Life in the Past Lane

 The reason for our adventure was my cousin Samantha's new house.  Be careful when you invite me someplace, because I WILL show up.  I'll also probably bring people.  It's like "If you give a pig a pancake."  Samantha was completely relaxed about more people showing up than there were beds, just like I knew she would be.  And just like SHE knew it would be, it was fine.  In fact, the whole weekend was perfect.

 The room Coco and Bill stayed in.

 Bill broke the curtain rod with his bum late one night.  It's hard to explain.  Can't take this guy anywhere!

 The kitchen!  If you could see the before pictures, your jaw would drop.  As a matter of fact, you CAN see them.  Follow Samantha on Instagram at @fillmorefixerupper.

 Shortly after arrival, Dad wanted to go on a Samantha-guided tour of Fillmore.  Without skipping a beat, Samantha assigned the three girls to prepare dinner, showed them some ingredients, and we were out the door.  As we left, Xanthe said, "Can we use knives?!"  Simultaneously, I said NO! and Samantha said YES!  At that moment, I vowed to be more like Samantha.  We came back from our tour and hamburgers, watermelon, carrots and fixings were ready to go.  Incredible.

 I have tons of memories of me being in awe and inspired by Samantha, my older, more glamorous, more fascinating cousin.  Her mom and my mom were sisters and best friends, until Aunt Pat died 18 years ago.   My earliest memories of Samantha, when the Pextons moved back from Connecticut, was watching her as the star in the road show.  Later, visiting her dorm at Weber State.  Then following her adventures as an army wife in Germany...being a guinea pig for numerous Lancome makeovers and getting boxes of free samples...visiting her in Pennsylvania on the way to and from Europe in 1996 with Scott, and driving two of her kids back to Utah with us.  That drive was an adventure with Tyler and Tiffany, and they got to spend a few weeks with their grandma before she passed away.  It still gives me chills to think that if all of us hadn't decided on the spur of the moment to throw those kids in our VW Fox, they wouldn't have had that time with Pat.  It's not surprising; Samantha has always been prescient, and aware of the big picture.

 This is the house where Nana was born, now a motel.

 When Nana was 2, the Robison family moved to this house right around the corner.

 We stayed up late looking through family history while the kids tried to contact the ghost that is rumored to live at Samantha's house.

 See what a great job the girls did on dinner, with no help?!

 Sunday morning, Esmae and Xanthe woke up at 7, but the grown-ups were still sleeping, courtesy of a few well-timed ambien.  I took these cuties on a historic tour of Fillmore, and to Burger King to bring home the bacon.

 By then, everyone was up.  It was stake conference, so we opted not to go to church, but to delve into more family history and chatting over breakfast.

 We took a drive west to Flowell and then to the cemetery, where we spent a lot of time.  Meanwhile, the girls were preparing lunch from ingredients they found in the pantry.

 Who is this little child?

 Nana Ruby's grandfather

 and grandmother

 Dad's McBride grandmother, the one in the bridal picture

 This is the grave we were looking for, Nana's little sister Eleanor.  She died at age 3 of consumption.  It's the most heartbreaking story to hear Nana talk about little Eleanor and how her parents took Eleanor all the way to Salt Lake City to see a specialist and the doctor said there was nothing they could do.  They just had to wheel Eleanor around in a buggy until she died.  Nana has never forgotten the gutwrenching screams of her mother when little Eleanor finally passed away.  It's so tragic to me that Eleanor had to die, and that today, her condition would most likely not have been life-threatening.  I never got to meet Eleanor, of course, but I still mourn her loss, especially when I look at one of my children, Tziporah right this minute, for example, and think of the unfathomable void that would be created if she were gone.  I can't even imagine.  Tziporah is so vital, so alive, so warm, so beautiful.  I just know that Eleanor has a mighty role in the family from the other side of the veil.

 When we got back from our lengthy excursions, Araceli and the little girls had prepared a lunch of pasta bolognese, cake and chips.  We only said good-bye reluctantly...

When we got home, Ptolemy was incensed that he hadn't been invited, and he's still mad.  I keep telling him not to worry, we'll go back to Fillmore soon!