The last couple of months since we returned from Europe have been delightful: spending time with family, enjoying the beauty of the U.S., and reacquainting ourselves with the things that we missed. But it’s been a whirlwind, too. We started this week in Utah, bouncing from place to place and soaking up time with people we love. Now we are in Santa Cruz, California, still enjoying loved ones, but at a slower pace.
While we were in Utah, Nathan busied himself doing a few home projects for his stepmom, Margaret. He replaced faucets, helped her order new shades for the kitchen window, and fixed some difficult doorknobs. He also played the violin for Max on several occasions and even gave him a haircut. I worked on adding a few “homey” touches to Max’s room at the care center, like some silk plants and an extra change of bedding. We compiled a mini biography of Max and made a cute poster of it so that people who don’t know him can appreciate what an amazing life he has lived. One of the most time-consuming projects for me was to collect family photos from everyone, add digital name labels to each photo, and upload those to Max’s new digital photo frame. It was a joyful project, but a big family means that there are a lot of photos!
We got to visit with friends from different parts of our lives–music, dance, work, and neighbors. We stopped by our house and dug through our storage to pick up a few things. I will say that we lost our nerve a bit and gave up on some of the items on our lists. We did end up with the important stuff–music, an electric guitar, and some different clothes! We also hiked to Bell Canyon reservoir with Liz, Christian, Michael, and Ammon and had a marvelous time.
We set off for California on Thursday and it was a lovely day for travel. We normally don’t enjoy stopping in Reno, but we found an amazing Mexican restaurant that made the pause feel more worth it. Now we are installed in the guest house at Nathan’s Uncle Ron’s place. It has felt good to take things at a slightly slower pace for a few days. I am getting a lot of knitting done, finishing up some books, and enjoying my visits with Aunt Martha. Nathan is putting in a lot of time practicing and playing chamber music with Ron. The ocean air is refreshing and having a break from the heat has been a blessing. We’ve also had a few minutes to plan our next couple of months.
Some of you are wondering, “So, what about the baby?” Well, the news is…no news. Hanna’s doctor is unconcerned that she is still pregnant. She is healthy. Baby is healthy. We are patiently awaiting his arrival and trying to be zen about the whole thing. He is just fashionably late, I guess!
We will be here in Cali for a few more days, and then it will be on to Portland to see El and Adia. They moved in the spring and we are eager to see their new home and spend a couple of days with them.