The Busy-ness of June

 You can probably tell that blogging is down on my list of late.  That is not because of a lack of events to expose.  I have allowed myself to be less inclined to record them.  Yet here I am attempting to do so in spite of my reluctance.

I promised daughter Jessica that I would visit her every three months.  The visiting month came up in June.  Dorothy, Timothy and I drove to Seattle together, with her staying with son James and I with Chris and Jessica.  It is always pleasant to be with them.  I love them all and enjoy them too.  Jessica is consistently keen to be on the move.  So we spent time at the local "cove" and enjoyed the scenes of lake and shore.

Chris is a creative and industrious soul.  He build a second gazebo in their yard.  It is the same one Layne built in ours.  I think it is lovely and looks especially beautiful in their flourishing Seattle yard.  Chris and Jessica had an outside buffet on our last day there and it was lovely.

I missed seeing granddaughter Gemma, but her two younger sibs were there and so fun to hang out with.  Here's Miles and Peyton.  Miles is home from his freshman year at U of Arizona, in Tucson.  

This year is still full of Covid 19 concerns and restrictions, but much less severe, thank heavens.  Seth and Angelica were able to perform in a school concert, but still had to wear masks.  Meantime, Timothy performed the same day in the school jazz concert, maskless and with great enthusiasm.  It was such fun watching him play piano with relish, beating time with his whole body.  He has such a gift!  Here is a scene with Seth, masked (can you recognize him in the middle?), followed by the unmasked Timothy playing piano at the jazz concert.

Eagle High School held a Prom this year but many of the kids organized their own, with their own group of friends.  Angelica went with that idea.  The kids dress up in Prom attire, but do a variety of activities, including a little dancing.  It is interesting to visualize those fancy outfits participating in all sorts of activities that usually require much more casual dress.  Of course the event begins with lots of picture taking.  I was the photographer for Angelica and her date this time.  I have lots of photos to share, but here is just one of Angelica and her date, Colby.

Seth and Angelica have been living with us for 4 years now.  That's hard to believe!  Seth graduated from Eagle High School on June 19.  The kids were planning on being back in Taiwan by then, but we discovered, by accident, some 5 weeks ago that their American Passports were expired.  We got them renewed and expedited but they have been slow to arrive. So the kids are still with us and Seth got to participate in his graduation ceremony.  I think he enjoyed it.

Although he said he wanted no fuss, we held a family dinner to celebrate him, with Reed and Dorothy and boys.  I think he liked it.

Seth can have fun for sure but he also can be quite a help, with his youth, height and strength.  Here he is helping us put up curtain rods in the gazebo (the one like Chris put together in the picture above).  So now we have curtains in the gazebo.  I love it!

Since I promised Jessica I'd visit every three months, I also wanted to promise the same to Audrey.  She is so good to visit us almost each month.  She visited us with her friend, Serena, the weekend of June 6.  Here they are.

I planned to keep my three month visiting promise by driving to California the weekend of June 26th.  It was full of California birthdays:  Allegra on the 25th, foster daughter Michelle on the 26th, Audrey the 27th, Scott and Jacqueline the 28th.  Jacqueline is a California girl but she and Ben's family were out of the state.  But three birthday celebrations (plus Michelle, who I didn't get to see) in one weekend was worth being there for.  So I talked Angelica into driving there with me and the plans were finalized.  Just a couple of days before our departure, Ben called to see if he and his Jessica and their kids could spend Saturday night with us on their way to Seattle.  Oh boy, what to do?  Layne said they could come even though I was planning to be gone.  Then, nephew Mark Berrett called to ask if they could spend that same weekend with us, to attend a sport's tournament for their daughter.  Layne said, "sure."  So now two families are set to come while Angelica and I are in California!  Seth and Layne would host without us. I was torn, but decided to keep my California commitment.  Reed and Dorothy said they'd help the guys host.  Why, I wonder, do things come in bunches?  According to Layne, they had a wonderful time without us.

