LATER: Today is Tuesday, July 31. So much has happened today that I have to add to the blog although I thought I was done. I tried to get it done early before the wedding and before the baby comes. Well, so much for good intentions. Nathan came to bring Bethany's stuff and to drive her car to Arizona. We enjoyed his visit last night. Today, he and Joshua left for Mesa. Just before they left, we had to take Jenn to the hospital. She has been trying so hard to stay pregnant so she could have the baby when Thomas is here. They changed their c-section date from July 27 to August 3, because that is when his visa issues would allow him to be here. The baby had other ideas, however, and decided that today, his sister, Maya's birthday, would be a good day to be born. At first, Jenn wouldn't allow anyone to examine her to see how far her labor had progressed because she was afraid they would say that she had to stay and have the baby, and she was determined to wait even if it meant bed rest. The girls were laughing because they thought it was funny that she was trying to keep her labor a secret. Rebecca and Rachel and Allison went to the hospital to be Jenn's support group while I stayed home with the kids. Mary was radioactive so she couldn't go. She was so sad to be left out. t had Isabel and Polly to help me, so I went over later. Henry was born about 4:00 and is perfect in every way. He weighed 7 lb 5 oz. Thomas will be here tomorrow. Jenn almost made it.
Dad turned 71 on the 16th
Jonathan turned 10 on the 22nd
Jeremy's birthday was the 23rd
Devynne turned 19 on the 30th
Maya turned 2 on the 31st
SUMMERTIME FUN
Yes, that is Dad in his very own pool! I know it's hard to believe, but he actually swam with me four times in one week.
Henry was born July 31st
SUMMERTIME FUN
Yes, that is Dad in his very own pool! I know it's hard to believe, but he actually swam with me four times in one week.
We had a cookout/swim party for the 4th of July. Thomas and Jenn had taken their family to visit her brother in Utah (pictures later) so they weren't there, but we had Rebecca's, Rachel's and Mary's families.
Patriotic toes...can you guess whose they are?
A dove built her nest on our back porch. I guess she knows what a bird lover Dad is.
Everyone enjoyed having Thomas home for a while.
Kirtlyn wanted a button on something, so I decided it was a good opportunity to teach her some sewing basics.
Dad finally harvested all his potatoes. Now we are enjoying spinach, okra, tomatoes and cucumbers.
It seems as if this summer has been all about babies
Maya
Jared
Jenn and baby Henry
Listening to baby Henry's heartbeat
While we were gone on our dream vacation, and the Alders were on theirs, the Evanses and the Richinses took pity on Jenn and brought food for her family. Everyone is trying to help her stay pregnant until Thomas can get here on the 1st of August. She has never gone this long with any of her other babies, so it will be a miracle if she can...with the help of family and the Lord.
Enjoying the food Mary brought
TEMPLE BLESSINGS
Nicole went through the temple for the first time on the 11th. Josh, of course, was with her, and Dad and I and Jeremy and Erika. It was a good experience and we were so happy for her.
Joel and Stephanie and their boys invited us to share their amazing vacation...a cruise to Alaska! We were so excited because we have always wanted to take a cruise and having the opportunity to do it with some of our favorite people was such a gift. It was so relaxing as well as fun. At the end, Joel asked me what I had enjoyed the most. It was hard to tell because I enjoyed every single minute, the ports of call, seeing the beautiful scenery of Alaska, but I had to say, "the cruise." I could have stayed on the ship 24/7 and still loved every minute. How could you not love taking your bathroom with you, being treated like a queen, a steward to grant your every wish and clean your room, and every kind of food you can imagine whenever you want it, and doing it all with them and their boys? On July 11th we flew into Seattle, on the first leg of our journey to Alaska.
Levi, Docker and Crew in the lobby of the Marriott in Seattle
Crew brought along his Spidey jacket, so he was ready for anything.
Here is everyone outside of Anthony's seafood restaurant, and yes, I did eat seafood...coconut shrimp.
The wonderful market place in Seattle. The flowers were amazing. In fact, the flowers all over town, hanging from baskets on every lamppost, in boxes on every building and in the landscape everywhere we looked. I bought a bunch of sweet peas. See Dad peeking around the lady in green?
They are famous for their fish market.
Some of the flowers in Seattle
The Space Needle.
