We have had a great week here in Missouri. I’ll give you a short update, but I would also like to make a request. We have shared recommendations for podcasts, books, musicm and the like in the past. Now, we would love to hear from you! What have you been reading? What music or podcasts are you liking lately? Have you seen a good movie? Please comment on this post or reply to my email. We love hearing from our friends and family! Now for what we’ve been up to…
Sad News
This will be a short post this week. I am sad to report that Nathan’s dad, Max, passed away last night. We are going to miss his zest for life and his forceful personality. He has been in cognitive decline for a couple of years and having him fade away has been really hard on everyone, especially him. This last year has been especially hard on his sweet wife, Margaret, and the rest of the family as it became more difficult to care for him. It is a great relief that he is out of pain and misery.
We will be traveling back to Utah this week and the funeral will most likely be on Monday, September 30. As such, I will probably not be posting on the blog for a while until we are back into a more regular rhythm (whatever that is!).
We love you, Max!
Missouri
Back to MO
Just a quick post this week. We hunkered down in Ohio/West Virginia and took refuge from the cold. We did lots of cozy things with the grandkids. We took a trip to the library to play and choose a big pile of books. Huck is a little reader now, so it’s fun to find stories that he can read. We spent A LOT of time reading those books–at the library, on the couch, and in a blanket fort. We also did crafts and built lots of Lego. We went with the kids to the children’s museum for a special STEAM class and then hours of play and building after that. We also took the older two out for a special lunch date. It was a great week! We are now back in St. Louis and excited to spend time with the other grandkids! Have a good week!
Back to the Fun
We slowed down a bit this week, but there was some birthday fun and I have details on our trip through the Mississippi Delta and on to Ohio. This is a long post, covering almost three weeks of a busy road trip, so if you just want the bullet points, read the first bit. For the down and dirty details, read on.
Slowing Down
I’m sorry I missed posting last week. After a full month on the road, I was just worn out!
When I wrote last, we were still in Portland. We finished out our time there with a visit to the beautiful Grotto. It’s a Catholic church next to a forested cliff area. They have created an outdoor chapel under the redwoods and it is absolutely beautiful. We set El and Adia up with a big haul of groceries. They made us a yummy dinner and we played a board game. Then we bid them farewell–hopefully to see them again in a few months.
Our drive from Oregon to Utah was uneventful (hooray!). We spent a few more days with family–we worked on a renovation project at Nathan’s sister’s place, took Margaret on a walk around Silver Lake and lunch at the Silver Fork Lodge, and spent more time with Max. Since he had a few serious spills, things were a bit rough while we were there this time. We tried to introduce a little joy into his difficult days with a visit from his violin and also joining in the care center’s Chocolate Party one evening. He loved the mint chocolate chip ice cream! I also snuck in one more dinner with my sister Jana. Again, we hope to see all those dear ones in a few months.
We continued our move eastward. Five years ago, I couldn’t imagine driving across the country. Then COVID hit, and we have criss-crossed the U.S. multiple times over, visiting family, seeing national parks, and doing all kinds of touring. We even have a pretty good routine for driving from Utah to St. Louis (there’s a really good Mexican restaurant in Cheyenne, a solid motel that we stop at in York, Nebraska, and Kansas City always serves up a delicious lunch!). We arrived at Alex’s place, excited to meet our newest family member, baby Arthur. He’s a sweetheart!
On September 1st, we got to celebrate our daughter-in-law’s birthday. It’s fun to spoil Hanna a bit, since she works so hard to take care of her brood of boys. I spent the day in the kitchen, whipping up french toast and peach cobbler and cooking up a curry storm with Alex. It’s been a long time since I spent so much time cooking and it was exhausting and delightful. The weather in Missouri has tempered a bit and there have been some lovely cool mornings to counter the warm afternoons.
We have spent the last week in full grandparent mode. Unfortunately, Nathan and I ( and Alex) all came down with a cold a few days after we arrived, so we have had to keep our distance from mama and baby. But we’ve been playing with the older two boys inside (legos, trains, puzzles, and books) and outside (swings, slide, and stomp rockets). It’s been a real blessing to be settled in for a few weeks and to recover from a whirlwind August. We love our traveling life, but we have to pace ourselves! Even though hanging out with Teddy and Peter is a challenge sometimes, it’s a joy. We feel very grateful that we can spend so much time with our grandchildren.
We wish you a wonderful week and hope that you are starting to feel a bit of autumn where you are. Much love!
Missouri
We have had a great week here in Missouri. I’ll give you a short update, but I would also like to make a request. We have shared recommendations for podcasts, books, musicm and the like in the past. Now, we would love to hear from you! What have you been reading? What music or podcasts are you liking lately? Have you seen a good movie? Please comment on this post or reply to my email. We love hearing from our friends and family! Now for what we’ve been up to…
Back to MO
Just a quick post this week. We hunkered down in Ohio/West Virginia and took refuge from the cold. We did lots of cozy things with the grandkids. We took a trip to the library to play and choose a big pile of books. Huck is a little reader now, so it’s fun to find stories that he can read. We spent A LOT of time reading those books–at the library, on the couch, and in a blanket fort. We also did crafts and built lots of Lego. We went with the kids to the children’s museum for a special STEAM class and then hours of play and building after that. We also took the older two out for a special lunch date. It was a great week! We are now back in St. Louis and excited to spend time with the other grandkids! Have a good week!
