Hello and Good-bye

Say hello to Lucy Charlotte – our beautiful little granddaughter born Tuesday, April 12^th.

Steve and I went to St. Louis on Friday and got to hold and love her. Here is the happy grandpa.

And here is the whole family. Not a really "beautiful" photo - they were trying to get Emily and Lucy out the door to the doctor for a check-up and so things were kind of rushed.

It is such a blessing to live so close-by. Joe had to return to work a week after she was born so we offered to have Noah for a few days to allow mom and daughter to continue to get to know to each other. Last Wednesday night, at the half-way point of Jonesburg, Joe and Steve met for the Noah exchange. And, for the next three nights and two days, we got to enjoy our energizer bunny grandson. He was so good. He started to get weepy Wednesday night when it was time for bed but all I had to say was, “would you like me to read you a story?” and the tears just vanished. He LOVES his books (like everybody else in the family). We really didn’t do anything exciting. He roared at Alfred every chance he could get and then giggled as the poor terrorized cat raced away. He was sweet and gentle with Sadie and loved to pet Trissy. He ate well, slept well, let me wash his hair and brush his teeth (singing the “Hot Tamales” song – cha cha cha). He went visiting teaching with me Friday morning and played with three-year old Ike. And, thanks to his favorite DVD, Wall-e, he didn’t disturb me as I taught a few cello students. I am certainly out of Easter bunny mode, however, because it was Beckie who remembered to bring some eggs to hunt on Saturday morning. Here he is – I couldn’t get him to stay still long enough for a photo.

Of the three I took, this one had his face in the best focus. A moving target all the time. Here he is opening up his egg treasures.

And here is the gang for Saturday morning breakfast before Steve and Tamara left to take Noah back to St. Louis and to have their own Lucy visit.

Two Sundays ago, we said good-bye to our good friend and "adopted son", Jason Bell. He is now counting cows and pigs in Washington D.C. Well, I don’t know exactly what type of statistics he is doing for the FDA in his new office but hopefully, he will enjoy his new position and living in D.C. We will miss him for our Sunday dinners and games. Steven will miss a video-gaming partner and Beckie a companion for going to the movies.

Steve and I attended two concerts last weekend. Friday was the annual stake Easter Cantata and it really felt strange to not be involved with it (besides baking 4 dozen gluten-free cookies for refreshments). Saturday night was the final CCO concert for the season. We performed a night of Spanish music and, although some of it was rather tricky to play and/or count, it was quite fun to play. I love playing in CCO but I am ready to enjoy having Tuesday nights free for a few months.

At this point in the academic year, it becomes count-down time. Three more trips to Central Methodist University. Two more adult string classes. Six more CIS orchestra mornings. Four more weeks of Music Appreciation classes. Good-bye 2010-11 school year. Hello summer!

Traveling through spring break.............

Well, so many days have elapsed since we went on our spring break trip that it seems almost anti-climactic to blog about it now. And, yet, I will because it is a great story that all began by driving east to Indiana the last weekend in March. Elise was performing with the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir Saturday evening so we drove as far as Lafayette Friday night and stayed with Julina. She is so busy with her studies that she could only spare Saturday morning to be with us so we went together to downtown Lafayette to visit a favorite candy story and walk around the town square. Here is Julina and Steve at the county courthouse.

We then drove to Indianapolis where we picked up Elise and went to lunch at a little French café in downtown Carmel (where they serve gluten-free crepes!) Then we took a tour of Miniature Museum that had dozens of dollhouses that were just incredible in their detail. The photo below is one of them on display outside. Here is Elise and Steve just before her performance that evening. The concert was a tribute to Hollywood and Broadway and was very enjoyable.

After attending Sunday meetings with Elise, we returned to Columbia via a quick detour through St. Louis to visit Emily, Joe, and Noah.

Next morning, bright and early, we headed west for Utah. We drove all day, avoiding snow in Nebraska by taking the Kansas route. And, surprise surprise (not really) we found a Russell Stover factory outlet along the way. And, it really was at a factory, too. Here is Steve helping out with the chocolate.

The roads and weather were great until we got to Wyoming when we dealt with rain that was trying to turn wintry on the roads. So, going got pretty slow and we didn’t pull into American Fork until after 2:00 a.m. Tuesday morning. We stayed in Steve’s mom’s house the whole week – just turned the fridge on & set the thermostat up higher since Iola has been either in the hospital or rehab facility since Christmas. This was one of the main reasons to go to Utah – so Steve could visit with his mother and help his brothers and sisters determine the best course of action for her care since her stroke has rendered her left arm and leg pretty useless and has also had an effect upon her mental state. She is mostly in the present but will often have lapses into non-reality. Here is a photo of one of the visits with her at the care center in Bountiful.

back row: Michelle, Maureen front row: Cal, Iola, Steve

Ultimately, it was determined that neither Michelle nor Maureen could care for her long-term so she has been moved into a home where a husband and wife specialize in caring for the elderly. It is actually their home, they only have four residents and they treat them more like grandparents than patients. They are from Tonga – Pita and Latu – and Pita (husband) is an RN and Latu is a CNA. Michelle’s father-in-law has advanced Alzheimers and has been living there for about a year. Steve, Michelle, Maureen with her husband Cal, drove up to visit this home on Friday and everyone was very impressed that this was the best course of action.

It was great to see all of Steve’s brothers and sisters during the week. Here is a photo of them the last night we were there.

back row: Jeff, Dave, Steve front row: Michelle and Maureen

During the last part of the week, Michelle, Maureen and Cal, and Steve and I started to do some sorting/pitching/distributing of Iola’s many, many things. We worked hard and got a lot done but there is still much more to do. While going through kitchen cupboards, below is what Steve found!

Iola heard somewhere that eating one or two gin-soaked raisins a day would help with arthritis. I think it is funny to have two stake presidency members with the bottle.

We got to make a short visit with Jamilyn and Kason Haban (my sister Juli's daughter and grandson) since she lives in Lehi, right next door to American Fork.

Of course, another big reason was to visit Kirsti. She had an orchestra concert Tuesday night and here is a photo of her and Steve just before the performance.

Being in Salt Lake during conference week was another plus. Cindy Layton, the stake Relief Society president, and I (her first counselor) attended some training by the General Relief Society Presidency Tuesday afternoon at the tabernacle. Here we are on Temple Square after the meeting.And, we got tickets for the Saturday morning session of general conference –

Kirsti and her boyfriend, Ryan Merrill, joined us in attendance. Here is a picture of the four of us after the session in front of our favorite temple.........

Sadly, it was time to head back to Columbia so we drove Saturday afternoon as far as Castle Rock, Colorado (via Wyoming with better road conditions this go-around but lots of wind gusts. You should have seen Steve’s white shirt after the wind whipped his tie into his Little America chocolate ice cream cone then flipped it around his shirt). Kendra Kabel (my sister Judy’s oldest granddaughter) and family live in Castle Rock (a Denver suburb) and they graciously let us crash there for the night. Kendra has four beautiful kids – here is a photo of them (dad James was not available at the time).

left to right: Claire, Noah, Ethan, Kendra, Ashton

We drove as far as Strasburg, Colorado (just east of Denver) and stopped at an LDS meetinghouse to catch the morning session of conference. Then, back through Kansas and into a horrendous storm from Topeka all the way back to Columbia. Before we drove into it, this is what it looked like – have to admit it was pretty impressive.

So, back home early Monday morning and we hit the week running and haven’t stopped since. Boy, what a ridiculously busy life we have……………