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.

Almost Christmas

 Things here are pretty quiet most of the time.  As I look in my closet every morning to decide what to wear it is usually the same thing; just casual.  Much of my wardrobe sits unused.  There is no where to go and nothing much to do outside of home.  There are things to like about this; more time to do what I like for one.  But I do miss all of the mixing with others and our activities together.  And it remains strange to see the whole world masked.  

But lately things have been picking up.  We planned on going to California for Christmas this year as it is a "Galbraith" Christmas.  But CoVid has picked up there so the state is on something like a lockdown.  We cancelled our trip.  We will be home.  Chris and Jessica, who planned on meeting us in CA, are now coming here.  So, without our CA family we will still have a family Christmas.  Reed and Dorothy, Chris and Jessica, and Gerald, plus kids will all be here.  Fun is anticipated.  

Angelica turned 17 on the 15th.  We had the local family over to celebrate.  We ordered pho for her and I made a Taiwanese style dinner. It was lots of work but turned out really well.  I think she loved the dinner and her gifts.  Score!

Gerald finally made it here after a long absence.  His last trip here was in February.  It is so good to have him with us!  He has settled right into our routine so easily.  It is easy to have long conversations with him, which I so enjoy.

Rayne and Dominic were here this weekend, to get furniture for their new apartment.  They are so excited to finally be out on their own.  So we consignment shopped on Saturday.  I love doing that.  There are so many lovely, quality things for reasonable prices, usually.  

Many of the local Christmas celebrations are not happening this year.  The neighborhoods seem to be compensating with more Christmas lights than ever.  Our area is alive with lights.  One of the local businesses, Scentsy, has a beautiful light display, designed for walking through.  We all went last night.  It was lovely!  I love being surrounded by festive lights.  It can't miss putting a song in my heart.  We walked through them with delight. Here are pictures of Rayne and Dominic, Gerald and Angelica, Jessica 3 (wife of grandson Scott) and Dorothy at the Scentsy lights.

 

Thanksgiving

 October brought cooler weather quickly.  It has snowed here several times.  But, typical of the Treasure Valley, it melted by lunch time.  Still, it is beautiful to behold.

Our daughter Audrey visits us about once a month.  This month Cliff came with her.  They spent last weekend with us.  What fun it was to have Cliff with us too.  Sadly, I didn't get any pictures so you will just have to take their visit on faith.  Cliff loves to cook.  This visit he filled us with all sorts of ideas for cooking and food prep.  He introduced us to air frying.  We had fun trying that out.  I suppose I must admit that cooking isn't something I do for fun.  It is more of a necessity in my world.  But Cliff makes it sound pretty fun to try new things.  So this year we ventured to try deep flying our turkey.  Seth took it on and it turned out quite yummy.

Cliff and Audrey left for their home early Tuesday morning.  Their son Isaiah and new wife Aver arrived that night, on their way to California to spend Thanksgiving with the Adam-Harts.  They are such a cute couple and so much in love.  It is still their honeymoon you see.

CoVid has made a different world for all of us.  This year our Thanksgiving was smaller than it has been for some time.  By small I mean it was only the four of us celebrating together.  Reed and Dorothy had lots of D's family at their home so we didn't share the holiday with them either.  But it was nice.  How can we live in this wonderful place and not feel grateful.  We all worked together preparing our Thanksgiving dishes and all helped cleanup.  Here's a glance of our meal.

It was small but sweet.  We are counting our blessings every day.  One of those is our grandson, Vincent (son of Reed and Dorothy) who just left for his mission.  He was assigned to Australia but until it is open he will serve in the Washington DC mission.  He's there now and loves it so far.  We all joined in to wish him well; here is Seth and Angelica with Vincent.  

In the midst of troubled times, it is good to see the good.  There is much to see, and thank God for.

Winter in November

 The election for President of the United States is over.  At least it seems to be.  Votes are in but there are some claims of voter fraud.  But as of now Joe Biden is our new President, in a very close race between him and Donald Trump.  This is the first election that Seth is old enough to vote in.  He took pride in voting with us on election day.

There has been more division and violent demonstrations surrounding this election than I've ever witnessed before.  So there was some fear for what might have followed the election.  But so far all seems peaceful.  Perhaps that is because we have an incoming President who is Democrat.  At any rate, whatever the final result, we will adjust and make the best of it.

The Sunday following the election I had a major attack of vertigo.  It was sudden and strong, bringing on a visit to the ER.  They took all sorts of tests and found me healthy.  They treated the dizziness and resulting nausea and I returned home just about normal. My sweet daughter in law, Dorothy, followed me around and waited on me for two days following.  She is an angel.  

