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.

 

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.