California Dreams

Last week we traveled to California to attend the memorial service for L4’s 94 1/2 year old Grandmother. On Monday and Tuesday we made preparations for our travel by getting the house cleaned up (before messing it  up as we packed). We took care of various items like dry cleaning, Joy School Christmas program practice,  mailing the giveaways from the 30 Days of Pie, and other things. My list seems to always be longer than my  time, ability, and discipline justify. My children help with undoing a lot of what I try to do. Bless them for trying  to be helpful.

We flew on Tuesday evening and went through TSA without any problems. We have found that TSA is  usually very helpful to our family. The flights were not completely full so K2 got to ride in a seat instead of on  one of our laps. That was very helpful. A gentleman turned around and said how jealous he was because of  K2’s behavior. He has a daughter of a similar age that will not sit still. After arriving in California we got a  rental car. This was a first for us when visiting CA. We TOTALLY enjoyed the freedom of having our own transportation.

On Wednesday we spent the morning with T. C.. He interviewed me before L4 and I were officially a boyfriend and girlfriend. One of his favorite questions is, “Why do you  exist?” He shared some of his special ice cream with us. After leaving the Cutting home, we picked up Mom  and Dad and went thrift store shopping. Underfoot acquired a new pair of shoes, and I got 2 new
pair of jeans. We went to visit our matchmakers, T. and J., for the late afternoon and evening. It was fun to  watch the boys play and get caught up with their family. A., L4’s brother, invited us to go to dessert with  him and his friend, R.. We enjoyed each other’s company and yummy dessert. The boys were very good.  After such a long day they were tired and fell asleep on the way home.

Thursday we visited with Glenn, L4’s former boss, and went to the family ranch. The ranch is where L4 and I  had our first date where we hiked and ate a picnic supper. The boys got a chance to ride on a horse.  Underfoot wasn’t too keen on the idea. He got off after one lap. K2 loved it and didn’t want to get off after  three laps around the barn.

It was the first time I had met Glenn. He is a very positive, happy guy. After the ranch we went to the  Oakland Temple grounds to show the boys the lights and so Grandma could spend some time inside. The  boys got to see a slug for the first time. If you live in a place where water is precious, slugs don’t exist except in fossil form. We then had supper at Fenton’s Creamery. We ate hamburgers, onion rings, fries, and of  course ice cream. L4 was wearing a suit and K2 did his best to smear ice cream everywhere. They loved it.

Friday we went to a small cafe and walked around the little shops. We picked up pizza and L4 dropped us off so he could go and pick up his siblings (B., M., and Y. & A. (Y.’s daughter)) from the airport. The boys and I played on the swing set, slide, and  merry-go-round, and then picked lemons. We picked a cooler full of lemons. We made lemonade for the  evening and were lucky enough to bring the rest of the lemons home. We had a lot of fun talking throughout  the evening mostly about how each of us got engaged and of course a few F. stories because they are  infamous. F. really should write a book about his “adventures” as a youth. It could be the next how-to  manual for the up and coming generation. We laughed and laughed. K2 and A. chased each other  around in circles for most of the night. K2 has a new challenge in life. He is the first one up in the morning and  the last one to sleep at night with or without a nap. He can go forever.

Saturday was the memorial service for Grandmother. We went to the 1st Congregational Church, where she attended as a child and a married adult. Some of her nieces and nephews still live in the area.  Grandmother has 3 children who all attended plus 24 grandchildren (that includes her greats). Eleven of the 24 were came. The service was very nice. Dad, B., and the Pastor spoke. The Pastor spoke about the scripture in John 14:2 which speaks about the mansions to be prepared by Christ. He said that an  interpretation is that the mansion is home. He then made a comparison to the home Grandmother had here in  mortality with the one that she would have in the next life. After the service, the church provided a beautiful  meal. Uncle M. and Aunt B. shared their memories and feelings they had for Grandmother as well as  some of the grandchildren. We took a family picture, and we were off to the airport. We arrived back home late that night.

On Sunday we hosted a Joy School Christmas party. The children performed the nativity story and a few  other songs. There was a potluck. We landed in bed last night exhausted. Underfoot’ tee ball coach brought  him his trophy from the end of the year. Underfoot kept telling his coach (who is also a Joy School Dad)  thank you for the nice present. He talked about it over and over again how great his coach is.

We are very glad that we went to California and look forward to getting together with family again. We have some (not all) pictures here.