FAMILY UPDATE

Chuck:  In his job as a sales manager for a pharmaceutical company, things are never static. He manages 11 sales reps over a 4 state area.  New drugs are always coming onto the market, new marketing strategies being implemented, new people being hired and trained to replace others retiring or being moved into management, and territory and district boundary lines are forever being redrawn. I don't know how he keeps up with it all. He continues to enjoy riding his road bike 30 miles or so on sunny days, and on a trainer inside in inclement weather. The two of us continue to each the Marriage and Family Sunday school class at church, which we really enjoy. The principles we teach surely help our marriage more than the people that attend.

Shelley: Enjoying being semi-retired (from child raising, seminary teaching and dog walking) and trying to convince Chuck to retire as well. I enjoy making my garden art, and am always looking for new ideas to add to my list of creations. I seem to cyle through working on my glassware in good weather, and crocheting rugs from recycled materials in cooler months. Caring for my garden is sustenance to my soul- literally.  I find myself in my garden every day there isn't a torrential downpour. By this time of year there isn't a lot of work left to do but watering and deadheading, but it is still necessary for me to get out there and commune with the humming birds and bees and just admire the beauty of it all.  Then there is my bird feeders that need attention so I can be facinated by the variety of wildlife out my kitchen windows. Chuck and I have started stand up paddle boarding this year, beginning with taking lessons when we were in Hawaii in January. We have continued all summer and are really enjoying it.

Jared:  Continues to live at home and attend Bellevue College. He works at Crunch which is an exercise facility in the Crossroads area and gives him the opportunity to keep in shape. He missed his girlfriend Ujong when she went back home to Korea for the summer break, and is glad she has returned for the fall semester.

Becca: Is also living at home after graduation from college while she saves money to attend grad school. She is working as an aide at a physical therapy clinic to accumulate the clinical hours she needs to apply to Physician's Assitant school. She loves to bake and is frequently taking goodies to work to share with coworkers.  She has been bit by the stand up paddle board bug as well, but she takes it a step further and gets out in the middle of the lake and does yoga on her board!

As a family, we have enjoyed the gorgeous summer weather of the northwest and the opportunities we have had to travel to see family and friends.

 Although it is sad to say goodbye to warm weather, I adore autumn in the northwest and the beauty it brings.

LOVIN' LEWISVILLE !!

After Education Week was over, Chuck and I drove up to Idaho to visit Rachel, Nate and the kiddos.  Chuck had not seen their new house and I was missing the grandkids big time.

We had a really fun week. Chuck brought his road bike on our trip, so between exploring the countryside by bike, helping Nate with his home improvement projects and playing with the grandkids, he was able to keep himself entertained.

When our children were small Chuck often give them rides around our yard in the wheel barrow.  He and I continued that tradition with Evelyn and Douglas.

I, on the other hand got to do all the things I love to do: play with the grandkids, garden, play with the grandkids, go hunting through thrift stores and estate sales, play with the grandkids, go looking at houses and property for sale and go to the lake and paddle board. I even scraped and sanded the railings on Rachel's front porch and then painted it with her and Evelyn's help.

 Every day I also got to play with the two new kitties they got as barn cats to keep the rodent population down on their three acres. One is a very young mama cat, and the other is her 3 month old kitten. They are both pretty friendly for barn cats and will come out to play when ever they see people. And Surprise!! The mama cat was already pregnant with another litter when Rachel got her, so they will have more kittens in about a month.

It was hard to leave Idaho behind, but I am always happy to get home and sleep in my own bed.

EVERBLOOMING FLOWERS

Staying with the Elders in Draper during our Education Week experience gave me the opportunity to give June some ceramic flowers I had made for her birthday in July. The flower on the right was already made and June had seen it on my blog or business website and mentioned that she really liked it. I set it aside, meaning to give it to her.  Then exactly a year ago when we stayed with them for Education Week last year, just as I was starting my business, June  bought 6 plates she thought I could make into flowers.  She pointed out one plate design she especially liked.  The plate was blue and yellow, which I always think of as "grandma's colors". So I made a flower for her from that plate as well.  It is the one on the left.

I know that my creations are durable in Seattle's temperate winters.  It will be interesting to see how they do in more extreme weather.

EDUCATION WEEK

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On Sunday right after sacrament, Chuck and I hopped in the car and took off for Utah to attend
Education Week at BYU. This is probably the 6th or 7th time we have attended over the last 15 years.  It is a 5 day experience of attending classes which inform, enrich and uplift. We have taken classes on retirement financial planning, how to experience joy in the mundane things in life, how to be a better parent and grandparent, and lots of classes on improving our marriage, build relationships with others, and listened to Elder Bednar talk about and encourage us to use social media to promote wholesome, encouraging messages to our friends.

