Relaxing compression.

So, life has been such a rush and so much crammed into such a short time period that Bill decided we would do a relaxing getaway weekend.  Ha ha! there is no such thing as a relaxing getaway weekend.
The proposal was to leave early Friday afternoon - around 2.30pm and go to Buckeye (West Valley on Phoenix) Pick up David, take him to dinner, be at the Temple site for the evening concert at 7pm, and to see the lights at the Mesa Temple (type Mesa Temple Lights in the search box and you will see the spectacular lights they have displayed there), take David back to Buckeye from Mesa, then drive back to Mesa to stay the night and attend the temple early the next Morning (Saturday) and on the way home visit Kohls Store to look at suits for him and then get to the Dentist and then on home.  The time factor alone was mind boggling.  Travel two hours from Prescott to Buckeye, one hour travel to Mesa, one hour at least for dinner, 30 minutes for the concert, one hour to just walk the Temple grounds viewing the lights, one hour to drive him back to Buckeye, then turn around and drive one hour back to Mesa to our motel - and that was just Friday!   Do the math - 7 1/2 hours if all went as planned and a total of almost 300 miles driving give or take before we could go to bed at the motel.  Not too inviting, not too relaxing.  What really happened was this - We left Prescott around 3.30pm+  and drove a little over 2 hours to Buckeye from Prescott, David decided he did not want to go to Mesa to see the lights but gave us a detailed tour of his new housing; so we drove about 5 miles to the nearest restaurant, ate, took him back home and then drove to Mesa to see the lights; missed the concert entirely, and then back to mid Mesa to the motel.
When we got to  the motel, found that there was lots of road construction so that took a lot of time to navigate and then we found the motel parking lot deserted.  Looked suspiciously like a Norman Bates type motel (anyone see Psycho with Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh)?  Needless to say, I was looking forward to a very quiet night in the motel but they seem to have rented the room above us to a herd of Elephants who spent a lot of the night moving furniture around.  Maybe Norman Bates was upstairs - who knows?
The next morning we went to breakfast at the motel dining room with the usual waffle batter,boiled eggs, yogurt, milk, coffee, sweet breads, toast, jam, bagels and cream cheese.  The only thing I could eat in this spread was the boiled eggs.  Bill on the other hand had a feast.
We drove to the temple and attended a session there.  When we came out there were loads of people on the steps having a wedding picture taken.  Often we have thought (as a joke) to join the crowd and get our picture taken as well, but that did not happen.  They would wonder, afterwards, who are those people? where do they fit in the family?
Bill did not believe me when I told him that it would take an hour at least to get to the dentist in North West Phoenix  from Mesa.  He only allowed about 15 to 20 minutes - it really did take a little more than an hour because there was a traffic slowdown on I-17 due to a crash at Indian School road, so we were late to the dentist.  When we were finished there we found Kohl's store but he did not find the exact suit he wanted so we looked for a restaurant for lunch.  Saw a wonderful Vietnamese restaurant but my husband is not adventurous when it comes to food so we found a place that served stuff more to his Connecticut Yankee palate.  We also found D & I Beads - I have been there before - but when you have your husband with you, there is no such thing as taking one's time to look - so I had to go through the store at the "speed of light" and we left for Prescott.  All in all we traveled around 300+ miles in the space of 24 hours - oh yes, it was a change of pace I suppose, but certainly not relaxing.  I had envisioned driving to Mesa, eating dinner, seeing the concert and the lights and then going to the motel around 8.30pm and relaxing.  Life still is in a blender even when we do a "Getaway weekend".

Baby visit - the second day.

Saturday dawned early - babies have a habit of making things early.  I went in to see Sara and he was snuggling with his mother - and quite comfortable at that.
Bill went to the YMCA to do his exercise routine and while he was gone, Sara and I sat down for some serious family story and picture time.  We need to do everything we can to keep the family stories alive and passed along.  I wish I had been told more family stories than I was told.
At 10am we were all at the Prescott Public Library where we watched a performance of the Nutcracker by the girls who study at the YMCA school of Ballet.  August sat up and took note of all that was happening.  For a five month old baby, he was quite interested in the music - at times moving in time with the beat and the movement of the dancers held his gaze.  Bill and I had seen the performance at the Mall a week or so ago but a lady sitting behind us wanted me to take pictures of her grand daughter for her because we were in the front row - so I did and I missed a lot of the dance but got some great pictures for the lady.  This performance at the library was just for me to see and enjoy - no photography for other people.
After the performance, we wandered around the library - Sara was very interested in the library set up because that is what she does for a living.  While there Bill and I renewed our library cards - everything is so high tech these days - they even have a pin for access to their system.
Sara wanted to go to the library in Prescott Valley - it is the newest public library here in the area.  So we went there for an hour or two and then it was past lunch time.  We stopped at Golden Corral - a.k.a. Glutton's Garage - a smorgasbord of food selections and local hang out.
At last we were at home and the baby was able to rest a while.  We really ran his legs off this visit and he was not on any kind of a schedule.
At 6pm we were at the Church Christmas Social and we ate there.  By 7.30 we were at downtown Prescott trying to find the Safeway Christmas Dinner.  They were supposed to be eating at the Prescott Brewery Restaurant but when we got there they were nowhere to be found.  Just as we were leaving to return home, one of the hostesses from the Brewery came out to find us. She was Really glad that she found us and she proceeded to tell us that the Safeway crowd had been at PBR but there was not enough room for them all, so they left for Rosa's which is an Italian Pizzeria and Pub a few blocks away.  We walked down there in the cold but found the group, were welcomed warmly and found that they had already ordered food.  We had already eaten anyway but the wait staff offered appetizers.  I asked for the Shrimp plate and they were the most tasty things I have ever eaten.  Found out that the Pharmacy Boss is named John Cyr and that he is part of the Madawaska, Maine, Cyr clan.  We had a church member in Augusta, Maine, named Cyr from Madawaska.  I guess it is really a very small world after all.
We got home around 9.30pm and we all collapsed into bed.
On Sunday morning, we got up, ate breakfast and then off to church.  We had to leave right after the Sacrament meeting so that we could feed Sara her lunch, get the baby situated and then off to the bus to send them back to Nebraska.  This was a very sad parting to be sure, but it was really wonderful that Sara and baby could be with us for even this short time.

