May was quite a month

Hello, all! :-) It's been quite awhile since I posted anything on the blog. May was filled with family events, visits and trying to work in the garden. Lynda graduated from Digipen the first weekend of May and Kristine flew up to surprise her at that event. She also surprised Alicia, who was having a bridal shower in Bremerton the day before. We managed to keep Alicia in the dark and she said she'd not been that surprised by anyone in years. She usually sniffs things out ahead of time.

Our sad news (but in actuality... a blessing in view of her circumstances) was that Ron's mother finally passed away on May 14th at the age of 96. She would have been 97 in July... on Ron's birthday. Ron's sister, Sharen, had called a couple of days before that to let us know they didn't expect her to live much longer. It has been expected since earlier in the year and the doctor had even predicted she'd probably pass by May. We quickly got ourselves organized and a day later, left for Idaho. Ron's brother gave the life sketch at the funeral and Ron gave the dedicatory prayer at the graveside. She is buried next to his father in a small cemetery in Basalt. This post will be heavy on photos and light on text. It's taken me forever to get some of these up. About a day after we got home from Idaho, Karen and Niklas flew up for Memorial Day weekend.

I'll put them in chronological order.

This first one shows how Kristine was looking when she arrived at the house the first weekend of May. They are still living in Provo so she got up super early to fly in the day of the shower (Saturday). In some of the shower pictures she looked a blink away from naptime... but those won't be shown here.

Arrival at Alicia's bridal shower on May 2nd. I wish I'd had the camera ready to capture her face when she looked behind me and saw Kristine walking in. At first was shock and disbelief... then came the tears.

Alicia's "Oma" checking out Kristine's tummy. She's seen the kids on and off for much of their lives.

The cupcakes were really pretty... as were all of the decorations. Alicia's friend, Katie, did the lion's share of the work before we arrived. You can see her in the background of the photo of Kristine and Oma.

Kristine came up with the idea of one of these cute "flirty" aprons. They're popular in Utah. Alicia has had a love affair with cherries for a long time... this apron was perfect. It won out over the one with a cupcake motif.

Here she is with her ribbon bouquet. The wedding is happening this coming Friday in Portland... only TWO days from now! We'll be staying overnight and spending a bit of time with Karen, Kristine and their husbands before they head for home. They'll be driving together from Idaho and we're planning to all stay at the same hotel.

Packing up her loot and heading out. We went home and crashed for a bit. Kristine was really tired out from the early hour, airline flight, pregnancy, etc.

Next day (Sunday) was Lynda's Digipen graduation at the Meydenbauer (sp?) Center in Bellevue. I didn't know they held graduations on Sundays... but hers was so we missed church to get over there in time. They kept the room quite dark during most of it since they had things being presented on screens on each side of the stage. After the ceremony and presentation of "mock" diplomas (the real ones came later)... everyone flooded out into the hallway/open areas and it was jam packed! You could hardly see anyone, or find them once you got separated. This first picture was of the girls before we went in to be seated. Lynda's friend, Justine, had the tickets so she met up with us when we got there. Lynda still didn't know Kristine was going to be attending until she saw her sitting with us. The girl next to Diane is Lynda's friend, Heather... and Justine is on the right. Those girls are old friends of Lynda's since gradeschool/junior high days.

Lynda smiling over her shoulder as she walks in. Justine snapped this one since she was nearer the isle.

Ahh... the payoff after four years! Now the challenge is to find a good job. This wasn't the sort of economy the kids anticipated when they were looking ahead at career options. Lynda is going to stay in Redmond for the rest of the summer where she can continue to work on her portfolio as she applies for jobs. She has a part-time job up there also.

You can't appreciate how crowded it was at this moment... chaos with refreshments. :-)

We were invited to eat lunch with Tom Murray's family... Lynda's boyfriend. They came up from L.A. for the graduation. It was nice to meet them and chat for a bit, despite how noisy it was in this big room!

Tom and his father are quite tall (6'6" and 6'7"). The girl on the left with the dark hair is another roommate from Digipen ... Kiyome.

Lynda with the Murray's. She has spent a fair amount of time at their home while visiting in the past and they've been very nice to her.

