Thanksgiving and Beyond

 We are in a drought year...again.  Our area is exploding with new home developments.  That's because people are flooding into this area right now.  Right here is Star, growth is the fastest in the Treasure Valley and Idaho is one of the fastest growing states in the Nation.  Covid restrictions continue to some extent.  The beautiful leaves of Fall are gone now, as our views are grey and colorless.  All of this sounds like a major bummer, but I feel a strong sense of gratitude, and filled November with thanksgiving prayers.  Somehow, things will work out, I think.

Thanksgiving this year was especially sweet.  Chris, Jessica and their kids joined us, making a rather large group of 17 to share in our holiday feast, counting Reed, Dorothy and their two boys, their son Scott and his Jessica, their son James, Alejandra and their little son, Alex.  Isaiah and Avery passed through, on their way to California to visit their folks there.  They came again on their way home.  So the week of Thanksgiving brought us some especially sweet family connections.  Here is a picture of our three upcoming high school grads:  Angelica, Timothy and Peyton.  Missing is Alexa, who is the fourth of our 2003/4 grandchildren.  She graduated early, in Palo Alto.  

We had a lovely time hanging out, doing puzzles and playing games.  Our family seems to like both a great deal.  Here's the Gendreau family heading back to their Washington home.  L to R:  Gemma, Jessica, Chris, Peyton and Miles.  It was great to spend time with them!  I missed taking pictures of our whole group.  

Having grown grandsons brings blessings.  James took down all of our Christmas boxes; a chore Layne dreads.  James maneuvered through pipes and hoses spread all over the garage floor and managed to reach every box safely and efficiently.  So nice!  Scott helped Layne clear up a problem with his new phone in just a couple of clicks.  I bought some smart lights for our dining room that I couldn't get the smart lights app to recognize.  Enter Isaiah.  He fixed it perfectly!  Ah, as I said, grandsons!  I missed pics of James and Scott, but here is Isaiah and Avery, pregnant with their first child, due in March; a little girl!

Scott and his Jessica are also expecting a baby; a boy, due in February.  That'll make 5 great-grandchildren for us!

Holiday time brings high school concerts.  Angelica sings in the sonous group.  We enjoyed their Christmas concert last week, held, as it turns out, at the same time as her dance recital.  She wore herself out traveling between multiple performances for both groups.  Here she is in one of her singing performances at Eagle High.  Can you see her, on the right, hugging another singer?  It was a lovely concert!

Angelica loves to dance.  She spends three nights a week at lessons, which prepared her to dance in several recital performances.  She was lovely in all.  I was not especially impressed with the recital in general though.  The littlest dancers were quite lost.  Why, I wondered, did not an older student or teacher dance with them, to remind them of their moves?  Instead they just sort of wander all about trying to remember what they were supposed to do.  And then there is hip hop.  I just don't like it.  It has a strong beat, but the moves are very masculine and rough.  The girls dress like guys even.  Nope.  Don't like it.  It would be good for guys to do.  Not girls.  Nope.

Dorothy and I went to one of the recitals together.  Then we shopped on the way home.  We didn't get home until dinner time.  It was great fun.

Timmy is in the school jazz band, playing keyboard.  We've attended two of his concerts so far.  I surely do love that jazz!  Tim has an amazing gift for music.  He is so much fun to watch as his whole body moves to the beat, even as he plays.  He was featured for one of the pieces in this last concert. Wow, he is amazing.  So proud of that boy.  Here he is at the keyboard.

We had a Christmas dinner at our house for our California gang that lives here.  It was so much fun!  I turned the dining room lights into red and green (thanks to Isaiah's handy work).  It was magical reflecting off of my red dishes.  After dinner we had an ice cream tasting exercise.  I gave everyone samples of three different brands of vanilla ice cream.  They voted on the best one.  As it turned out, almost everyone liked the cheap ice cream best!  Here's a picture of the dining room with the colored lights.  The camera didn't capture the intensity of the colors but you can still get the idea.  The lights were an intense red and green.

I've decided that I kinda like decorating.  Not too extravagantly you understand.  