The view of Seattle from the top of the Space Needle
Before boarding our ship, the Norwegian Jewel, in the background.
Boarding the ship. Here is a tour of our ship: the hallway outside our cabin
In our stateroom
Crew was the most famous kid aboard ship...his name was everywhere!
They even had a basketball/tennis court on the top.
Places to relax, eat and watch the sea
Here are some of the eating places. The Tsar's Palace was a very elegant restaurant where we could order anything we wanted and it was already covered in the cost of the cruise.
The Garden Buffet was where we ate several times. It was always sooo crowded, though, that one of us had to save a table while the others got their food. Good food, though. And they were always very clean. Whenever we walked into an eating establishment, someone would be at the door with spray disinfectant, saying "washy washy, happy happy."
There was also a buffet grill on the top of the ship, on the pool deck. It was cool, but that didn't stop swimmers from enjoying the heated pools.
This is a Brazilian churrascaria. There was also an Italian restaurant and a steak restaurant, Japanese tapanyaki all of which we enjoyed.
The bridge. Dad spent a lot of his time just watching them sail the ship.
The theater where we received our disaster training and where we also saw shows such as a circus, a comedian, jugglers, and other fun entertainment.
After the first night's disaster training, we posed with Captain Lars. The crew called him "Papa
Smurf."
Waiting on deck for the ship to shove off.
Watching the side thrusters push us away from the deck in Seattle.
The first full day, Sunday, was totally at sea. It was rough and choppy. Captain Lars said they had 7 to 12 foot swells, but he said, "we are used to it...at least I am used to it." Some of us got sick and some of us took Dramamine and slept through it. Some of us enjoyed watching it from our balcony.
This is later in the week when the sea was "calm and glassy." See the difference.
Monday was Dad's 71st birthday. Joel and Stephanie and boys gave him, (besides this wonderful trip) a pair of binoculars...perfect!
That day, we docked in Ketchikan, Alaska.
Ketchikan is the totem pole capital of the world
It is also famous for its logging industry. We went to a demonstration/competition of lumberjack skills.
Here we are enjoying the show. We saw Phillip Palmer and wife there.
While we were here, Stephanie surprised me with a "Northern Lights" topaz. It is so beautiful. It can be either a pendant or a ring. Even though I never was able to see the Northern Lights on this trip, I can look into this stone and imagine how they really look...and I can keep these Northern lights with me!
Stephanie and I posed with the lumberjacks
Our next stop was Juneu, the capitol of Alaska.
We took a tram to the top of a mountain where we got an amazing view of Juneu.
A fellow tourist who had pins from everywhere he had visited...a professional tourist, I think.
View from the tram.
On the top
Lady Baltimore, a wounded eagle who was rescued and is living in a building on the top of the mountain. I was so surprised at how big she was. Think of Maya standing up. And it weighed probably twice as much as Maya. Dad even saw an eagle from our stateroom balcony, diving for fish.
Docker and Crew on a glacier above Juneu.
Back in town
One of the most fascinating places we saw was Tracy Arm Fiord. Glaciers and icebergs, and even a seal. Joel and Steph saw killer whales and called us but we didn't look in time.
a seal...the only real wildlife I actually saw, except for a couple of mountain goats that were so far away that no one believed I really saw them.
While we were cruising through Tracey Arm Fiord, Steph and I were having pedi/manicures. And there were huge picture windows all around so we could see everything. In fact, Steph saw a glacier calving. She actually saw a huge piece fall off. I looked in time to see the splash.
Here is the glacier she saw
The right bottom corner is where the piece fell off. See where it is blue? To get the feeling of the size of that glacier, notice the ship at the bottom of the picture.
Here we are, ready to leave the salon. The glacier is behind us.
Enjoying the fiord from the deck.
The next day we docked in Skagway and took a narrow gauge train to the top of the mountains, above the timber line, into Canada. This is famous for the gold rush (North to Alaska-John Wayne).
The front of our train
The back of our train
The beautiful scenery from the windows of the train.
Another train behind us
Waterfalls of melting snow everywhere we looked
We bought caps as souvenirs of Skagway.
The top of the peak~Canada
In Skagway at the end of our train journey.
