Ivan Wideman

Trying to convince Tom Carlin, blinded by a childhood bout with the measles, that he can lead a productive life, Adam Kendall battles Tom's bitter, skeptical father and is unexpectedly aided by the underdog Winoka Warriors, who have just lost their star player to a rival football team.

Laura befriends a classmate named Amelia Bevins, who is ashamed of her obese father. When the man realizes how much pain he is causing his wife and daughter, he leaves them temporarily for a "business trip" that will change their family forever.

The Ingalls, Garveys, Olsens, and Albert get back to Walnut Grove to find it run down and in shabby condition. Lars Hansen, who founded Walnut grove over 50 years ago, has suffered a stroke, and is much like the town--on its last leg. The Ingalls and the Garveys go to the farms around town to let everyone know of their plans to fix the town up to restore it to its former glory.

Adam proposes to Mary, and they plan a wedding in Winoka. Charles and Caroline cannot afford to send the whole family to the event, so they are forced to make the trip by themselves. All seems to be going great until Mary, who fears that she and her Adam can never be proper parents, calls the whole thing off.

The building that houses the school for the blind is being turned into a Hotel, so Adam and Mary are forced to move their school elsewhere. Miraculously, there is a place in Walnut Grove that can belong to them, but with no money for transportation, they must all make the journey by foot.