February Fun

Grandson Timothy is very musical.  He seems to have something of a genius for it.  He is involved with several kinds of music at school.  Recently we attended a percussion concert at the High School.  The sound was interesting and different than anything I've heard before.  It wasn't exactly rhymical to my ear, yet the sounds harmonized in a way.  Hum.  I can't quite explain it.  Tim played the marimba and xylophone.  All the players wore black and coordinated their movements in a very effective way.  Here you see Tim in the middle of the picture, getting ready to play the marimba.

Several months ago daughter Jessica mentioned that a Van Gogh exhibit was coming to Seattle.  What fun, we decided, it would be to invite as many of the family as were interested to join up in Seattle to see the exhibit.  So we sent out an invitation to family members to come, if interested, to Seattle for a weekend in February to see the exhibit.  Then we decided it would be fun to make it an art filled weekend.  So we made plans to offer a variety of fun art projects for all of us to enjoy.  There were nine if us that joined together for a exceptional weekend at Chris and Jessica's.  The Van Gogh exhibit was amazing.  It began with the usual display of his artistic works, with snippets about his life.  Here I am in front of one of the exhibits.

                                                                                                                                                                            Once we had seen the main exhibit, we were led into a very large room filled with chairs.  Patrons filled the chairs and floor to experience Van Gogh's creations all around us.  His art filled the walls and moved along through his various creative periods.  We were surrounded by Van Gogh!  It was magical.  Gentle music played as his artistic images seemed to come to life as they moved all around us.  It was easy to become completely lost in it!  And I did.  I've never experienced anything like it.  Here is a sample of it.

We filled the rest of the weekend with artistic projects.  Jessica taught us macrame; Alexis taught us jewelry making, Chris had a photo project for us and we painted to a tutorial.  At first we tried a Van Gogh painting tutorial but it was a failure for all of us.  You might think we were just not made for Van Gogh, but we came to the conclusion that our instructor just wasn't very good.  That gave us the courage to try another tutorial.  This time we picked out a picture of a cat.  Alejandra loves cats, so we did it for her.  These turned out a little better.  Here you can see them.

We also had fun cooking together.  We learned how to fix sushi, spring rolls and pork filled rolls.  So good.  All of it.  So we ate and created together all through the weekend and it was tons of fun.  We decided that we will do it again next February, in Tucson, for the gem show.  Here are my granddaughter's Alexis, Abigail and Peyton, about to enjoy some custom made food.

Here is our weekend gang. L to R:  Jessica (wife of Chris and hostess), Alejandra (wife of grandson James), Peyton, me, Abigail, Jessica (wife of Ben), Alexis and Dorothy.  

Chris hung out with us most of the time too. He was such fun to have around.  Handy too.  While we were making jewelry in the living room the lights suddenly all went out.  Chris went on the job immediately.  But it wasn't the circuit breaker.  He couldn't figure it out.  So we went without the light for the rest of the evening.  By morning Chris had some ideas.  Sure enough he solved the problem.  There was a loose wire in one of the sockets that caused the blackout.  He soon had it fixed and the lights were back on.  It was a blessing actually, as if not found, the loose wire could have started a fire.  Blessings seem to often come in the form of a problem to be solved it seems.  Here is Chris dressed for repairing.

Monday morning Dorothy and I flew home.  The whole trip went so smoothly!  The week soon filled up.  Reed and Dorothy left on Tuesday to drive to California for the birth of their grandson.  Scott and his Jessica (yup, Jessica #3) had their boy the next day.  It was a challenging delivery as labor went on for many hours with little progress.  Jessica wound up with a C Section and a beautiful 9+ pound baby boy.  His name is Joseph Thomas, continuing the Galbraith tradition of using Joseph as a first name, but being called by the second.  So this little boy will be known as Thomas.  Here he is with his Uncle Bruce.

Thomas was blessed to be born on his Uncle Timothy's birthday.  Tim is Reed and Dorothy's son.  He stayed home from the California trip.  So we celebrated his birthday at our house with dinner and one of his favorite desserts, peach pie.  Most of our Galbraiths would call peach pie a favorite.  Here he is blowing out his pie candles.  He just turned 18.