Sara and August visited us

It was supposed to be a surprise for me, and I do well with surprises - it is 'shock' that I do not do well with.  So Sara cooked it up with Bill that she would come to visit for Thanksgiving but we had a house full to say the least, so she came on Thursday 12th Dec and left today, Dec. 15.  I wanted to make it the most meaningful visit so we did wonderful things together.  One of the best things we did was go through the family pictures.  Many of them she has not seen and many of them she wants to have copies made for her collection. When I was growing up, we did not take many pictures - if we did, then they were few and far between and so my growing up years are not well documented and many pictures have been lost. That is what happens when a parent dies, a new spouse moves in, and all "meaningless things" get tossed.  So, on a trip home some years ago, my father gave me the salvaged photo's and they are treasures to be sure.  The stories that go with each picture have now been passed on and lives have been enriched.
On Friday, Bill had the morning off from work.  He and Sara went shopping. There are some things that always  need to be purchased for the baby.  One interesting thing is the baby formula.  The specific formula he has now comes in small packets that can be mixed with water and easily carried in the baby bag.  He seemed to go on a "food binge" when he was here and seemed to not be filled up.  So he went through two boxes of the formula.  For lunch we packed the baby up and off we went to the Olive Garden for lunch.  After that, Bill went to work and Sara and I went to the Family History Center Christmas Party.  We went home after that and rested.  We needed a rest.  At the Olive Garden, August found a friend in a little girl who is one year old and he was flirting with her.  He flirts with everyone but prefers older women.

Thanksgiving 2013 and 70th birthday

It is not every day one turns 70 years of age, but I did and it was a wonderful experience.

Well, I should back up a bit and say that I was very disappointed that David chose not to come home for Thanksgiving and also for Christmas and the New  Year.  All I could see was a gloomy holiday season without our son being home.  My hope was that he would be with us from Christmas to New Year at least with a couple of days for Thanksgiving. He told us that the people he lives with had decided to make Thanksgiving and Christmas a celebration connected with them moving into their brand new home.  At least that is the explanation that David gave.

So with such a gloomy prospect before me, I prepared to just sit at home and have no fun at all.

At this juncture, Roxana, Bill's sister called up and asked if it was still ok for them to come for Thanksgiving?  Of course it was ok.  Life looked a lot brighter in an instant.  She and her husband Gordon live in Seattle and they had their tickets bought for the trip.   A few days later I received a call from Elena, their daughter, telling me that she and her children would be here for the Thanksgiving celebration as well.  We only have a small house, but I thought that with enough floor space, we could accommodate the three of them.

In the meantime, my friend Mary from Maine called me to wish me a happy birthday.  We talked for a long time and it was very heartwarming to hear from her.  She has adopted a new Aussie Heeler to go with her Aussie Shepherd and both of these (herding) dogs, herd the 4 cats that she already has in the house.  She is also a foster parent to the stray kittens from the pound so she has a house full of critters.

Roxana and Gordon were slated to be at our home on Monday Nov 25, but Elena called and said that she was going to pick them up at the airport and take them to see some friends in South Scottsdale .  I thought it was a little strange that Elena should travel from Durango, Colorado, to Phoenix, to pick up her parents to help them not have to pay the shuttle fare up to Prescott.  It was only later that I found out that Elena and her daughter Tania had been in Phoenix for the week.  On the way up to Prescott, they stopped in Cave Creek and the four of them took a hot air balloon ride.  (a few days later a hot air balloon crashed in south Phoenix - I am glad that the family had a safe ride).  They arrived on Tuesday 26 November at about 2.30pm and then the fun began.  Elena told me that Daudi, her ex husband, was flying in to Prescott on Wednesday and would be bringing their son Reuben to stay for Thanksgiving.  Elena and the two children would be staying with a friend out in Williamson Valley, Daudi was to sleep at our home as well as Roxana and Gordon.  It got to be very confusing.  Roxana had a goal of baking the pies for Thanksgiving - 2 pumpkin, 1 Pecan and I made a custard pie.

Roxana is a big football fan so while the Turkey was cooking on Thursday morning, she watched the Greenbay Packers get sent packing by the opposing team.  What a disappointment that was for her.  Daudi left about mid morning to fly back to Durango to be with his mother for Thanksgiving dinner.  So when all the fixin's were finished, all 7 of us sat down to a Thanksgiving meal.

At 8pm on Thanksgiving night, Elena took Roxy and Tania and Reuben up to the mall to shop.  I would liked to have gone but was not invited so I stayed home and cleaned up the kitchen - it really was a mess.

Friday November 29th, Elena and the children left for Durango and Roxy watched more football or did Sudoku.  I sat and sewed more hexagons together, Gordon occupied himself on the computer and Bill was at work. 

Saturday Nov 30 was my 70th birthday celebration.  At 10am I went to Sharlot Hall Museum to pick up my Slot Canyon Quilt.  It has been wandering through a number of venues being shown with other quilts that were part of the 100 Quilts for 100 years celebration for the Arizona Centennial.  The kick off for the Centennial was in Prescott, the weekend we left for Salt Lake to enter the missionary training center in Provo in preparation for our mission in Maine.  For the year 2012 the quilt hung in the art museum in Tucson and we went down to see it hanging there when we got back to Prescott from our mission.  It then hung in the Sharlot Hall Museum here in Prescott for 4 or 5 months then journeyed over to Sedona to hang there till November this year (2013) and now it has come home from its travels and hangs in my home.  So I picked up my quilt and now it has an acid free box to sleep in should I take it down from the wall. 

We went to the bus station and picked up David.  Jim was supposed to put him on the 8.15am bus but he put him on the 7.15am bus so David came home earlier than expected.  He occupied his time talking to Gordon about computers and managed to talk Gordon into giving him the tablet that Gordon had been using for reading books.  Gordon had already given an Acer computer to Tania so that she now has her own computer and does not have to use her mother's computer.

In the early evening we went to Red Lobster where Roxana treated us all to dinner - which was my birthday gift from her and Gordon.  We left there and went to Prescott Fine Arts theater to watch a concert being given there.  It was a real tree hugger concert but rather good just the same.

On Sunday, 1 Dec. we all went to church.  Gordon and Roxy seemed to have enjoyed the services and I heard that David contributed a lot in the classes he attended.  We came home to Turkey leftovers and other stuff.  Gordon had been asking about genealogy and so he and I began a search of the Familysearch.org website and found his family there.  He was delighted and so I continued to work on it finding more people for him while Roxy made grilled cheese etc. sandwiches for everyone.  I did not get to eat because I was busy finding people for Gordon and I printed off all the stuff I found for him.  He  was so impressed with what I had done that he agreed that he would like to have a copy of Roots Magic genealogy program for himself, so I ordered one from Roots Magic to be sent to him for his Christmas Present.  Roxy became enamored with the flat griddle that I have and asked if I could get one sent to her for Christmas.  Found one on Amazon.com  and they delivered it by drone.  She found it early in the morning, two days after I ordered it and we know that it was not from the post man or the UPS man - it was delivered by drone. 

I received a phone call from Uncle Ivan wishing me a happy birthday.  I told him we were going to be in Australia next March and he said we could not stay with him due to Aunty Jean being so ill.  They are in their mid 80's.  Pam also called me.  I asked her if we could stay with her and she was not too happy about that, but said we could stay there.  It will only be for 2 or 3 nights, then we are off to Perth for a holiday for 5 days then come back to the States.

Bill went to work on Monday morning and I put Roxy and Gordon on the shuttle to Phoenix to catch their plane back to Seattle.  David wanted to eat Chinese so we went out for lunch, did the rest of his Christmas Shopping and then I put him on the shuttle back to Phoenix.

