I am currently reading "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke and I read a great line today - "...there's always a light side and a dark side..." (pg. 112) which I think perfectly describes this past summer.
I'll start with the light side:
I began growing my hair out. Just a little. I'm getting very tired of store clerks, airline personnel etc. (you get the picture), glancing at me, seeing a tall person with short hair usually in a polo shirt and calling me "sir". Wish me luck! it's already driving me crazy.
We bought a small house in Ririe, Idaho, which is roughly 20 miles southeast of Rexburg, 20 miles northeast of Idaho Falls and directly east of Rigby. In fact it has a Rigby address. Ririe is extremely small - a gas station, laundry mat, 2 or 3 bars (in Idaho!!), schools, two Chapels, a small library, and a large potato processing plant. 2010 census lists the population as 656. Roy found the house online and the #1 selling point: it is 2 miles from the South Fork of the Snake River. Need I say more?
Needless to say, we are super excited. How many more years until Roy can retire?......
Alex, Ashlee, Gus and Rio will live in it for us while they finish up school at BYU-I.
I flew to California to visit friends while Roy drove home to Texas visiting friends along the way. One long over due visit to his favorite missionary companion, Joe Hatch in Phoenix.
 |
| Joe Hatch and "Andrew" |
It was great to reconnect with our wonderful Houston friends. We can never thank them enough for their warm welcome home.
- celebrated - very quietly at his request - Roy's 60th birthday. No pictures of the birthday boy on his big day but I really like this picture from Darwin.
- ate Mexican food every chance we got
- did some we-can't ignore-this-any-longer yard chores. A vine was threatening to take over parts of a hedge and tree! and we only got rid of part of it. It was just too dang hot to do yard work!
- or rather, Roy organized his office, another chore he hasn't been home long enough in several years to tackle.
- I made a baby quilt for our #7 grandchild expected in October sometime. Proud parents-to-be: Alex and Ashlee.
- I continue with my catching up on childhood favorite books and finished reading the entire "Ann of Green Gables" series. All 8 books. I enjoyed some more than others, but all-in-all, they are delightful. Thank you to my young friend Jessica in Turkey for the recommendation.
- and made a long over-due overnight trip to Dallas.
First stop: a Texas Rangers night game at Arlington Field.
Saturday morning we attended a session in the beautiful Dallas Temple.
Last stop was the George W. Bush Presidential Library on the Southern Methodist University campus. It is a beautiful tribute to a good President.
Before we knew it July was almost over and it was time for my birthday. Some of our favorite visitors showed up to help me celebrate. Thank you Mary, Gracie, Zach and Katy for the yummy chocolate cake.
 |
| Mary, Zach, Gracie, me and Katy |
At The Thicket pool where the two big kids especially loved the diving board.
 |
| Karen C. and Gracie |
 |
| Zach, Katy and Gracie |
 |
| Katy |
 |
| Gracie |
 |
| with the giant spider- Yikes! |
Mary found a Groupon for a Mom and Pop little Zoo in Conroe so we thought "why not?", and had a fun, albeit hot day.
 |
| Zach |
 |
| Katy and a small cow somewhere under all that hair |
 |
| Gracie |
 |
| Zach |
 |
| Katy |
Gracie was a great dishwasher emptier - Thank you! I wonder if I could hire her to dust next time?
Meanwhile, Roy made a quick trip to Ririe to conduct what I'm sure was a scientific study of the trout in the river near our new house. He recruited two willing research assistants - Gerald and Alex. Who said science is all work and no play?
He was also able to pick up Isaak Fowkes in Salt Lake City to bring him to Houston. We continue our tradition when the grandchildren turn 8 years old, they come to Houston and spend a week with Grandpa and Mema.
Cannot come to Texas without a visit to the Alamo in San Antonio!
 |
| at the Alamo with Isaak |
Grandpa arranged for a morning of fishing on Lake Conroe with friends from work. Think they caught enough catfish? I fried up some of these beauties and man-o-man, fresh catfish is the best!!!
I borrowed a playmate for our visit to the Children's Museum. Thank you Wyatt for a fun day.
Another Texas 'must-do'. Many thanks to Vanessa and Carter's Country Gun Range.
We also spent several afternoons at the pool where our seemingly personal dive instructor, Karen C., also taught Isaak the back dive and he quickly mastered it. I got a great video. But I cannot figure out how to load it on here. :(
We also enjoyed several old Disney movies together in the evenings. Regrettably I had to return him to his family in Virginia, so away we went.
I was able to spend an enjoyable week with the Fowkes family.
While Gerald and Becky painted their bedroom
I taught Isaak to play Phase 10, and like his sister, he caught on quick! Since we had already taught Scout in May, we were able to have several fun Phase 10 games with Scout, Isaak, Becky with her helper Ellie and myself. Scout is so darn lucky!!! But Isaak gave her a run for her money. It's very fun to have the grandkids now old enough to play games with.
We found time for the National Zoo one warm afternoon.
Long live the blue tongue gang!
The kids were excited to share their favorite Studio C highlights on You Tube with me. They are right - extremely funny!
Regrettably Scout came down with Mono just before the weekend. Poor thing had a horrible sore
throat, headache and fever. I'm happy to report she made a quick recovery and was able to start Middle School on time. Whewww!
Becky recommended a book for me to read while I was there and I could barely put it down. It is the story of Stephanie Nielson (creator of the popular blog: nieniedialogues.com) and her miraculous recovery from being burned over 80% of her body in a small plane crash.
Her strong faith, courage and determination was inspiring and exactly what I needed after our emotionally draining summer. I highly recommend it. Thank you Becky!