Angelica and I headed out early Friday morning.  I thought we could talk our 10 hour way to Mountain House, home of Cliff and Audrey.  But Angelica was tired.  She slept just about the whole way!  So much for a talking companion.  We arrived in good shape on Friday evening and went to Rayne and Dominic's condo, where we enjoyed a delicious chicken dinner and bonding time.  Then to Audrey and Cliff's where I enjoyed the guest room that was now open to me, after the previous occupants, Rayne and Dominic, had moved into their own place.  It was a sweet weekend, full of birthday celebrations and a girl's trip to a lavender festival on Saturday.  Here you see the girls in the midst of the lavender.  Allegra, Angelica, Rayne and Audrey pick in the above picture; Audrey in the one below.

Here are my three California girls in front of Audrey's fireplace:  Rayne, Audrey and Allegra, wearing the new skates that Rayne gave both the birthday girls.

Here is a picture of the missing birthday girl, Jacqueline, that I swiped from facebook.  She turned 19 on June 28th.

Our drive home was an adventure.  We left Tuesday morning at 3:30 AM, with a book to listen to and Angelica promising to be an awake companion.  I used the google girl to get me out of town and onto the freeway, where I knew my way home.  It was dark when we started.  The google girl had some creative ways of getting me to the freeway this time.  She does that sometimes.  Instead of leading me to the familiar highway 80 (the freeway), she took me to highway 88, which turned out to be a winding road that lead us through country towns and into the Sierra Mountains, and continued to wind its way through to the desert on the other side.  It was a mystery drive of sorts.  We continued, in faith that our computer girl knew her way.  We finally emerged out of the mountains into Carson City!  It was a beautiful drive and led us into the morning light with lovely views of the forest.  The amazing thing was that we lost little if any time going that route!  Perhaps the google girl was onto something.  We drove up to Reno where we connected with Highway 80 at last.  The adventure over, Angelica was soon asleep again.  So I turned on the book Audrey set up for me and listened to the unfolding mystery as I drove home.  All in all, it was a very pleasant experience.  Even if Angelica wasn't the talking girl I was hoping for.

Frances wanted some more formal pictures of Seth and Angelica, so Angelica's photography friend took a series of them.  Here is a sample.

We recently got recliners for our living room.   I love them!  Here I am relaxing in one of them, with kitty Cherry deciding that she would settle between my legs for a nap.  She was so comfortable that I hated to disturb her, so there I sat, for longer than planned, just to please her.

 

One of our adopted Mongolian girls, Bayaraa Hopkins, and her family came to visit on the 4th of July weekend.  We had such fun with that great little family.  Our Independence celebration was spiritual and fun too.  We celebrated with fireworks at Reed and Dorothy's.  They can have home fireworks, in the city of Meridian, but we can't in the county.  Go figure.  Anyhow, the Hopkins kids don't get fireworks at all in their Reno location, so they especially enjoyed lighting them with us.  We also enjoyed the fireworks that fill this Treasure Valley every 4th of July.  This is a patriotic place!  It was fun for all.  Here is Hopkin's daughter, Gwenth, dressed for celebration!

A few fireworks.

The Hopkins family:  Bayaraa, Gwenth in front of Nolan, oldest son Gordon and Dad Ryan.  Love this family!

Here is a little miracle to mention.  We have been anxiously waiting for the kid's passports to arrive, so they can return home to Taiwan for some summer time with family.  They haven't come.  Then, last Sunday at Church, I was approached by two lovely ladies in charge of the stake's Trek activity for the youth.  "Are the passports here yet?" they asked.  "We've been praying that they would be delayed long enough for Seth and Angelica to attend Trek this coming week.  Can they?"  Wow.  I thought, why not?  So we made last minute plans for them to go.  I just knew that the passports would arrive while they were on Trek.  They left last Thursday.  And guess what?  The passports came on Friday!  They returned home yesterday, tired, dirty, but happy.  Do you suppose that the Lord was guiding that?  Were they supposed to experience Trek?  I'm inclined to think so and feel grateful that the Lord is watching out for them, two very special grandchildren.

