Thursday, September 23, 2010

We Celebrated: Our 40th Anniversary, My 61st Birthday, and BSU vs VA Tech in Washington, D.C.


We arrived Friday, September 3, and headed out to see the sights...

We were especially moved by the World War II Memorial...I had just been doing some genealogy research, and found my mother's cousin, Oliver Pincombe had died in Stalag XII right before the liberation of his German prisoner of war camp. I found his name in the Memorial's archive.

Our morning began with a tour of the White House...after passing through many security stations, we made our way through the public rooms, each room being manned by a Secret Service agent who willingly shared stories and fascinating details about its history.

The Capitol dome through the glass ceiling of the visitor's center

"the whispering spot" in the old Senate chamber

We had a personal tour of the Capitol and the Library of Congress by a young lady who grew up with Dallin, and is now an aide to Senator Crapo...she had access to all the "behind the scenes" areas,and lots of stories to tell. We loved our visit to Ft. McHenry. The battle there, during the War of 1812, produced the poem, by Frances Scott Key, which became our National Anthem. We watched a film about the battle, and his experience, in a darkened auditorium...then the National Anthem began to play and the blinds began to draw back to reveal the view of the flag waving over the fort...magnificent!


I spent my 61st birthday dipping my toes in the Atlantic Ocean at Rehoboth Beach, DE! We got a little lost on the way, only added 2 hours to the trip (!) but we wanted to compare the East Coast with the West Coast, Atlantic with Pacific, and decided it was a little more crowded, but worth the trip!


We did some last day sight-seeing on Monday...The National Archives (no photos allowed) and Ford's Theater and the house across the street where Lincoln died...they are right in the middle of a modern city, but have been preserved so well that one feels transported back to that time and place in history.

We met our friends who share our anniversary, at Clyde's in Washington, D.C., for dinner before the game. We were staying in Baltimore, so we had to show up in our "spirit gear"...no way to change before the game!

Our trip culminated with a BSU victory! We were out-numbered, out-yelled, but not out-played! I was so excited, I forgot to get out the camera while we were IN the stadium! This was BIG-TIME college football! At Fedex Field in Landover, MD, we got to see what 80,000 screaming Hokies sounded like...our little (10,000) band of BSU fans did our best to cheer on our team. Getting to the stadium was a challenge (up and down hills and through the woods!) but what a game!!!!

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Grandma Camp with "The Eights"


This year's camp was named "FANS"...FOOD/FUN...ART...NATURE...SCIENCE...and we made fans to represent! (We watched Disney's "Polly" and danced along...shaking those fans!)




We combined food and art (chocolate pudding finger-painting)for lots of fun..."Grandma can we lick it??!!" Of course!!



We read "Hailstones and Halibut Bones" by Mary O'Neill from BEREA, OHIO! As we listened to each "color" poem, we thought about what color means to us...we each picked our favorite color and created collages to express our ideas.

Our nature walk yielded beautiful specimens which we affixed to our duct tape bracelets.



For the science portion of our camp experience, we watched the different ways color disperses in fresh water, and salt water...AND we combined colors to see what would happen...F-A-N-S Camp was FUN!!!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Summer 2010


We started our vacation in Long Beach, Washington...it is one of our favorite places on the coast...then we spent a few days in Seaside, Oregon...drove from there to Tillamook (ice cream), Rockaway (best clam chowder anywhere!), Garibaldi (bakery)...hmmm...we do more than eat, honestly!



I took a crash course in cranberry growing...I thought we would see the "bogs" but that doesn't happen until harvest...


We explored caves at Hug Point...


We had to have a hug at Hug Point...unfortunately my arm isn't long enough to get a photo of the actual hug...you get the idea!

Bailey had her second annual Grandma Camp...with a French theme this year! We learned French words, ate French food, made a French message board and magnets, watched "The Red Balloon" and filmed our own version...Bailey wrote the script and acted, and Grandma videoed! It was tres, tres bien!


We enjoyed a trip to the zoo to see the new African exhibit.

We got up close to some cute little critters on the Wallaby Walkabout.

For Father's Day, the whole family met in the park for an outdoor movie night (Saturday night)...we didn't know what to expect, but we were ready for FUN! The girls were up dancing to The Blackeyed Peas..."I Got a Feeling" tonight's gonna be a good, good night!!!!!!!!

Once again, Dallin played in his high school alumni baseball game...he pitched 2 innings this year! He hadn't thrown a baseball in the year since his last game! He did well...and his team won!

Mia and McKena were baptized on the same day...June 5...they had their 8th birthdays 2 weeks apart, and looked forward to this very special day!

Brooklyn's ballet recital...Swan Lake...Lovely!

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

The Race for the Cure





Eden, her two girls, and I "raced" for the cure Saturday morning, along with 16,000 others! It was a beautiful sight...pink everywhere...representing those who have fought, are fighting, or may fight breast cancer. When Eden was in high school, as vice president of her class, she organized a Borah High contingent to participate in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. It has remained a commitment in her life, now with greater meaning than ever...her Aunt Karen is a two-time breast cancer survivor (my sister) and her cousin (my niece and namesake), Kristin, was just diagnosed and underwent a bilateral mastectomy a week ago. We proudly wore their names on our backs and celebrated their courage.

Cinco de Mayo


A few souvenirs from my trip provided the decorations...
Reed asked, "Is this a snowman?" "Or a pineapple?" OH! It must be a pineapple! Uh huh.

I wanted to have a Cinco de Mayo party, but it just didn't happen. I surprised Reed with a fiesta for two!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Still Thinking About Spring Break


Fireworks from the "pirate ship" on the bay...every night a different resort sponsors a brief fireworks display...one never knows where or when!

On the Malecon...thrilling display of native ritual.

Sisters and friends...

THE BEST COCONUT SHRIMP IN THE WORLD deserves its own photo!

These are my cute toes after my very first pedicure! I won it at the Welcome Fiesta.

Look carefully at this shell I found on the beach...what do you see????

AHHHH! Puerto Vallarta...The ideal relaxation destination...I had a little trouble getting there, unfortunately. My flight out of Boise was cancelled due to mechanical problems...the airline was able to reschedule me for the next day, so home I went...back to the airport at 5am the next day...the first officer of my flight got sick in the night, and COULDN"T FLY, so NEITHER COULD WE!!!! The airline brought in a new crew and thankfully, my long layover in San Francisco worked to my advantage...I made my connection and finally arrived a day and a half late. The tricky part was...there was no way to contact my sister, who was already there waiting for me! I decided to email her, and when I didn't show up, I hoped she would think to check HER email. She did. So, the day I finally arrived, she was in the lobby, peering into every cab that pulled up...questioning loudly, "Is it HER?" By the time I arrived, the entire staff had been alerted and ran to greet me (with a sigh of relief as big as my own, I'm sure!).