Finding My Way Forward

GRANDMA TRIP #6 - PARAGLIDING IN LUZERN - THE GRAND FINALE -JULY 10 -JULY 12

2025-08-23T06:28:00.000-07:00

The amazing rail trip truly did not fulfill all the wish list which included paragliding. So after our tour ended we said goodbye to Zurich and once more boarded a train for Luzern. I really love that beautiful city! I found a hotel in the 'old town' where we stayed on the 4th floor. It was good to be back since our rail trip only allowed us a few hours to explore.

I reserved 3 spots for our paragliding adventure for Friday morning. The weather was PERFECT!. We met our driver at a hotel and were shuttled 30 minutes up the mountains. Then we took a funicular the rest of the way to the launch point.

We each had our own pilot who sat behind us. My pilot explained to me that I could not sit until we were in the air and that we had to RUN until then. I agreed but wondered if I could run. I sort of wanted to see the others take off first so I would know what to do. But I think Tony worried I would back out so as soon as we were strapped in he began to run and I was doing fine with the running until my foot slipped on the grass which propelled me into the seat. Fortunately one of the other pilots noticed and grabbed on and ran with us. And then we were airborne!!! Wow!!!!!! it was so beautiful and so peaceful! I only wish it had been longer than the 15 or so minutes we were in the air. I will totally do it again if I have the chance.

The pictures speak for themselves. Lake Lucerne and the surrounding mountains are SO beautiful!

This was our "before" shot. We actually did it and I am so proud of us all!

Later we enjoyed wandering around Lucerne. The architecture is amazing! the weather perfect for a good wander. I would love to spend a week there just to explore.

There was some sort of "football" [soccer] event going on which showed up on the street light ;) and there were lots of activities and lots of tourists.

One of the highlights was our Night Watchman tour. Rolf, our tour guide, showed up dressed in a blue and white costume. Blue and white are the colors of Luzern. He was amazing; my only regret is that I did not film/tape his presentation. He showed us period weapons, projected images on the side of a building all the while giving a riveting history lesson. And of course he took us on a tour around the old town and explained many of the buildings. That hour and a half flew by! We all loved it! Having a private tour has its advantages.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_Monument

This was beautifully done, well worth the walk to get there.

Beautiful Luzern!!!! I hope to go there again some day.

And then we learned that our flight home had been cancelled. There were a few moments of stress [panic] as we realized we had to find a place to stay one more night and our hotel was booked. Fortunately we found a place 5 minutes away that even let us check in early so we did not have to haul our luggage around or take it to a locker at the train station.

So, with another day we saw more of Luzern, including a museum..

Inside a funky elevator at our final hotel.

Sunday we took the train to the airport and began the LENGTHY process of going through security and other check points. We were originally booked with Delta but as our flight was cancelled [due to mechanical difficulties] we were rebooked on Swiss Air. That would have been fine if we could have kept our comfort plus status but that was not a possibility with such a completely full flight. My seat was some distance from my grandchildren and I felt bad that they flew home in the VERY BACK row of the plane - pretty tough for someone over 6 feet!!! Delta did reimburse our unexpected expenses and added a bit for our inconvenience which was awesome - but still.

We made it safely home to Salt Lake City - filled with great memories, grateful for our time together and our amazing experiences.

So Grandma trip #6 is now history. Grandma trip #7 will be next June to Italy but before that another Viking sister trip in November to Istanbul and Egypt.

GRANDMA TRIP #6 - PART THREE - MONTREUX, CHATEAU DE CHILLON, CAR-FREE ZERMATT, ST MORITZ, TIRANO, ITALY AND BACK TO ZURICH -JULY 5 - JULY 9

2025-08-11T21:02:00.000-07:00

The beauty never ends! There are so many lovely things to behold and I loved this rail tour which led us to so many of them.

And as in all situations there are hiccups. Today we travelled to Montreux and as we gathered to find our bus for Chillion one of the men in our group realized he had left his suitcase. Our tour guide helped him know which trains to take to retrieve his suitcase and how to get back to us so we could continue on our way. Then a woman in our group panicked as realized she had left her bag with her wallet and passport on the train. Our tour guide suggested that she might have to go to the American Embassy to get her passport loss resolved but first giving her directions to find where the train had stopped to see if she could find her bag. I have to say that I cannot believe she was not carrying her bag! I never let my bag/passport out of my sight when I am traveling!

I was amazed that both of them made it back with their bags, including the passport, after only a delay of one hour. I have to hand it to our tour guide who navigated the crises smoothly. With 41 people in our group it must often have seemed like he was trying to corral cats. But hats off to him! he handled it all very well.

Then it was on to a bus to Chillon Castle which is on a small island on Lake Geneva just out side of Montreux. What a beautiful building! But what a sad place! The dungeons really tore at my heart. It is hard to imagine being kept there. My heart ached as I saw the scratches on the pillars obviously made by prisoners of long ago.

Lord Byron wrote a poem called "The Prisoner of Chillon". I bought a little book with the poem and a history of the castle. I have to say he was a wordsmith. There are a few lines of the beginning of the poem:

My hair is grey, but not with years,

Nor grew it white In a single night,

As men's have grown from sudden fears:

My limbs are bow'd. though not with toil,

But rusted with a vile repose,

For they have been a dungeon's spoil.

And mine has been the fate of those

To whom the goodly earth and air

Are bann'd, and barr'd - forbidden fare;

I suffer'd chains and courted death;

But this was for my father's faith

That father perish'd at the stake

For tenants he would not forsake;

And for the same his lineal race

In darkness found dwelling-place;

It is very long poem and made my heart sad. But Byron had an amazing talent.

Hard to imagine being tethered to a post and trying to survive! Terrifying!

Then back to Montreux where we wandered along the lakeside watching the set up for the Jazz Festival. Sadly it was not on our timeframe to attend but I would have loved it. But sculptures, buskers and lots of people were along our way.

Fun to see the carvings in the rocks on the beach. totally musical!

After finding some lunch we met up with our group and trained to Visp, changed trains and then onto Zermatt.

The Zermatt train station was teeming with tourists - coming and going. So many luggage carts! So many suitcases in a rainbow of colors. There are NO vehicles allowed except electric so little vehicle traffic. We walked a couple of blocks to our hotel and were gratified to find our suitcases waiting in our assigned rooms.

Anna's turn to hold the group flag while our tour guide took care of details. It really is nice to have someone else deal with all of the minutia.

A queue of electric taxis. Not very many though. Many newcomers dragged their luggage along the street to their hotels although there were a few horse driven carriages.

The crowded main street of Zermatt. Note the McDonalds with a green flag.

Our hotel

Complementary fruit and water and the first wooden key card I have experienced.

After checking in, a short walk took us to a church for our first view of the Matterhorn. It seemed the clouds were determined to hide its magnificence.

We grabbed a taxi and shared with some friends so it only coast us 10 Swiss pounds each - still rather pricey. We had been told that it would take us to the 'meadow' where we could get a better view of the Matterhorn.

Almost a clear view but the Matterhorn was not very cooperative.

Our taxi

That evening we wandered the street, looking at shops and eventually found a nice Italian restaurant where we ordered our dinner. We ate outside since the weather was nice but sadly a group smokers came to the table to my right. I put up my jacket to try and block some of the smoke. I was actually surprised at how many smokers we came across of this trip. Not so much cigarette smoke to deal with in America thankfully as I really do not enjoy the smell.

We awoke to cool weather and beautiful bird song! Then a trip on a train to Genergat to get closer to the mountains. What a pleasant surprise to see a herd of goats being moved from one meadow to another down main street. Their individual bells were such a delight! The herders all had their red jackets and carried their back packs.It was such a treat to see them and hear their bells!

It is impossible for me to describe how amazing and beautiful the landscape is along the train route to the top. No amount of photos can truly capture the vistas so I am left with my memories. but is was glorious!

It was also rather chilly so I was very happy to layer my jacket and down vest. There is just such an indescribable sense of wonder, beauty and peace. I loved it!

EIDELWEISS very very small but lovely!

Just all so amazing!

Later a walking tour of Zermatt learning about some of the history, about the tragedies involving mountain climbers and about the snow fall.

The town of Zermatt pays home/building owners to plant geraniums in their flower boxes to keep their town beautiful. And it is certainly picturesque as nearly all buildings have beautiful flower boxes.

For a few moments the clouds left the Matterhorn and we could finally see it in all it's glory

I was interested in the roofs as we travelled along the way and was glad to know that they are made of slate which of course will never wear out.

I also found the construction of the homes in old town interesting. This construction somehow prevented rodents from entering the houses.

Beautiful old buildings in old town.

There is a law in Switzerland that requires all water to be drinkable. We found many varied water fountains throughout our stay and all of them with pure good drinking water.

The river ran with the milky glacial runoff.

Time to shop and wander, then a group dinner, another sleep and back to the train station on our way to St.Moritz. A night there to look around but I did not find it very interesting because we were in an area of very high end clothing stores. I guess St. Moritz is a play ground of the very rich and I definitely do not fit in that category.

We took an 8 hour train ride to see more scenery along the way we had a stop in Tirano, Italy which was too short. We did find some great pizza but did not have time to see the castle or the cathedral. We could have used an extra 2 hours.

We traversed this little country of Switzerland viewing so many splendors

More milky glacial runoff. So interesting that when it arrives in lakes it seems to be blue.

Really yummy pizza in Tirano.

My turn to hold the flag :)

So we returned to Zurich. We had a tour guide waiting for us to take us on a walking tour. I kind of wished it could have been at the beginning not the end but we did see more cool stuff.

Suspended artwork at the Zurich Train station.

Did you notice that the Swiss flag is SQUARE?

After our final dinner our Grand Tour was finished. We said "good-by" to our travel companions and went our separate ways.

It is hard to express how truly amazing this experience was a for all of us. I highly recommend VACATIONS BY RAIL and our trip was called BEST OF SWITZERLAND BY RAIL. We learned so much and saw so much!

But the rail tour did not include paragliding which was also on our list. So, we took the train back to Lucerne for our further adventures

GRANDMA TRIP #6 - SWITZERLAND - PART TWO - LUCERNE and VEVEY [ July 3&4]

2025-07-22T07:25:00.000-07:00

July 3 had us traveling on a train again. This time to Lucerne. The scenery here is wonderful! The views from the train are so peaceful. Every thing is clean and lovely. The mornings are filled with birdsong which I love! Switzerland exceeds my expectations

Lucerne is a beautiful town! We had a short time to explore before we got on a boat to cruise over Lake Lucerne. [So glad we were coming back on our own another day!]

Entry to Lucerne Train Station

This bridge once led right to the door of the church.

Original art work is displayed in the bridge.

This amazing 'tree' shows members of the guilds.

A beautiful church we explored at a later date.

My grandchildren of course!

A short fruit break on the steps near old town.

Just me.

On Lake Lucerne.

Still on Lake Lucerne

Lake Lucerne

And again!

And again!

Then we disembarked at Vitznau to board the Cogwheel Railway and ride up a steep grade to 5900 feet of Mount Rigi passing through more delightful scenery. There we had a couple of hours to enjoy lunch and the scenery. There were cows in the fields with their bells constantly ringing! My grandchildren loved the cows and took many creative photos- well over 50!. I loved the sound of the bells and the amazing views.

One of Europe's oldest mountain railways.

Someone had a sense of humor

Amazing views in all directions!

And then there were the cows

And some beautiful wild flowers.

A ride down the mountain to Arth-Goldau and our hotel in Stansstad for a group dinner and time to wander.

[I am finding the food to be very expensive. I had heard that Switzerland was one of the most expensive places to visit and the food prices certainly reflect that.]

So nice to be on the water. It is always so peaceful!

The view from my room.

Next morning [Happy Birthday America!] saw us back on the train watching the beautiful and ever changing landscape. We stopped at Interlaken for a few hours. Another beautiful place!

After lunch we bought tickets for the funicular and rode to the top. Just when we thought our standing room only car was full another 8-10 people were crammed in - can I say like sardines? Surprising to say the least but we made it and WOW the views were fantastic. So worth it!

There were actually seats on our way down 😉

Fun little statues alone the path!

Interlaken

Then a very quick stop at a souvenir shop [chocolate and a magnet] and a dash for the train station and our trip to Vevey. More wonderful views!! Probably took too many photos but there were new vistas all of the time! How could we resist?

Note the beautiful glacial blue!

Vevey is another lovely place! our hotel was great as usual and the staff was amazing in allocating us all to our rooms. Imagine dealing with a lobby full of 41 tired travelers! They handled it superbly. And our luggage was waiting for us in our rooms!

We went to the recommended crepe stand for our yummy dinner followed by some ice cream/sorbet for dessert. I really enjoyed my mango/passion fruit. We walked along the shore viewing many restaurants, hotels and interesting sculptures - just enjoying the vibe of the area. I could easily spend a few days here just taking it all in.

Who knew that Charlie Chaplin spent several years of his life in this lovely area?

My grandchildren decided they wanted a swim in the lake. An evening swim was a great diversion but I relaxed in my room.

What more can I say? Peaceful and beautiful.

A unique sculpture! Note the permanent chairs positioned for good viewing. And then my grandchildren chose to take artistic license :)

Charlie Chaplin. Funny that when Steve and I were traveling in 2019 we saw a similar sculpture honoring him in Waterville Village, County Kerry, Ireland where he and his family also spent a good deal of time.

An evening swim.

GRANDMA TRIP #6 - SWITZERLAND - Part one Zurich and St. Gallen

2025-07-16T03:00:00.000-07:00

I love that I have opportunities to travel with my grandchildren! This time I took a brother and sister who wished for a trip to Switzerland, a chance to ride trains and to go paragliding. The trip, Best of Switzerland by Rail, is organized by https://www.vacationsbyrail.com which filled two of their wishes.

We flew from Salt Lake City to Zurich and begin our train travel on July 1 until July 10th.

And so it begins!

Our hotel in Zurich. Each hotel on the trip was excellent! Our rooms were will appointed and the breakfast buffets were always great!

View from our room at Glockenhof Hotel.

Since our plane arrived at 8 AM we had plenty of time to explore a bit of Zurich before our welcome dinner where we met the rest of our 41 travel companions. This was a sizable group for our tour guide to manage getting us on and off the various trains, counting us each time, etc I think he sometimes felt like he was trying to corral cats. But he did a great job getting us where we needed to be when we needed to be there while showing great concern for those who had mobility issues. He carried a Swiss flag on a stick which we followed as we walked in a group.

We were each given a Swiss Pass which gave us free travel on the various trains as well as entrance to a variety of venues. I checked later and discovered it retails at about $600 for 15 days. We were also provided with tickets to major venues all of which definitely made the cost of the tour reasonable.

A street view. There were many outdoor cafes

The COOP Store was a fixture through out the country featuring a lot of everything including good 'take away ' food.

I was struck by the many beautiful doors.

Our first day was spent training to St. Gallen which is a delightful town/hamlet with "a remarkably well-preserved Old Town with breathtaking views .." old buildings, beautiful with amazing architecture. Our local tour guide recommended that we try the brauschweiger and the 'biber. The braunschweiger was a tasty sausage while This sweet specialty was once called "Birnenzelten," which later became "Biberzelten," to end up Biber or Biberli for short. The sweet pastry is actually a kind of decorated ginger bread made from honey dough with a white almond filling. The Biber belongs to the town of St.Gallen just like the twin towers of its famous church. It was not my favorite as I found it very strong but neverthelass fun to try.

The 'biber'

The Unesco World Heritage Site Baroque Cathedral was amazing! The library which contains thousands of books was beautiful! I was so pleased to learn that they are in the process of digitizing the collection. To view digitized content of the library go to www.e-codices.ch It is amazing and the work goes on! I found this hard to link but when I typed it in the search engine it came up just fine.

