BEADS, BIRTHDAYS, AND BLESSINGS UNNUMBERED

Fall is showing her multi-faceted face once again. The beauty of the season is has brought much-needed and welcomed rain. Just as we despaired over our slowly dying rhododendrons which have suffered from the water problems in the area, the pounding rain of the last fews day has revived them. Dad has stacked wood all around the yard, and we've even had a fire or two. One of the most busy stores I've been to isn't the grocery store or Walmart filled with shoppers re-stocking their dwindling larders for the cold winter months, it's the quilt and fabric shows!! Quilters know that those blissfully long days of winter mean many opportunities to quilt or sew some "treasure" for their famililes. I recently took a quilt beading class and promised the instructor that I would practice my newly learned skills at home. I had made cross-stitched welcome signs for two different newlywed couples from our LaJolla days, so I practiced on them. For the blue and white sampler, I did my usual beading--conservative, in the lines kind of thing. For the other one, I'd cross-stitched seashells, dolphins, sandy beaches, ocean waves and palm trees on a welcome sign to welcome visitors to their college apartment in San Diego, which they call the Thack Shack. Hmmm...by the time I finished everything but the lettering was a beaded wonder. When I showed the finished product to Dad, he just smiled. I asked if it was tacky or bling, and he wisely just smiled again and said, "It's nice!!

We have two birthdays in the family this month. Darla turns 30 something tomorrow. She says she's doing well-- involved in a big project at work which keeps her hopping. Kahlil turns four for his birthday, and he requested a parade of bikes, strollers, etc. to the local school lot to play a baseball game. In this day and age of theme parties, I thought that was clever and creative.

Dad and I have been sobered by the health problems that Uncle Garth is experiencing. He is back in the hospital because his heart hasn't been functioning as well as it should . He'll probably have a pacemaker implanted this morning. Aging is certainly not for sissies. Almost overnight, Grandma Kennedy lost all of her hearing in one ear, and all the wonderful news I mentioned about family history in my last blog, I've had to tell her about again--her memory is faulty. I admire the courage of those who are aging and coping with the physical losses of old age. It's difficult to be graceful when you're struggling, but our family members are doing so. We are blessed beyond measure--an autumn that is breath-taking, family prayers together praying for our loved ones, the rich companionship of each other, and each of you to buoy us up. We love you. Happy burrowing in for the winter ahead. Love, Mom

“Do not pray for tasks equal to your abilities but pray for abilities equal to your tasks.Then the performance of your tasks will be no miracle but you will be the miracle.” Thomas S. Monson

Nirvana, Estates, Ordinations, and Ancestors

If you don't recognize it, this is Nirvana!! Dad has found a new quarry and is, happily, hauling rock once again. In June, he found out that the quarry from which he took his tons and tons of rock for the rock wall had been permanently closed to the public!! However, after much searching, he has found a quarry in Carson which has the kind of rock he needs to finish the wall.


We stopped for a day in Oakley, Idaho where Aunt Joan and I were born, and where our father grew up. After a brief search, we found this old pioneer church--the very one mentioned in this story from church history:
"A small party of settlers from Tooele located four miles northwest of Oakley on the west side of Goose Creek and named the place "Marion" in honor of Apostle Francis Lyman. Here was erected a log schoolhouse that also served as an amusement hall, being just large enough to accomodate two sets of dancers. When this little edifice was abandoned in favor of a new church, money was very scarce, but "they had faith and worked hard," said Alfred Gorringe, adding that "when this building was nearly completed, Bishop Smith had ten dollars; he knew James Whitby had five and this was all the money these men had. Bishop Smith went to Brother Whitby and said, "If you will put in your five with my ten, we can get a front door for our building and hold church there next Sunday." And they did."Our next stop was a fun evening with Eric and Tobin, Taylor and Carter. We were impressed with the work they've done on their home. Dad, who's done lots of remodeling, said, in admiration, Eric's a master!! We enjoyed sweet little Taylor's chatter and Carter's smile. Tobin had taken the time to bake cookies for us, but we were so busy chattering that we forgot to eat them!!

Next was a stop at the Estate in the Desert's Shadow--Eric and Susan's home. We had a great visit and were impressed with the estate!! Toby was Dad's shadow. I think if Dad had let him, he would have come into the bathroom with him! At one point, Toby and I were looking at a book about the Columbia River, and I showed Toby a photograph of wind surfers on the Columbia. He studied it carefully and then said, "Can Grandpa do that?"

Our next stop was to Darla's. On Sunday morning, Dad helped Vale get appropriately dressed in white shirt and tie and dress pants that were a bit snug, so he could be ordained a deacon!!

