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.