Skagway is known as the gateway to the Yukon and the gold fields
A replica of a gold rush saloon in Skagway
Enjoying the brisk sea air on the very back of the ship
That night, after Skagway, we ate at a Japanese tapanyaki, where the chef cooked table-side and entertained us with humorous chatter and songs.
After dinner we went to the Cirque de Bijou, wonderful aerialists and acrobats. Then the crew all came out to say "good bye."
After the show we went to the Garden cafe for a chocolate buffet. It was just as wonderful as you think it was. There were so many chocolate treats and we filled our plates, but were only able to eat a fraction of what we took.
That eagle is chocolate!
Breakfast the next morning was with Nickolodeon
When we got back to our rooms after breakfast, we heard the terrible news of the shooting in Colorado. It would have really put a damper on our enjoyment of Victoria, Canada, but it was good to remember that there are good people all over the world and that life goes on, full of beautiful things to see and happy things to do and wonderful people to meet and family and friends to love.
Here is our trolley driver, Connie, with her horses, Duke and Mike. The lady in the foreground with the red strap on her shoulder told me she and her husband have been on 40 cruises!!
We saw so many beautiful, restored Victorian homes, part of the city-wide restoration project. Even new homes have to conform to the Victorian style.
A peacock at the park in Victoria
Giant Sequoia in Victoria
The world's tallest totem pole
Another totem pole in front of their courthouse.
Saying "good-bye" to Connie and Mike and Duke
Joel and Steph and boys on the gangway taking a picture of us taking a picture of them from the ship.
On Saturday morning we landed in Seattle and had to leave the ship. I could have used a few more days, I think. I knew I had to go home and get back in the saddle, but I hated to leave the luxury and ease of the ship. Stephanie was rocking for the whole day, trying to get her land legs.
Before we caught our plane, we had time to visit the pop museum. Who knew that Seattle is famous as the birthplace of punk or grunge rock?
There was a place where anyone could try out various instruments. Joel seemed to know right where to go. Stephanie said she thought he must have been here before.
Before we left Seattle, Levi and Docker tried out their zip line.
While in Seattle, we visited the fish market again and bought a salmon as a "thank you" to Joel and Steph. It was huge!
When we were getting ready to land in Phoenix, the pilot got word that he wasn't allowed to land because of a huge dust storm (haboob) just blowing through, so we were given the choice to circle above the city for an hour or land somewhere else. We didn't have enough fuel for an hour's circling, so we flew to Las Vegas to refuel. We waited there for an hour or so until we got clearance to fly into Phoenix. Basically we had a 3-hour delay. We were so exhausted when we got home. Esther sent us a picture of the haboob over her pool. She said, in pure Esther-ese, "It was the biggest haboob I've ever seen in my whole haboobish life." It was just another adventure to add to our vacation. From the snow covered peaks of Alaska to the desert haboob.
And so ended our dream vacation. Thank you, Joel, Stephanie, Levi, Docker, Crew. We loved every minute of it and loved spending time with you.
Nicole's bridal shower was the Saturday we got home, but we didn't get home in time for it. However, Rachel, Esther and Erika and her girls all went, as well as Lisa and Nancy, so hopefully, she knows she is loved and welcomed by the Biggs family.
On Sunday, after our trip, we went to church with Jeremy and Erika and family and were invited to eat salmon at Joel and Stephanie's house afterwards, with Jer and Er's family and Esther and Shad's family. Stephanie wrapped it in foil and prepared a delicious sauce to put on it and Joel roasted it on the grill. I tasted some and it was actually good! Surprise! Of course everyone else knew they were going to love it. In fact, I think Levi ate salmon at every meal on board the ship!
We also had birthday cake to celebrate Jeremy's birthday. Here is a picture of his birthday present: Bruce, a friend for Mike.
I may not have been able to see the Northern Lights in Alaska, but Rachel was kind enough to send me this picture of storm clouds in Safford. We have finally been getting some wonderful monsoon rain.
Brynlie doing what desert children love to do...playing in the rain.
Pioneer Day in Pima
Waiting for the parade
The barbecue
I have always firmly believed in the enmity between me and snakes, as spoken of in the Scriptures, and I am so glad Tyson killed this rattlesnake that he found in the desert around his house, but I don't know if that enmity extends to eating it. Tyson actually made chili with this snake and he said it tasted good!
