watch me whip

Today we ventured to Golden Gate Park and decided to park wherever we could find a spot, and walk wherever any nearby path would take us.  We found these stairs and this sign

Which led to this:

It was cool watching people practice their fly fishing.  It looked so artful and peaceful, and you could hear the rope (or whatever it is) whipping through the air.  I guess the rings in the water are marks they try to land it in.

Then we heard cheering over a little hill and decided to check it out.  We found the biggest soccer field I have ever seen.

And a day of exploring just isn't complete without a climbing tree.

  It was a nice little excursion.  I'll have to make sure we explore Golden Gate Park again in June so I can call it "June walks".

sometimes you have to make yourself think about these things . . .

especially on holidays that weren't just made for barbecuing.  We are planning on enjoying Memorial Day together, but pausing for the length of this video to remember those that paid the ultimate price in service to our country.  We honor them.

girl's night out

To make a long story short, Friday night my co-workers and I went out to dinner and a movie.  We all wanted to see a chick-flick, but our movie turned out to be "Captain America - Civil War".

We all loved it!  The whole night was a lot of fun and I am grateful for the friendships.  Luke says that I now have to catch up on the story line and watch all of the "Avenger" movies with him.  I guess I agree!  He and Reggie have certainly watched enough Jane Austen with me that I think this is long overdue.

whale hunting

Well, they're back, and we will be taking our trusty camera out "whale hunting" all summer long to try to get some evidence.  We've seen sprays all over the water - like I described before: "explosions on the sea" but people have recently posted pictures of the actual whales swimming, diving, feeding, etc. pretty close to the local beaches.  So I guess it will be a summer of whale hunting for us!  Stay tuned for pictures, I hope!

hazards and blessings

Reggie has had an especially long business trip this time.  I've always admitted what a blessing these trips are because the frequent flier miles provides us vacations and brings our Utah kids home.  But, I am also going to admit that time apart can also take it's toll on a marriage, and keeping this in mind helps to avoid hazards and pitfalls.  Sometimes I get self conscious about the fact that when on a business trip he eats at restaurants, has a nice clean and quiet hotel room to go to every night where he has complete control of the remote, temperature of the room, etc. etc.  I worry that coming home to a loud, messy house, where he has to share the tv, etc. becomes an adjustment.  But he assures me that he misses all of this and I believe him.  And it is two sided as well.  The longer the business trip, I've realized, the more chick-flicks I have on in the house; I've woken up sleeping diagonally, in the middle of the bed, and the temperature of our room is exactly the way I like it.  But I miss him.  I would rather have him here then have everything my own way.  It does mean more compromising and sharing and almost getting used to each other again each time. It reminds me of a song I loved when we were young adults, separated by college and his mission.  It has deeper meaning now - especially these particular lyrics:

"Being apart aint easy on this love affair.  Two strangers learn to fall in love again.  I get the joy of re-discovering you. I'm forever yours, faithfully."  

May walks

I believe this is "The Quarry" in Pacifica.  It is a big subject these days because there is talk of developing it - putting in a Walmart or some other kind of big, chain store.  Some want it, some don't.  I can see both sides of the debate.  But I admit, it is a beautiful place for walking, and I would miss it.

At one end of the path is the start of Rockaway Beach, and, this:

Since the Narrows was closed when we went to Zion's, maybe we'll have to climb over these rocks for practice, until the next trip. Ha Ha!

freshman year, done!

Well, Luke has only a few days left of this school year.  It has flown by, and I have to say I am pleasantly surprised at how well it has gone.  At one point he all of a sudden caught the bug of caring a lot about his grades and looking ahead to college.  He's got some academic things planned for the summer, and has even realized how good the "Eagle Scout" award looks on one's record, so he'll be working hard on that as well.  Here is a picture of the boys earning their money for scout camp this summer, with the cookie mix fundraiser.

When Luke was born I was always thinking about "the last".  "This is the last time" for everything: for being pregnant, having a newborn in the house, taking my child to kindergarten, etc. etc. etc.  I was in tears whenever I thought about it.  There was a song (there's always a song!) that kept going through my mind the first few years of his life and had me in tears (if I've already blogged about this then forgive me for repeating myself).  The lyrics asked some questions tailor made for me:

"Can I sail through the changing ocean tide?

  Can I handle the seasons of my life?

