The Kids Are Here

Our quiet days are over!  Gerald and the kids have been here for several weeks now and it has changed our lives.  We are into school again, and all sorts of other kid stuff.  All previous routines have been modified and spaces are no longer open.  Already we have adjusted pretty well to having Seth and Angelica with us.  They seem to be adjusting nicely to American life and settling into its less structured and demanding routine pretty quickly.  Gerald has done a great job of organizing things to accommodate their lives here.  I so admire him and all the planning he does for his children.  He invests in them with all his heart.  I know he will sorely miss them once he returns home this coming week.  I'm used to him being with us.  So I hate to see him leave.  I so admire this son of mine.  He has the purest of hearts and gives himself to wife and children unselfishly.  Here's hoping that the kid's life here will bring him and Frances here also.  I'm always hesitant to make my hearts desire too openly apparent.  I suppose I don't want to be disappointed, or manipulate people into doing what is not in their best interest.  But I dare to say that I hope they come.

Last week Allegra came with Audrey.  After a sweet weekend with them, Allegra stayed and Audrey returned home.  It has been so fun to have Allegra with us.  She adds a certain sparkle and the kids love her.  Well, so do I.  She will be here until January.  Here she is with Angelica.

We have had fun blending cooking preferences of Angelica, Allegra and me.  It is such fun to be surrounded by family!  There is such an interaction of personalities now.  I've forgotten what that was like but here it is again.  And I like it.  I hope the kids will settle in with us and not miss their folks too much.  They are excited about the coming holidays and thus, so am I.  There is none of our American holiday celebrations in Taiwan, so it will all be new to them.  That makes it fun to anticipate.  Add to that the upcoming Temple dedication and the activities surrounding that, and the next few months appear to be quite a fun thing to look forward to.  Here are Angelica, Allegra, Gerald and Seth at the family table. 

So, adventures await.  I'm hope I'm up to it.

Mother's 100th Birthday and other Stuff

MOTHER
I have been thinking of my Mother all day.  If she were still with us, she would be 100 years old today.  She has been my model for how to have a productive, fulfilling, happy life.  I love and admire her, always and forever.

These past few weeks have been full of activities.  It has been too busy to document them, until today.  This is our last Sunday without family for awhile.  Gerald and his two kids are due here this week.  Seth and Angelica will stay until next summer.  Allegra will soon arrive also and stay until she returns to school in January.  It will be a life-changer for us, for awhile.

TOTAL ECLIPSE
We were lucky to be able to witness a version of the total eclipse that passed through Idaho and beyond on August 21st.  We watched it from our new gazebo.

The moon covered the sun with only the narrowest possible slip of sun exposed.  Totality could only be seen a little bit north of us.  That slip of sun turned our day into dusk but not darkness.  Even the littlest bit of sun gave us an amazing amount of light.  It can be seen at its peak in our yard here.  With special glasses, we could see the small sun sliver.

BEAR LAKE

Our friends Larry and Carol Wintersteen invited us to spend a few days at Bear Lake this past week.  Carol's brother, Roger, has a home there.  So last Monday Larry, Carol, Layne, me and friends Stan and Nancy Beck packed our car and drove there.  We spent 4 happy days in Roger's home.  He built it all himself, in the 70s.  His place has a lovely view of Bear Lake.  We spent our days visiting the various local sights.  We learned that the Bear Lake area is known for its raspberries.  Indeed, Roger has a huge raspberry patch.  We ate raspberry shakes every day and bought some of their local raspberry jam.  Here's a view of Roger and friend Clell in his berry patch.

Here's a view of Bear Lake from Roger's deck.

Here's Roger's homemade home and our gang standing in front.

L to R:  Larry, Carol, Nancy, Roger, Stan, me and Layne.  Oh yes, the dog Lamb Chop traveled with us too.  She was so good!

One of the places we visited was Minnetonka Cave, filled with stalagmites and stalactites--formations that grow up from the floor and down from the ceiling.  It was pretty magical inside, with stairs, pathways and lights posted throughout.  As we walked deeper and deeper into that cave I began to imagine what would happen if we happened to have an earthquake inside there.  It sits on a fault, so the threat was real, it seemed to me.  While we loved viewing the amazing world inside that cave, I was grateful to make it back outside without incident.  But here's the thing; they DID have an earthquake there this weekend!  Here Carol and I stand in front of the cave.  It was 40 degrees inside!

Here's one view inside the cave.