There are other enjoyable things to do on campus, as well.  The campus art museum currently has an exhibit showcasing the original costumes worn in many major motion pictures. We saw the costumes worn by Johnny Depp and Kiera Knightly in Pirates of the Carribean, costumes from Sense and Sensibility, the one worn by Anjelica Huston at the prince's ball in Ever After, those worn by Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law in Sherlock Holmes, Minnie Driver's costume from Phantom of the Opera, etc. There were so many, and each one more exquisite than the last.  They truly are works of art. We were also lucky enough to watch one of 3 premiere showings of a new full length motion picture made by the church called "Meet the Mormons".  It is a documentary featuring 5 different Mormon families around the world. It was touching and inspiring and I whole heartedly recommend it to all when it is released to the general public on Oct 10.

It is fun to spend this time together as a couple, learning new things, being inspired, being challenged to become a better wife, parent and grandparent, member of the church and the community.

PETER RABBIT OBSESSION

Becca's best friend Carly is having a baby and  the two of us were thrilled at the prospect of throwing her a baby shower, which we did last weekend in her mother's backyard.  Carly picked a Peter Rabbit theme, and Becca and I kinda got obsessive as we planned the event.  Becca did all the food (which was AMAZING) and I did all the decorations.

The venue was the White's backyard which is huge with lots of grass and trees, centered around their large vegetable garden, which fit perfectly into our theme!

It turned out to be a pretty warm day, so some last minute adjustments were made.  Originally, we were going to set up on the deck, but because it was in full sun, we moved it down to the lawn and the fire pit area which was a lot more comfortable with a lot of shade.

Carly is loved by all, she had about 40 people attend.

To decorate, I took scenes out of the book and made little vignettes here and there on the lawn:

And of course, I had to dress the part as Mrs McGregor!

The bunny banner that hung around the garden was a particular labor of love.  Each bunny was different, with his own personality.  Some were chubby, some skinny, some perky, some bored, and one had been in a skirmish with a coyote and had a chunk missing from one ear! Each swag of the banner was tied up with fresh carrots and radishes.

Because of the size of the yard (the house sits on nearly an acre) I filled in with some of my own garden art for punches of color.

A sweet side note: I decorated the buffet tables with ceramic bunnies and larges baskets of vegetables, most of which came from Juli's (Carly's mom) and Leann's (Carly's aunt) own gardens!


The star of the show was the brunch Becca created along our theme:

The menu (all prepared by Becca) included mini spinach, ham and swiss quiches, mini carrot muffins, mini chocolate zucchini muffins, mini banana cream pies from Grandma June's recipe (Carly's special request- it is her favorite!)-

Becca also made mini strawberry and raspberry cheesecakes by coring the fruit and using a pastry bag to stuff them with cheesecake filling, then dabbing the tops in crushed graham crackers. There was a fruit garden with flowers on stems made from melons-

 

And what garden doesn't have a few pesky caterpillers?

 

There was also a spinach salad and a fruit salad brought by friends to round out the offerings, all with lavender Italian sodas to drink.

 

There were two large tables laden with food which all vanished by the time the shower was over- literally not a scrap of food remained!

 

 

Becca and I had so much fun, we are looking for a reason to throw another party!!

LAZY LADDER

The ladder was lazy because everyone refused to use it due to it's rickety condition.  It was destined for the dump until I saw a way to incorporate it into my garden from a post on ( where else?) Pintrest.

My lazy ladder is now a stairway to birdie heaven.

You can't see it from the front, but besides the planter boxes on the rungs, I also planted a clematis under the ladder which is using the ladder as a trellis growing up the back and is currently almost to the top.  When it comes into bloom the entire ladder will be covered in magenta flowers.  It should be spectacular!!

THE POWER OF PEONIES

How is it that just the sight of the peonies growing in my garden can make my mood soar? Is it the promise that warm sunny weather is on the way? Or is it just the color and fragrance that lifts my spirit?

There is something about a garden that is good for the soul. Tending a garden is such an optimistic endeavor, it involves faith in the future, and anticipation for tomorrow. It is the ultimate in long-term gratification.  Nothing you do today in a garden (except water) will show any improvement by tomorrow, it takes time to reap the benefits of your labor.

Show you believe in tomorrow, plant a flower today.