Christmas

Christmas with family is the best of all holiday arrangements, to my way of thinking.  We decided to spend ours in California.  Right after our last concert, on Friday the 18th, Layne and I changed clothes, packed up the last of things, and drove to Winnemucca, where we spent Friday night.  We decided to split the drive to CA between two days, and it was such a good move.  We finished our ride Saturday afternoon, arriving in the middle of an Adams-Hart activity at their home in Mountain House.  Cliff's family were all gathered for their Christmas celebration.  It was fun to see Cliffs sibs again and their children.  They all seem to be in a good place.  It was such a busy event that it was easy for us to go unnoticed. So I spent some time walking around the neighborhood, which felt so good after so much sitting.  Sure enough, no one missed me and the walk was lovely.  After everyone's departure, we spent the evening sitting in the living room, with everyone investing in their various devices and, occasionally, talking.  It seems to be the Adams-Hart evening routine.  It's actually quite pleasant.  Here's Audrey and Cliff on a normal evening:

Sunday we went to Church with Audrey and Cliff and Isaiah.  It is a lovely ward, but sparsely attended on that Sunday.  The choir was assigned to sing a song as part of the Christmas Sacrament meeting, but had only three members; two men and a young girl with a very soft voice.  So Layne and I were asked to sing with them.  The five of us sang our Christmas carol, which I'm sure could not be heard past the first several rows.  I include this little tidbit because, for some reason, I was not nervous or scared and was able to sing out in the less than soft tones that is my usual effort. I'm not sure why I was so blessed, but took some comfort in it.

Our other two CA families came to Audrey's and Cliff's Sunday night, where we enjoyed dinner and a talent night.  I take such joy in seeing the kids perform.  We are so fortunate to have good and talented children and grandchildren.  Here's Ben and Jessica's Abigail sharing her talent:

Monday brought the activity with Ben and Jes that made Audrey so upset with me when I told Jes we would join them.  Audrey had something else in mind.  But she got over it and we had an interesting evening taking a street car ride in San Francisco reserved for Ben, Jes and their party, which consisted of three other families.  I spent most of the time holding their baby Olivia,  Even though she is not impressed with me, she let me hold her without getting upset.  Victory!  It was a fun evening with these very nice people, visiting and singing as the cable car took us on a ride through the streets of San Francisco, enjoying the sights and lights.  Jessica organized it all and did a fantastic job of it.  Here's the BJ gang in front of our cable car:

Tuesday I went to lunch with buddy Lyn Hooker at our usual Sweet Tomatoes.  We had a lovely bond for a couple of hours.  We spent the evening with Audrey and Cliff in the pattern described above.  Wednesday we met Reed and Dorothy for lunch, then later for dinner.  I love spending time with my kids; they are such pleasant people.  Thursday was Christmas Eve.  How quickly it seemed to come and I found myself missing the celebrations we had when we lived in CA.  I loved being in the middle of planning and envisioning what I could do to bring pleasure to family members.  Now we follow the plans of others.  But that also is fun and good.

All of the local family met at Reed and Dorothy's for Christmas Eve.  We enjoyed a meal together and a family gift exchange.  Its good to be together for the holidays.  We were again on Christmas.  After a morning of gifts at Audrey and Cliffs, we headed to Ben and Jessica's for Christmas dinner.  Fun, but somehow Christmas seemed understated for me.  I don't know why exactly; perhaps it is because I had so little to do with it.  Perhaps stressing, decorating and planning has been part of my enjoyment of Christmas.  That is something of a revelation!

We went shooting Christmas Eve, daytime.  Here's Audrey with her pistol.  She's a pretty good shot!

Christmas Eve pajama gifts.  Ben, Jessica and all their kids in their look-alike pjs.

Our Christmas Day table, set up at Ben and Jessica's.  Looks like William is the only one read to eat!

We visited foster daughter Michelle on Christmas.  Here she is, in green, with two or her children, Kelsey and Steadman.  Love that family!

We drove home on Saturday.  Audrey and Cliff followed, then led us as we stopped along the way to visit our Mongolian daughter, Bayaraa, and her family.  Wow, what a great family she and her husband, Ryan, have made.  We loved our time with them.  Here they are:  Bayaraa and Ryan with their children, Gordon, Nolan and Gwenalynne.