Granddaughter Allegra (daughter of Audrey and Cliff) will soon be leaving for Indiana, where she has an internship for 6-12 months.  I won't get to see her before she leaves this week.  So I'll plan a trip to Indiana a little later, once she is settled and I'm rested up.  That should be a fun adventure; I've never been to Indiana!

This week is full of upcoming activities, all at home, thank goodness.  At least until Thursday, when I will drive Angelica to Utah, for a dance competition.  For this Granny, rest comes in little pieces, in between other more interesting stuff.  It makes for an stimulating time of life!  

 

Holidays

 Christmas has to be the most wonderful time of the year.  This year it was for us, as we got to spend it with a lot of our family.  Actually, we had three Christmases this year.  I had such a strong feeling that we needed to spend Christmas with Benjamin and his Jessica, so we made plans to do it.  

Going to California meant that we wouldn't be here to celebrate with Reed and Dorothy. So we decided to do an early Christmas with them.  So we had a special dinner, nativity story and talent show.  It was quite fun.  We exchanged our gifts then too.  It was a lovely time.  Here's Reed and Bruce performing for the talent night.

We sort of dressed up for a nativity reader's theater.  Here's Timothy, Angelica, Dorothy, Reed and Bruce.

Reed and Dorothy got Layne a collection of New York times front pages from Layne's first birthday all the way to his last.  He loved it.  Bruce seems to be enjoying it too.

 

Who knew that this would be an especially snowy December?  After all, there has been very little of it for the past six years.  Perhaps the prayers of so many, asking for moisture explains it.  Whatever the reason, the snow has come.  We planned to drive to California, since we had gifts to bring.  It is a good thing we did as many flights in and out of various places in the West have been cancelled.  But the drive to and from there was an adventure.  We started out the Wednesday before Christmas, bound for Ben and Jessica's. The drive into Winnemucca went smoothly and easily.  We spent a peaceful night there, except for Angelica's complaint about Layne's snoring.  I admit he is a pretty noisy guy at night.  

The next day brought a different experience.  All went well until we got through Reno.  As we approached Truckee we found ourselves in a snowstorm and as we were proceeding through it we slowed to a stop behind a long line of cars.  It wasn't long before there was also a long line behind us.  And so we all stayed there, parked, for almost two hours!  Who knows why, as, once the line of cars began to move, we inched forward with no sign of a problem.  Our progress from then on was slow, but we finally did make it through the snow, over Donner pass and, finally, into the valley below, where traffic finally moved at a normal pace.  We arrived at the BJs some three hours late.  It was so good to finally be there!

Here's our snowy drive.

Ben and Jessica are remodeling their home.  It isn't quite finished yet, but it is done enough for them to be able to move back in, and for things to be almost normal.  There are some lovely features in their newly redone space, like two dishwashers for one thing.  It is pretty convenient when there are so many mouths to feed.  The BJs are a fun loving family.  We spent Thursday evening through Sunday morning with them.  We had a fun pj Christmas Eve and a very well planned Christmas morning.  Ben put lots of thought into each gift and offered them to the kids in phases, distributed by theme.  We were so impressed!  It was such fun being with the family and the time passed very quickly.  Donner pass was closed by Sunday so we decided to leave a little earlier than planned and drive north.  So we left Sunday morning.

Here's Ben, handling Christmas morning masterfully.

Christmas Eve pjs.  Here you can see Jessica, Zachary, Angelica, William, Jonathan, Olivia, Abigail, Alexis and the back of Jacqueline's head. Missing is Victoria, who is there but outside the picture.

The BJ Christmas tree and gifts, before the opening ceremony began.

