Visit to Georgia (continued)

Monday came and went and still no Paul Sr. or Ashley. They were stranded still in southern California. Fortunately, they caught a nine-thirty Monday night flight (12:30 a.m. Atlanta time) and arrived here in Atlanta at about five o'clock Tuesday morning. They were very tired of having waited in airports since Sunday morning.

On Monday, after Claudia and I were up and ready for the day, we drove over to Paul and Eliza's apartment and spent the rest of the day with them. Their washing machine had apparently been damaged in the move from Utah, but Eliza did not discover that little fact until after a load of clothes had filled up with water and would not then agitate. Not good. So Paul took the machine apart and discovered that one of the springs that holds up the whole interior part of the washing machine had come off. We spent a good part of the next few hours trying to lift and reconnect it. Finally our endurance gave out and we went out to eat at a nearby Waffle House. Adeaquate to refuel us. Nothing to write home about.

We then returned and finished working on the washer, which we finally repaired, put back together, and tried to resume washing the load of clothes. Nothing happened. Some other problem keeps it from working. So we reassembled the crib in Peter's room instead.

Originally we had planned to go to a laser light show at Stone Mountain for our family home evening, but since Paul's dad and sister were not yet here we decided to postpone that and watched more of the Beijing Olympics instead. Claudia and I then drove back to Kieffers' house. We visited a little while with Kathryn and then went to bed.

On Tuesday, after Claudia and I were up for the day, we drove back over to Paul and Eliza's place (15 miles from where the Kieffers live as I clocked it on the odometer of Kathryn's car that we are using for the week). We had visited a little with Kathryn after her seminary class (which she teaches each school day from six to seven in the morning) and before she left before eight for work at the Distribution Center near the Atlanta Temple. School started here yesterday, and the first day of seminary was this morning.

We helped watch Peter while Paul and Eliza went to their ten-thirty appointment to get Georgia driver licenses and register to vote. By now Paul's dad and sister were here, recovering still from their having flown through the night and having endured waiting at airports since Sunday morning. We watched more of the televised coverage of the Olympics.

In the afternoon we all went shopping at Wal-Mart to help fill up Paul and Eliza's pantry and refrigerator. We filled three shopping carts. As our little way of helping the kids get a start here in their new home, Paul Sr. paid for what was in his cart, Claudia and I paid for what was in our cart, and Paul and Eliza paid for what was in their cart. We brought everything home, put it away, fixed a late lunch, and Claudia and I took Eliza to Sam's Club to get the few more things that were still needed.

Originally we had planned to go to a laser light show at Stone Mountain, but it started raining, so that plan was postponed once again. Apparently the rain is good, since the whole region here is in a prolonged drought.

After watching more of the Olympics, Paul and Eliza generously took us all to dinner at Tanner's, a restaurant in Suwanee, not far from Kieffers' house, for a late dinner. We got there at eight o'clock, and the restaurant closed at nine. We went there to try the fried pickles that Eliza (and Peter) love so much. They were good, as was the rest of the food we all had. The portions were huge, and we thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. Claudia had chicken and ribs with mashed potatoes and gravy and apples and cinnamon as her two sides. I had chicken with apples served on a bed of rice with baked beans and grilled corn on the cob as sides. It was all very delicious.

We then went to Kieffers' house. Paul and Eliza came too, so they could introduce Paul Sr. and Ashley to the Kieffers and check on the tickets to the Atlanta Braves games on Thursday night that Ken can get through someone he knows at work and so Peter could play with Mattie (the Kieffers' dog). Mama Lue was back from her visit to Kansas City, and we all had a delightful visit. The Kieffers, who we consider practically as family, are so incredibly nice and helpful and generous.