Wow, I have lots about which to write; I think it would be best to write chronologically to keep things straight. At the start of our last couple of weeks, our raspberries started coming on in our garden. They are yummy and I suspect I will need to do some serious picking this coming week since I have been gone so much. Our raspberries are from Ramona and Ivan’s yard before they sold their home to go on their mission. So, our 
plants haven’t been in our garden that long and they are already causing a raspberry jungle! Dad has really chopped them back this year and we still have lots of stalks. I hope they are still ripe when the grandchildren come at the end of this week. Luckily they started coming on just as I was adding fruit back into my diet; yes, what a way to start!
We were with Shawn and Aubrey over July 4th weekend. It was a blast. Aubrey says they have a heat wave every time we are there. We started with a couple of rounds of bumper bowling and then the A’s game the first full day that we were there. The A’s didn’t win but it was a perfect ballpark night. It was their fireworks night so we had two shows, the game and then great fireworks.
Shawn also treated us to a tour of his department at Bank of America. Security was so tight that we all had our own photo name tags, including Greg and Bryson. Our jaws dropped in amazement as Shawn escorted us into his office. He has a huge office with a picture window overlooking the town and rolling hills. True to Shawn, he has made his office an inviting place by stashing lots of snacks and treats and has a white board with a continuous game being played to lure people in to chat with him. He explained some of their new theories in working with defaulted loans and it sounds like they have got a good formula to help as many people as possible.
After church on Sunday the boys needed a nap and it was very hot in their rooms so Dad and I took them on a car ride to Antioch to let them sleep in air conditioning. It worked and we visited with Aunt Denise in front of her home until the boys woke up. We were worried about her since she had been in the hospital just before we arrived in California but she is doing better now. Early that evening as we were driving home I excitedly realized my headache that I had had continuously since the accident had left while we were visiting Denise. It felt so great to be free of that headache.
We did all the fun town things in Pleasant Hill on July 4th starting with a 5K run. 
I trained to do it and knew I really shouldn’t as per doctor’s orders but with the headache having left, I thought it would be OK. I ran slowly but continuously for the entire event. That was my goal. Aubrey and Shawn lapped us of course and both made great times. Greg ran in the children’s run and looked like a natural. Dad was kind to stay with me even though I urged him to run ahead.
We stayed in town for the parade which Greg and Bryson gathered enough candy to be like Halloween in part because Greg ran up to the participants to make sure he got his due candy! He was so thrilled each time he added to his pile by his parents. We spent a couple of hours in the park with all the games l
ike tug of war and even a cake eating contest. Aubrey, Dad and Michael (Aubrey’s brother) entered. Aubrey was doing quite well but couldn’t eat as fast as the man who wore swim goggles and put his whole face in the cake to vacuum it up. With her leftovers she had a planned to throw it into Shawn’s face but Shawn had too good of reflexes and she sprayed it all over a very old man. I thought that I had my camera on movie as it would have been interesting to see Aubrey’s horrified face as she realized what she had done. After much cleaning up and apologies it took a while before we could laugh about it!
Our ticket stubs at the A’s game gave us all free personal pan pizzas at Roundtable Pizza so that is what we had for our July 4th barbeque. It was the perfect solution to sit in an air conditioned restaurant since it was in the high 90’s that day. We watched fireworks at Aubrey’s old high school baseball diamond. They had a live band playing!
We returned home early the next day and got ready for a visit from Randy and Julie. They came out with Craig and Pam and their two children for the STP, Seattle to Portland Bike event. They did it in one day though. About a quarter of the people don’t stop but come into the park across from the Lloyd Center. I was at a baby shower for Jaime Jorgensen at Lacey Blackett Amano’s home so we dashed afterwards to downtown to watch them come across the finish line. They were on their bikes for 11 hours (204 miles). We had a great visit with them that evening; they left for home the next morning.
Dad is wondering now if he cou
ld train well enough for that. His first century is in two Saturdays. The farthest he has gone to date is 82 miles but that included steep hills. The Tour de Cure doesn’t go into the peaks around here so he will be fine. It is getting pretty exciting and he has earned all his donations needed so far. Thank you all so much for your donations. Sunhee and Meeja will be here the day he rides and they will be helping me volunteer in the afternoon of the event.
We have all been very concerned about Jenna. She had not recovered from her pneumonia so they took her to the hospital on July Fourth for some treatments. We all thought that they would just keep her overnight but her hospital stay lasted nine days! After her condition worsened even after treatments and changing antibiotics three times, they transferred her to the Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake. She was in ICU for a day there and then started to respond. Finally, on Tuesday we were relieved that they allowed her to go home with oxygen. The Brady family received an OK from Jenna’s doctor to go to the Sabey Family Reunion in Idaho this weekend with Bill’s mom who is visiting from Utah. Thank you for all your calls and prayers on her behalf.
Many months ago Dad and I booked a trip to Depot Bay for this past week. We planned to take our bikes and bike up and down the coast from the WorldMark there. Because Dad won the bid for the temple and it is much work to be done in a small time frame, he could not go until the last night. Katie was kind enough to make a trade at work so she could go the first two nights. We also invited Grandma Maldonado and her friend Gwen Edmunds, who was visiting from California. They stayed the first two days so we played lots of games and sat in the hot tu
b. The weather was beautiful plus we saw whales several times. In fact, about an hour after they left, there was a whale in the cove just a short distance out for about an hour. I watched as it came out of the water and dove back in so I could see its fin. I noticed the fin first and thought it was a shark I was seeing.
Dad arrived at the coast late Thursday. It was just as well that he couldn’t come until then since I cannot ride my bike right now. Even so, we did a lot of fun things in the little time we had. I got to do what I like best, to watch the fishing boats come into the harbor at Depot Bay and see the men fillet all the fish. I remember doing that either at Half Moon Bay or Santa Cruz as a child and there is just something I love a
bout doing that. Some day I would like to try to go on one of those fishing trips. I would worry about getting sea sick since I can’t even hardly stand a mild Disneyland ride! We also stopped at a glass blowing studio and watched as they made glass floats. I would like to do that sometime (not make a knick-knacky float but a petty glass bowl). We ended out coast trip at a Friday night seafood buffet. We ate our fill of crab and shrimp; it was so yummy!
Our next trip will be to Utah for Adrianne’s graduation on August 9th and 10th. We thought we would try and do a quick trip to see Bill’s parents who are visiting from Canada but learned that his Dad doesn’t get into town until this Thursday and we have Adam, Alina and Klaire coming that night and then Sunhee and Meeja joining us on Saturday. We had thought if there was a rainy day, we might be able to steal away.
Right after Sunhee and Meeja leave at the beginning of August, I will go with Katie and Grandma to Laura Tobler Field’s baby shower in Clovis and then meet Dad in Utah for the graduation. From there we will go to Las Vegas for a SendOutCards convention. Dad is planning on going if work will allow. We have a busy August planned. I can’t believe that I keep saying already that I am pushing things into the fall since we are running out of summer! Nate sent me his itinerary for his Christmas visit . . .yikes! I am usually the first one to think about Christmas.
Have a great week ahead. I love you! Love, Mom
