Saturday review

Well, it has been another busy week!
I worked with Ralf and we laughed and laughed. We listened to "KOLA" 89.9 fm which is an oldies station with typically stupid radio commercials. It was never the stuff that was supposed to make us laugh that made us laugh, but the stuff we added, we could have been our own MST3000. It was fun.

On Monday we had family home evening with the D. They are a family in our ward from PacAsia. My little friend, Colleen gave the lesson about faith, as part of her personal progress. She has so much capacity for love and leadership. Afterward each family member bore testimony of the things Colleen had said and what ever else moved them to speak. The Spirit was so beautifully present. Then we had dinner of fried or roasted chicken and vegetables with shrimp. Everything was really nice. We played a game or two and had icecream. It was Andrus, the dad's birthday, we brought one of our favorite games (rumikub) and played. Everyone had such a great time! I was really lucky and got the most supreme set of tiles and so was out by the first third of the game. But the others continued and learned really great strategy.
This all sound so plain and ordinary as I am writing it, but this is no ordinary family. There are 5 kids in all. Dad works two jobs to support his family. His work visa has been outdated for a couple years so the jobs he takes probably just barely enable him to really take care of his family. They are such good, honest, genuine, humble people with so much to offer the community, and it sucks that they live in fear of being deported at any moment. From what I understand, they are standing entirely on their own two feet, with no governent or church assistance.

I would love to take them all to Disney land soon and just have a full day of playing. I wish I could magically make all their emmigration problem just float away, so Andrus could work in the field he is most qualified to fill, and earn the money that he so richly deserves.

Okay, so Tuesday I had YW and we went down to Laguna Beach to clean. We did clean a bit but then ended up down on the beach playing with sand crabs. They are so wierd!!! Just there little antena stick up out of the water and catch the surf. If you reach down in the sand you can pick several in one swoop.
The girls were all standing in a circle discussing why no one brought their swim suits. Marie and Rena and I were all standing in a circle and Marie asked if I was going in. I stood there in Jeans, having just got off work and at first thought, no , we have leather seat in the car and I just couldn't see myself driving home soaked. But as I stood there, I remembered how much as a kid I loved when my leaders did crazy spontaneous stuff. so I found someone to hold my purse and started wading into the tide toward Aley who was already out swimming. When the first big wave hit, I dove beneath it. It was great!!! Such a fun time! By the time we left everyone was soked.

It was Colleen's first time at the Ocean and the look of light and delight that was on her face is something I will alway equate with wonder. She was radiant. I drove her home and that enlightened radiance filled up the car! We sat on the floor mats.

Wednesday I prepared JE's Birthday suprise, but I won't write that yet. You never know who is going to read these things! All I can say is that he has Monday off and that it is going to be one of the best Monday's of his life!!! What fun.

Thursday night we had temple recommend interviews. Our stake presidency is so neat. They are just so fun to talk to. Wholey spiritual.

Later that night, JE went on splits with the Bishopric and had an interesting time. While he was gone I bake a huge 14" cake. Butter cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. We took it to his work Friday. He did not even get a piece, that is how fast it went. (I am not proud or anything!)

Last night I shopped a little for JE's B-day suprise while JE himself bambooed the rest of the hallway. Hurray! Now we just have 2 bedrooms to wood and some tile, some paint and 2 ceiling to scrape!

Today we are going to the county fair. We love to look at the collections of stuff and the animals. Maybe afterward we will stop by the beach for a bathe.

pioneer day, renovations, and rollerderby

So last night we went to our Stake Pioneer Day Celebration and had a really great time. It has been very hot here and that shaved ice sure tasted great! There was this huge thunderhead that rolled in and cooled things off a bit for us, too. It was fun to know so many people from the Trek and be able to introduce them to JohnE. THe food was great!

When we got home we set about finishing that crazy fireplace and the wood in the hallway. It looks so GREAT!!! It needs a second coat of paint and the tile, but the dust is done!!! hurray!!! I have been mopping up the dust today, I can't stand it any more!

