A new home for Ben and Jes

A New Home for Ben and Jes
We have had a wildly busy time since returning home during the Halloween weekend. Ben and Jes have been staying with us while looking for a home. They found one in Palo Alto and will be moving there this coming week. I had a ton of fun with the kids tonight. We played for a long time on the computer, drawing and taking goofy pictures. It is such fun to have the kids around. Jes flew back to Salt Lake to oversee the packing of their things for the move here. She'll return on Tuesday. In the meantime, Ben is here with us, along with the kids. It should be a busy and fun time.

Mom is doing fine. She is standing for longer periods of time and even walked with her therapist, Jim. Her goal while here is to be walking by the time we return her home. I worry that she might be bored some of the time. When we have lots of people around I don't have as much time with her. But she is such a sweet-spirited person and doesn't seem to mind. She enjoys the kids. She is, in general, such a noble soul and always such pleasant company.

The picture above is of mom relaxing in her motorized chair; Below are Ben and Jes on the left; the kids on the right, playing chess.

We spent a happy day with Reed and Dorothy also. You know that troubles seem to come in bunches. Carmen's cancer is back and Dorothy's kitchen feels like it is falling apart, all at once. Her dishwasher isn't working; the microwave quit and Friday the oven broke. She was just about at the end of her rope when we arrived Friday morning. Layne brought his tools and went to work, with the able assistance of Ben. Together they fixed the oven in time for us to bake 6 pumpkin pies. They fixed a couple of other things also. We had tons of fun baking, with the help of the little girls (Ben and Jes were there also). Carmen seemed in good spirits. How I hope we can get her a miracle and see her returned to health. She is such a lovely little girl. I also enjoyed a great visit with Reed earlier in the week. We had lunch together and talked quite a bit. I am warmed to see how well their family is functioning. They are a wonderful bunch.

So, even with this difficult year, we feel blessed.

A Busy California Household

It has been awhile since I've written. So much has happened! Layne and I flew to Colorado the end of October to pick mom up. We drove her home California in her red SUV. Ben caravaned with us from Salt Lake. He and his family are moving to California. We arrived home the day after Halloween to a full house. Ben, Jessica and their 4 children, along with mom and us, set up house in our house. It is a crowded, busy household! Mom is now pretty settled in the guest room. Ben and Jes sleep in the living room and the kids sleep in the study. It's crowded but it works. Ben and Jes are looking for a home near Mountain View, where Ben will begin working for mozilla in December. They are excited and it looks like they will be here for a couple of years, at least.

In addition to that we have had a couple of visitors. Brynn, our Mongolian daughter, visited last weekend. Daddy's cousin, Joan Galloway, her hub and son, also visited us a couple of days ago. It was great fun to spend time with them.

We are settling into something of a routine now, as mom will spend the winter here with us. We have some therapy going for her and she appears to be happy enough to be here with us. It is hard to leave home and friends and I appreciate her sweet nature and willingness to be gone from home for so long.

I find arranging pictures on this blog very frustrating. I can't seem to put them where I want them to go. But, for your information, the pictures are, from top left to right: William (Ben and Jes' oldest son), Layne and Brynn (our Mongolian daughter), Mom and Joan Galloway (daddy's cousin). The pictures at the bottom are, from left to right: Jacqueline and Alexis (Ben and Jes' two girls) and Zachary (Ben and Jes' youngest son).