Well I've been afraid of changing cause I've built my life around you. 

 But time makes bolder, children get older, I'm getting older too." 

Well, that song doesn't go through my mind as often now.  I am handling the seasons of my life. Since Luke started school so many years ago I changed from stay-at-home mom to employee, which brought other beautiful children into my life.  And becoming a grandma has meant that Luke was not the last newborn in this house after all.  And the past few years has brought more time and opportunities for Reggie and I to be together, which is such a wonderful blessing.  But, every once in a while Luke reaches a milestone, and that song comes on the radio, and I am in tears again.  I built my life - my beautiful and blessed life - around my children and sometimes it scares me to see them moving on.  But all will be well and life will still be good.  

Prince Edward Island Spudnuts

I have a niece and sister in law who went to Prince Edward Island, Canada, this month.  If I hadn't had work I might just have tagged along!  My sister in law is the one who introduced me to the show "Avonlea" and I've loved it ever since - raised my family on it, etc.  So I told them I would be living vicariously through them, and I wanted to see every picture they took.  I'm so glad they got to take this trip of a lifetime and I truly enjoyed their pictures.  And I am obsessed with the show to the point that I kept thinking of quotes as I saw the pictures.

So yesterday I got a package in the mail from them -  souvenirs from Prince Edward Island.  I am so touched and flattered at their thoughtfulness!  The fact that they gathered these things, transported them throughout their trip and mailed them to me is just so sweet.  I am now contemplating the best place for the items - probably my kitchen window, so they can make me smile while I am working in there with Avonlea or Anne on the kitchen t.v.

One of the items however we have already used.  Turns out Prince Edward Island is famous in Canada for it's potatoes.  Our family being from Idaho, we certainly appreciate good potatoes.  So they included in the box some Prince Edward Island potatoes.  Tonight we used them in our Spudnuts recipe and they were delicious (you've probably figured out that spudnuts are donuts made with potatoes.)

Thanks Donna and Suzanne - I appreciate it so much!

My favorite of all the pictures they took was at
"The White Sands Hotel" which is really called "Dalvay by the Sea".
They stopped to eat there and walk the grounds, etc.
I didn't want to steal their pictures so I went online and found this one
of the interior/upstairs.  Looks just like the show.  

So nice to see you again my cousin Vinny!

One of the things I miss the most about not having cable t.v. is the censored movies that the regular networks show.   I try to avoid "R" rated movies, but realize that I have seen a lot, because of censored versions on network t.v.  Then when I have rented them to watch again, not even thinking about the rating, I've been surprised at all the stuff that had been left out.  One of my favorite that I saw years and years ago is "My Cousin Vinny".  When I realized that the original is full of the "F" word I decided not to watch it again - until my brother told me about a website called "VidAngel".  Last night we tried it out, which meant before we pressed play we were able to choose what we wanted muted or skipped over.  It was great!  Definitely a fun movie night for our family.

 I told Hillary that my plans for the weekend was to watch a whole mess of "R" rated movies.  She didn't fall for it - she's heard of this "VidAngel" too.  So next up is "Beverly Hill's Cop" and "Trading Places" - that Eddie Murphy is a funny guy.  In fact, Trading Places was one of my parent's and grandparent's favorite movies, thanks to network tv. (If you are going to check out VidAngel remember to look at what you want to skip beforehand - language, nudity, or whatever.)

And one last thought.  I know that we are all on different points in the line of what we find funny/what we will watch/what we think is appropriate or not.  I know people whose tastes are much more liberal or much more conservative than mine.  I hope to be better at not judging people for their varied tastes and appreciate when people do not judge me for mine.  The other day I was showing my brother-in-law a 4 minute Rodney Dangerfield stand-up comedy clip and told him this was about as riske as I get.  We had a good laugh beforehand, because we know that our tastes are different, but we also had a good laugh during the video.  Laughter is indeed great medicine!

best "potty" humor ever

Today we got one of the best Skype calls of our lives.  It was Audrey sitting so excitedly, proudly, happily, etc. etc. . . . on the potty.  I've never seen a toddler so enthused about getting potty trained, and we are honored that she wanted to share the moment with us.  I don't know if this enthusiasm will last, but in the meantime it's adorable.  (We didn't take any "screen shots" with this call for obvious reasons).

Happy Mother's Day Albertine and Ruth!

