November 28, 2013

Dear Children,

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to you all! We hope that you are having a wonderful day today. We are celebrating in Beaverton with a smoked turkey by Dad! Today is also my birthday so Dad offered to cook the turkey and use his new smoker. Well, it isn’t that new; Santa got it for him last Christmas! We are still learning how to use it.  We practiced a turkey on the missionaries about a month ago but while in Utah last weekend. we heard rave reviews from the Brady family about Black and Adrianne's smoked turkey so he is following their amazingly delicious recipe today.

Morty came in last night, Kyre, Alina, Adam and Klaire came in yesterday, Grandma Maldonado is here in town and Katie comes after work tonight. I love when the family gathers. And here is a bonus of all bonuses: Dad already has the Christmas lights up!!!  YES, I love driving home and seeing our home sparkle!!!  With Thanksgiving landing late and the fact that we will be in Mexico next week, we will cut our tree down this weekend, decorate a little, do some holiday baking and neighbor treat making in the next few days and then have an early Christmas with Kyre’s family on Sunday morning. 

Just a quick update on Grandma Maldonado and then I will catch you up on our lives since September.  Grandma planned her bucket-list trip to Israel, a tour package with Victor Ludlow as a special speaker in late October.  Smartly, she traveled into Tel Aviv a day early with a friend from old Hayward Ward so they could rest from the flight before they caught up to their tour. After they awoke the first morning, they took a walk on the waterfront towards the port of Jaffa and Grandma tripped over a rock barrier. She was rushed to the hospital with a broken nose, a couple of hairline fractures on her head and several other bumps and bruises. They kept her in the hospital for most of the scheduled trip to make sure that the plastic surgery they did on the end of her nose was going to heal correctly. She had fabulous care there but how disappointing that she missed the tour except for the last day when she traveled on the bus with the group as they stopped throughout that last day on the way to the airport to go home! She did get to see some of her favorite spots to visit: the Garden Tomb, Golgotha and the Garden of Gethsemane on that last day and the day prior when a taxi driver took her to get her glasses repaired.  Her long trip home was of course very difficult with her injuries so it has taken some time to get back to feeling better. She has been told that she will have headaches for a while and is still in some pain but, just this week, she has had some better days. Today or tomorrow we will sit and watch a video that her tour provided her to see the sights that she saw but also missed. We are glad that she is doing better.

In October and November we have had a couple of delightful visits with Morty; thank goodness he loves the Ducks and the Trail Blazers. If I understood him correctly, he is going to every Duck game this season, even away games! On the first weekend that he came, I had meetings in Hartford, Connecticut for SendOutCards to which I was trying to fly. Flying to the east coast on standby is not very predictable since I was flying on US Air. I got as far as Denver after rerouting my flights at the last minute to no avail. I was supposed to fly on a red eye out of Denver which filled just hours prior to departure. I slept in the Denver airport hoping to get on an early morning flight. I had a couple of choices but none worked. Finally, very disappointedly, I gave up. But the light at the end of the tunnel was that I wouldn't miss any of Morty's visit that weekend.

Morty came for another Duck game while St. Louis Cardinals were playing for the league title so he had Katie do some tweaking of his flight to be here earlier for that Friday evening game. We ate our dinner in front of the game and Katie joined us. I think Morty was here with Katie in our home another time when the Cardinals clinched the National League Title. Morty tried unsuccessfully to get World Series tickets. He usually buys enough to resell and pay for his travels to the World Series. Katie and Morty decided to go anyway, stay with one of Katie's KSDK friends and watch the game in St. Louis wherever they can arrange it. They were in the ballpark for at least one of the World Series games I know.

When Morty is here, I see more sports on TV than I ever do! With the St. Louis Cardinals game on Friday night, the little glimpses of Morty's preferred sports teams in between other things we were doing on Saturday and then, the VERY long BYU versus Texas game. We were watching it delayed (to skip the commercials) but even the 4 1/2 hours that Dad set to record, didn't capture the game to the end! We missed the last two minutes and 30 seconds. Luckily, shortly thereafter we learned that BYU not only made a touchdown in the last minute but also an interception which ended any chances for Texas. The game was exciting throughout the many hours. Sometimes I will watch a Duck game when I know my children are there but I had had enough TV sports by Saturday evening so I did not see any of the Duck game that Morty was at.

We traveled down on Sunday, October 20 for Dad to ordain Adam to the office of Teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood. Can you believe that he is already that age? His quorum leaders speak very highly of him and Dad says that he is the chorister for priesthood opening exercises. When he was living with Aunt Lynn, he learned how to lead music. She came over from Jefferson to be there for his ordination. Adam was here for his actual birthday on October 5^th. Kyre, Adam and Klaire came up to Beaverton for General Conference weekend. That way, Adam was able to go with Dad to the priesthood session. They didn't go out to dinner since we had a big meal to celebrate Adam's birthday that afternoon. He wanted a fruity cake so I experimented with my new clay bowls by making a microwave strawberry cake with 7Up in it for a round cake with whipping cream and strawberries. The very next day that we were in Albany for Adam’s ordination, we traveled back down south to watch Sunhee play volleyball with her school team in Stayton. It is hard to believe that she is in middle school. She has been used to playing with the same group of girls so now that she plays through the school; she is making lots more friends. She is the best player on the team; not prejudice here! She is a natural athlete just like her dad. It is so fun to watch her plus she always acts excited to see us. That makes grandparents SO happy!

