What a summer!

OK. Anyone who has been the recipient of my digs about not updating their Blog has all the right in the world to lay into me for my lack of attention to my Blog. June 27th was my last entry? Really?? Maybe nothing much happened this summer!!!

Actually, that's not true at all, is it?

In my defense, I've been really busy, and also a bit distracted creating a new life for myself, moving, and finding other things to do than be alone and lonely and sitting at the computer. Defense number two is that I sat down to attempt to make a Blog entry several times, but for some reason the computer wouldn't let me sign in. I later discovered that it had a nasty virus, and it is, at this moment, in the hands of a (hopefully) able computer Geek, who will remedy the situation. But, since I now have access to another computer in my "new home", and I have a bit of time, I can now try to update my Blog. (Because I can't currently access any of my pictures, I'll try to post them later.)

Towards the end of June a friendship that I had began to get a little serious. Pat Aanderud, a woman in my ward, lost her husband last year just a couple months after Terry passed away. She and I had become cautious friends, had shared some of our experiences, and had begun taking occasional walks together during the summer evenings. We began to realize that our friendship was becoming something greater just about the beginning of July.

But then, she left for a week, and before she returned, I left on yet another trip to spend a week with my brother Mike and his wife, Fran. While there, I was able to visit with two of their kids and their families--Mike and Tamara, from Minnesota and their three kids--and Leslie and Christian and their two girls were there visiting from their home in Pennsylvania. It has been a tradition for them to try to get together over the 4th of July week, and this year only the two of the families could make it. Robin and John are living in the woods in the coast range in Washington, and Matt is currently serving overseas in the military. While there Mike and I walked everyday, we went golfing once, and Mike also introduced me to his new hobby/addiction--shooting, and I was able to take target practice with a few different handguns.

In addition to enjoying this time visiting with family, I spent a bit of time on the phone each night with Pat, getting to know each other a bit better. Now, there was a three hour time difference, so when Pat was able to talk to me at 8 or 9 at night, it was 11 or 12 in Michigan.

Then I returned home for a few days, something I hadn't originally intended to do. But because of this new relationship, I rescheduled my trips. Later, Marc told me that he knew something was up, because "Dad would never pay extra to change a trip unless he had a good reason!"

So I returned home for a few days specifically to spend time with Pat, to see if there was anything to these new found feelings, and to see if love would blossom. It didn't. It exploded! We were as surprised by this as anyone. Both of us had long and happy marriages to our high school sweethearts, and neither one of us really expected to feel that way again. But there were special forces at work, and within days it felt like we were simply meant to be together. We discussed and actually set a date for a marriage on the 12th of August, much to the surprise, delight, and in some cases, dismay of friends and family members.

During this time I also took a day and went out to the coast range of Washington and visited with Robin and John and their family in their rustic setting where they have actually built their own log cabin. That same day I also went up to the Tacoma area and visited with Craig and Tracy.

And then after only eight days, I left again to go to Part 2 of my trip. This time I headed back to Lake Charles, Louisiana. I had previously arranged with Marc and Letty that I would stay with their kids while they took a much needed vacation. So, after I had been there for the weekend, Marc and Letty hit the road, heading for New York and Ohio to see some of the Church Historical sites, as well as Niagara Falls.

In the meantime, Grandpa JohnBabe played Mr. Mom to five Cajun Cliffords for a week. We went to the swimming pool everyday, played games, watched movies, messed up the house, cleaned up the house, and otherwise had a great time. I made countless meals, cleaned the kitchen a million times, did laundry, and otherwise tried to keep things in order. It was actually the first time in my life that I had ever been alone with five young children for such a long stretch of time. It gave me new found empathy for all young parents everywhere!

And of course, I continued to have my evening phone chats with Pat. The difference was that this time, we already knew how we felt about each other and we were already planning a wedding. There was only a two hour time difference, which meant I didn't have to wait up quite as late for her calls. But another difference was that sometimes she would call in the middle of the night if she couldn't sleep, which seemed to be happening a lot...to both of us. I believe I can honestly say that I had never spent so much time on the phone since I was a teenager...and maybe not even then!

I returned home, and just a week later, on August 12th, Pat Aanderud and I were married in her son Ben's backyard, which was a beautiful setting. We were fortunate enough to be able to have all of our kids present, most of our sons and daughters-in-law, and many of our grandchildren. It was a beautiful ceremony and a great little family reception.

We spent a week at Rockaway Beach on the coast, where the Aanderud family has a beach house. We took little day trips almost every day, took walks every evening, and enjoyed the beauty and the great weather that the Oregon Coast had to offer.

Then, we returned home, and we began the process of blending two complete households. It was interesting, because frankly, most of the things that I had, furniture, appliances, kitchen things, etc., simply weren't needed. The remedy for this was that Stacy and the kids were moving into my home, and I pretty much left almost everything for them. So she packed up lots of her things, and simply carted them out to the curb, where in Southeast Portland, they would get taken away in no time by someone who could use them.

