Eighteen Months Later!

 I won't lie...sending off each of my missionaries was a leap of faith.  We were so happy that a mission is what they chose and excited for the experience a mission would be, but not seeing your child for 18-24 months is HARD!   After doing it three times through before I thought it might be a little easier with Ellie, but that was not the case.   I think it was partially because she was my baby and partially because of all the health issues she's faced, but I was antsy as can be for the last few months of her mission.  It didn't help that about 15 months in she started having more seizures and  really didn't feel very well.  I honestly wondered if they would just send her home a little early, since it was so close to the end of her mission anyway.   But that's not what she wanted and after some telehealth appointments with her neurologist here and some medication adjustments, she started doing better.  

Then I fear I became a broken record for most of April and May.  If anyone asked me how I was doing, I would giddily say I was great because my missionary was coming home.   And then they would be surprised when I would tell them she wasn't returning until mid-June.  Those last few weeks felt like they took forever, but then one day I found my milk carton...

And then, after many distracting projects (one of the big reasons why this poor blog became neglected),  the day finally arrived.   Traffic was terrible and it was a mad dash into the airport with only a few of us actually making it in time, but she came home!   

It won't let me embed the video, but here is when I got my hug.   My sister was supposed to be the photographer for the moment, but she was caught in traffic, so it's a little chaotic.    

 https://youtube.com/shorts/9AzgDKP4BK4?si=uuDAxn8-4eb8gik7 

   

 

It definitely wasn't the big welcoming party we envisioned, but at least some of us were there...

The rest of the party was far enough away at that point that they just got out of the traffic and turned around.  We met them for dinner at Aubergine (Ellie's choice).   The big group included my Mom, sisters Heather and Kristina, brother Nate,  Kristina's boys, Adam, Spence, and Glen and I.   

Adam made a new Welcome Home sign for her to replace the one McKenzie made and we've had hanging up since he got home about 2 years ago.  

Denali was VERY excited to see her again...

A few days later, Cami and family, and Emma arrived...

And Heather took our photos after super smoky air and storms canceled our professional session...

Then Ellie had her homecoming talk and surprised us with this musical number.  

She had NEVER done a musical number or even sung in a choir before her mission, so the fact that she could/would sing a harmonic duet  shocked us in a happy kind of way!   I find myself listening to it a lot.   She also gave a beautiful talk and Bishop T. called Glen (calling him Bishop) up at the end to return her plaque to her.  I think it meant a lot to Glen to be a part of that, especially since many people in our home ward don't even know us since we've been serving down at BYU.  

Ellie had a cohort of mission friends there...

After the service we headed home for some snacks and socializing.   

We are so happy to have our girly home again and already sad that she'll be leaving us to head back to school again so soon!  

Making Memories in N.E.

“You can leave heirlooms, but the most precious things you can leave are memories. When you are gone, you won’t be gone in your grandchildren’s lives—they will remember you. Grandparents, you are memory makers.”  M. Russell Ballard

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While Adam was off gallivanting around eastern Europe, I left the homeland at the end of April to make memories with my New England peeps!  New England in the winter is treacherous (they got over 5 feet of snow this past year), but New England in the shoulder seasons is much more delightful.   

Even the rain was delightful, because rain in Utah is exceedingly scarce...especially this year.   We've barely had any more rain than a  few drizzle events all summer long, so watching the kiddos play in puddles brought back so many memories of my own childhood and....  

more memories from when our kids were little.  This cute one of Ellie and her friend Gavin (?) from when she was a similar age makes me smile! 

I think I may have been a bit more indulgent with their puddle escapades than their mom would have been, but, you know, that's what memories are made of.   😂

Cami was quite sick (possibly with pneumonia) when I arrived, so I did a lot of babysitting at the beginning.  We spent time at the library...

in the yard and at the park....

and at the zoo where Lucie was delighted to meet a goat named Lucy...

Oliver, however, was not so sure...

