Bear Lake

Our friends, Carol and Larry Wintersteen, invited us to go with them to Bear Lake again this year.  That makes our third trip there, to stay with Carol's brother, Roger, in his cabin.  Friends, Stan and Nancy Beck, also went with us.  We all rode together for the 5 hour drive there.  We spent 2 1/2 days there, relaxing, bonding and tasting the famous raspberry milkshakes Bear Lake is known for.  We really didn't do much.  Roger has a huge raspberry patch in his backyard which was full of ripe berries.  We had lots of fun picking them and especially eating them.  Although we ate them at just about every meal, there was no chance of tiring of them!

Here we all are:  Carol, me, Stan, Nancy, Layne and Larry.

Here's our host, Roger Armstrong.

Here's Layne, helping pick Roger's raspberries.  Nancy is in the background.  Can you imagine having more raspberries than you can pick?  We can only wish.

We didn't sit around ALL the time.  This year we drove to a place called Bloomington Lake.  It wasn't far away, but took awhile to maneuver the winding dirt road that took us there.  We hiked up to a series of lakes which ended with Bloomington Lake.  It was lots of fun to walk the winding trail and take in the beauty of the lakes.  It pretty much took the day by the time we returned, with a stop-off to get raspberry milkshakes.  Here's Bloomington Lake.

Here is the trail around the lakes, with me, then Nancy and Stan below.

We went for local walks also.  There is a golf course near the cabin, which we walked around...and sat awhile.  Here's the walk around part, followed by the sitting part.  We older guys need that, you know.

The resters are Carol, Layne, Roger and Stan.

After lots of bonding, lots of food and fun activities, we drove back home Saturday morning.  Layne was the driver both ways since we had the biggest car, thanks to Gerald and Frances, owners of said big car.  It was all over after just a few days, but it was lots of fun.

Soon after our return home, friends Brad and Beth Hutchings arrived, on their way home from a vacation.  We haven't seen them for a long time so it was a treat to spend a little time with them.  We talked about all sorts of things; they love to discuss a variety of things and so do I so we talked a lot.  Layne listened in; he isn't much for all of that chatter.  They are techies too so they helped me with some of my never-ending questions about some of my devices.  It was so fun!  They spent the night and left Sunday morning for home.  

So ends another week.  The kids go back to school a week from tomorrow.  Gerald and Frances should arrive sometime this coming week.  I hope.  Audrey is coming next weekend too.  It looks like a busy week ahead.  

The Kids are Back

It has been a busy week.  Seth and Angelica flew in last Wednesday and, after a couple of days of jet lag, they are busily engaged in reactivating their social connections.  It is fun to have them back even as our activity level increases.  Here they are with their Dad in Taiwan, just before returning to us.

All of this means that the summer is just about over.  Do you ever feel like the time is passing at an uncontrollable pace?  Things move along and change, all without my permission.  

Speaking of changes, our grandson, James (son of Reed and Dorothy), has graduated and just started his new job as an Actuary.  He is settling in Seattle, with his wife Alejandra and their son, Alex.  I mention this because James is only 21 years old and has already earned a degree, married, fathered a son and is beginning a very promising career.  He has an amazing ability to concentrate all his efforts in a chosen direction and achieve amazing things in a short period of time.  Wow.  What a guy.  Here he is!

Yesterday was our granddaughter Carmen's birthday.  If she were still with us, she would be 19.  We celebrated her life with Reed and Dorothy yesterday, in addition to processing almost endless numbers of plums from our tree.  It is wonderful to have a productive yard, but it does have its demands.

And so our summer is quickly moving into the demands of a new school year and the fun of Fall.  Gerald and Frances are due to arrive later this week.  I'm so looking forward to that!