December 15th brought a bunch of things to celebrate all at once.  Zachary turned 15.  Isaiah graduated from BYUI and Angelica turned 18!  It was a full day!  Actually, the only one we could actively celebrate was Angelica.  Reed and Dorothy came to dinner, with Angelica's choice of menu.  It may surprise you to know that none of it was Asian food.  She picked shrimp linguini, quinoa salad and green vegetables, with Dorothy's cheese cakes for dessert.  I turned the overhead lights into her favorite colors, orange and blue.  It was so fun!  The pictures of her have lighting that is a bit off, thanks to the blue and orange lights.

Angelica and Timmy have become very close friends.  Timmy has been a big help getting her through calculus. It has been very bonding.  Here they are.

Isaiah has his degree!  He's pretty excited and looking forward to his next adventure, soon as a new dad!  We couldn't go to his graduation, but his folks, Audrey and Cliff, were there.  We are pretty proud of this very fine grandson.

Seth has been on his mission to New York City for about a month now.  He calls his folks every Monday morning and us every Monday evening.  It it pretty magical to keep in such close touch.  And we get to see his face as we visit.  He seems to be doing well.  He was pretty intimidated when he started, but is already feeling much more comfortable.  Here he is in Manhattan, on a P day with other missionaries.  He looks pretty happy!

We've been praying for moisture pretty consistently for the past few months, including a city and Church fast.  So far we have been blessed with quite a bit of rain and, yesterday, enough snow to show.  It looks pretty Christmasy, don't you think?  Yes indeed, but, sadly, much of it is melted by today.

Christmas is coming up soon.  May it be a wonderful reminder of what is most important!

It's Getting Cold

 Fall colors in Idaho are breathtaking.  We have been surrounded by the colors of fall for a couple of months now.  While every season has its beauty, I believe Fall is the most attention getting.  The leaves are almost all on the ground now.  I'm a little sad.  Winter here surrounds us with the look of dead things.  Snow can cover it all with its white beauty.  I hope it does this year.  

I decorated the house for Halloween, filling it with the colors of Fall and the happy spooks of the holiday.  We trunk or treated at the Church parking lot for the kids and I was happy to have given out all the candy that I bought.  I made the mistake of asking Layne to buy just a little more in case we had trick or treaters at home.  He came home with three huge bags of candy!  And we had absolutely not one trick or treater come to the house!  So my best laid plans for ridding us of all candy has gone terribly awry.  

Halloween was on a Sunday this year, which may partly explain why there were no kids out on Halloween night.  The folks here are pretty religious generally.  Angelica did go to a friend's party on the Saturday before Halloween.  She dressed as a policeman.  Here she is, looking very official (with Layne's pilot hat serving as a police hat--I wonder if it worked).

Fall brings the end of our garden, leaving us with a collection of produce that is almost but not quite ripe.  This year I decided to pick all the green tomatoes, lay them out on folding tables and see if they would ripen. Here is the crop.

Can you believe all those green tomatoes?  What is your guess...do you think they had a chance of turning red?  I'm happy to report that all but two of them ripened!  I turned their beautiful red bodies into 10 quarts of marinara sauce!  That was a successful experiment, wouldn't you say?

Happily, we video chat with Seth every week.  He is adjusting to life in New York, but, of course, he misses the unlimited amount of food here.  That boy must eat!  He finds the people there less friendly than here and that has given him pause.  But his companion is very outgoing and has set a good example for him.  He's learning to put himself out more.  So good for him!  Here are a couple of shots of him, one with his outgoing trainer and companion.

I'm grateful to be able to talk to him regularly.  I think he's going to wind up enjoying himself, once he gets used to missionary life in New York.

Son Reed asked me if I'd like to drive to Seattle with him and his boys for a weekend visit a couple of weeks ago.  I packed up and went.  So fun to spend a weekend with the Gendreaus while Reed and boys visited his son James.  It was Alex's birthday, so we all met up to celebrate it.  Alex turned four.  Just in case you may have forgotten, he is our great-grandson.  Here he is about to blow out his candles.

Son-in-law Chris is a pretty gifted photographer.  While we were there he set up a photo shoot for our two High School seniors, his daughter Peyton and Reed's son, Timothy.  Chris asked permission from a local hotel to take pictures in their beautiful lobby.  So we all met up there.  As he posed them, I followed behind, taking my own shots.  They were not as good as his, but here is an informal shot of Peyton and Timothy together.

