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!!!

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!

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!

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!).

A Fun Day With Cache...

I "salted" my walk route with "gold" coins, then took Cache on a treasure hunt...he filled his bag as we walked..."Look, Grandma, there's another one!"

Then, we were off to the Discovery Center...


The robotic arm spelled, "CACHE"

Cache's favorite activity at the Discovery Center...the pulley chair!

"Over there, Grandma!"

Cache found "the perfect thing" at the dollar store! We laughed and laughed at his googly eyes!

Happy New Year!

Luckily it's still January! I have had trouble uploading photos to the blog, so I have put off reporting recent events...January 4 was especially "festive"...our Boise State Broncos won the Fiesta Bowl...Jay and Dallin DROVE to Phoenix with a group of 8 guys...had a fabulous time...kept calling me up until game time to see if I had "stomach crunchies!" I have this reputation for premonitions of wins and losses based on what we all term "crunchies." Hey...trust the tummy...WE WON! I never had a single "crunchy." Any football fans out there may remember the fake punt...executed to perfection by 2 Boise boys...the punter, Kyle Brotzman is from Meridian High School, whose head coach just happens to be my son-in-law, Kip! I saw Kyle kick what I estimated to be a 60 yard field goal at one of his high school games...Reed wasn't there to see it, and couldn't believe it when I told him...well, sure enough, in the paper the next day, the actual length was 59 yards. Fantastic!

The Pride of Berea!

Friday night, September 11, 2009, Karen's family joins her at Tressel Field before the football game. Her induction into the Berea High School Athletic Hall of Fame was announced a few months ago, and we all wanted to support her in that honor...she asked me to be her presenter at the induction ceremony, and I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Our brother, David, was inducted in 1985. I didn't get to be there for him, so I knew I had to make it to Karen's. She was a national champion synchronized swimmer, and represented the USA at the Rome Olympics in 1960...demonstrating as an exhibition sport before it was officially accepted in 1984. She also coached for 25 years, and one of her daughters was an All American at Ohio State, and another went on to be named national developmental coach of the year.

My sister, Karen, is introduced on the field at the Berea/ Parma football game.

Karen and I (both BHS cheerleaders, class of '58 and '67) joined the current cheerleaders for a rousing rendition of the fight song! Fight that team, boys, fight that team, show them Berea's in...

What a show! The stands were full at the stadium at Baldwin Wallace College...for the football game...or rather, I think, the band performance!! Outstanding!!

Before the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, we gathered at the cemetary to take flowers to Mom and Dad...then drove back past 70 Baker and Danny decided to ask if we could come in to see our old home...the new owner allowed a tour, and then surprised us with a piece of our Mom's handiwork, still displayed inside.

This is one of Mom's scherrenschnittes...she had given it to her next-door neighbor, who, in turn, gave it to the owner of our old house...she enclosed a note within the frame stating that it was part of the history of the house and should stay with it...the new owner keeps it on the mantle in the living room, and shared the story with us. Karen, her family and I were taken aback, and it touched us deeply.

I also had the pleasure of reconnecting with old friends...I hadn't seen Karen for 33 years...it didn't matter...we picked up where we left off!
Carol, Karen, Bruce and I...hanging out at Panera...reminiscing...Karen had brought some photos, yellow with age(!) We were so cute back then...prom, church camp, graduation parties...fun!