In between these family visits, we made a couple of trips to Utah. Southwest must be filling more of their planes as, even though we were leaving on a Thursday, we had to reroute ourselves to get to Salt Lake at the last minute! Adrianne was able to take off work on Friday so that enabled us to get much more done at her place with her there to give us more directions. Even though we planned to help with flood damage, Dad fixed their laundry room space that was at the bottom of our list on our last visit. Their machines are front loaders so the door into the laundry was not functional. With their rearranged laundry room, they will have some great storage space. Storage space is what they need right now since half of their home is unusable from the flood.

We got a lot done in the garage, laundry and pantry room to clean up their food storage, small appliances and other things stored in the basement previously that had a fine film of mud from the flood. We organized spots for them to fit in the upstairs! The coolest change was done when I went to pick up Grandma Bitter for Friday night's dinner at the Severson's. The stairs from the entry hall to the garage were very muddy from the workmen who carried out all the damaged carpet and mud filled debris. That was cleaned up and Blake, Adrianne and Dad covered it with some pieces of scrap carpet that wasn't touched by the flood. It looks beautiful! They have a great garage for which they have made some fun plans like an area for a work bench and some wonderful storage areas when they can get some shelving. Their garage has windows so they may even be able to grow winter vegetables in pots out there! Adrianne's farm girl blood (where did she get that from except being around horses half her life) and clever thinking will make things like a winter garden in her garage if at all possible!

On Saturday of that weekend we were able to go watch Jenna play her last soccer game of the season. She also was proud to show Grandpa how well she rides a bike now. Dad rode around a little with her as he used Rebekah's pink bike. We enjoyed a tail gating party on the lawn by Grandma Bitter's Legacy parking spot to celebrate her 91^st birthday with other family members. That is also where the general authorities park to go to the game so when L Tom Perry and his wife Barbara walked by, they saw Grandma and stopped to talk for awhile since Barbara is from Cokeville, Wyoming and they know each other. On Sunday we went to Adrianne and Blake's ward and then traveled down to Salem for a big birthday bash at Aunt Julie's home. There were tons of Bitters there, even Melissa Bitter. We haven't seen her for a long time.

We made another trip to Utah in November for more flood fixing projects and of all things, to take a knitting class with Adrianne. She wants to make Christmas stockings like our huge knitted ones. I have always wanted to make more of those so I am going to learn with her but my goal is NOT to finish stockings this year of course!

This weekend we also got in a BYU basketball game. We went to one but Grandma Bitter went to both the Friday and Saturday night games!

Dad worked to get the mud out of the Severson's window wells while I traveled to Salt Lake to visit a customer who recently moved just minutes from Heidi! I had to visit SendOutCards to get some things at the company store so Tonya, my friend, went with me and I took her through a tour. I love that place!  We got some sneak peaks and saw some things we weren’t supposed to that will be announced tonight as Black Friday specials. I am just going to tell you now since it won’t really matter being so close to the time:

I am most excited that we will now be able to send a card and fresh wreaths and arrangements with the service!!!  I have been hoping some day that we could send fresh flowers with our cards. I spoke with the gifting department and they have been researching and working with local suppliers to figure out a way to accomplish that without the shipping costs being so prohibitive.  They hopefully have made the right connection; we will find out in the next couple of months how it works out. I am SO thrilled!  Tomorrow, on Black Friday, they are also experimenting with some premium paper like pearl finish type papers. We just keep getting better and better!

Adrianne and I sat in a warm classroom learning to knit and then making gingerbread houses at Heidi’s home while Dad, Bill and Blake traveled to Provo to watch BYU play in a wet snow fall. I mean WET; they got soaked! Well, not Dad. He is forever the prepared Boy Scout! He shared his repellent gear with Bill and Blake maybe a little late after seeing that their jeans were soaked through. The Brady girls were entering a gingerbread house competition so Heidi made the house wall from scratch with a darling mold that she has. We couldn’t help except to add the glue-frosting where Ainsley pointed that she needed it.  It was fun to watch them navigate so MUCH candy from the bowls to the houses without eating it!  They are all so creative; the houses turned out amazing.

We thought that we had landed on the Brady’s Children Sacrament Meeting Presentation weekend but it turned out to be the day they practiced. That was good though; a great excuse to visit Primary and see the girls! Heidi prepared a fun early Thanksgiving meal that afternoon before we flew home. It was SO yummy. I took some of her recipes to use today: the stuffing and cranberry sauce. Yes, for the first time I am not making Abuela’s stuffing! Heidi recipe had craisins and apples in it. I made those recipes and made the pies and yams yesterday so I didn’t have so much work on my birthday today.

We had some great visits with Scott this fall. He is looking very healthy. He is keeping up his running and was thinking about running a marathon in the yard today.  Of course, they have some unhealthy food choices all the time but he trades sweets and starches for fruit and vegetable from others. He has a new calling, group leader, in his branch and enjoys all the materials that Grandma Payne sends to the Chaplain so that he can spread the gospel easier. A new technology has come available to be able to video chat with him for 30 minutes through Telemate; it will cost $20.00. He is going to make another Christmas DVD this year again. He also told us that his Branch president has been working for years to allow Family History Research at the prison as does the Utah and Idaho system. It has been proven that it helps with rehabilitation, of course!  When the new Chaplain came to Salem, they approached her and she told them to set up a training for her that very week. We hope things will move forward now for Oregon to have that opportunity.  Just think what an experience that could be for those men to not only do their own research but to give service to others by helping with indexing!