The drive to and from Seattle is beautiful.  I especially loved the view on the trip home, as it had snowed, filling the trees with white snow tinsel.  I took a bunch of pictures as we drove by...I just couldn't resist.  Most didn't turn out well; the colors are dulled when shot through the car windows.  But here is a sample.

You just can't beat nature for beauty!

Our time in Seattle was lovely.  But it is always good to be home.  This coming week we will celebrate Thanksgiving.  The Reed and Dorothy family will be here and the Gendreau family as well.  It will be a lovely bunch and I'm excited for it.  My heart if full of gratitude for the wonderful life that has been mine.  I want to keep that feeling in my heart, for when I do, it brings peace and optimism with it.  In these troubled times, we could all use a little of that.

Days of Fall

 It is quite obvious that blogging isn't my passion at present.  Our solo summer was over with the return of Angelica in late August.  It was good to have her back.  Seth and Angelica are easy and fun to share a household with.  Seth didn't return to us until late September.  Both kids worked in Gerald and Frances' school and, I think, really benefited from it.  They both returned more mature and happier.  Their visit home was a great experience for them I think.

Angelica is now a senior and full of plans for making this her best ever year.  Seth returned to us eager to get ready for his mission.  He was called to the New York City, Chinese speaking mission, beginning October 4th.  We celebrated his 19th birthday October 2nd.  

Seth began at home MTC missionary training on Oct 4, which just happens to be the anniversary of my baptism, many years ago.  His zone was composed of all Chinese speaking missionaries, all from, and living in, Taiwan.  So his lessons online were in the evenings.  He enjoyed it, and especially bonded with his assigned companion.  He filled his days with gospel study and service.  I love that boy!

Angelica went to Eagle High's Homecoming dance with a cute boy from her "friend group."  Having a friend group is apparently a thing these days.  Her group is made up of girls and guys, and they mix and mingle, dating one another for various events.  Angelica and her friends pooled their dresses together and borrowed from one another.  Here she is in her borrowed dress.

Getting a young man ready for a mission takes a bit of effort.  We shopped with him, got him his temple clothing, and took him to the temple for his first time.  It was a special experience!  His first temple was the Boise Temple.  Here he is, just after our follow-up session in the Meridian Temple.

On October 3rd we took Seth to the Stake President's home, where he was set apart as a full-time missionary.  It was a sweet blessing, followed by a great conversation with President Ryrie.  Layne and Reed assisted with the blessing.

Our Mongolian foster daughter, Brynn Long, flew to Boise from Tucson to visit for a few days.  We loved having her!  She loves to cook, so she spent lots of time doing that for us.  Seth loved it!  It takes lots of food to maintain that boy and Brynn delivered!  We all loved her food and her sweet, loving manner.  She went out of her way to be here before Seth left.  Such a precious soul.  We love her!  We took a last minute selfie at the airport.  Boy does my hair look white!  I've decided to let the little bit of color I added to it grow out.  So I'll soon be a totally white haired woman.

Early last month my sister, Maryanne, called me to say that her husband, Bob, had to go in for emergency heart bypass surgery and would I please come right away to be with her while he was in the hospital.  I packed up and drove there the next morning with a prayer in my heart that Bob would do well with the surgery.  He did.  I'm so grateful.  I spent almost two weeks in Draper with Maryanne.  I love spending time with her, even though this was not the best situation.  Her Relief Society President was there just about every day, checking on her.  I was so impressed.  Bob came home a couple days after I left.  He was a little mentally muddled but on the mend.  Their three local sons took up the care needed, with the Relief Society filling in as needed.  Their household is now filled with family, doing what needs to be done while Bob heals.   Here is Maryanne, all spruced up for a hospital visit to Bob.  I think she looks beautiful!

 

Seth was full of the spirit of service during his MTC days.  It was great to have his help with many things.  His cousin Bruce has a special bond with him.  Here they are, right after Bruce's last soccer game of the season.  When Seth is at his games, he plays better!

Audrey came for Seth's last weekend.  It is always so sweet to have her with us.  She has such a magical way with people; her humor and gift of gab makes our time together uplifting and fun.  