Cami ended up at urgent care one day after having been quite ill for about 2 weeks and was prescribed some antibiotics.  Thankfully that seemed to be the ticket and she was soon better enough that we took the whole fam downtown before I left for home.  

WE made sure to send this photo to Heather to let her know how scared we were of the swan mural... (IYKYK)  

It was a very pleasant day exploring beautiful Providence...

which, surprise, surprise, also included some ice cream...

I quite enjoyed this unique ice cream place downtown made with cereal milk. 

Another day, we  also enjoyed this fun ice cream spot one of our ward members from BYU had told me about.   It's not far from where she grew up and she had recommended it to us to try.  

We went on walks most evenings.  We let the kids walk, so they weren't fast or far treks, but it was nice to get outside together once everyone was home from work.  

I left there a little tired...

but with a happy Grandma heart for the memories we were able to make together. 

Stay tuned for more catch-up posts to come...

Birthday Weekend with Birds and Trains

Glen and I have a deal that we don't really go big for birthdays.   We celebrate them, but neither of us has any expectations for anything elaborate.   Good food is required, while gifts are totally optional.   We try to do something fun to celebrate, but honestly what we do is driven more by the birthday person than anyone planning something for the other.   That may make us sound a bit lame, but it works for us.

  Between all of the stuff going on with my family (Heather's injury and my Mom's new diagnosis), the extended family drama (which happily crossed a good threshold in the last couple weeks), Glen winding up working at one toxic job and beginning to transition to a new one (in essence working part-time at TWO jobs currently),  some health stress for our missionary,  and our very busy schedule serving in Provo, I hadn't really been thinking much about my birthday at all.  But when I realized it was on a Saturday, I decided we needed to do something...anything...to celebrate and relax a bit.    

Thus our grand birdwatching and historical birthday adventure began!   

We started the day early by driving up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.    Heather let me borrow her fancy camera for the day, and though most of my pictures turned out a little blurry, I did get a few good ones in the mix.   And I thought that having a good telephoto lens camera along with our binoculars really added a fun element to birdwatching.     Here are a few of our favorite shots from the day.  

These American white pelicans were just chilling in the water and were one of our first "exciting" finds of the day...

This ring-necked pheasant was gorgeous...

We saw several raptors, including American kestrel, Swainson's hawk, a red tailed hawk, and others...

This pretty little meadowlark looked like it was posing for us...

We thought these long-billed curlews were fascinating...
 

We did the auto-tour twice and did a guided walking tour as well, and after all that soaking in the beauty and peace of being out in nature, we journeyed onward to the Golden Spike National Historical Park. 

  The park marks the place where the Eastern bound railroads met the Western bound railroads in 1869.  Apparently Promontory Point became a bustling hub for a while, but eventually the railroads built a new causeway across the Great Salt Lake, which was a much more direct route, leaving it a ghost town. 

We were surprised to learn that during WWII, they ceremoniously UNdrove the golden spike, ripped up the railroad for steel for the war, and officially decommissioned the railroad line completely.   Everything there at the historical site  now is a replica of the original, including the two trains that made the official original trek.  

It was an interesting place to visit, though it was out of the way enough, I don't think we'll be going back anytime soon.  Perhaps someday we'll take Oliver (and other interested grandchildren) to check out the trains, but for now I think the long drive would be too much.  

After all that adventuring in the middle of nowhere, we were ready for some real food!   So on the way home we stopped by Smoked Taco (my favorite)...

And then found Milk Barn Creamery in Ogden for some ice cream.  We love finding independently owned ice cream places when we travel and this one fit the bill perfectly.  We've been searching high and low for Zwahlen's equal (our favorite ice cream ever near our home in PA), and this one was better than average, but still not quite as good!  Definitely a great way to end a relaxing day of adventures.   

After that we went home.   I very much enjoyed these flowers from an apartment of guys in our YSA ward (the Dutch boys) and lots of nice texts from friends, family, and ward members.  

It was exactly the kind of laid-back day of adventuring that I was craving and it made getting older feel not so bad. 
 
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