It has been said that a picture is worth a 1000 words. I do not think there could be enough pictures to adequately describe all we saw in St. Gallen. It is truly amazing! The intricate details of the cathedral and the library defy description. You just have to be there and even then it is indescribable.

These build outs were a statement of wealth.

We spent a great deal of time on trains traveling from place to place witnessing so much beauty!

My amazing grandchildren!

JUNE 13TH - a notable day in my life.

2025-06-11T11:24:00.000-07:00

Yes June 13th is a significant date in my life. Steve was born on June 13th and was always proud of that date because it was also his mother's birthday and the date of his parents' wedding anniversary. He loved it any time it was the 13th. He loved Friday 13th.

So it was not really a surprise that he also passed out of this life on June 13th. He was not doing well and had not eaten nor had anything to drink for several days and we knew his time was short. Some of our children were there and as the 12th was drawing to a close at 10 PM Steve asked for something to drink our son said 'Well if you are doing that well we will have a birthday party'. Then he made a quick trip to the grocery store returning with a small cake, a candle and a birthday balloon, He called his siblings and told them that at midnight we would have a birthday celebration.

At midnight many of the children were able to join and sing "Happy Birthday" to Steve and of course we gave him hugs. Then just 15 minutes later he passed away - on the 13th! He had an interesting sense of humor and I am certain that he held on just so he could make it til the 13th.

This week, on the 13th, he would have been 80 years old which is hard to believe. He was a good man who loved the Lord and his family very much. He was not perfect but his love was constant. He was so patient in his 14 months of suffering from this stroke, never complaining.

This photo of him was taken on the grounds of the London Temple just a few months before we retuned home before he had his stroke. I think this is my favorite picture of him because it shows him just brimming with love.

It will now be 4 years since he passed. Somedays it seems like forever ago and other days it seems like he is still here and some days are just hard. We had many notable adventures together and I miss him. I am still trying to learn what being a widow means but I am also trying to move forward with my life.

I am grateful that Steve left me in a financial situation that allows me to take our grandchildren on trips. I realized I have not been blogging those trips past Grandma trip #2.

However, I completed Grandma Trip #3 taking 3 of my grandchildren to Japan. They are siblings so it worked out well for them to spend the time together and with me. And of course also visiting with our son and his wife who live in Tokyo. My amazing daughter-in-law researched everything and created our itinerary. We saw so many things and went so many places because each of them had their own interests

Then Grandma Trip #4 was to Denmark the place of my heritage with one of my grandsons who even looks like a Viking. This was at Egeskov Castle. And also Lindholm Höje a Viking burial site.

Then it was back to Japan with another granddaughter for Grandma Trip #5 where we were dressed in kimonos which was cool. And we took a cooking class, a calligraphy class and a bow making class and saw so much. Again my daughter-in-law was amazing as she found our classes and many things to see and created our itinerary. We even went to a ninja restaurant.

In a couple of weeks it will be Grandma Trip #6 as I take two more of my grandchildren to Switzerland for a train tour.

Friday the 13th will also be a significant day for me. It will be my first day to work as a volunteer in the Syracuse Temple for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This temple was dedicated on June 8th by President Russel M Nelson. It is the 206th operating temple in the world. I will be there every Friday afternoon. I love working in the temple and feeling the peace that is within those walls.

It was in the Salt Lake Temple that Steve and I were married/sealed for time and all eternity so many years ago. I know I will see Steve again and we will have the opportunity to have our family with us forever not just "til death do us part". I am blessed and I am grateful.

GRANDMA TRIP #2 - SAFARI IN KENYA AND TANZANIA 5 June 2023-15 June 2023

2024-11-30T20:32:00.000-08:00

[Even though more than a year has passed since our Safari it is important to me to get my blog caught up. Sometimes it is just hard for me to write. That being said, as I tried to choose photos to post I was reminded of the beauty of the Safari and our unique experience. I am sure there are too many photos but when we had 3 cell phone cameras and an SLR camera there was bound to be MANY photos - I am guessing thousands. But as Sabrina said "more is not better it is just more" Oh well}

There are no adequate words to describe our experience with this Safari. After many months of planning and preparation [visa, yellow fever, typhoid, malaria, etc shots] we flew from Salt Lake City, Utah to Nairobi, Kenya. It was a delightful and precious time traveling with 2 of my amazing grandsons. We learned so much about so many things! Our drivers were so knowledgable teaching us so much about the culture, the animals, the politics, etc even some Swahili.

Going on safari was not really on my bucket list. Yet I found myself winging across the world with Ethan and Dallin. We left Salt Lake on June 5 for Nairobi with an 8 hour layover in Chicago - fun for the guys because they left the airport by train wanting to go see the 'bean' in Chicago and explore while I waited at the airport. Then we boarded and were on our way.

Sadly my suitcase decided it liked Chicago so it stayed behind and then took a side jaunt to the United Arab Emirates. Upon our arrival in Nairobi I had only my back pack which I carried. Thankfully I at least had my meds and my toiletries. We reported my lost suitcase and then met our driver, Oteli, who took us to our hotel.

It was late evening when we arrived and everything was locked up with bars on the outside of the Radisson Blu. We were cheerfully met by hotel staff with a nice glass of orange juice and warm wet washcloths to refresh ourselves. Our rooms were very nice and we were tired even though we had tried to sleep on the plane. We slept well after a room service meal at 2:30 AM.

We arrived!

Our driver, Oteti, met us at 8 AM after a wonderful breakfast buffet and drove to a mall with a store where I could purchase a few items of clothing since I had only what was on my back.

View from the breakfast room

I purchased a track suit, an extra pair of sweat pants, 5 men's t-shirts since there were no acceptable shirts for women. I also got some underwear, a hat, some lotion and a brush. I was not sure how long it would take to get my suitcase and mourned the loss of some items, including my Purple cushion. It is amazing what you can get by without and since I had my medications and the critical stuff I was OK.

This was the small; and sketchy clothing department.

Then our journey began. We were driven in a very nice jeep for every stage of our safari. As we crossed borders our vehicles and our drivers changed but each and all were great. It is hard to readily describe Nairobi and its surrounding area. There is such a vast dichotomy between poverty and modern affluence. Amidst high rise office buildings we found a family camped on a street corner cooking and selling food.

So many trucks and vehicles on the roads along with camels, goats and skeletal cattle. Our drivers also seemed to know just the right places to drive so we could see the amazing animals. We saw giraffes,elephants, lions, gazelles [Thompson gazelle and Grand gazelle], flamingos. hyenas, impalas, zebras, wildebeests, hippos, rhinos, baboons, monkeys, cheetahs, a leopard, termite mounds, cape buffalo, warthogs, jackels, mongoose, camels, donkeys, antelopes [tupi and eland], did-diks, crocodiles, walking eagles, secretary birds and many other birds including vultures. We also visited a Maasai village and flew in a hot air balloon. The peace of the savannah was amazing. It was awe inspiring. There just are not adequate words

It is very common to see cattle along the side of the roads. There is usually only one driver and often that driver is only about 12 years old. We learned later that sometimes the young boys do not make it home and it has been assumed t hast they have been eaten by lions :(

After driving for a time I needed a bathroom break. Oteli stopped at what appeared to be a nice place but imagine my surprise [horror] when I went into the ladies restroom to find the 'toilet' to be hole about 12 inches across lined with small ceramic tile. There were no bars to hold onto nor anything to sit upon. Eventually I found one stall with an actual toilet but it seemed not to have been flushed for days! Very disconcerting experience to say the least! But practice makes perfect so as I was often faced with the same situation during our drives I learned to cope.

This was actually an upgraded version! Some of them were pretty rustic.

We drove toward Mombasa on a narrow 2 lane highway. It is a main highway which LOTS of trucks. The speed limit was 80 KPH [50 MPH]. It was exciting to see the landscape and almost immediately we saw giraffes along the side of the road! There were many shanty type villages along the way with hotels, markets and street vendors. Many of the truckers would stop and stay at these hotels before driving into Nairobi where the costs are much higher.

At one point there was an accident ahead so our driver just drove into the ditch and bypassed it all and got back on the highway. There was a LOT of traffic, mostly trucks.

Our eyes were constantly filled with many new sights. A giraffe in the distance, many goats, cattle and people hawking fruit along the way. Oteli regaled us with stories of how he courted his wife. After being examined [yes he was naked] by the women of the village and being approved by the village council he presented her father with cattle, some money and a bottle of Jack Daniels. He was accepted and they were married and had children. Both are well educated. But an interesting custom.

A group of women taking advantage of the shade.

The grass along the roadside was up for grabs and was harvested and carted away by whoever got there first.

A market

The hotels looked sketchy to me. I would never choose to stay in one.

After some time we left the highway turning onto a dirt road which was well packed and not too bad. We made our way to the Amboseli National Park and our first resort.

Many of the roads on which we travelled were packed dirt. Some were better than others but one road towards the end of our journeys was totally rutted and I just 'held on' for the several hours it took us to drive along there.

Entrance to Amboseli park

At the entrance or exit of every park or refuge we were met with native women selling their wares - bracelets, ornaments, necklaces etc. Sometimes they were VERY aggressive. If a car window was open even a little they would reach in push open it all the way and push their arms filled with items into the car. The items were very reasonably priced but it was intimidating. Many of the women made their own money in this way while the men dealt with the cattle.

Soon we entered Amboseli park which is home to about 1200 elephants. What a thrill to see elephants here and there against the backdrop of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Just before reaching our lodge we passed ruins of an old resort that had been destroyed by encroaching wetlands.

Our lovely resort, Ol Tukai Lodge, was on slightly higher ground. What a treat to again be greeted with warm washcloths and glasses of juice [and good toilets!] while presenting our passports. Our rooms were in little duplexes and very nice.

The food was buffet style with many options and the dining room was outside.

After a quick nap for me and pool time for the boys we met Oteli for our first game drive.

Ethan teased the monkeys. They had no fear of humans.

We were firmly cautioned by the staff that we must NOT take any food away from the dining tables or the monkeys would attack us to take the food. We were also told to make sure our windows were firmly shut or the clever monkeys would find a way in to wreck havoc with our belongings.

In some respects it was hard to be housed in such lovely accommodations when we knew that many of the native people lived very rudely, in poverty without water or electricity.

Just WOW!

Our first sighting of wildebeest

What's not to love?

In the evening before dinner we were always treated to entertainment

The next day we resumed our journey to go into Tanzania with many things to see along the way.

moving harvested grass to home.

Ofttimes items were carried on their heads.

Hyenas are not very beautiful

The homes of hyenas. Because of the heat they burrowed down and only came out to hunt.

Cattle were preferable but sheep sometimes worked.

Since most little areas did not have running water there was a schedule for water delivery. At a designated spot everyone would gather to get water. Often the women would carry a large container home on their heads.

A town near the border of Tanzania. Red is a prominent color of the area representing the Maasai people.

Interesting inside down birds nests at our stopping area.

We had to present our passports and pay $USD100 each, in cash, to cross the border. And then we were in Tanzania and in a town. Here we saw a lot of people and learned an interesting thing about hierarchy of transportation.

Of course everyone could walk -many things were carried on top of their heads, especially by women. A man with better fortune would have a bicycle to transport his items.Then the next step up would be to have a motorbike. And of course then a tuk tuk but those are rare. But if a young man was fortunate enough to get a motorbike it was not for fun. He was then in a good position to earn a decent living because the motorbikes are taxis. We were also warned not to hold our cameras or phones out the window because motorcycle drivers would come by and grab them from us.

It was sad to me that's there was so much trash in the streets but our driver explained that there are no garbage hauling services. But still it seems like they could police their own area,

I cannot imagine using a motorcycle for my transportation.

The was so scary to me. If you look closely you can see 3 passengers behind the driver. I feared for the little guy on the back but I guess being secured by a shawl tied around them was considered safe!

One of the fortunate men who had a bicycle to transport his stuff.

We drove through one town that had a LOT of monkeys.They are so cute but do cause trouble. I can only imagine he havoc they cause when they get into the homes.

The skycapes are beautiful and the landscape varies. We drove up a long hill, almost a mountain and saw so much green.

Dallin spotted this Baobab tree which he knew about from reading The Little Prince. so of course we had to stop and take photo.

There was just so much beauty. It is hard to really represent it in a photo but I found it breathtaking.

We stopped at a tanzanite mine. Apparently the tanzanite stone is ONLY found in Tanzania.

Tanzanite is the blue and violet variety of the mineral zoisite (a calcium aluminium hydroxyl sorosilicate), caused by small amounts of vanadium.^[3] Tanzanite belongs to the epidote mineral group. Tanzanite is only found in Simanjiro District of Manyara Region in Tanzania, in a very small mining area approximately 7 km (4.3 mi) long and 2 km (1.2 mi) wide^[4] near the Mererani Hills.^{[5] from Wikipedi}

We saw a small example of the mine but of course did not see any stones. The show room had so many beautiful pieces of jewelry that I forgot to photograph but was stunning, I regret not buying a necklace with a small stone it was SO gorgeous! But it was kind of expensive.

We did not realize as we were driving that we had a specific time frame that we had to obey because the gates to our next stop closed just before sundown. We arrived just as the guards were preparing to shut the gates. 10 minutes longer and we could not have gained admission. We learned that all the parks and reserves had a curfew around 6:30 PM for humans so the natural order of things would not be disturbed for the animals. If people arrived late the drivers plaid a hefty fine.

Our home for a couple of nights.

The amazing view from the look out.

Ngorongoro is an old volcano crater and home to a wonderful variety of animals.The lodge was beautiful! we had good rooms which since it was cooler came with a nice warm water bottle to warm our sheets each night. And the dining room was great with lots of good food options.

Not sure why I was only one with food. I guess the waiter had yet to bring food to the guys.

Early the next morning while it was still foggy, Amani began our trip into the crater. I can't say enough about how beautiful the sky appeared!

We were not the only tour vehicle out early.

As the sun dissipated the fog we saw many animals in their natural habitat. This crater is a refuge for many animals and interestingly those that live here do not have the urge to participate in the 'great migration' that we witnessed later.

Amani explained much about the plants which I cannot remember.

Still foggy.

Hyena with her pups.

These lions were literally on the side of the road. We found them first but soon other drivers saw us and came over.

These are beautiful birds. I cannot remember the name for sure but it may have been crown birds.

Did you know that hippos are one of the most dangerous beasts? They are huge and kill many unsuspecting folks every year - especially near the water.

So many tour vehicles! We were early in the season but in the summer months it is like a major traffic jam.

The Secretary Bird

Wildebeest

The majesty of the zebras is hard for me to describe. We came over a ridge and saw a whole field full of zebras. It was an indescribable feeling.

I loved the tour vehicles we had! They were air conditioned when we needed it, the top would be raised while viewing animals so we could easily standup to take pictures and get a better look.

A lone elephant. We learned that when an elephant is old and its teeth can no longer chew the rough grasses they take themselves off to feed on softer grass and then soon die. I cannot remember how much an elephant needs to at each day but it is a LOT and if they cannot chew they starve.

Many drivers came here for a lunch break.

More hippos. Amani was making strange noises to try and get them to react. He did not get much of a reaction.

On our way out of the crater.

Butterflies!!!

Butterflies at rest at the edge of the stream

We came across a small herd of elephants

More pre-dinner entertainment.

Our water bottles.

From our lodge

A Maasai village spotted after we left Ngorongoro

A Monument of two skulls near Serengeti to commemorate the findings of Louis and Mary Leakey. One is the "famous" Lucy.