Here's Chase and Morgan, pregnant with our first Great-grandchild!  Behind them is Isaiah, who preferred his chosen spot for the picture.

 I always have to beg Layne to stop for visits, but once he does he is so glad.  Getting back on the freeway turned out to be quite a challenge as the Google girl became very confused when we asked her for directions and, trusting her, we were led on a merry ride through the countryside and around a lake called Pyramid Lake.  "I've always wanted to see Pyramid Lake," said Layne.  Hum.  Well he did.  And so did I.  It took us over an hour to finally find our way back to the freeway and get on our way.  We didn't arrive home until a good two hours after Audrey and Cliff did.  Chase and Morgan arrived at our house even before that and prepared a nice dinner for us.  So our house welcomed us home and embraced Audrey, Cliff, Isaiah, Chase and Morgan as well.  How sweet it is!

Singing

                                                     Treble Clef Singers, December 2015
                                                   

Our Treble Clef singing group has been performing for almost three weeks now.  We sing at various senior centers all around the valley.  We are paid!  The money goes to charity.  So we are doing a double good:  our audiences love us no matter how we sing and the money helps others.  I suppose I should see our singing as service indeed.  Even though I never imagined I'd be singing with a group like this, I'm so happy to be experiencing it.  My average voice is even improving, I think.  Layne continues to be our token guy.  The girls in our group love him and so they make sure we include a song that uses his bass voice.  He sings Hallelujah this year again and sounds so good!  Three weeks is a long time to sing though.  Tomorrow ends our season and I'm glad of it.  At the end of our last performance Layne and I will prepare for a reunion with family for Christmas.  I think I'm ready!

We got the picture taken at our ward Christmas party back.  Here is the best one.

We had our last Addiction meetings last Sunday.  I'm sad and glad.  It is good to be done with that assignment, yet I'm mourning also as being with my support group women has been a huge blessing in my life. They are righteous women actively using the Atonement to deal with their sorrows, anger and grief.  I can see more clearly than ever that trouble can bring us to God in a very real way.  I have a fantasy wish that I can somehow avoid some of the adversity the world offers if I can come to Him in good times.  I'm working on that.  My ladies have shown me how in more detailed illustrations than I've experienced before.  Because they bear their souls, the Spirit of God floods our time together.  How I wish we could be so open in other settings.  I tend to hide myself away but am working on being more honest with myself and with God.  I'm going to miss these amazingly powerful associations.  So, for now, we are free of all assignments.  That will change in a few months but, for now, I feel light and able to pursue my own aspirations.  Yup, I have some.

Layne and I exchanged Christmas gifts this morning.  Early.  He gave me an apple watch.  I'm so excited about it!  This is the man who never wants to exchange gifts.  I pressed him into service after telling him that I did get him something.  When he tries, he can come up with amazing things!  I'm looking so forward to studying out just how to use this wonderful gift.

Here's a picture of our first snow.

Our days this week are filled with cloudy skies, and snow!  It isn't sticking much but is so lovely.  I'm enchanted by the change of seasons and all the changes it brings to the surrounding landscape.  We walked in the snow fall and loved it.  The ducks and geese chatter above us, headed in various directions, every morning that we walk.  The whole summary of winter nature is pleasure.  Well maybe not the driving!

Holiday Spirit

The Christmas Spirit comes earlier each year, it seems.  Our area has been alight with decorations and lighting since before Thanksgiving.  I love the lights!  In the winter darkness the glow of fireplaces and sparkling lights brings such cheer.  Presently I'm sitting in front of our own fire, created with a flip of a switch.  Such a miracle, and such a warm joy it brings to me on a cold winter morning.

We sang with our Treble Clef group several times last week.  I am beginning to relax about singing as I experience more of it with this group.  Layne sings a solo with us as background.  He does a great job of it and the ladies in the group love him.  Bonnie, our leader is especially fond of him and always makes sure there is a song for him when she arranges our numbers.  I'm liking this singing experience.  It takes place at the same time as Rachel's Nutcracker performances on Temple Hill in Oakland, CA.  This is the first year we have not performed in it and I'm a little sad.  It was a source of many sweet experiences.  But it was time to let it go, I suppose.

