Palo Alto Grandkids

Our youngest son Ben and his wife Jessica have 6 very busy and energetic children.  You may imagine that there isn't much down time for them.  So I was quite willing to agree to watch all 6 while Ben and Jes had a little get-away for a couple of days.  As the time approached I began to wonder if I could keep up with all those babes and their activities.  I was especially worried about caring for the youngest, Jonathan.  He isn't a year old yet and is very attached to his mama.  In fact, he hasn't ever been away from her for long.  And he doesn't think much of me, judging from past experience.  Would he tolerate my efforts at temporary mothering?

Layne planned on coming with me until granddaughter Allegra volunteered.  She has a way with kids and seems to enjoy babysitting duty.  Eagerly I accepted her help, leaving Layne off the hook.  We girls left for our family errand on Thursday.

I tend to be a very structured person.  I like things done just so and organized just so.  Somehow I have evolved to this.  Time works its strange adjustments upon us.  Fortunately, Jes had made out a list of what we were to do each day with the kids.  We organized ourselves from there.  I'm happy to report that all went well.  My experiences with the kids left me with two refreshed insights:

1.  Kids are adaptable and will do whatever they need to, to get along.  Baby Jonathan realized very early in our time together that I was it for him.  He soon preferred me to everyone else in the household.  He clung to me, hugged me and nuzzled me.  It was quite endearing.  Except for the nights.  Jon doesn't make it through the night.  Both nights I had to hold him, clam him, search for his bink and experience his thrashing, kicking, smacking and general sounds and movements in the dark.  Sleep was elusive, you could say.  But by mornings he was his sweet, charming self.  He was my boy.  He was happy with my efforts to care for him.  KIDS ADJUST and do what they have to do to get by.  

2.  William, 7 years old, has a temper.  He "rises to the bait", as my mother-in-law used to say about the victims of teasing.  William's little brother, Zachary, a darling, dark eyed little guy, loves to quietly torment Will until he explodes in screams and hits.  Being the noisy one, he gets the blame for the trouble.  I understand this.  It happened to me and my little sister too.  You maybe can guess that I was the noisy explosive one.  After one of Will's particularly violent explosions I took him in my arms and quietly told him I understood how he felt but that violence was never right.  As I spoke to him gently, he calmed down.  I then gently told Zach that his teasing and tormenting was also wrong.  As I spoke softly to the boys, the atmosphere calmed and the anger dissipated.  It isn't natural for me to respond to strong emotion with gentleness.  But I prayed for the ability to do it, and I believe that is why I was able to respond softly.  It was a lovely example of one of my favorite scriptures, Proverbs 15:1  A SOFT ANSWER TURNETH AWAY WRATH, BUT GRIEVOUS WORDS STIR UP ANGER.  I'm going to keep trying to be soft.

Jonathan and me; my boy, for the moment.

Saturday night we had the kids in bed but not asleep when Ben and Jes returned.  I believe they had a good time.  So did we!  The time with the children was good, but exhausting.  Allegra talked to me all the way home, then we settled back into familiar territory, weary to the bone.
 

Carmen On My Mind

Last weekend was our extended Family Home Evening.  We celebrate family birthdays of the month at these occasions.  We celebrated son-in-law Cliff.  We also spoke of our departed Carmen, who would have been 12 on August 10th, if she were still here with us.  I have been thinking of her all week.  I imagine her, lovely and bright, looking down upon us.  There are some of the grandchildren now who have never known her.  It seems important to remind them, and all of us, that there is a sweet little one missing who belongs to us.  So we speak of her at her special times; the time of her arrival in August, and her departure, in February.

Brentwood friends of son Reed and his Dorothy wanted to spend some time honoring Carmen's memory on Friday the 10th.  So we all met at her school in Brentwood for a pot luck.  We spoke of Carmen and other things, and we ate.  We ended the event by viewing a memorial for Carmen at the school, and releasing purple balloons.  Isn't it interesting what a little girl can do for people.  Her struggle for life touched so many other lives.  Those at her school remember.  Many in the community remember.  One precious life.  Although short, it was a gift.  We must always remember.

The memorial for Carmen, located at her elementary school,
Knightson, in Brentwood, CA

Balloons to celebrate Carmen, at the ready near the memorial.
Note Audrey at the left and allegra in the middle.

Balloons released.

Purple balloons, reaching for heaven.

Brown Sugar Frosting

Wednesday August 8:  Audrey and her family will be here for dinner tonight.  I decided to make some kind of original dessert. Well, not exactly original, but a dessert that I haven't made for a very long time.  I settled on Butterscotch Chiffon Cake.  Mother used to make it on a regular basis when I was a girl.  It was almost as good as her pies.  I used her recipe for this cake for a cooking contest when I was in college.  It didn't win but it kept me in the contest.  Tonight this memory cake will grace our table after a very long absence.