HOME

We had a lovely drive home in Friday, visiting a museum on the way, much to the objections of Layne.  He is so not a tourist.  We had a lovely, fun drive home and so enjoy being here again.  No matter how fun being away is, it is always good to be home.  One of the first things I did was check our very enthusiastic squash plants.  In spite of friends raiding it while we were gone, the plants were full of more and more and more summer squash!  Sigh.  I picked it and bundled it up and took it to Church today, where almost every one disappeared.  If you look closely, you can see a small crook neck squash pocking out of this happy plant.  There is plenty more where it came from.

Layne called to me from our bedroom window today to hurry in and see a surprising sight.  For 4 and a half years there have been no sign of deer in our neighborhood.  But today look who is sitting in our yard, in the shade on this hot day, right by our garden!

Our lives are about to take a dramatic change this week.  Gerald and kids arrive on Thursday, and Allegra comes on the 12th or so.  Our house will be full!  I'm excited for this new adventure.  For awhile we will be parents again.  Here's hoping we do a better job this time around!

A Visit to Canada

We had quite a gang at our house after our family reunion.  For a few days, Ben, Jessica and kids, plus a returning Taiwanese crowd all gathered at our place.  Everyone got acquainted quickly and lots of fun ensued.  Here are most of our guests, upstairs, after a fun Sunday evening together.

By the end of the week everyone, including us, were preparing to leave.  Jessica and kids left earlier in the week and Gerald and Frances prepared their kids for a Monday departure to California and Disneyland, their traditional ending activity.  If all goes well, Seth and Angelica will return in September to spend the school year with us.  They seem excited to come!  I hope we can provide them with a sweet and beneficial experience.

Here's Gerald with Angelica and Layne, and then, Seth.

Here's our Taiwanese kids on their last day with us:  Seth, Angelica, Ray, Frances, Angel, Sean, Jason, Linda and...Layne.  We so enjoyed them!

On Monday we all went to the airport together; they were headed to California and we to Canada, to meet our friends, Bill and Trudy Ostler.  They invited us to join them for a few days, touring the Calgary area.  We have been friends with them for some years now.  They moved to St. George and we to Idaho, so we meet a couple times a year to renew friendship and enjoy each others' company.  I haven't been to Canada since I was a girl and don't remember much about it.  But it sets in my mind as a land full of trees and all things cool and green.  Reality is never quite a match for memory.

Bill and Trudy met us at the Calgary airport with smiles and plans.  We were soon in a rental car and made quite a drive through the countryside.  After passing through the Calgary area of flat lands and brown views, we entered a mountainous area filled with the trees of my imagination.  The skies were smoky, with recent wildfires hiding the blue skies and turning the sun red.  We headed to a place called Banff and settled in for the night at a very nice rented condo.  We walked to a local restaurant for dinner and then back for a quick bond and bed.  Oh, it was so good to settle into bed.  But, for some reason, I didn't sleep much.  So we began our Tuesday adventures with a bit of a sleep deficit.  

Tuesday took us to Lake Louise, a well-known local sight.  It rested at the base of some of the Canadian Rockies.  The views were lovely and the lake was a cloudy turquoise color.  I've never seen such a color in a lake before.  Take a look.

Here we are by Lake Louise with Bill and Trudy.  We spent just about all day here.

Wednesday we headed to the tourist town of Banff and went on the highly recommended gondola ride 7000+ feet up the side of the local mountain.  Wow. What a ride.  Even though some thousands of people have made it safely up that hill, my stomach was full of butterflies all the way up.  Trudy, on the other hand, was thrilled with the ride.  She seems to have a taste for danger!  We made it to the top alive and enjoyed the views from the building on top.  And a few souvenirs at the gift shop.  Gotta have those, right?

Here's the sights from the top.  Canada is celebrating her 150 year anniversary, so there were lots of references to that.

The valley below.

We had fun at the top, looking at views from all sides, eating lunch, and shopping.

Bill and Layne, in a guy moment.

Riding the gondola back down was much easier on my stomach, for some reason.  

We headed back to Calgary on Thursday and spent the day at a place called Heritage Park.  It was a bit like our Williamsburg; a step back in time with workers dressed in vintage clothing and acting out their parts as we visited pioneer homes, stores, farms and restaurants.  It was great fun.  So much so that we spent the whole day there.  The people were friendly and the feel of this place, and all things Canadian, felt very much like all things USA.  

We rode the vintage train and boat.  It was all great fun.

Layne sits in front of one of the shops in Heritage Park.

Early (very early!) Friday morning found us at the airport for our flight home.  The Ostlers headed to Salt Lake and we flew to Denver, then Boise, arriving Friday afternoon.  No matter how fun being on a trip is there really is no place like home!  For the first time in three nights, I slept all night long.  It was delicious!

