Grandma's Birthday

This is Shelby, Grandpa asked me to post this.





Grandma celebrated her 66th birthday in Spokane with us.

Here we all are with the cake we got. Libby was slipping down, her face is partially blocked by the cake.

Libby got a cowgirl costume and took a picture with grandma.

High water

Our record snowfall last year has turned into lots of water and the rivers and lakes are flooding. We went to Lake Coeur d’Alene last Saturday to see how high it has gotten. We tend to take everyone who comes to Spokane to see the lake so most of you have seen it when it was normal. They is still enough snow that one of the Ski resorts is still open we are hopping that the snow melt slows down so we don’t have more flooding.
Hard to see but the boardwalk behind Shelby is under water. This is the world’s largest flooding boardwalk that we always take visitors to walk around.

The sign says no jumping from the bridge. I do not think it will be a problem today.

Lana is standing in the parking lot and the water is down about a foot from its highpoint.
The Dam at Post Falls all the floodgates are open. It is awesome to watch the power as the water comes over the top.

Ukraine!

Hi all. I came to an internet cafe hoping that I would be able to upload some pictures but they have the hard drive locked up so I can't get any of my pictures up.

We are having a great time. The first day was a big culture shock for me. We went to McDonald's and I couldn't even order food. It was so wierd to be in a familiar place but to have it feel so foreign. By the end of the day I found myself becoming silent even to the English speakers because I felt so paralized by not being able to communicate with anyone. Also, Ukraine has a very difficult past with many tradgedies. In World War II the Germans were here with the Russians fighting to get them out and there was much suffering here at that time. I have learned since being here that the Ukrainians for the most part are a very religious people. Under the Soviet Regiem they were not allowed to practice religion and many of their beautiful churches were turned into warehouses and badly damaged. Beyond this the Soviets inflicted a famine on Ukraine forcing them to send all of their wheat to the rest of the Soviet Union. More recently, also under the Soviet regiem, there was Chernoble. We went to the Chernoble museum and learned much about what happened. Three days after the disaster when the news was broken by one of the norweigen countntries, Chernoble was front page news in the New York Time but in Kiev it was only a paragraph on the third page of the newspaper. Kiev is only 40-60 miles from Chernoble. All that said, and going back to culture shock. On my first day here, I saw that no-one smiled on the streets. By the end of the day the people began to seem lifeless, empty. It was a hard thing to see and to understand. Now that I have been here longer I understand the people better and there is a lot of life in them. Our Ukrainian contact said,
"you wonder why people don't smile here, you look into their eyes and you wonder what they know about life." She also said that Ukrainian people don't have love at first sight ... meaning that they will not be your friends immediatly. It takes time for them to trust you. She also said that if you promise something to a Ukrainian you must follow through because they have been let down and lied to so many time. Now that I understand them better I am in love with them. I have loved being here and serving them and being served by them.

Today is the second day that we have been out doing OT work. Today I helped lower a bed for a man with a spinal cord injury so that he could get from his wheelchair to his bed more easily. We also gave him a transfer board and helped him learn how to use it. Before he was not able to get out of bed for most of the day because he did not have someone to help him, but now he will be able to get in and out of bed on his own. It was very rewarding.

Earlier this morning we saw a woman who had a huge abdominal tumor. In the US, she likley would have had it removed but here that was not available to here. There is a lot of corruption here and better health care is available if you will bribe the doctors. We were not able to do much for her because what she really needs is a surgery. We gave her a new reacher and she is now able to access a bit more of her environment. It was not much but it was something. I can be hard when you can't change everything about a system ... but we made a small difference for this woman. Before we left she sang some Ukrainian folk songs for us. It was wonderful ... for us to hear and for her to be able to have that moment to sing!

We went to a nursing home this morning. It is in a beautiful setting overlooking a green area with Chernivtsi in the distance. It was hard to know how to help but I watched a colleague give magnifiers away to some people with low vision so that they would be able to read and that was exciting.

Yesterday we met a man who had dug trentches at Chernoble. He later had an accident and a spinal cord injury. He and his mother were amazing. They had not had the benefit of rehabilitation but they had managed very well!

Many other great things! I will post videos and pictures when I get back.