I have also been working a lot lately (hence such slow progress on housing detail). It has been really fun. I often think about changing work, but going back to it just makes me love it more. I just need to build my skills and confidence in tailoring. I think I will take a class at the local college. I saw it listed in their catalog.

Oh, yah, this is the real reason I was talking about work! I was in the lunch room friday and Michelle was talking about how she just started doing roller derby. My whole body went ZipZapZing! and I just wanted to have a part in this new league. How fun could that be? Except that they practice Sundays and Tuesdays. Both of which have "prior commitment" stamped on them! Rats! I have been trying to figure out another way I could do this. It would be just plain fun!

dinner and a movie

What a fun couple of nights we have had! Last night we went to see Pirates if the Carribean. I loved it (mostly) until it ended and I realized that (of course) it was just another cog in Disney's money making machine! I hate movies that are just a set up for the next in line (unless it has a litterary reference). But over all, I can forgive the ending's not being able to hold it's own because the costumes and sets and props, and location was so darn great! I am hankerin' to go somewhere beautiful, tropical and nearly deserted. We ate Popcorn and a coke for dinner.
Tonight we visited with great friends over an excellent meal of buffalo roasted with a Santa Cruz rub, garlicy mashed potatoes, and sauteed green beans. We had Swantje's homemade icecream for dessert. She used macadamia nut's from her own tree (blast those squirells straight back to Hell, Girl!) which was a labor of love in it'sself. Everything was to increadibly good, wholesome and prepared with love.

Swantje and Larry are such neat people. Larry is an award winning glider piolot and financial adviser. He has recently grown his own set of mutton chops which he says he will suprise as many people as he knows and then shave off. I personally think he should keep them--how many financial advisors do you know with their own set of mutton chops!!!! Very distinguished.
Swantje loves nature and growing things, and she is a men's tailor. She is just such great fun to work with and to talk with. The two of them just got back from a month long camping-hiking-fishing road trip to SD. We saw photo's tonight, it looks like they had a great time.

I started working again for the opera company--subcontracted out to a choral company. I am working with Christine and Ralf. We have a great time talking and sewing. More black suits! More and more and more black suits!

July 13, 2006

Well, The floor in the living room is done and we are just adding mud to the fireplace which is a slow and laborious job as I have no idea how to do it. But, as requested I have included a photo. The floor is so beautiful and feels really good on the feet. I included a photo of the fireplace last Christmas before the sledgehammer arrived.

Last night we went with friends Tiffany, Jessica and Robert Barr down to Laguna Beach. It was a fabulous night to swim in the ocean. The water was supremely clear. JohnE saw a leopard shark and I saw a skate and lots of fish. JohnE stepped on a skate or something that gave him a bit of a sting. It wasn't too bad though. We ate Chicken, potatoes and coleslaw--it was all very yummy. It was really fun. It is so nice to have friends to hang out with and be able to call and have conversations with. I love my friends! The Barrs are really great. It is especially nice that JE & Robert have so much in common.

Sunday we drove my Gram up to New Port Beach to the Bennett's 55th wedding anniversary, her old neighbor of 20+ years ago. She had a great time visiting and catching up with quite a number of old friends. It was just so fun to hang out with her. She is such a neat lady, so full of vim! I had been a little worry about being in the car with her for 2 hours and not knowing what to say. But she and I just have so much fun together. I love to chat and laugh with her. I think she gets a bit lonely. Gramp sleeps so much and his mind is starting to slip. I feel so sad for Gram, 86 years old and the care giver to her 90 year old husband. She has been his get up and go all their 65 years together. I am glad they moved into their retirement community. They have a lot of friends there and a bit of a support group. I love to go visiting. She sent me a card recently that said, "We love you two so much." This is not something said lightly with her and I am so honored to be loved by this woman.

I grew up not really knowing my grandparents. The feud between my mother and my father's parents is still thriving. I say, don't involve me, I love you both. The privilege of really knowing my grands started 2 and a half years ago when JohnE got a job here in southern California. At the time they were living in the Meadows. It was fun to visit them there. We've had Christmas with them more in the past few years than with my parents! ( I have includes a photo from Christmas, 2005.) I just have absolutely loved getting to know them. Gram is so supportive and vivacious. Gramp loves funny little party jokes. They love to laugh. I love them.

