Where did summer go?

This spring was a busy one. April 26th, my friend Carol and I flew to Utah to begin the final part of our Church History tour last fall.  It was a six temple tour combined with the church sites that we had not yet seen. 

 Since the Heber City Temple was closed, we began our trip with a visit to the Provo City Temple. I had not yet been inside, and was extremely impressed with the attention to detail and the beauty of the building!

Went through the Badlands...was very impressive. Mother nature is quite the architect!

This is the biggest buffalo in the world...good grief!

Went through several small historic towns. Such nostalgia!

The Minneapolis-St Paul area was very nice and we were able to see the St Paul Cathedral as well as the Mall of America....apparently worship takes place in both locales!

Indoor amusement park....entertain the kids while mom shops! LOL!

Carol stops for a photo shoot on our way to see Wicked!

First time viewers, we were both excited and certainly not disappointed!

As we made our way south and west again we stopped at Mt Pisgah, a place of refuge for the LDS pioneers. Both Thomas Hayes and his wife were buried here. Their three children were raised by an uncle who took them to Salt Lake with his family. They are Doyle's relatives on his mother's side.

This was a lovely farm area and it had a rather large settlement of Mormons. The people of Iowa in contrast to Illinois, were very kind to the persecuted Mormons. Our guide owns land in this area and he was very helpful and kind.

In Council Bluffs we learned more about our pioneer ancestors. As you can see another of Doyle's ancestors was a non-commissioned participant in the Mormon Battalion. Ebenezer Brown and below, his wife Phebe, accompanied him on the nearly 2,000 mile trek.

An example of the uniform that was worn by the commissioned officers.

A garden by the visitors center at Winter Quarters is to honor those who trekked, suffered and died in this area. We were able to attend the Winter Quarters Temple, and it too paid tribute to those faithful pioneers.

Our tour had come to an end and we traveled by plane out of Kansas City. I had a day and a half layover with Micah and Noble's families, so we got together and celebrated Noble's 34th birthday!

My two sweet, hairy boys! Love these kids!

My dear Autumn sent this to me for Mother's Day....awwww!

Liora, Haven's youngest, Haven and I went out to the cemetery as is customary on May 12 and again October 5. We cleaned up Kelsey and Doyle's headstones and paid our respects to these two "angels" that we know we will see again one day! Miss you boys!

Summer was here before I knew it and even with plans to stay home and garden this year, I could not resist a short trip with my two good friends, Carol and Deanna!

We rented a cabin in Winthrop, WA, about 2 hours from home in the Cascade Mountains. The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed this little western town filled with history, stories and of course, fun shops and yummy restaurants!

The outdoor historical park was filled with antiques of every kind and after taking us back 100 years, we were most grateful for indoor plumbing and AC!

Even though the downtown was touristy in nature, the people seemed laid back and very pleasant....this fellow didn't have much to say for himself...

Stopped for ice cream one day and just had to saddle-up!

On our way home we had to stop by Cashmere where we got a genuine 1950s hamburger and milkshake at the 50s Diner! Now that history is not so ancient that we could not relate! Yay Elvis!

The rest of the summer was spent working in the yard and playing with grandkids. We had terrible wildfires this year, so ended up in Utah early in August and played with kiddos there. Ariel drove down and we spent five days at BYU Education Week. A first for both of us. My sister, June, drove down to meet us and the three of us had a very enlightening and fun time!

 The Museum of Art on campus had this original Nativity by Brian Kershisnik, which I love, and this rainbow installation using the skylight for effect. They had a great cafe as well! Met up with LuAnn Warren from Pleasanton, CA for lunch. Always so good to see friends!

 Home again and summer is drawing to a close. Still hot out, but the kids have returned to school and my gardening efforts have proved sufficient. Lots of strawberries, raspberries, tomatoes, green beans and even cantaloupes. Now for drying, freezing and canning!

Happy Autumn!

Catalina Island, Oakland and New York...Whew!!!

As soon as winter began its retreat, the kids were asking me to come and visit...why not?!

It was a great trip and I loved every minute!

First stop was seeing Autumn in Santa Catalina Island off the coast of Long Beach, California. Joel was busy touring Vietnam on a motorcycle with his two brothers, so Autumn and I had some great "girl" time together!

 Anyone who knows me would not have been surprised by my delight to see flowers actually blooming after a very long and cold winter!