So here we are, all caught up.  I'll end by expressing my love and gratitude for a country that has provided freedom and prosperity for us; family and friends for all the years of my life.  How I hope and pray that love of freedom will keep us free, as God intended us to be.

The Beauty of Spring

 This spring has brought us days of dramatic variety.  We've had a couple of hot days, quite a few cool ones and many warm days in between.  It is a lovely time of year.  April is the month I call my very good friend, Nora Jacobson, to wish her Happy Birthday.  Nora is a loyal and noble friend, who lives with her husband, Gary, in Richland, Washington, a four hour drive from here.  My dear friend, Margie Thomas, and I have made several trips there to visit Nora, who has been struggling with a rare condition that has made movement difficult for her.  I called her this year, a day or two before her birthday, to give her greetings.  Her husband, Gary, answered and told me the shocking news that Nora had just that day died!  It is hard to take in the loss of someone close; someone who was so filled with life and laughter.  It is the time of life for losses, but that does not make it easy to take.  Margie, Layne and I drove to Richland to be with the family and attend her funeral.  I believe Gary was especially happy to see Layne.  He asked Layne to dedicate Nora's grave, which he did.  Layne is a solid presence.  Margie and I were both asked to share memories of Nora at her funeral.  It was sweet to do that.  The world is a little smaller with her gone.  Here is a picture of a young Nora, from her funeral program.

The climate here offers many extremes.  Winter surrounds us with bare, dead looking plants and trees, making the renewal of life that comes with spring very magical.  Life appears were none was apparent, all over our land.  It calls us out.  We've spent lots of time with our emerging outdoor life already.  It is hard to stay inside!  Here's one of our many beautiful views; this one a scene from our backyard.

Here's Seth, enjoying a grass cushion, as he does what most kids do so much of these days...scanning through his phone apps.  Looks pretty cushy, yes?

I've had cataract surgery in both eyes!  It has been just a week or two since, but my distant vision is better than it has ever been.  I'm seeing details that I've never seen before.  And all of my astigmatism is gone!  I feel very blessed that such a thing as this is possible.  Daughter Jessica came for my first eye surgery.  Sweet friends brought food and flowers for the second one.  Daughter in law, Dorothy kept a close watch over me.  Layne has been supportive and helpful as well.  Having loving people in my life is one of the best blessings in life.  I'm grateful for it.

Angelica's dance recitals were last Saturday.  She has been taking quite a lot of dance lessons these past few months.  So she participated in 4 dances at recitals held all day last Saturday.  As we settled in to watch one of them, the fire alarm went off, sending everyone in the building outside.  Just a few minutes later, police cars and fire trucks showed up, making for a pretty exciting intermission!

It didn't take long for them to find a small fire in one of the rooms distant from the auditorium where the dances were to take place.  In short order we were given the OK to regather as before and the show went on just a few minutes later than planned.  Here is Angelica, right after one of her performances, with her friend, Lauren.

I've been having some fun taking Seth out to breakfast each Monday and Angelica out to dinner each Friday.  It is a chance to get into some really good conversations and has brought us closer together.  Here is a picture of Seth at one of our outings.  But don't tell him about this picture; I don't think he would like this particular one.  But since it is the only one I have, I'm sharing it with you!

Seth graduates from High School this June.  He doesn't want a fuss made so I think we will just have a family dinner to honor him.  He and Angelica are hoping to go to Taiwan for at least part of the summer.  Some obstacles to that have presented themselves of late.  Covid has increased in Taiwan, who hasn't had much of a problem with it up until now.  The country is closed down for an undisclosed period of time.  That includes Gerald and Frances' school.  It is unknown at present how long that will last.  Then there is the increased threat of a Chinese invasion. It is an unsettling time, both at home and abroad.  Our prayers go out for Taiwan...and for our own land of America.  May all work for our ultimate good.

 

 

Spring is Coming

 I sat outside on my front porch swing today, for the first time in awhile.  It was warm!  I sat surrounded by budding flowers and leaves.  Our lawn is turning into a delicious, rich green.  What a lovely time of year!  Yes, I know, it has been awhile since I have written...again.  Somehow this covid season has not inspired me.  So, no more apologies.