The next photos are from mid-May onward ... first when we were driving to Idaho for Ron's mother's funeral. I was trying to snap photos out the window, at 80 mph sometimes... so they're kind of rough, but occasionally better than expected. We saw a lot of pretty scenery going and coming. Everything was so green at this time of year. You also see lots of baby calves and sometimes foals.

This next one came out blurred but I still liked it for some reason. Wish it had been sharper.

The next day after we arrived, my sister-in-law, Pat Miller and myself tagged along to town with the kids. Here we visited with them while they grabbed a bite to eat. We stayed at Sharen's in Idaho Falls and Lynda camped out at Karen and Niklas' apartment in Rexburg... along with Kristine and Alex. The girl sitting between Karen and Niklas is his younger sister, Jacqueline. She's currently attending BYU-Idaho.

Karen chatting with her Aunt Pat. She loved visiting them when she lived in Littleton. They are north of there, in Broomfield.

The next photos were taken at the cemetery in Basalt. The road runs right near where we were sitting for the graveside dedication. The funeral was held prior to this at the chapel in Basalt. After we finished up at the cemetery, the family was served lunch in Idaho Falls... at Sharen's ward.

Ron and his brother, Ed, at the front on each side. The other pallbearers were grandsons, and great grandsons of Bessie's.

Lynda giving her Aunt Sharen a hug.

Two of Bessie's great-granddaughters...

Another ... one of Ed and Pat's granddaughters.

Before going back to the Falls for lunch, we drove by the old farm where Ron and his family spent many years. The new owners have made quite a few changes to the outside of the house and some in the yard... but they are taking good care of the place. This entrance wasn't there when Ron's mother lived at the farm. She always came in on the back side (away from the road).

Family group taken after lunch. If you click on this, you can see a much larger version and a better view of faces.
We're heading back home now... Lynda at a rest stop:

Catching Ron while he gasses up the car.

This is some of the burn damage in Montana. They've had a lot of terrible fires in their state over the past few years.

I loved this zig-zag road coming down the ridge.

Beautiful time of day at a rest stop. We're getting closer to Washington.


A golden sunset over McDonald's Golden Arches. :-) I think this was near Spokane, WA.

The remainder of the photos are from when Karen and Niklas came up over Memorial Day weekend. We picked them up from the airport late Friday night... the day after we got home. Ron whisked them off bright and early on Saturday morning, before their scheduled trip to Seattle with Diane. He saw some items on the IKEA sale that were too tempting. ;-) They had breakfast there (at 9:00 a.m.) and met up with Robert and Rachel and kids. After breakfast and shopping, Ron dropped Niklas, Karen, Diane and her friend off near the Science Center before he headed home on the ferry. They bummed around in Seattle until dinnertime, trying to hit as many old haunts as possible (Niklas especially wanted to see some places in Seattle... his family made a lot of trips there when he was growing up). I stayed home and tried to get needed cleaning and odds and ends done. I don't think I'll ever get caught up with anything at this point!

The kids visiting while Charlotte examines the salt and pepper shakers. :-)

This was taken later by Diane at the Pacific Science Center.

Sunday evening, Karen, Niklas and I went over to Michael and Amber's... so they could see their new place. I got a few photos of the kids playing with their aunt and uncle.

That's probably all for now. Ron is trying to sleep. I'll write a bit more later and post a few flowers from the garden.

Love, Kathy/Mom

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For Uncle Hage... can you see this any better?

A picture of my mother with a former neighbor... I adjusted the levels inside the oval because it was totally washed out from too much light. Do you recognize the man? Was his last name Bowler?

If you click on the image, it will bring up a window with a larger version (or... it should). :-)


If you click on the image, it will bring up a window with a larger version (or... it should). :-)

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Pictures from Friday, April 17-18th

I just barely updated the blog, but wanted to throw some photos on here from yesterday and today. Ron, Diane and myself went over to Federal Way yesterday afternoon to put in a few hours at the D.I. Thrift store. They assigned us a cart of books and our job was to put them out on the floor in the correct aisles... and pull out enough of the older books to make space. I'm not sure how productive we were, but the guy thought it looked better when we were done... so every little bit helps. Our ward had an assignment of 10 hours for last week and Gary Powell had already done 7 all by himself. Our little contribution was another 4.5.