I have awesome grandsons!

As soon as we entered the Serengeti Amani turned off the road and drove toward a group of rocks in the middle of the Savannah where we found lions!

the cheetahs are very well camouflaged and often hard to spot but Amani found this one with her 2 cubs first. We were watching as she was watching the gazelles and all of a sudden she broke into a very fast run and caught and killed a gazelle.

By the time other drivers saw the kill was done. The mother left her cubs as she was in pursuit of the gazelle By then many trucks had arrived separating the mother from her cubs.

She had their dinner but there were too many trucks around for the cubs to get to her. We left so things could get back to normal hoping the others would leave soon as well.

We learned that cheetahs are VERY fast but that their hearts aren't very big. When they exert themselves as she did there is no energy left. Often hyenas will come and take her prize because she will be too tired to fight them off.

Time to feed the truck. Notice the pumps drop down.

Couldn't resist this sign. And it was wonderful that this station had REAL toilets!!

gazelles

Each hut had 3 rooms that were nicely appointed.

This is not a flag but an insect catcher. The fabric is coated with a poison that attracts the insects and kills them.

When your grandsons become part of the entertainment. :)

And the migration begins! We saw so many zebras and wildebeest making their way to the Mara Triangle. It was amazing!

dik diks

Wildebeests

There were so many and they are so noisy. It sounded like a huge stock yard.

It just amazed me how they just marched along, often in single file, as part of the migration.

Leaving the Serengeti for the Mara Triangle

This house with such a steep roof is called an "American House'. Because of TV it is believed that American houses all have pitched roofs.

Entrance to Mara Triangle which is the destination for the migration.

As we drew close we saw the skies filled with smoke. At first we thought there were clouds and that there would be a storm, But NO, all the old dry grasses were being burned in preparation for the migration arrivals.

But amazingly enough within one day green shoots were showing above the ground.

We learned that there are 3 stages of the migration. The first stage of zebras and wildebeest will mostly be eaten because the predators are hungry. The second stage is much larger and most will safely arrive. The third stage is much smaller and sometimes does not even make it all the way.

This lodge was awesome! It actually was a series of tents which did not have phone or internet. If we needed help we were to blow our whistles and guards would come to help us or escort us to dinner so we would be safe.

But what luxury!!!

Who knew tents would have hardwood floors or be SO huge. Again we had our nightly hot water bottles. I also asked for an extra blanket as it got pretty chilly in the night.

The walkway to my tent.

The guards were on duty all night long and did use the bows and arrows from time to time to keep us all safe. They said that each night various animals would come to the tent area.

We got up at "o'dark thirty" to drive about an hour to reach the launch site for the hot air balloons so we could enjoy the sunrise from the air.

There were 3 balloons with folks from other lodges as well.

The baskets were large enough for 16 people, eight on each side of the driver and engine. It was HOT close to the fire.

It was amazing!!!

The giraffes looked so funny from the air.

And we made it!!! the hour went so fast and it was marvelous. But even though I had no problem getting into the basket I could not seem to get out which of course made me laugh. So Ethan said he would lift me out. When I asked him if he had any idea how much I weighed he flexed his muscles and said "that's OK I'm strong" And he was strong enough to lift me up and over the basket ledge.

The champagne breakfast set up near the field were we landed. We of course had orange juice 😉

The one and only leopard we saw. was way up in a tree with its tail just hanging down and we only got a photo with a telescopic lens. I guess they are shy.

Next stop was a Maasai village. The Maasai wear red. We were each given red cloth the first place we stayed. The men posed for a photo with us after we had been given an overview of the people and their ways.

There was a women's dance inside the village and after they put a head dress on me I participated with them

The men's dance consisted of a contest actually to see who could jump the highest. Apparently it is VERY desirable to choose a husband who can jump high. Both Ethan and Dallin did very well.

Ethan joined in the women's dance the the women loved it!

After showing us through the village and explaining about the huts - after they marry the girls/women build the huts themselves with branches and mud. It take about 3 months. The women also make a lot of beautiful things. The bead work is incredible! We went along the stalls choosing a few items we liked but when the reckoning came it was over $800 US.!! We choked and put most of it back. They are raising funds for the school which you can see in the back to the right.

When they saw us putting things back because it was too much money they offered to have us use our credit cards. They had some of those portable machines. That made me laugh because although they live without modern conveniences and eat mostly meat and blood [ for real] they are defiantly savvy and must plug into electricity somewhere.

It was awesome experience to be there. I am glad we saw it.

Nap time for this pride of lions. They looked so peaceful it was as if we could just go and pet them. But of course we did not leave the vehicle.

Each lodge we stayed in provided box lunches for our daily tours.

The actual border between Kenya and Tanzania.

We had actually stopped to see some hippos from a platform. There was little to see since they were all in the water. When we were finished and turned back to our vehicle this huge group of about 20 giraffes came by. They were awesome and some came close enough we could have reached out and petted them. But we did not. I did not want to taint them with human scent.

Then after very long drive on a very rutted road it was time to leave the Mara triangle.

After using the good bathrooms we were accosted by a large group of aggressive women. They offered to be in a photo with me and that was lovely. But then they wanted money. I was running short on cash and gave them $5.00 US but they wanted $10 and I did not have enough if they wanted me to by anything. So the most aggressive one got very angry and said they have 10 mamas who each needed a cut. I felt bad But I only had enough to pay for a few things and not even everything I would like to have bought.. Even as we were driving away she stuck he had into the car and insisted on $10. The drive finally just pulled away. Note to self make sure to bring plenty of cash on th e next trip.

Our final driver was Michael who loved all things American and hope to visit someday. He was born in a hut with a dirt floor and went to the local school. His first language was the language of his village and the next was Swahili and then English.

He was very knowledgable but was not as interested in driving us through Nairobi as the boys would have liked so we got to the airport quite early. And then we got on our flight to home.

My errant suitcase finally made it to Nairobi and Michael had it in his car when we crossed the border back into Kenya. But I survived with my makeshift wardrobe and gave almost everything I had purchased to Michael before we left him.

I was able to buy a few things in our travels. I have now framed the painting and it is hang in my kitchen/dining area. I enjoy my necklace and of course I got magnets for my magnet board.

What an adventure we had! So grateful to spend this adventure with two of my favorite people!

DISCLAIMER!!!! TRYING TO GET BACK AFTER A 10 MONTH HIATUS

2024-08-14T09:29:00.000-07:00

It has been about 10 months since I last posted. I just have not been able to force myself to write so I haven't - even though many things have transpired in those past 10 months.

I will try to write about those amazing things and post them.

But I am still alive and putting along. I am learning what it means to "endure to the end". I am still grateful for my family and for the many kindnesses they show me. I am still grateful for my testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel.

It has been over 4 years now since Steve left us. 4 years, it seems impossible. And I am still a widow trying to figure out what to do in my life. It is still strange but I am looking for Steve when I get home and want to comment on my activities only to realize that he is not there to listen. I have many boxes of "stuff" that must be sorted and that is task which brings me great angst. Despite my amazing family, good friends and neighbors I still am alone.

So this is just a side note to tell you I will blog about the activities of those 10 months.

ALONE IS STILL ALONE

2023-10-19T18:33:00.000-07:00

Isn't it strange how the days just mesh together and soon a week is passed, and then a month, etc. Time just relentlessly moves forward. And now it has been 2 years, 4 months and 6 days since Steve departed this earth life.[June 13, 2021] It is surreal. Somedays it seems like yesterday and others it seems a very long time ago.

I miss him! I miss his hugs, his love, his support. I miss the dreams we shared. I miss his companionship, his arm around my shoulder, his quirky humor. I miss our shared Church service. I just miss HIM!

Much has happened since he left.

Seattle trip with my son and family. Alabama for Thanksgiving and New York with a grandson.

There were my 5 amazing weeks of traveling the Eastern Provinces of Canada with my sister in summer 2022. And then her extended visit to Utah in October 2022. [We are good travel companions and will be taking a Viking River Cruise in November '24]

The Villa ladies went to San Diego for a few days in August 2022. I really enjoyed their company.

I had back surgery in December 2022 to have my L4 and L5 vertebrates fused. It went well and my recovery is great although I still need to get more stamina.

My daughter and I enjoyed 5 days of Renew '23 on a cruise ship which catered to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We enjoyed a fantastic fare of speakers and musical offerings including the Piano Guys, Nathan Pacheco, David Osmond and the Osmond Chapman band, etc.

There was a quick trip to San Diego with my daughter's family when my grandson's band played on a US carrier. My daughter also drove with me to Yuma to visit a high school friend. After, we also visited another good friend in San Diego.

The Villa Ladies took a cruise in spring of 2023 starting in Long Beach with stops in San Francisco, Astoria, Victoria and then flying home from Vancouver, BC. They are lovely ladies and I enjoyed spending time with them.

The first of my, hopefully many, "grandma trips" happened during my grandson's spring break in April 2023. We packed our 6 days in Paris with many experiences and I loved our time together!

The second "grandma trip" was a 10 day safari in June with two other grandsons. We marked the 2nd anniversary of Steve's death in Tanzania. It was so GREAT to spend time with them and I plan to blog about our time soon.

When we got home I found myself at loose ends not knowing what to do with myself. It is not as if there is nothing to do because I still have a LOT of sorting and organizing to do.

But it was so empty and without purpose. I realized that I had been 'running away' in my travels. I remember the first time I went somewhere and came home anxious to tell Steve all about it only to find an empty house.

I can't really complain because I live in a very nice house and I have a very nice dependable car and enough means to be comfortable. But I am alone.

My family has been very good to me. I see the 5 of my children who live in Utah on a regular basis as they take turns bringing themselves with dinner to my house. Someone is here almost every Sunday. Those who live out of state are pretty good about calling and texting and visiting as well. And I also see grandchildren. One of my grandsons lived with me this past summer as he prepared to go to BYUI.

The neighbors are good and kind. This summer I made good use of the swimming pool by our clubhouse to do my pool therapy. It is closed now til next summer so I am trying to walk to increase my stamina. But my back and hips don't like that idea every much. And I am kind of lazy and must force myself.

I have enjoyed my zinnias and a few tomatoes in the small ground space around my patio. I put away the cushions for my patio furniture yesterday and now must sweep away the fallen leaves.

Fall is a beautiful time of year and one day I even drove up to Huntsville to see the hill covered with colored leaves.

One of my bucket list items is in process. I signed up for a ceramics class and have actually thrown a few pots on the wheel. The next class begins next week. It is fun for me. I am anxious to see how things turned out after they were glazed.

But sometimes I am just here alone and struggling. Sometimes I don't want to be around people because I just don't have enough emotional band width to deal with people. I have watched so MANY TV programs and movies, listened to MANY books, read some books while recovering from surgery and trying to survive this new experience of being a widow. I am learning a lot about myself and it is easy to armchair quarterback my life and realize all the things I did wrong. It has been hard to learn to forgive myself for those things - it is an ongoing process.

I am trying to get myself on a regular schedule: regular scripture reading, piano practicing, exercising, drinking enough water, writing in my journal, etc. I am trying to attend the temple once a week and spend some time visiting with Heavenly Father. I am trying to write my missionary grandsons weekly - one serving in Missouri, another in Manaus Brazil. Old projects are being resurrected, like sewing together quilts tops from squares cut out by my daughters and me almost 20 years ago.

There are 4 trips planned for 2024: to Cancun with the Villa ladies in January, to Japan for another 'grandma trip' with 3 sibling grandchildren in May, and another to Denmark with another grandson in July and then the Viking cruise with my sister in November traveling from Amsterdam to Budapest for 15 days.

But there are MANY, MANY papers to be sorted. There are 5 file drawers in my garage full of Steve's old stuff. I am sure most of them just need to be shredded but I did find a $50 gift card for Home Depot and a $25 gift card to Costco. So who knows what else may be hiding. But it takes an emotional toll to go through those things.

I think I will have to live to be 120 years old to accomplish all the projects. Since we know that will not happen I need to just push onward. I just do not want to leave my children with a big mess to sort when I leave this earth.

In December I will bring my 8 year old granddaughter to Denver to visit her soon to be 8 year old cousin for her baptism. This time we will fly but this summer I did drive to Denver to visit my daughters and then on to Douglas, WY to visit my granddaughter and her sweet family. That was a big deal to me that I could do the drive myself.

So it all sounds great and like I am doing well. And I guess looking from the outside you can say that I am. But there are many days when I am not OK, when I hibernate and hide in my house. There are many nights when I cannot get to sleep and end up finally falling asleep in my recliner with the TV still on.

But I am grateful for my many blessings not the least of which are my posterity. From just Steve and me in our humble beginnings we have grown to about 80 people and I am grateful for each one of them. And, yes, I do know the names of all the grand children and grand children!

And we were blessed with another great daughter and another great grandson this spring!

I am grateful for the Plan of Salvation which will allow me to see Steve again and to spend Eternity with him and our family. I cannot even imagine how hard it would be to lose him if I did not think I would see him again. I am grateful for my testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It brings me peace and comfort.

But at the end of the day, I miss Steve. Alone is still alone.

Steve at the temple grounds of the London Temple in May 2019

GRANDMA TRIP #1 - "PARIS IS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA"...Sabrina [April 2-9, 2023]

2023-04-14T11:12:00.000-07:00

Well JetLag is definitely a thing! I had forgotten how hard it can be since it has been a few years since I have traveled. Here it is 5 days since my return from this Paris trip and I am just barely getting back into this time zone! Part of my fatigue was also the affect of just getting over bronchitis before we left and my ongoing recovery from back surgery. But I am getting there 😏 just more slowly than I had hoped.

And it seems impossible that our long ago planned "Grandma Trip" to Paris has come and gone! :) In fact it seems unreal that I actually was in Paris. But we really did go and we really did have wonderful experiences.

Grayson and I flew out of the Salt Lake airport on April 2 just ahead of a big storm which dumped so many inches of snow in Utah. I was grateful we left ahead of the storm so we were not delayed. [When we returned on April 9 all the snow was gone so we missed it all 😉]

An Uber picked me up at 11:30 AM which meant I missed most of the Sunday conference sessions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am grateful for the technology that has allowed me to listen in to the talks I missed. I had spent the day before listening to many encouraging and strengthening messages from our church leaders. I love that I can go back to listen again. I am always grateful for what I hear and for the hope that comes.

It was nice to spend our waiting time in the Delta Sky Club. I had requested wheel chair assistance and Grayson was my driver. The Salt Lake Airport has ridiculously long terminals!

We had great Premium Select seats for our 9 1/2 hour flight to Paris. Neither of us slept. We watched some movies, I read a book but we did not sleep. We were served dinner and then breakfast in anticipation of landing.

And we are off!

Here comes the Sun!

We chased the sun and soon found ourselves landing at the Charles de Gaulle airport. That is another HUGE airport and I was again very grateful for a wheel chair and the driver who helped us navigate through the endless corridors, customs and luggage collection.

Our shuttle driver was a little late to pick us up and was an angry man! While exiting the airport he did not negotiate a turn very well which necessitated an 8 point turn to get us pointed in the correct direction - accompanied by impatient honking behind us. Both of us wondered what was coming! In our somewhat dazed state we were concerned after we left the freeway with the crazy narrow roads and the very circuitous route before we finally arrived at our hotel, the Best Western Roncerey-Opera Hotel.

Our room was on the second floor of this unique hotel. It was a 3 star hotel and clean.

This arched passageway extended about 3 blocks under the hotel, offices, etc spanning about 3 blocks. Various shops and cafes lined the sides - weather safe shopping.

It was fun to look through the various shops and we even bought a few items.