Family Reunion, 2017

One of my great desires is to keep my adult children in each other's lives.  So we have yearly family reunions.  At first Layne and I organized them.  But we are not going to be here in time to come, so we decided to put the kids in charge.  This year, son Ben and his Jessica took charge.  They found a place on the Oregon coast called Langlois, that they felt would be about equal in distance for each of us.  We began our 10 hour drive there on Monday.  We were surprised to discover that the drive took us on some 15 different roads, most full of twists and turns, through all sorts of countryside, from desert to forests.  No freeway travel except the first 10 minutes or so.  It felt like a long drive, but full of beautiful views.  The place we rented was quite solitary and full of the most beautiful grounds I've seen in a long time.  There were forests, meadows and trails going all throughout, with twist and turns that produced ponds and benches tucked around bends.  The meadows were full of wildflowers.  It was as if the plants there wanted to grow.  There seemed to be no stopping them as, in every direction, the grounds were full of beautiful growing plants of all sorts.  It was these grounds that made our stay so magical.

Layne and I took a lovely walk through the nearby forest and on into a meadow full of daisies.  So inspiring!

Most of us gathered one evening at this sort-of raised gazebo to watch the sunset.

Some of the grandkids gathered at the pond's edge to get a closer look at nearby living things.  Son-in-law, Chris, is in the background.  Isn't it lovely?

Besides meandering through the heavenly grounds, we gathered in the club house for games, gabbing and meals.  Being with family is such a blessing.  I feel grateful that all of us get along so well.  Only three of our five families were here, but we enjoyed our association very much.  There isn't anyone in the family that I don't really like as well as love.  That's a pretty fine family situation, wouldn't you say?  Grandkids gather for games below.  

We were located very near the beach, so we spent a day there.  It was as perfect a day as one could hope for.  It was warm but not hot and the beach was only sparsely populated.  Kids played in the water and sand, we talked and walked.  I love the beach!  It is a little sad to me that Idaho doesn't have any.  Here's Miles and Gemma.

We headed for home on Friday (last week now), followed by Ben and Jessica and their family.  We spend some sweet time with them.  Evenings in Idaho in the summer are often still hot, even up to sunset at 10 PM or so.  So the kids played outside until bedtime, and beyond!  Here's the whole BJ family:  Abigail, Alexis, Ben with Will, Zachary, Jess with Jon, Jacqueline, Tia and Olivia in front.

Abigail worked very hard to make friends with our kitty, Cherry.  She finally succeeded!  Cherry actually chose to lay down next to her--quite an accomplishment!

Gerald, Frances and their gang returned from Utah on Monday, so we had a couple of days with everyone with us.  It was wild, crazy and fun.  Here's our Taiwanese bunch:  Ray, Gerald, Angelica, Angel, Sean, Linda, Frances and Jason.  Frances and I shared the cooking.  Sometimes the kids wanted to eat "American" and sometimes Frances' delicious Chinese cooking won the day.  This photo shows one of our American meals:  tacos.  They want a repeat.

This is our fourth Idaho summer.  So far each summer season is full to the brim with company and activities of all sorts.  What a great time it is!

A Hole in the Ground

Our quiet days have returned.  The GF gang have departed for Utah and adventures there as of Thursday.  Layne has been busy transforming the yard.  After presenting my vision for the gazebo and berm in the back yard, and with a little time for his mind to percolate, he is so on board.  He's been working all week on the hole in the yard that is to become a berm, putting in new pipes for watering.  He's even come up with some improvements to our watering system.  You know how one thing leads to another.  On and on he works, despite the hot weather.  "I love heat," he keeps telling me.  I guess he does!

I bounce back and forth between loving to be surrounded by people and loving being alone, now that I'm an older woman.  In my youth, I loved a more social life.  But now I've come to enjoy solitary times.  I would not like to be alone for long periods of time, but short ones suit me nicely.  I'm more prone to solitary interests and love open time for thinking and studying.  That is quite a departure for me.  I used to fit my studying and thinking in between the frantic pace of life that is involved in keeping up with lots of people in my household.  But now longer stretches of time open up before me and I need to learn to use them more productively.  I'm surprised by how achieving a provident life is still a challenge.

Here's a picture of our Taiwanese kids, taken just before dinner.  The kids wanted to eat "American", so we served tacos, as you can see in the photo.  They mostly liked it.  Some really did.  Everyone is in the picture except Seth.  I'm not sure where he was at the time.  They return to us in another week!

