Home Doings

The days in Idaho are long in the summertime.  The summer solstice was accompanied by a full moon this year.  The last time that happened was 70 years ago, so I guess you could say that the night of June 20th was sort of special.  So I took a picture of our yard at 10 PM.  Pretty amazing, don't you think?  I love the summer light!

When our children were young and at home in Fremont, CA, we took in quite a few people, at various times, to live with us awhile.  One of those was Mark Hiatt.  He was a young man then, single and, temporarily homeless.  Home computers were pretty new then, and Mark had one.  To our 10 year old Benjamin, they were magical indeed.  Mark taught him how to use his and Ben was captured.  It was the beginning of a fascination with computers that has never ended.  

Mark moved out after his short stay with us.  We have kept in touch.  As it happens, he now lives in Idaho Falls with his second wife and comes to the Boise area once in awhile.  They came to visit us on their latest trip here.  Mark and his wife both have health issues now, but they are vibrant and involved with some of the good things of life.  We enjoyed them through this past weekend.  Here they are:  Mark and Kathleen Hiatt.

Once in awhile I mention to Layne that it would be nice to have a date night.  He isn't much interested.  I suppose that is because we spend lots of time together without it.  But it occurred to me that a fun thing to do with him would be taking some short outings where we could explore some of the local sights.  Day trips.  There is much to see here and many places of interest are not far away.  For instance, we live just a few miles from the country town of Emmett.  It is just over the hill from our place, but we never go there.  So I looked for places of interest there and found the Black Canyon Falls.  I've never heard of it but it was close and sounded interesting.  So I talked Layne into making the sort drive today.  He awoke this morning about to begin his usual routine, at home, hoping (I'm very sure of this) that I would forget.  But I didn't.  So we got in the car and headed out to Emmett.  We drove through their vintage downtown, which reminded me a little of Delta, Colorado, near my folks Cedaredge home.  I loved seeing the shops and taking in the feel of the place.  Though he wouldn't come right out and say it, I think Layne enjoyed seeing it too.

We continued our drive out into the countryside and soon came upon the Black Canyon Falls, built in the 20s to redirect water to the farmers.  It was a lovely little dam, located next to a beautiful arrangement of grass and trees called Rose Park.  We took in the Falls and walked through the park.  Then we drove on.  We eventually came to the town of Horseshoe Bend, which happens to have a store that serves the most delicious huckleberry ice cream.  So we each had some for lunch.  By the time we wound our way home we had spent just two hours on our adventure.  Layne is already forming plans to make this particular trip again.  Hah!  He liked it!

Here is Black Canyon Falls, near Emmett.

Layne in Rose Park, near the Falls.

50 Years

When I was young, I dreamed of marrying and having children.  Five children, I thought, would be just right.  I planned how I would care for them, teach them, love them.  Raising my family of five children (as I imagined I would have), took lots of effort, thought and prayer.  But I gave no thought at all about parenting them when they were grown.  Being a grandmother never entered my thoughts or plans either.  I suppose I somehow thought I would never be that old.  But here I am, with adult children and 23 grandchildren!  Somehow it just happened.

I mention all this hindsight because yesterday was our Golden Anniversary.  Layne and I have been married for 50 years!  I didn't even plan on being 50 years old.  Wow.  Time passes without our noticing; without out permission.  Suddenly, it seems, we have arrived at this milestone.  It seems but a whisper of time has passed since I first decided to marry Layne and we began our life together.  The passing of the years has brought undeniable changes in just about every aspect of our lives.  But I still love my husband.  In fact, I love him much more now than at the beginning of our relationship.  Love is a leap of faith when we are young and deciding to take the love plunge.  But time either waters it or starves it.  Our love, happily, has been watered.  

My sister, knowing that no family was here to celebrate with, offered to come and help us celebrate.  So she and husband, Bob, came on Thursday and stayed until Saturday.  We had a lovely visit and they treated us to dinner as their anniversary gift.  Maryanne is much more sparkly since her brain surgeries.  She moves better and is less weary.  It was good to spend time with them at our place instead of my usual visit to their home in Draper.  I feel blessed by their care of us.  Family is so nice to have!

