Infallible Fall

“Now, let me say unequivocally that I am thrilled with the educational and other opportunities that are available to women. I treasure the fact that the backbreaking work and domestic drudgery required of women has been reduced in much of the world because of modern conveniences and that women are making such magnificent contributions in every field of endeavor. But if we allow our culture to reduce the special relationship that children have with mothers and grandmothers and others who nurture them, we will come to regret it.” (From GC by Quentin L. Cook)

Grandpa Dan and I are grateful that our dear sons and daughters-in-law encourage closeness with our very precious grandchildren.  We sometimes talk with them on the phone, exchange emails with several of them, receive cards, notes, and pictures from them, and are invited to some of their special events.  We can’t always make it, but we try very hard to go to as many as we can.  And best of all, sometimes they make the long drive, or flight, to visit us!  That’s what happened last weekend.  Even Santa Claus couldn’t have equaled the excitement we felt when we heard that Ethan and Missy’s family were coming to town!  Even though it took an unbelievable amount of work, we persuaded a local farmer to put on a Fall Festival in their honor!  ☻ Shane, just up from Provo for a visit before his long trip to Peru, was our photographer.  Thank you, Shane!

Three itsy bitsy spiders climbed on the spider web, Brooklyn, Lilly, and Zaid.

All aboooooaaaard?!

Patient little ponies

It’s a cornbox, right? think they can build a corncastle?

They call it a grain train

Swinging along down the trail

Ride –him, cowboys!

Last, we all hungrily trudged through the corn, thinking that corn
mazes aren’t all they’re Jimmy crack corned up to be.

Haha, he made a tree guardian for us

And then we went to Chick- Fil-A, then took in a 3D movie at Colin and Macey’s cute new house, followed by a wiener roast in Grandma and Grandpa’s backyard. Hurray for family, for fall, and for fun times together.  And prayers, please, for our sweet son Shane on his travels.

Twelfth Trip to the NIH

For this month’s appointment, Dr. Farooqui was no where to be found. But I wasn’t the least bit disappointed, because he was in Europe, on his honeymoon!  Congratulations to him and his lucky bride!  Happily, my labs were all very good.  The Ibrutinib continues its good work against the stubborn CLL.  My platelets are fine at 165k, but the PA said they’re keeping an eye on them because it’s unusual that they’ve been declining a bit lately.  I took a short nine-day course of Prednisone in August to get rid of one of the pain flare-ups that I’ve been prone to since starting the trial last summer.  Some pain is still nipping at my heels from time to time, but not so much that I’m ready to ask for Prednisone again.  More good news, I found out that I won’t need another bone marrow biopsy until next June.  Whew, big relief!  That covers Wednesday of last week, and brings us to Tuesday
at the National Mall, and Thursday at Mount Vernon With my sisters, Julie and Jamie.  We were the gleeful threeful, sharing lots of laughs, lots of love, and lots of fun. 

Mastering the Metro

Hanging out at the National Mall

Vietnam Women’s Memorial - The woman looking up is named Hope,
the woman praying is named Faith, and the woman tending to a wounded
soldier is named Charity. 

Finding Kenneth Avery’s name on the Wall (Dan’s cousin)

Mount Vernon, George Washington’s estate

Lunch at Mount Vernon Inn

The goosegirl at the Tidal Basin

Korean War Memorial – I was allowed to touch!

WW II Memorial

On the bank of the Potomac

Royal Homecoming

This spacious  house, successively owned by three different siblings, which we called home for nearly nine years, will soon be sold to someone outside the family.  Consequently,, I had a strong desire to visit it this past Labor Day weekend for what will most likely be the last time.  Pardon the phrase, but we were treated like royalty in Royal City!  Iris made us feel very comfortable in our old home, and it was nice to know my way around.  Rick and JoLyn invited all of the Washburn relatives for a barbecue on Saturday night in their creatively landscaped badkyard.  We enjoyed the company of Ethan and Missy’s family, Iris with her sons, Matthew and Michael, and of course that of our hosts, Rick and JoLyn.

JoLyn's Fairy Garden

Looking for Pixies

Rick, Iris & Mathew

Which way should I go?

 After we left the barbecue, the flood of emotion that greeted me upon entering our old house was completely unexpected.  The first night and morning of our stay, our family’s collective past sorrows and regrets were uppermost in my heart and mind.  It seemd to me that some of our sons had been happy in this home, and others probably had not.  I thought of things I wish I had known, and things I wish I’d handled differently during those busy, growing times that can never return.  I snuggled up to the big old walnut tree that Dan’s brother Alan planted so many years ago, which we learned was one of Jordan’s favorite spots there, and I just cried all those sad memories away.  From then on, everything was bliss.

Dear friends made me feel so welcome and loved at church the next morning.  I surprised myself by recalling some of their phone numbers that I hadn’t thought of in over a dozen years.  Shane is going to Peru this fall.  It was good to find out that Ted and Jean have a daughter and son-in-law serving a mission there, so they said I could call them for their contact information in case Shane should have need of it.   The Sunday School class was well taught  by a young man I’d taught when he was a teenager.  I had to laugh when he bore his testimony in sacrament meeting, saying, “And Sister Washburn, in case my voice has lost some hair, or gained a few pounds, this is Chad Bergeson.”  Attending my old wonderful ward, and greeting so many friends once more, is an experience I will always treasure.

