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.