I was surprised to see 2 shops that sold stamps. I did not even realize that stamp collecting was still a popular hobby. I collected stamps in my early youth and still have my collection.

I think this shop was Grayson's favorite as he was able to find several items he liked.

The hotel let us check in immediately even though it was before normal check in time. So nice! Our room was very small but totally adequate with an ensuite.

We wanted to stay awake and go out so Grayson figured out the Metro and we were off to the Trocadero. So amazing to see the Eiffel Tour for the first time. I suppose it had been on my unwritten bucket list for many years. It was surreal to actually be there. I am not sure exactly how I expected to feel but it was just very interesting to be there after so many years of thinking about it.

Everything was much further apart the we had anticipated when we looked at the map. I was just really grateful that Grayson could figure out the Metro!!!!

Across the Seine we boarded a river boat and enjoyed a cruise for about an hour viewing many interesting sights.The architecture is amazing! I wish I could do justice with photographs.

Fatigue is setting in.

Fatigue slammed us and it was getting chilly so we made our way back to the Metro and back to our hotel to SLEEP.

The breakfast buffets available every morning were amazing. Pastries, breads, meats, cheeses, fruit, dried fruit, yoghurt, all kinds of drinks. It was nice to just have it available every day.

Since Grayson really wanted to see the Catacombs we hit the Metro and were so disappointed to discover that there were no more tickets to the Catacombs that day or any time that week. I had seen the places online to buy tickets which said "likely to sell out" but I did not believe the hype which meant we missed out! So we regrouped and headed to Museum D'Orsay on the Metro.

Each Metro ticket was just over $2 but each ticket gave access to lines in several directions. A person can get off one train and onto another as needed by negotiating through various underground corridors. It is a pretty good deal. I think we bought 60 Euro of tickets. We neglected to photograph the stairs of the Metro!!! I wish I had thought to take a photo because along with a whole underground network of corridors were dozens of STAIRS!! at first I was OK but each time it got harder to pull myself up several flights of stairs to the next train destination. Between the stair railing and Grayson's arm I was able to make it most of the time, stopping occasionally to catch my breath! We asked someone later how handicapped people survived the Metro. The answer "they don't use the Metro". So no handicapped access. Even though I was not in a wheel chair it became difficult. In the end we used a taxi more than the Metro.

There were occasional buskers in the Metro. This man played a small electric guitar with great talent. We just had to stop, listen and add some coins to his coffers.

But I will say that having gray hair and looking "old" has its benefits. The lines were overwhelming but the only option to get into anything. [I learned my lesson about pre-booking but I had wanted to give Grayson the option of spontaneity]. After making our way along the line for over an hour waiting to get into Museum D'Orsay a security guide came up, singled us out and brought us up to the front of the line saving us a couple of hours of standing!!!!! Awesome! I can only assume he noticed my grey hair and had compassion for me. Then in the museum we were able to borrow a wheelchair. Grayson pushed me around the exhibits since the floor plan allowed pretty easy access through out. There were so many amazing paintings sculptures and exhibits and we loved it!

An amazing arch seen as we waited in line. I just love the detail.

The ceilings!

We ordered a lunch of fried cod and salad at the museum.

There are so many amazing things to see.

The sculptures are remarkable!

And then it was back to the hotel for dinner at the Zephyr Club right under the hotel. It was jazz club night so we rested just a bit before heading out.

If you have seen the movie "La La Land" you might recognize the jazz club we visited. This was Grayson's trip so I let him determine where we would go and he found it. Again his Metro skills got us there and we waited until 9 PM before the doors opened. After entry we walked down a flight of stairs, around a corner, down another flight of stairs, around another corner, and down a final flight of stairs into a grotto-like room with a small stage and limited seating.

The music was fantastic. These guys were so talented and I loved it! After awhile people started dancing. The music just went right into us. I wish I had filmed some of the amazing dancers. I have NEVER seen anyone do the swing like they did! So amazing! Then Grayson couldn't sit still any longer, got brave and invited some young ladies to dance and eventually he even got his old grandma out on the floor. It was a delight! I cannot even remember the last time I was on a dance floor. Steve did not like to dance to it has literally been decades since I have danced. But the music! how could I not?!

Then it was the day to see the Louvre. Although I had seen photos of the exterior I had no idea how HUGE it really was. There were huge buildings surrounding the whole are of the pyramid courtyard entry area. I could well imagine there were once horses and carriages traversing the space. I am amazed that the buildings have survived the events of the years. It is remarkable that wars did not destroy.

This panoramic shot can only give a small indication of how really huge this area is. It was surrounded on all sides by the huge buildings.

The crowds were unbelievable! It became immediately apparent that we were not the only ones taking advantage of spring break. I think there were thousands of people milling about. And more lines. I heard someone say it was a 3-4 hour wait in line to even get inside. So we got in line and waited. I would sit on the edge of the fountain and wait for the line to move and then move farther down the line to a new sitting place. It was too early in the year for the fountains to be turned on. It would have been beautiful to see.

Watching people is always interesting. So many people from so many different places. Again my grey hair came to the rescue. After about 1 1/2 hours of shuffling through the line we got near the building but still had to navigate the many lines snaking their way back and forth. It was too hard for me to stand that long so I walked across the lines to go sit on the edge of the fountain near the door. Again, a security guard approached me and beckoned me to follow. I told him I had a grandson with me and he told me to bring him. So, once again we were brought up to the front of the line. I was so grateful as I know he saved us at least another 2 hours of standing! A real blessing.💕💕

I was so grateful there were wheelchairs available as I was very tired. Grayson cheerfully became my driver as we negotiated the many confusing areas. The Louvre is massive. So many beautiful paintings, sculptures, ceilings. No space was wasted! It is impossible to capture the essence of the Louvre in a few photos.

We saw the Mona Lisa - much smaller than expected but still amazing. We saw Venus de Milo - so beautiful. We saw so many amazing sculptures. I think my favorite was a little boy with a goose.

I can't look at sculptures without thinking about Michaelangelo. One of my all time favorite books is The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone, the biography of Michaelangelo. It tells his remarkable story including the interesting way he learned about the muscle structure of the body before he carved his beautiful David.

I have thought a lot about art and what motivates an artist to create their masterpieces. So many masterpieces on display in these museums and so many more preserved in other museums around the world. I was grateful for the opportunity to view so many even though I do not know a lot about art. It was amazing!

We visited Opera Bastille and saw Hamlet. I had not known there was an opera of Hamlet but it was the only one playing in our timeframe and we were not disappointed. The music was fantastic and the staging magnificent.

Fun to dress up a little and have a handsome date!

And then it was time for our cooking class. I found it on Viator and signed up for a market tour with the chef, preparing a 3 course meal in her flat and then eating said 3 course meal. Sadly I had a touch of the stomach flu that morning and found myself looking for a safe bush in which to "throw up" but I still managed to go to the market, just not with a lot of energy. Chef Miryam taught us various things about the produce, etc. The market displays were so awesome! I wished I could have taken more time to really take more thoughtful photos.

I was not up to cooking so took a short nap on her couch while Grayson and a lovely family from Mumbai via Seattle did the cooking. But I was able to sample the results which were very good. I am still waiting on the promised recipes though. It would be fun to try some of them. There was a leek and salmon quiche, a chicken dish with potatoes and an absolutely amazing lemon dessert.

Chef Miryam lived on the 23rd floor with an amazing view!

We returned from the cooking class about 3 PM feeling tired so decided to take a little nap before our next activity. Well, 9 hours later we woke up! Obviously it was the middle of the night so we visited for 2-3 hours and went back to sleep. I guess we were just worn out. I worried I was an "old lady" holding back my grandson but he was just as tired from all of the activities of his life so I guess we both just needed to catch up.

The days were passing quickly and it was impossible to squeeze in everything we would have liked to do but we did get to the Arc de Triomphe which is very impressive. Amazing to stand there and look at that piece of history! The whole city of Paris has so much history. It is surreal to stand in places so steeped in history and think of all those who have gone before. Impossible to reconcile.

We took the Metro back to the Eiffel tower so we could see it all lit up. It was about 9 PM, in time to see the display of flashing lights which turned off after just a couple of minutes leaving on the regular lights.. We wondered if maybe they flashed every hour but did not stay late enough to check our theory. There was definitely a carnival atmosphere around the grounds. Many vendors hawking their wares. Probably the most common item was a "sparkling" Eiffel tower - we resisted. Instead found some cute aprons and a couple of other items. The Eiffel tower is remarkable! We did not try to climb the stairs but just enjoyed the ambience. Another piece of history!

The Seine.

And then it was our last day in Paris. Grayson wanted to attend the Paris temple which is actually in La Chesney, pronounced in a way I cannot even recognize. We opted to take a taxi because it was too stressful to try to find the metro or bus connection since it was about 20 miles south of Paris. We initially thought that since Versailles was just a few blocks away we would visit it after our time in the temple.

The temple is beautiful, very simple without height or the typical statue of the Angel Moroni on top. I suspect that the building codes for that area would not allow those touches. It consisted of a quiet and beautiful court yard with a statue of Thorvaldsens' Christus, surrounded by the temple itself, a visitors center, a family center and patron housing for people who travel long distances to attend the temple. We were able to spend an hour or so inside the temple soaking in the feeling while we participated as proxies in sacred baptisms for deceased ancestors. There is peace found in the temples of the Lord that cannot be found anywhere else.

After we finished we walked to a nearby Aldi grocery store and bought a baguette, some cheese and some oranges which we took back to the family center and ate in the nice kitchen facility. Our plan to visit Versailles went by the way when we realized how tired we were.

Then we had the issue of getting back to Paris. The Metro did not run right there and we could not find a taxi stand. Our cell phones were not working, of course, so we were at a loss. Finally we stopped a young woman who was on her way into the temple and asked if she spoke English. She was kind and offered to call a ride for us. I think it was an Uber. Then she waited with us until our ride showed up. At first we thought it would be nice if we could just drive past Versailles but by the time the car actually showed up we were just too tired and requested just to go back to our hotel. So we missed Versailles.

The down side was the expense of the taxis going to and coming from the temple. It cost about $140 round trip! There probably was a better, cheaper way but we did not know what it was and were just too tired to find out. Thinking about it I realized it was a small sacrifice for the privilege of attending the temple. So many people have made so many major sacrifices to travel long distances to attend the temples, so this was pretty minor and totally worth it.

We returned to our hotel and were greeted and overrun by crowds. There were hundreds of people queued up in front of hotel for the wax museum next door. There were hundreds of people in the archway looking at the shops and it was so overwhelming! Neither of us enjoy crowds. We just hurried to our room and relaxed for awhile before making a last venture to the shops.

That evening we took a taxi to Grayson's friend's home. She had been a foreign exchange student in his high school last year. Her kind parents took us out for dinner and we had a lovely time just visiting with these very delightful people. Their home was decorated like a museum and was so interesting.

Friends in her parents beautiful home.

And then our time in Paris came to an end. Our driver met us in the hotel lobby at 6 AM and drove us to the airport. We were early to make sure everything was in order and then had to wait for 2-3 hours before boarding our flight home. We had our good seats again.Definitely enjoyed the space. My audio/monitor did not work but I was reading a book anyway so it wasn't a big deal. I slept an hour or two and then we landed in Salt Lake. Our luggage made it without incident. Then our trip was history and memories.

Last morning in Paris at the airport.

So the first "Grandma Trip" was complete. I enjoyed my time with my grandson so much. He is an awesome traveling companion and we got along very well. We have a lot of 'selfies'. I will always treasure my memories of our time together. He is a remarkable young man and it is an honor to be his grandmother.

There are a few things I learned on this trip:

one - 6 days is not enough! I think at least 10 days and maybe 2 weeks are necessary. There is never enough time to fully see what is around us!.

two - when they say "likely to sell out" I should pay attention! I guess I am too cynical. I have learned my lesson.

three - it might be a good idea to be well rested before a trip 😆

I feel very blessed to have these experiences. There are more "Grandma Trips" in the works. The next is a Safari in June. How wonderful it is to have a family! My life is not exactly what I pictured it would be. I did not factor in being a widow but I am a widow even though I am still not really sure what that means.

It has been almost 2 years now since Steve died. I am no longer "Steve's wife". I am Liz, a widow, who is trying to find my way to who I really am now. I never got fully moved into this house because my time was spent being Steve's caretaker and then just "being" after he died. Now I am trying to finish moving in which requires sorting and discarding things no longer relevant to my life. This is often emotionally fatiguing.

There are many projects I would like to complete before my turn on earth is over and I am working that direction. I still go to counseling which is helping me deal with various issues I face.

I seem to be recovering well from my back surgery. I have begun 'pool therapy' which is helping. I can feel it especially in my right leg. In a few weeks I will join some of my widowed friends on a cruise which should be enjoyable. I am grateful for my life.

SNOW, SPRING AND LIFE

2023-03-30T18:54:00.000-07:00

I sit at my desk and watch the snow flakes come down. They go from hard hail-like flakes, to big fluffy swirling flakes. Last night the weather alternated between raining and snowing - there was actually a little snow on the ground this morning. The roads are wet, so regardless of what kind of flakes that come, they all quickly meet the same fate of melting.😎

And it is supposed to be spring on March 30. Spring is rather elusive this year.

This has been a crazy week. My X-ray was excellent last week. The vertebrae are perfectly lined up. So, now I can go back to my normal life. I can bend, twist, lift a little, load and unload my dishwasher and all those things I couldn't do for 3 months. I even went to physical therapy and Tai Chi. My stamina is very low so I am trying to build it up. I have been using the tread mill and stationary bike at the club house this week just to try to build some stamina.I suspect there will be a LOT of walking in Paris. But after my trip next week I will start pool therapy which should be helpful. The first day I started picking things up and bending down to put them away which left me exhausted after only 1 hour! Ridiculous!

Of course then I got bronchitis last week which was so annoying. Since I am leaving for Paris in 3 more days I was kind of stressed about getting better in time to go. I am mostly better but just have a lingering cough.

Getting prepared to go to Paris has been stressful. I have not been there before and I like to know what I am doing and where I am going - hence the stress. But I have prepared as well as I can. This will be the first "Grandma Trip" and I look forward to this adventure with my grandson. My suitcase is packed, my meds are under control, the Uber and shuttle have been ordered, etc and we know where we are staying..

This weekend will also be General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which occurs every 6 months. It is always so wonderful to watch and hear the Prophet and the Apostles and other church leaders speak. I always feel renewed and strengthened.

The only sad thing is that our departing flights to Paris were bumped up so we will miss the last session on Sunday to board our flight. Thank goodness for technology so I can watch the last part at my leisure when I get home. In case you are interested in watching you can go to: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/?lang=eng

There will be 3 sessions on Saturday and 2 sessions on Sunday.

I have actually enjoyed the snow this year - maybe because I have not been out in it too much. It really is beautiful and we have had enough snow that the summer should not be in a drought this year.

I love to look out my bedroom window to see just how much snow there is. My patio furniture has been covered over several times. Sometimes the snow has bridged the space between the chair and the table creating one big loaf. Its fun to see. But I do look forward to spring and hope to plant some sweet peas after this trip.

GRANDCHILDREN AND GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN - DOES IT GET ANY BETTER THAN THAT?

2023-03-19T10:58:00.000-07:00

I have been abundantly blessed by association with some of my grandchildren these past several weeks. And I even have a new great daughter who is the 12th great grandchild! I look forward to another great grandson in May as well.

Living in Utah where 5 of my 10 children reside has been a huge blessing since I can now attend many concerts and musicals and special days as well as Sunday dinners. I see at least some of the family several times a month. It really is a blessing!