All in all we had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday but the best part was a couple of days later when I received an email from a person I knew in Japan - have not heard from or about him for 41 years but I was directed to Find a Grave website by a genealogist friend, where a memorial note was left for his mother who passed recently  and there was an email address there so I wrote to it, and now I have been able to make contact with my friend of a long time ago because his brother left a memorial for their mother.  I had looked all over the California Birth, Death and Marriage website, checked the Social Security Death index to see if he was still alive but no luck.  No wonder, he now lives in Australia, of all places.  No wonder we could not find him.

They have disappeared

I had not heard from Sara or Jacob and family so I called and Oliver answered the phone.  I am always very happy  to talk to Oliver - most of the time he does not talk but runs away when we are on facetime or skype.  This time he started out by saying "I can't find mom or dad or Ethan - they have disappeared.  I ate my dinner and came to watch tv and now I cannot find anyone.  They have all disappeared"  I talked to him for a while and then told him that I was stuck on one level of Angry Birds and needed his help.  I asked if he could come over and fix this problem for me and he said "I am not old enough to drive and my feet cannot reach the pedals."
This morning my phone rang and it was Oliver.  He told me he was trying to call the Baggerley's but he did the speed dial thing and got me instead.  I told him that he was the best and that I love him and his reply was "Well, you told me that every day you were here and you tell me that each time you are on the phone."  I cannot tell my children or grand children too many times that I love them.  When I die, I hope that they remember that I loved them in mortality and forever.  I asked him if he was going to school today and he said yes, he was waiting for his ride to come.  He told me that Ethan had to go to school early because he was playing his 'tromboney'.  Ethan is playing a Trombone in the School music program.  Jacob also played Trombone in his school band.
For the past three months I have not been able to walk very well.  I have had cortisone shots for inflamed muscles/tendons and am starting to feel better.  So well in fact that yesterday I went to Zumba class and stayed the whole course....I am proud of my efforts.
Last night we went to see a one man show entitled "Jerusalem Jones, and the mystery of the Dead Sea Scrolls."  Mr. Ken Hanson, PhD presented the whole story of the Dead Sea Scrolls and it was a wonderful presentation. He is a scholar of Hebrew language and literature, the history of biblical lands and Jewish and early Christian culture.  The whole audience was spellbound as he channeled Indiana Jones as Jerusalem Jones and it was the best performance I have seen in a long time.

colors in the wind

Our maple tree in front of the house is a blaze of color - bright orange to bright red.  Many trees in the Prescott Area are light to deep yellow, very little green left to see and even some trees have dropped their leaves.
It is always remarkable to me how the controversy in Washington (0ver the shutdown this time) just swirled in its own microcosm, and life just went on as usual here.  Oh yes, they had professionally produced placards up the day of the shutdown (wonder if it was a pre arranged activity) that prevented people from going into the park system areas - but public activity at the Grand Canyon forced that attraction to open anyway.
The major activity we have engaged in recently,was when the carpet cleaners came.  Talk about upheaval!  Well we had to clean up the stuff around the house and the end result was that Goodwill and Catholic Charities won big - we just left our stuff off at the drop-off site and drove away.  How freeing is this?  It has spurred me on to go through the house and get rid of all kinds of stuff.  Pretty soon we may just be looking at bare walls and shelves - but I seriously doubt if I can just throw it all to Goodwill.  After all I do like to look at the various things I have made and that are loaded with lots of emotional content.
For one, there is the little Moose given to me by Sue in Maine - he looks so at home on my fireplace.  There is the paper sculptured Swan given to me by the office receptionist in the Archives office - it is beautiful to behold and to just admire.  I do know that one day I shall leave mortality and all this stuff, but at least I hope to have reduced the bulk of it by that time, and in the meantime I shall enjoy having them in my home.
I just found out that my Slot Canyon quilt, that has been touring around the state in celebration of the 100 quilts 100 years for Arizona centennial, will be coming home on November 30.  That will be a very nice birthday gift for me.  I have missed not having the quilt in the house.  It has been gone since September 2011.  If it could talk, I wonder what adventures it has had?  I must add that I was very impressed at the way it was displayed in both the Museum of Art in Tucson and in Sharlot Hall Museum here in Prescott.  I hope that it was appropriately displayed at the other locations.  Someone asked me how I could bare to part with the quilt for so long, but I am heart happy that it has been on display for many people to see it - not just people who come to our house and see it on my wall.
The American Quilt Society is having a BIG quilt show in Phoenix in February and our guild is going to rent a bus to take us all down to it.  I will be meeting my friend Desiree there.  She lives in Bullhead City on the Colorado River.  We have been friends for 14 years - I met her when I came to Prescott in 1999.  She is a marvelous quilter and staunch friend.
On October 26, the Northern Arizona Genealogical Society is holding a Genealogical Conference at the church.  I have been asked to teach a class in Roots Magic genealogy software.  It will have to just be an introductory class because I only have on hour to talk about it.  I have done this class before.  Some weeks ago I gave a presentation to my beading group on Genealogy and as a result two of the ladies will be in attendance at the conference. 
Today I dropped off 8 quilts to the CASA program at the court house.  They are gearing up for the National Adoption Day November 23.  They are expecting close to 70 adoptions to take place this day.  It would have been wonderful when we adopted David and Sara if someone had given the children a quilt to remember the special day in their young lives.  Instead, they handed me a baby in a diaper and that was that.  The sleepers that they were wearing when we went to pick them up were not that expensive, and removed,  but to be handed a baby just wearing a diaper was somewhat of a let down to introduce us to parenthood.  Luckily, I had taken clothes with me to dress the little ones in otherwise they would have had to drive back to Johnstown clad only in a diaper.  So I am glad that I head the compassionate service arm of the Quilt Guild and that I get to take the finished quilts to the various agencies to help alleviate the heartache or give joy to the recipients.  There does not seem to be a middle ground.
I have sent my 3600 hexagon quilt to the quilter to have it quilted for me.  It is king sized and it is beautiful and spectacular.  It is also a mourning quilt - made while I dealt with the emotions that descended upon me when Sara told me of the limited prognosis for Jacob's life with his disease.

