Recovery

We made it back to Arizona on Monday evening. A friend was kind enough to pick us up from the airport and then feed us that night because there was no food in our fridge. (That’s what happens when you’re gone for nearly a week.) Mama and I spent the rest of the week getting back to normal life. We’ve had a difficult time getting our house in order after being gone for a few days. It seems like we cannot get everything picked up and straightened up after our trip. We did come home from CA with a few treasures from my childhood.

On Saturday we went up to Phoenix to be a part of my nephew’s baptismal service. After the baptism, we went back to my sister’s home for a light luncheon and visiting with family and friends. Underfoot played with his cousins and had a lot of fun running around. He particularly liked jumping on a small trampoline and then jumping into a large bean bag.

Mama has been working hard to beautify our home. This week we ran some errands after work. We got some irrigation parts for our garden boxes. We also got Mama some plastic organizers for her sewing supplies. Mama’s talent as a seamstress is blossoming, and I insisted that we get her the tools she needs to expand her talent. My mom gave her some sewing supplies (including an old sewing machine) so Wendy needed a way to organize all her items. Plus, the Maud room (ask Mama who Maud is) is now much cleaner because all of her sewing stuff is in one place.

When we returned home from CA, we discovered lots of exciting growth in our yard. We have new growth on all of our trees, in our garden boxes, and on all of our berry plants. We hope to harvest berries this year and are excited about our apple and pit fruit trees. Both trees have been in the ground for less than a month, but are showing signs of life! It is exciting for us to see the fruits of our labors.

K2 has begun pulling himself up to a standing position whenever given the chance. Today in church he crawled around while Underfoot slept. During the third hour he began to stand up, using the grandpa seated in front of me. The kind gentleman (obviously a grandpa) picked him up. Within seconds K2 was asleep.

California

Greetings from California. We have been visiting L4’s family for a few days. We’ll sleep when we’re dead. On Tuesday we did a craft group. Underfoot was playing with K2 and accidentally gave him a bruise on his head. Daddy didn’t want to be left out of the fun, so he walked into the laundry room door early on Wednesday morning. They have matching marks.

This week was my birthday. Grandpa K. sent a surprise bouquet of flowers. They are beautiful! Many people remembered my birthday. I’m so lucky to share my birthday with my brother Scott and my Grandmother B..

When we left Pennsylvania, the front left tire of our car was making noise. The noise has steadily gotten louder over the last 18 months. After a trek across the United States and several trips to Idaho, it was time to get it fixed. On Wednesday we got our car fixed. It needed a new bearing and was leaking oil. The car sounds much better now that it is fixed.

We flew to CA Wednesday night and immediately went to bed upon arriving at L4’s parents’ home. Being on vacation is all about trying to cram as much site seeing as possible. On Thursday we went to the Ranch. We went hiking and watched A. cut up old tractors with his blow torch. On Friday we went to the Lawrence Hall of Science. L4 left the lights on so we had a dead battery. A kind person gave us a jump and we got home safely. Underfoot and K2 had fun. Underfoot especially liked playing with balls that were suspended in mid air by a jet of air. (L4 says it is a low pressure system- Bernoulli’s principle- at work.) Saturday we went to the steam train at Tilden Park in Berkeley. L4 used to volunteer at the Train park. We rode the train twice. Underfoot didn’t care for the loud whistle of the train. K2 loved every minute of it. We also road on a merry-go-round. K2 liked the merry-go-round until the very end. On Sunday (today) we went to church, visited with friends, and spent some time with my Uncle D. and Auntie K..

Underfoot, K2, and I have struggled with a cough throughout the week. K2 seems to be better now. Underfoot has been lethargic. We are on the mend now.

Tomorrow we will fly back. If there was anything worth taking from our home, tonight would be the night to do it. Have a great week.

Digging holes

Monday: We ate our own home grown broccoli. It was sweet to the taste - stalk and all.

Tuesday: We planted an apple tree.

Wednesday: Underfoot got his hair cut. K2’s tooth cut through the gum, and he started to sit up on his own.

Thursday: We ran errands. During this process, K2 decided to explode out of his diaper. It wasn’t a subtle explosion but a wamm-banger. We were standing in the checkout line when the lady behind me told me the baby was poopy. I thanked her and then she pointed out that it was dropping in clumps on the floor. Embarrassment swept over me like a ton of bricks, stopping all rational thought. The lady asked if I needed a diaper or some wipes. No I needed a tub! During this time Underfoot decided he wanted to be the clerk at a different register, which got us into trouble with the actual checkout clerk. He was very obedient and came to me the first time I asked. Upon his return, he ran through the poop that had just plopped on the floor. K2 is just kicking his legs and smiling like it is the most fun he’s had in a while. The clerk asks if I want to buy my item, and I tell her I’ll have to do it later. Because it is ingrained in me, I saw some abandoned pennies on the floor and told Underfoot to pick them up on our way out the door. I couldn’t leave 6 cents just lying around. Again another plop of poop. We made it to the car, get buckled in, and the same lady asks if I need any help. I appreciate her kind gesture but want to get out of there so I can leave the scene of shame. All ended well.

Friday: We dug holes in anticipation of Saturday. Underfoot helped pick up rocks. He also played with a ball in the back yard.

Saturday: We got up early. It was going to be a busy day. In the morning we got ready for bountiful baskets. L4 added drip irrigation to our latest grape vines, a honeysuckle, and the tree we planted on Tuesday.

We went and did bountiful baskets. It took a little longer than usual. This week our site distributed 68 baskets, the most we’ve done to date. (The site maximum is 96!) We learned that some sites were filling up so fast that they were crashing the system. While distributing baskets, a friend loaned us their electric jack-hammer. (L4 described it as the most manly tool he has ever used- it weighs just under 80 lbs!)

We came home and had lunch. Super D. (this is what Underfoot calls our friend because he knows that she is so super.), Uncle, and children came to can spaghetti sauce and pear butter. While we canned, L4 planted a 4-in-1 pit fruit tree (peach, apricot, plum, nectarine), 2 gooseberry bushes, 4 raspberry stalks, garlic, and onions. We canned until 1 am with the fruits of our labors being 20 quarts spaghetti sauce and 11 1/2 pints pear butter plus 18 quarts spaghetti sauce for Super D.. The saucing machine saved us so much time so we didn’t have to manually deseed all of the tomatoes.

We will be traveling to California this coming week. If you live in the area, we would like to invite you to L4’s parents’ home on Sunday, February 14th between 6 - 8 pm for some conversation and treats.