Summer Mix-ups and Adventures

Life sometimes gets a little crazy.  Getting older and more forgetful adds to it.  After our family reunion and spill-over family company, I drove the new Jeep to Utah, to visit Bob and Maryanne.  It is always nice to be there.  We had a lovely weekend visit.  While there I contacted my friend, Trudy Ostler, to confirm our plans to visit them a week later.  After talking to her I got the impression that they were expecting us that very week.  "We have tickets to a couple of plays," she said.  I decided that I'd better rush home on that Monday so as to get to their home in St. George by Tuesday.  I called Layne and he quickly got us tickets to fly into Las Vegas that very week.  I told Trudy that we'd be there Tuesday.  They planned to pick us up at the airport and make an extended two hour drive back to their place via Cathedral Gorge State Park, and other interesting spots.  It sounded like a grand adventure.

So I hurried home on Monday, washed and packed clothes, and we left on Tuesday, arriving in Las Vegas, as planned, at 12:30 that afternoon.  I sent a quick text to Trudy to let her know we had arrived and to confirm a meeting place.  "You are here now?" she exclaimed.  "I thought you were coming next week!"  How in the world did this happen?  We originally planned on that next week but I THOUGHT she corrected it to this week.  How did we ever mis-communicate so badly???  Trudy talked to Bill and they decided that they'd hurry to get us anyhow and we would follow our plan a week early.  We waited two hours for their arrival, visiting with a nice couple from China.  While they traveled they changed the dates for the plays we were to see and we finally connected. Wow, that has never happened before.  Thank heavens they had no concrete plans for the earlier week. 

We visited Cathedral Gorge and wound our way to St. George, arriving just about in time to go to bed.   Here is Bill, and Layne below, at the Park.  It was muddy, slippery and impressive.  We wandered through the formations, in spite of the light rain.

Wednesday was our only full day with Bill and Trudy.  We spent it attending two plays; Joseph and His Technicolor Coat was playing at the Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City.  It was the best we have seen; full of enthusiastic and magical performances.  That evening we went to the indoor theater at St.George's Tuacahn and saw an interesting musical called A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder.  The story involved a likable character who murdered 7 people for power and love.  AND he got away with it!  I can't remember ever seeing a story where the bad guy wins.  But it was all tongue-in-cheek and even a bit of fun.  Here's Trudy and me captured in a selfie as we waited outside the theater.  She is such a good friend even if we don't talk much in between visits.

By Thursday we were on our way back home, as Audrey and Isaiah would arrive on Friday for a weekend visit.  Grandson Chase and Morgan and their babes also came.  We spent the weekend together and enjoyed it so much.  Chase brought his latest toy, a 3-D printer.  He made stuff with it all weekend as we watched the magical process progress ever so slowly.  Here is one of the things he made for us, a red (of course) vase, made of very fine plastic filament.  Lovely.

I've only seen a 3-D printer once before, at Peyton's school.  Perhaps you've not seen one either.  Just in case you find it interesting, here is a picture of Chase's printer.  He says it is a budget version and he'd love to have a more sophisticated one.  "Buy me one Grandma, and I'll make you whatever you want," he promises.  Hum.  Maybe.

Our little great-granddaughter, Hazel, is now prospering.  She is responsive and pleasant.  She especially loves her older brother, Hunter, who loves to make her laugh.

Here is a shot that captures some of our weekend visitors.  Reed and Dorothy and kids came on Sunday too.  Left to right:  Dorothy's mom, Linda, Dorothy, Reed, Vincent, Morgan, Isaiah, Audrey with Hazel (hands only), Chase's legs.  Note the floor, filled with toys.  Hunter makes the usual messes, BUT, he picks them up!

Everyone left early Monday morning.  We have had the week to ourselves.  Mostly I've been sleeping as I'm feeling unusually tired.  But we did have a meeting with our Refugee Teachers, to prepare and plan for our upcoming year of teaching, which begins in September.

On Tuesday Seth and Angelica return.  Their folks will follow a couple of weeks later.  That signals the ending of summer and beginning of a new school year.  Wow, the last two months have flown by!