I decided that brown sugar frosting was just the thing for this cake.  As I melted the butter and mixed in the brown sugar I was carried back to our San Leandro house.  There I stood at our stove, stirring this very same mix.  Not for frosting.  It was just for me.  Just as it was, a delectable mix of grease and sweet.  I had a passion for this simple, sweet delight.  Even though I suspected that sampling this treat might make my face break out and add a pound or two, I could not resist it.  So, once in awhile when I got home from school, I would mix it up.  Brown sugar and butter.  Throwing guilt to the wind, I would eat it.  And it was culinary heaven.  I sampled it again today and it tastes just as wonderful.

House

Our house has been on the market for several months now.  It has been weeks since anyone has come to look at it.  Knowing that it would take awhile to sell a two family house on six acres, we have settled into a normal routine, as if we were going to stay here forever.  But this past week, shock of all shocks, not just one party but THREE different parties have come to look at the house!  Things do indeed come in bunches.  Two of the three really like the place, I think.  Both were women who said they wanted to bring their husbands to see it.

Now I am imagining leaving here again.  For all of my efforts at the collecting of things that I don't like about being here, what has come to the forefront of my thoughts is all the things I DO like about being here.  Without my permission those thoughts are trampling through my mind and I can't seem to rid myself of them.  I like it here.  Leaving is a leap into the dark.  Where will we go?  What kind of a home will we settle on?  Where will it be?  All week, as I move through our home, I imagine packing it all up.  Again.  Leaving here will come.  I must brace myself for it.

In the meantime, there have been updates to the house that have needed to be done for several summers.  This past week I took on two of them.  Donning my very messy painting duds, I took on the deck off of the master bedroom and re-stained it.  What a job.  The stain is very runny and very permanent.  But I got the job done and it looks great.

Then I moved on to the front door.  It is supposed to be red but the seasons have faded and peeled it until it has looked very sad indeed.  I painted it yesterday.  Wow, what a difference.  It is red and shiny and altogether beautiful.  If you like red.  Which I do.

Layne on our newly stained deck.

Me with our bright, shiny and very red front door.

Just so you know, my new computer and all of the additional equipment I ordered came this past week.  I have it all set up.  I am overwhelmed with the newness of it all and the possibilities it gives me.  I'm beyond excited.  

The Recovery

Life is full of extremes.  We went from being wildly busy with the family masses to empty quiet.  I enjoy both with their several gifts.  Quiet was especially nice this past week or so as I needed some recovery time from the Layne-bug mentioned earlier.  I managed to be over it in about three days, thankfully.  We spent much of our recovery time cleaning up and getting things back to normal.  As in younger years, I felt a little nostalgic as I put things away.  Of course there was a pile of things the kids forgot.  Slowly I have managed to get most of it returned.

Grandkids' sleeping accommodations during Cousin Camp.

Breakfast with some of the Cousin Camp gang.

We had a couple of sweet surprises this past week.  Long time friends Byron and Marcia Dansie visited for a few hours.  Sadly, I forgot to get a photo of them.  We had babies together and have become close friends over the years.  They are some of the pure in heart that I love having in my life.

Saturday of last week our stake celebrated Pioneer Day at the Pleasanton Fair Grounds.  We found ourselves there because Layne was asked to MC the event.  So we arrived early and left late; not our usual activity level at these things.  Layne did a masterful job.  In between his MC gab we sat at a picnic table eating our dinner.  Our second surprise came in the form of a young lady we didn't know who approached and sat with us.  She was very outgoing and full of chatter.  We discovered that she was in the Army reserve and assigned to our area for two weeks of active duty.  She lives in Arizona and her  name is Amanda.  After telling us much about her life, she said that she was "shopping for dinner appointments" for Sunday and Monday!  We were a little taken aback by her approach, but we invited her to dinner on Monday.  She came, and brought our friend Anne Kelly with her.  We had a fun evening together and I came to like her very much.  Her outreach was not my style of getting acquainted but I admired her for it.  It reminds me that I need to be a bit more outgoing and aggressive in getting to know more people.  I feel that my soul and Amanda's touched.  I found it joyful.

Anne Kelly and Amanda Goff, our Monday dinner guests.

Son Ben had nose surgery this past week.  His nose has been pretty much inop since his birth.  Doctors attempted to fix it when he was a little boy, but were unsuccessful.  This time he had his deviated septum fixed and tonsils out.  He asked me to pick him up after the surgery.  He's got two weeks off for recovery.  I'm excited to see how he feels when he takes a full breath through his nose.  It's coming.

Benjamin, recovering from surgery, with littlest son Jonathan.

During this recovery time, he told me that he wanted to buy me a new Apple laptop, as a thank you for the work we have done for him on his rental condo.  I was surprised and sooo excited!  You know how one change leads to others.  I now need an updated printer and scanner as well! So I picked those out, Ben and I picked out the computer, and by next week, I should have a whole new system.  How exciting is that!

