP here, if you're curious.)  I took her to Primary Children's  Outpatient today for more lab tests.

It's so hard to watch a child in so much pain and feel so powerless to help.

Having a very sick child makes even normal life stresses tougher, but this is where it gets even more crazy.  On Monday, I picked up the younger children from the bus.  They have complained of bullying on the bus in the past, but it escalated to new levels on Monday.  Things were bad enough that we submitted a written complaint to the principal and the transportation department.  On Tuesday, they contacted us, and changes are being implemented to improve the situation.  I'm glad they took it seriously!

On Tuesday, a small thing happened.  By itself, it's not huge, but it made me laugh because it was just one more thing--Sunny called from school to say her glasses were broken.  I told her to sit in the front and we'd fix them later.  After we found out Kayanna would not be admitted to the hospital, I did take Sunny in to get them fixed.

Today (Wednesday) I found chicken feathers outside our back door.  Apparently raccoons or something caught our chicken, Merida, last night.  Sunny was quite devastated.  I'm annoyed and frustrated (especially at the timing), but at least I can now get rid of our ramshackle chicken coop.  I'd like chickens again sometime, but only if we can have a better coop.

And remember, through all of this I still have a broken foot.  I have been relying tons on Kayanna's help around the house.  Oh, and Ben left on an overnight business trip this morning.  Molly, for whom everything is going very well, joked this morning that because things are going well for her, things no longer are going well because she is now the most able-bodied big person in the house until Ben gets home.

Through all of this, I am so grateful for my wonderful family and their support.  How blessed we are that we have not had chronic illness or disability among our children.  How blessed we are that I have very flexible work that enables me to be with Kayanna as much as she needs me.  Ben can also work from home much of the time, so if I do have an appointment, he can be here with her. (Well, unless he's out of town, of course.)

I'll try to keep things updated on Kayanna's condition.

Flanders Fields--The German Trenches

We have been back in Utah for over a month, but there are still just a few Belgian adventures to blog about.

Today our post is another visit to a historical site.  100 years ago, World War I was being fought in trenches up and down Belgium.  We had the opportunity to visit a German trench.  This trench was originally filled in, but one day, a farmer found the ruins in his field and worked to excavate and restore them.

There were poppies everywhere in June.  These were in the median as we drove to
the trenches.  The poppies are still a symbol of the sacrifices of the Great War.

Sarah and Robin in the trenches.  Notice how my head comes up over the top.
To stay out of sight, a soldier my height would have to crouch through this portion of the trench.

Kayanna

This is inside a bunker.  The Germans specifically designed their bunkers to be
uncomfortably short.  The soldiers only sheltered in them occasionally.  The Allied bunkers
were generally higher and could be used as offices and places of respite.  This bunker could hold
about 10 men, if I remember right.

Ben and Abraham

As you can see, this was a lovely sunny day in June.  In Belgium, it was rarely super warm.  Even on this lovely day, the ground was damp and marshy in the trenches.  The wooden planks on the bottom would have helped little to keep feet dry on a rainy winter day.  What horrific conditions the soldiers had to put up with!

La Roche-en-Ardenne Castle

On Saturday the 23 of May, after Robin and I went to the American Cemetery for the ceremony of the previous post, we gathered the children together, ignoring their grumbling that we were taking them to some other dumb place. We took them to a ruined castle at Roche en Ardenne. This Castle had quite a few intact sections. We enjoyed the awesome falconry show that they had there. Everyone did have a lot of fun. The kids grumble that we roust them from the house, but always have fun when we do it. Why the complaining?

The girls at the entrance to the castle

The boys up on a defensive wall, ready to defend the castle.

Ben and the kids down in the lower courtyard where the craftspeople worked.

The whole family

View from the castle across the church and river. A wonderful view of the valley. We noticed that the windows on this church were all new. (Not the pictorial stained glass we see in other churches of it's age)  It is likely that this town saw heavy fighting during WWII. It was recaptured by the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge.

The view from across the valley up to the castle.

Memorial Day Ceremony at the Cemetery des Ardennes

I love Memorial Day!  In Utah, we have a big family picnic and party.  As a kid, I anticipated it almost as much as Christmas.  This year it was special in a very different way.

As I have mentioned before, we live rather close to an American Cemetery where lie many of the fallen from World War II.  At 1000 hours on the Saturday before Memorial Day, Ben and I went to the memorial ceremony.  The kids had gone to the ceremony for Veteran's Day, and they didn't want to go to another one.  (Also, we overslept a little and would have had a hard time getting all five kids out the door on time!)  At the cemetery, we ran into the senior missionary couple here in Liège and sat with them.

This ceremony was very well-attended!  There were lots of chairs and visiting dignitaries, including a representative of the King of the Belgians.

For me, the most moving moments were National Anthem.  School children from Rotheux, where the kids would have gone to school, sang the anthems of both Belgium and the United States.  At the end, the American band played the National Anthem again.  Hearing that music while looking over the crosses and stars of the cemetery was an experience I cannot describe and never want to forget.  Hearing Belgian children honor Americans who died for their freedom was powerful, too.  I wish the girls could have come, but I was glad that I could concentrate and appreciate the event without wrangling the boys.

Lots of Belgian flags.  In front, there are school children from Rotheux,
the larger town near us.

Beautiful wreaths, American military band, and Belgian soldiers

In the back, you can see some of the veterans who came

The band was very good.

Ben and Robin after the ceremony

In other news, we are now counting down the days until we return to Utah.  We have just over 2 weeks!