I have been super busy with SendOutCards and helping new customers create their first holiday card campaigns. I LOVE that, maybe a little too much! J I had another opportunity to be on KUIK Radio on the last day of September to talk  about my business. At the last minute, I was able to go to my SendOutCards meetings in Puerto Rico at the end of October. I had a chance to room with three other people so that helped the cost. I barely made it onto my flight to get there. It was overbooked so thank goodness for the passengers who changed their minds! The resort was fabulous with its own island (which we spent one afternoon enjoying team games). The weather was beautiful but I didn't get, nor want, much pool time as I was enjoying the casual gatherings after each set of meetings to learn from others. I came home with so many ideas. The nice thing about gathering together is learning the different styles of successful leaders. We have a fun contest going to be the one hundredth millionth card sender and the 3 millionth gift sender since it is projected it will be any time now. The winners will get $1000.00!

Have a fabulous holiday weekend. I will be doing a bit of Black Friday shopping with Alina and Adam as my helpers.  But, I will not ruin my Thanksgiving by going to the early openers today.  I will shop at midnight but not on my family holiday; I have my limits. J I haven’t stepped foot in Kmart for years since they, years ago, stayed open on Thanksgiving. I may have to alter my principles now though. If I quit supporting stores that open on Thanksgiving, I won’t have anywhere to shop!

            Just a heads up for this month: Dad and I leave for San Jose del Cabo early Monday morning to relax the first week of December.  Sunhee and Meeja come for their annual Christmas visit and will help us deliver neighbor and friend gifts the second weekend and we are trying to fit in a QUICK trip to see the tree at Rockefeller Square, walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and see a Broadway show in New York right after the girls leave. Nate may even meet us in New York! Then, Christmas will find us celebrating with the boys in Las Vegas but we will leave before New Years Eve so we avoid the crowds traveling home so we can get a seat.

            Lot of love, Mom

             

September 29, 2013

September 29, 2013

Dear Children,

     We had a fabulous Labor Day vacation at the Running Y Resort in Klamath Falls. We had many more children than we thought would be able to come. Even at the last minute, we had additional family members. We barely fit in our places but it was so nice to have so many there. It is the first time that we have been on the Klamath Falls property. They have three bedroom chalets with a hot tub on the deck, which make a gathering very fun. Grandma Maldonado came and rented a regular unit for part of the time so some of the family stayed with her.

Besides playing tons of games in the evenings in the chalet and the grandchildren loving the hot tub, we traveled to beautiful Crater Lake twice. It is awesome in the real use of the word. The first day trip on Friday, when we had half of our numbers, we hiked down to the dock while Nate and others tried to fish off the rocks. Nate and

Laura were cooking that night so he hoped to add some fresh fish to his grilling menu. It was incredible to be down by the water for a couple of hours. None of us planned to take the boat ride which was a good thing since they were canceled. Being at the water's edge of Crater Lake is breathtaking.

We rotated the breakfast and dinner meal preparations. The first evening I put a roast and vegetables in my Bean Pot kind of late since Dad and I were off having some fun and then shopping for groceries in town. Dinner came out after Adrianne and Blake arrived on Thursday night. Nate started off the large family meals by grilling chicken, shrimp and vegetables galore! The next morning Adrianne and Blake served a French toast breakfast; Heidi and Katie served a Cafe Rio style dinner Saturday. On that day, five family members (Shawn, Gregory, Morty, Nate and Laura Berk) drove to the Oregon Duck game in Eugene and joined us later in the evening.

On Saturday we had a fun day in Klamath Falls taking the trolley that talked about the town's history and then enjoying a fun Farmers Market there. Running Y has a very nice pool so everyone enjoyed that in the afternoon after a little bit of bike riding. We brought extra bikes for the children but the terrain there was pretty hilly. An earlier ride our first day found Dad and I walking our bikes up some very steep hills. I know, I have told many of you, “It is easier to ride a bike up a hill than push it!” But, this one hill had my front tire feeling like it was lifting and I am determined not to fall backwards on a bike ever again!

The path around the golf course had more doable hills but still fairly challenging for the children but I think they made it halfway around even so.
     Our family’s Duck fans came home late Saturday evening; the car plastered with the Midges, the gnat-like insects that have long enough wings that the front of the grill looked like fur! They were traveling back in the dark past the breeding grounds of these insects (the lake) and the insects fly towards any light! Even though the car and front grill was washed after that drive, earlier this week, Grandma’s radiator hose blew off most likely due to the pressure built up from the insect body parts coating the sides of the radiator!

Some of us found a sacrament meeting in town on Sunday morning. It was a great ward; so many people came up to us afterward to introduce themselves and welcome us. The family members that stayed back at the place started a linguisa breakfast for everyone. That is a great Maldonado family tradition to BBQ linguisa sausage and rolls. We headed to Crater Lake again to enjoy Ranger activities for the children, a trolley ride around the rim for some of the adults and a hike to a beautiful waterfall. There is so much to do in Crater Lake we could have spent at least another day. We ended with a great meal at the historic Crater Lake Lodge and riding home VERY late at night. During the weekend Scott was able to call and get through even though we all had spotty cell coverage and have the opportunity to talk to almost everyone there! He also sent letters addressed to everyone in the family with his perspective as a teenager of how he remembered our family was when it was first formed so he could be part of our family gathering.

Morty took Katie to the Klamath Falls airport very early Monday morning so she could get back to work. Aaron was in charge of sourdough pancakes on that morning which everyone always loves. Grandma's car had to leave that day with the Las Vegas family members since they had a flight early Tuesday morning in Portland. We played as many games as possible before they had to leave and the grandchildren loved playing in the hot tub once again. In the afternoon we swam in the pool forever so those children were in the water all day! Shawn and Aubrey made chicken teriyaki that night and surprise; we played more games!