Speaking of letting go, we finally have replacements for our addiction calling.  Stan and Nancy Beck, friends from our ward, are going to take over our groups this coming week.  I'm glad but a little sad about that too.  I've learned so much from working with the ladies in my support group.  They are righteous women whose hearts are broken but willing to do whatever the Lord requires of them to help their addicted husbands and hold their families together.  It is a tough road to walk, but they work together to find solutions and healing.  It is a wonder I've never experienced before and has been transforming in my own life.

We had the best Christmas social at Church than we've had for some years, on Saturday night.  Danea Villa, a party girl in our ward, organized a gala event involving dinner, entertainment and dancing!  Oh, I loved it!  No Christmas Breakfast for us.  Those breakfasts have become something of a regular celebration in many wards, including ours in the past.  They seem to say to me, "cheap and easy".  That is not how Christmas, the holiday highlight of the year, should be celebrated.  Our Saturday party was wonderful and goes to the direction of taking real joy in Christ's birth and His gifts to the world.  It takes effort to organize such an event, but isn't that how it should be?  All really good and effective things take effort!  I loved it, and Layne danced with me! He's getting to be quite a smooth dancer, as long as I don't distract him too much with conversation.  Dancing is a source of great pleasure to me, even now.  Not that I do much of it these days as there is little opportunity.  But I often dance at home, sometimes with Layne.

Layne sang in a quartet at the Christmas Social. They sounded pretty good, especially considering that Layne's voice was compromised by the salty ham he ate just beforehand.

I believe we are just about ready for Christmas.  I have the decorations up and have found a gift for Layne, my "I don't need anything" boy.  Now he feels the pressure to get me something.  I'm quietly pleased!  Our house is sparkling with lights, including the new tree I bought just to celebrate Carmen, our little granddaughter lost to heaven.  Her tree is filled with angels.  I add a new one each year and now the tree is full enough to look lovely.  Here's how it looks, standing happily in our kitchen eating space.  I feel happy this season.

Thanksgiving

"We'd like to come for Thanksgiving," son Reed told me a few weeks ago.  Hooray, I thought.  Holidays without family are what I like least about Idaho.  I felt so excited about their upcoming visit.  Then Ben sent a note that they'd like to come for Thanksgiving.  Wow, I thought.  "Of course," we said.  Then Jessica said she and Chris would like to come as well.  "So wonderful," I told them.  Reed and Dorothy and family arrived Monday night.  We had a sweet time with them and the boys.  We took them to Caldwell, a half hour away, to see their amazing light display.  Calwell goes way beyond normal to light up pathways around the river that passes through the town.  It was magical even if we had to use umbrellas to stay dry.  Even our James, who is often not enthusiastic about some of our family activities, was impressed.  It was so lovely that Layne and I decided that the rest of the family had to see it too.

The Caldwell lights:

Kids playing in the Caldwell lights:

Three granddaughters in front of a Caldwell Christmas tree:

By Wednesday night all three families were with us. Our Thanksgiving, with everyone's help, went well.  There was more than enough food and everyone had their fill.  We indulged in visiting and gaming of all sorts.  These kids of mine are night owls.  We stayed up until midnight and beyond every night.  For this early bird it was an effort.  Black Friday brought out the shoppers among us.  Some of the kids wanted to visit the fabulous art store in Boise so we went there on Friday.  Then our BJ Jes and some of the girls hit the stores.  I'm so not into shopping on Black Friday.  I rather resent the push by businesses to gather in as many people as they can stuff into stores to buy their "amazing deals."  I'd much rather pay a little more and not have to fight the crowds.  But to the BJ Jess and kids, it is part of the fun. So they went and returned with treasures and high enthusiasm.

