One interesting aspect of starting this blog is that we are putting up some stories and entries almost in a retroactive fashion so this will probably be front loaded. That and the fact that today is Fast Sunday, meaning we need more distraction time, has allowed us to type quite a bit.
Last Monday, as it was Memorial Day, the tradition of waffles at Grandma and Grandpa Adams house and the a quick walk to the cemetery to refresh family history was in store. The morning was fun and, although it rained, the cemetery trip was as delightful as a trip to the cemetery can be (depending on your tolerance for light rain and old stories). My hands were cold so I invented a way to use my sweatshirt as a holder for the umbrella I was using so my hands could stay warm and my clothes relatively dry. The cemetery is close so we all walked and enjoyed a little spring rainfall.
Afterwards we were all headed to soccer games featuring Marianne's brother and cousin, Clark and Dallin (Landon was injured), respectively, that afternoon. Marianne, her mom, her sister Erica, Erica's boyfriend Andrew and I got into the van to head out. In front of the house there is a semicircle driveway and Marianne's mom had come in one way and another car was parked in the driveway so we would have to back out. Not a big deal, backing out is a part of life. As Marianne's mom began to back out, her phone was passed up to her and distracted her. The curve in the semicircle driveway turned more sharply than her memory recalled. Grandpa Adams had been working on the water pipe stuff in the front yard and so there was a pretty large hole in the ground. As luck would have it, we backed directly into that hole.
At that moment, we realized that we had backed out onto the lawn. The hole was muddy and we could moved forward back through the lawn the way we had come. We ought to have gotten out to see where we were and if our way was blocked or otherwise obstructed. We were already late for the game so that thought, if it came into our mind, was immediately dismissed. We said, "Just keep going back." As she did, we broke free of the hole and the lawn and we headed toward the street. As the front tires passed over the lawn to the sidewalk, an enormous fountain of water began to shoot from the ground. We hurriedly escaped the car and saw the result of our path of destruction: we'd broken a hose faucet on the front lawn.
I knew that water can be turned off with handy little levers and found the underground access point. I turned one lever, nothing. Another. Nothing. The third. Nothing. And that was the extent of levers I had found. I could do nothing but watch as the water sprayed uncontrolled about 15 feet high. Meanwhile, Marianne had gone inside and said, "Grandpa, my mom ran over something and it's spraying a LOT!" Everyone came out and Grandpa Adams knew that the house next door had built onto their property and so the main water valve lever was under a rock on their side. Andrew smartly grabbed the green-plastic-underground-water-lever cover to shield the furiously pressurized water while Grandpa Adams closed the valve. He was soaked. Just the PVC had broken and seemed to be easily repaired. But we had quite an adventurous Memorial Day.
Last Monday, as it was Memorial Day, the tradition of waffles at Grandma and Grandpa Adams house and the a quick walk to the cemetery to refresh family history was in store. The morning was fun and, although it rained, the cemetery trip was as delightful as a trip to the cemetery can be (depending on your tolerance for light rain and old stories). My hands were cold so I invented a way to use my sweatshirt as a holder for the umbrella I was using so my hands could stay warm and my clothes relatively dry. The cemetery is close so we all walked and enjoyed a little spring rainfall.
Afterwards we were all headed to soccer games featuring Marianne's brother and cousin, Clark and Dallin (Landon was injured), respectively, that afternoon. Marianne, her mom, her sister Erica, Erica's boyfriend Andrew and I got into the van to head out. In front of the house there is a semicircle driveway and Marianne's mom had come in one way and another car was parked in the driveway so we would have to back out. Not a big deal, backing out is a part of life. As Marianne's mom began to back out, her phone was passed up to her and distracted her. The curve in the semicircle driveway turned more sharply than her memory recalled. Grandpa Adams had been working on the water pipe stuff in the front yard and so there was a pretty large hole in the ground. As luck would have it, we backed directly into that hole.
At that moment, we realized that we had backed out onto the lawn. The hole was muddy and we could moved forward back through the lawn the way we had come. We ought to have gotten out to see where we were and if our way was blocked or otherwise obstructed. We were already late for the game so that thought, if it came into our mind, was immediately dismissed. We said, "Just keep going back." As she did, we broke free of the hole and the lawn and we headed toward the street. As the front tires passed over the lawn to the sidewalk, an enormous fountain of water began to shoot from the ground. We hurriedly escaped the car and saw the result of our path of destruction: we'd broken a hose faucet on the front lawn.
I knew that water can be turned off with handy little levers and found the underground access point. I turned one lever, nothing. Another. Nothing. The third. Nothing. And that was the extent of levers I had found. I could do nothing but watch as the water sprayed uncontrolled about 15 feet high. Meanwhile, Marianne had gone inside and said, "Grandpa, my mom ran over something and it's spraying a LOT!" Everyone came out and Grandpa Adams knew that the house next door had built onto their property and so the main water valve lever was under a rock on their side. Andrew smartly grabbed the green-plastic-underground-water-lever cover to shield the furiously pressurized water while Grandpa Adams closed the valve. He was soaked. Just the PVC had broken and seemed to be easily repaired. But we had quite an adventurous Memorial Day.
Chris' invention, no hands!
Gug, Andrew, and Grandma Adams
The Fountain
Grandpa the Hero
Good Memory
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