I moved all my clothes, went through all the boxes of stuff, packed up all my books, and made decisions about what to keep, what to store, and what to send off to D.I. I also helped Stacy with her move, including renting a truck one day to move the bulk of her things. We then loaded up some of the larger items to take to my new home, as well as some things to take out to Daryl's. I also went back several days to finish projects that I felt I needed to do, including a final yard clean-up, and once a year garage clean-up.

So now, I'm pretty much ready to begin my "New Life". So different than what I had imagined. The Lord certainly moves in mysterious ways!

So...other than that, I didn't do much during the summer!

Tigard's Annual Balloon Festival

Every year for one weekend in June traffic around Tigard gets pretty heavy, and early in the mornings, weather permitting, this is what you can see. (A better camera would have given you a much better idea!!!)

Additions and Corrections

I took all of my creative juices and finger dexterity-type skills, and masterfully added anniversaries to our Family Birthday Mobile. Major accomplishment!!! Who knows what I'll tackle next!!!

Of Kings and Queens and Crazy Things

From time to time when I've had guests visit, I've felt mildly guilty about squeezing couples into the Full Size beds that I have in the guest rooms, while I have the King all to myself. (Not guilty enough to offer these guests my room, mind you. Like I said, mildly guilty!!) So, anticipating the visit of Marc and Letty last month, I decided to switch the beds out. I moved the King into the guest room, (it barely fit!) and the Full into mine.

I'm not sure where they get the names for these beds, but a Full Size bed is clearly not made for a Full Size person...at least not a Full Size person over five feet six! So, I put on my List of Things to Do--Someday, that I would get a new bed. In the meantime, I sent the Full Size mattress to the Tovey's house to live in Ella's room on her new Platform Bed, (custom built by Uncle Daryl), and pulled out the blow-up Aero bed for my temporary use.

One day about a week before my visitors were due to arrive (April 29th, to be exact) I got one of those e-mails from Costco.com, with all the Hot Deals of the week on it, and noticed a Queen Size bed at a Super Hot Price. So, thinking, "Perfect timing!", and on a total impulse I click-clicked, and ordered one. Best of all, my new bed would be delivered, which would save me the trouble of bothering one of my truck owning friends to join me on a trip to Costco.

CRAZY THING #1: Before completing the transaction, I tried to determine the delivery times, but couldn't really find anything. But after completing the online purchase, I received an e-mail that explained that the bed and the frame were broken down into separate orders and delivery numbers because they came from two separate vendors. There was also a note that said, "Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery!!!" About a week later I received an e-mail telling me that the frame had been shipped, and came home one day to find a rather large, long box sitting on my front porch. A few days later I received notice that the mattresses had been shipped, but instead of a tracking number, I was given a toll free phone number to call for tracking information. I figured by this time I wasn't in any big rush, and besides, it hadn't yet been four weeks. But as time passed, I began to wonder, but still remained patient...or lazy... I guess I really didn't feel like making the call. But as May turned into June, I figured it was time to sit down and take care of this. So I called the number, and discovered that it was just a Customer Service line for Costco.com. When I finally made it through the meandering push button menu, (Press #1 if you'd like to listen to this message in English; Press #2 if you have a question about an order....bottom line is that it was pretty clear that "talking to a real person" was the last thing they wanted me to do!) I finally explained my plight to Christina from Costco, who took my information, and put me on hold. After a couple of minutes she came back and said that she had contacted the vendor, who had shipped my mattresses to their local warehouse. They had apparently attempted to call me to arrange delivery, but without success. She checked my information, and we discovered that they did not have my current phone number. So, I gave her my new number, and within minutes the vendor called me to arrange for delivery on Saturday.
Now, here's the thing. This was an online order. Wouldn't you think that when the vendor couldn't get in touch with me, that they would have, or at least should have contacted Costco.com, who could have e-mailed me about the problem?!! If I hadn't called, would I have simply been waiting FOREVER??!!! Just curious...

CRAZY THING #2: OK. So, they called on Friday evening and gave me a window: "We will be delivering your order sometime between 1:30 and 3:30 on Saturday afternoon." On Saturday morning I deflated my blow-up mattress, and opened up my bed frame box, which had been sitting in the corner of my room for almost a month. There were no instructions or anything with it, but I figured, "How hard can this be?!!" However, as I began to look more closely, I realized that either there were a few pieces missing, or "it really could be a lot harder than it looked!" I looked online for instructions, and discovered that I had been right--I was missing one cross bar, and two feet. HOW COULD THIS BE??? I sort of chuckled as I realized that this box had been sitting, unopened in the corner of my room for weeks, and now, just hours before my delivery was due, I discovered that it was incomplete. So I could either race down to Costco on a Saturday morning, (not likely!!) or figure something else out. I went out to the garage and rummaged around, and found the old bed frame for the Full Size bed, thinking that maybe I could exchange parts. But, as it turned out, the old frame extended to Queen Size, so I just set it up, and figured, "Ha! Just saved me some money!!!" Of course, when the mattresses did arrive, there was a set of instructions and many warnings on how to safely use this dangerous piece of equipment. One of the items suggested that a bed frame with a center support, specifically designed for larger beds should definitely be used in order to get the full benefits and life from my new bed. So...I probably still need to replace the bed frame. However, I can just return it, get a refund, and boldly risk nullifying the warranty on my new Sealy Mattress!

