We met up with Sam on Saturday morning; a pearly-perfect weather day. We tried Subway for breakfast and gave it a 'thumbs-up'. Pretty good stuff! It was fast and on the way to our destination- Shiloh National Military Park. The park is located not that far from Corinth, a nice little 15-20 minute drive if I remember correctly.

Here's a thumbnail explanation: (skip if you want to get to the pictures)

Shiloh National Military Park preserves the American Civil War Shiloh and Corinth battlefields. The main section of the park is in the unincorporated town of Shiloh, about nine miles south of Savannah, Tennessee, with an additional area located in the city of Corinth, Mississippi, 23 miles southwest of Shiloh. The Battle of Shiloh began a six-month struggle for the key railroad junction at Corinth. Afterward, Union forces marched from Pittsburg Landing to take Corinth in a May seige, then withstood an October Confederate counter-attack.

The Battle of Shiloh was one of the first major battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. The two-day battle, April 6 and April 7, 1862, involved about 65,000 Union troops under Ulysses S. Grant and Don Carlos Buell and 44,0000 Confederates under Albert Sidney Johnston (killed in battle) and P.G.T. Beauregard. The battle resulted in nearly 24,000 killed, wounded and missing. The two days of fighting did not end in a decisive tactical victory for either side- the Union held the battlefield but failed to pursue the withdrawing Confederate forces. However, it was a decisive strategic defeat for the Confederate forces that had massed to oppose Grant's and Buell's invasion through Tennessee. The battlefield is named after Shiloh Methodist Church, a small log church near Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee.

 

Ammo- serious business. 

This fellow, who was in Union uniform, gave an excellent presentation on the different kinds of ammo and the workings of an artillery unit.

Camp- we just had to compare it to Eminence. Here is the mess- luxurious!

The boys take a break from battle to compare notes.

We tenters in Eminence have it pretty easy compared to the trappings of Civil War camp. A side note- evidently this was a camp that the guys were using 'for real'. Sam felt a lump in the blanket as he climbed in- turned out to be a very fancy camera under there! 

Anniversary couple- married in Iowa. 

This monument is the tallest in the park.

Illinois was well-represented also.

'

A reproduction of the original Shiloh church that the battle was named for. So ironic that 'Shiloh' means 'peace'.

From what I can find out, this was put up by the United Daughters of the Confederacy Chapter #371, which is led by Mrs. Bettye Stanley. Feelings still run strongly evidently.

The weather was so beautiful in this peaceful, solemn park. Father and son time.

And then silliness ensued for a little while.

Sam decided to commemorate the occasion by 'planking'.

Tom was surprised he could do it-a lot easier than he thought it would be!

Okay- Sam said it was time for the guns to come out. 

A deer, not really caring that there were people gawking at him. 

Missouri got in on the action some- even though they had to join Tennessee units in order to fight.

The strategic, beautiful Tennessee river- where so much happened, so long ago.

Hard to believe that this whole area was where so many fought and died on those two fateful days in April a few lifetimes ago.

 

Tom and I try to 'get away' for a long weekend once a year for our anniversary (September 24). This year we decided to combine that with a visit to Sam, our son, who was transferred to the Corinth, Mississippi store early this year. So, we headed south!

But first, we had to spend a little time in Memphis, Tennessee. We traditionally get in a game of miniature golf. We found a 'Putt-Putt' course in Memphis thanks to GPS, and Tom won handily, getting several 'holes in one'. 

The Winner!

Then Tom drove a few balls. The weather was just perfect- nice breeze and just the right amount of warm.

We redeemed our nice Cracker Barrel gift cards- I didn't get a picture of the Memphis CB we visited, but did get this one in Mississippi, just south of Memphis. 

The Mister in the Ole Miss chair.

Memphis is VERY close to the Mississippi/Arkansas borders, so I wasn't sure which state I was in sometimes. We did drive by Graceland, the Elvis Presley home, but didn't go in. "Not our thang", but we were curious what it looked like. It was interesting that it was so business/residential- I had thought it was an estate way outside of Memphis. (No picture- went by too fast).

We went on down to Corinth- which is just barely over the Tennessee/Mississippi state line. I think Sam said that from his place the line is about three miles north of him. Not far, anyway. We met up with him at his place.

He has a nice place with "Ranger Danger" in front of it.

