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.
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!