Cousin Camp

Cousin Camp finally arrived, beginning July 4 and grew to over thirty people by the weekend.  Imagine that many people staying at our house and eating three meals a day here!  It was massive.  We began our event with well-scheduled activities each day, which worked great until the arrival of Gerald, Frances, their kids and 10 Taiwanese students on Friday.  There is something about 10 additional non-family kids that changes the dynamics.  Gone were the family stories and devotionals.  It was just too hard to pull off with so many extra kids.

But we enjoyed them just the same.  One thing I'm trying to teach myself is that things never turn out the way they play out in my mind and that can be OK.  Sometimes they are better, sometimes not.  But thoughts and reality are rarely a match.  So we went for the flow that displayed itself before us.  Some of what we placed in the yard were hits with the kids and some were not used at all.  Watching everyone interact was part of the treat.  At least most of the time.

Our biggest hits (at least from my observation):  the play structure, the wading pool, the outdoor movie, the basketball hoop, and foosball.  As I predicted, I spent most of my time making meals.  My children were off and on present.  Layne, I'm sad to say, got a bug from Reed that gave him a "sit and stare" condition that put him out of commission most of the time!  How I missed his helping hand.

As I have concluded at previous cousin camps, this experience is not about us bonding with the kids, it is about them bonding with each other.  And they did.  And I didn't, mostly.  One sweet exception to that was Ben and Jessica's three year old Abigail.  It was her first time at cousin camp and she stuck pretty close to me.  We had a sweet time together.

Everyone except my Gendreau kids were gone by July 11th.  Miles, Gemma and Peyton stayed on through the following weekend.  I can bond with three.  And I believe I did.  Each night I shared a story with them and told them I loved them.  We did various things during the day.  My goal for these three is to have them feel my love for them on a deep level and to plant in their hearts a strong faith in a loving God, who knows and loves them.  I think progress was made.

Their dad, Chris, picked them up on Sunday and, suddenly, everyone was gone and the family adventure was over.  By Monday Layne was fully over his bug and he had lovingly passed it on to me. At least it waited until I had time for it.  How thoughtful.

Ben and Jessica's patriotic kids, who arrived on July 4.  They are:
baby Jonathan, Alexis, Jacqueline, Zachary and William.  We celebrated
America and its greatness, sadly without fireworks.

Ben and Jessica's Abigail, my Cousin Camp buddy.

The grandchildren with shirts displaying the Galbraith Crest.

Mealtime with the family hoard.

Grandchildren, after a day of family bonding.

The guys table, when everyone was here.

Reed and Dorothy's Timmy, playing near the full swimming
pool.  He didn't want to get wet, but hung out close by.

Three of my guys:  Miles (Chris and Jes), Vincent (Reed and Dorothy),
and Seth (Gerald and Frances).  

Our war with electronic toys is perfectly displayed here
with Gema and Miles (Chris and Jes).  Next time they will be
forbidden (the toys, not the kids)!

Peyton's legs demonstrate why we ran out of bandaids!

Anticipation

It has been said that anticipation is a big part of the enjoyment of an upcoming event.  This coming week will be our cousin camp/family reunion.  My days and nights have been filled with preparations and...anticipation.  With things like this my mind goes crazy with ideas.  I see the whole event play out in my mind.  Past experience has validated over and over again to me that things NEVER turn out as planned.  My fantasies are just that, I'm afraid.  But sometimes the real experience turns out to offer happy surprises.  I'm sure this upcoming week will be filled with work, little sleep and...happy surprises.

Ben and Jes' old play structure carefully reconstructed
here by Layne for the kids and painted by myself.

President Hinckley once said that life is filled with work, struggles and great effort, interspersed with moments of ecstasy.  My restatement here is not word for word, but his meaning is here expressed.  Isn't it interesting that the moments of ecstasy seem to justify the vast majority of time devoted to harder things?  We've put hours of thought and work into this upcoming small amount of time with family.  I'm eager to see what "moments of ecstasy"might come of it.

Waist high wading pool and tether ball in the background;
some of the activities for the kids.  Hope they like them!

Our upcoming family event is planned around lots of choices for kid activities so that the kids can choose how to spend their time with us.  Choice.  It's an important principle.  It seems to me that the wider the selection of opportunities the wider the chances for enjoyment, progress and every other good thing.  I worry, therefore, over the shrinking choices offered in our "free" society.  I feel the encroachment of government at almost every turn.  We cannot celebrate the 4th of July with even simple fireworks anymore.  "Big Brother" feels it is not safe and so takes care of it for us.  As Obamacare approaches, I fear that the shrinking of choice and the increase of expense in the form of tax will further erode the freedom and opportunity that this country has offered to us, and exemplified to the world.

I apologize for bringing this issue up here, but it explodes within my thoughts.  I must express it.  Having done so, I'm hoping for the best...for our family and for our nation.  I pray for both, every day. 

Our flag.  I wish we could surround it with sparklers
on July 4th.  Oops, too dangerous!

Our fenced in freshly planted vegetable garden.
The war is on to keep out the deer (the fence),
the gophers, rabbits and ground squirrels
(the planter boxes and plant coverings).
The battle rages!