Looking Back

The end of July brought an end to the massive amounts of company we enjoyed.  So I crashed.  So did Layne.  We mostly rested and looked at each other for a week or two.  But a girl can only do so much resting.  A couple of Mondays ago I packed my bag and drove to Utah to see my sister, Maryanne, and her hub, Bob.  Layne decided to stay home so my buddy Pat Green traveled with me.  We talked and talked all during the 6 hour drive.  Can you believe we still had things to say by the time we arrived at her son's home?  When you find a kindred spirit, there is no end of conversation.  It made the drive fly by.

Maryanne and I explored the boxes she brought home from Mom's storage in Cedaredge.  What fun that was.  It was a bit like going on a treasure hunt.  We found documents, pictures, letters and a fair amount of trash.  Trash to us anyhow.  I came home with a pile of duplicate photos and took pictures of the rest.  It was a happy journey into our past for three pleasant days.  In between our exploring, I spent a bit of time in Bob's beautiful yard.  He has turned their back patch into a lovely place that fills the eyes with pleasure, especially during the morning hours.  It was then that I found a comfy chair in their pergola and read scriptures.

Here's one of the pictures we found of Maryanne and me, taken when we lived in Hawaii.

I so enjoyed my Monday through Thursday with Bob and Maryanne.  Friday morning I picked Pat up and we drove home, again, chatting all the way.  What a great way to travel; stimulating conversation makes time fly.

There have been lots of wild fires here.  The skies are filled with smoke much of the time, giving our sunrises and sunsets a very dramatic red hue.  This picture doesn't quite capture the dramatic look, but gives some idea.

Here is the pergola in Bob and Maryanne's yard.  So nice to sit under in the early morning light.

Maryanne didn't want her picture taken but I think this is cute of her and Bob.  He protects and cares for her in every way needed.

Since being home, I've been working on the 1935 Tappan stove we brought back from the Kiser Ranch.  It has been stored there since our early marriage so was in great need of cleaning.  I cleaned it all and painted all the parts and it looks so great!  Now we just have to figure out how to reassemble it.  Layne is confident he can get it to work.  It sits on our back patio, near the gas pipe we are hoping will feed it.  I think it will make a great outdoor stove as it works with gas and also has a wood burning side.  I'm so excited about it and now it looks like we will soon find out if it will actually work!

Here's a look at the Tappan stove, unassembled.  Parts are in the box and underneath the stove.  Here's hoping we can figure out how to put it all together properly.

When we lived in the house with the Tappan stove,  many years ago, Layne built a simple, sturdy table, to mount his stock charting tablet on.  Once he stopped doing that, the table served all sorts of other functions over the years, the last of which was as a gathering spot for the Tappan stove supplies.  Now that they are all cleaned, painted and ready for installation, the table needed another purpose.  I decided that it would make a great table for my art supplies.  So I cleaned it, sanded it, and painted it to match my art room, adding a few artistic flourishes, just for fun.  It is a bit wild, but wild is good in the right place.  Like an art room.

Here's a look at the art table.  It's a bit crazy, but I like crazy things so it should fit right in.

Our garden is exploding with tomatoes.  I picked all the ripe ones and had two big buckets full.  Layne wanted me to try make vegetable juice.  Like V8.  So I cooked up a pot of tomatoes and added
 all sorts of vegies.  Trouble was I couldn't then process them in a hot water bath like I do fruit because the mix wasn't acidic enough.  The batch needed to be pressure cooked.  I've never done that before but my neighbor said I could use her pressure cooker and she'd help me.  But then Layne offered to buy me one!  I was so excited.  And a little nervous about using it.  But it all turned out OK.  The juice pressure cooked.  Nothing exploded.  Layne likes the juice.  Sweet success.  But it took all day.

There has been much talk in the community and Church about potential economic and moral trouble ahead.  It seems to be in the air. So lately Layne and I have been discussing preparing ourselves for possible future challenges.   I suppose we cannot expect that things will always be pleasant.  But I so enjoy the pleasures of now.