It has been over a year since our country...and the world...has been in a pandemic lockdown.  It seems that folks are beginning to feel like it is time for it all to be over.  Indeed, the signs are that it soon will be a bit more under control.  I can't help feeling that all our precautions are way over-kill.  But what do I know?  We have been resisting getting the vaccine due to some material that we have read warning against it.  But when the Prophet and apostles got vaccinated it gave me pause.  Then the Church donated some 20 million dollars to help spread the use of the vaccine.  That is a resounding vote to get it, it seems to me.  Add to that some family encouragement to do it and we finally decided to go ahead with it.  Layne got the first moderna shot and was sick the first day but fine afterwards.  I was a bit late for the appointment for mine by the time I got the directions for getting to the clinic.  But, magically, the many traffic signals along my path were all green for me.  I never slowed the car down at all!  I seemed to feel sweet angels in my car with me, encouraging me along.  That sounds strange I know.  But to summarize; I felt good about finally getting the first shot.  And I made the appointment on time, thanks to my angels.

Seth and Angelica have been singing with the school choir every year they have been at Eagle High.  But covid has shut down their usual performances, until now.  We were able to see a short performance held in the gym, not the theater.  I'm not sure why that location was safer, but many things these days defy logic, including singing with masks on. At any rate here is a picture of each of them.  Seth is pretty easy to find.  Angelica is in the back row, on the right.  Can you find them?

We tried to make Easter a little bit special this year.  Angelica helped me prepare a special dinner, with Reed, Dorothy and boys in attendance.  It was a Taiwanese dinner and Angelica went way over the top in her preparations.  We had food enough for a week.  In fact, we ate the leftovers for just about that long.  It was so good!  Afterwards we had a small Easter Egg hunt in the backyard, mostly for Bruce.  But all four kids participated.  I don't think they were especially fond of the goodies inside though.  Since Seth and Angelica don't eat candy, I filled the eggs with nuts, a little bit of candy and dried fruit.  Hum.  Not my best effort at treats as it turned out.  But the hunting was fun.  Here is Bruce on the lookout.

I love having Reed and Dorothy close by.  We had such fun several weeks ago piano shopping.  One of the local colleges was having a sale on pianos so I talked Reed into going.  "I'm just going to look," he assured me.  He played quite a few pianos there.  Dorothy and I smiled as we looked on.  Audrey was with us too.  Finally he found one that he fell in love with.  He was very low-key in his admiration but we could tell.  So we put our heads together and talked him into buying it.  It was delivered that very day!  So finally this son who is so gifted with music has an instrument worthy of him.  It makes my heart glad.  Here are Reed and Dorothy in a recent picture.

Last week we were surprised by a visit from Steve and Julie Harris.  They are friends from our Fremont days.  Steve was part of a quartet that Layne sang in for quite a few years.  Steve was the organizer and a very musically gifted fellow.  He and Julie moved to Oregon and that was the end of the quartet.  We haven't seen them for quite a few years so it was so much fun to take them in again and remember how much we love them and miss having them in our lives.  Maybe this sweet meeting will lead to more.  We can hope.  Here they are.

Friends are one of the great joys of life.  It is hard to lose them, whether to distance or death.  Our very dear friend, Nora Jacobson, just passed away on Friday past; April 16th.  It is that time of life for losing friends.  I'm so glad to know that sometime there will be no losses.  Sometime we will all share eternity together.  

I've been working on putting Layne's life story together.  It is taking so much longer than I planned.  It has been fun to read through his memories and look at pictures taken through the years.  Here is one of Layne and me on our wedding day.  We've just been married in the LA Temple and are on our way back home, to San Diego.  The year was 1966.  

After a winter without yard work, Layne has turned the outside water back on.  The grass is a lovely green once again.  Today, as we were cleaning up the kitchen, we took in a view of the back yard, with the sprinklers at work and spied these two ducks enjoying the spray.  They stayed for quite some time, enjoying the water and picking at the grass...or maybe bugs.  The male was continually on the look-out for potential trouble.  Perhaps he was protecting his lady.  I'd like to think so!  