Blake and Adrianne left Tuesday morning but Heidi decided to stay back an extra day since she didn't feel prepared to leave early enough on Tuesday. The grandchildren wanted to go back to the pool and Dad and I took our bike ride late that morning. While Dad took an extra loop on his bike, I started pushing laundry through for the Wednesday travelers and doing some pre-packing of the kitchen to make our Wednesday departure easier. Heidi and Shawn's family went to a lake that was close by to see what it was like while Dad and I stayed back to get a chicken BBQ dinner going so the children could get to sleep earlier for Wednesday travels. They returned as soon as William got stung by a bee on his hand.

Heidi's family left in the morning and Shawn's family stayed until check out. After which, we met them at the tennis courts and played some games, swam and then finally said goodbye. Klamath Falls is about halfway between Portland and the Bay Area so we arrived at our homes about the same time. Dad and I tried to catch up on work the rest of the week. I had tried to meet an incentive with SendOutCards that happened to end while we were in Klamath Falls. I finally gave up on the last day of the incentive month on Saturday when internet and cell coverage were so poor and I wanted to be part of all the family activities. I learned afterward that I missed earning an extra $500.00 by only two customers so I was just sick about that! But, I have set more goals for the months ahead even so.

We weren't home long before we were leaving for Clovis to be with Aunt Carla and Uncle Scott. It was the weekend of the Quail Lake Triathlon but Carla had to cancel it but we went anyway. Being at their place is like a resort to us as I have mentioned before. It was tons of fun to be there although the day before we thought we would stay home. Grandma Maldonado was at her annual reunion in California when she fell and had to be taken to the hospital. She had all the symptoms of a concussion and was released so she could return home to rest. Morty was in Portland for a Saturday Oregon Duck game. He and Katie put their skills together, Katie's work made some exceptions since it was a medical emergency that kept Grandma off her original flight and got Morty on a flight to go pick up Grandma in Oakland. He met Aunt Denise and Grandma at the Oakland airport and returned on a flight to get Grandma settled in her home. It worked out very nice thanks to their kindness and availability. Grandma now feels much better with the rest that she has been able to get.

In Clovis we enjoyed wonderful weather, a relaxing time and fun at the pool with Carla and Scott's family. We had a real treat on Sunday morning as we were enjoying a relaxing breakfast on their back patio when we heard a helicopter flying close by. We realized that it was Scotty doing a fly-by on one of his medical runs. He now works for an ambulance company where he is the trauma nurse that picks up people in their plane and helicopter. It is quite an exciting work for him. He still works in the Cath lab at St Angus and at Kaiser when he gets called in. After church the Tobler family gathered for dinner so we played games with them in our last hours in Clovis. It was a short but sweet trip.

While we were enjoying a relaxing weekend in Clovis, Adrianne and Blake were facing a weekend of digging out from a flooded basement. They will remember their Friday the Thirteenth experience for many years! They opened their door upon arriving home from work and knew something was wrong. Water rushed from the neighbor’s yard where the builder had changed the natural landscaping, filled the window well of one of their guest rooms and burst through the window sending water, mud and glass all the way to the family room. Unfortunately, the room that received the most damage was where they were storing the unopened boxes from their recent move. They threw away much of what was in that room which included lots of photos. Five men from a clean up service came in and worked until midnight, pulling up their carpet and cutting all their walls up about two feet. It may be a while before they can repair things since the builder, who originally agreed that it was his fault, is now saying he has no responsibility.

BYU football season is upon us so Dad and I watched the TV broadcast of the BYU Cougars lose to University of Utah. RATS, I just hate watching them lose! This week we were able to watch them WIN; I love that! I even watched some of the Duck game last night since Morty was in town at the game; in the rain the entire game!

Last week I was at a lecture where the presenter had a great football analogy: Just do something. Not everything has to be a touchdown. Just start the play and move the ball 2 ½  yards (4 times) for a first down." I LOVE IT! And for my detail-oriented children, I KNOW that technically, 4 times 2 ½ yards will not fly on the football field but I think you get the gist of the message. Just keep moving forward!

Speaking of football, Morty was here this weekend for an Oregon Duck game. I wasn’t supposed to be here until Sunday but I had a very disheartening non-revenue experience this week trying to get to a SendOutCards meeting in Hartford, Connecticut. I even slept (well tried to sleep) in the Denver airport when I couldn’t get on a 1:00 am Red-Eye flight to Charlotte, hoping to be early for the 7:00 am to Philadelphia or 7:05 am to Charlotte. Running with non-running shoes between concourse A and B with my luggage still didn’t do the trick! I DO NOT like USAirways for more reasons than it is hard to know how full their flights will be ahead of time! I came home extremely dejected and then realized that it would give me more time with Morty.

I slept in Saturday morning to try and get rid of the headache with which I came home and so Morty came and sat on my bed and talked for a long time. Now that is heaven to me! He had a fun suggestion for Christmas since only the Las Vegas children are traveling home this year: Vegas for Christmas if Katie is still working for SW. He thought maybe the Utah families would drive to Las Vegas at the last minute also. So, this all will be a last minute decision; kind of fun!

Morty’s football game was Saturday evening giving us time to go to lunch with Dad and Grandma Maldonado. I didn’t get out of my pajamas until noon! It was really a lazy day. He took all sorts of rain gear since we are having tons of rain right now but his feet still got wet since it rained the entire game.  I couldn’t believe they stayed the whole game since it was also a blow out.

Today was Tanner Green’s mission farewell. Can you believe that, the youngest Green? He is going to a mission in Guatemala; somewhere that I never knew existed. He ended his talk in sacrament meeting with this thought: It all boils down to, “Did Joseph Smith really see God the Father?” And yes, he did.