Thanksgiving dinner, served buffet style:

Granddaughter Peyton loves to do hair.  Here she is fixing Abigail's hair while Abs draws a picture for me:

OK, Peyton got a bit carried away here; she insisted on doing the boy's hair as well as the girls.  They took it in good humor, as Miles demonstrates here:

The RD family left Friday morning and we surely missed their addition to our family mix.  We took the remaining kids back to Caldwell.  We had to talk them into it.  But once there, they were awed.  It was cold, 21 degrees or so.  Yes, very cold, but the kids got into the adventure anyhow.  We took all sorts of pictures and some of the kids even ventured to remove their jackets for a better picture pose.  It was such fun!  After another late Friday night the CJ family left Saturday, after lunch.  The BJ family followed soon afterwards.  Wow, what a sweet time wth so many people that I love.  Each precious person adds a measure of joy to my heart.  The grandchildren are all sweet and pure-hearted.   My own children seem to enjoy each other's company and seek out opportunities to reconnect.  But, as Ben mentioned, we missed Audrey and Gerald and their families.  But I will take what I can of family time, in whatever form it comes to me, and rejoice in it.

Reed and Dorothy left Friday morning.  Here they are with their 4 sons (Scott, the oldest is on a mission in Thailand):  Bruce, Vincent, Timmy and James:

 Here is Jessica and Chris with their thee:  Gemma, Peyton and Miles:

 Ben and his Jessica, saying goodbye with their 8; back:  Jacqueline, Olivia (with Jessica); middle:  Abigail, Alexis, Zachary, William; front:  Victoria and Jonathan.

I admit to feeling very tired once everyone left.  Layne and I stumbled into cleaning up the main floor and are saving the rest for a more rested day.  So ends another holiday celebration.  It was crazy and wild and, at times, disorganized.  But worth it.

Autumn has Fled

The trees are empty and the air is past cool and into cold.  The garage heater is turning on regularly.  The loveliest spot in the house is the seat in front of the fire.  I'm enjoying the dark and the cold, so far.  Change is good; it calls attention to itself and I like that.  When it is dark, I turn on the candles and twinkle lights, and the fireplace.  It's cozy.  There is a tendency towards hibernation in winter that I've come to like.  There is no snow on the ground and the grass is still green so we've a way to go this winter.  We had snow flurries this past week.  Here's our first peek at snow.

Three of the kids and families are coming here for Thanksgiving!  I'm so excited to have family here.  Holidays are the hardest part of being in Idaho.  Jessica, Ben and Reed and families will all be here by Wednesday.  Reed and Dorothy will arrive tomorrow night! So I'll use the day to clean and bake.  I'm excited to spend some flesh time with them.  There are some fun holiday
things going on here and am hoping that the kids can enjoy some of them.

We've been giving lots of talks on pornography lately.  I think we finally have our message organized properly. We are getting some good responses to what we have to say.  I'm also enrolled in a course designed for kids who are into porn.  We meet very week to go through their program.  I'm hoping to learn more about what helps there are.  Since we will be involved with addiction for some time to come, it makes sense to keep learning about it.  Layne would like to be through with it all, but I think he is seeing that we can do some good.  Hopefully.

Our main floor furnace broke down today.  We are hoping that it can be easily fixed tomorrow.  It has been interesting to see how hard it is to keep warm in the house without the furnace.  We have kept the fireplace going and have stayed quite warm.  That is pretty good considering that it is in the 30s outside.  I'm so grateful for our comforts and luxuries.  We have an extraordinary way of life in this country.  I never want to take it for granted.

Seattle

We had a lovely weekend with Dean and Margo Layton.  How I love having friends.  Idaho is a great place for making them, but our California friends will always be treasures.  Actually, Dean Layton is related to Layne; she share the same great great grandfather William Wilkie Galbraith, who had 4 wives.  So Dean and Margo are family.  We parted company with the Laytons on Monday morning, when we began our drive to Seattle, to visit Jessica and the kids.  We drove through rain, snow and sunshine, arriving in Normandy Park in the afternoon.  Miles was there to greet us and chatted away as he showed us all the changes made to the house since we were last there.  He is handsome, bright and friendly.

Dean and Margo Layton, in our kitchen.

