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!