Here's our proud deacon with his bishop and visiting teacher.

Next stop: Santa Rosa. Steve took us on a fun tour of Bodega, Sebastopol, and Santa Rosa. You may recognize the picture: it's the schoolhouse from "The Birds." It is a beautifully restored private home now. Close by is the church, Sisters of Avila, shown in the movie as well. We met Kobe's after-school teacher, Sue, and Kobe and I had an interesting talk about the difference between a "kit," which we're looking at in the picture, and a "kid," which Kobe proudly proclaimed he is.

Finally, let me introduce you to your great-great grandmother, Mary Hamilton Kennedy McInnes. I have been praying for some time now to be able to find some definitive confirmations about the true facts concerning this wonderful woman. Every bit of information we've had on her has been family stories and whatever tidbits Grandma could gather. She is our ancestor who came from Scotland to the wild, wild land of Nova Scotia with her husband, Donald, and her son, Donald. Her husband died shortly after their arrival, and Mary was left to adjust to the wild land alone. Eventually, she married a local tailor, John McInnes, and they moved to British Columbia. Donald eventually returned to Nova Scotia. John and Mary McInnes had several children, one of whom became somewhat famous/infamous in British Columbia history--Robert Thomas McInnes and a grandson who was a poet laureate in British Columbia--Tom McInnes. Imagine my surprise and affirmation last Tuesday when I found this picture of Mary on a website devoted to her first home in Nova Scotia--East Lake Ainslie. On that very same day, I found some information about Mary, which Dad and I intend to further research this winter when the storms are raging, and the quarry is closed. Mary was born in Paisley, Scotland, and her father, Captain Edward Hamilton, is a lineal descendant of the First Duke of Hamilton. Scottish royalty. Prayers are answered. It was so fun to share this wonderful news with Grandma. Then, the perfect cherry on top of the cake was a phone call from a man named James Kennedy from South Carolina. He is Dad's second cousin, and he is interested in doing Kennedy genealogy. Another cousin had sent James Kennedy a detailed family genealogy that Grandma Kennedy wrote over forty years ago, and James sent it to the curator of the very museum which had the picture of Great-great Grandma Kennedy. The curator was so pleased with the history that he would like to publish the piece in their local genealogical/historical society's magazine, in the local paper, and keep a copy in their local archive. One of the items on Grandma's "bucket" list has come true--she'll be a published author!! Life is so beautiful. We love you all. Mom

OF BLIGHTS, MEMORIES, AND NEW BEGINNINGS

There are still roses in bloom, weeds in the garden, bright skies and 90 degree weather, and flies in droves at a quilting workshop. Indian summer beckons us to linger outside on a star-filled night and turn on the fan in midafternoon.

However, the little "ant" at our house is noticing the reality of Fall--his favorite time--and the reality of a predicted "hard" winter. The tools of building which were utilized for the building of the new deck have been replaced with ax and maul.

Yet, another blight, manmade, has made me grit my teeth each time I drive up the hill and pass the Beachum's old house. I know, the house has been abandoned for years, but until recently all the windows were still in, and there was no graffiti on its walls. This artist is even bold enough to write his name!! Ugh.

All is well with us. As Dad says he's doing his thing, and I'm doing mine. Although we neither understand nor gush about each other's projects, we revel in the other's enthusiasm and pure joy and enjoy the final products of each other's passions. God is in His Heaven.

Our prayers are with Uncle Garth who is undergoing heart bypass surgery as I write. I'll keep you posted as soon as I hear anything.

Love to All. Mom

ISN'T IT CALLED THE DOG DAYS OF SUMMER??

I am convinced that we're in the final throes of summer, but it seems so early. I can remember so many Septembers of starting school--wearing, of course, our Fallish new school clothes--sweating in the heat!! Yet, this year, our mornings are already chilly; the golden leaves are beginning to dot the front lawn, and we've turned off the air conditioner.

We've had a visit from our good friends, Dave and Elsie Thomas, with whom we served as missionaries in San Diego. Elsie is notching off items on her Bucket List. She had visited 48 states and wanted to complete her list by visiting Washington and Alaska. So, on their way to Alaska, they spent a night with us. I've admired Elsie for as long as I've known her. She suffers from muscular dystrophy, and any undertaking is physically tasking for Elsie. I've never heard Elsie complain about her condition; she is always cheerful and kind. It makes me remember that I, who am so overwhelming the recipient of God's most tender mercies, have no right to utter a complaint when I see Elsie struggle so hard to walk down the stairs in our living room. Dave is no wit behind as he serves Elsie and his family. Plus, we have fun together and lots of laughs. The Thomases left last Sunday to check off another bucket list item--their long dreamed of cruise to Alaska.