Our time with the Gendreaus was quite lovely.  We had time to bond with each of the kids and time to visit with Jessica.  She takes such joy in her bookstore and, indeed, it is the nicest bookstore I've been in. Really.  It is charming, with lots of room to move around, places to sit, a fireplace to warm the space and lovely sights in all directions.  The restaurant across the street provides us with delicious lunches.  Who could ask for a better set-up than to be surrounded by good books and good food?

Jessica loves puzzles.  We put this one together on her dining room table.  She covers it up with a table cloth when dinner time comes up.

While there I managed to get my most worrisome tasks done.  Layne ran the kids to their various activities while I spent time with Jes and the kids at home.  Jes is something of a gourmet cook.  I tried my best to get her to use up the leftovers in her stuffed refrigerator, but she took pleasure in creating new dinner dishes while we were there.  And they were yummy.  I tend to look inside the fridge and plan my dinner meals around whatever is in there.  Jes does much more exciting things.  I felt inspired to think about using recipes more often.

My Jes is a wonderful woman.  She is pure hearted and works hard to keep her family happy and progressing while running her bookstore.  I believe that Chris gives it his all as well.  The kids really missed him last week.  His touches were all over the house as he turns his hand to many home improvement projects.  The three kids all feel good to me.  They are bright, healthy, happy and doing well in school.  I would love to give them the gospel as well.  That would magnify every good thing for them.  I love my Gendreau family.

Here's Jessica and her girls, Gemma and Peyton.

Layne with our Gendreaus:  Miles, Peyton and Jessica.

Our drive home was sweet and seemed to me to pass quickly.  Maybe that's because I didn't do the driving!  We are home again and it feels good to be here.

Things are changing in the Church and the country.  Now that homosexual marriage is legal, the Church has established some policies to address it.  One of them is that the children of homosexual households cannot be baptized until they reach the age of 18.  Homosexual couple's children now join the children of polygamous and Muslim families.  I believe it will be a blessing to the few children that fit in that category as they will not have to choose between Church doctrine and family life.  It allows families to lead their children as they see fit.  I think it is a protection that will prove itself to be right and good more and more as time goes by.  There is plenty of societal criticism of this policy.  Perhaps this adds more fuel to the coming struggles for religious tolerance and freedom that the Brethren keep reminding us is coming.  How I hope we can all hang in and brace for the rough ride ahead.

Stressing Out

I've made up my mind to visit my sister at least every other month.  October was a month for visiting.  This time I talked Layne into going with me.  He doesn't like to leave home, as I've mentioned before.  He likes to be busy and visits don't usually provide much of that.  But I reminded him of things he could do during our 4 or 5 days in Utah and he finally succumbed to my prodding.  So off we went Monday of last week.  He is good company.  He and Bob did lots of gabbing while Maryanne and I happily bonded over family history.  As usual, we found new things to copy and save.  I've got to find the time to organize it all.  And I will.  Sometime soon.  As soon as I get all the other stuff done that demands my attention.

Here's a picture of my sister, Maryanne, sitting in her study; the location for our family history sessions.

Bob loves Christmas lights.  He put lots of them up in the surrounding trees and turned them on for us while we were there.  He isn't ready to leave them on though.  Even he agrees it might be a bit early.  But, when the time comes, he will be ready!

Hence I've been feeling a bit stressed lately.  For the first time in awhile, there seems to be more to do than I feel capable of doing. At least on the time frame that seems to be demanded of me.  There's Christmas coming right up.  There's porn presentations, which have accumulated over the next few months.  There's family history to do, stories to write, art to compose, music to practice.  Oh the list goes on.

Halloween did show up at our house.  We bought a bunch of candy to accommodate the crowd we expected, based on last year when we almost ran out of treats.  But this year proved to be different as we received much fewer goblins.  So we have tons of left over candy.  Wouldn't you know, Layne is on a diet.  So I gave it all to my neighbor, Carol, who teaches piano.  It seems to me that it is just the thing to offer students after a well prepared lesson.  So I talked her into it.

This weekend Dean and Margo Layton are staying with us while they explore homes in Idaho.  They are from our California home but are dreaming of making a change.  Each of them has found a home to love.  Unfortunately they are two different homes.  Funny how that happens.  It'll be fun to see if they really decide to make the move here.  It would be fun to have some kids from home.  In the meantime its fun to get reacquainted.