A Fairly Technical Account of Trek

Well, What an Experience! It was so fun and hard and wonderful. I went to be a helper and was consequently not entirely as completely surrounded by the pushing and pulling with your family handcart pioneer experience. I did walk all but a mile of the trek. We went to Riley Farms further east of here. It is in the beautiful rugged mountain desert region of southern California. Quite a few trees and lots of scrub.

The kids were divided into 3 companies at the Laguna Niguel Stake Center and received a colored bandana to indicate which company they were in. All they were allowed to bring was a change of clothing, clean socks, clean unders, and some amenities which packed into a 5 gallon bucket with a lid (the bucket was brilliant, it is water and dirt proof and also acted as a place to sit during firesides). They also brought sleeping bags and a 1 inch mat if they wanted. Later at a little welcome ceremony divided into families. All were dressed in pioneer garb including aprons, bonnets, hats and good walking shoes. They all boarded busses which whisked them off for an hour and a half ride out to Riley's.

When they arrived they unloaded busses and unloaded really excellently and authentic looking wooden handcarts. There were a Ma and a Pa and a big brother or sister (all adult leaders) for each family and about 6-8 kids in each family. There were four families in each company. Just before the handcarts were completely loaded, the extermination order was read by the governor of Illinois at the time of the saints freeing Nauvoo. Then the Mob showed up with masks and guns, shooting in the air and yelling. So, off we went! We trekked around 4 miles before we stopped for lunch. It was around 3:30 or so. We were all quite hungry. I must say that those turkey wraps were great! Starvation was never a key factor in our trek. I think it gave the kids the opportunity to truly enjoy the experience, not just be miserable! It was already very hot, dusty and dry. As it, was it was tough enough.

So we trekked another 4 miles or so and ended up at Mile High, a beautiful farm house with a grassy field and running water. We made camp on a grassy field, and had dinner, and family time on another sloping lawn. What a pleasant night! So many stars! So many bears in the dumpster, the dogs were going crazy. All that it lacked was fireflies and my True Love (who was home working diligently to get the bamboo flooring in before I got home).

In the Morning we breakfasted, packed up and moved out again. I spent quite a bit of time with the last family in the last company. They had some truly inspiring kids who were not about to let a lousy wheelchair, CP, Spinal Bifida or a set of crutches stand in the way of accomplishing great fetes. I with you could have seen the determination of Joey and Andrew! So I was with them quite a bit on that second day, assisting where I could but mostly just enjoying their company.


The terrain was fairly rugged, lots of ups and down. I think it was more difficult for the carts to go down, so much harder to control the speed and be able to steer.

We really only went a few miles when we were faced with a challenge. The train manager spoke to us about "Hole in the Rock" in southern Utah and the 200 or so missonairies who were called to make a faster easier route from east to west Utah. He discussed having to dismantle their wagons and lower them down a 1200 foot cliff to the bottom and how they carved a road out of stone (JohnE and I have been on that road a few times, down in Escelante). We then were faced with the task of lowering wagons into a 25-30ft trench and getting them back out. A huge line was made of the kids in the company and all the gear was taken out of the carts and passed down the line in and out of the trench. The last company actually had to pass Andrew down and out again ( I am so proud of our kind and willing young men for all the service they rendered!).

A good portion of that afternoon was taken up with singing and pioneer games. They had pistols, tomahawk throwing, 2 man log saw, archery, and Beth and I were in charge of slingshot. We hung balloons on tree limbs and the kids slung acorns and rocks to knock off, hit or pop the balloons. We gave points for each hit. We later headed out again and set up camp in an orchard. We had beans with little smokies for dinner. Porter Rockwell found our camp and at the beginning of his address told us that he needed to secure the area because the Prophet was on his way but that he had seen Three Fingered Stu around these parts. One of the audience asked if that was what we had eaten for dinner. Very Funny!
Well, Joseph Smith did indeed come and quietly entered from the back of the audience and quietly asked people he passed how they were doing, and told them how glad he was they could be here. It was very effective and very sweet. He spoke for a short time on his life and hardships and trials, but also of endurance and commitment. It was really well played. The actor looked remarkably like Joseph. Then we divided into companies and the stake leaders spoke to us about some of the miracles of the pioneers and the pie in the road. We then went to bed. I shared my tent with the stake YW leaders and we stayed up and talked and laughed. Fun! I had a really great time getting to know them! I do not envy them their callings!