Sunday, October 24th, was Seth's missionary farewell.  Both he and Angelica spoke.  Both of them seem to have a flair for speaking.  It was a great meeting.  That night Layne gave Seth a blessing.  Very early the next morning we took Seth to the airport for a 6 AM flight to Salt Lake.  Dorothy and Bruce met us there and his good buddy, Kye, came too.  It was hard to see him go.  As he gave us a final wave after going through security, we all felt the weight of two years of absence.  Layne's eyes filled with tears as we watched him go.  Layne wasn't alone.

Our farewell gang, masked as required in the airport:  Layne, Kye, Dorothy, me, Audrey, Bruce, Elder Galbraith, Angelica.

And now we must establish a new normal, without Seth.  The upside is that I don't have to prepare as much food, but there is a much bigger downside.  He will be so missed!  But I believe he is ready to serve the Lord in magical ways.  He arrived safely in New York the same day he left us.  So, his adventure begins!

We are adjusting to a smaller household at home.  Angelica is busy with dance lessons and working, as well as school.  We see her most during the weekends.  Her big, happy news is that she got her braces off!  She can't stop looking at those bright shiny teeth, and taking endless selfies of her new smile.

Our world is full of Fall and all its wonderful colors.  It is such fun to walk through the colorful trees and falling leaves.  How I wish it would last.  But the trees are beginning to look naked.  Soon the dreary look of winter will set in.  Here's hoping that snow will cover the deadness, and offer its own special beauty.

 

 

The People of August

 Our grandchildren are growing up.  It seems but a short time ago that we celebrated the weddings of our own children.  Now it is grandchildren.  In this case the grandchildren of my sister.  Bob and Maryanne's grandson, Tyler Berrett, was married the end of July, in Utah.  So we went.  What a sweet time to see Tyler and his sweetheart, Mazie married for Eternity.  Here they are.

Seth and Angelica went back to Taiwan during our family reunion, as planned.  While they were there, Seth received his mission call.  We got to see him read his call via video, so I took a snap of him during his reading.

Not the best view but here he is, surrounded by family, as he read his calling to the New York City, Chinese speaking, mission.  He was so excited!  "I've always wanted to visit New York," he said.  "Now I can stay for two years!"  He will enter the MTC October 4th (the anniversary of my baptism as it turns out!) and be off to New York in November.  I will miss my tall, good-hearted boy.  He and I have had some wonderful conversations.  His absence from our lives will leave an emptiness for sure.  He will return to us for a short time sometime this month.

While in Taiwan, Frances took some great pictures of Seth and Angelica.  Here is a sample.

Top is Seth dressed for basketball.

Angelica and Seth above; Angelica below.

While the kids were gone, Rayne, Dominic and Audrey visited, the first weekend in August.  It is always fun to have them.  We had some projects for Dom and he completed them all the first day!  In went a fountain in the front yard and trellises around the gazebo in the back.  I'm pretty excited about the yard these days.  It is such fun to be outside, planting, weeding and just sitting and taking it all in.

Dominic just finished his degree in engineering so we had a little celebration for him.  Rayne sent for some decorations, which we set up on the sly, and surprised him.  Here he is, in front of some of them.

I love company!  It was great to have these three with us for the weekend.  I'm always sad to see them go.

Here they are, on their way out; Rayne, Dominic and Audrey.

Audrey loves to travel.  Now that she's a grandma, she travels to Utah often to see her two babies.  And she comes to visit us quite often too.  I love that and enjoy the closeness that comes from her visits.  We are seeing more of daughter Jessica and her family too.  It's all pretty wonderful.

Our friend Gary Jacobson stopped by for a visit on his way to a driving adventure.  He planned to drive on his own all the way to Florida, to visit his sons, and then return via all sorts of places on his way back home.  He is a recent widower and is working to find his way now that the love of his life has gone.  It is a hard time.  He is in his eighties now, so we worry a little about his traveling alone.  Regular texts to him help us keep in touch and make sure his is OK.  So far he is.  Here he is, with Layne.

Angelica returned to us about a week ago, to get ready to start school.  She loved her time in Taiwan.  Even though the kids had to spend two weeks in a hotel, in quarantine thanks to CoVid, they made good use of the time with family once they were out.  Angelica had a great time with both her Mom and her Dad.  She came back a very happy girl.  She just began her senior year, full of all sorts of plans for making this her best year ever.  I'm thinking it will be!