Its getting pretty cool around here.  The leaves are beautiful as you can see from this view of our yard.  The seasons here put on such a show.  I love it.

Monday we are headed to Seattle, to help Jessica while Chris goes on a business trip.   I'm hoping to get a few of my own projects addressed while we are there.  We will see how that goes.


 

Porning and Writing

It is nice to be in a routine.  It frees my mind to have the basics of living already decided.  We've needed free minds lately as we've been called upon to give multiple talks on pornography.  I believe we have the basic presentation effectively organized, after changing it multiple times.  I now have three talks, to various audiences, organized and ready.  Except that we are about to be released from our missionary assignment as Addiction Recovery Missionaries.  For awhile anyhow.  It seems that we will soon be involved in addiction programs for the whole Boise area in the not too distant future. So I'll keep those talks handy.

Besides pornography, I've become immersed in writing short family stories for our grandchildren.  The writing seems to come easier than figuring out what accompanying pictures I should include.  There just don't seem to be photos of what I'd like to illustrate.  So I've been photoshopping some and combining elements from several illustrations until they say what I want them to.  It is time consuming but fun.  But also not authentic.  Not the doctored pictures anyhow.  I'm hoping to accumulate quite a collection of stories to give the kids that, hopefully, they will read and save to share with their own children in time to come.  I am hoping that the stories will serve as a kind of family blanket, surrounding the kids and grandkids with family love through generations of living and dead family members.

I have a hard time finishing what I start, as, before I can finish one project I get an idea for another.  I begin that one so it doesn't escape me and then I get another idea.  And so it goes.  But I have FINISHED three stories and two books!  So far!  I'm so excited about FINISHING.

Here's the first book:  Layne's Dream (I suppose it isn't too hard to figure out that it is about flying airplanes).

Fun With the Ostlers

Layne turned 75 last Monday.  As his twin reminded him, that is the age at which both his father and grandfather died.  Hum.  Could he really be old enough to die?  Could I?  It doesn't seem so.  Not until I consider how old we really are.  But I'm not worried.  Somehow I feel full of life and still very connected to this mortality.  I feel that there are still things to do here.  But I'm beginning to feel an urgency about getting them all done.

When I was younger I longed for what I would call a "balanced" friendship; one where the give and take between us was somewhere around equal.  As the years have passed I have found a few friends that fit that model.  One of them is Trudy Ostler.  I met Trudy and her husband Bill in Fremont, California, where we worked together on various Church projects.  We seemed to find a meeting of the minds on most things and tended to think down the same mental roads.  We understood one another and seemed to have very similar life experiences and goals.  Bill and Trudy moved to St. George, Utah.  We eventually moved here to Star, Idaho.  Because we enjoyed our shared mental journey our friendship has continued.  And so we have developed a tradition:  every year since we have moved here they visit us and we visit them.  In between visits we rarely talk, but when we are together, things pick up where we last left off.  There is little need to become reacquainted.  It just so happens that Bill and Layne are very compatible as well.  So our visits have been so pleasant and fun.

The Ostlers arrived for their yearly visit on Layne's birthday.  We celebrated with his requested dinner and dessert.  Every birthday Layne says he doesn't want anything.  Every year I try to find him something anyhow.  It has to be useful.  This year I decided on sunglasses.  His favorites are years and years old.  It just so happens that his old ones broke several days before his special day.  So the gift I offered seemed to fit perfectly into his needs.  Score!  It is rare so I've got to brag.

This is the first house built in Idaho City, an hour north of us, and it was built by Galbraiths!  Gotta be related.  Its located next to a blacksmith shop, seen to the right in this photo.

We spent a fun-filled week with Bill and Trudy.  We saw the movie, The Martian (very good), toured the almost ghost town of Idaho City, went ATVing, and, most daring of all, we went zip lining.  I was too chicken to zip line at our July reunion, but decided to try it, since all I read about the company here was encouraging.  We took a leap of faith and reserved a spot on Wednesday.  I admit right now that standing on a platform high above the ground was a bit unnerving.  And I admit that leaping off of said platform was even more so.  But I was not about to let anyone know that I was so nervous.  So I made the leap.  Over and over.  Because I did it, so did my chicken husband, Layne.  Bill and Trudy leaped with pure delight.  By the end of the experience my fears were somewhat dissipated and it became sort of fun.  Perhaps I can do it again.  Sometime.