In the morning, each family woke to find one of their family members had passed away in the night (this is figurative!) Either the big brother or the Pa were taken to a "Better Place" So We had a little memorial Service, sang some songs remembered the "Dead" ( the funny thing is that when the families were told, the common questions asked immediately following was, Where did they go? and What time is Breakfast?) So the families pulled carts together for a very short time and were stopped by a short visitation from Brigham Young reading his letter to the saints regarding the Mormon Battalion. Also the General who accepted the offer of 500 able bodied men to serve the US army in the Mexican war. So the Men were lined up and the women sang their song from the Youth Temple Jubilee--Farewell sweet soldier, to which the men sang their part back and the women sang again then anxiously left to pull carts. We pulled for roughly 15 minutes just down the road to where the women learned other pioneering tasks, like making butter, quilting, weaving, etc. Then was the time for the real women's trek. I was on a cart with 3 girls and a Ma. We went up some fairly steep hills, and down for a very long stretch, maybe a mile and a half total. We were so Awesome! But we really had a hard time controlling on the downhill. Suddenly a stream of men appeared and found their families and helped the women down the remainder of the hill. We rested and snacked on trailmix and Beef Jerky, and Gatorade. We had a very big climb ahead of us--"The Widow Maker."

I wish the world could see into this scene, and not just my very small scope. The widow maker is a very long, very steep hill; perhaps a mile or so. I have talked very little of all the service and kindnesses I witnessed, but if there were a place to discuss this, this is it. From the first company to reach the top, the bulk of the men ran back down that hill again and again to help the next family to reach the top. Sometimes there were so many hands on the carts and ropes, there was no room for all willing to push or pull. When the family arrived at a certain place on the mountain, the stake President stopped them, thanked those who had helped and told them that it was now the family's responsibility to make it the rest of the way on their own--probably half a mile, very steep terrain. Well, we pushed off, pulled off and just at the point we all were having a very difficult time, those who had passed on earlier in the day appeared as angelic help and pushed that family up the hill. ("I laughed, I cried, it was better than Cats!")

Then the Stake President spoke to us as a congregation in the barn. He spoke about the faith of our forebears in Jesus' Atonement.

When we reached the top of the hill, we looked out on the "Promised Land!" What a beautiful site, to look out at the cultivated fields and the beautiful buildings. To be part of such an effort!

Later that night we had a Ho-Down in the barn with live music and reels. The kids had a great time! Then was family time and bed (for some).

In the morning we had family devotional, breakfast, and then a "solo experience." Each person was given a little booklet with quotes, scriptures, and poinient questions. The sorts of things to bring your into the companionship of the Holy Ghost and discover how to improve and be more Christlike. It was perhaps the richest part of the trek. Then the families each had testimony meetings. There was a lot of tears and gratitude.

We lunched, had a group picture with the carts and then loaded into busses again. When I got home, I found my true love just finishing the floor!!! I don't know which I was more excited about, seeing him or having the floor done!

And you know what is even more exciting? I have had zero calls for work all summer and then the day I get back, Ba-Da-Bing I have had 3 calls!!!

July 4, 2006--Pre Trek

A bit of a wacky Independance day. We are drywalling a fireplace and putting bamboo flooring into the livingroom. At the same time I am trying to get ready for a pioneer trek I was just asked to be part of yesterday. I am so excited to go, having never been able to take part in one previously. A bit nervous too, with the heat. so today I sit in airconditioned comfort with my power machine sewing a bonnet and apron, trying to pack, and also trying to be as useful to Johne as I can be. (Funny how in our day we have to pack up the car and drive a bunch of miles to get to the spot where we bungle out of the car and push handcarts in the sun!) I hope we at least can get to a fireworks show! Happy July 4th!