Westward Ho!

   A lot has happened since those beautifully dyed hands happened last Easter.  A trip out West was the biggest and best thing ever, and that happened in July, 2011.  We went straight to California, staying with Chris and Heather, and enjoying time with them and their children and with Holly and her family (love to you all!!), at Heather's place, at Holly's place, at the zoo and Fairy Tale Town, and at the park.  It included a day at a coastal beach, which once again was cold, but still good memories, and it was very beautiful there.  We took one evening to visit some old friends of mine, Ray and Allison.  I should add here that Heidi, Izzy, and Schatzie made the trip with us.  The traveling went very well.  The dog did well at Heather's until she (the dog) took their cats up on their invitation to play and discovered she misread their signals, and then that next morning as we were getting ready to leave, she tracked mud all over their beautiful white carpet.  Ugh.  So sorry, Heather!
   But the trip out was a reminder of how much more vast the skies appear in the West than in the Midwest, not that the skies are really that different, but there just aren't so many trees to obscure the view of the sky out West.
    Next stop was Idaho.  We stayed with Wyl's brother James and his wife Vaunda, fantastic hosts.  They hosted a mini family reunion with their children and Wyl's children, so we got to spend time with Frank and his family, and we met his daughter Heather (yes, we each have a Heather).  For me, it was the first time I'd ever met her, and I love her greatly! and her children!!  For Wyl, it had been 30 years since he'd seen her.  It was a full-heart meeting!
   While in Idaho, we also spent an evening with dear friend, Sharon Portela and her family - super people!  And we attended our old Ward from when we lived there, and we were pleasantly surprised to find that we recognized over half of them, and they recognized us, as well.  The whole purpose for timing the trip in July was so we could attend son Philip's graduation, and his wife, Heather's (yes, another Heather in the family) graduation from college.  Congrats!  Yep, a beautiful couple with a beautiful life ahead of them.  We spent a day with them traipsing about the mountains, and had a blast.
   On the way home, we made stops on the way to see more of Wyl's family, and if I try to list them in the right order after this much time has past, I'll get it wrong.  Many thanks to Dick and Dena for putting us up one night and feeding us while there!  We also got to see nephew Gene and his family, cousin Luke and his daughter, cousin June, cousin Karren and her mother and grandsons, niece Dorothy, and of course sister Marje.  It was great seeing all of you once again, everywhere from the West coast to Indiana, and our love to all of you!.  We made it home safe and sound, in plenty of time for Heidi to celebrate her birthday with her husband.  Thanks, Mike, for sharing your wife and daughter with us that month.  They were a big help all along the way.
   Pictures are too many to post!  Sorry.  They've given me lots of fodder for future art work.

Easter Fun

The reason for Easter is never forgotten in our house, that of the redemptive power of our Savior Jesus Christ. But, the secular side is also present, especially when there are children around.

Heidi and Izzy helped me color eggs. Izzy figured her hands were easier than using egg dippers. Izzy's new hand colors came out in the bath that evening.

Once again with short hair. I may never let it grow long again, but then they say to never say never.

Philip is building me a new web site, as an assignment for his web design class he's taking this summer. Here is the url: http://annettecolgroveart.com

It's still under construction, but it's up enough to be able to see some of my work. He has to sell something from this site to be able to get an "A."

With all of Bill's surgeries in the past several months (pump replaced, carpal tunnel on both hands, adjusting to C-PAP, etc) we will be doing a stay-cation this summer. It's OK with me. I'm planning to put as much time as possible into getting the foyer finished, and hopefully get a really good start on working on the living room woodwork, too. In between times, I'll be painting pictures -- really looking forward to it. But I will miss seeing my oldest daughters (and their husbands) and all my grandkids.

Finally putting on California visit

Holly, the beautiful mother of pearls.

These are Holly's pearls, complete with clam shell.

Sami and I built a feather garden. She was quick to enter into the game of make-believe.

Atthe Jelly Belly factory, Holly and the kids had lunch. Jeff is sitting by friend Joe. The back of Bryan's head was the best he would allow in pictures this trip. Sami is on Holly's lap, and Mati is closest to the camera. I was standing in line, holding our place for the tour, entertained with camera in hand, and dancing the "Chicken Dance" with other kids in front of me in line. I'm not good at self-portraits, or I would have taken one of that.

Trips to Idaho and Hawaii

We've become travelers! First trip of 2009 was in January to Idaho for Wyl's dad's funeral. While we miss George, it was great to see so many of the Colgrove family. Also we saw Philip and his wife Heather, while they are students at BYU-Idaho. End of March saw us in Hawaii, visiting Heather Rauch and her family. It was great seeing all of them, including the newest addition. Of course, we enjoyed the tropical climate of Hawaii while Fort Wayne behaved like it was still winter.

First Entry

First email, then internet research, then Facebook, making my own web site, and now setting up our own blog - this time on my own without anyone helping me. I feel like I'm finally part of the 21st century. This is fun!

While we are officially released from our mission, we are still training our replacements. They've had some major health issues lately, so training is on hold for the moment. However, we still go in to keep the work moving - just not as often.

We are enjoying the empty nester stage of life, but love it when kids return home, for however short or long the stay. We love it even more when there are grandkids along. So what to do with our time now that we're alone? with each other? Wyl is working on building an internet business while helping build funds for Turnstone, an organization which helps the handicapped here in town. See http://www.mypowermall.com/Biz/Home/158397. I'm working on several projects, including but not limited to my art work. Check out my web site at http://annette-original-art.com/. It will be fun to see if life begins in the twilight years!