Here we are, gathered, confidently, for our first zip line adventure.

We are standing on top of the first zip line platform, safely connected to the wire cording you see around the tree.

First zip line challenge:  cross the bridge.  For us greenies it was challenging.  I am leading here, with Layne following.

Here's Layne, newly arrived from a zip.  "Zippin'" the worker with us called it.

There are two zip lines here.  Layne is on the left, I'm on the right.  We are about to race to the other end.  As you might imagine, the heaviest guy wins.  I not only lost, but didn't have enough momentum to make it to the very end and slid slowly back to the middle of the zip.  I had to be rescued by grabbing onto a rope and being pulled to the end by our young worker.  It was quite a workout for him.  Kinda embarrassing actually.

Our three days together came to a quick end when Bill and Trudy drove off Friday morning.  We will see them again in the spring, when we visit them in St. George.  I'm looking forward to it.

We will be finished with our pornography mission in another month.  During our two years doing this we have been asked to speak about it three times.  Three times in almost 2 years.  Now that we are in our last month, we have three more speaking assignments, all this month!  How strange is that?  Layne is very ready to be finished with addiction. I don't think he will miss it.  But I will.  The women I work with every Sunday night have been an inspiration to me and, in many ways, have changed my life.  I'm grateful to be ever learning what appears to me to be important concepts.  After tonight, theoretically we have just 3 or 4 more addiction meetings.  Wow.  Then what?

Florida

Layne isn't much for traveling.  But our friends the Wintersteins pressed us into going with them to Florida, mostly to see the Epcot Center in Orlando.  We joined them and another couple, Fred and Linda Denison, in Orlando for a week of touring.  Larry rented a house with a pool for our week.  Florida is experiencing an unusually hot summer, we were told.  The heavy, humid air of Florida multiplies any summer heat.  We felt weighted down by it, but soon adjusted fairly well.  After all, there was a pool if we really wanted a cool-down.  Here's a view of the pool in back, surrounded by a screened enclosure.  Lots of yards in Orlando have these enclosures.  The locals say to keep the many bugs out.  Or maybe alligators?

We spent two days in Epcot.  I tried to talk our gang into making those two days week days, but was out-voted, so our first day was a Saturday.  If you like mobs and mobs of people it was a good pick.  But we didn't.  Layne just barely tolerated that first day, walking along the crowded, steamy paths in between the mobs gathered for the weekend tour.  I think we all thought that people would be involved in school and so the crowds would be thinner.  No way.  Somehow the sights dull a little when viewed in between bobbing heads.

Epcot is a lovely park, mostly built to appeal to adults I think.  But there were plenty of children there as well.  It is mostly about featuring various countries, recreated in the form of small villages, offering some films of their countrysides, occasional live performances, food and lots of overpriced souvenirs.  There are fireworks every night.  We loved seeing them on Saturday night.

Three girls in Epcot:  Linda Denison (the screamer), me, and Carol Winterstein.

We dragged Layne along for another day at Epcot on Monday.  The crowds were much thinner and so it was more enjoyable.  Larry used a wheelchair both days, which got us into various rides and shows ahead of the line.  That was pretty nice!  Our favorite ride was a 5 minute one called, "Soar!"  It offered an imaginary ride over various sights in California, putting us right up next to the screen.  With every shift of scene, Linda squealed in abandoned delight.  It made that 5 minutes quite magical.  The best of the day for sure.  Layne and I stand in front of one of the many lovely sights in Epcot.  I'm holding my one and only souvenir:  a fan, bought in "Japan".