Life moves quickly on.  In a couple of weeks I will have cataract surgery.  It's finally time.  I'm looking forward to good vision; no more contacts and no more glasses.  Won't that be a sweet gift to an old lady!

Lazy Girl

 Yes, I know.  It has been awhile.  I have been a lazy girl.  The Pandemic has slowed down our lives, and slowed down my blogging.  It is interesting to me that more open time has actually made me less productive.  Why is that, I wonder!  Not that things haven't been happening.  We are blessed to be able to get together with lots of our family over the past few months.  We shared the purchase of a whole beef with Audrey and Cliff.  The beef was all cut, wrapped and ready to roll a while before Audrey and Cliff could come and pick it up.  But they finally did in February.  We had a lovely weekend with them.  They packed up their share and took off to share it with some of their kids.  We shared our half with Reed and Dorothy.  By the time we did all that dividing, we had room in our freezer with plenty of space left over.  Here's Cliff and Audrey, with Cliff wearing a Valentine's vest made especially for him by daughter Allegra (one talented girl!).

Daughter-in-law Dorothy and I have made an agreement to visit Seattle every 4 months or so together, me to visit Chris and Jessica and she to visit son James and his family.  So we flew there on the 18th of February and had a fun weekend.  Chris and Jessica are redoing their kitchen and it is looking beautiful.  Chris is doing all the work!  He can do just about anything he puts his mind to. I don't have a picture of the finished work just yet, but it will be forthcoming.  In the meantime, here is a picture of Jessica reading to Alex, our great-grandson and son of James and wife Alejandra.  They spend lots of time teaching Alex and it shows.  He knows so much for such a little guy.

We had a lovely weekend and have decided that we need more visits like this one.  I think Dorothy and I will travel together to see our California family too, later this year.  Here's a picture of some of my girls; Audrey, Dorothy, me and Jessica.  

Seth has been duplicating Layne in his teasing of our kitty.  Cherry (the cat) has chosen Layne as her favorite human.  But Seth is moving up to a close second.  The more he teases Cherry, the more she seems to like it.  Here she is, making herself comfortable, right in the middle of Seth's efforts at doing school work.  Most of school happens at home these days, you know.

Daughter Jessica had a birthday on March 6th, which just happened to be the day that Grandson Isaiah and his new bride Avery flew to California, via our house, to be sealed in the Oakland Temple.  As you no doubt know, these are strange times, thanks to CoVid.  Only live ordinances may be done in our Temples, so they had to make an appointment to be sealed and could only bring 12 or fewer people to witness it.  Our temples have been mostly closed for a year now.  These are troubling times for many reasons.  We enjoyed a little time with the happy couple before and after their sealing day.  Here they are on their way back home, now connected together for all time, and happy about it.

Granddaughter Rayne and hub Dominic drove over last weekend.  They came for some furniture we have been storing for them, but we had a fun time with them in between packing up Dom's truck.  They come to visit pretty often and we love their company.  They have their own place now and Rayne is having lots of fun getting it all set up and decorating.  Both work remotely, which Rayne enjoys, but Dom loves being with people so it is a bit harder for him to spend so much time without the usual family interaction they enjoyed when staying with Audrey and Cliff.  Here's Rayne and Dominic with Reed and Dorothy.  Dom is even smiling (which he doesn't usually do in pictures).

Layne has been feeling very strongly lately that we needed to get rid of the jeep.  You know, that bright green, sporty little jeep that we just got a year and a half ago.  I've loved the jeep but Layne's feelings were strong, so one day we drove it to the Toyota dealership and traded it in for a red Toyota Highlander.  Just to be a little difficult, I made a list of everything I wanted in a car, including a place for my purse (a particularly difficult request).  The Highlander had it all.  So gone is our 2018 Jeep and now a 2018 used Highlander sits in our garage.  We now are the proud owners of three red vehicles!  I have a thing about being colorful, you know, and Layne sweetly allows this indulgence.  