The Crowd Thickens

We rarely get to see our son Gerald, wife Fran and kids.  So while they were here with their Taiwanese English students, Chris and Jessica and kids decided to come for a few days.  Then Ben and his Jes and their kids also decided to come.  If you are counting, that amounts to some 30 or so people.  All here.  At the same time.  We could not turn that down.  So on they came and, for a few days, we had a wild, wonderful time.  As it turns out, the Chinese students really liked our kids and took great care of the little ones.  They went swimming, drove the ATVs around the area behind our house, played volleyball and, just in general, had a good time.  We invited our friend, Evan Green, to do a fireworks show for everyone one night.  It was so fun!  We had beds for the adults and the kids slept in sleeping bags anywhere they wanted.  It was crowded to be sure, but I'm so glad that we were able to host them all.

Here's an example of Evan's fireworks show.  He ties them to his arms and then moves around to music.  Pretty fun to watch.

Here is our houseful, with three of our families joining with the Chinese kids.  Gerald, Ben and Jessica with their families are all here!

Here is our newest grandchild, Olivia, happy on her brother Will's shoulder.

Seth and Angelica are now 10 and 12 years old.  

These three were all born the same year. Miles and  Jacqueline recently turned 13; Seth will in October.

Peyton and Angelica present a lovely contrast, and Alexis makes three sweet granddaughters.

 Monday the 20th through the 24th we all met up in Lake Tahoe for a family reunion.  All but Ger and Fran, who stayed at our house with the Chinese kids.  I'll be so happy when they can join us for reunions.  Reed and Dorothy arranged a place for us to stay--a big house that had room for all of us.  They also arranged a different activity for each day we were there.  Everyone got along great.  I made some family slide shows to show the kids each night and think they enjoyed them.  I'm thinking it is a good thing to include each year.  I showed them a total of 4:  one on Layne and his dream of flying (have a dream and work to make it come true), Layne's g-g grandparents, the Mortensens, who crossed the plains in the Willie Handcart Company (be willing to sacrifice for what you believe to be true), a review of Carmen's life (we must never forget that she is a part of our family), and a collection of pictures of family through the years being together (our family is stronger together than apart).  I felt so tender about the family at this reunion.  There is no one among them that I don't absolutely trust and love.  

The grandkids went fishing in a tourist trap pond and caught all of these.  We had a major fish fry!

Jessica happily entertaining Olivia.

I love this selfie of daughters Jessica and Audrey.

Here's the whole reunion gang!

I am noticing that we are definitely the old people now. There was lots of, "help grandma...look out for grandma...get that for grandma" and so forth.  Gotta look out for the old lady.  To be fair, we were the oldest people there by quite a bit.  So, with our family, we are the old birds.  I'm glad, though, that they choose to look out for us.  They could choose not you, you know.  Next year Layne and I will celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary!  I can't believe that it could be here so quickly.  It seems like just a short time ago that we celebrated Mom and Dad's.  And they seemed to be pretty old at that time.  So I guess we are too.  Ger and Fran are going to plan next year's anniversary reunion and seem excited about it. They want to have it here in Idaho.  I like that idea.  Perhaps we can convert some of the kids to the beauty and fun of Idaho.  And that means that Ger and Fran will be at our next family reunion!

We returned from the reunion to Ger and Fran and gang for a few more days.  They all left last Monday.  It took us three days, give or take, to get things all cleaned up.  It is now all in good order. Now to get the old lady body back in shape.  I'm so tired!  And so is Layne.  We have been laying around, pretty much, since the kids left.  Except for one day devoted to ATVing with a group of dedicated riders.  I cut my finger pretty badly the day before so it was all bandaged up for the ride.  Our ATV gas pedal is maneuvered with the right thumb.  Mine was already touchy when the ATV day began.  By days end I could hardly move my right hand.  As we progressed along the trail, I tried every thing I could think of to press that pedal besides using my thumb; the heel of my hand, other fingers, left thumb.  By the time the ride was finally through I felt like I never wanted to go again.   Its taken a few days for my right hand to recover.  But recover it has so I'll quit complaining now.


                                        Here's some of the ATV gang, with Layne on the left.

I'm looking forward to a quiet August.  Think it'll happen?