The other day I was counting up our family and realized that from just Steve and me have come a family of almost 80 people! It is mind boggling and brings me great joy. I love the hugs and the association. It would be my dream to have us altogether at one time in one place although I realize that will likely not happen since we all live far apart in Utah, Oregon, Colorado, Alabama, Indiana, Georgia, Tokyo, California, and Arizona. But I will continue to revel in the times I can gather with my family members. I look forward to the "Grandma Trips" with my grandchildren which will begin April 2 with a trip to Paris with one of my grandsons. It will be fun to find out what adventures await as more trips are planned. There will be a safari in June with 2 more grandsons and then a trip to Japan in 2024 with 5 other grandchildren. I was surprised that so many were interested in visiting Japan. I am grateful that so far my health has been good enough to allow me to travel. I am recovering well from my back surgery which will be helpful when it comes to traveling and needing to walk.

It almost seems like spring. At least we haven't had snow for a few days. The snow pack is good for this year so maybe we will not have to worry about drought conditions. I am thinking of planting sweet peas soon. They have my favorite perfume. And of course I want more zinnias this year.

It has been aggravating to have a 3 month recovery from my surgery! I have read so many books and watched so much TV and felt stymied since I could not "bend, twist or lift more than 10 lbs" nor was I supposed to use my "dishwasher, do laundry or vacuum" during that same time frame. Thankfully I have a robot vacuum, realized I can wash dishes by hand, and learned how to use my 'grabber' to do laundry without bending. This week I will go have an X-ray to see just how the fuse is looking and hopefully I will get a green light to get back to my life. I am not the world's best housekeeper but even I am getting annoyed by the clutter and knowing my bathrooms are not as clean as they should be. I actually found someone to come in and clean for me next week. It will be like spring cleaning I hope!

There is a huge pile of papers on my desk I need to sort as soon as I am cleared to bend so I can put them in my file drawers. But little by little my mind is allowing me to deal with some of the "stuff" like sending in insurance claims, doing my taxes, and so much of the minutia of my life. I am hopeful that I will get my head together again and be more productive. I just need to feel like I am accomplishing something. Guess that comes from having a type A personality. But then there are days when I do absolutely nothing of significance. This past week I have been sort of hibernating. But I am learning to be OK with that too.

I think part of this new portion of my life is learning who I really am. For example, I always have said that I like 'classical' music and I have it playing on my radio in my car when I drive. But I have learned that I do not like ALL classical music. I am trying to discover what foods I actually like. It may be because I had Covid or it is just me but most food does not taste very good to me anymore. So, I am trying to figure out what foods I actually do like. It has been a revelation to me that I struggle with my body image. I think I have always tried to look 'nice' and put together but I realize I really struggle with some excess weight and I need to not struggle so much with it.

So, there is definitely room for growth. I am trying to be a better person and that is sometimes an uphill journey.

But overall I feel blessed and grateful for so many things - for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for the opportunity to attend the temple regularly, for my FAMILY, for the years Steve and I had together, for his love and the foundation he provided for my emotions. I look forward to many more adventures as I adjust to my new life as a widow.

Here are a few recent photos of some of my posterity.

My beautiful new great granddaughter!

With my grandson and his pink hair for his role a "Patrick" in Spongebob.

Awesome supporting family!

Super percussionist after his Jazz Band Concert.

Another 'grandma' moment after one of his musicals.

After his performance with a BYU group - he is an awesome guitarist.

What can I say?!

SACRIFICE, SELFISHNESS, SELF CARE, SANITY

2023-03-04T11:40:00.000-08:00

I really love to see beautiful skies! Seeing them help fill my well.

Lately I have been thinking a lot about sacrifice, selfishness, self care and sanity and how they apply in my life. Part of the grieving process is figuring all that out. I am still visiting a therapist bi-weekly who gives me a good sounding board and often directs my thoughts to areas I had not previously considered.

It seems strange that I am a widow. Most of my life has been spent as a wife and mother. I was blessed to marry Steve who was a good man. He loved me and we had many adventures together. Not the least of which was parenthood. And I am very grateful to be a mother, a grandmother, and a great grandmother. It is amazing to think that my 10 children have turned out to be pretty awesome humans. It is amazing to realize that from Steve and me have come almost 80 descendants to our family. I love my family and am grateful for this time in my life to interact with them all. I love that I see the 5 of my children who live near and some of the grandchildren who live near on a pretty regular basis and am always grateful when those farther away come to visit or text or call.

But it is still strange to be a widow. I am still not sure just what that looks like. I know I am alone, of course, but I am still trying to figure things out.

I have learned that I can go to bed when I want. I can get up when I want - even though I seem unable to sleep more than 5-6 hours at a time. I can get dressed, if and, when I want. I can choose what I want to eat. I can be social, or not, if I want. I can read or watch TV or do other "stuff" if I want. I have also learned that I miss the structure of life that comes in a family. So, I have to figure out what kind of structure I want now that I am alone.

I know I need more exercise to stay healthy and in shape but that has been frustrated as I am still recovering from back surgery. I am recovering but still have pains in my legs. I think I need a chiropractic adjustment but I cannot do that until after I visit the doctor on March 22 and get an X-ray and hopefully a green light for normal activities. It was good to be on the cruise and be forced to walk as much as I was. Crazy to think we walked 1-2 miles per day just on the ship going back and forth from our room ,to dining, to entertainment. But I came home feeling like my body could move better. I have been trying to walk regularly but the cold snowy weather has made that difficult and the reality is that I am kind of lazy.

I have been reading my scriptures regularly and have scheduled weekly temple attendance so that is a start at creating a structure.

But I really do want to do "more". My therapist told me to be aware of what I actually do each day; but feeling like I have to always be doing "more" is just ingrained in my personality that I must be doing. She introduced the term "self care" when I told her that I had chosen not to attend social event I had been planning to attend. I had to think a lot about that term to finally figure out that I do not need to do something just because other people might expect me to do it.

Then I have been thinking about how much of my life has been governed by my perception of what others expect. I have been trying to figure out what it is that I want. So, as I have been reading books and watching TV the back of my mind has been busy trying to figure that out.

Anyone who is a parent knows full well that parenthood is synonymous with sacrifice. We just cannot raise children without sacrificing sleep, time, energy, hobbies, etc. That is just the way it is and I have no regrets for sacrificing so much for my 10 children. And if I had a chance to do it all over again I would jump at it hoping only that I could be a better parent. And we make these sacrifices because we love our children. And it was our desire to 'raise up our family to the Lord'.

Trying to be obedient to the Lord's commandments also involves sacrifice as we spend our time and means to serve the Lord. I would never change our efforts that way either. I was grateful for the opportunity to speak in Stake Conference a week ago because it gave me a chance to serve and to share my testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

There are times when it is right to sacrifice. And there are times when I/we need to pull into ourselves and allow some self care. That is not being selfish. That is filling our wells so we can move forward. There have been many times when I have over extended myself and come close to damaging my sanity. In fact I know that I have damaged my sanity at times.

Sometimes in my life I have had to just stop and pull in and try to reset myself. Sometimes I have to learn to say "no" when I really can't go or do what others may expect from me. And that is OK. But it is a process to learn the balance.

My daughter-in-law found a poster years ago which featured a large elephant balancing on a small ball which I think was actually representing the world. I suspect we all feel like we have to balance "everything". But we don't.

There was a conference talk by Elder Dallin H Oaks a few years back about making good choices. He talked about "good, better and best " choices. I just reread it and appreciate the good counsel he gave.

I am attaching a link to his talk in case you are interested.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2007/10/good-better-best?lang=eng

As I move forward with my life I am trying to figure out which choices are 'best' for me and my family. Sadly I still waste a lot of time being unproductive. I need to learn to forgive myself for not being perfect. I need to somehow step back and see the full picture and figure out what I want and why I want it and then move forward.

SHEEP

2023-02-19T19:32:00.000-08:00

Several years ago Steve and I spend 4 1/2 months in Wales to research his family history. We stayed in a small village called Pontygwaith and often drove to the Glamorgan Archive in Cardiff or the West Glamorgan Archive in Swansea with occasional forays to the archives in Neath, Cowbridge, etc. We also spent some time in Aberystwyth at the National Archives. How we loved immersing ourselves in the old records! It was a thrill to touch and read the old documents. And we found some amazing information.

The countryside of Wales is so lovely with many enclosed green fields dotted with sheep. I loved to see them. It is so very green and just beautiful! One day I wanted to stop and take some pictures of sheep so I pulled off to the side of the road , got out of the car and walked across the road because there were a lot of sheep in the back field. Steve wasn't as excited about the sheep as I was so he patiently waited in the car.

There was a wide metal gate sitting diagonally at the corner of the field. As I walked up to that gate the sheep at the extreme opposite end of the field saw me and started running my direction! Then it seemed they got shy and stopped so I moved and turned just a little and they then began to run again. I have wondered if they hoped I had a treat for them, just didn't know what they were thinking.

Over the next 10 or so minutes they alternated between running towards me and acting shy. The more bashful sheep stayed somewhere near the middle of the field. But several continued to press forward. Eventually only 3 stuck their heads through the rungs while others milled around. Oh how I laughed at their antics.

I immediately learned two things. The sheep were not really all that cute up close. AND they smelled awful!!! I did not even dare pet them because they smelled so gross. I contented myself with taking a few photos and apologized for not bringing a treat. Then I crossed the road, walked back to the car chuckling all the way and drove back home to Pontygwaith. The sheep waited a bit and then gradually moved back into the field. If I had brought a treat for them it might have been even more fun.

It was a very funny experience for me and for some reason I told one of my daughters about it the other day. She reminded me of the many pictures we see of the Savior carrying a lamb. Then she drew the analogy between us and those sheep and how the Savior is always there, willing to pick us up no matter how much we stink.

The more I thought about what she said the more I realized how profound she was. We spend our whole lives getting dirty and smelly, catching ourselves on the difficult experiences and debris of the world. But always the Savior is there to love us, to pick us up, to clean us off through forgiveness and help us come 'home'. Likely the sheep the Savior held did not stink nor will we when we turn to Him.

[I wanted to add a photo of the Savior holding lamb but it seems copyright law prohibits me from doing so. But I am sure you can see one in your mind 😌]

RENEW, RESTART, REFRESH, RESILIENCE TO MOVE FORWARD EVEN WHEN THINGS HAVE BEEN TOUGH

2023-02-08T16:45:00.001-08:00

Lots of photo ops in the Cabo market place.

Going on a cruise was a fun experience. Going on the RENEW23 Cruise was a phenomenal experience! It was so great to spend time with my eldest daughter enjoying things we like to do. The whole ship had been chartered for this group for a 5 night cruise starting in Long Beach traveling to Cabo San Lucas, Ensanada and back to Long Beach. I loved having a balcony room so we could enjoy the ocean and the views. It was great to see dolphins and whales along our way.

The bars and the casino were not busy since no one was interested in the alcohol or gambling. By the last 2 evenings the bar tenders had figured out how to offer non alcoholic beverages so we saw a lot of virgin pina coladas, etc being served and the staff had opportunities to earn tips. On a humorous note, which we did not even notice until a couple of days in, several of the plentiful naked statues had been given 'togas'.

The musical offerings were pretty awesome. We enjoyed concerts by the Piano Guys, Conlon Bonner, Ofi, David Osmond, the Osmond Chapman Orchestra, Hilary Weeks. There were also a number of interesting presentations by various people but we just did not have enough time to enjoy them all. But they all followed a theme of spiritual/emotional survival, of getting back up again after tough times, of hope, of renewal. One of the speakers mentioned "sacred idleness" - a time to just be and allow ourselves to renew instead of being constantly busy. A time to ponder and refresh. That is important for me to remember.

I was cleared by my doctor to go on the cruise but not to go on excursions. I wore the back brace every day and used a walker when we were not on the ship. It was nice to just sit down on the walker seat when I got tired. Tracking my steps showed me that I walked between 1 and 2 miles per day without even leaving the ship. Our stateroom was about in the middle of the ship so we had to go one direction for our meals and another for our concerts. But medically it was a great break half way through my recovery and the walking was good to loosen me up. There was too much food of course. But I was not overly impressed with it or maybe there was just too much. And I did not gain any weight which was great!

It is always fun to visit markets. I forgot to take photos but it was fun to see all the color. I found a very cute little Mexican shirt for my newest great grandson who will be born in May, as well as a very cute little 2 piece dress for the newest great granddaughter who will be born in March. It is pretty amazing to realize that I will soon have 13 great grandchildren! I am so blessed!

Next January RENEW24 will occur and I hope to participate and get that extra shot in the arm again. I just hope the weather cooperates a little better as my daughter had a hard time getting home with storms in the midwest which cancelled and delayed her flights into Nashville.

Now I am home in COLD Utah. And it has been COOOLDD! Well below freezing for a long time with occasional snow.

It was strange coming home - to reality I suppose- and seeing that my house still looks the same and trying to again figure out "what comes next".

As I looked toward my future trips I realized it was time to make sure my grandsons and I have our proper immunizations for our trips to France and Kenya and Tanzania. I have absolutely no idea where I put the record of my immunizations! Of course I have my Covid shot records with my passport but I looked HARD and cannot find the other records.

Tender mercies are very real. After my initial panic, and some prayer, I made a series of phone calls culminating with a fortuitous call to the Whatcom County WA Health department. The lovely person I spoke with sent me link for a form which I printed and filled out, my daughter helped me to get a photo of the form sent back and literally within 10 minutes on a Friday afternoon I electronically received the whole list of my immunizations including all I was given in 2016/2017 preparing for our mission to Australia. What a relief and a HUGE shout out to the staff at Whatcom County Health department! I have an appointment Thursday to see my doctor and hopefully get his approval for a Yellow Fever Immunization. I need that "note from my doctor" since I am over 60. Then Friday I will get the Yellow Fever vaccine and anything else I still need. Hopefully the side affects are not too awful.

On Saturday my son came and picked me up and drove me to Salt Lake to see the final performance of my grandson with the Young Ambassadors. He pays a mean guitar and has spent 2 years with that group but he is now finished. It was such fun to be there to watch the performance and to watch my grandson jiving to the music. And it was so nice to have my son be my chauffeur and have that precious time to just visit. Steve would be really glad to see how nicely our children care for me.

Taxes are a royal PAIN. I did mine the other night and discovered I have to pay this year. I guess that is not a huge surprise since I did not have any funds withheld in 2022. But what was a surprise was that along with the taxes I rightfully owe I am being charged $57 for not having had enough funds withheld. How is that fair????? Well Uncle Sam will get my taxes and my fee - but not until April 14. And I will have to go in and change my withholding statement so that next year I will not be charged for not taking enough out. Ridiculous! GRRRR

The days seem to flow by. I actually dared go to church on Sunday - the first since my surgery in mid December. It was good to be there and not just watch on Zoom. Nice also to know that people were glad to see me and were concerned for me since my surgery.

Still reading a lot of books. It is sad when I find an author I really enjoy and then have read all of her books. [I have really enjoyed the historical novels, mostly with a romance, written by Roseanna M White. She writes good clean stories with intricate plots.] Then I have to find a new author. I'm also watching a lot of TV offerings. It is easy to hide myself away in books or TV shows and not quite face life. I need to work on a schedule to make sure I am doing the things I need to do. It is just much easier to hide. But I need to try to figure out things to do for other people.

I need to NOT hide but to get on with a purpose in my life. I am still going to grief counseling Not sure just how long I will need that but it seems to help. Tears of loss still come at the strangest times but I feel very blessed and look forward to the future. I just have to figure out how to manage that future :)

The monitor in our room showed our progress and other details. From Long Beach to Cabo San Lucas to Ensenada and back to Long Beach. The weather was pleasant.