Landscapes

This Monsoon Season we had very heavy rains and they lasted a long time.  I thought it might be time to invest in web feet or something.  Now, today, we are back to high desert sunny weather and the landscape needs looking at.
There are many species of plants that have bloomed that have not bloomed for quite a while.  One of them is a fragile looking white flower with hundreds of petals on it.  It has a remarkable purple center surrounded by these little petals.  The whole plant is so spindly that one would think that one puff of wind would lay the whole thing flat but it doesn't - they just wave gracefully in the wind and cheer my heart to see them.  I have no idea what they are called, but who cares?  They are wonderful to see blooming in the fields around here.  these fluffy looking white flowers are less than 1/2 inch across.
In many areas there are carpets of yellow flowers.  These are also spindly plants with these 1/2 inch diameter bright yellow flowers.  There is a house nearby that has a spectacular stand of these yellow flowers.  In one area there is a vast field of them but they will not be there next year because I see the heavy earth equipment grading the soil and digging for roadways etc. so with houses planted there, we can expect to have to live without this glorious yellow sight.
As I was coming along the highway yesterday, I noticed a bright pink haze on the ground.  As I got closer I could see that it was a wild plant that is just pink leaves and they are all over the hills now and look quite showy and pretty.
I have noticed the Indian Paintbrush plant is now in full bloom and that is a sign that winter is coming.  The maple tree in front of our house has changed a lot since the last cold snap we had so I guess soon it will be ablaze with color.
My neighbor has an Agave plant in her front yard and although it is quite small, it has sent up its central frond into the up-most branches of her ornamental Cherry.  Most Agave don't send up the frond until they are quite old and mature.  This plant in her front yard was just a baby sucker from her larger plant that died and we have watched it grow these past 14+ years.  Some people call this plant the Century Plant - once it has sent up its central frond and bloomed, it dies.
I love the wild flowers that have bloomed here in Prescott this year.  On one road we take, there have been many sunflowers.  These are the wild variety and measure about 4inches across.  In the past week I have watched them fade and leave their seed filled centers for the tiny birds to feed from and they flock to these sunflower plants.
The government has shut down and the nearby camping site at Lynx Lake is now off limits to everyone.  I am glad that we went two weeks ago for a breakfast cookout because we would not be able to go there now.  Lynx lake is part of the federal system.
Well, things are going along as usual even though the government has shut down!  Cannot figure out how or why things are still functioning.  Perhaps we do not need the politicians running the country after all!

Getting older

Life is still at a crazy pace but a friend sent the following to me and it made me smile.  Bill is turning 69 tomorrow and we went to Applebees for lunch.  We had the wait staff sing to him and they gave him a free Sundae..............I had to buy mine!  It was one way to assuage our angst over his truck breaking down............eat and forget the troubles.
Of course this is not the best day for his truck to pack it in..............I have an assignment for quilt guild on Monday as well as two appointments that I must keep plus I will probably have to drive him to work and pick him up in the evening........I do not really like afternoon traffic between Prescott and Prescott Valley.  Most people treat it like it is really the Daytona 500 but there are no cheering crowds to fete those who beat it across the line before the light turns red!!!!!




So here goes with the "Aging" musings from my friend.

I was thinking about how a status symbol of today is those cell

phones that everyone has clipped onto their belt or purse.  I

can't afford one.  So, I'm wearing my garage door opener.

I also made a cover for my hearing aid and now I have what

they call blue teeth, I think.

You know, I spent a fortune on deodorant before I realized

that people didn't like me anyway.

I was thinking that women should put pictures of missing

husbands on beer cans!

I was thinking about old age and decided that old age is 'when

you still have something on the ball, but you are just too tired

to bounce it.'

I thought about making a fitness movie for folks my age, and

call it 'Pumping Rust'.

I've gotten that dreaded furniture disease.  That's when your

chest is falling into your drawers!

When people see a cat's litter box, they always say, 'Oh,

have you got a cat?'  Just once I want to say, 'No, it's for

company!'

Employment application blanks always ask who is to be

notified in case of an emergency.  I think you should write,

'A Good Doctor'!

I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a

whole lot more as they get older.  Then, it dawned on me. 

They were cramming for their finals.

As for me, I'm just hoping God grades on the curve.

Gentle Thoughts for Today -

The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight, because by

then your body and your fat have gotten to be really good

friends.

The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to

buy a replacement.

He who hesitates is probably right.

Did you ever notice: The Roman Numerals for forty (40) are XL.

If you can smile when things go wrong, you have someone in

mind to blame.

The sole purpose of a child's middle name is so he can tell when

he's really in trouble..

Did you ever notice: When you put the 2 words 'The' and 'IRS'

together it spells 'Theirs...'

Aging: Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying

about your age and start bragging about it.

Some people try to turn back their odometers.  Not me, I want

people to know 'why' I look this way.  I've traveled a long way

and some of the roads weren't paved.

When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to your

youth, think of Algebra.

You know you are getting old when everything either dries up

or leaks.

One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that

it is such a nice change from being young.  Ah, being young

is beautiful, but being old is comfortable.

Lord, Keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over

my mouth...

End of Summer and welcome Autumnal Equinox

I guess time just gets away from me most days but the days are so full that I do not feel like writing at the end of the day.

We have had such overcast dreary days here in Sunny Arizona.  Since I came back from Nebraska,  and with the clouds we have had loads of rain.  Probably well over 6 inches of rain and the rainy season is supposed to be over by now.  If the rain keeps up, the native plants will start to have problems because they are drought centered plants.  Another aspect of all the rain is that the wild flowers have bloomed and filled in all the spaces and it is glorious.

I am glad that we have facetime on our Ipad because it allows us to talk to Sara and family and to see the baby.  He smiles now and is a chubby little guy.  Of course he looks like the other two boys and people will just look at the three of them and say “There goes the Friest Boys”. 

We are both involved with the Family History Center and each Thursday we spend 4 hours in the center helping other folks get their family history done.  Some of them come in with valid questions while once in a while we get a patron who is disappointed that there is no magic button to push to get one’s genealogy to spew out of the system.

Autumnal Equinox:  Well, time has passed again – life is over busy these days.  It is interesting to note that up until today we had very hot days and cooler nights, but the weather seems to know that it is the Autumnal equinox and today is was a day to wear a light jacket.  It is like someone just flipped a switch.

Our Maple tree in the front yard has started to change, and with this crisp air now, it will change drastically.  I love the bright reds and oranges and yellows of its leaves.

I have noticed that there seems to be a whole village of spiders who have taken up residence in our back porch furniture.  They have built their untidy webs everywhere and it matters little whether we break them down  - they just reappear.  These spiders have an unlimited supply of web producing glands to keep up doing what they do.  There are loads of little bundles in their webs – these are the stored food supply for the spiders I suppose, but I observed one of the smaller varieties of birds zoom by and pluck a dainty morsel or two from the webs, leaving an even bigger hole in the untidy mess.

David was up for a visit this weekend and we took him and two friends to a nearby lake where we cooked breakfast.  I love to go to this lake and just sit and watch the water birds come and go.  The lake is pretty full when compared to the holiday weekend at the beginning of the summer when the water level was really far down.  The surface of the water was like glass and someone came by in a canoe and the reflection was classic of the canoe, people and trees that are on the opposite bank.  There were Ducks and Geese and some cormorants moving around the lake.  There used to be a Raptor that nested in the trees on the east side of the lake but I do not know if they are still nesting there.  At another lake nearby there is a Blue Heron that is a resident of the shallow edge.

