TEMPLE TOURS, GLITZ, AND AN APOLOGY

Two weeks after our two week vacation, we decided that we needed to get away!! So, we took a temple tour of the temples in Washington. What fun!!

First stop was Bremerton to spend a little time with Grandma Kennedy!! I was very excited to take the picture I posted last week of your dad's Great-great Grandmother Kennedy to show her. Imagine my shock and disappointment when Grandma showed me the original picture!! The lady in the picture is actually Dad's Great-grandmother Catherine Whitehead Kennedy not Great-great Grandmother Mary Hamilton Kennedy McInnes, as I thought. I have to, then, apologize for my last blog entry where I stated that Grandma is struggling with her memory. She may be struggling with her memory, but, in this case, I mistook her hesitation concerning the picture for forgetfulness. She just hadn't believed that I could have found a picture of Mary Hamilton Kennedy McInnes, and she was right on. Dad did lots of little "fix-ups" for Grandma, and we had a wonderful meal and a fun chat. We gave her an early Christmas gift of a cable tv "package," so she'll have BYUTV. The thought of being able to watch conference in her jamies brought her great delight.

Early Tuesday morning, we attended a session in the Seattle Temple, which brought back many wonderful memories. It's always peaceful and quiet in the temple, and there's usually time for personal reflection. We then spent the day driving from Seattle to Spokane. We had to make a stop at our favorite Swiss village--Leavenworth. Although the colors aren't quite full, they were gorgeous. Equally as beautiful, in a different sort of way, were the wheatfields of eastern Washington. The fields, I think, were mostly harvested, so they were variegated in color, and it was so quiet!! There were hardly any people in the towns, and they were sweet and serene. Early Wednesday morning, we attended a session in the Spokane temple.

Our trip from Spokane to Aunt Joan's took us through more wheat country, sleepy villages, and spectacular sweeps of wooded areas. We stopped in the town of Palouse, where Mother's grandparents homesteaded and did dry land wheat farming around the turn of the century. We found the graves of my great-grandmother, Margaret Elizabeth Clark Cocheran and Great-great grandmother, Millia O'Donnell Cocheran. It was chilly and windy at the cemetery, but we took a moment to stand at their gravesite and honor them. At Aunt Joan's, I couldn't wait to show her my newest quilting project and get her advice. This is the middle of Harmony's quilt. I have plans to bead this section of her quilt and add three bright borders. Aunt Joan generously loaded me down with beads and glitz for this and other projects I'm working on. We found Uncle Garth recovering well from his heart surgeries.

Our final stop, Thursday, was Kennewick for a session at the Columbia River Temple. On Friday, we attended the funeral of a longtime friend, Louis Berge. He had lived through 2 broken backs, open heart surgery, 3 cancers and died from a 4th bout with cancer. A good man who certainly brought new meaning to the term "enduring to the end." He continued through all those illnesses to work as a logger and to do many service projects for the elderly. I remember one of my dad's relatives saying that his wife often prayed that there would be a death in Oakley, Idaho, Grandpa's home town, so they could come for a visit. That's sort of how Louie's funeral was--lots of former ward members came for a visit and to honor him.

Now, we're settling down for winter--I think. We would still like to complete our Oregon temple tour by visiting the Medford Temple before the snow flies. We're well and happy and hope all of you are as well. Love, Mom