Back to the Fun
We slowed down a bit this week, but there was some birthday fun and I have details on our trip through the Mississippi Delta and on to Ohio. This is a long post, covering almost three weeks of a busy road trip, so if you just want the bullet points, read the first bit. For the down and dirty details, read on.
Rollercoaster
We had some wide mood swings this week. The ups were welcoming our sixth grandchild and reuniting with loved ones. We were in the dumps with an August snowstorm, sitting in traffic, and a pricey piece of vandalism.
First, the best news! After a rocky pregnancy, being overdue, and a very long labor, Alex and Hanna welcomed son Arthur to their little family of boys. Hanna was an absolute rock star for sticking it out and we couldn’t be happier for them! We will be back to their place in less than a week and we are super excited to meet our new grandson, Archie.
We were in Santa Cruz until Thursday and enjoying all that a stay with Ron and Martha includes: good company, good food, and beautiful California weather and scenery. Nathan and Ron did a couple of great bike rides along the coast and into the hills. We went on a lovely kayak trip in the Elkhorn Slough Marine Area. We saw harbor seals, sea otters, pelicans and other sea birds, and even a jelly! It was so fun to spend time with Ron and Martha, as usual.
We had a nice drive through Northern California and enjoyed the gorgeous scenery around Mt. Shasta. We spent the night in Medford, Oregon so that we could get up on Friday and detour to Crater Lake on our way to Portland. Well, Friday did not have a great start. We expect to have rain and clouds in the Pacific Northwest…that’s just part of its charm. However, by the time we got to the visitor center at Crater Lake, we were in an August blizzard! We did drive part of the rim road and the storm and clouds cleared enough for us to get a small glimpse of the lake.
Due to the park having road closures due to construction and wildfires, we took the scenic route to return to I-5 and continue north. Well, we got stuck in the canyon behind an accident that had our lane of traffic at a complete stand-still for about an hour. We expected to be in the car for about six hours, but that turned into more like eight or nine hours. It was a bummer, but not the worst. However, the end of the day was great because we got to see our youngest, El, and their partner, Adia, for the first time in over a year! They moved to Portland this spring and it was so fun to see their new home and spend some time catching up.
Saturday started off great with breakfast at Fuller’s Coffee Shop and a nice walk around the Pearl district, the Saturday Market, and Powell’s Bookstore. We met up with El and Adia and went to grab the car to drive to the science museum only to find out that someone had slashed one of our tires. Nathan threw on the spare, dropped the three of us off at the museum, and went to find somewhere to replace the tire. He really had to work for it, since he had to find the exact match to the other three tires, but after great effort and some great luck, he was able to find a dealership that had just one of that very tire. Vandalism sucks!
Meanwhile, we toured the very fun Oregon Museum of Science and Industry for a couple hours without Nathan. They had a fun exhibit about Tyrannosaurus Rex and we loved trying to solve the puzzles in the Turbine Hall. After Nathan was able to rejoin us, we watched Laser Beatles at the Planetarium and then played with light and color. We ended the evening with dinner at an Iraqi restaurant.
I hope you all have a great week and we will report next week after our return to Missouri!
Missouri
We have had a great week here in Missouri. I’ll give you a short update, but I would also like to make a request. We have shared recommendations for podcasts, books, musicm and the like in the past. Now, we would love to hear from you! What have you been reading? What music or podcasts are you liking lately? Have you seen a good movie? Please comment on this post or reply to my email. We love hearing from our friends and family! Now for what we’ve been up to…
Back to MO
Just a quick post this week. We hunkered down in Ohio/West Virginia and took refuge from the cold. We did lots of cozy things with the grandkids. We took a trip to the library to play and choose a big pile of books. Huck is a little reader now, so it’s fun to find stories that he can read. We spent A LOT of time reading those books–at the library, on the couch, and in a blanket fort. We also did crafts and built lots of Lego. We went with the kids to the children’s museum for a special STEAM class and then hours of play and building after that. We also took the older two out for a special lunch date. It was a great week! We are now back in St. Louis and excited to spend time with the other grandkids! Have a good week!
Back to the Fun
We slowed down a bit this week, but there was some birthday fun and I have details on our trip through the Mississippi Delta and on to Ohio. This is a long post, covering almost three weeks of a busy road trip, so if you just want the bullet points, read the first bit. For the down and dirty details, read on.
A Moment to Breathe
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.
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.
Missouri
We have had a great week here in Missouri. I’ll give you a short update, but I would also like to make a request. We have shared recommendations for podcasts, books, musicm and the like in the past. Now, we would love to hear from you! What have you been reading? What music or podcasts are you liking lately? Have you seen a good movie? Please comment on this post or reply to my email. We love hearing from our friends and family! Now for what we’ve been up to…
Back to MO
Just a quick post this week. We hunkered down in Ohio/West Virginia and took refuge from the cold. We did lots of cozy things with the grandkids. We took a trip to the library to play and choose a big pile of books. Huck is a little reader now, so it’s fun to find stories that he can read. We spent A LOT of time reading those books–at the library, on the couch, and in a blanket fort. We also did crafts and built lots of Lego. We went with the kids to the children’s museum for a special STEAM class and then hours of play and building after that. We also took the older two out for a special lunch date. It was a great week! We are now back in St. Louis and excited to spend time with the other grandkids! Have a good week!
Back to the Fun
We slowed down a bit this week, but there was some birthday fun and I have details on our trip through the Mississippi Delta and on to Ohio. This is a long post, covering almost three weeks of a busy road trip, so if you just want the bullet points, read the first bit. For the down and dirty details, read on.