June until the 4th of July - Time with Ted and the Grandkids

We continue to enjoy our retirement even with the limitations put on us by the Corona Virus.   We continue to not meet with large groups and practice social distancing when we do go out and wear our masks when we go into buildings (understanding that most infections occur indoors).   Heather's sister, Shenna, made us some cool designer masks.

Merritt reached his goal to ride do a Centennial bike ride (100 miles) averaging over 15 mph for the duration.  He started with 35-mile rides and worked his way up over several weeks to achieve this. 

Our son-in-law Jon Tanner is an artist by profession and Merritt liked one of his pieces so much that he had it put onto his phone case.  It makes him happy just to look at it.  So much better than his impersonal blank black case.   

Merritt and his brother Milt went on a quick overnight camping trip to Crag Lake near Lake Tahoe.   They both went camping there as Boy Scouts 49 years ago when Merritt and some other scouts got lost overnight.  It's a beautiful area and they will be going back together next summer with perhaps a few others joining them. 

Crag Lake is beautiful and well worth the 5 mile hike to reach it from the trailhead.  We went in on a Thursday and only saw 4 other backpackers until we were hiking out Friday evening when we passed about 20 other campers on our way back to the car. 

Heather's sister Shenna suggested a "sisters project" inspired by a quilt their mother, Emma, made years ago called Women of All Nations Nurturing Peace.  They have been getting together on Zoom once a week to share their progress and chat about other interests.  Below is a photo of the original quilt that was purchased by the LDS church for display in the museum on Temple Square in Utah. 

Instead of being quilted, they are making a small 16 x16 felted wool design.  Below is photo of Heather's initial approach to the project. 

Here is a more recent image, perhaps in the next blog the finished project might be presented (but maybe not!) 

Heather's father, Ted is nearly 89 and still doing well on his own.  He spends most of his time in the garden (which he loves) and working on several binders that contain stories about the different phases in his life.  He lived through the German occupation of The Netherlands as a young boy, immigrated to the US in time to fight in the Korean War then later joined the LDS church after meeting his wife Emma.  He worked for over 40 years as a graphic designer and raised three wonderful daughters.  He has been a second father to Merritt and we both enjoyed being able to spend some extended time with him these past months. 

Heather's mother was a fabric artist and was very creative.  Below is her take on American Gothic.  Their home is like a museum, full of both Ted and Emma's creations. 

On June 10th we left Fair Oaks and drove to Utah to spend a few weeks with Madison and Evan's family.   Our granddaughters are always so much fun to be with.  Merritt especially enjoyed taking them to the tennis court and having fun with them learning to play tennis. 

Here the youngest one demonstrates how "comfortable" it is to relax on teh back of the couch watching a show. 

We took the opportunity while we were in Utah to catch up with some of the friends we made while serving in the Adriatic North Mission.   It was fun to spend time talking about our mission experiences and talking about the future with the Nields and the Fitcheses.   We made sure to keep our distance from one another as a precaution. 

We also made friends with many of the younger missionaries we served with. Noah Valentine was very helpful to us when we first arrived in Osijek, Croatia and we enjoyed being able to see him and meet his wife Emma.  They are a great couple! 

We did get a chance to play some cards together when the weather wasn't too hot.  Heather is always prepared with a fan. 

We were fortunate to be able to spend a pleasant afternoon visiting with Ernie and Eugenia Sego, two of our best friends from Corrales New Mexico who were in town visiting family.   We had hoped to go to Albuquerque for the Balloon Fiesta this year and see more of our New Mexican friends but since it has been canceled due to the virus we will have to put that on our calendar for next year. 

Merritt's backpacking trip with his brother inspired him to take our three oldest granddaughters (ages 8, 7 and 6) on an overnight backpacking experience.  Evan was up for the idea which made it much more practical.   We hiked 1.5 miles into Willow Lake in Big Cottonwood canyon.  The girls all carried their own backpacks with their clothes and sleeping bags (plus a much lobbied for stuffed animal!)  They did a practice run in the backyard which included cooking all their food on the backpacking stove and sleeping in the tent.  They had a great time playing in the lake, cooking, and hiking during which treats (cookies) were provided at every 20-minute rest break. 

The girls enjoyed decorating their bikes (with a lot of help from Madison) for the 4th of July parade.  The official parade was canceled but a small neighborhood parade was held in its place with space so people could still practice social distancing.  Holland bought this US flag and Madison displayed it for the neighborhood to enjoy. 

We enjoyed some "thrilling" fireworks in the backyard that evening with some friends of Madison and Evan who moved to the US from Iraq five years ago.  It was their first time celebrating the 4th of July American Style.   It was eye-opening to hear them express how fortunate American's are to have such an open and free society. 

Madison's girls are constantly full of energy but on Sundays, we had our in-home church service and for about 15 minutes they could keep the wiggles out long enough for us to share our testimonies of eternal families and how important we all are to each other. 

On July 6th we loaded up the Element with all the gear we would need for the next three months while we spend time on the Pacific Coast. 

We will miss Madison and her family but we will be back soon. 

Here is a link to a slide show we made and watched (twice!) with the girls before we left.   We may watch it a few times during our travels when we start to miss them. 

Time with the Fitzpatrick Girls 

We hope you are all doing well and enjoying the summer of 2020.