Here's the Orlando Temple

There were other sights to see in Orlando.  The Church has a huge 290,000+ acre ranch there.  We took the time to tour it.  The ranch is one of many that the Church has and runs on a for-profit basis.  The profits go to the humanitarian arm of the Church.  I had no idea of the scope of the Church ranches!  We also saw the Orlando temple and the nearby beach.  Beaches are pretty special to me since they were the recreational place of choice when I was growing up.  The Florida beaches offer warm water and lovely, white sand.  It was a beach paradise.  Here's a scene from the LDS Ranch.  Don't the cows look happy?  They should; their job is just to do what comes naturally and bear calves each spring.

Orlando started out as a fort named for a man named Gatlin, in the mid 1800s.  It was built to protect early settlers from the Indians during the Indian wars of the mid-century.  Dr. John Gatlin was a young surgeon when he found himself involved in an Indian battle.  Sadly, he was killed in that battle, along with almost all the white men involved.  But the fort that was built soon afterwards was named for him.  There is nothing left of it now except a marker and a street named for him.  When the Indian Wars ended, the fort was abandoned.  The area was later renamed Orlando.  But it so happens that John Gatlin is a distant uncle of mine, so it was exciting to be able to talk our gang into checking out the marker for what is assumed to be the site of Fort Gatlin.  Historical sites are much more exciting when family is involved!

Our last night we ate at an all-you-can-eat lobster feed.  I think this guy would rather not.

All of us flew home on various flights last Thursday.  We were pretty tired for a couple of days but soon recovered.  Well, Layne is still dragging a bit.  We vegged out this weekend while watching General Conference.  What fun that was, and special too as three new apostles were introduced.  How wonderful it is to belong to the Church of Jesus Christ.  I feel overwhelmingly blessed on every level.

Layne turns 75 on Monday.  We plan to celebrate it all week since our good friends Bill and Trudy Ostler will be spending it with us.  So next week promises to be full of new adventures.  

Uneventful But Nice

I was sitting on our couch with Layne a few minutes ago.  As we looked out our front window, we had a great view of one of our rose bushes.  One branch was poking out above the rest, protruding several feet beyond the nice round shape of the rose bush.  I told Layne that I'd prune it back as soon as time permitted. After all, the bush branches look best when they are all the same size.  "But it is reaching for the sky," said Layne.  "What a shame that it should be cut back when it is trying so hard to reach greater heights."  That gave me pause.  In fact I think I will use it as an example of reaching beyond the crowd to my Addiction Women.  Then I'll cut it back.

Here's the energetic rose branch!

We've had a rather ordinary week.  But I am giving most of my attention to preparing for Christmas.  I believe I have a plan for being fully ready by October.  I'm so excited about it!  Imagine having all the gift giving all figured out already.  I'm so proud of myself.

I'm also giving lots of time to beefing up our emergency storage.  There is lots of interest in this both in the Church and in the community here.  It seems to be in the air, this need to be ready for whatever situation may develop in the future.  There are certainly many things one can acquire to be prepared for virtually anything.  I'm trying to find the right balance.  What potential hardships should we anticipate?  Prepare for?

When I was in Utah, Layne went to dinner with a couple of men friends to a little restaurant in the countryside specializing in steaks.  Layne loved it.  We've returned several times, including this week.  Layne  has a passion for steak dinners these days.  I'm trying to hold him down to no more than two beef meals a week.  He keeps coming up with new people to invite to his little restaurant.  I suppose I should just enjoy it.  So OK.  I will.

Our friends the Wintersteens will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary next year.  So will we.  So we've been talking about what fun it would be to celebrate in some way together.  Yesterday Larry came over with a fist full of possible cruises to all sorts of places.  "Pick your place," he said to me.  We've never been on a cruise.  Well, I haven't ever been.  Layne tends to equate a vacation cruise with his experiences on Navy ships.  Not the same I keep telling him.  He resists any kind of traveling, but Larry and Carol keep pushing us with these sweet offers.  So, perhaps, we will wind up going to some magical place on a cruise ship next year.  If Layne will go for it,

In the meantime, I love just being home.  It is Autumn and the outside is sweet with a coming coolness as the leaves think about changing and dropping for winter.  I love this time of year.

As I arrived at our ward building yesterday for Super Saturday I was surprised to see this balloon, landing in our parking lot!  It generated lots of attention from the Church bunch, who gathered around it soon after I snapped this photo.