1999
McFADDEN FAMILY
YEAR IN REVIEW
We began 1999 by attending the wedding of Brian LaFrance and Christie McHolm. Christie is Tim’s 1st cousin once removed. It was a beautiful outdoor wedding. The weather was clear and very nice.
In February we made a long weekend out of President’s day and went on a trip through Northern Arizona. We camped the first night at a place out in the middle of nowhere, near the junction of Hwy. 260 & 87. The next day we went through Sedona and on up to Flagstaff where we stayed at a place called Black Bart’s. On Sunday morning we headed west to find several sections of the old Route 66. This 3 kilometer section is an alignment that was used in the 1920’s. It has been abandoned for about 60 years and connects to absolutely nothing now.
We found several other abandoned sections of the highway over the next two days. We continued west where we had lunch at the famous Snow Cap. Yeah, Mr. Delgadillo squirted the fake mustard on us! We continued our drive west and stopped about sunset at Grand Canyon Caverns along the old Route 66. They have a place to camp there. We were the only ones camping there. Obviously when Interstate 40 bypassed Route 66 it affected business! We toured the caverns on Monday morning. We continued west on old Route 66 to Kingman, and drove home through Wickenberg.
In March we had a trip planned to take four days and go to Los Angeles to see Tim’s parents and visit his Aunt Ruth and Uncle Harold in Pomona. Uncle Harold was fighting cancer, and we knew it may be the last time we’d get to visit him. On Friday night we got as far as Quartzite and found a place to camp in the desert off some road 10 kilometers south of town. We went to bed and Tim woke up in the morning too sick and weak to get out of bed. After waiting all day for him to "get over it", Lydiann said "If I don’t drive us home now, we’re never gonna get there." We called and canceled the trip. Lydiann drove the motorhome all the way back to Tempe. Tim was diagnosed with strep and didn’t get out of bed for a week. Even then he only got out of bed because it was time to go to Roosevelt Lake for a weekend we had planned with some of our friends.
On Thursday, April 1st, Tim called Lydiann at work and said a winter storm was forecast with snow down to 600 meters elevation. We really like to camp in the snow. When Lydiann got home from work we packed the motor home and left in a 2 hour window. We arrived at our camp site at around 10:00 p.m., and the snow was just beginning to fall. We slept snug and warm. When we awoke, we discovered that about 12 inches of snow had fallen during the night! We built a huge snow lion (instead of a snowman), the kids and Lydiann rode inner tubes down a nearby hill, we all drank lots of hot chocolate, and had a blast! On the way home there was snow everywhere, but not in the usual places! It had snowed at such low elevations that even Roosevelt Lake, where we had camped in the HEAT just 2 weeks before, was blanketed in snow. People were everywhere, just parked right on the sides of the highways, playing in the snow. What a sight to remember! We went home on Saturday, so we could be home for Easter. Sunday, was the usual Easter celebration. We went to church, and then to Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Stan McFadden’s home for Easter dinner.
School let out May 27th. On May 30th Jeff left for Colorado, where he attended a Summit Ministries Conference. It was an intensive 2 week course. Students must know what they believe, and they must know why they believe it. Three days later, Ben and Bryan got on a plane for Grandma and Grandpa’s, to spend a week, leaving us with no kids. Ben and Bryan got to visit Tim’s Aunt Ruth and Uncle Harold Stanton in Pomona. Ben and Bryan said Uncle Harold’s workshop was really interesting. June 7th was our anniversary. After being married for 19 years ( it only seems like 50 years) this was only the second time we’ve been alone with no children. We went to the Mogollon Rim and camped alone for a week. Sorry, no pictures or details from that week!. Later on the 23rd of June our good friend Larry Evans came through Arizona and visited us. We had a nice afternoon and evening with him. We were sorry his wife Char couldn’t come, but she had to mind the store. Literally.
In July we went on three trips. First, we made Independence Day a 5 day trip. We camped in northern Arizona with 50 friends. What a zoo!. On the fourth of July we saw a spectacular fireworks show in Heber. Our next trip was two days later. We went with 7 other families to Luna Lake, located in eastern Arizona. Then, on July 29th we headed to California for the big family reunion. We stayed on the beach in Ventura the first night. In the morning, Lydiann enjoyed sitting on the beach drinking her coffee. Tim still thinks the beach is filthy. Being right on the beach was very novel for the boys. There was a train track about 125 meters from our camp spot. Tim and Ben enjoyed walking over and watching the freight trains pass by. After breakfast on Friday we headed to Oceano for the reunion. We arrived about noon, and got to visit with nearly a hundred relatives during the weekend. We had a great time at the reunion. After the reunion was over Sunday afternoon, we left and went as far as L.A., where we stayed at Uncle Bert and Aunt Billie McFadden’s for the night. We drove home across the long, hot desert all day Monday. The next week, Tim purchased software and made a family tree to track the relationships of all the relatives and ancestors.
August 9th came quickly, and Lydiann was back to teaching. The boys were back to classes the next week.
September began with Ben spending 3 days in the hospital with a viral lung infection. That was one adventure we’d not like to repeat. On September 2nd Uncle Harold lost his battle with cancer. Tim never did get to visit him. However, he has wonderful memories. Tim remembers that every year the family would get together at Uncle Harold and Aunt Ruth’s for Christmas eve. Each year, Santa Claus would come while we were there. The bummer was that Uncle Harold never got to see Santa because he was always out checking on the chickens. (He really had chickens.) However, when Tim was about 5 years old, he suddenly figured out that it was really Uncle Harold in the Santa suit! Honestly thinking the adults were duped, along with the kids, he shouted "Hey, that’s Uncle Harold!". Tim said, within 2 nano seconds 5 parents were piled all over him like a quarterback holding a football! Even knowing the truth, it was fun to return every Christmas Eve.
The first and third weekends of October we went camping at Roosevelt Lake where the weather was very nice.
In November, we went to Tim’s sister’s home in Prescott for Thanksgiving. We enjoyed being with Cherrie and Russell and their 3 children, as well as Tim’s parents who drove in from Los Angeles. We left their home and camped in northern Arizona for 2 days. We visited Meteor Crater and saw more of old Route 66 east of Flagstaff before going home.
Here it is, December. The decorating is finished, most of the presents are bought, and the cookies are baking. Tim and the boys went all out on the Christmas lights this year. Tim-the-Tool-Man Taylor would be proud! Lydiann, Bryan, and Ben are looking forward to having 2 weeks off. Jeff is gloating over having a full month off. Tim, having no time off, is complaining that business interferes with pleasure!
As 1999 draws to a close, we wish you and yours a very happy 2000!
Read Christmas
Letters From Previous Years