Love you all. It is that time of the year when I would like any Christmas gift ideas. I will send the sibling gift rotation on a separate email.  Love, Mom

Summer 2013

Dear Children,

Once again I have become overwhelmingly behind in my writing. You might be able to tell in this description of our summer when I stopped to write about our adventures and when I am writing from recall! After our Hawaii trip, I put some serious effort into planning for Girls Camp food and then headed to Salt Lake City for our SendOutCards convention at the end of May. I love when we are in Salt Lake as it is just better being by the headquarters; touring our headquarters is so impressive. Aaron was able to meet us in Salt Lake and stayed with us. Due to the young girl at the front desk flirting with him as they talked about his hike in the Grand Canyon, we got our room upgraded. Pretty cool! The convention is always very energizing and I love having team members there learning alongside me. I appreciate the direction of the company and so glad I am a part of it. Not only do I love serving with other people and businesses, I like how I am growing with this business.

Another bonus to being in Salt Lake for business is seeing family there. Heidi and the children met us at Aunt Julie's for Sunday dinner and on the way home we got to stop at the cemetery and see Jack's new headstone. It has a photo of him engraved or imprinted somehow. We also got to peer in the windows of a home in Eagle Mountain that Adrianne and Blake were looking to buy. After we left, Aaron stayed longer at the Severson's and actually saw the home that they ended up buying.

If you haven't heard the story about Adrianne and Blake selling and buying a home in record time, you should ask them for details. On almost a whim they put their town-home up for sell before leaving on their Hawaii trip. It sold while in Hawaii and they needed to find a new home since they had to put their ducks somewhere! Things worked out and they moved out of their town-home with a loaded freezer, signed papers and got their keys only to drive the freezer to the new home's garage to plug it in all in one day when the temperature was over 90 degrees!!!

Girls Camp was earlier in the summer this year. The best thing about that was that once it was over, there was an overwhelming feeling of relief for the rest of the summer. The hard part about going to camp in June, especially to the western peninsula of the Puget Sound, is that you must expect it to be cold and rainy. We lucked out. I think that there was only one day of rain. I planned more warm meals thinking the girls would be cold at mealtime but we didn't need that. Each year it is amazing to me how much food we go through though. And this year we missed not having Adrianne with us. She was the most valuable cook in the kitchen last year.

 

Right after camp, Dad and I headed to the coast to take advantage of a Christmas gift certificate from Aaron that we received for a whale watching tour. Luckily there was a last minute Depoe Bay opening so we were able to stay close by and enjoy the coast. Time was critical with work responsibilities so we were even willing to just drive down for the day for the tour. It was quite interesting and a great learning experience plus, we did see whales. We saw whales from our room after also since we know where to look for the whale tours now!

We visited Shawn and Aubrey's family twice this summer; both times being a blast! In June we had so much fun with all the family members who gathered in Oakland. Katie and Morty met us there as the St. Louis Cardinals were coming into town to play the Oakland A's. Since our family has such diehard Oakland A's and St Louis Cardinals fans, it's fun to meet in Oakland when St Louis comes into town to play the A's. The Friday evening flights were getting full so at one point I thought we might have to get into the Bay Area a couple of hours early and pass the extra time by eating dinner at Los Compadres in Hayward. Oh how I love, love, love that place and all the memories!

Luckily, the Friday evening flight was open so Katie, Dad and I were able to work on Friday and then be at the night game in Oakland. Although, we had a little scare since it took over two hours to get to the airport Friday afternoon. While traveling through snarled traffic and talking to Katie on the phone (she was already at the airport) she helped us navigate through some side roads getting us there just minutes before the flight. 

While packing, I realized that I don't have any Cardinal or Oakland gear, so I asked Katie for permission to go in her drawers, with the leftover clothes that she has it the house, and found a couple of St Louis Cardinals shirts. As soon as I walked in the game, Aubrey handed me an Oakland hat so I could represent both teams. It is always fun at a game with Shawn and Aubrey and the boys. They had bought Family Fun 4 Packs so we all had ball park hot dogs, peanuts and a drink to help enjoy the game. I know that doesn't sound very good but it was quite fun to have the FULL ball park experience. Of course, Shawn’s family always bring lots of extra treats. 

The Oakland A's beat the St Louis Cardinals by a landslide. St Louis didn't look like the team we're used to watching. It was nice for Katie and Morty that St. Louis beat the Oakland A's by a landslide the next day, keeping all family members with smiles on their faces.

On Saturday everyone came by the hotel for breakfast and a quick swim before heading to the second game of the series. It was already very warm in the Bay Area so it was smart to cool themselves off before heading to the hot ballpark. Dad, myself and Bryson stayed back to swim and relax by the pool ALL DAY. What fun! Bryson's swimming skills improved even more in just that day. He is a ball of energy. He must have jumped in the pool over one hundred times to swim, retrieve some water toys, hand them all to me and the climb out and DO IT AGAIN! Aunt Denise drove over to meet us at the hotel and spent some time with us at the pool also. That was fun to get updated on her family.

After the game Shawn and Aubrey planned a fun dinner called a Raclette. It is a fun way to eat with grilling vegetables and meat, melting cheese and pouring it altogether for a yummy treat. It reminded me of Heidi's description of French dinners as you stay at the table for a long time talking and cooking and eating. There is always lots of adventures at Shawn and Aubrey's place.

Right after we returned from California, Kyre, Adam and Klaire came for a visit over the Fouth of July weekend. Much of our time was spent at a softball tournament for Sunny. Luckily it was in Beaverton so everyone could watch her as a family. We postponed our trip to the St. Paul rodeo so we could get to more of her games. By the time we went to the rodeo Meeja had joined us so that worked perfectly. It was apparent that the girls were just at the rodeo for the cotton candy! They were happy campers with their cotton candy.