Last weekend Dorothy, her two boys and I drove to Seattle; me to visit daughter Jessica and family, Dorothy to visit her grandson, Alex and his parents.  Chris and Jessica are remodeling their kitchen.  Jessica has wanted to do it for a long time and, now, Chris is on board.  They are excited.  Jessica invited me to come and help with their plans.  So we talked kitchen most of the weekend.  It was fun.  Chris has part of the kitchen torn apart and is thinking that, if he works weekends, he can be finished by February.  He wants to do just about all of the work himself.  How wonderful to be able to do that!  Here's a view of the kitchen.  He's starting with the ceiling and upper cabinetry.

Dorothy and boys stayed in a hotel near her son James, wife Alejandra and Alex.  It was boarded up, along with all buildings nearby.  We suppose it was in anticipation of demonstrations, which Seattle has had lots of trouble with.  It was odd and a bit chilling to see it.

The hotel.

Surrounding stores.

We walked from the hotel to James and Alejandra's apartment.  It was dark, but, despite the boarded up buildings, we felt very safe.  It was Alex's 3rd birthday.  We celebrated a little of it with him.  Here you can see him opening a gift, with the help of Bruce and Timothy.  It seems happy with it.

Dorothy drove us home on Sunday.  It was an odd way to spend a Sabbath but we made the best of it.  The drive started out beautifully.  There was not a cloud in the sky in Seattle, a good omen we thought.  But as we dove the clouds gathered.  Then snow flurries.  Then the heavy snow came, requiring chains.  Luckily for us, all-wheel drive cars were exempt.  Good news since we didn't have chains.  But it was slow going and a little scary as the darkness gathered around us.  Slowly we moved forward until at last we drove out of the snow and reached clean, dry roads.  What a relief.  Happily we arrived home safely Sunday evening.  

Here is our first sign of trouble ahead.

It's been a quiet week.  The kids school routine keeps changing, thanks to CoVid.  Idaho has returned to phase 2 reopening since an uptick in cases.  Sigh.  I can't help feeling that we'd be better off just getting back to normal, with each of us responsible for taking our own precautions.  This has been a year of change and I feel a sense that things are not going to return to the normal we've enjoyed before.  It isn't just the Virus; there is a growing anger and animosity among some that is a little frightening.  What is our future, I wonder. 

October Ends

 Life since Cedaredge has been a sweet recovery time.  Travel is so fun, but it includes a level of weariness that needs to be compensated for.  So I've been trying to rest up, with mixed success.  The Monday after we returned, Angelica called in a panic.  She had just driven the large Toyota that the kids share into a ditch, totally destroying it!  We rushed over, to find her standing out the car window in tears and surrounded by police and fire, standing ready to rescue and treat her for any injuries.  Their response to her emergency was quick and effective.  She had no injuries but a few scratches.  To see the site of the accident helped us realize the miracle of that.  She was protected.  We are so grateful for that!

Within the week Gerald had found a used car for them, online.  We used his recommendation and went to the Toyota dealership and purchased that very car.  It is smaller, but large enough to protect them.  Since then, Angelica drives with one of us in the car, until she is comfortable and competent again.

Life has gotten back to normal since then; a normal that always includes the normal changes of everyday life.  We celebrated Halloween at home, watching a spooky movie.  Angelica went out with friends but Seth watched the movie with us.  No trick-or-treaters came.  So sad what CoVid has done to us.  

This has been an unforgettable year.  We have been ravaged with a pandemic, leftist ideologies that threaten violence to those who dissent and demonstrations that have been destructive to individuals, communities and businesses.  It is a time to rise to defend our liberties and way of life.  I feel that not enough of us do that, including me.  The election of a lifetime comes up in just two days.  I have a fear that, no matter the outcome, life will become more difficult.  We are trying to prepare for that.

I believe that we have to defend principles of righteousness and these who support them, no matter the personalities involved.  May God help us to do that in sufficient numbers to save our nation and way of life.

Cedaredge, Colorado

 Ever since my Mother died in 2011, Maryanne and I planned on returning to the Ranch to complete the sorting of her many possessions.  We made several trips but never managed to finish the job.  Mother (and Dad) saved EVERYTHING! Bob and Maryanne sold the Ranch several years ago.  Finally, this year, we made plans to go and finish that sorting.  Sadly, Maryanne could not make the trip.  But family members soon volunteered to accompany Layne and me.  Granddaughter Rayne and hub Dominic were the first.  Then Chris and Jessica wanted to come, and daughter-in-law Dorothy.  As it turned out Dorothy couldn't come, but the rest did, along with Peyton (C&J's daughter).  That's thanks to online school!  It turned out to be an amazing trip.