CRAZY THING #3: As I mentioned, I had been given a delivery window for Saturday afternoon. I called the Tovey Kids to see if they were interested in coming for a visit for the day. I figured I could get over and pick them up, and get back by 1:00 p.m., which would still be half an hour before the delivery window opened. As it turned out, the kids had Big Plans that day. Instead, I ended up down the street helping a ward member with a bark dust project. About 12:30 we noticed a delivery truck drive slowly down the street, and sure enough, stopped in front of my house. So, they were a full hour early! If I had gone to Southeast to pick up the kids, I would have missed the delivery!!

MORAL OF THE STORY: I should have just let the guests deal with the smaller bed!!!

FAMILY REUNION!!!

During Marc and Letty's stay we were able to have an historic gathering of Cliffords. We were all able to gather on Sunday afternoon, which happened to be Mother's Day. For the first time ever, all 12 1/2 of the Clifford Grandchildren were in the same place at the same time. There were cousins everywhere!

8 cousins dressed and ready for Church. We took up a whole center row!

4 Siblings and 3 spouses.

12 Cousins!

19 in the stairwell!

Sorely missed, of course, was the presence of Craig and Tracy, who were unable to come down. We would have gladly squeezed them in!

CAJUN VISITORS

The Cajun Cliffords came to pay a visit to the Pacific Northwest...all 7 of them! They stayed for a week, and were able to visit family and also do lots of fun activities.

For more details, see their Blog!

Another Road Trip

On Thurday, April 21st I jumped in the car for another Road Trip...destination...St. George, Utah. I drove ten hours down to Ione, California, the home of Terry's Sister, Rea. I spent the night there, and then early in the morning Rea and I loaded up and hit the road for another ten hour leg or our journey. We drove through California, parts of Nevada and Arizona, then into Southern Utah and the city of St. George. We visited with Grandma Lu for a bit, then went to meet Lynn (Terry's older sister) and her husband Garth for dinner. Their son-in-law, Jason, was down from Salt Lake for a couple of days with his youngest daughters for a fishing trip, so there was quite a large group at our table.

On Saturday we went over to the Temple. This is the oldest operating temple in the church. It was dedicated in 1877, the first temple completed after the arrival of the Saints in Utah. It was also the temple that Grandpa Tom and Grandma Lu were married in. Until the completion of the L.A. temple in 1956, it was the closest temple to Southern California.

We witnessed a little mini-drama in the Visitors' Center. The guy in the shorts had brought a really cool looking Easter Basket, (clearly made my Mom, or some other talented female!) and put it at the base of the Christus statue. He had informed the missionaries there that he was going to bring his girlfriend back and she was going to discover the basket, and inside one of the eggs was an engagement ring. Well, after we heard this story, we kind of hung out in the general area until we were able to witness this scene. I was far enough away that I thought I'd take "candid pictures" and then send them to the couple. But the missionary lady walked up to them before the girl even found the ring, and asked them if they'd like a private room. (which I thought may have ruined the surprise, and definitely ruined our ability to view it. However, I may not have been as candid as I thought, because in this photo it looks like the girl is looking right at us! (I thought I could look like I was photographing the statue!)

Later, we went to an art festival, which had about a million people. Just the kind of thing I love!!!

Funny story. Rea had a headache that morning, and asked her mom if she had any Tylonol. Lu produced a bottle of pills, and Rea immediately popped a couple. A few minutes later I heard her say, "MOM!!! You gave me Tylonol P.M!!!" Rea, needless to say, was in a blur much of the afternoon. But she didn't have a headache anymore!

We attended Sunday meetings with Grandma Lu, and then Easter Dinner at Garth and Lynne's. It was a beautiful weekend, weather wise, and a great change from rainly Portland!

As I returned to my motel Sunday evening, I noticed the beauty of the temple against the gray dusk skies, so I went over to try to get a couple of shots. They all came out darker, as if it was already totally dark outside, but they still looked pretty cool.

Monday morning, we hit the road again, and traveled across a few state lines, and then arrived in Ione about 3:00 p.m. Since it was so early, I continued driving a few more hours before I stopped for the night. I then continued on Tuesday morning, arriving home about noon. People think I'm crazy to drive like that, but I really enjoy it. I put on conference talks, or music, and do my best karaoke, really loud! (That is, when I'm alone....only when I'm alone.) Next trip....???