He took us out to dinner at "The Dinner Bell"- a nice family place, with good home-style food. I would recommend it. It is Cracker Barrel-esque. Then we stopped by Sam's store to see the latest and greatest in Kmart merchandise.

Recommended by Sam- Smart Energy Drink Mix.

That's all the time I have for posting right now-stay tuned, more to come!

Eli was entertaining Verity and me this afternoon.

 

Here is his "I Want It" song-

 

 

He's getting big time!

Yesterday our managing editor, Laura Dabbs and I went up to the capitol of Illinois, Springfield, for a seminar on a program we use to set up our newspapers- InDesign. We were really looking forward to the outing, even though it meant a lot of juggling with our personal and job responsibilities in order to clear the day yesterday. In other words- ROAD TRIP!!!!

The seminar was conducted by Russell Viers- he was very entertaining and informative. We received nine hours of information and training, not only with InDesign, but Bridge, a little Photoshop and Illustrator- all programs by Adobe. The Illustrator program was by far and away the most interesting, with all its graphics bells and whistles. Russell was amazing- he was very witty, and took something that could have been a real snooze-fest into something that kept us intrigued.

We had a couple of breaks and a lunch during the day. During those breaks, we took a gander at the Illinois Press Association building, where the seminar was held. On the lobby wall there are plaques of newspapers in the State of Illinois. After looking and looking and looking and looking for the Southwestern Journal News, I finally found 'my' paper!

I was really excited to see this- on the same wall with the big Chicago papers! 

Twice a year, at our newspaper, we create a special section called "Farm and Home". The spotlight is on our local farmers and builders. Most of the time, we don't have enough copy to fill every inch, so we look for "filler".

The following is filler that I came across which I thought was entertaining. I would imagine that some have heard these, but in case you haven't---

 

You Might Be a Farmer If...

• Your dog rides in the truck more than your wife          
• You have driven off the road while examining your neighbor's crops
• You have used a chainsaw to remodel your house     
• You have buried a dog and cried like a baby
• You always look when a vehicle passes your house, even at night
• You have animals living in buildings more expensive than your house
• Your family instantly becomes silent when the weather comes on the news        
• You have enough ball caps to match every shirt you own, but you only wear one so you don't get the others dirty
• You convince your wife that an overnight, out of state trip for parts is a vacation
• You've never thrown away a 5 gallon bucket               
• You have ever had to wash off in the backyard with a garden hose before your wife would let you in the house
• You have used baling wire to attach a license plate    
• You can remember the fertilizer rate, seed population, herbicide rate, and yields on a farm you rented 10 years ago, but cannot recall your wife's birthday
• You have used a tractor with a loader as scaffolding for painting or roof repairs 
• You wave at every vehicle whether you know them or not
• Your wife agrees to observe Mother's Day after the beans are planted   
• Over 50% of your clothing came from feed or seed dealers
• You give directions to your farm by using area landmarks, not road names or number     
• You refer to farms by who owned them 50 or more years ago
• You've been stopped by the deputy sheriff for a cluttered dashboard    
• Family weddings and special events are planned around spring planting and fall harvest
• Your know that checkoff is not a Russian diplomat   
• The rusted out areas of your truck are sealed off with old tee-shirts or duct tape
• You can eat an ear of sweet corn with no utensils in under 20 seconds  
• You pick up all the free stuff at the State Fair
• It takes 30 seconds to reach your destination and it's clear across town 
• You can tell the difference between the smell of a skunk and the smell of a feedlot
• The meaning of true love is that you'll pose for a picture with both him and his favorite tractor      
• The meaning of true love is that you'll ride in the tractor with him
• You consider a building a mall if it's bigger than the local Wal-Mart       
• You know you should listen to the weather forecast before picking out an outfit
• Your excuse for getting out of school is that the cows got out
• You consider a romantic evening driving through Hardees and renting a hunting instructional video
• You can tell it's a farmer working late in the field, know who it is, what they're doing, and not think it's a UFO
• You listen to "Paul Harvey" every day at noon and never get tired of him saying, "Gooooood day"
• Your nearest neighbor is in the next section, and you know what a section is       
• You actually understand the geographical necessity of correction lines
• When you were little, you "beat-up" another kid on school bus arguing over the color of tractors    
• Your other vehicle is a tractor

 

The family members who have summer birthdays sometimes don't get their parties in a timely fashion. Chad, one of our sons-in-law, was no exception. His birthday is June 30- right in the thick of campout. We had his party yesterday. We still need to get Jason's celebrated (July 29). We were going to have a double one, but Jason had to leave to go to Maine after church services yesterday morning for a business trip. 