The drive up the California coast Sunday morning was beautiful.  We stopped for lunch in Oregon and headed East, guided by the "google girl."  She took us on a collection of back roads through a forest full of snow, in a snowstorm.  It was a plodding 30 mile an hour drive for what seemed like hours and hours.  It was beautiful though.  When the gas tank gets below a half tank, Layne begins to stress a bit.  He began to worry about finding a gas station, as there was very little of civilization on our drive.  The google girl found one for us, in a small, nearby town.  We headed for it and found it, located in an Indian travel center.  There was so much snow it was hard to see an entrance.  Layne was so excited to finally find the station that he turned in at a random place that looked perfectly fine.  But it wasn't.  Underneath the piles of snow there was a sizable ditch.  And we drove right into it.  In spite of Layne's best efforts, there was no getting out.  We were not there for long when a man approached us and promised that he could get us out and we could pay him whatever we thought it was worth.  We went for it, and he began digging.  He dug and Layne tried moving the car, back and forth.  Soon a friend of the man came to help.  The two of them dug some more.  Several men in trucks stopped and offered to pull us out.  But our man would have none of it; he waved them on.  He and his friend dug some more.  Layne moved the car back and forth some more.  Finally, about an hour later, we found ourselves free.  Layne paid both men well.  They were so excited!  It was such a feel-good moment to see those men with big smiles on their faces.  

By now it was almost dark.  None of us were excited about continuing our drive in the dark, in a snow storm.  Luckily for us, there was a motel right by the gas station.  We filled the car up and headed for the motel.  It was a lovely place!  We enjoyed a very comfortable evening and night, enjoyed their continental breakfast and were off for home early Monday morning.  After more snow and back roads, we finally emerged from the forest and the storm into the sunshine.  The rest of the drive found us moving speedily along in much less snow. 

We finally got home Monday afternoon, about two hours before our first Adams-Harts arrived.  Chase, Morgan and the two kids came about 4:00.  Cliff, Audrey, Rayne and Dom arrived a couple hours later (they had the same driving adventure we did) and Isaiah and Avery arrived that night.  We had a great time enjoying another Christmas, doing puzzles, playing games and, of course, eating.  It was fun to have more family time.  Everyone left Thursday morning and all arrived home safely, if a bit later than planned.  This is a winter full of snow!  Now that there is no more traveling to be done, I love it.

Here's our tree.

Morgan, Cliff, great-grands Hazel and Hunter, opening gifts.  It made a lovely mess.

Dominic made a traditional plum pudding, and lit it up for us.  It tastes a little like a fruit cake.

Dominic was so hoping for some Idaho snow.  He was not disappointed this year!  Here he is pulling Hunter in a sled.  Hunter loved it and begged Dom to just keep going.  And he did, for quite a long time.

Here are the girls:  Rayne, Hazel, Morgan, Avery, Audrey and Dorothy.

Here are the boys:  Chase, Isaiah, Cliff, Hunter and Dominic.

Here is our December house.  Love the snow!

We missed  Chris and Jessica and kids for Christmas this year.  They were here for Thanksgiving, but we still missed them for Christmas.  Gerald and Frances are in Taiwan, where there isn't much done for Christmas.  But they had a tree in their school. Here they are with it.

So we are enjoying the slower days of January, and taking lots of naps to make up for the wild ride our December Christmas brought us.  Worth it.

Thanksgiving and Beyond

 We are in a drought year...again.  Our area is exploding with new home developments.  That's because people are flooding into this area right now.  Right here is Star, growth is the fastest in the Treasure Valley and Idaho is one of the fastest growing states in the Nation.  Covid restrictions continue to some extent.  The beautiful leaves of Fall are gone now, as our views are grey and colorless.  All of this sounds like a major bummer, but I feel a strong sense of gratitude, and filled November with thanksgiving prayers.  Somehow, things will work out, I think.

Thanksgiving this year was especially sweet.  Chris, Jessica and their kids joined us, making a rather large group of 17 to share in our holiday feast, counting Reed, Dorothy and their two boys, their son Scott and his Jessica, their son James, Alejandra and their little son, Alex.  Isaiah and Avery passed through, on their way to California to visit their folks there.  They came again on their way home.  So the week of Thanksgiving brought us some especially sweet family connections.  Here is a picture of our three upcoming high school grads:  Angelica, Timothy and Peyton.  Missing is Alexa, who is the fourth of our 2003/4 grandchildren.  She graduated early, in Palo Alto.  

We had a lovely time hanging out, doing puzzles and playing games.  Our family seems to like both a great deal.  Here's the Gendreau family heading back to their Washington home.  L to R:  Gemma, Jessica, Chris, Peyton and Miles.  It was great to spend time with them!  I missed taking pictures of our whole group.  