I've been Marco-poloing the kids each Sunday and usually get responses back.  I love looking into their faces and hearing their news.  It is almost like having them present.  Things are opening up here more and more, so we have ventured to have some social events with friends, face to face.  Well, to be truthful, the events are almost universally lunches.  That is a start to getting things back to normal.  Or somewhat close to.  I can't help thinking that our treatment of this "pandemic" is an atrocity.  We are ruining more lives with our stupid response to CoVid than damage from the illness itself.  I dare not think about it too much.  Instead I'm counting my blessings that we are all healthy and making due all right. In spite of everything, life is good.  I hope it will continue to be.  

Quiet Times Continue

 Covid 19 and the pandemic that it brought, has lasted for almost a year now.  We thought it would be over in a month or so when it made its appearance last March.  Our world is still full of masked people, and pressures to take a vaccine that was rushed to market.  For that reason we have felt hesitant to take it.  But a prophet of God has encouraged the use of it.  There is talk of making it mandatory for everyone.  In fact, there is talk about making other things mandatory as well.  This pandemic has people scared, and that makes them more vulnerable to control.  Is it really better to be safe than free?  I guess a lot of people think so.  We don't.

Another birthday for me came up in January.  I spent the day talking on the phone to friends and family who remembered my special day.  That made it a sweet celebration for me.  

Gerald was with us for the holidays this season.  It was so very nice to have him with us for over a month.  His influence is always uplifting.  Here he is with Reed.

Being in the presence of family is such a joy.  They are all good people and easy to be around.  That is a blessing that descends upon me every day.

I've been working on getting Layne's story written up.  It has been fun to go through some of his papers and discover little things that I didn't know.  He has written his story, but there are additions that I continue to find.  So, as easy as I thought it would be to put his story in a book, it has become a bit more complicated to figure out what supplementary materials I should include.  Here is a picture of him and his buddy, Dave Garrett, taken sometime in the 1960s.

While working on those materials, I found a scrapbook of my Dad's pictures, taken when he was single and in the Coast Guard.  There were some I don't remember seeing before.  Here is a sample, of my Dad, Gerald Kiser, when he was studying for a radio exam,  Note how tan he was; it was during a period of time when he dove for coins tossed to him and others, including his buddy Goldie, by people on board touring ships, pulling into shore on one of the pacific islands--maybe Hawaii. 

We have a lot of family birthdays in January and February.  Thank goodness for calendars to keep track of them all.  Most of the birthday people were not close by.  But grandsons Bruce and Timothy are here.  They are the 4th and 5th sons of Reed and Dorothy.  Here is Timothy, a new 17, enjoying a pile of gifts, as yet unopened.  Bruce is looking on.

Our two resident grandkids are maturing and doing well.  Angelica is a junior and 17 now.  She has a passion for dancing and has lined up numerous dancing lessons that keep her busy most nights.  Conflicting with her driving schedule to lessons, is Seth's schedule for Basketball.  That makes sharing a car challenging.  They manage it and I think it is good to learn how to share with good humor. Which sometimes happens and sometimes doesn't!  Seth is an 18 year old senior now and is growing beyond his 6'6" height.  That boy is now the tallest one in the family!  Here he is, doing his part for the school team.  

He graduates this year.  Here is his senior picture.  I think he looks pretty yummy.

Speaking of cars (which I was a few sentences ago), Layne has been pushing for us to trade in the jeep for something else.  I have been resisting (I love the jeep), but he really pressed for his cause.  So last week we drove into the Toyota dealership and traded the jeep for a Toyota Highlander.  As sad as I was to see the jeep go, I have come to love the Highlander.  So, once again, Layne's impression has been for the best.  I have found that paying attention to his instincts is always the right thing to do.  Here is our last view of the jeep, in the Toyota parking lot, and its splashy green color.  Our new car is also bright and beautiful--red!  So now all three of our vehicles are red.