We spent our anniversary talking, telling Bob and Maryanne goodbye and having dinner with our neighbors, Jim and Ines Wilkey.  They are also celebrating their 50th this year.  It was lovely, but not particularly special as a Saturday celebration.  But I plan to celebrate all year!

I feel inclined, just for fun, to share what happens when Isaiah gets ahold of my iphone.  He's in the MTC now, but last week he was at his mischievous best.  This picture is one of a series of interesting poses.

On the Road

Visiting family is a joy to me. But getting there...not so much.  Layne and I decided to drive out to California and spend a week with our family there, and take in grandson Isaiah's missionary farewell.  Isaiah is headed to Louisiana this week for his two year mission.  We hurried our drive so as to be with Isaiah when he went through the temple for the first time, a week ago.  It made for a tiring trip.  But it was worth it to be with Zay in the temple.  His departure this week empties Audrey and Cliff's nest.  Audrey is in mourning.  I remember those days of seeing my own family grow up.  I mourned my empty nest too.  For awhile.

Here's Isaiah all decked in his missionary duds.

Chris and Jess also came to support Isaiah.  It was so joyful to be united with all of our mainland children!  We loved spending time with all of them together.

Chris and Jess.

Peyton (Chris and Jess) playing with Olivia (Ben and Jess).

Isaiah with the Gendreau family.

Jacqueline and Alexis (Ben and Jess) and me.

Our week with family was going to end the day after Isaiah's talk, but our dear friend Lila Bringhurst died quite suddenly.  Her memorial was this past Saturday.  Layne was asked to speak at it, so our week's visit moved to the week following Isaiah's farewell.  As it turned out, it was a good time to be with our California bunch.

Three of the grandkids had promotions and one, James a graduation ceremony.  Between us, we were able to attend all of them.  I so love those grandkids!  Our week was full of fun times every day.

Jacqueline's Promotion, here in pink with her friends and sister Abigail.

James at his graduation with girlfriend, Bella.  Both are scholars!

The Reed and Dorothy family:  Timmy, Vincent, Layne, Dorothy, Bruce, James, me and Dorothy's sister, Emily.

Timmy, caught up reading.

Bruce, in his brother's graduation hat.

Vincent with a Rubric's cube.  He can solve it in 26 seconds!

I really wanted to visit my cousins and my Uncle Mike, who turns 97 in August.  I've lately been regretting not spending more time with this part of my family.  But visiting Uncle Mike isn't easy.  He lives in Healdsburg, which is a three hour drive from Audrey and Cliff's home in Mountain House.  We decided to make the trip with my cousin Judy and her husband Stan.  We had a great visit on our way, spent several hours at Uncle Mike's, then headed back.  My cousin Michael met us in Healdsburg.  Judy and Stan are great people, with tender hearts.  I like them very much.  Uncle Mike looked good; healthy.  He can't hear very well so it is hard to tell if he missed some of our conversation or was confused at times.  I think Michael is struggling with his health a bit; he acted like he didn't feel particularly well.  I wish I could spend more time with all of them.

Layne with Stan.

Uncle Mike and me.

Judy, Uncle Mike and Michael.

Lila Bringhurst's memorial was this past Saturday at 4 PM.  It was in Fremont.  Her children presented her life very well.  Layne spent 5 minutes at the end on the basic gospel message.  He did a fantastic job.  I believe it was the best memorial I've been to.  The chapel was full of people from our Fremont days.  People that I love.  I felt embraced by their affection and friendship.  Their names flowed into my mind; no one was lost to me.  It was a joyful experience; perhaps a little piece of heaven.  Relationships really are the joy in life.

We rushed out to our car to begin our journey home soon after the end of the memorial Saturday.  We had to be home by 11 AM on Sunday to speak about pornography.  Again.  So we drove until 1 AM, slept 4 hours in Winnemucca, then drove the remaining 4 hours to Idaho Sunday morning, making it to our meeting just in time.  Wouldn't you know, our presentation was one of our best.  Perhaps being exhausted adds a bit of soggy whimsy.  Or perhaps the Lord gave us extra blessings because of our marathon efforts to keep our commitment.

It is Monday and we are so happy to be home.  As wonderful as it is to be with family and friends, being home has its joys as well.