Having grown grandsons brings blessings.  James took down all of our Christmas boxes; a chore Layne dreads.  James maneuvered through pipes and hoses spread all over the garage floor and managed to reach every box safely and efficiently.  So nice!  Scott helped Layne clear up a problem with his new phone in just a couple of clicks.  I bought some smart lights for our dining room that I couldn't get the smart lights app to recognize.  Enter Isaiah.  He fixed it perfectly!  Ah, as I said, grandsons!  I missed pics of James and Scott, but here is Isaiah and Avery, pregnant with their first child, due in March; a little girl!

Scott and his Jessica are also expecting a baby; a boy, due in February.  That'll make 5 great-grandchildren for us!

Holiday time brings high school concerts.  Angelica sings in the sonous group.  We enjoyed their Christmas concert last week, held, as it turns out, at the same time as her dance recital.  She wore herself out traveling between multiple performances for both groups.  Here she is in one of her singing performances at Eagle High.  Can you see her, on the right, hugging another singer?  It was a lovely concert!

Angelica loves to dance.  She spends three nights a week at lessons, which prepared her to dance in several recital performances.  She was lovely in all.  I was not especially impressed with the recital in general though.  The littlest dancers were quite lost.  Why, I wondered, did not an older student or teacher dance with them, to remind them of their moves?  Instead they just sort of wander all about trying to remember what they were supposed to do.  And then there is hip hop.  I just don't like it.  It has a strong beat, but the moves are very masculine and rough.  The girls dress like guys even.  Nope.  Don't like it.  It would be good for guys to do.  Not girls.  Nope.

Dorothy and I went to one of the recitals together.  Then we shopped on the way home.  We didn't get home until dinner time.  It was great fun.

Timmy is in the school jazz band, playing keyboard.  We've attended two of his concerts so far.  I surely do love that jazz!  Tim has an amazing gift for music.  He is so much fun to watch as his whole body moves to the beat, even as he plays.  He was featured for one of the pieces in this last concert. Wow, he is amazing.  So proud of that boy.  Here he is at the keyboard.

We had a Christmas dinner at our house for our California gang that lives here.  It was so much fun!  I turned the dining room lights into red and green (thanks to Isaiah's handy work).  It was magical reflecting off of my red dishes.  After dinner we had an ice cream tasting exercise.  I gave everyone samples of three different brands of vanilla ice cream.  They voted on the best one.  As it turned out, almost everyone liked the cheap ice cream best!  Here's a picture of the dining room with the colored lights.  The camera didn't capture the intensity of the colors but you can still get the idea.  The lights were an intense red and green.

I've decided that I kinda like decorating.  Not too extravagantly you understand.  

December 15th brought a bunch of things to celebrate all at once.  Zachary turned 15.  Isaiah graduated from BYUI and Angelica turned 18!  It was a full day!  Actually, the only one we could actively celebrate was Angelica.  Reed and Dorothy came to dinner, with Angelica's choice of menu.  It may surprise you to know that none of it was Asian food.  She picked shrimp linguini, quinoa salad and green vegetables, with Dorothy's cheese cakes for dessert.  I turned the overhead lights into her favorite colors, orange and blue.  It was so fun!  The pictures of her have lighting that is a bit off, thanks to the blue and orange lights.

Angelica and Timmy have become very close friends.  Timmy has been a big help getting her through calculus. It has been very bonding.  Here they are.

Isaiah has his degree!  He's pretty excited and looking forward to his next adventure, soon as a new dad!  We couldn't go to his graduation, but his folks, Audrey and Cliff, were there.  We are pretty proud of this very fine grandson.

Seth has been on his mission to New York City for about a month now.  He calls his folks every Monday morning and us every Monday evening.  It it pretty magical to keep in such close touch.  And we get to see his face as we visit.  He seems to be doing well.  He was pretty intimidated when he started, but is already feeling much more comfortable.  Here he is in Manhattan, on a P day with other missionaries.  He looks pretty happy!

We've been praying for moisture pretty consistently for the past few months, including a city and Church fast.  So far we have been blessed with quite a bit of rain and, yesterday, enough snow to show.  It looks pretty Christmasy, don't you think?  Yes indeed, but, sadly, much of it is melted by today.

Christmas is coming up soon.  May it be a wonderful reminder of what is most important!