I did not take as many photos as I should have. My daughter took a lot and some of these are hers. I hope next time I travel that my head will be more in gear to find and take the great photos that are available. I really am a greedy traveller and want to see and absorb everything! And I love nature! So, a few pictures.

Our steward created a different towel animal every day! It was such fun coming back to see what he had done. Then Andrea named them!

So grateful for the walker that made it all doable

Our more modest statue :)

So nice to also have a neighborhood friend along on this cruise. It was fun to hang out.

Cabo

Ensenada

My delightful daughter

Olive trees

This was our 'formal' night. I bought this dress at the market. I think I am a little bit Bohemian sometimes.

Our wait staff who were absolutely fantastic. They took great care of us with lots of humor that made our evenings delightful!

A rainbow is ALWAYS a good sign!

I love being a Grandma!

56 YEARS AGO - A LIFETIME AGO

2023-01-24T22:42:00.000-08:00

56 years ago on a cold winter's day Steve and I were married in the Salt Lake Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Although we were young and naive, Steve was 21 and I was 19, we were full of faith in the Lord and love for each other. It was our desire to raise up a family to the Lord and to live so that our sealing in the temple would allow our family to be together forever.

We had no idea what the future would bring but felt confident that together we could make it. Our years were filled with many miracles but also many hard times. We were blessed with 10 beautiful, healthy children who have grown up to be amazing humans and who seem to have mostly forgiven us for all of our parenting mistakes. It is a joy when I am able to be with them and their families. I know that Steve would have enjoyed this time of continued association with our families. But it was not to be. The Lord had other plans for him.

It has now been 1 year and 7 months since Steve died and I miss him. This time of being alone, and especially as I have been recovering from this back surgery, has provided ample opportunity to reflect and remember. I have been reading old journals from the 1980's. Steve was a great journal keeper and wrote almost every single day. His entries help me remember so much. We had so many adventures together. We lived in Utah, Illinois, Colorado, Arizona, Texas, Washington, before finally settling back in Utah. When Steve retired his co-workers asked if we would now travel and he said "likely not" and yet we did travel. We visited Hawaii, Australia, Denmark, Canada, Germany, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, England and many states in the US.

Steve was truly the 'wind beneath my wings' and my 'safe harbor'. He supported me and encouraged me as I ventured out of my comfort zone. He loved me unconditionally. His healing hugs often saved my sanity. I am grateful for the 54 years, 4 months and 19 days we had together. Before he died I told him that he "was the best thing that every happened to me" and I meant it.

Now I rely on strengthening memories to sustain me as I move out of my comfort zone. Ironically one of the things that has been hard for me is driving. It is so weird because I was the primary driver for many years after Steve had his accident in 1998. I drove thousands of miles all over the US and Europe, plus on the "other side of the road" in Australia and the UK. But getting behind the wheel after he died was hard. It is becoming more natural now but I have yet to drive over 200 miles. I hope that will change as I would like to drive to see our granddaughter's family in Wyoming and to see our children in Denver.

So, I press forward, still trying to figure out just who I am now. Thankfully I have my family, my friends, a comfortable home in which to live, a good car and the means to do some traveling. I appreciate all Steve did to provide for me. On this anniversary I will begin a new journey by taking a cruise with our oldest daughter. It seems that going during this anniversary time would be a comforting and diverting experience. Steve had absolutely no desire to ever go on a cruise - so this is brand new experience for me.

I am grateful for our marriage in the temple those 56 years ago and for my testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that provides the way for families to be together forever. Someday I will be with Steve again and feel his healing hugs.

Oh how young we were! and this was in 1972 after 5 years of marriage and 3 children.

On a trip to Ruegen, Germany in 2014

The day we moved into our single level home in Syracuse, 13 June 2020 - one year to the day before Steve left us.

A LEGACY OF MUSIC

2023-01-18T19:32:00.000-08:00

It's interesting how much time is spent just thinking while I am in recovery from this back surgery. After reading many unimportant books and watching lots of unimportant TV I also occasionally will just sit and ponder. I was listening to some Mozart the other day and remembering many hours of hearing my daughter practice her flute. I miss that.

I also miss the busyness of early morning practicing. There was a time when every morning would be filled with strains of piano, violin, flute, drum pad, trumpet and later saxophone and clarinet and more flute and more trumpet and more piano and guitar. Music filled our home for countless hours for many years. I loved it and I miss it.

My hope was that each of our 10 children would learn to play the piano well enough to be serviceable and able to play hymns at church if needed. We also wanted our children to have the opportunity of enjoying music. They almost all went through the school band or orchestra programs and we attended lots of concerts. Marching band was also a big deal when our children went to Mountain Crest High School in Hyrum. Utah. There was even Mariachi Band when we lived in Los Fresnos, Texas.

Moving from Utah to Texas changed the dynamics of music in our home. Piano lessons were so much more expensive and bartering for lessons became a thing of the past. Sadly our younger children were not able to take piano lessons and my efforts to teach them usually resulted in tears. But somehow through band they learned to love music and even played a little piano.

Our old upright piano, a gift from my mother, served us well for many years. I enjoyed hearing our children practice and I also enjoyed playing duets for flute, trumpet and violin with some of our children. We also sang around the piano. Of course as the children grew up and moved away the piano was often quiet. Then when we prepared to serve our mission in Australia and needed to store our furniture we found a new home for the piano where other children could learn to play and enjoy it.

Reflecting on my own musical journey brings many, many memories. I became the recipient of my mother's wish to play the piano. She never had that opportunity but wanted her children to have that privilege. As immigrants trying to find our way in the world, money was not plentiful. But my father was truly amazing! Going along with my mother's dream for us to play the piano, he used his ingenuity to provide a way.

One day he procured an old ornate pump organ from an elderly woman who had no further use for it. He stripped out the keyboard and the pump mechanism and got rid of the wooden cover. I wish someone had had the foresight to take photos of the process. But my mind remembers. He built a plain wooden box with a place for the key board. Inside the box he arranged the bellows and all that was needed to allow the keys to be played. He found a small vacuum which he attached to the bellows. When we wanted to play the "piano" we had only to plug in the vacuum cord and the keys became alive. So, at the ripe old age of 9, I had my first "piano" and lessons to learn to play.

When I was 12 years old our family actually got our first real piano. It was beautiful and a wonderful surprise when we moved to our new home. Then I could learn to play staccato notes and learn the touch of actual piano keys as opposed to the soft touch of the organ. I took lessons a few more years but never became really proficient. My father often requested that I play La Paloma which was a favorite of his. My sister and brother far surpassed my ability although I was always pretty good at sight reading. I have always loved music. It was a gift my parents gave me in a rather unorthodox manner.

Not all of our children have continued to use their musical talents but all have an enjoyment of music. One of our sons is a composer and a music engineer in his home studio. Several of our children and grandchildren are proficient in various aspects of music, the guitar, voice and various instruments. There is a continuous thread of the musical enjoyment running through our family. My children saw to it that I have a nice electric piano in my home which I do play from time to time; and the grandchildren take full advantage when they visit. It makes me happy.

And now when I want to listen to music I just have to say " Alexa, play Mozart" or whatever I am in the mood to hear and it plays throughout my home for my enjoyment. Grateful thanks to my mother and my innovative father for my musical journey and the legacy they left their posterity.

A beautiful sky in Newfoundland in lieu of piano photos.

I USED TO BE A GOOD COOK!!!

2023-01-10T14:40:00.000-08:00

Food and I have a strange relationship. Ofttimes I wish someone would just bring me my meals all prepared and ready to eat. Sometimes I don't even like food and often I end up eating things I shouldn't since I have type 2 diabetes.

Today one of my daughters called to get the doughnut recipe I had used many years ago. We used to have doughnut Fridays with videos on the rented VHS machine we got at the local service station. I remember the counter covered with waiting dough which was cut into doughnut shapes and then deep fried. But I have not made doughnuts for at least 3 decades now.

Years later we had pizza and root beer float video nights. Homemade pizza was a regular occurrence at our house. Every one could add their own toppings. But now it has been some time since I have made a homemade pizza.

When all 10 children were still home I became a master at stretching our budget. I could make one chicken serve 12 people. I created many casseroles usually based on mushroom soup and/or canned tomatoes. [I would bottle 10 bushels of tomatoes and they would be bottled the way I like them in quarters with no skins.] Our garden yielded bushes of green beans and I also canned them. Every summer/fall we canned what even we could find -beans, tomatoes peaches, pears, applesauce, cherries, etc usually about 500 quarts. And we froze corn, broccoli, spinach etc. We always ate our breakfasts and dinner together. One of my sons said I was "a good cooker". I loved to make soups whether from soup bones of turkey carcasses. I made homemade noodles which were so good. My mother could never figure out how I could pull together ingredients to provide a meal. But I did.

Our children grew up on homemade bread. My first effort at bread baking was actually funny. The outside looked so beautiful but when I tried to slice the bread I discovered the inside to be totally doughy. Over the years I got better at handling and kneading the bread dough. I had often made good sweet roll variations when I was in high school and I finally mastered the art of bread baking. At one point Wednesdays were set aside for baking and I would produce 20 loaves of bread, various batches of cookies and desserts much of which went into the freezer. Each of the children learned how to bake bread on their own. One son actually baked his own bread and sold sandwiches at high school to earn his own income.

Our family dynamics gradually changed with university and marriage. At one point my fridge was so full of leftovers by Fridays that Friday became leftover day. About that time I discovered that previously our boys had enjoyed a 4th meal past midnight sneaking downstairs and helping themselves so there were no leftovers. I had to adjust how much food I prepared.

Sooner than I would have thought Steve and I were back to only 2 of us for our meals. It wasn't as much fun to cook for only 2 and my recipes served so many more. We found that Sam's and Costco had lots of options that did not require much cooking. I pretty much stopped baking bread or even many cookies. I learned I had diabetes so it was not a good idea to have lots of cookies in the house because I would eat them.

I would have been happy to get by with a peanut butter sandwich but Steve still wanted a real meal so I tried.

After Steve retired we served out mission in Sydney Australia and we often were too busy for me to really cook. We got used to quick food and fast food. The only thing I really prepared were Morning Glory Muffins which I often prepared for the missionaries for meetings we had. Then on our 8 1/2 month family history trip to Wales and Europe there were few opportunities to cook and we learned to love the soups and wonderful soda bread.

We arrived home and began to settle into our new life when Steve had his first stroke. That changed everything because I could no longer cook for him when he was in the hospital and I just grabbed what ever was available. A short few weeks in our daughter's home when she tried to tempt him with various dishes. Then we were in our new one level home in Syracuse. But Steve pretty much liked mac and cheese, and other easy dishes. I ate whatever. As Steve declined food became less and less important. And then he died. And I didn't really care what I ate.

There are things that sound good but when I actually cook I don't much care for what I make. It is strange because food prep used to be such a huge factor in my life. Now it is a nuisance.

Our children have been wonderful in that they have scheduled visits with me on Sundays and they bring dinner, often leaving me an extra meal of leftovers.

I look at my old recipe box which is falling apart. It is stuffed with so many recipes that used to be a part of my life and there are many good memories there. I enjoy when some of my children ask for recipes they remember. But I think my cooking days are gone. Gone are the days when I cooked a huge Mexican food meal over Christmas, when I made dozens of pizzas for my children friends, when I made lots of good winter soups, when I had a lot of people over for Sunday dinners, when I set a pretty table and filled it with good food. I am not sure I am even a 'good cooker' anymore.

Now that I am alone I guess it is time to find a new way to cook and prepare food and set my table. Occasionally I see a recipe or think of a certain food and feel a pull to cook again. But it seems there are other interests and time consumers that pull me away; the creative writing class, my back surgery, my travel plans, and my own laziness.

Food is definitely interesting. I think I have "love-hate" relationship with it.

HELLO 2023...WHAT DO YOU HAVE WAITING FOR ME?

2022-12-31T09:53:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!

January 1 has always been my favorite day of the year. It has always represented a clean slate - a new start - new opportunities.

But this year things are a little murky, well not exactly murky but less straight forward. I have discovered that recovery from this surgery involves more pain than I had expected. I have learned that I do not feel very motivated when I am in pain. My days are not filled with exciting thoughts of refining plans or goals or new resolutions. Instead I find them filled with a lot of light reading and mindless movies just trying to hold on. I am a little disappointed in myself and have become even more impressed with people who live with chronic pain and still remain productive and cheerful. I hope I can soon pass through the pain and be able to move forward.

I did discover the TV series The Chosen and have 'binge watched' the first 2 seasons and now wait for the weekly installments of season 3. Somehow the writers and the actors have done a remarkable job of bringing the reality of the Savior and His mission to the forefront. I am grateful to be watching it as I feel more mindful of the Savior.

The holidays passed quietly with a sense of peace and contentment. My children made sure I was not alone on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day and days before and after. I am grateful for my family. They are a huge blessing in my life. I am also grateful for caring friends. It is nice to be remembered and to know that people care about me.

I am still wearing a back brace and am not supposed to bend, twist or lift anything over 10 pounds for 3 months. Doctor also said no laundry, no vacuuming and no loading or unloading the dishwasher for 3 months. It is hard to remember not to pick things up. But I have a 'grabber' which extends my arms a couple of feet and allows me to 'pick things up'. But I still need to ask for help with some of the basics.

Our family had a game night planned at the clubhouse in my neighborhood. But about 1 hour before it was to begin our neighborhood power went out. So we had to cancel our game night. It was a disappointment but all is well. One of my sons immediately drove up to care for me until the power was restored and I realized in all of my organizing I had not prepared for power outages. Now I have some nice little lanterns that he brought. Hopefully I will not have to use them often.

I missed taking a picture of some beautiful snow we had. For a week or more my patio was filled with about 14". It was beautiful and pristine the way it hung on the patio furniture. I miss it now that most is melted. I hope we get more.

It is hard to believe that it has now been 1 1/2 years since Steve died. In many respects it seems like it has been forever not just 18 months. As I have been reading in his journals from the 1980's I have been struck by the many sacrifices he made for me and our family. I am grateful for him and the privilege of our life together. I miss his healing hugs and his soothing foot rubs. He was not a perfect man but he was a good man who loved me, our family and the Lord.

As my life moves forward I find I am much more laid back. I am learning that lower expectations bring less disappointments. Being grateful for many little things strengthens me and eliminates feelings of sadness that I might have experienced in the past if plans did not work out.

There are many plans in place for 2023. I hope I will feel well enough to take the trips and spend time with my family. I hope I can have a clear enough mind to organize my family history materials and write the stories that need to be written. More and more I recognize my own mortality and hope I can fill my remaining time on this earth with experiences that will strengthen my posterity.

May you all be richly blessed in this New Year!

Amaryllis are one of the joys of the Season!

SPONDYLOLISTHESIS OR 'SPONDY' ...AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2022-12-21T16:33:00.003-08:00

Spondylolisthesis - so, that is a new word in my vocabulary and a word which has changed my life. Basically it is a condition in which two discs run out of alignment with each other. In my case L4 and L5 were out 1 inch when ever I stood up causing back and leg issues. Little wonder that I had so many leg/foot issues on my trip to Canada!

After a CAT scan and an MRI and much prayerful consideration I decided to follow the surgeons recommendation and have surgery to fuse those two offending discs. Now it has been 1 week since I have 'gone under the knife'. Amazingly the pain in my right leg was gone immediately after the surgery and I am optimistic that my other back and leg pains will diminish and allow me to have an active life again.