After Kyre, Adam and Klaire went home, Meeja stayed through the week. She is a fun girl to have around. She is adventurous and a risk taker as always. You can be certain there will be some falls and immediately you will hear Meeja as she pops up, “I'm OK!” We even worked on some of her Girls Activity Days booklet goals. She LOVES to be outdoors either riding a bike or skating on rollerblades.

I changed and washed all the sheets from the last visitors in time for Nate and his friend, Laura Berk to come for a weekend. They had lots of fun things planned including a downtown Portland walking tour. That was very interesting; they invited dad and I to join in. We filled our days and even picked berries to make jam, had an omelet from Canby Farms at the Saturday Market and played games Saturday evening with Grandma Maldonado. Nate likes to cook so they made us dinner Sunday evening. It was a delightful visit. 

Right after Nate's visit we worked a couple of days and then headed down to Oakland again; this time to celebrate Shawn's birthday with him. They invited us to go with them to the California State Fair in Sacramento. We stayed over night by the fair and then Dad, Shawn

and the boys traveled to Sonoma for the drag races. I was so impressed with the fair. We spent the day and into the evening walking the fair and going to a concert that night. The boys are like the energizer bunny! The boys were all in heaven being able to go to the drag races and I was in heaven that the ladies didn't go!

Upon returning home from Oakland we got ready for Dad's annual Utah Lake Century. That gave us a great excuse to see Adrianne and Blake's new home and help them with some new home projects. They have a beautiful home with lots of room for themselves and a great yard for their ducks. The main job we did was to paint their fence. Their homeowner rules say it has to be a certain color of gray We worked hard but had great fun. We even took a break to watch Adrianne show one of the therapy barn's horses at a horse show and meet the owner in the canyon on a later evening for a campfire.

Heidi's family was in Canada while we were in Utah so they let us use their van. That was convenient to have. Even though we didn't see them, we saw Honey as Adrianne was dog sitting for them. While we were in Utah, Katie ran a half marathon here in Portland so we missed supporting her!

Adam came for an alone visit the next weekend. He rode the train up by himself which was so cool. He is earning money for a trip to Washington DC with his school next Spring so he was anxious to work alongside Dad in the yard to make some extra money. The night that Dad drove him home, I left for the beach with Grandma, Carol Stanger and her mom. We were there for two nights and played MANY hours of games.

Meeja came back up with Sunhee from Friday through Wednesday of the next week. We had lots of girl fun with them and even started working in Sunhee's Young Women personal progress booklet. She is very goal oriented and loves to learn. After the girls left, Alina rode the train up here for the weekend and you can image that we played tons of games. She does not like to lose so sometimes that adds playing more games until late into the evening until she has won enough. It is hard to beat Alina at anything anymore and certainly NOT Boggle! When I took her back to the train station, I decided that I am going to plan a trip for Dad and I on the train, somewhere to take our bikes and ride. The train looks like so much fun. On the way back, Alina was able to ride in the top glass dome area of the train. Isn't that cool?

 

We are headed to our next adventure, Klamath Falls and Crater Lake. I booked World Mark long ago and told family to meet us there if they wanted. Only a couple of family members let me know early on that they would go but in the end, most of the family will be gathered there. It should be fun but a little squishy! I will write about that separately.

Dad and I have tried to stay busy with work throughout our travels. Dad has been good to work hard to keep the concrete business alive as well as can be. He has no builder contracts so every job takes a lot more work to get. Thank goodness to the relationships that we have been able to build in the last few years with previous clients so they keep talking about us to their friends and family. Most of our jobs are referred homeowners these days; we thank SendOutCards for that. We are still on track to retire in 2016 even with the industry having such bad years. Our plan is for our SendOutCards income to pay the bills from that point as we want to have the same financial abilities during our retirement even though the construction downturn ate into our retirement investments. 

Dad stays in shape with his cycling. He entered lots of centuries this year. He road to the beach on the back roads through McMinnville in the Reach the Beach Century in May. It rained the entire time and he was very chilled by the end; his energy was sapped. I have never seen him so depleted. A Clark County 68 mile ride took him into Vancouver and Lacamas Lake area. When Kyre and their children were in town, he did the Hagg Lake Triathlon one morning and then met up with us at Sunhee's softball tournament in Cedar Mill. Tour de Cure was in July. I met him at the end and we raced downtown to meet up with Nate and Laura on a Portland Downtown walking tour. Dad doesn't act like he has just ridden 100 miles! He rode the Ulcer Utah Lake Century with Uncle Jerry this year and that was the first time he really cramped up. He admits that he rode too fast in the beginning (trying to keep up with his younger brother!), not pacing himself safely. Alina was here visiting for his last century, that was the Beaverton, Banks and Beyond. I would like to ride a portion of that ride one of these days. I hear that it is beautiful.

  

Whew, now I am caught up. I may have missed some important new though. Love you lots, Mom

May 13, 2013

Dear Children,

            Well, we had to take a round about trip to our travels to Kona but it was, of course, worth it. Our round about trip made me a little nervous about getting home in a timely manner since I had to cook the chicken for the Relief Society stake dinner the afternoon that we were to return. I was being forewarned!

            The night before we went to Hawaii, we traveled to Woodburn in hopes to see Alina play softball with her high school JV team. Unfortunately, with Friday evening traffic, we arrived late and her coach had just pulled her since she has been injured several time  (and they were so far ahead). Oh well, we had more opportunity to visit with her behind the dug out. Sunhee was there so we got a chance to see her and visit with her also. Alina was headed to the Moore’s home for the weekend after her game.