There is a lady here who orders fruit from some farms in Utah.  I ordered Raspberries that were wonderful and some Tomatoes.  These items are ungraded but they are vine ripened and wonderful – tastier than the ones you buy in the supermarket and quite a bit cheaper.  When we were in Maine, Anne, the lady in the archives office, brought us some special tomatoes that were just as wonderful as these ones in from Utah.  I tried to grow tomatoes this summer but because I was not home to tend the plants, they got leggy and they are not producing very well.  All I want to do is grow Zucchini.  I tried to grow them from seed in the garden and the Quail came in and fed on the new green tender plants.  I re-planted them and either the Quail or some other hungry character came by and ate those too.

 The following year I bought started plants but they got eaten off as well.  So I bought Grow-Boxes and managed to get 3 Zucchini and two yellow squash before I left for Lincoln and when I came home there was nothing left.  I have not been successful as a gardener here in Arizona.  I hope that next Summer I will be able to stay home and tend my garden and get some produce from it.

 David took us to Walmart to see what he could find to spend our money on.  He headed straight for the

electronic section and wanted right or wrong for us to buy him an I-pod touch.  He was at his manipulative best - gave us good reasons why - 1. as an early Christmas Present (12 weeks early) 2. so he could contact us by using Face Tme (he has every electronic device known to man on  his person and is a walking ad for Radio Shack.  He has a cell phone but rarely calls us and never answers our calls to him) 3. It does not cost as much as if  we bought it for him at Best Buy  4. he is tired of using Skype ( we have talked to him no more than 4 times on Skype) 5. It has game aps on it that are excursively Apple products and he wants to play those games.

Number 5 is the winner!

We did not buy the device this weekend and next week does not look good either.

Labor Day Week and Weekend.

Life runs at a feverish pace.  To counter that, we have a bird feeder in the backyard and it is visited by many birds.  I have no idea what their names are but they flutter in and out and provide a distraction from the hustle and bustle of daily life.
This season that we are in  is called the Monsoon Season - primarily because rains come up from the gulf of Mexico and travel up the state of Arizona dropping rain on the desert and causing it to blossom.  The wild sunflowers are spectacular this year and every plant that has ever scattered seeds to the wind has had those seeds germinate and the hills are now quite green.  Of course this has caused flash floods here and there and made life miserable but it is rain and rain is what keeps our plants and animals alive and the creeks run and the lakes fill up.  Unfortunately, a homeless woman drowned in a swollen creek in the center of town.  The report in the paper was rather vague but it is a sad situation that she got washed down stream and drowned.  They reported that she was either bathing or playing in the water and a storm upstream sent a surge down the creek and washed her away. 
Saturday morning I went out for the paper and was struck by the silence of the area.....that is except for the birds welcoming the rising sun.  The air was still and the native cedars were giving off their beautiful clean scent into the air and the moment was magical to me.
The weekend is a three day weekend celebrating Labor Day and signalling the official end of Summer.  All the water parks etc. close down after this weekend to re-open in the Memorial Day weekend at the end of May, next year.The town square is host to a huge craft show this weekend.  We went to it and wandered up and down the alleys.  There seems to be a preponderance of Bead and jewelry booths and a smattering of oil paint and acrylic paint artists and a musician by the name of Patrick Ki plays his music for all to hear.  I stopped by a quilt booth.  The work seemed to be all one person's work and not imported from China as in other years.  The one thing that came across to me from the show was the amount of work these people had put into their wares and the amount of money they have invested in supplies.  With the monsoon showering us almost daily, the crowds do not attend because this is an outdoor show and people do not want to get wet.  The crafters do not do well under these conditions.  There were lots of dog owners out with their pets and as far as I was able to observe there were no altercations between animals - in other years there have been some really good dog fights erupt on the grounds.  Owners trying vainly to calm their pets while the pets just wanted to settle once and for all who was kingpin in the dog world of the courthouse plaza in Prescott, Az.  The biggest dog on the plaza was a Newfoundland.  It looked like a tiny horse.
On Monday this week, we had our monthly gathering of quilters for the Community Quilts effort.  I was surprised to see 30 ladies come out and work.  They pay $3 for Pizza and it is delivered to the facility and we all eat lunch together.  I cannot bring myself to eat the pizza - it does not look good to me.  We have someone bring the breakfast treat, and two people bring salads and about 4 people bring desserts.  This week someone brought individual cheese cakes...........Oooooh! Yummy!
We have loads of fabrics in totes that we open up and the ladies are free to pick whatever they feel they would like to have to work with and they create some wonderful quilts.   Most of the quilts go to the CASA program for the adoptions and we are gearing up for National Adoption Day, November 23.  The CASA adoption day is very festive and the children to be adopted are overjoyed for the chance to become permanent in someone's family.....most of them come from the foster family program.
Friday morning, while Bill was at Computer class at the College, I went to the Bead Show up at the Yavapai Resort.  The man who runs it comes up from Tucson and apparently he does well enough to keep coming back.  We have a new beader in our group named Pam, whom I met at a craft show down on the square a few weeks ago.  I told her about the bead show and she said she would go to it.  I was very happy to see her there and we ogled the beads he had on sale - we also bought some.
Today we talked to Sara and family over the Facetime on the phone.  Ethan told us that he and his Fifth grade class went to see the Salt Dogs play baseball.  It was a good game but filled with lots of problems - a number of students had to be treated for heat exhaustion, one student got hit by a stray ball and Ethan's gymnastic friend was hit in the head by a flying bat.  Do not know how that happened but he got three stitches and will not be doing gymnastics for a few weeks.  He was out of gymnastics for a while this past summer for an injury at baseball - a pitcher sent a wild pitch that hit him in the knee and put him out of commission.
Oliver does soccer at school.  He used to do soccer with a club but with Sara and Jacob both working, it is hard to get the kids to practices etc. so Oliver does soccer at school.   He has lost the two front teeth on the bottom.  When I was out there, I noticed that his new teeth were coming in behind the front teeth so the dentist encouraged Oliver to loosen and then pull out the two baby teeth.
Lyla showed us all the toys that the girls across the street gave her. She is delighted.  These three girls decided to give their toys to Lyla because they consider themselves grown up now and these are for little kids.  Lyla thinks it is better than Christmas.
While we were on the Facetime, baby August woke up and we got to see him.  He is a chubby little guy and he is rather long already.  I guess he will be the tall one in the family.
In sharing time at church today, with the little kids, they had stories about Jesus.  One picture showed how Jesus washed the feet of the disciples.  The thought crossed my mind - What were these men thinking as Jesus was washing their feet?  They had been with him for a couple of years by now and had seen many miracles performed.  This washing of the feet was a first for them and did they really understand what the significance of the ordinance was to them?  They were mere mortals and Christ is half mortal half immortal and it was not until after the Holy Ghost was sent to them later on that they became a force to be reckoned with.  It was a mind boggling thought to be sure but I did not have time to explore it because it was time to take my little brood to class.  Our class time this week was a lesson on how Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers, no matter the language used.  I had six children in my class - 2 regular participants and 4 visitors.  On the holidays one never knows what  or how many class members will be in attendance.