Allison and Joshua both spoke in Sacrament meeting at the Singles Branch in Safford on the 29th. Dad and I and Jenn and the kids all went to hear them. They both gave such good talks. I was inspired. Daniel said that Devynne also spoke in her Sacrament meeting today, and she spoke about needing to renew our conversion daily...the very same thing that both Allison and Joshua talked about. They were all prompted to say what I needed to hear.
Nathan heading for Mesa with help loading up from Rachel and Isabel
Jenn in the hospital when she thought there was still hope of waiting.
Her support group
Henry and his doctor in the first minutes of his life. Rachel was in the delivery room with her. See her in her scrubs?
Jenn's first time holding him
Rachel and Rebecca, minutes after his birth
He should be a good baby...he's a thumbsucker!
NEWS FROM AROUND THE FAMILY
Jeremy and Erika's family vacation that began in June, continued into July. They were able to be with Nathan and Shauna's family for their holiday extravaganza on the 4th.
Josh and Nicole were also there to enjoy the holiday with her new family.
On Facebook, Bethany said they look like demons. It's the eyes, I think. Look at all the explosives!
They also visited the monuments that commemorate the pioneers that passed through Omaha
One of the most special things they did was to visit Erika's dad, Joe, in Colorado. She hasn't seen him in several years. It was a joyful reunion.
Esther and Shad's family paid their traditional 4th of July visit to Eagar.
Brody
Soren
Harrison and Bridger
Marlie
Thomas and Jenn's family were in Utah for the 4th. They went with her mother and visited Church sites as well as her brother and his family.
Here they are at a ward 4th of July celebration with Jenn's brother and wife and kids.
The day after Thomas went back to Mexico, his car was stolen! So now he gets rides to school from friends. Thank goodness for friends.
Rebecca and Scott and their family enjoyed their annual Mexico vacation. Having been there with them, these pictures make me feel nostalgic. I remember how much fun we had and how delicious those tacos were!
At the resort
We didn't do this! Looks like fun.
At the beach
Rachel and Tony took their family to San Diego and Legoland.
The San Diego Temple
The Mormon Battalion Monument. She said it was one of their favorite places. By the way, you have two sets of g-g-g-grandparents who had sons who went with the Mormon Battalion.
Bathing Beauties
Luke in Legoland
Lego Harry and Hagrid
Esther, as the new YW president got to go to girls' camp for her vacation this year.
"Where's Esther?" They have toothpaste on their faces, getting ready for a snipe hunt.
Summertime fun for Daniel's family:
Mini cows
Building a retaining wall. They also sent a video, which the blog wouldn't accept, of a family of wild turkeys that live in their back yard...fascinating!
At the zoo
Daniel, Shannyn, Analynn at the zoo
Jonathan & Albert, proudly wearing EAC, at the zoo
Devynne with her class. She is a teaching assistant for the summer
For Devynne's birthday: a peach pie or one of Connie's amazing cakes?
Daniel and Connie's youngest kids participated in the community theater production of "Annie." Here are three little orphans and Albert in one of the 3 roles he played.
The Richins family went camping for their vacation this year.
At the Pioneer Day parade
That's it, I think. What a month! We love seeing what you are doing and we hope you are not bored seeing what we are doing. We love you all so much and pray daily and diligently for you, rejoicing in your joys and pleading for help with your problems. As Nephi said, "For I pray continually for them by day and mine eyes water my pillow by night because of them, and I cry unto my God in faith and I know He hears my cry." We know He hears our prayers in your behalf and we can see the blessings He bestows on all of us continually. Thank you for being such wonderful children and grandchildren.
7 comments:
This was one fabulous cruise.
Just as I thought!! Beautiful!!
The glacier is just dazzling!
Glad you could enjoy it!!
after a week, I think I have finally stopped rocking! We Are glad that you were able to vacation with us!
Wowzeers mom, that was an incredible month. I loved seeing all of the Alaska pictures. Looked like you all had so much fun. I also love keeping up with everybody else. Thanks so much!!!
As Hyrum would say:"Awesome!"
As Hyrum would say:"Awesome!"
What a great month! It's so fun seeing how exciting my family is! Thanks Grandma for always keeping us updated! Love you all!
Devynne
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