Hot Days of Summer

We have had a lovely spring, with warm, rainy days.  Heavenly, I thought.  But all of that is over.  Our summer, so far, has offered us days filled with hot, hot, let me say, HOT weather!  In the midst of this heat, we celebrated Independence Day, partly at our friends, the Greens, and partly at our friends, the Wintersteens.  Our Boise valley fills with fireworks of all sorts on the 4th of July.  One can choose to visit one site and enjoy fireworks up close, or, as we did, sit in the comfort of the Wintersteen's deck and view them in every direction, from afar.  Either way, it is an inspirational feast.  I love celebrating our Independence!  This area is a patriotic place, so it fits my passions nicely.  Layne and I also watched the movie,  "1776", as we do every year.  I still love it and am tenderized, as always, at the ending, when the miracle of independence is so dramatically portrayed.

Into our long, hot days of summer, son Gerald, Frances, their kids and 5 English students have arrived.  They are here until Thursday, when they head to Utah and scheduled adventures there.  As always, it is wonderful to have family here.  I love the spirit our children bring to us when they come.  Our days with the GF group have been very pleasant, in spite of the heat.  They helped us put up the roof on our pergola/gazebo.  It was quite a project, with many adaptations needed.  Layne has a mind for that, thankfully, and the roof is now up.  Take a look at our group of workers, which include our Taiwanese kids, neighbor Jim, and Layne.

Gerald and Frances always have a full schedule of activities for the kids they bring.  Friday night we drove to an outdoor theater, Starlite, and watched a live production of Beauty and the Beast, performed by college students, for the most part.  They perform in 4 productions all through the summer.  It was lovely to watch them on the outdoor stage, with a full moon overhead.  By the time we got home from that it was after midnight, and the jet-lagged Taiwanese fell asleep like the dead, only arising for a late brunch on Saturday morning.

The GF crowd missed our Independence Day, but we gave them a taste of it Saturday night, with fireworks in the backyard as the sun set.  That doesn't happen until 10 PM, so this activity went on into the night.  But it was fun!  Seth lit the fireworks, we ooohed and ahhhed, then followed with sparklers.  The hose was close by to make sure that no spark escaped and the kids ended the night with a water fight.  Such fun!  Here are the boys, joy jumping before the fireworks began.

Fireworks!

It is Sunday.  Everyone went to Church and now, as it is too hot to go outside, the kids are rumbling upstairs.  The house is full of chasing, charging and laughing.  Its not exactly a quiet Sabbath!

Family Connections

Why is it that things seem to come in bunches?  There are days in my life when absolutely nothing is happening.  Then there are times when too many things fill my days.  This past week was one of those.  Our granddaughter, Rayne, became officially engaged in California, as her British man was visiting and presented her with a beautiful engagement ring.  This weekend our Gendreaus were due here once again, on their way home from a southern Utah and beyond vacation.  We were determined to visit Rayne and meet her future husband, Dominic.  So we flew to California on Wednesday and had fun meeting and visiting with Dom and bonding with some of the family.

Here are Dom and Rayne.  We found Dom to be bright, pure-hearted, motivated and extremely keen on Rayne.  He lives in England, but plans to immigrate here.  They seem very compatible.  I think they will be happy together.  

The engagement ring.  Of course you can see every detail from this photo....

While we had a good visit with Rayne, Dom, Audrey and Cliff, Reed, Dorothy and two of their sons, we missed seeing Ben and Jessica and I didn't get to visit my Uncle Mike's grave. I was sad about that.  

We had to hurry home as the Gendreaus were expected on Saturday. So we flew home on Friday.  We managed to miss the birthday party for Audrey (she turned 50 on July 27th!), held before we came and Rayne's engagement party on Saturday, after we left. 

Chris and Jessica arrived with their gang on Saturday, as expected, on their way home from a traveling vacation.  They came to us full of stories about their adventures and a visual tour of the places they visited, presented by Miles.  He is keen on photography and took some extremely good pictures with his phone...and everyone else's too.  Peyton turns 13 on July 3rd, so we celebrated her birthday with a dinner as close to her requests as I could muster, and a birthday cake. 

Our visit was all too short as they had to leave on Sunday morning.  It has been a week of family connections, which is always a good thing, even if there were some things we had to miss.  That, I suppose, is the price we pay for living away from family.  Here's our departing Gendreaus, with Vincent included.  He went with them on all their adventures.  He and Miles are great friends as well as cousins.  Love those boys.  And the rest of them too.

On their way home, here is Vincent, Gemma, Miles, Peyton, Jessica and Chris.