 After church, The Farrers invited us yet again to their home, where we enjoyed a brunch of their famous crepes with a variety of toppings, and lots of bacon! JoLyn also made one of Dan’s mom’s favorite breakfast dishes, eggs goldenrod.  Mmm mmm, happy!

We visited Dan’s sister, Janet, and her husband, Don, the next morning in Moses Lake.  Janet loves critters, and showed off all her chickens, guineas, dogs, and alpacas to us.

Janet's Alpacas

Janet's Guineas

Then we had a nice visit in Othello for a couple of hours, at Ethan’s and Missy’s home.  Every moment spent with our grandchildren is a precious one, because of how much we love, care, and pray for them..  They warm our hearts, and make us laugh, too.  Zaid rattled off a long string of “dadadadadadaddada’s” when we were all at the Farrer’s barbecue and Rick was doing a little juggling.  I finally asked Missy what he was saying.  It was meant to be the familiar melody generally recognized as circus music.  I’m still chuckling over that one.

Zaid

Our last hurrah of the weekend was to meet up with Ethan’s family, Iris and Matthew, and Ric and JoLyn to take in a movie, Ephraim’s Rescue, in TriCities.  And thus ended our greatly enjoyed visit.  Thank you, Royal City area friends and family.  Live long and prosper.

Forty Years in the Wilderness ... Together

On Aug. 24, 1973, a very naïve couple, Dan and Bonnie, were joined by their families, a few siblings and friends, for their (our) marriage in the Salt Lake Temple.  Looking back on the four decades of family life that began that day, we could easily become overwhelmed by the extent of the trials and blessings that have come our way.  It’s so great to note that we are still happy, still love one another, and are eager for more. We are so very grateful for the seven sons Heavenly Father sent us, and love them now just as much or more than we did when they were adorable little children.   Although neither we, nor they, have necessarily behaved adorably all the time, they have taught us to hang on when things get tough, and to let go when the time is right.  I know I’ve learned a lot more about God’s tender feelings for us, His children, from being a parent myself.  With every new member that comes into our ever expanding family, the learning only continues.  What a school!  Come what may, our love and commitment to this now 40-year-old family will never fail.  It endureth for how long?  Forever.

Rather than summarizing the last 40 years, we think it best to stick with just some of this summer’s activities.  Enter Dan’s sister, Iris, and her two sons, Matthew and Michael.  

Looking for fossils at the Algal Reef

Close-up of Algal Reef

 We met up with this little creature in Owyhee county, named after a mispelled version of Hawaii.

 Feisty the lizard

 

Admiring our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Church in Oreana, Idaho

 

 

 

We took a ride on the Thunder Mountain train from Horseshoe Bend to Banks

 

Michael sluicing for gold in Banks

And here’s his sluice treasure!

One evening, we walked to our neighborhood park and had lots of free fun rolling down a grassy hill.  I couldn’t do it without laughing my head off every single time.  If you miss out on something in your childhood, what’s to say you can’t do it even if you’re a grandmother? Nada!

Dan and I made a quick day trip to Utah to see Julie, and to attend part of his brother Alan’s family reunion.  Shane came up from Provo too, so we did lots of catching up all in one afternoon.

Shane & cousin Cassie from Texas

Dan, Alan, and Iris

I’ve heard that good things come in threes.  It must be true because our next adventure took us to Atlanta, Idaho.  This turned out to be a timely visit, because the historic hamelet is now under evacuation orders due to a nearby forest fire.  Its surrounded by the Boise National Forest, which is why we saw plenty of evidence of previous fires all around.  
 

The huge mounds of gravel are leftovers from the placer mining for gold that took place there in the late 1800’s.

My favorite spot is right here, soaking in one of Atlanta’s hot springs

Tree hugger

 It’s a good thing that I took time to hug a tree.  It could be the last hug it ever gets, unless that fire is containe pretty soon.

Fly Fisherman on the Middle Fork of the Boise River

Sherri, the woman who cooked our breakfast at the Beaver Lodge, says she moves up every summer, and goes fishing every day while she’s there. 

Greylock mountain, 1 mile north of Atlanta.

Dan got to see a beaver dam up close and personal.

And now we’re home, ready to start plowing the back forty. :D

A Small Slice of Paradise

Within its first few hours of completion, a thirsty little hummingbird had already been spotted flitting about in this magivcally created backyard birthday fairy garden.  I’m so glad someone was there to see and tell me so that I knew.  I took his visits as a sign of nature putting the stamp of approval on my tiny, whimsical garden.  
 

Fairy pool

 JoLyn, queen of the fairies, was the designer and implementer.   She was deftly assisted by  two more garden fairies, Gayle and Hank Pollock.  Almost the whole yard received a very welcome makeover so they were kept busy with a variety of tasks – weeding, then putting down weed barrier, picking up and spreading a load of Boise pea gravel, pulling out an overgrown boxwood hedge, and hauling away debris. Only the fairy garden is ready to be highlighted today though.  The other areas need to settle in and grow a little before they’re ready for prime time viewing. 
 

Iris painted the stepping stones.

 A little magic makes all the difference!  Dan’s talented sister, Iris, got the magic started by simply suggesting that ornamental grasses would look nice in place of the hedge.  She also did some pruning for us, and everything seemed to just mushroom from there. 

 It has been a  Happy, happy birthday to me!  I wonder how I will ever thank you enough, all of my dear, dear friends.

Here is a song Julie sent me this morning.

Now I'd like a slice of cake to go with my slice of paradise please!