It's Getting Cold

 Fall colors in Idaho are breathtaking.  We have been surrounded by the colors of fall for a couple of months now.  While every season has its beauty, I believe Fall is the most attention getting.  The leaves are almost all on the ground now.  I'm a little sad.  Winter here surrounds us with the look of dead things.  Snow can cover it all with its white beauty.  I hope it does this year.  

I decorated the house for Halloween, filling it with the colors of Fall and the happy spooks of the holiday.  We trunk or treated at the Church parking lot for the kids and I was happy to have given out all the candy that I bought.  I made the mistake of asking Layne to buy just a little more in case we had trick or treaters at home.  He came home with three huge bags of candy!  And we had absolutely not one trick or treater come to the house!  So my best laid plans for ridding us of all candy has gone terribly awry.  

Halloween was on a Sunday this year, which may partly explain why there were no kids out on Halloween night.  The folks here are pretty religious generally.  Angelica did go to a friend's party on the Saturday before Halloween.  She dressed as a policeman.  Here she is, looking very official (with Layne's pilot hat serving as a police hat--I wonder if it worked).

Fall brings the end of our garden, leaving us with a collection of produce that is almost but not quite ripe.  This year I decided to pick all the green tomatoes, lay them out on folding tables and see if they would ripen. Here is the crop.

Can you believe all those green tomatoes?  What is your guess...do you think they had a chance of turning red?  I'm happy to report that all but two of them ripened!  I turned their beautiful red bodies into 10 quarts of marinara sauce!  That was a successful experiment, wouldn't you say?

Happily, we video chat with Seth every week.  He is adjusting to life in New York, but, of course, he misses the unlimited amount of food here.  That boy must eat!  He finds the people there less friendly than here and that has given him pause.  But his companion is very outgoing and has set a good example for him.  He's learning to put himself out more.  So good for him!  Here are a couple of shots of him, one with his outgoing trainer and companion.

I'm grateful to be able to talk to him regularly.  I think he's going to wind up enjoying himself, once he gets used to missionary life in New York.

Son Reed asked me if I'd like to drive to Seattle with him and his boys for a weekend visit a couple of weeks ago.  I packed up and went.  So fun to spend a weekend with the Gendreaus while Reed and boys visited his son James.  It was Alex's birthday, so we all met up to celebrate it.  Alex turned four.  Just in case you may have forgotten, he is our great-grandson.  Here he is about to blow out his candles.

Son-in-law Chris is a pretty gifted photographer.  While we were there he set up a photo shoot for our two High School seniors, his daughter Peyton and Reed's son, Timothy.  Chris asked permission from a local hotel to take pictures in their beautiful lobby.  So we all met up there.  As he posed them, I followed behind, taking my own shots.  They were not as good as his, but here is an informal shot of Peyton and Timothy together.

The drive to and from Seattle is beautiful.  I especially loved the view on the trip home, as it had snowed, filling the trees with white snow tinsel.  I took a bunch of pictures as we drove by...I just couldn't resist.  Most didn't turn out well; the colors are dulled when shot through the car windows.  But here is a sample.

You just can't beat nature for beauty!

Our time in Seattle was lovely.  But it is always good to be home.  This coming week we will celebrate Thanksgiving.  The Reed and Dorothy family will be here and the Gendreau family as well.  It will be a lovely bunch and I'm excited for it.  My heart if full of gratitude for the wonderful life that has been mine.  I want to keep that feeling in my heart, for when I do, it brings peace and optimism with it.  In these troubled times, we could all use a little of that.

Days of Fall

 It is quite obvious that blogging isn't my passion at present.  Our solo summer was over with the return of Angelica in late August.  It was good to have her back.  Seth and Angelica are easy and fun to share a household with.  Seth didn't return to us until late September.  Both kids worked in Gerald and Frances' school and, I think, really benefited from it.  They both returned more mature and happier.  Their visit home was a great experience for them I think.

Angelica is now a senior and full of plans for making this her best ever year.  Seth returned to us eager to get ready for his mission.  He was called to the New York City, Chinese speaking mission, beginning October 4th.  We celebrated his 19th birthday October 2nd.  

