Last report was in December, and it's now June. High time for a 1/2 year catch-up. The big events so far? COVID-19 has turned the world upside down. Unprecedented is the most common word, besides 'social distancing'. It all started in China at the beginning of the new year, and reached America in full glory by mid-March. People still are undecided about it's seriousness. I for one appreciate all that has been done to contain the virus by those in authority. I would hate to be in the politically authoritative arena today. They are blamed for reacting too slowly. And now they are blamed for not opening the economy quickly enough. Then with all the pent-up frustration with quarantine measures, there was a terrible event where a white policeman caused the death of a black man (George Floyd). It was horrible and wrong in every way, but it has stirred up all the old racist issues from the beginning of time. I can only say that there is racism everywhere, and inequality to many races and economic spheres and 'chances for learning'...etc. In this environment, I don't blame the police for quitting. And does that make people glad? It's scary to me. And what's next? Nobody knows of course. The economy is suffering in many nations. People are angry and there are riots. It's time to select a new President for the US. It's President Trump vs Joe Biden. Neither a good option. Trump is a bully and reprehensible, Biden is old and has gaps. Oh my!
But for the good news. We are liking this area more and more. Can't help it with the good weather here. Once the cold weather departed, Spring has set in with all it's glory. Church has been cancelled since mid March. (all temples closed). Our schedule is really focused on family. I'll document the big events for the past 6 months with photos. To start the year we celebrated 43 years of marriage, our oldest granddaughter (Daphne) turned 18 years old, and we attended the baptism of Luke, the first grandchild's baptism we were able to be physically present for.
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| So nice to spend time in St. George with Seth/Heidi's family. Luke was baptized, and he was our first grandchild's baptism that we were able to be physically present for. |
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| In mid January, we took a ski trip to Purgatory with Seth's family. We took one evening to walk in Durango and passed the Strator Hotel, where Tom and I spent our one night honeymoon on Jan 7th, 1977! We had so much fun skiing with all the boys and Heidi. So fun to show them my old runs and old 'loves' at Purgatory. We stayed in condos just minutes from the resort with a pool and hot-tub. It was off season, great snow and great fun! |
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| We of course spent some time at Mom's before we left the area. Taft was intrigued with Mom...she is phenomenal! |
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| Here's Penny wearing the old cowboy jacket that Tom wore as a small boy. Amazing it's still holding together. I think they had come up to ski and we were watching Penny one day. We also go to Sundance and ski with they boys one day. We of course did heavy duty skiing at Park City before Covid closed all the ski resorts. I think we fit in 19 times. We did take a week-end the end of January to go to IF just to catch up with the families 'up north'. |
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| Turns out that by the end of February, we were ready for a couple of weeks of warmth and sunshine. We drove to St. George for a couple of days to do the 'Parade of Homes'. We were thinking that maybe St. George might be a good place to winter in and the parade of homes would introduce us to most of the neighborhoods. |
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Of course while there, we did several hikes, and one was in Kolob Canyon. Seth always has plenty of activities to keep us entertained!
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| From St. George we travelled to San Clemente. We stayed in a great little apartment, loved the area, walked the beaches, explored the area, and had a great visit with Anita Canfield, who lives there. Her place had an incredible view of the sea and the pier: "see it, smell it, walk to it" |
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| We took a trip to Laguna Beach, as well as going to a temple session at the Newport Beach temple. We also had dinner with Deborah and El Wells. What fun to catch up with those two. Great people! |
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| Then we went to Coronado for a few days. We had a great time with Mark and Lori Blumenthal. They let us borrow their bikes which we loved. Went to church and saw Kevin Wilkinson (Sharon was out of town). It looked like a very hard ward to be a part of as it's part of National City. I think all the work is done by those from Coronado. After leaving CA, we both KNEW that we had to at least try to live near the beach at some point in the future. We both love it so much. Oh, on the way home, a barrel from construction blew in front of our car causing $3K worth of damage. We waited to long to claim the damage through insurance and we were denied. Then we said it was b/c of COVID that the paperwork took so long (my idea) and insurance backed down and in the end did cover the expenses! I got myself a piano out of that! |
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| On the way back from CA we stopped in again at St. George. Nice 1/2 point between Heber and CA. Got to see Lukas play a basketball game in which they won!!! Hooray! |
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Then in March we were off to Monterey so Tom could teach at the Post Graduate School for two weeks. COVID was just starting to shut things down. When we arrived, Tom was the last instructor to be allowed on the campus from out of state. At first they thought he would stay a 3rd week, but by the end of the 1st week it was 'get out of here as fast as you can!' attitude. I'm glad we had our two weeks of sun, biking, hiking, beach, relaxing, eating out (for me anyway!) We got our flight changed and flew into SLC. The next day the airport was closed (an earthquake!!). That initiated our self quarantine. And things slowed down, until...