Grandson Isaiah and his wife Avery came to visit, on their way home to Rexburg from Oregon.  Avery is pregnant.  We are so excited about that!  Audrey came to visit the same weekend.  We had a lovely visit,  with lots of fun together, especially as we experimented with aerial yoga, Avery's current exercise passion.

Here's Isaiah and Avery.

We left Angelica home to make a trip to Bear Lake this past week.  Our friend, Roger Armstrong, has a home there and invited us to come.  We have enjoyed being with him there for several years now.  Not that we know the way without the help of the "Google Girl."  This year we headed out with our friends, Stan and Nancy Beck.  Layne drove according to the directions from the ever reliable google girl.  As we neared our destination, she told us to turn on a street called, "Dingle".  Dutifully, we followed, full of trust that she knew the way.  It felt a little different from our usual route, but we went along faithfully.  She soon sent us off of Dingle onto a road called, "Cemetery".  From there she was nowhere to be heard.  She dropped us!  We drove down the road she indicated, hoping that it would get us where we wanted to go.  The road turned to gravel, then dirt as we drove through the dust by ranches and cattle.  We soon found ourselves overlooking a valley, full of cattle and a couple of cowboys.  A major road lay in the distance but there was no way to get there.  Where in the world were we and how could we get back?  We decided to ask the cowboys since the google girl was mute.  We descended down and came upon a young cowboy, who very kindly told us to drive back to Dingle Road and turn "south".  So back along the narrow dirt road we went, followed by billows of dust, to Dingle Road.  We turned south and eventually came to Bear Lake.  What a relief it was to see it!  The google girl awakened and finally led us safely to Roger's home, an hour later than planned.  Being safely tucked into his cozy place, it was easy to look back and call our Dingle experience an "adventure."  Here's the dirt road, off of Dingle along with the cows belonging to the cowboys.

The rest of our Bear Lake experience was easy and relaxing.  We saw some of the sights, ate two raspberry shakes (Bear Lake is known for them), played a marathon Mexican Train, talked, picked berries where we could find them and enjoyed each other's company.  All was well upon our return home.  We avoided Dingle Road for sure!  Our August was full of extra warm weather, and good company.  Here I am by Bear Lake, on the beach that appeared from the drought inspired lower lake levels.

Our Bear Lake gang.  Top:  Me, Roger, Nancy and Stan Beck.  

Our men:  Layne, Roger and Stan.

Nancy and me on the bridge in front of Roger's Lake Home.

Roger Armstrong, friend and owner of the Bear Lake Cabin.

Being a "Senior" has its perks.  We are pretty free to spend our time as we wish.  At least freer than in previous years.  I found this Pickles cartoon that is a sweet sentiment about growing old.  It made me feel good, so here it is.

So, perhaps we can think of ourselves as "works of art."  So there.

This has been a year filled with challenges.  CoVid has re-emerged, causing concerns in some quarters and the West is experiencing record-breaking heat combined with drought and dryness, promoting wildfires.  The smoke from them fills our skies.  The nation is in turmoil as the extreme left tries to redefine our way of life.  We have suddenly evacuated Afghanistan, leaving Americans and friendly Afghans behind.  Frightening government policies lie before us.  

Yet there is still much to be thankful for and we are blessed.

 

Family Reunion in St. George

 We have family reunions every year, in July.  This year Chris and Jessica were in charge.  They found a lovely place in St. George, Utah, in a new development that was made for recreational renting.  The homes came in all sizes; Chris found one that would hold 30+ people and we rented it for 5 days.  It was a nine hour drive to get there from Star, Idaho.  Chris and Jessica, Ben and Jessica and babes stayed the night at our house to break up their drive from Seattle.  We all started out fairly early Monday morning.  

Seth and Angelica stayed home, as they were scheduled to fly home to Taiwan on Tuesday.  

We arrived in good time Monday afternoon.  But Ben and Jessica had car problems that limited their speed to about 30 mph going up hill and coasting faster downhill.  So they took longer to arrive, but they made it safely too.  Everyone was there by Monday evening.  It was a very nice place with lots of amenities.  We especially liked the air conditioning as St. George had temperatures over 100 degrees. But inside we were comfortable as can be.  Here's a snapshot of the house.

