Granddaughters in Lexington

It's wonderful having Dallin and Meredith so close, about 3 hours apart. It makes visiting both of them in one trip so convenient. When we arrived at Dallin's home, Dorothy introduced us to our room. She had moved out for the week so we  could enjoy her nice room. She fixed it up to make it as nice as possible, with sweet love notes for us, fresh flowers, and even the two beds neatly made and pushed together. She is so loving, and is always finding ways to serve!

We were so impressed with the fun treehouse that Dallin had built for the girls this summer. They love spending lazy, hot summer days in their clubhouse. Even, all day at times. Virginia is beautiful at this time of year. 

Spending a day at the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton was fascinating. It told the story of early immigrants and their American descendants. The Museum has moved or reproduced examples of traditional rural buildings from England, Germany, Ireland, West Africa, and America. We braved the heat, and a golf cart for me to ride in was a life saver. 

Other fun activities included visiting the Woodrow Wilson's home where he was born and his Presidential Library. We took the girls to the George C. Marshall Museum. The World War II wing recounts the course of the war as Marshall could have explained it. General Marshall had many innovations and contributions to winning World War II. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953 for his contributions to restore the European economy through the Marshall Plan.

The Boxerwood Nature Center is always a favorite. The girls can explore nature and do all kind of make believe with the many creative centers of play and imagination. Crismon went on a walk while the girls played and with all the winding trails he actually got lost. Thanks to GPS on our phones, we were able to find each other.

We tended the girls while Dallin and Janelle went on a short get-away. We loved spoiling them with hot dogs, soda, and ice cream for dinner, and then McDonald's the next day was a hit! We were there to see Dorothy begin Cross Country practice, and for the girls on their first day of school. What an exciting time that was for them. Crismon enjoyed getting up early and studying during the early, cool, quiet mornings on their deck in their spacious backyard. It lended itself time for deep pondering in preparation for our upcoming stake conference.

We love being with these beautiful, sweet girls, reading with them, playing at the park, and enjoying many games over the course of that week with them.

Summer visit with the Williams

There is so much laughter, fun, craziness, and joy wrapped up inside the walls of the William's home. We had a wonderful visit with them for about a week. We divided some of our time with Dallin & Janelle's family in Virginia. Meredith is amazing how she keeps everything going while Bryan keeps an incredibly busy schedule at Walter Reed hospital where he is working on his 2nd year of his Fellowship. Their home is nestled in a cozy cul de sac, with welcoming friends for the children to play with any hour of the day.

We have never been to a Cirque due Soleil show before, and we were blown away by how amazing it was. All the acrobatic moves on bicycles, unicycles, etc., was incredible! It was so generous of Meredith and Bryan for paying for us to go. The National Air and Space Museum in Virginia was fascinating. A special day for Dad was taking Evelyn on the metro to the heart of Washington DC to the National Mall to see the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the National Museum of American History. No one loves museums more than Grandpa, and Evelyn was a good sport to spend hours with him looking and reading everything possible, and not getting lunch until close to 5 pm. She was so good, Grandpa bought her a necklace that she thought was great.

We loved spending a day a Butler's Orchard in Maryland where they have a children's dream with a huge slide down a steep hill, imaginative playgrounds, animals to pet and feed, and much more, including picking lots of blueberries and blackberries which made a very yummy cobbler later that day. This was the Vance's favorite orchard when they lived in Maryland. We went out of our way by about 20 minutes on our way home to go by the Vance's townhouse in Gaithersburg. Grandpa went with Bryan, Evelyn, and Christian to skate park and he marveled at all the tricks and skills they have on their skate boards. We took Hudson, Jocelyn and Bryan to see the latest "Lion King." Along with fun at their nearby parks. We loved hearing Meredith teach her Adult SS class. She does so well. We would connect with Dallin and Janelle's family at the Cafe Rio about halfway between each of them to catch the ride to or from Dallin's place. That was a fun place to land!

July 4th and more...

Highlights of July have included following Seth’s family as they have toured Belgium, France, and Austria for 25 days. They had an amazing month of adventures. Gratefully they have finally arrived in the UK, now in Oxford, and as Seth said, “all connections seamless and complete” through it all. Crismon Jr. and Danielle were in Europe for a month, too. Their travels took them to Prague, Munich, Salzburg, Vienna, Slovakia, Zurich, Swiss Alps, then a week in the English countryside and catching up with Seth’s family there. In my journal one night I wrote, “Seth’s family climbed the Eiffel Tower today and we cleaned our garage.” :)

We have been busy packing up and dejunking in preparation for Vivienne’s family to move in to our basement the middle of August. We’re grateful we still have a home with some extra bedrooms to house them as they make this transition in their lives.

We have the tradition in our stake for a 4th of July celebration in the morning with a flag raising and patriotic program. Crismon usually speaks briefly at the end. They then feed over 400 people a delicious pancake breakfast. They have figured out how to have every one served in less than 15 minutes. It was a beautiful day. Crismon and I enjoyed a nice walk on the trail on this fun holiday. Bryson participated with his friends to make a huge American flag with chalk on the street near their home. I love seeing them salute the flag.

July 10th was a special day for Clark. He entered the Portland OR temple for the first time to do baptisms. We're so happy we could be with him on this important time in his life. We're grateful for the family history work that Crismon and Danielle have done. We were able to do baptisms for Danielle's ancestors. Clark also prepared for the youth trek in his stake by walking many hours. He had a good experience that week, and yet challenging ones, too.

The Vance's all came over on Saturday, July 20th to help work in the yard. Dad hasn't been able to do the yard work as in the past since the injury to his elbow. They were a great help! The next day, we celebrated Paxton's 7th birthday. It's a joy to live close to our Vance family. Cute Sydney worked with the Sister Missionaries one day and had a terrific time. We're so grateful she is planning on going on a mission. She turned 16 in June and she went on her first date with her Dad, flowers and all.

On July 23rd, Crismon and I traveled to Richland, WA. where we met up with 185 youth from our stake and leaders as they started their Trek at the Columbia River temple where they did about 3-4 baptisms each. It was incredible to see all of this come together so smoothly. The temple presidency and workers were amazed with the reverence of the youth. It was a special way to begin their journey on this Trek. We changed into Pioneer clothes and headed to Bing Canyon where the Trek took place on the church farm there. As Crismon calls this desolate, dry place, “It’s more Wyoming, than Wyoming.” Crismon spoke to the youth at the fireside after dinner. We then headed home.

We enjoyed having the Linton family in this area for their family reunion the last part of July. We loved visiting with Myreel & Larry as they arrived a few days early. Saturday evening was a fun gathering at our Pavillion of friends of the Lintons, and members of the old Gresham 3rd Ward. Before the friends arrived, we had pizza and visiting with the Lintons, the Vance’s and Vivi. We were happy to host Bryce overnight before he headed home. We had a few one-on-one visits with some of the family as they stopped by our home to pick up Seth’s car, or needed items.