The closer we got to our flight to get to Kona, the more the flights filled up. We were taking an airline we had not used before so we didn't know what to expect. We had to get to Phoenix to fly to Kona on US Airlines. We learned our flight from Portland filled so we went in a day early to Las Vegas. On the evening that we arrived in Las Vegas, we quickly learned that the morning flights to Phoenix were too full to take a risk so we dashed home with Morty so he could pack and return to the airport in less than an hour to fly out that night on Southwest to Phoenix.

            Aaron had planned a great dinner and I was looking forward to relaxing at Aaron's for the evening, even playing some games. But, Nate quickly met us at the boys' home, we rushed dinner, Morty packed and found a hotel in Phoenix and then we raced back to the airport right after having Aaron's yummy tri-tip and sweet potato meal. We stayed in a nice hotel, called Drury, making our flight to Kona the next morning much more secure. Plus we met a Kona Native at breakfast and he gave us lots of tips.

            We couldn't have asked for better conditions in Kona. Our condo was great; we even had a small ocean view with beautiful sunsets from our porch. We enjoyed very sunny mornings that made snorkeling wonderful. Some of the afternoons clouded over but, when so, we had had enough sun and headed to the condo for some pool time.

            One of my favorite times was the first morning breakfast on the deck in the warm sun, just relaxing and talking. Of course, we were talking about how to gather the family in a sunny warm location so everyone could join us and enjoy each other. Morty loved his trip to an all inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic and I love the idea of not cooking on vacation if I had my choice (but I do enjoy being able to cook so that we may travel more with less money). It is fun to dream as every time Dad and I travel we always think of how fun it would be if all of you could be with us.

            We explored several different beaches and snorkeling sites; they were all beautiful. The first afternoon there, we headed to the closest beach to watch the sunset. My favorite was a beach right in front of where Blake and Adrianne will be staying (the Severson's condo) this week! In fact, we were trying to

figure out where that condo was so we were slowly driving past one of the places we suspected when we saw Blake's mom and dad driving out of the parking lot! It was such a fun surprise! They invited us up to see their place; they have a fabulous location.

            Kahalu’u Beach Park, the favorite snorkeling beach, had more varieties of fish in a small amount of space that is very easily accessible. In fact, Morty walked through the tide pools at lower tide and saw lots of turtles and tropical fish without even putting on a snorkel and fins. He was the first one to spot a turtle.

            Katie joined us Tuesday afternoon, after we toured the perimeter of the entire island so that we could see the volcano. We could have spent all day at the volcano; we will have to return. I would like to go back at night to see the glow of the volcano.  I would love to return to this island; can you tell? There were lots of things I would like to do again but now that I have seen Hilo, I would just concentrate on the Kona side of the island.

            After picking up Katie, we stopped at a place Blake and Adrianne suggested, Killer Tacos and headed north to see some spots suggested to us by a native of Kona we met at the Phoenix hotel. We stayed at the second beach which was a beautiful white sand beach, Hapuna Beach. It extended for miles. There was a small reef so we saw turtles there and stayed for the sunset.

            Katie snorkeled with us at a preserve, Honaunau Bay, south of our place early the next morning. The water was very clear and all the coral was incredible. There was no beach; we got into the water from the lava-like rock bed that surrounded the bay. We decided to move up to our favorite snorkel beach since we knew the rocks would start getting hot and that was the only place to lay a towel down. Besides, a black crab came crawling up from the rock crevasses that looked too much like a huge spider! We spent all afternoon at the second beach and then went to a farmers' market in town for papaya, mango and avocado.

            The first hour we were in Kona, we followed the rest of the rental cars from our flight towards Costco and bought a large bag of chicken and fish so all nights we had some variety of chicken. Tonight was chicken taco salad with fresh avocado. We played some games on two of the evenings but most nights we were pretty exhausted when we returned to the condo.

            It was a great trip and a warm, wonderful break even though Portland had the best weather of the year during the time that we were gone. Our last day was very relaxing starting with an early snorkel trip and then checking out. We stayed at the condo pool until we left for home. We did go to a Worldmark owner education for the purpose of getting an American Express card to pay for our dinner that night. I usually learn some new tricks that help use our WorldMark service but not this time. It was a waste of both of our time but we did enjoy an incredible dinner at Jackie Rays Grill. Then the adventure began . . .

            We arrived very early to the airport after we drove to see the Kona Temple. We didn't want to take a chance not to get off the island on our first try. We were told there would be a delay until almost midnight. Apparently, when the plane landed at 2:00 in the afternoon from the mainland, the toilet overflowed. But, there are no US Airways workers in Kona so it was just left to “brew” in the warm Hawaiian sun all afternoon. Of course, they couldn't get the smell out that evening and finally sent the plane back empty. All the passengers were given transportation to a hotel, food vouchers and a night's stay except all of us non-revenue ticket holders. We agreed that we would have been willing to ride that stinky plane back to Phoenix to get home!

            There were several Southwest employees stranded with us at the airport. The Kona airport is small and there is nothing around it. Everything was closed by the time the decision not to fly the plane was made and they were doing some electrical work on the airport so we could not stay there. Across the street there was an old ticket counter area that was no longer used. There were benches and we found a bench for the night. It took a couple of hours of being on the lap top to figure out our way home and then we tried to sleep. It was an adventure. I didn't imagine sleeping on a “park bench” as being part of our vacation but with the mild weather it was better than it sounded. I just don't want to ever do that again!

At 5:00 in the morning we stood in line to get the first flight out on Hawaiian Air. We flew to Honolulu and waited in that airport for a little over seven hours for our flight to Portland. We did learn how to buy a stand-by seat on another airline; that might be valuable again! Plus, the Honolulu airport actually has some garden areas so we didn't have to stay inside the whole time. Morty didn't have the benefit of being able to buy a discounted stand-by ticket. He bought a full price ticket to another island, Kaua’i, and flew US Air back to Phoenix so we beat him home by about 12 hours.