My family and friends have been so helpful and I have survived this far. Last night I was able to roll over in my bed without agony which was huge. The brace is uncomfortable but reminds me that I must not bend, twist or lift - for the next 3 months. The surgery pain is diminishing but is still definitely there. I am optimistic that I will be up for a cruise on Jan 25 with my daughter.

By necessity holiday celebrations will be minimal but 2 of my sons decided I should not be alone, so on Christmas Eve a family will visit and on Christmas Day another family will visit. Phone calls, texts cards, and other visits have been most welcome. And we have scheduled a Family Game Night for December 27 when those who can will gather for a time together.

Today is the birthday of one of my sons who is a remarkable human and I am grateful to be his mother. I am grateful to be the mother for my other 3 sons and my 6 daughters. They are ALL remarkable humans as are those they have married who treat me as their own. I am grateful for 38 plus grandchildren, 11 great grandchildren and the 2 who are on the horizon. And there are bonus grandchildren so our 'clan', if you will, numbers well over 70 people. Steve and I would have been married 55 years this coming January 2023 if he had not died in June 2021. We could not have imagined all these wonderful additions to our families.

My gratitude is overflowing. I am at peace with my life.

I am grateful for my marriage of 54 years, 4 months and 19 days to a remarkable man who loved me despite my weaknesses and provided me with all I needed in the way of physical comforts. I love my house and feel good being here. I am grateful for a car which takes care of my needs. We struggled financially earlier in our marriage but somehow we were blessed with all we needed and all that I now need. But of course I miss him.

I am grateful for a few fun January days in New York with a grandson. I enjoyed his company. It was wonderful to have a son and his family stay with me while they waited to move back to Tokyo. I enjoyed a few days in San Diego and Yuma with a daughter's family - for a grandson's performance on the Battleship. And then a couple of days in Star Valley to visit Steve's grave and his brother's family.

The long awaited and heavy planned trip to Canada and our 45 days of "sister" time. And then the San Diego trip with some of the other widows from the Villas. Not so excited for my subsequent bout of Covid but grateful I survived. Glad for my sister's October visit and her help in my getting more organized; and we got to see Southern Utah. Glad for my creative writing class which has given me some writing skills. Looking forward to more writing in the future. Glad for our daughter and family to be here for Thanksgiving!

Grateful to have my house decorated to Christmas. My sweet daughter-in-law insisted she could put up my tree when I had decided it was too much work and she just did it.

This has been a very busy year. I have not had time to be bored and in fact still have things that need to be organized to be fully moved into this house.

Next year marks the beginning of the "Grandma trips" when I will hopefully take all of my grandchildren on trips. Paris in April with a grandson will be the inaugural trip and then a Safari in June with 2 more grandsons. Also a cruise with my daughter the end of January and a cruise with the villa ladies the end of April. There will not be time to be bored.

So, this year ends with gratitude and hope for the future; with my testimony that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is Real. It is a simple testimony that I know the Plan of Salvation is Real and that a loving Heavenly Father watches over all of us and will make everything right in the end.

May your lives be richly blessed!

FALL AND FAMILY

2022-11-13T20:30:00.000-08:00

Fall is a reminder that life brings constant change, issuing challenges to enjoy the moments before they pass.

Today has been an interesting day.

My kaleidoscope of thoughts has taken me in many directions. My 8 week creative writing course is done. I learned a lot about writing and even about myself. Our assignment was to write a paper on the theme of sadness using 2-3 different writing genres. I wrote about my great great grandparents and was happy with the result.

My sister asked what I would write about next and I realized I need to continue writing stories for Our Miraculous Journey which Steve and I began several years ago. We had been chronicling the miracles we have experienced in our lives which we began when one of our younger daughters had asked "what miracles?" in a discussion. We realized that our older children would not know details of some miracles after they moved from home and the younger children would not know details before their birth or when they were very young so Steve and I decided to write them down and give everyone a copy so our family could know their spiritual heritage.

For a few years we would send a few stories every Christmas but when it came time to write about the 80's I just could not! After several attempts and being interrupted by our mission to Australia [jenkinsaustralianmission.blogspot.com] and our family history travels to Europe [furtheradventuresofsteveandliz.blogspot.com] it all got pushed aside. It really is time to move forward but I have come to realize I have some sort of PTSD for those years because they were so hard even with miracles.

Back to this morning. As I lay in bed I was thinking about a couple of experiences with my mother during my growing up years that were really difficult and traumatic. I have been thinking about putting them on paper. I guess these experiences are some of those things I need to take out, deal with and grieve over one at a time before I can let them go. Then, as I lay there thinking about it, into my mind crept some things I inflicted on a couple of my sons and I realized that those things were right up there with what my mother had done to me. I all of a sudden realized that I need to forgive my mother for that trauma and just put it away. And hope my sons will forgive me if they have not already. I am not sure just what that looks like. But I definitely recognized that I need to forgive.

You would think that was enough epiphanies for one day but then I went to church. Sadly I slept through part of the 1st talk and the violin solo and then all of a sudden woke up as the next speaker was telling about his experiences in Mexico on his mission. He had been in a group of missionaries who were attacked, robbed and held hostage. No one was harmed but there were harrowing moments. At one point one of the perpetrators asked "Where is your God now?"

This young man proceeded to talk about how God is always with us but that we need our difficult experiences to grow. He quoted part of Doctrine and Covenants 121 which occurred when Joseph Smith was incarcerated in Liberty jail under terrible physical conditions, as well as very difficult circumstances for church members. He asked "O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?". In verse 7 the Lord responds "My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over thy foes."

As I heard those words my kaleidoscope shifted giving me a clearer understanding of our "seven years of famine" in the 80's and I realized how to begin the writing process about our experiences in those years. I remember telling a friend once that it seemed God had left us on our own for a time because there had been so many difficult things. It is amazing what can happen when your perspective changes to be more correct.

My mind is always working behind the scenes. I suppose that is necessary for me.

Just last week my sister returned to Toronto after spending a month in Utah with me. I was so glad she came even if we did not get as much family history done as we had at first hoped. She helped me shift my paradigm back to working on family history so that I can move forward. With everything going on for a few years I have not been into family history for awhile. Writing my paper on my great great grandparents also helped bring me back into that world.

It is nice to know we still get along. We actually did work on some family history, a bit of organizing, we found a marriage we did not have, she uploaded family pictures to FamilySearch and created some timelines We spent a lot of 'down time' just reading or watching TV but we also played a little. We drove the Alpine loop in Utah county enjoying the spectacular display of autumn color. We spent time with family including a gathering of about 30 people including my children, our brother and his family and our cousins. We drove to southern Utah and took in the majestic sights of Zions National Park and the amazing formations in Bryce Canyon. I had never been there and it was awesome!

I am still moving slower than I wish. My plantar fasciitis is about 85% healed but I am struggling with walking very much. After some doctor visits it has been determined that I have Spondylolisthesis which is causing some issues with my legs and lower back. It sounds like I will need some back surgery to fuse L4 and L5 but that scares me. Right now I have a LOT of exercises from the physical therapist so we will see how it goes. Next spring/summer is very full with plans and trips so I could not possibly consider surgery until July. I guess I just need more info before I make a decision, and lots of exercises.

This evening one of our sons and his family came to visit and then our daughter and her family dropped by. It is so nice to be surrounded by those I love and who appear to love me. It has truly been an interesting day!

In a few days another daughter and her family from Colorado will visit for Thanksgiving. I feel very blessed to have such a wonderful family. I miss Steve and his hugs and his foot rubs. I am grateful for my many blessings, especially the Plan of Salvation which teaches that we can be together forever.

Alpine Loop

at Snowbird after Oktoberfest.

My sister, my cousin, me and my brother.

Some of us at a family gathering.

Beautiful skies in southern Utah.

Zion's National Park

Bryce Canyon

AH YES OPPOSITION IS VERY REAL!

2022-09-27T20:04:00.002-07:00

August Sunset in Syracuse.

I have been struggling with opposition. While I was in Canada I felt like I had broken through an emotional barrier and was prepared to move forward. I was excited to 'get on with my life'. I was tired after our long trek through the Canadian Provinces and it was good to be home. After a couple of weeks I joined some other widows in our area on a fun trip to San Diego.

It was on my way home when I began to feel ill. At first I worried about Covid but took two at home tests that were both negative. Then after another week of not feeling well. I finally went to see the doctor. Of course they tested me and I was positive for Covid. Now I don't know if the other tests were defective or if Covid developed long the way. The doctor prescribed some medication to "keep me out of the hospital" and I began to improve almost immediately. However I also discovered that I had some urinary tract issues and was given 2 other medications, all of that along with the plantar fasciitis which made it hard for me to walk. I am improving but I have no idea how long it will take me to get my strength back. Although I still feel like the emotional fog has lifted as mentioned in my last post, I feel like I am being held back physically.

Even the smallest amount of activity leaves me wiped out. And it is very hard to stay motivated when I am exhausted and wiped out. So, I have been suffering with lots of of opposition.

So, what it opposition? For me it feeling like I cannot move forward in my chosen direction because of the road blocks in my way. Even though I alphabetized my credenza I have hardly had enough energy to organize papers into files. I find myself only able to work with a few items per day. I will have made some progress before my sister arrives this Sunday but there is still so much to do. I can do only a fraction of what I used to which is frustrating.

I suppose I have been feeling sorry for myself but then I remember that we need opposition to help us grow. I read over Nephi's words in 2 Nephi chapter 2, in particular verse 11.

11 For it must needs be, that there is an ^aopposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.

That whole chapter [in the Book of Mormon] is worth reading but that particular verse reminds me that I need to experience opposition in my life to grow. Not having energy to physically do much is very frustrating and yet it has given me a good opportunity for reflection and pondering. I have read several "fluff" books and watched several TV programs and even played games on my phone which have become rather boring. But in the background my mind has been working full time.

I realized that during my whole life I have been a "Martha" worrying about all the "things" that needed doing. I have rarely taken time to enjoy the moment but instead have been worried about how to facilitate what needed to come next. Maybe that is what comes from having many children to manage but I know that it has meant that I have missed enjoying special moments because I worried about other things. And I grieve for the loss of those special moments. I grieve for the times when I allowed myself to be "too busy" or preoccupied with life to be in the moment with a child or grandchild. And I missed special moments with them. Coming face to face with another shortcoming is humbling to say the least.

So, now at 75 years old, I need to switch gears and learn to enjoy and cultivate the moments. I cannot redeem the lost moments but I can do my best to BE HERE in the future. With understanding comes growth. And I am trying to grow.

Last week I attended the first of 8 weeks of a creative writing class. It was good to be there and I feel anxious to learn. It will be a challenge but I am excited about it. I will postpone the art class for a few weeks so I can spend time with my sister. But I have been watching a program on BYUTV called Artful that has taught me much. Each program features 2 artists and it has been very insightful not only to see their work but to hear their thoughts. I feel like all of these experiences are stretching me.

After Steve died I felt like I needed more time on this earth to learn more. And I still believe that. I realize that there are still long conversations to be had with Heavenly Father so I can come to understand better what He wants and needs me to do. I am grateful for the increased understanding that is coming my way.

THE FOG IS LIFTING

2022-09-16T08:48:00.002-07:00

I woke up Sunday morning without the fog in my mind. It has been there for so long I could immediately tell it was gone. I felt alive and even enthusiastic about moving forward.

It appears I am actually over Covid! Yeah! So grateful for good medications. That Paxlovid prescription was very effective. Just hope I can have all of this behind me and gain my strength back soon. Although I still missed Church I had one of my more meaningful Sabbath day experiences as I watched a few programs on BYU TV that caused me to go even deeper in my ponderings. I am grateful for Zoom technology that allowed me to watch my granddaughter and daughter give talks in their ward in Colorado. And also to view my own ward here in Utah. However I am looking forward to actually attending church next week when I hope to be stronger. It will be Stake Conference.

Although my thoughts and feelings are running deep it is difficult to find the correct words to express what I am feeling. And I am hesitant to post this entry because it is so very personal.

September is already here and yet I am still waiting for summer to come. It is impossible to realize that the summer has passed and that my long awaited trip to Canada with my sister has come and passed into memory. I have amazing memories of our time together but somehow I am still waiting for summer to come and it is strange to see the zinnias in my little garden show signs of fall.

Over the course of our vacation, the many talks with my sister and so much beautiful nature in front of me, I felt my heart loosen up and I was finally able to cry. I have always been an emotional person but after Steve died it seemed I bottled it all up. It was good to cry again because I knew I needed to but I find it annoying that I cry so frequently now, especially during none emotional events - like walking in a gift shop. That loosening also helped open some of my creative juices again. I began to feel like I could do things again.

Actually I have come to realize that I have held my self in check for many years due to various circumstances. All of my emotions have been bottled up culminating with Steve's death. As a result I have felt it impossible to work on my family history, to read certain passages of scripture or even to watch some general conference talks because doing that brought me closer to emotion I was afraid to express. I began to wonder and worry a little that I was losing my testimony. But as I have loosened up I realize that I held so many things in check for a long time to protect myself and my testimony is doing fine.

As the day progressed it occurred to me that I have never really allowed myself to grieve over several things and that I just held myself closer and closer in check to prevent myself from falling apart. I began to reflect on the things that have happened that caused grief but which I tried not to deal with. Over the years there have been several major events that I have avoided and not allowed myself to grieve.

Originally I had listed those events but I decided it would not be appropriate to include in this blog as they are too personal and ofttimes have included other people. So, I deleted them.

The loss of identity and self confidence from these events combined have caused me to doubt my worth and abilities.

With each event I had to maintain control because I was in charge of a family who needed my care and/or there were others who depended on me. Although I wept from time to time I was not able to really grieve. The totality of it all caused me to retreat inside of myself. Over the years I became less open with Steve and I know he felt that loss.

It is understandable but not OK that I have held things inside. It was good to let the tears come, and they keep coming. I realize I need to properly grieve each event before I can move forward. And now that I realize the need I am working on it. As I examine each event I have to put them in their correct place which is in the past. As I am able to do that I feel lighter and more free.

It was a good day on Sunday though, because I was actually able to alphabetize the files in my credenza. That does not sound like a big deal but since they are mostly family history files it is a big deal. It is now done and will allow me a place to sort things I have been unable to file for several years.

I also have begun to have thoughts of things I want to do, like find a way to release my desires to be artistic that are hidden deep inside. I also want to write. I just hope I will have enough courage to move ahead in that way. Next week I plan to begin an art class. We will see how that goes.

The organizing is ongoing. I work at it until I start to 'short out' and then I stop and go read or watch TV. I saw a quote that I like. "We tend to forget that baby steps still move us forward" And some days it is all I can do to sort 3 items. But it is 3 items that are now sorted.

So, as the fog lifts and I see more clearly my path forward I am grateful for baby steps and hope.

Beach at Lincoln City, Oregon 2013

GIRLS TRIP TO SAN DIEGO - AUGUST 25-29

2022-08-30T09:19:00.002-07:00

You have to admit that 8 ‘old ladies’ taking a girls trip to San Diego is bound to be fraught with humor. And we had some funny moments. But there we were. We are all widows ranging in age from 64-85. We have all had difficulties in our lives that have stretched us. And it was my privilege to be invited on this trip to associate with these outstanding women.

We successfully navigated shuttles, airports and a rental van to arrive at a wonderful penthouse on Mission Beach. Unfortunately our 15 passenger van was unwieldy and got scraped going into a very small parking space. After that experience several of us were on hand to guide our driver in and out of that tiny space. We drew numbers for our rooms and I was in a great room with a great roommate. We could look right out over the beach. What fun it was to see the dolphins and the brown pelicans. And the sunsets were beautiful!