We began by driving to Lisbon Valley, near Moab, where my Mother grew up.  My nephew, Brent, met us there.  He is addicted to the beautiful sights of the West and has treked through many places, including several trips to Lisbon Valley and surrounding area.  He met us in Moab and led us out into the solitary country that is Lisbon Valley.  Just about the only interested parties out there are the mining companies.  In fact, Brent told us that the family Homestead is now owned by one of them.  

We spent Sunday afternoon there with Brent, Rayne and Dominic.  It felt more overgrown with brush but otherwise the same as the last time we were there.  We first came upon the early cabin, where my Grandparents Knox settled in the beginning.  Layne is on the outside, I'm in the doorway.

As the Knox family expanded, a bigger home was needed, so Grandfather Knox turned the larger smoke house into a home.  It had two rooms; the kitchen and living space and a bedroom.  The children slept in the main living space.  No electricity or running water was to be had.  Yet my Grandmother called this place her piece of heaven and the happiest time of her life.  Here is what is left of the larger home.

Sometimes when I look at this place I can almost see my Mother and her two brothers as little kids, playng among the rocks and desert trees.  No one has lived here since they left a hundred years ago.  Here are Rayne and Dominic, standing in the corral that is still party fenced in.

Here's Rayne, overlooking the Homestead and below, a view of the area.

This place is full of ghosts.  One of the most haunting sights are the grave sites, where my Grandfather and son Larry are buried.  They both died with in a short time of each other, and with that, the magic of the Homestead ended.  Life was a struggle after that and the family moved away, to Cedaredge, Colorado.

Here are the graves, and Brent, mending the fence that visitors have stretched out climbing into the grave sites. 

Brent led up on a trail up above the Homestead, where the views were lovely.  But the road was rough.

Sunday evening we hugged Brent goodbye and drove to Cedaredge, where we met up with Chris and Jessica, and Peyton.  We stayed in a small cabin, cozy but comfortable and our Colorado adventure began.  We used Monday and Tuesday to sort and, with the help of the family with us, we got it all sorted!  In two days!  I was so impressed.  We used the next two days to make dump runs and get the unwanted good stuff to thrift and antique stores.  Then we divided what was left, making sure that we got all that Maryanne wanted set aside.  Some of the work crew:  Layne and Jessica, in front of the garage.

The room is empty!  Jessica swept up, a task in itself.

While at the Ranch, my Aunt Frances and her new husband stopped by.  She was married to my Dad's half brother, Walt Engel.  He passed away over a year ago.  Frances met this very nice man and they are now honeymooners living in nearby Montrose.  Here are Frances and Dewayne Green.  She is 80, he is 85.

With such quick work of Mom's stuff, we had time to see the sights.  We visited all the family homes in the area, Dad's and great-grandparents Halfacre and Kiser.  Mom's little cottage on the Ranch was torn down by the new owners and replaced with a bigger, metal home.  It's very different, but lovely inside.  All of our direct Cedaredge family are now in the cemetery.  We visited there for a sweet moment or two.  Here I am at my parents' grave.

We visited Pioneer Town, a locally well known place where vintage buildings of the past have been gathered to re-create life in pioneer times.  Mom had much to do with accomplishing its creation.  It was closed while we were there, but we met up with a cousin, Jerry McHugh, who had keys and gave us access to the buildings.  So very nice of him!  Here are some views.  Peyton sits in front of the visitor's center on a bench dedicated to my Dad.

Here is main street, with family scattered throughout.

Near "The Cabins", where we were staying, is a eating place called Aspen Trials.  Beside it is this dandy picture taking opportunity.  Layne wasn't keen as you might tell.  The rest of us were quite enthusiastic.

Rayne is on the left, then Layne, Dominic and me.

The highlight of our touring was Grand Mesa.  It is the largest flat-topped mountain in the world we are told.  It sits above the Surface Creek Valley and Cedaredge.  We made a drive up there one afternoon, under the experienced direction of friends, Steve and Sharon Palmer.  Here they are in front of their cabin on the Mesa.

Grand Mesa, in my opinion, is at its loveliest in Fall.  The Aspens are full of color.  Our drive up surrounded us with them.  

Sights from the top were breath-taking.  We took a long time taking it all in.  Here we are at the top.

Chris and Jessica

Rayne and Dominic

Jessica and Peyton

Dreamy view

I thought we may never return to Cedaredge, but the kids with us loved our time there and would like to return again.  So we may!

We returned home, via Salt Lake and a brief visit with Bob and Maryanne, grandson Chase and Morgan.  We arrived back home last Sunday night.  This Sunday grandson (son of Reed and Dorothy) gave his missionary farewell talk.  He was superb!  I'm not just saying that because he is my grandson; he spoke so well and offered some very thoughtful ideas.  Loved it.  Here he is with his folks, Reed and Dorothy, and with us.  He is assigned to Australia but will serve somewhere stateside until it opens up.