Seth began at home MTC missionary training on Oct 4, which just happens to be the anniversary of my baptism, many years ago.  His zone was composed of all Chinese speaking missionaries, all from, and living in, Taiwan.  So his lessons online were in the evenings.  He enjoyed it, and especially bonded with his assigned companion.  He filled his days with gospel study and service.  I love that boy!

Angelica went to Eagle High's Homecoming dance with a cute boy from her "friend group."  Having a friend group is apparently a thing these days.  Her group is made up of girls and guys, and they mix and mingle, dating one another for various events.  Angelica and her friends pooled their dresses together and borrowed from one another.  Here she is in her borrowed dress.

Getting a young man ready for a mission takes a bit of effort.  We shopped with him, got him his temple clothing, and took him to the temple for his first time.  It was a special experience!  His first temple was the Boise Temple.  Here he is, just after our follow-up session in the Meridian Temple.

On October 3rd we took Seth to the Stake President's home, where he was set apart as a full-time missionary.  It was a sweet blessing, followed by a great conversation with President Ryrie.  Layne and Reed assisted with the blessing.

Our Mongolian foster daughter, Brynn Long, flew to Boise from Tucson to visit for a few days.  We loved having her!  She loves to cook, so she spent lots of time doing that for us.  Seth loved it!  It takes lots of food to maintain that boy and Brynn delivered!  We all loved her food and her sweet, loving manner.  She went out of her way to be here before Seth left.  Such a precious soul.  We love her!  We took a last minute selfie at the airport.  Boy does my hair look white!  I've decided to let the little bit of color I added to it grow out.  So I'll soon be a totally white haired woman.

Early last month my sister, Maryanne, called me to say that her husband, Bob, had to go in for emergency heart bypass surgery and would I please come right away to be with her while he was in the hospital.  I packed up and drove there the next morning with a prayer in my heart that Bob would do well with the surgery.  He did.  I'm so grateful.  I spent almost two weeks in Draper with Maryanne.  I love spending time with her, even though this was not the best situation.  Her Relief Society President was there just about every day, checking on her.  I was so impressed.  Bob came home a couple days after I left.  He was a little mentally muddled but on the mend.  Their three local sons took up the care needed, with the Relief Society filling in as needed.  Their household is now filled with family, doing what needs to be done while Bob heals.   Here is Maryanne, all spruced up for a hospital visit to Bob.  I think she looks beautiful!

 

Seth was full of the spirit of service during his MTC days.  It was great to have his help with many things.  His cousin Bruce has a special bond with him.  Here they are, right after Bruce's last soccer game of the season.  When Seth is at his games, he plays better!

Audrey came for Seth's last weekend.  It is always so sweet to have her with us.  She has such a magical way with people; her humor and gift of gab makes our time together uplifting and fun.  

Sunday, October 24th, was Seth's missionary farewell.  Both he and Angelica spoke.  Both of them seem to have a flair for speaking.  It was a great meeting.  That night Layne gave Seth a blessing.  Very early the next morning we took Seth to the airport for a 6 AM flight to Salt Lake.  Dorothy and Bruce met us there and his good buddy, Kye, came too.  It was hard to see him go.  As he gave us a final wave after going through security, we all felt the weight of two years of absence.  Layne's eyes filled with tears as we watched him go.  Layne wasn't alone.

Our farewell gang, masked as required in the airport:  Layne, Kye, Dorothy, me, Audrey, Bruce, Elder Galbraith, Angelica.

And now we must establish a new normal, without Seth.  The upside is that I don't have to prepare as much food, but there is a much bigger downside.  He will be so missed!  But I believe he is ready to serve the Lord in magical ways.  He arrived safely in New York the same day he left us.  So, his adventure begins!

We are adjusting to a smaller household at home.  Angelica is busy with dance lessons and working, as well as school.  We see her most during the weekends.  Her big, happy news is that she got her braces off!  She can't stop looking at those bright shiny teeth, and taking endless selfies of her new smile.

Our world is full of Fall and all its wonderful colors.  It is such fun to walk through the colorful trees and falling leaves.  How I wish it would last.  But the trees are beginning to look naked.  Soon the dreary look of winter will set in.  Here's hoping that snow will cover the deadness, and offer its own special beauty.