We said good-bye to Vale as well. The poor kid was climbing the walls by the time he left. One can only entertain himself for so long! He told me that he must be very sick because he missed school!!!

Dad's sun deck is amazing. I asked him how he knows how to build a sun deck. He just shrugged and said, "I look at what the original builders did and copy their work." I asked him if there was anything I could do to help him, and his response was, "That's like you asking me if I could help you quilt!!" Check out the picture of Dad's handiwork.

Today I was walking around the marina in Bingen, and I gasped at the scene all around me. The Gorge is incredibly beautiful, and I was overwhelmed by its awesome splendor this morning. Way off in the distance, I could see the chapel of the Catholic Church in White Salmon. So inspiring.

Aunt Joan heard a wonderful story from one of her fellow temple workers. The lady was babysitting her little four-year old grandson. She was absolutely worn out after having cared for the energetic little boy for several days. Finally, she said, "You know what, Josh? You just get old and you die." The next day, she got a phone call and heard a teary little voice asking, "Grandma, you're not dead yet are you??"

Grandma and Grandpa aren't dead yet. We're having a great time. We hope you can keep up!! Love to all, Mom

EVERYONE NEEDS AN AUNT JOAN

Almost from Day One, Vale had been asking to go visit Great-aunt Joan. Finally, we got the opportunity to spend six days with her. Of course there are lots of cousins, "kinda" cousins, a big trampoline, Scnauzer puppies, fresh corn on the cob, pvc pipe swords, bikes, unlimited candy dish, etc., etc. at Great-aunt Joan's, but that's not the big attraction! The BIG attraction is that since Uncle Steve was in eighth grade or thereabouts, Aunt Joan has been a player of video games and of one game in particular--Zelda. In spite of a heavy workload, many, many interests, Joan has conquered almost all of the Zelda cames on the market; she admits to being a bit compulsive about it! So, the scene in the picture on the left was enacted many times. If Aunt Joan was not with Vale, his cousin, Marissa was. It made for a week of total attention for Vale.

Everyone needs an Aunt Joan. Joan patiently got Vale out of the pitfalls and snares that the little character in Zelda found himself in. Sometimes, she made him read and re-read the cheat sheets to find the solution; other times, she gave broad hints of solutions, and at times she gave him the answer immediately. She didn't judge Vale nor demean him while they spent their time together. Most of all, she was interested in what Vale was doing. All of us need someone like that to be in our corner, cheering us on. When there isn't a real person--a spouse or a good friend, there is always our Father in Heaven who is our constant cheerleader. He only needs our invitation to walk with us through the pitfalls and snares of our lives.

All is well here. The summer is winding down. Dad has built the first stage of a very impressive sun deck. Now, he has wood to stack and rocks to gather. Vale goes home on Saturday, and it's none too soon for him. He says he must be very sick because he wants to go to school. I have a new assignment--a temple assignment--and am privileged to attend the temple all day once a week with a group of ladies from the ward!! Yesterday, I was sitting in the foyer of the temple, daydreaming, and I heard a voice say, "I know you. You're related to me. You're my aunt." It was my niece, Nadine, who was on a romantic getaway with her husband! Life is full of the tender mercies of God. We must look for them and then pass on our tender mercies to others as Aunt Joan did for Vale. Love from here. Mom

Of Rescued Birds, Taut Strings, and Painted Rocks

I know that you're wondering why I took pictures of my sewing machine, but I wanted to make a point. For a number of months now, I've been struggling with my sewing machine--irregular stitches, clogged up bobbin, etc., etc. I've been using the size spool you see in the first picture. It seemed to be working well. I took the machine in for a cleaning and a repair!! The repairman carefully explained to me that the spool I was using was not compatible with my machine even though it fit correctly and seemed to be working just fine. "Too much tension, too much pressure on the bobbin, etc., etc. Too tight," he told me in broken English. $140 later for cleaning, repair, a new bobbin case, and the simple wire gizmo you see in the other picture, I now have a happy sewing machine and a point well taken. Sometimes in this modern world, even though everything seems to be going all right, fits fine, looks good, our priorities have wound us up too tight! Somewhere and sometime our too tight tension will manifest itself in ways we don't like--tears, illness, poor decisions. We need a wire gizmo like my machine got--a way to release our tension, loosen our taut strings. I know of many wire gizmos for life--Prayer, singing a song, lending a neighbor a hand, a good, deep down in the belly laugh, and an expression of love from someone who cares.