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| About a week after arriving home from CA, we started a 6 week babysitting gig for Cora and Jules. Colie's preschool closed down b/c of Covid. |
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| It was rather fun actually. Colie would go to work (in the studio) and we would watch the girls in the morning. She would come back at lunch and feed the girls and put Jules down for a nap (I would nap too to get my energy up). Then we would play until about 5:30pm when Colie would come back and help with dinner and get the girls into bed. Colie would then grade papers for the class she teaches at BYU-I. It's certainly not a job for the weak-hearted! (I was referring to Colie's job as a single mom). |
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| The 'trick' is to keep the girls busy. We tried to think of activities that would keep them from fighting with each other! Being outside always was a good idea. At first the weather didn't cooperate. I remember having to put the in full snow gear to play outside! But when it warmed up, there was much more to do. |
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| Colie has a good system. Breakfast when they wake. Snack at 10am. Lunch at noon, and then naps. Snack at 4pm. Dinner at 5:30. The favorite snack I found out quickly was toast, with cinnamon and sugar (at least for Cora). Jules wasn't a big fan of that snack. Oh, at lunch time Colie would let me go on a long lunch break walk. I loved those walks. Kept me sane. Now that the gig is over, I'm glad we could do it. Yes I was tired, but so happy I could help and get close to those 2 girls. During this time I also zoomed with high school friends: Susan, Lori, Anna, Ann, Melanie. Also I have been preparing RS lessons for the newsletter. But all other activities were cancelled, so watching the girls was fun and kept me busy! |
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| Just as soon as the preschool opened again, it was time to go to NM with Suzanne for my Mom's 97th birthday. Isn't she something else? 97 years strong. Okay, she can't hear. And she forgets what she just said. I washed all the clothes in her closet. We did yard work at her house and also the rental house on 15th. We did her nails and her hair. We played games for literally hours each and every night. |
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On her birthday we had small celebrations throughout the day. Scott's family came in shifts. Alyssa & Travis, Scott & Logan/Cassandra, then finally Sheridan & JD. Friends called and Kathy came by. It was warm there while it was freezing in Heber! I was able to walk every day. I am amazed I still have my mom here on earth to love and hold and play games with!
As it was memorial day we did visit her parents grave in Kirtland as well as Dad's grave by our house.
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| Back to Heber and time to celebrate my own birthday. 64! We met Colie in Park City and went to a fancy Thai restaurant in town for lunch. It expensive but delicious. Later Tom and I took our new kayak to Jordanelle, and it was a beautiful calm evening on the water. We bought crumbl cookies instead of a cake and ate dinner at Cafe Rio. I think I wore out Tom b/c he went to bed early! It was a lovely b.day. I heard from all the kids, and got a nice present (Kiva) from Natalie and some nice cards. I have good kids and a great husband. Also at the end of the week I went to a baby shower for Felicia given by her mom and sister. Jared and Alison divorced and Alison now lives in Lehi. All is going well for Felicia and her baby is due July 25th and they are having a boy and they plan to name him Loren Isaac Herway. Steve should be 'done' with college by then if all goes well, having only one more class to complete. He is looking for work each and every day. I hope the Lord blesses him and his family with work! |
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| Seth's trip to Hawaii was cancelled b/c of Covid so we took the opportunity to go to Lake Powell with their family. We spent two glorious days on the Lake. It feels like things are starting to open up and it was fun to start to feel 'normal' again. The Lake is stunning. We swam, jumped from cliffs, paddle board, tubed, and they all skiied. Penny is content to be on the boat all day! |
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| Dan's family also was ready for some sun and warmth and vacation time. They found a cheap apartment in St. George and we met up with them to swim and go on a fabulous hike. Daphne is dating a boy named Braxton who came with them. Nice young man. Wonder how serious they are?? |
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| I just have to put in this little bit about Penny. She has a neighbor boy named Charlie who comes by in his electric car and picks her up, she jumps in and off they go. I wonder how serious THEY are? J/K!!! Penny is very athletic, she rides a scooter and a pedals her bike, and she is only 2 1/2!! |
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| And to close up the report through June. We had Seth's family again up to visit. He's good to research and give us ideas. After he left we tried some of his bike paths: this is Round Valley and we did it on our bikes! While he was here we took tubes and kayak to Jordanelle, and we did the canal (Tom went to far and was 'lost' for a short time!) |
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| This is WOW: Wasatch Over Wasatch. Seth did it on a bike. We did it for a hike. Yesterday we went into Provo to meet up with the Fenns for dinner and we also met up with Larry Green who went with us to help us decide on a digital piano. It was great fun, but by the time we got home, Tom wasn't feeling good at all. He had a fever, cough, sore throat, and very weak. So this morning he went and had a COVID test. We won't get the results for 3 to 5 days. Thus we are on self-quarantine. We are hoping desperately that it's only the flu! COVID could be trouble b/c we have both Natalie and Jake's families flying in during July. A spur of the moment family reunion blossomed with their trips and it is planned for July 10-12. |