More Social Problems

While I was in Lincoln there was a terrible thunder and lightening storm that sparked a fire in the Yarnell area.  It burned many homes and due to a wind shift, 19 Hot Shot firemen lost their lives.  This was a tragedy to be sure becuase these men are the ones who hike miles to an area where they clear a line in an effort to stop a fire from going further.  their jobs are risky but they are the elite of the fire fighting community.  Our Granite Mountain Hotshots  based in Prescott, were the 19 who lost their lives and that has left a litter of complaints, fund raisers, accusations and finger pointing, politicians arguing over what can or should be done versus what is not being done and the bottom line is that 13 of these Hot Shot firemen were not full time employees and there lies the problem.  They are not eligible for payout by the city because they lost their lives working for the city due to being seasonal workers.  A couple of the wives have been proactive and the news media has at times handled that badly.  The politicians got into the fray and one in particular exhibited a very condescending attitude towards these ladies.......one of the ladies in particular.  We are in an election process right now and his comments just may have lost the election for him...........but I doubt it because wierd things happen during election time.
All around town one can see evidence of grief and mourning for the loss of these men.  There are shrines set up just about everywhere and they consist of many things.  All the way from pieces of  purple ribbon twisted in the same shape as the symbol for breast cancer and worn on lapels etc., purple tulle tied to fences, mail boxes, street lamps, and cars, to one large shrine consisting of tee shirts from fire fighters around the country, shovels, boots, hard hats, flags, crosses of all kinds and composition, flowers, stuffed toys, candles and notes of condolences from near and far.  At first sight is was mind boggling to see it and commanded a reverent air about the area.  Now, after many rainstorms and winds as well as blazing heat, the major shrine looks rather ratty and has become an eyesore rather than a place to command reverence. 
There have been myriad fund raisers but no one knows what has happened to the money that has been raised to help the families of the hot shots.  One hot shot did not die because he was moving their little truck to a different area and was not with his team and he has had many mental battles, according to the paper, over why he was spared and not dead like the others. 
In the paper today a committee was featured that is supposed to be the distributor of the donated money.  They say that the money is in a local bank and that they have been distributing funds as needed to the families, for immediate expenses, but the legal wrangling and the tax involvement is on going.  There are still many more fund raisers planned and people are selling all sorts of things to raise funds - rubber bracelets with 'be strong' written on them, medallions cast with the logo of the Hot Shots on them, and the list seems endless.  There is a metal permanent shrine consisting of 19 crosses that has been erected at the fire station where the Hot Shots were based.
We have a local newspaper that is not much more useful than to wrap fish , but it contains a parade of the social ills that have beset our community.  Stories of knifings, shootings, beatings, political chicanery, and pointed/biased editorials.  I suppose things have not changed much since the Old Testament times where we have stories of genocide, fratricide, homicide, infanticide, incest, spys, suicide, debauchery, corruption, lying, racism, laciviousness, cheating, stealing and hegemony, and that is not a complete list by any means.
So I guess that in order to live some semblance of 'observant life', we pick our way gingerly across this 'playing field' called mortality, and try to run between the raindrops.

Scam Grandma

Well, I have heard of these phone calls and never thought I would get one but today, on a whim, I answered a call marked "Blocked" which I rarely ever do.  However, I did find that one of my physicians has his phone call to the patients marked Blocked -not good for business in my opinion.

So I answered this call - just for a lark and to my surprise a voice on the other end said "Grandma?".  I knew instantly that it was a scam phone call because a friend of mine had received one recently and we all had a good laugh over it - her grandson was in the same room as her at the time, and so he could not possibly be on the phone to her with a sob story asking for money.  My first comment to him was, "My how your voice has changed!"  and he did not get a clue.

This well developed male voice went on with a very disturbing story of how his friend had been killed by a drunk driver in Mexico and he and another friend, whom I should have known from his high school days, were on the highway going to the funeral and they had been stopped by the highway patrol for a broken tail light, " and you would not guess what they found in my car." he went on to say, and at that point I chimed in and said " So they found a dead body?"  He did not even get a clue that I was toying with this call, this caller is pretty dense, "No, " he said, "they found a big bale of Marijuana" and I said to him "Well, at last they caught you with the goods.  You should have been more careful!".  He still did not get a clue that I was toying with him.  He said "I am now in jail and I need you to not tell anyone what I am about to tell you."  Promise me Grandma, you won't tell...............At this point I had heard enough, I just told him, "you know what honey,  you are not my grandson.  My grandson is 6 weeks old and I really doubt if he would have a drivers license or be in possession of Marijuana.  You sir, are a scam artist."  He then started on asking if I could give him a phone number of someone who would help him out with money........!"  Are you kidding?  I hung up on him and have had a good laugh over it.  He was not even smooth in his delivery and not convincing that he was my grandson.  Even Ethan, at age 10 is still a boy soprano and he is my eldest grandson, and then comes Oliver at 7 years of age and August  now a little over 6 weeks of age.

Some crooks just are not smart!  However, many seniors in this area are scammed daily by just such calls.

Some time back a lady called and after she had identified herself (I still did not know her), she said "Mr. Smithers (or some such made up name), will be at your home next Tuesday  at 2pm, to help you with your estate planning.  We would like you to have all your papers out ready for him to look over and tell you the best way to plan your estate.  He will also look over your Trust."  I said to her that we had just had the Trust drawn up and did not need anyone to look over it.  I also told her that I did not know her Mr. Smithers and neither did I have an appointment with him.  She said, well, you do need your TRUST examined because the laws have changed since it was done.  That was puzzling becuase only about 4 weeks had elapsed since we had it drawn up.  She went on to say, Well it must have been your husband who set up the appointment.  In any case, he will be there at 2pm on Tuesday.  I managed to keep her on the line asking her questions etc. and finally she said, "You sound awfully young. You are 82 years of age aren't you?"  I then came to the conclusion that this was indeed a scam and told her that she had better find some other person who was really really old to see if she could squeeze their life savings out of them on this pretense.

Other scam artists come often to Prescott and send out flyers offering a free meal - sometimes at a really upscale restaurant, but mostly at the "Feeding Trough" type restaurant.  They come with flashy clothes, slick presentations, canned jokes, and greedy eyes.  Some of them come in expensive suits, flashy rings (probably from K-Mart), suave haircuts, perfect tans, or open neck shirts, Salvation Army Thrift Store slacks and coat that do not fit well and scuffed shoes along with the greedy eyes. They have investments that you NEED TO MAKE this month and to take advantage of their offer sign on the dotted line.  they promise "You can make millions on our plan" - correct that - they can make millions on your money and give you little return if any or if at all.  Anyone can be a financial planner  even a flim flam con artist.