We are once again in Project Mode. Dad is re-doing the deck, which he's thoroughly enjoying--living out his dream but scares the pea wad out of me! I'm painting rocks and little items for the garden. Some of the rocks painted during the reunion were painted with the wrong kind of paint and had already faded and needed a re-paint. Once I got started, I painted some myself and benches that have been sitting around for years, and a bench or two. Look out world. I'm wicked with a paintbrush!! In the past six weeks, we've been to three wedding receptions, a baby shower, two bridal showers, and a 50th anniversary open house, so I've been busy making gifts. The "Warby" sampler is for a darling bride named Sara Lee who is a friend of Marie's and was our Institute student several years ago in The Dalles; the "horse" welcome sample is for Kelsey Torrey--yes Kelsey--who'll be married on Saturday; and the "Warren" sampler is for Mindi Brandt. It's always such a personal fulfillment for me to sit beside your dad in the evenings and stitch SOMETHING.






Another lesson learned this summer!! In our hurry to get Vale to his swimming lesson, we left the front door slightly ajar, and a little hummingbird flew into the house. The frantic bird was pecking at the window when we arrived home. It had amazingly knocked over one of the decorative plates on the dining room window valance. We tried several stratagems which only served to frighten the bird--a towel thrown his way to wrap him in, a blossom to lure him outside, gloved hands to hold him. Finally, Dad caught him and took him outside. There've been times that we've been like the tiny bird--out of our element, frightened and lonely, thinking there was no way out and not realizing that the help I needed was close at hand!! We need to look around us--Help, in many forms, is there. Am adding a wonderful quote I stole from Joe Gunter's blog site--Parting shot...Throughout our lives we will often miss our childhood home. We eventually realize that it is not our childhome home we miss...It is our childhood. Love to you all.....Mom

REUNION FINALE, WATERFALLS, AND THE END OF AN ERA

I snapped this precious picture just before the last of the troops headed home!! We still reflect on fun moments of the reunion. I packed some boxes to send to Tobin and Susan with the last of the gifts from Aunt Marie, and I tucked in some of the unpainted bird houses for their families' artists to finish!! I have a few rocks to paint! I still marvel at the diversity and beauty of the garden rocks. Some of the rocks have been placed in the garden, and some are waiting for a load of beauty bark to be spread so they can be placed. I hope we'll all reflect on the beauty of the garden always, but, even more, on the beauty of the bonding time we had as a family. Yesterday, we went to a 50th wedding anniversary open house for Dewey and Bettie Lafevers, and she mentioned that she hoped we would also dance at our 50th--which couldn't be far away. It gave me pause for reflection; our 50th is 13 years away!! Hopefully, we'll be able to polka at the celebration. Life does have a way of marching on. We must savor the moments one sage called "the moments that take our breath away." Family moments do that for me.

Poor Vale has had a rather boring time since the reunion, so Thursday, we decided to go on an outing. We thought we would visit Mark's favorite spot--Wahclella Falls near Bonneville Dam. The brochure describes the Falls as: "This is a nice family hike for any one with the ability to walk a mile, rest, and walk a mile back. The trail starts out very broad and easy, climbs a bit and has one or two steep spots, but overall it's quite easy. " For me the easy hike wasn't too easy, and we were often passed by other hikers, but we had a great time. We capped off the day with lunch at the "Mommy/Daddy Indian" restaurant in Cascade Locks.

Friday Dad started a project that he's just been itching to get to--the sun deck. I honestly couldn't watch!! My knees got weak every time I watched your seventy year old dad leaning over the edge to pull off another board!! I had more fun watching Vale watch Dad; he was a one man cheering section. He hoorahed for every board thrown into the junk pile and cautioned Dad if he got too close to the edge. It is odd to look out the window and not see the familiar railing--the end of an era.
Life is beautiful and wonderful. This has been a nostalgic week. We've attended a bridal shower, a 50th open house, and a wedding reception. In each case, we were able to visit with friends we haven't seen for a while and reminisce. Dad keeps saying, "I think I'm getting old!!" Our second mission ends officially on September 15. Although we've been asked to extend, we've declined. We're tired, and we feel that we can best serve the Lord by rejuvenating and resting. Of course, we won't stop. The ward needs people to fill callings, and there's always genealogy and temple work to do. Onward and upward, Senior Birdmen, as they say. We could serve the Lord every minute of every second of the rest of our lives and not repay Him for the rich and abundant blessings which He pours out to us!! Each of you is one of those blessings we have in such abundance. Take care. Love, Mom