We spent time inside the house talking, playing games and using the large theater that was located upstairs.  That was lots of fun.  Here you can see just about all of us gathered in it for a group picture.

One of the games we played was a puzzle contest.  We divided into three teams and each had the same puzzle.  The first team to put the puzzle together was the winner.  I am not known for my puzzle skill, but, surprise, surprise, my team won!  Here are my teammates, Gemma, Reed, Jacqueline and Peyton.

We didn't do much outside in St. George, but several hikes took some of us to cooler spots.  There were pools to swim in too.  We spent Wednesday in Cedar City, attending a Renaissance Faire, and Tia's baptism (Ben and Jessica's number 7).  I've never been to a Renaissance Faire so I was looking forward to seeing what it was all about.  In Cedar City, this year, it was a bit underwhelming.  There were various booths in a local park that resembled Farmer's Markets held here in Star.  But it was fun.  Gemma and Abigail got henna tatoos.  Here's Gemma sporting hers.  It was done from one of her original drawings.

Probably the funnest part of the Faire was being caught in the rain.  A thunderstorm moved in and filled the park with heavy rain and hail.  It was exciting!  Fortunately we were able to take cover under a large gazebo.  So fun!  Here's Jessica and Gemma, in the gazebo just before the storm hit.

Our sweet Tia was baptized in her grandparents Ault's (Ben's Jessica's parents) ward building.  I got to give the baptism talk and her other grandma, Judy, gave the Holy Ghost talk.  It was so fun and she was such a sweet little doll.  I love those babes.

That night lots of us attended a Shakespearean play, A Comedy of Errors.  I wasn't especially looking forward to it, but decided to go anyhow.  It was held in a theater much like one Shakespeare's plays were performed in back in his day; open to the sky.  The problem was, it was still raining and thundering.  Much of our family were seated in the front seats, open to the sky.  But I sat with Audrey and Rayne, under the balcony, which provided a nice shield from the rain.  Here were are, waiting for the play to begin.  Yup, thats a blanket around us; the rain really cooled things down.

The performance was delayed, hoping for the rain to pause.  But it didn't.  Light raincoats were made available to the audience in the front seats.  The stage was out in the open, taking the rain in full force.  Here you can see the colorful stage and the raincoat clad audience.  It was actually quite fun and charming and the play hadn't even begun yet! 

Finally the play began, in the rain.  In between scenes, workers came out and wiped down the stage.  But by the end of the play the rain had stopped.  What a charming caper the story turned out to be.  You could catch the drift of the story even without the script.  Yet the script added such happy dimension and laughter to the whole mixed up story.  We all loved it!  I'm so glad I went.

Our Mongolian foster daughter, Brynn, her husband Roy and their two boys joined us for part of our reunion.  They blended right in and were embraced by all.  Nephew Mark and his daughter, Heather, also came by. What fun to have us all together.  Here's Brynn and Roy.

  

Our last day we drove to Cedar Breaks National Monument, near Cedar City.  It took us up 10,000 feet.  You can imagine that it was pretty cool up there and a nice break from the heat.  We started out on a trail that took us even higher.  I found it hard to breathe, felt light headed and a little dizzy.  So Layne came with me back to lower ground while the rest finished the hike.  The views were lovely.  Here is one I caught before returning.

Red rock country is hard to beat for beauty.  If I could choose my dirt, it would be red!  

Reunions are so much fun and so exhausting all at once.  With surplus amounts of food packed away, we began the drive home on Saturday.  Chris and Jessica joined us for an overnight that night and drove the rest of the way home on Sunday.  It was over.  All but the clean-up mess.  But, it was worth it.

Layne and I spent this past week cleaning the house and yard, eating all the leftovers, and washing all sorts of things.  But we were both so tired.  I would do a little and rest.  That was our whole week.  Maybe we are beginning to feel the limitations of age after all.  Bed looked like the best of all places to be this past week.

Seth and Angelica are in quarantine in Taipei beginning last week when they arrived, and into this.  By the end of the week they will be out and able to be with their family in Feng Yuan.  Two weeks is a long time to be locked up.  They tested negative for the virus before leaving so it is hard to understand why such isolation is necessary.  I'm a bit tired of the whole Co-Vid thing.  I want to live again.  Let's do.