Before we cleared the store, we picked up some of the used books to purchase and Ron also found a fairly nice 20 inch bicycle for $15. Looked like it might be the ticket for Charlotte when she's just a bit bigger. We'd already loaded up the small one to take over. So... the trunk was carefully filled with bicycles and after grabbing a quick "dinner" at the next door Wendy's, we drove another 30 minutes to Enumclaw. The bulk of the photos were taken at Robert and Rachel's. Robert's much awaited chicks finally arrived yesterday afternoon and he had them fixed up in a temporary shelter... a box with a heat lamp over the top. They seemed to be settling in okay. He got one extra chick in case one dies or they accidentally get a rooster in the mix. They have two Buff Orpington's, one Barred Rock and an Americauna (sp?)... affectionately referred to as the "chipmunk" because of her coloring.

We arrived at dinnertime... which was too much distraction for the kids. Calvin has already escaped the dinner table. His empty spot below...

Time to put on socks. I liked this photo of Charlotte.

Grandpa provided a little help.

Aunt Diane goes upstairs to see Charlotte's room... and a cat gets a bit of love in the bargain.

Calvin just about wore out his grandfather before we left... although the kids took turns wanting to be up on his shoulders... or to be tickled.

This looks like their cats at first glance, but is the next door neighbor's female kitty... she has adopted Robert's family and would like to annex the whole house and live with them. The neighbors leave her outside all of the time and don't seem to be cat people. We got a kick out of her, but sometimes she'll pick on their cats if given the chance. She's taking a snooze in the chicken house... what he had completed so far. You'd have thought he built it for her.

Calvin wanted to sit on the bigger bike we got at the D.I. Think it will be awhile yet.

While we were outside with the kids, the sun was setting. I loved how it looked with this jet stream snaking its way through the clouds.

Charlotte getting the hang of the smaller bike. Ron stayed out with her after we all came in (it was getting cold) and she was doing much better even in that short time. She really needs a bigger one in order to stretch her legs out all the way... but this isn't too bad to help get her started.

The neighbor's cute kitty with Diane... who loves cats as much as anything. When we left to come home, this cat came out from under the porch to get some more love and was looking for us inside our car after we circled around on the cul de sac and past the driveway to leave. I felt kind of bad for her... she's so starved for attention. Robert was not quite so sentimental, since she can be a pest when he's already given her attention and is trying to get something accomplished. ;-) I know that feeling. This winter during all of the horrible snow and cold, the neighbors left her outside to fend for herself and Robert opened their shed to give her a place to get out of the weather. When she was missing for a day or so, he was really fretting over her. It's kind of an interesting relationship. ;-)

The new additions to the family... as seen through a little window he put on the front of the box, so the kids could see inside.


The rest were taken today. It was super nice and warm. I thought I'd spend much of the day outside, but that didn't really happen... only a couple of hours at best. Still tired from yesterday. I made some dinner and puttered inside before finally getting some weeding done out front. Ron and Diane shopped at Costco and stopped by Michael and Amber's for a bit... then came home and washed cars. You know it's nice weather when the cars get washed. :-) Supposed to be nice into this next week also.

An early blooming rhody with a British sounding name that escapes me at the moment. Can you see the hovering wasp that was supping on its nectar before I started taking pictures? You might have to click on the thumbnail for the larger version to see him better.

"Tiffany" rhody. A nice early pink.

Think I just showed this recently... a double English primrose that the phone repair guy almost obliterated when he trenched for our second phone line years ago.

The flowering cherries... long may they live! Technically... they have just about hit their projected lifespan.

At a glance this looks like someone spilled ashes in the grass (near the driveway... in the orchard). It's some sort of lichen or mossy stuff. Maybe it's kin to the ones that usually grow on the trees. Looks odd here.

'Ice Follies' ... a clump that managed to survive.

... eyesores that I keep hoping someone will come and move or remove. :-/

Someday before it falls down, I want to see this lovely vista minus cars parked all over the place... like a wrecking yard. The grass has really greened up this past two weeks.

Time to hit the hay!

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