Our windows were open all of the time so we could enjoy the ocean breezes and the roaring waves. I have now set my Alexa to play ocean sounds here at home and I love it.

Although the beach was the main draw we also took some day trips to Seaport Village, a view from the 40th floor of the Hyatt and a harbor cruise, Old Town, Coronado Island and a quick swing by the beautiful San Diego Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We ate out once a day with our other meals and snacking from purchases at the grocery store and a delivered pizza. Of course we had too much food and should have shared our meals when we went out. But all in all the food worked out great. We played some games but mostly we were too tired from our activities to stay up very late.

My plantar fasciitis prevented me from walking on the beach as I love to do. And my blood sugars both high and low caused me to rest and miss some beach and visiting time. I was so grateful for the use of a wheel chair in the airports and for those sweet ladies who pushed me. I am grateful that I am not permanently disabled and confined to a wheel chair. But some good Chaco sandals and some exercises are helping my foot to feel better and I hope I will soon be back in gear because there is much I want to do and I have a hard time being productive if I hurt.

It was good to go and good to come back home but it was also bittersweet as I really wanted to share my experiences with Steve who of course is not here. But I am filled with gratitude for this time with new friends and the beauties we experienced.

A great place to eat lunch. Good company and a fantastic view of the beach.

The view from our balcony. It was fun to watch the parade of people passing by. One evening there was even a bicycle parade with the bikes decorated with colored lights.

One view from the 40th floor of the Hyatt

A sailboat in the distance.

Art Installation at the San Diego airport created with taillights. I think it looks like a school of fish.

Our first lunch right by the water's edge!

Just before our harbor cruise. It was hot sitting on the boat in the sun so we chose to not continue for the 2nd hour. Steve would really have enjoyed the ships and planes we saw.

I MADE IT SAFELY HOME -REFLECTIONS OF OUR TRIP [JUNE 26-AUGUST 10, 2022]

2022-08-14T07:28:00.006-07:00

My Sister is a numbers person and pulled together some interesting facts as well as creating this basic map of our travels. Sorry the photos is not great but at least there is the basic.

I have been home for 3 days and strangely our trip already seems like a dream. But we really did make the trip. I left home June 26 and returned August 10. We travelled by air, train and car. I flew 3300 miles/5310 kilometers from Salt Lake to Toronto and back. Together we drove 5500 km/3400 miles, took the train 1000 km/620 miles, took ferries 750 km/465 miles, flew from Halifax to Toronto 1265 km/785 miles, and walked over 300,000 steps, according to her Fitbit, for 250 km/155 miles. We slept in 20 different beds which were mostly pretty comfortable and had 5 days of rainy weather, a day of fog and enjoyed 38 days of travel together. We enjoyed amazing skyscapes, landscapes and waterscapes in mostly sunny weather. I also spent a few days in Toronto on each end since we did not know what challenges Covid may have presented.

Our trip came about accidentally one day when Sue and I were talking on the phone. Shortly after Steve died had I noticed a facebook post from the railway in Canada advertising a trip across Canada and remember thinking that it would be cool to see Canada that way. When our family immigrated from Denmark in 1951 we travelled by train from Halifax to Kelsey, Alberta where my father would work.

Also, I had an opportunity to take a train trip from Red Deer, Alberta to Portland, Oregon to spend the summer of my 16th year with my grandparents. It was a great trip with meal tickets to the dining car and sleeping berth that the porter made up at night - it was fun and I felt so grown up.

So, I was game to take a railroad trip and when I brought it up to Sue, she thought it sounded good too. But then we realized it was very expensive and that we would be sleeping a lot of the way so discarded the thought. But it was the catalyst for talking about taking a trip together. She had always wanted to go to Newfoundland and see the other Maritime provinces. [We have learned that they are all actually called the Atlantic provinces if Newfoundland is included.]

Soon the idea of taking a trip became a working plan. I rented a car through Costco in July of 2021 just in case because I know that the prices only go up the closer to the departure date. It was a safe bet because I could always cancel without paying anything. Then Sue began her amazing research of all the interesting places we could see. I did not have the emotional band width to plan as it was still hard for me to deal with my new reality of losing Steve. But I could agree with the things she wanted to see and add a few of my own wishes, like seeing Niagara Falls. Our trip morphed into reality as I made our reservations for places to stay and she continued to find interesting things for us to see. I bought my return plane ticket to Toronto allowing a few days on either side of the schedule since we did not know how Covid would be by the time we wanted to travel.

I bought clothes that would be needed like a raincoat, etc. Sue found out about some mosquito and tick repellant pants which we both wanted. I bought hiking shoes and trekking poles anticipating much walking and hiking. And soon an amazing trip was planned complete with reservations.

When I flew to Toronto our trip became a reality. It has been a journey of adventure and self discovery. It has been great to get to know my sister, who is 7 years younger then I am. We have laughed and cried as we have talked about old family memories. I have cried the most as I finally have been able to cry which I could not for such a long time after Steve’s death. Now I find tears come often and not always conveniently. I am grateful for our time and the increased understanding we have gained of each other. I figured spending that much time together 24/7 would either bring us closer together or the opposite. I am happy to say that we did not have harsh words and although a couple of times we were ‘hangry’ that was quickly resolved with food. And she is still planning to come and spend a month with me working on family history.

It has become more of a reality that I am alone, without Steve, and although I still miss him and there are painful moments I find I am OK. I can’t even imagine ever wanting to remarry. I am grateful for the 54 years, 4 months and 19 days I was able to be with Steve. He was the best thing that ever happened to me and the love of my life. I am grateful for our lovely family of 10 children and their families. Our posterity, including in-law children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and bonus grandchildren adds up to 78 people. Who could even have imagined that result when Steve and I married so many years ago. I am grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Plan of Salvation which give me the knowledge that I can be with Steve and my family again in the next life. The Gospel is the foundation of my life.

Our children bring me great happiness and joy. Their consideration and care for me brings me comfort. I am proud of them and their families. But I know that they do have their own lives and I cannot rely on them for my emotional strength. So, I know that I must strike out on my own so to speak. I need to develop my own independent life. I look forward to traveling with my grandchildren. It is my hope and my plan to take each of them on a trip. I love them all so dearly and look forward to additional bonding time. I also look forward to spending time with my children.

My creative juices are beginning to flow again. I look forward to projects I can continue or begin. It has always been my desire to learn to ‘throw a pot’ so I hope I can find a ceramic class to attend. I would like to write a book about my great grandparents and their tragic story. I want to take a writing class to help me with that project. And I want to mat and reframe a lot of family pictures and even print and hang some of my many photos from my various trips over the years.

There are many options and I am grateful. I am also grateful for this time of being away and of having various epiphanies about me and my life. They have not always been comfortable epiphanies but it has been good for me.

When I attended church in Toronto I accidentally ended up in a Spanish speaking ward service. It was good to be there to feel the Spirit and to partake of the Sacrament but I could only understand about every 5th word of what was said. I realized as I was sitting there that my pride has prevented me from learning Spanish. We lived on the Mexican border in Nogales and in Los Fresnos for almost 20 years. I did take a Spanish class in Nogales and learned a little along the way but did not make a real effort to learn. And now I realize how ridiculous it was to avoid learning Spanish just because I felt like it should not be necessary to speak Spanish in this English speaking country. To be fair I was more interested in learning Danish and German because of the family history research I was doing. But nonetheless I avoided learning Spanish and I have had to repent from that. My life could have been so much more enriched. I know I could have served the Lord so much better and been helpful to more people if I had been less prideful and learned Spanish. And it was uncomfortable to be confronted with my own short comings.

I have also had some paradigm shifting as I have continued to meet and observe so many different people. Another of my short comings is being judgmental. Part of this journey of self discovery has been to realize how basically good most people are regardless of how they look or their circumstances. I have lived in my own little bubble for a long time and I have learned that I need to expand my bubble and think differently. Hopefully I can be more repentant in that area as well.

There have been other glimpses of clarity along the way and I hope for a reset in my life. Now I hope that I will have the momentum to move forward in positive ways. But I am tired and it will take me a few days to get back in gear.

Unfortunately I have learned that I have plantar fasciitis in my right foot which is why I struggled so much with my heel hurting. By the time I got to Salt Lake after almost running through the very large Minneapolis airport and still missing my connection [due to a mechanical issue with my earlier plane] my foot was very painful and I could hardly walk. Thankfully I was able to have a wheel chair from my gate to the curbside. I have also learned that it is hard to feel motivated when I am in pain. Hopefully I will be able to get this ailment behind me asap so I can move forward in my life.

Our trip, The Canada East Coast Swing as my sister called it, was totally amazing. We saw so many things that I became almost ‘full up’ with beauty. We met and spoke with so many lovely people. We learned so much and because of our new knowledge we have become slightly different people. We learned new words and phrases like: youse, gets, thanks honey [or my darlin’] etc. I had to buy another suitcase to hold all the things I found at gift shops. I really do enjoy looking in gift shops and it was fun to find cute ear rings for the females of my posterity.

Our expenses actually came in under budget and it was also helpful that the railroad gave us a 25% refund due to the toilets being knocked out after hitting the moose. Delta Airlines also gave me 10,000 air miles to compensate for cancelling my original non-stop flight to Toronto.

The largest portion of our time was spent in Newfoundland which is called ‘the Rock’ because of all the rocks. There are rocks everywhere! And they are awesome. I cannot fully explain all we saw and experiences. The ‘Newfies’ are a warm and hospitable people. They knit and quilt probably a lot over the cold winters. We really did not do justice to the other provinces but what we did see and do was amazing.

Although we had hoped to have seen icebergs they just were not available. We also thought we would see moose and caribou and puffins but we did not. It is sad that our only encounter with a moose was when our train hit a moose. We saw so many signs telling us to beware of moose and to report any incidents. We heard so many stories of moose encounters but we never did see a moose! Everyone we spoke to told us we should feel lucky that we did not have the experience of being charged by a moose.

And now it is up to me. It felt a little empty when I got home and the house seemed so big. It is Sunday today and I am looking forward to getting back to church services in my own ward. I look forward to building new friendships and to spending more time with my family. I am grateful for my life.

DAY 35- 38 --HALIFAX, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME, IMMIGRATION MUSEUM AND TOURIST STUFF [August 3 -6]

2022-08-08T14:07:00.000-07:00

The Immigration Museum at Pier 21 had been on my bucket list since we began planning our trip. When I was 3 years old my father, mother my baby sister and I passed through the Port of Halifax when we came from Denmark. Even though I knew about it I wanted to see if there was anything there that would be evidence that we had come.

Since we were carless we took an Uber to the museum. I am so glad we went! We began with a tour which explained a lot about the procedure of the day. After being processed and found to be healthy and legal the newcomers went immediately to the train which was right by the pier. There was a train car like the one we would have used on our trip across Canada. It cost $7.00 per family to make that trip and each family had to provide their own bedding and food. We had a long trip from Halifax to Edmonton, Alberta and then on to Camrose, and then to Kelsey, Alberta where we were met by Errol and Edith Fox who owned the farm where my father was to work. It probably took several days which would have been hard on basic seats with small children.

I was again amazed at the courage of my parents who were so young - my father, 28, and my mother only 23. I was 3 years old, my sister only 6 months old. The trip on the ocean liner was hard on them as they suffered from sea sickness, barely able to care for my sister. I ran all over the ship and played with other children. I am very grateful to them for their sacrifices.

My mother was always so organized and I am sure she was even back then. I remember her telling me that when they packed they took one blanket for each person, one fork, one knife, one spoon, etc. My father, who was very handy, had built a box for my sister which held her and, I presume, her supplies. He had also built boxes for our belongings which of course went with the luggage. And there were some brown suitcases. Although my mother had a good understanding of English since she had been studious in school, my father did not know more that the basics. I actually remember sitting around the dinner table in Denmark trying to learn new English words. The word that sticks in my mind was ‘fork’ and it sounded like such a strange word to use instead of ‘gaffel’.

There is a family search centre right in the museum. We waited our turn and in a matter of minutes we had a copy of the manifest from Plymouth, England from April 1951 showing our family. My name and my father’s name were misspelled but it is us. We also received some information about the ship Europa on which we sailed.

We spoke a long time with a very helpful young man from the Canada Archives who was trying to find out the name of the program which allowed our family to come. My father had to commit to work for a year on a farm to be allowed to live in Canada and eventually apply for citizenship. Sadly, he was unable to find out the name of the program which seems strange to me. Maybe someday I will learn more about it. But suffice it to say there was a program and we did come and my father did work on a farm in Kelsey, Alberta for the required time.

It was Gunnar not Gurnar and Lizzi not Lizze.

No specific memories of the train ride although my parents told me that I was able to recognize and name the various crops we passed on our way - like wheat, oats, etc

I cannot even imagine how hard this trip was for so many.

I debated including this photo since I look so strange. But here I am in front of the train car exhibit.

It was my birthday and I was glad to be there on that day. I was given a gold sticker at the museum which was reserved for Alumni visiting the museum.

So, this is what 75 looks like. I don’t even know what that means but I have been very blessed in my life. My sister says I do not look 75 but that I move like I am 75. Not sure how to respond to that.

Because my leg/heel was so painful and I felt exhausted, I was ready to Uber back to the motel. But my sister was so disappointed that I decided to try to walk a little further. I am glad that I did because as we moved along the boardwalk at a slow pace my leg began to loosen up and we were able to enjoy the breeze off the harbor and sit from time to time in the benches along the way. It was very pleasant to sit and listen to the sounds, feel the sun and the breeze and just enjoy life.

Sue took me for a Lobster dinner for my birthday. I had never had a lobster dinner so that was fun.

No she did not eat it that way!

Just fun!!

I took a photo of these hostas because we saw so many. They must grow well in the climate here. There were also many with purple blossoms.

There is a Public Garden a few hilly blocks from our hotel and we decided to check it out figuring that if it go to be too much for me to walk that we could get an Uber. But I made it and we spent several hours in the park enjoying the trees, bushes and flowers. It is a Victorian park. We loved it and took a lot of photos of course. Then we stopped at a restaurant for some early dinner before walking back to the motel which was mostly downhill and doable.

Waiting for our early dinner and yes, I was tired!

Friday was our final day in Halifax for sight seeing. We had decided to take a tour with the Harbour Hopper, an amphibious vehicle. It was a little pricey but allowed us to see things we would not have seen if I had been trying to walk.

On our tour we saw a street that appeared to be lined with shops. We walked uphill for several blocks and when we finally got there, there were hardly any shops at all. We walked on to the Art Gallery where we saw the works of Maude Lewis. Her story is incredible as she painted with severe rheumatoid arthritis but managed to earn a living with her art.

The Harbour Hopper was great! We got to ride around town and see lots of sights and then we drove down a ramp and the vehicle became a boat which took us around the harbor

We wanted to visit this shop but they would not let more people in because they had reached their Covid limit. Not wanting to wait in line in the heat we moved on.

The Citadel was high up on a hill for defense purposes. The top was grassy and before it became a national historic site, the grass in front of a trench was not mowed so it looked like a continuous grassy hill.

At the Citadel.

Red Sky at night promising good weather for our flight back to Toronto

And then it was over. We shuttled to the airport to catch our WestJet flight to Toronto. Somehow the passenger count was off and while the crew tried to figure it out the ground crew loading our luggage moved to help someone else. It was the ONLY ground crew so by the time our passenger count issue had been resolved there was no crew to load our luggage which delayed us over an hour and then there was another hour delay in getting our luggage from the plane. But we did get all of our luggage including the 2nd suitcase I had to buy for all the stuff I bought. It was a long wait for Sue’s friend who came to pick us up. But we made it! And now it seems like a dream.