Audrey and Cliff went in with us on an order for beef this year.  We took delivery two weeks before they were able to come and claim their share.  So we stored what wouldn't fit in our freezer outside, on the back porch, preserved by regular supplies of dry ice.  One of the great things about Idaho cold winters, is that they provide additional cold storage...outside.  It worked out well.  Just before Audrey and Cliff arrived this past weekend, we had our first real winter storm.  It snowed and snowed!  For the first time this winter, we have snow on the ground.  The whole weekend was full of snow!  

It was magical.  The weather cleared up a little for Cliff and Audrey's drive home on Monday.  Their company is always pleasant.  It is hard to see them go.  Here they are, in the living room on Sunday, with Cliff wearing a Valentine vest made for him by daughter Allegra.  

We had a sweet, low key, Valentine's Day, with Dorothy joining us for dinner.  Cliff cooked!  

So our days are slow-going with activities still on the down-low.  But life must go on and there are things to enjoy despite all the disruptions in our usual way of life.  For that, we can be grateful.

 

Christmas and New Years

 We planned on going to California for Christmas this year, along with Chris, Jessica and kids.  But the pandemic caused increased restrictions there, so we cancelled our plans.  Instead, we invited Chris and Jessica and family to come to our place for Christmas.  And they did!  Here's Miles, Gemma, Peyton, Jessica and Chris.

So our celebration included quite a few people; Reed, Dorothy and boys, Chris, Jessica and kids, and Gerald.  We planned our traditional Christmas Eve at our house, upstairs, with costumes and narration to review the birth of the Savior.  We followed up with our candle ceremony, where each of us lights a candle as we express whatever positive feelings we wish.  Both turned out so well.  There was a palpable spirit of goodness among us.  It was lovely.

After that we did our Christmas Eve gift giving for the kids.  PJs of course.  On a count of three, all scramble to open their gifts at once.  On went the pjs as we progressed to dessert.  It was all much fun.

Older kids prize sleep over early morning gift exchanges.  So our Christmas morning didn't really begin until 10:00 or so.  We handed out gifts and took the rest of the morning to watch each person open their gifts in turn.  We made a happy mess.  

When our Jessica is around we can count on a puzzle to do.  Here's Reed, Jessica, grandson Scott and

his Jessica hard at work.

We spent Christmas Evening at Reed and Dorothy's.  After a delicious dinner, we had a family talent show.  I say that loosely as the only family to actually do something was Reed, who played a beautiful piece on the piano, and our family of Layne, me, Gerald, Seth and Angelica singing a carol together.  It was not a work of art but an effort was made!  The rest of the evening was taken up with a game that entertained the players for a good long time.

The Gendreaus left the day after Christmas.  The remainder of us celebrated New Year's Eve at our house.  The guys played a game; even Layne, the game-avoider, joined in.  We girls, and Bruce, painted to an online tutorial.  It took quite a bit of time, but was so fun.  Now I want to do more.  Here's Scott's Jessica, Dorothy, Bruce and me with out masterpieces.  You might be able to see that Bruce didn't use the tutorial.  His is the one with the dots.

We toasted at midnight and popped poppers until they were all gone.  There was food galore, thanks to Layne.  Earlier in the day I sent him out for cheesecake and he came back with oodles of additional goodies.  Yup, we were buried in them and now have an emergency supply of sweet stuff.  Junk food, you could say.  Here are some of our celebrators:  Layne, me, Gerald, Seth, Reed, Jessica, Scott and Bruce.  

So it is away with 2020, a pivotal year by anyone's measurement.  It has been a year of a pandemic, our response to which is unprecedented.  Never have we locked up our whole society and shut down our economy on purpose before.  I can't help feeling that we have turned this into a disaster that we will be playing for, for years.  Added to that was all sorts of radical, violent demonstrations, along with a national election that certainly has been controversial, with accusations of voter fraud in the election of Joe Biden.  If that turns out to be true, we can only hope that it will be addressed and corrected.  It is terrible to contemplate that our elections cannot be trusted to be fair.

And so we close 2020 with hopes for a better year ahead.  We can hope, but I fear that there are greater troubles to come.  Here is hoping that we can find our way through it with some semblance of recovery and blessing.