Reopening

It is June and we are in the process of reopening after months of quarantining. Our spot in Idaho is in the process of trying to get back to normal.  Seth and Angelica are here for the summer for the first time.  Sadly, many of the usual summer opportunities are shut down.  But there is still plenty to do. Angelica is taking several dancing classes and Seth is immersed in Basketball and online classes.  There is plenty of socializing too.  But these are strange times.  The killing of a young, troubled black man by a police officer has set off protests that have spread throughout the country and even to other countries as Black Lives Matter broadcasts their racial offenses and demands that something be done about their grievances.  Subversive, anti-American groups have fanned that flame into extremes as groups demand that statues, flags and monuments that offend them be removed.  As warmer temperatures arrive, wild fires do also.  And so we have a mix of protests, pandemic, fires and chaos that is unsettling and makes us wonder where we will end up when things settle down.  Which hopefully they will.

Our little Star world however is peaceful for the most part.  For the past several weeks we've had almost no end of family company.  We had another wonderful visit from Rayne and Dom, and this time they brought Allegra.  She is full of creative ideas and this time she showed me how to make a quilt out of "jelly rolls" of quilting fabric.  It was such fun!  I made one for Jacqueline, for her birthday and graduation.  I was so proud that I was able to, for the first time, make an actual pieced quilt.  Here it is.

Allegra also helped me pick our abundantly producing strawberry patch and make freezer jam.  I just can't hold that girl down.  

A few days after they left, Jessica, Miles and Peyton arrived, on their way to Tucon, AZ, to check out Miles university, the U of Arizona.  They spent several days with us and set up a badminton net, introducing late night badminton marathons that most of us participated in.  Such fun!  It doesn't get dark until 10 PM or so, so the games went on and on until no speck of the birdie could be distinguished.  That made for fun-filled, late nights.  Believe it or not it was after 9 PM when this picture was taken.

Jess and kids left on Saturday, picked up Chris at the airport, and headed for Tucon. But before they left, Audrey and Cliff came for another visit.  Working remotely opens up lots of possibilities for traveling and I'm so grateful to be the happy recipient of it.  Cliff refinished our dining room table and it looks so good!  He loves a project and accomplished it with relish.  Here he is with Seth, Miles and Vincent, our boys that love munching best, next to badminton.

After Audrey and Cliff left, a couple days later Jessica returned with Chris and the kids, on their way home from Tucon.  It was blazing hot there, as you may imagine, so it was no fun to also experience some raging wildfires nearby.  They cooled off with our 90 degree days.  Badminton returned, as Reed and Dorothy and boys joined us for lots of family bonding.  Here's Vincent, Peyton, Seth, Angelica and Miles.

Here are Reed and Jessica with me, in the gazebo.

The Gendreau family left on Saturday.  Wow, what an amazing, family-filled June we have had.  In between and during these fun times, Seth was invited to the Prom.  Thanks to the Corona Virus all such activities have been cancelled.  But the local shopping "village" offered to host a summer prom for the local kids.  So Seth was invited to go by a cute gal named Julia.

The whole affair was a rather last minute deal.  We hurried to get Seth some suitable clothes to wear (he is growing so fast!) and order a corsage for Julia.  We were ready when, on the day of the prom, it was suddenly cancelled.  Hum.  Due to an increase in virus cases locally, there would now be no dance.  Suits and dresses are bought, tickets paid for,..what to do?  The kids themselves arranged for some substitute activities and the whole affair was on, beginning with pictures.  Here is a sample of Seth and Julia, Vincent and his date.

So, in all those lovely clothes, they ate fast food, played sports and went swimming.  Hum.  Not exactly what they had in mind in the beginning but they had fun, fancy clothes and all.

Another wonderful event has taken place this month.  Grandson Isaiah is engaged!  He met his special girl, Avery, in California just a few months ago and they clicked right from the start.  They will be married the end of August.  

So amidst the chaos of this time, there is reason to celebrate and feel grateful.  And we do.