It's been quite a weekend.  Today we finished off the fundraiser - over the last 2 Saturdays the scouts have measured out the ingredients and bagged things up for 190 cookie mixes, and then distributed them today.  I'm afraid we ignored our Moms today because of the busy weekend we had, and we haven't seen either one of them today.  But I hope they know we love them.  I hope they know we are thinking of them.  And Luke will soon be by with their orders.

I wrote about my Mom's birthday yesterday and plan on posting some pictures later.  In the fall my mother-in-law is having a mile-stone birthday and I plan on documenting that as well.

So I'd like to finish off this mother's day by wishing Reggie's Mom a very happy one.  We all love her so much.  She is a highlight of coming home for my Utah children.  She is the highlight of family parties.  Most of our family moments include her laughter and happiness.

The Birthday Crown

You know how you hear stories about elderly people being lonely and forgotten?  It pulls at the heart strings, that's for sure.  Well, I am thrilled as I look around our living room tonight, imagining how un-forgotten my Mom is going to feel tomorrow.   Every-one of my Mom's descendants is "here" to celebrate her 86th birthday.  Now, when I say here, I obviously don't mean physically in attendance because that is almost impossible - with 6 kids, their spouses, 24 grandchildren and their spouses and about 24 great grandchildren spread across the country I don't know if we will ever be all together.  BUT all of her descendants are "here" - are represented in wishing her a happy birthday.  All of her children and grandchildren have sent in happy birthday greetings for the party we are having tomorrow.  I have turned each greeting into matching cards, complete with pictures, and they are all over the walls.  I am getting teary reading them.  She will absolutely know that she is in each of their thoughts and memories.

 As for the great-grandchildren, they are also represented in a unique way, thanks to Queen Elizabeth the second.  The theme for my Mom's party is "Royal Ruth - Queen of our Hearts".  We got some good ideas from how Queen Elizabeth is celebrating her 90th this year.  There is a new book, approved of by Her Majesty, called "The Birthday Crown".  In it the Queen is trying to choose the perfect crown to wear to her party.  People from all over are sending her crowns - for example, the baker sent her one topped with cupcakes.  People working in the Royal Stable sent her a crown with a merry-go-round on top, etc.  Finally she chooses what she feels is the perfect crown - a paper one made by her great-grandchildren.

So, we made paper crowns representing each family of great grandchildren of my Mom's.  Each crown is decorated with pictures of things that interest each family.  So, for example, the Dobbins crown (Hillary's family) has a BYU basketball on it, a little girl playing dress-up, the Salt Lake City temple and the children's section of the Provo city library.  One of my nieces who has 3 girls' crown has pictures of hair bows, Mickey mouse, the Sacramento temple and a campsite by a lake.  It has been a very fun project for me to find out what my great nieces and nephews are interested in, in order to make these crowns, and I think my Mom will have fun learning more about them as well.

I am so thrilled that my family came through for all of this, and so blessed to be able to celebrate with my Mom this way.

Who is Ken Burns?

Ironically I don't want to take the time to look up a biography about Ken Burns.  I just know that his documentaries are the best.  There are so many available on PBS, Netflix and Amazon.  We especially love the one about the National Parks.  But he's done so many about historical time periods, people, wars, etc.

Most recently I watched one about women's suffrage.  I hadn't realized that it was about so much more than voting.  I hadn't realized what few rights women had in this country before Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony made it their lifelong goal to change things.  Women were not allowed to be witnesses in court or be on a jury.  Women had no right to their children if they wanted a divorce.  Women could not own property, etc. and were even thought of as the property of their husbands.  So many laws were changed along the way to finally getting the vote.  I thought it was interesting that Elizabeth Cady Stanton was married and had 7 children as she pursued all of this.  Susan B. Anthony chose to remain single, but as she got older and the next generation started joining in the cause, she referred to the women she worked with as her "nieces".

I was especially happy to hear that the first 4 states to grant women the right to vote were Wyoming, Colorado, and the 2 where my ancestors came from: Utah and Idaho.  I hope my ancestors took advantage of this - if so then they were some of the first women in United States history to vote.

Our new favorite song

Recently I found this blast from the past.  At first the family wasn't enthused - but it grew on them; consequently, I am not the only one putting it on or singing it at random times.  Life goes on!  Happy May everyone!