Well, so much for the excitement of today.  Later on I have to be at the Family History Center for my 4 hour shift and I wonder what I will have to solve today.  Last week a lady came in trying to find her birth mother or information about her own parentage.   Apparently she was adopted by and raised by her birth  grandmother and not her mother who was 16 yrs old at the time.  I told her that we only deal with dead people here.  She did not give up at that point but pursued the need to solve the parentage problem.  The more she spoke about the family relationships, it became clear that this was probably an interfamily adoption.  In any case, those who know the true story are all dead and the records are closed.

compassionate service

In our quilt guild we have many branches of service to and from our members.  The classes we arrange are for the members to increase their skills in quilting and the 'from' part consists of my part in the organization. 
We have a group that meets the fourth Monday of each month except December and we accept donations of fabric from just about anywhere but mostly our fabrics come from the members or their estates.  Consequently, we have about 20 totes that are filled to capacity with fabric that we use to make quilts to be donated to the various agencies in our area.
Last month my helper and I called all the agencies that have been serviced in the past to see if they were still in need.  One agency informed me that their leader was on vacation but that they would contact me when she returned.
My phone rang and when I answered it, a voice on the other end asked me if I was still interested in being a client in their housing facility - a women's shelter.  You can imagine how surprised I was to get that phone call.  After some talking it was determined that my name had been indeed taken for the leader to contact, but had been put on the wrong message pad and so I was being contacted to see if I still needed their services. 
The sad part about it was that this agency was in need of 7 quilts.  3 teen aged children, one 8yr old, one 4yr old a one yr old baby and a tentative client who was also 4 yrs old.  Because we did not get their phone call in the expected period of time, we had distributed the pile of quilts that we had on hand.....and we had none to give to the shelter.
Each month, the community quilts group gives their time to make quilt tops from our fabric totes and at work day, we sandwich the quilts with batt and backing and then roll them into a bundle for distribution to those who want to quilt them for us or tie them whichever they are able to do it is ok.  With no quilts to help out this need at the shelter, I put out an SOS on the guild grapevine - an email that goes to all the quilter group members.  Before the weekend was over, I had received 15 quilts and at our reguilar business meeting this week 25 more quilts for the community quilt project were turned in for display in the church where we meet.
So, today I went to the women's shelter to deliver 6 quilts - these are adult size and I also took 12 quilts to the Court Appointed Advocate group at the Juvenile Detention Center in readiness for the upcoming National Adoption day in November.  They expect to have around 67 adoptions take place that day.  Each adoptee gets to pick out a quilt that our community quilts people have made from the donated fabrics.
We had a request from one of the advocates at Catholic Charities for a quilt to be raffled at a benefit dinner at a local church early next month. The money raised from this raffle is earmarked for underwear for the teenage girls that are in the "Teen Closet" population.
The lady I talked to had, at one time or another been homeless while growing up and has experienced at first hand what it is to be in dire need of everyday items.  She was ever so thankful  that we had singled out one of the quilts for her to use as a raffle quilt to raise money for her group.
Oh yes, it is a lot of work to be head of this committee to do compassionate service to the community, but the people I have met so far have been such wonderful caring individuals and I admire them for the work they do to help those who stand in need at this point in their lives.

Processes of mourning

When I travel anywhere I usually take along some sort of hand work.  Presently I am working on 3/4 inch hexagons to make a fabric from them to be used in a garment.  It will take many of these small hexagons to make a decent piece of fabric from which I can cut the bodice of the Uptown Jacket pattern I just purchased.  I feel that anyone can go into a store and purchase garments, but sometimes they are just like cookie cutter garments - everyone has one - and there is no distinction between what I have and what others have, therefore, I like to make my own garments and I feel happy inside them.  Some years ago I made a jacket out of greens of all shades blending into the green/yellow range.  I called it the Red Eyed Green Tree Frog and I  wore it happily until  I spilled something on it and then had to wash it.  That was a disaster because I had used both batik and regular fabric.  The batik has been through many washings during the preparation of the fabric but the regular fabric does not go through a washing process and therefore has not been shrunk.  Well, I have a mess on my hands and in deep mourning over the jacket. However, I am about to 'unstitch' it and make it into another garment for me to wear - I have also lost a lot of weight since I made the jacket and it is way too big for me.
I took a hexagon project with me to work with on the plane to Nebraska and was sure I had made many of the little hexagons on the plane but when I looked for them in Nebraska I could not find them.  I really doubt that I left them on the plane - that is not my nature - however, the deepest mourning for the hexagons was not the finished items, but the small blue scissors I was sure I had taken with me.  These are EXTREMELY sharp and made of tungston steel and can do some real damage to human fingers that get in the way of the blades.   They are less than 3 inches long so the TSA says we can take them on the plane - however they could be lethal if I had that sort of inclination.  When I could not find the finished  hexagons that I was certain I had worked on during the flight, it occurred to me that I had also lost my little blue scissors.  Now that was a tragedy because they cost me a small fortune at a quilt show....and I have not seen them anywhere else since them.  I mourned the loss but said - well, maybe one day I will find another pair to take their place.  Imagine my happiness when I was in my sewing room to find my little blue scissors, all snug and happy on my sewing machine and knowing that they are not lost in some airport or airplane.
When were were in Nebraska, Jacob and Sara wanted us to move in with them and live there.  I know that this is not a good scenario unless THERE IS A DEFINITE NEED for this to take place.  They have a house with three levels.  Our bedroom would be on the ground floor (read that basement) and to join the family on the living area we have 20 steps up.  The main bedrooms are on the top floor and the residents of this house are much younger than I and my knees kept telling me that this was not going to work.  As I age I am not sure of my footing and with small children scrabbling around on the floor (read that Lyla, Oliver and soon August) I could trip over children and that would not be good.
Oh, the house is large enough to accommodate all of us - including David if it came down to that, but the most definite problem would be the severe winters that they have in that part of the country.  I do not do cold weather very well any more.  Prescott's weather is much more suited to my physical needs and the aches that come with really cold weather such as in Nebraska are not present here in Arizona.  On the one hand it would be wonderful to live close to the grandchildren and to have constant contact with them, but close proximity means enduring the freezing temperatures of the mid west.  So I am in mourning over this as well.  My grandmothers heart wants to be close to the grand children, but my physical body says that this is not a good idea.  Oh, yes, there are people living there who are my age, but they have lived there since they were young, and they are used to the severe change of seasons that they experience. Even Sara was raised in Snow country in Johnstown, Pa and Jacob was raised in the harsh weather of Wyoming so the cold does not bother them.  I , on the other hand was raised in Hot and Dry Australia and I like it that way.
I came home from Nebraska to my clothes and possessions after living out of a suitcase for 8 weeks.  I took minimal clothing so that I was under the weight limit for the plane.  I came to the USA with one suitcase and what I stood up in and now I have a house full of "STUFF".  So I did a major clean out of my closet and some lucky soul who has gone shopping at Catholic Charities has the opportunity to wear the clothes that I can no longer wear - either too short, too big or too small.  I hope to achieve a happy medium with clothing one of these days but I certainly do not want to shop at the upscale stores where they sell Stodgy looking matronly clothes - but I do qualify as a Matron I suppose, but I do not want to wear such stuffy looking clothes.....nor do I want to pay the price they are asking.  The next thing I have on my list is to reduce my possessions to a minimum - I own too much stuff and I have absolutely no idea how it all came into my house.  I seem to attract stuff like a magnet!!!
I just hate it when stuff breaks.  I think that our refrigerator has broken because it is leaving puddles of water on the floor.  So I took off the grille that is on the bottom and found that every dust bunny in the world had taken up residence on the coils under the fridge.  So I got the vacuum out and tried to suck the little creatures out but some of them are rather stubborn.  So I got out the Swiffer long handled duster and shoved that into the bowls of the fridge and got out many more hiding dust bunnies.  I just hope that I have not done more damage than good.  The fridge is almost 14 years old and with planned obsolesence that the manufacturers build into these wonders of the modern world, I think that it has probably run its course.  The fridge we had in Mesa was on its last legs only after 5 years and that was disappointing.  I left it in the house for the next people to worry about.
So, we mourn the loss of some silly things but most of all we mourn the loss of 'time' - it seems to go way too fast these days.

