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.
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 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.