 I had a harrowing ride to the ferry and made it by 2 minutes! After the hour long ferry ride I was met by Autumn in this little golf cart. These carts are popular on the island and although there are a few cars, jeeps and pickups, the waiting time to get permission for a car is several years!

 Autumn and Joel have a cute little one bedroom apartment (which is incredibly difficult to find!) The town is only 3200 people in about a 3 square mile area. The Wriggly family (yes the gum) had purchased the island in 1919 and built it into a resort. Many famous people have vacationed here and Marilyn Monroe lived a block or so from where Autumn is! Phillip Wriggly inherited his father's empire and decided that he did not want to see it full of condos, so he donated 95% of the land to the Los Angeles Parks Commission and made it a nature conservancy. The town of Avalon is a very small part of this beautiful island full of rugged scenery and wildlife.

 This interesting building is called the Casino, but no gambling here. It was built in 1920 as a reception, theater and ballroom. The deco artwork and the tile work (which Catalina is famous for) was breathtaking.

 Beautiful marine paintings cover the arched entry walls of this unusual building.

 The theater boasts stylized paintings- which makes for a very dramatic setting.

 The ballroom is on the upper floor and can comfortable accommodate over 3,000 dancers.

For more info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalina_Casino

The harbor is always filled with activity and because of the heavy rains this winter the hills are very green and lush. This is a view of the harbor taken from the Casino, which is Italian meaning a place of gathering.

 Tiles are a favorite and can be seen all over town. This is the city square and fountain.There are still two tile -makers in the area.

 This is a photo of Avalon as we ventured into the hills and inland to see the rest of this beautiful island.

 More flowers in bloom and verdant hills everywhere.

 Scottie was kind enough to take us in his jeep to the interior where isolated beaches, buffalo, fox and eagles can be seen. This is a rare sighting of the Autumn bird....

 A buffalo the size of a pickup had fortunately gotten himself barricaded behind this fence, as I was feeling too close for comfort!

 Eagle sanctuary currently houses a Golden and a Bald eagle. At some point they had been injured and were attempting to recuperate.

 These large sea birds were seen everywhere along with pelican and seagulls.

 Had to take a photo of my lobster dinner, as the restaurant owner had caught it by hand that very morning! Delicious!

Autumn went to the mainland with me as she was flying to Atlanta the following day for a conference. Was sad to leave this little island paradise and my sweet little girl!!

 Next stop was a flight into Oakland, where I met my sister June. We rented a car and went to see David, our brother. He has Downs Syndrome and is also autistic. It had been more than a year since I had seen him. Although a 51 years old, he looks much older and appears to be slightly frail. ( Don't tell him I said that...)

 June and I had fun between visits to David. Did a little silly shopping, ate great food and generally talked up a storm.

On Monday David returned to his "school" routine, so with a day left of our long weekend we went down the coast to Monterey where we enjoyed the ocean, the Monterey Aquarium and Bubba Gumps for dinner.

 Jelly fish and a sea turle were among the many interesting sights at the aquarium.

 Of course Cannery Row is a place made famous by John Steinbeck's book. The area has all been "yuppified"and is a delight to explore. Took this picture for Dan...our brewing wizard!

 Another plane ride and I met up with these kiddos and the family in New York. Spent two weeks playing with babies and enjoying the company of my two wonderful sons and their amazing wives!

 Ammon had a full beard from ski season (a family tradition) and decided to shave it off in stages....Kelsey style. Here are two of the funnier pictures of the process!

Unfortunately I only remember to get my camera out when I am around the grandkids, so had to add this picture of Dan, currently in Brooklyn and brewing up a storm at The Other Half Brewing Co. It was rated in the top 10 Craft Breweries in the US!!

 While I was in New York there a large  and ferocious blizzard that was predicted to shut down the city...ha! We got 4 inches of snow and it was business as usual in just a day or two. However friends let me know that upstate NY and parts of PA got 26" from that storm.

 This scene made me laugh. Ammon was telling the kids to watch how the garbage truck picked up the huge bins....entertainment in NYC!

Little Aden, who will tell you he is a big boy and super strong (cause he has metal in his bones) will be 4 in May and little Amaia who speaks "Amaiaise" is doing her best to keep up with him. She will be 2 in July. They are sweethearts and I enjoyed spending two weeks with them! 

However, I will say, I was glad to see my bed!