In and out of the blender

I spent 8 weeks in Nebraska with Sara and Family.  Initially I was there to babysit the kids while Sara was finishing up working for the Nebraska School District and I stayed till 17 July.
It was difficult being in this household for so long - mainly because my life has moved on from the child raising mode to the 'almost retired but not quite' mode.  The difference between the way I was raised, and the way I chose to raise my children and the way my grandchildren are being raised is quite stark.  For instance, I had story books that I read - some of them just fell apart from over use.  TV was not available and radio was all we had.  I liked to listen to "The Lady" as I called her.  She was a voice on the radio that told stories for little kids, taught us songs and had us doing rolling around on the floor exercises a few days a week.  Mostly I just played outside in the sunshine and fresh air.  My parents read to me a lot and I had loads of Little Golden Books that were were well memorized from being read to me.
My own children were kept busy with plenty of crayons, paper, glue, tape and loads of imagination.  I would have Bill bring home Pampers Boxes from the pharmacy and these boxes became cars, boats, space ships, play houses, doll hospitals, hiding places, flimisy trampolines and provided hours of fun for my children.  When the box became unrecognizable or vandalized by sharp objects like scissors, it was simply discarded and a new box appeared from the pharmacy and my children occupied themselves with the new box till it also was demolished.  We had Sara take dance classes and she was also in Brownies and for a short time she took Gymnastics at the request of her dance teacher to improve her flexibility.  David took Gymnastics in the hope that it would help his co-ordination but he could not stand still in line waiting for his turn.  He was in scouts as a cub and then as a boy scout and earned his Eagle Rank.  He is very proud of his Eagle rank.  We went hiking at the trails at UPJ (University of Pittsburgh, Johnstown) and also went to Wolf Rocks at a nearby state park.  There was plenty to keep them busy.  From time to time we had TV but did not watch it much....no time!
Sara's children are natives of the pushbutton generation and are total tecchie tots.  If I got stuck on Angry Birds (and that is often) I would hand my Iphone to Oliver and he would just sail through the level and the next two or three levels as well and then hand it back to me.  I can hand my Iphone or Ipad to any of the three of them and they know instantly how to make it do something other than be a very expensive mini computer with icons on the screen.
The highlights of the 8 weeks were successful fishing trips by Jacob and the children to a nearby pond and I cooked the fish for them.  Lyla had a Dance Recital and her question to many people was "Have you been on stage?"  I have been on stage in my dance recital.  Bill and David came to visit and that created an interesting situation - there were two sets of parents and two sets of children in the house.  Bill and I as parents of Sara and David and Sara and Jacob as parents of Ethan, Oliver, Lyla and the newest Friest edition, August.  We were all focused on the birth of August but Sara wanted to wait till after the 4th July celebrations.  Well, we should say, August waited to make his appearance until after the 4th July celebrations.  The amount of fireworks that were ignited that night made the whole place sound like a war zone.   It is a wonder the little fellow was not scared into being born due to the noise, or perhaps he felt it was safer to be inside the womb than outside with all the racket the fireworks were making. I have no idea how much money was spent, but the after math was bits and pieces of fireworks littering the roads, sidewalks and front lawns.  I was amazed to see the lanterns that were floating in the sky.  Of course any fireworks no matter how large or small are totally unwelcome in Arizona.....this place is one great tinderbox and a stray spark would level Prescott in short order if it got into the dry grass.
So August arrived and I got to hold him when he was only a few hours old.  I have never been near a baby that young before.  Sara did well and we are all surprised at how well she did.  I made him an outfit for his blessing and I made it out of fabric left over from Sara's wedding gown.  Ethan's blessing outfit was of silk charmeuse, Oliver's outfit was made of Silk Dupioni, and Lyla's blessing dress was made of brocaded satin with pretty butterflies woven into it.  If Sara has another baby, I have no idea what to make the blessing outfit of - perhaps some patchwork calicoes?????

Wednesday June 5 , 2013

Ethan has started back to Gymnastics.  I have no idea how he can do any of the stuff I see him and his class mates do - but they manage to do the twists, turns, jumps etc. with aplomb.
As the boys exited the gym, I noted that they were all very serious minded young men and quite good looking - the bunch of them.   Yep, I can see them at the Olympics some day - and every young woman in the world will drool over how handsome they are.....although I wonder just how many of these boys will stick it out to that level.  After all the whole gym smells like foot odor.  I guess if you want to be a gymnast, foot odor and chalk are part and parcel of your existence.

The new house has a vast garden of mint plants that have gone absolutely wild.  Jacob has lamented that the place looks really overgrown - and it does.  So this morning, the children and I went out to pull mint up by its roots.  We had a great time.  In the middle of this chore, the siren went off for the tornado warning system.  It is very loud and I doubt if anyone would not hear it.  The kids thought we should go to the basement, but the sky was clear blue and no cloud to be seen.  So I had them keep pulling mint out of the ground.  there was a large stand of sunflowers in the middle of it and those got pulled out as well.  Under the overgrowth, I found some strawberries growing.  I showed them to the children, and Lyla reached down and pulled it off the vine and then complained that it was not red, like the ones from the store.  We told her not to puck the strawberry but she would not listen.  I was totally surprised to find the strawberry plants.

there were a lot of ladybugs on the mint.  Two of them were mating and Oliver observed them and said, I guess they really like each other because one of them is hugging the other one.

For a break in the day, we went to "Lost in Fun" and the kids had a great time.  It is a play place where kids can be kids and no one gets excited about squealing, laughter, running, jumping, sliding etc.  Got a 15% discount for taking three with me, but the food there was VERY EXPENSIVE, so we did not eat there but rather came home to snack before going to pick up Sara from her last day of work and then take Ethan to Gymnastics.

I think the kids had a wonderful day.