 

Nothing could be a better present than what Chad and Candace got on May 13- Eli! Eli helped his dad with the candle blowing out yesterday. 

 

 

Eager to try out his ducky boat- (thanks to cousin Cayden) Grandma and Eli decided we would see how she (duck) did on the high (three-foot) seas this warm, muggy morning.

Ahoy, there, matey!

Everything looks ship-shape and Bristol-fashion!

Something is amiss here, but I just can put my little finger on it!

Grandma lets me go boating in my pajama onesie!

 "music" is from Hunt for Red October"

 

Inspired by the Clint Sparks memorial in Kansas City, Verity asked if we could do something similar at Prince Road after Wednesday evening services. Our group heard some remarks from Tom, and then balloons in the colors Verity said Clint liked best were released. The evening was very muggy and still; we were able to watch the balloons in the sky for a long, long time.

 

I don't have Tom's complete remarks- my camera was resistant to videoing for that length of time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I haven't said much for a long time about Tom's health-Tom has been doing a good job of giving updates each month in the Gospel Message concerning his health and current treatments and has covered the topic pretty well.  

For those who haven't heard about him for awhile, and are wondering, there haven't been any major ups or downs to his health. That is something to be very thankful for. We were concerned about some spots in his lungs a few months back. His doctor put him back on oxaliplatin in conjunction with the other chemo drugs. Tom doesn't much care for the oxaliplatin- it affects his sensation of heat and cold. He can't take anything cold to drink- we warm his drinking water, milk- of course, no ice in drinks. And it makes it more difficult for him to rebound from chemo. What used to take a few days, now takes a week for him to be able to go back to all his usual duties.  

He has been having treatments every other week since December of 2009 at Siteman Cancer Center, West County, which is in southern St. Louis, MO.

Cancer seems to be like a slow, smoldering subterranean fire, where it will pop up here and there- you don't know where it is going to show up next, and pray that it won't go to a vital organ. It is always a kick in the gut (to me) to remember that it has been termed "incurable", but thanks to all the prayers-we firmly believe this- the cancer has been as suppressed as much as is possible. It was three years this past April since the cancer (colon) was discovered.  So far, it manifested itself as a tumor on a ureter (reduced satisfactorily), and then as tiny spots in the lungs. Since the reintroduction of the oxaliplatin, his last scan report was encouraging, noting that the spots in his lungs indicated that they had been treated. His numbers have crept up incrementally over time- we try not to let that affect our mental outlook. Treatment before last, they went down a bit- the first time that had happened for a long time. This last time, the number went up by 3 or 4, so that wasn't as pleasant.

His most recent treatment was this past Monday, and was unhooked from the chemo pump on Wednesday. He napped frequently, but still was able to mow the yard (I offered, but he wanted to do it) and put together the Gospel Message. When he is having his chemo week he hardly eats anything. He is taking nausea meds, but he still feels "weird", in his words.

He has been able to persuade his doctor to let him skip some treatments, in order for him to feel as well as possible- for the campout was one instance, and I think that he has made arrangements to do the same for the two-week study in Excelsior Springs, MO. 

Like any change in life, you get used to things. We have adjusted to him getting treatments, and plan our lives around them accordingly. I marvel at how he doesn't seem to let it slow him down much. When he is on his 'good' week, you wouldn't know he is a chemo patient.

There is so much to be thankful for- the prayers of the saints, the generosity of our church family in taking care of Tom's medical expenses, the love of our physical and spiritual families. We value how 'normal' life can be, even with Tom's health being what it is. 

Thank you- thank you-thank you.

(Yes, this is belated, I have decided to make 'friends' with xanga again.)

Date: Thursday, May 12, 2011

Event: Birth of Baby Stutz

Cast of characters:

Best friend Megan

Hubby Chad

And expectant mommy Candace- still feeling pretty good at this point...

Getaway vehicle- the blue FJ

Here he is! Eli Harrison Stutz!!!!  Momma and Daddy are thrilled to meet him!

Vital statistics

And a lovely boy he is!

Hello world!!!