            The hardest thing for me was having to enlist many of my friends to do the work I was going to do Friday afternoon: grill the chicken for the Stake Relief Society dinner. I had to walk Cathy Crandall and Kathleen Westhora around my kitchen by phone. It was hardest to tell them that I was stranded in Hawaii and could they change their day's plans to bail me out. Being stranded in Hawaii isn't everyone's picture of a feel sorry thing! Even with the ending of our trip fresh on our minds, we are ready to go again!

            We had a quiet Mother’s Day with Katie having to work. Plus, early that morning, Dad took Grandma Maldonado to the airport to head to Vancouver, Canada for her Alaskan cruise. I was teaching the four year olds in Primary so I avoided the smart remarks in Relief Society about being “stranded” in Hawaii an extra day.

            I hope you had a great week also. Love, Mom

May 4, 2013

Dear Children,

            Lately it feels like we are either on a short trip or trying to get things in order to leave on a short trip. I am not complaining though. And today I am trying to finish this in a hurry so we can leave with all family newsletters caught up. We are headed to Hawaii. Yes! We finalized our decision just last Sunday and we are going to Kona. Morty was here when we were making plans so he is going to join us and Katie may come over for a couple of days. The plans of course, started with Katie.

A couple of weekends ago we were in Martinez with Shawn and Aubrey and the boys. That was a power packed weekend. At the last minute, Morty decided to join us. Now, he can really rile up Gregory and Bryson. There was never a dull moment. We picked that particular weekend so we could see Gregory play on his baseball team. Having grown up going to so many Oakland A's games, he LOVES the sport. He looks so cute in his Nationals uniform and is an enthusiastically ready team player.

            After the game, we all headed for Bryson's late birthday pick of breakfast restaurants, the Original Pancake House. The funny thing is, the “original” one actually started in Portland and we have never been to it here. But that is going to change! It was SO good! We will have to go sometime when someone is visiting.

            It was a beautifully sunny day in the Bay Area so I was a little disappointed to be going to a movie theater on Saturday afternoon after the game and breakfast. But, they have an old theater there that is being torn down so they wanted to go one last time and we just like to do anything with our children anyway. They were showing the Sound of Music. I loved it; it was SO fun watching it in the big screen. We only stayed for half of it since we wanted to go swimming before dinner time.

            They have a beautiful YMCA pool and we stayed in it until closing. They also have a not tub which we enjoyed. The rest of the evening was a little play time in their community back yard and then games with Shawn and Aubrey (after a fun rendition of children's Cranium with the boys).

            On Sunday we relaxed in the morning and after church, we went on a walk to a beautiful park by their home. A barbeque with the neighbors awaited our return. I think we even squeezed in one more game before heading to the airport. The Oakland flights were full so Shawn had to drive us to San Jose. That flight was delayed so we got home very early in the morning.

            While at Shawn's we learned that Aunt Eleanor passed away. That is Grandma Bitter's last living sister. We crammed in some work on Monday and part of Tuesday and flew into Salt Lake Tuesday night for the Wednesday afternoon funeral. Luckily, we were able to get in a short visit with Blake and Adrianne before we headed to the funeral. Our visits are never long enough!

            The funeral was wonderful. There was almost enough close family there to fill the entire middle section of the church pews. In all the remarks about Aunt Eleanor, it felt as if they were describing Grandma Bitter. They are so much alike. I guess their family loves chocolate roll as much as does ours. At the luncheon afterward we learned that it is ALSO a favorite with Aunt Marion's family. I am glad that Aaron and Adrianne have learned from Grandma how to make it so our family can carry on the tradition. Even though it was for a funeral, it was a great gathering. The Bennion cousins are all such wonderful people to be around.

            At Morty's suggestion, we flew home to Portland after the funeral through Las Vegas, stopped and had an early birthday dinner with Aaron, Morty and Nate at Aaron's favorite Indian restaurant, and then flew home arriving after midnight again. It is always great to see the boys and hear what they are up to.

            Heidi and William were at our home that very week. Heidi came just as we were leaving for the funeral so she picked up our car from the airport parking garage. Luckily, Katie was available to watch William on her day off so Heidi could still go visit Scott and then Kyre the day we were in Utah. She is here to visit for Scott's birthday week so we get to have lots of time with William.

            It was so much fun to play with William; I bet his sisters missed him! He is such a good baby also.  He is FUN and ACTIVE; he gets himself to whatever attracts his attention. He plays with cords and boxes over toys!!! Heidi and I took turns swapping car use between my work and her travels so she could go for as many visits as possible. We even had some quiet time in the evening for a few games!

            Morty was supposed to come here later in the week when Heidi would be here but he had Katie do some magic and changed his flight at the last minute so he traveled home from the Las Vegas birthday dinner with us. That was very convenient so it gave him more William and Heidi time. He was here for an Oregon Duck football spring scrimmage game. I made the mistake of asking who won!

          We caught Katie home in Oregon long enough to have a quick celebration for her birthday downtown. Morty was still here; we went to a restaurant called Mother's and it was really yummy.

            The rest of the time we have been scrambling to get ready to vacation again! Dad’s work has really picked up; he is doing lots of bids right now. That would be great if he could get more work. Possibly Aaron may come for part of the summer and work with him if we can give Aaron enough hours. Blake and Adrianne are going to Kona in just a couple of weeks. Adrianne created a whole list of things that we could do since that is where the Severson’s condo is.

            We love you!