JUNE GONE SO SOON 7/01/2013

I have found that time moves at a different speed as we age and the months seem to blend together.  It used to be that each month had its special value based on school, scouts, anniversaries and birthdays of the family that was so near us.  Now, there is no school schedule, the boys are gone on their own lives, scattered throughout the USA, parents are gone so no family parties for anniversaries, and birthdays are just a card and a phone call.  Life alone on the Oregon Coast, the days, weeks and months just blend together with no real definition of special activities.  A week, a month will go by and I wonder what I did and what was accomplished, amazed that the time period passed without real planning.
Never the less, activities do happen, time is spent and smiles are made.  This is a short shot of our month of June, 2013 as documented by the camera.

 The need to get the green house up and full was first.  It was good to begin to see results from last month's plantings.

 Window washing of all the upstairs windows, inside and out occupied a good deal of time.

 June also brought the beginnings of harvest for a few crops, like artichokes, berries and spices.

Then came the morning of waking at 5:00 AM and hearing water running.  Upon inspection throughout the whole house we finally noticed water running over our cement brick wall and a river running down the neighbor's driveway below us.

 After finding the shut off valve that stopped the noise of running water, the digging and exploring began.  Finally located a broken 1" water main underground.

 Removal and.....

 ...replacement.  Oh the joys of home ownership!

 Then came a whirlwind 6 day, 2,200 mile trip out to Salt Lake City to support a young lady that we worked with while on our mission.  She was going to the temple for her first time and asked that we join her.  Off we went with Bobby in tow.  Here we are in Windover, Nevada for a picnic lunch on the way out.  Notice how tired Bobby looks?  He was a great traveler, but it was hard on him.
  We stayed in Bountiful, UT while we were doing the Salt Lake things at the home of a missionary couple serving in our church out here in Gold Beach.  Their daughter was living in their house while they were on their mission.  Melanie was a grand host and we fell in love with her.  We found ourselves being sad we didn't have a 6th son that needed an awesome young lady to court!  Melanie and Wayne shared gardening secrets.....

 ....and cooked up some special meals together.....

 ....while Ann kept Bobby hydrated and walked.  Poor guy was worn out by the trip and so much time in the car.

 We spent a special two days on Temple Square in Salt Lake doing family history research, church history research and with Rene, our special friend we knew from our mission out in Oakland.

 Ann and Wayne found themselves, as usual, captivated by the spirit of Temple Square, the Salt Lake Temple....

 ...and just being with Rene.

 We met up with our Mission President and his wife and a few of Rene's friends for dinner at Olive Garden after Rene went through the temple for her first time.  It was so much fun spending time with President and Sister Beck.  We count them as good friends and would serve a mission with them again at the drop of a hat.

 After Salt Lake City we decided to add a few hours to our trip home by dropping up to Rigby, ID to see our youngest son and his family.  We spent an afternoon and evening with them hiking, playing with the kids and having a camp fire in their back yard with hot dogs, s'mores and all the fixin's that goes with that.

 One of those parental lecture things!!!!

 They have a new dog, Tucker, that is a very busy and friendly dog.  He sort of overpowered poor Bobby.

 Bobby found a few peaceful moments by the creek.

 The culvert became a secret tunnel full of dragons that needed to be fought!

 Ain't she cute!!!!!

 Timidly our little one tried to fight the dragons her brother found.

 Then alas it was time to hit the road home to Oregon.  Sensing a need for a vacation type drive we took the slower route home which took us through McKenzie Pass west of Bend, OR.

 Some of it reminded us of Canada, northern Idaho and Alaska.  We caught ourselves looking for moose, but instead just found mosquitoes!!!

 The road was a slow go, but all the better to enjoy the beautiful Olympic Peninsula type scenery.

 The volcanic terrain reminded us of many places we had traveled.....

 ...and we found ourselves, several time, yearning for our life we lived the last 5 years of being wanderers.

But, we needed to get home, because we had several friends and family coming to spend some time with us.  First we had our friend, Andrew come from Medford for lunch and 4 hours of financial, religious and political discussion.  It's just that we forgot to take a picture!  Then a couple days later our dear friend, Jeff, came by for lunch and a trip down the memory lane of years together at Talent Elementary.  We hope Andrew's and Jeff's next visit will be accompanied by their wives!

 Then finally we also had a wonderful surprise visit from our niece and her family!  We had so much fun visiting, watching whales from our sun room....

 ...exploring Gold Beach and going out to lunch.  Wayne gave the camera to our 6 year old grand niece and she documented the dining experience.  Here's her grand uncle.....

 ...her daddy....

 ...her grand aunt and mommy....
.....and then our little photographer relinquished her photographer title to the waitress to accommodate a group photo.

In the end, realizing the important things in life revolve around association with friends and family and the gospel of Jesus Christ, a month may pass by quickly, but memories of the events bring warmth and comfort.  Thank you friends and family for helping us remember that!