Much love from Ukraine!

Stay off the roof

A dinosaur was here .... see the sign.
Dad is standing in the center of a natural arch but mom didn't quite capture the top of the arch. It's the Wilson Arch just South of LaSal, UT.
Following the rain at Canyonlands there were puddles like this one reflecting the Sun ...

This sign says it all .......... "Keep off the roof"! If the Navajo Tribe deems it imortant enough to post a sign this big at their visitors center in Monument Valley then it must be a true message so adhere to it :-).
It was a rainy day at Canyonlands but we had a wonderful time seeing the incredible sights there. If you haven't been there you need to go. Mom took this picture capturing a torential downpour that looked as if water was being dumped by "huge" bucketfulls.
This picture was taken at Grand View in Canyonlands ... and it was a "Grand View"!
Taking a break. The Park Service placed a bench under a sandstone canopy with a view. Loved it!

Happy Birthday to Mom, Grandma, Great Grandma....

I just wanted to wish mom a Happy Birthday with a few pictures from the past!

This is one of those pictures that shows that I am lucky to have the mother that I have, have you ever seen a more grumpy grad? Like all the kids, mom was an important part of us earning our diploma's working with us many a late night to complete that assignment that we had know about for weeks, but we told mom about the night before. Thanks for all the home work help!!

It was fun seeing these pictures of mom and dad skiing, there were a lot of them on the disk dad sent out. Mom was always a good sport around us kids when went skiing when she did not always had the best equipment. We always had the best lunch on the hill when we when skiing with mom.We had a lot of fun skiing on this trip, but we did take some time out to go to the Elk Refuge to see the elk.
The four oldest kids were always dressed very cutely with lots and lots of home made cloths. I still talk about these outfits and many others, we were cute kids, the clothes just added to it. For some reason the blond kid was always just a little cuter then the others, I am not sure why that was, maybe the light.



See not as cute without the blond kid there.

Mom has always been a traveler starting as child with her dad and his maps, then after getting married she was always very knowledgeable about where we were going and what had happened there. Mom was always the best tour guide!! Mom, Dan and Kristy out exploring the southwest without those older kids, (I was not there so I don't know where this is)
Here we are on Boot hill in AZ, the unknown person in the picture there is David for those of you who don't know. Man that cure blond kid is there again! More of mom's custom home spun cloths.
This is mom (and Dan), Grandma Larsen, Lane, Greg, Mark, David, Debbie, Charlie and that blond kid that is thinking about crawling through the railing and going swimming. There is one more person there, but I don't know who it is.

Mom has always enjoyed her girls, sometimes they are laughing together and sometimes they are.......

Starting with moms first child's birth day, she always made the cake with a lot of love and talent. We always had the best cakes, I can remember her having a book that she would let us chose our cake designs from, and they were not simple cakes to make. Mom really loves birthdays!!

Mom and dad are really enjoying their retirement, they are wondering around the country coming to a grand child's home near you, seeing the sights along the way.
Mom and Dad have always been good examples to each of us. Now they are showing us how much fun it is to be empty nesters enjoying each others company.




Happy birthday mom!! There is a lot of you in each of your kids!! Thanks for all you have done!!!!!!!!

Memorial Day work and Fun

With a day off we took the chance to catch up on some stuff that had been neglected during soccer season. We spent some much needed time in the garden and in the yard, did a little painting and cleaning up around the house. After the work we went to see Horton Hears a Who. It was a fun show. A really good show for the kids. We even went to the pool. It was still to chilly for Crystal and I but the kids had fun!

This is my watering technique for drought stricken GA. I am using the water that is wasted as I wait for the water to get hot in the shower in the morning. I usually end up with two buckets full of water that goes to the garden each day. It is still legal to water vegtable gardens but I figure if the water is being wasted anyhow I can use it.

Emma and Chas helped weed the garden. Most of their time was spent asking how long they had been weeding and/or transplanting ladybugs from weeds to the tomato plants. It was still fun to be out there though. We managed to get the weeds out of the onions. Have I mentioned that we have 100 onions planted?

Katie is finally old enough to mow the lawn. She loves to do it and does a great job. Right now she is restricted to the front yard where it is flat. Eventually she will do the whole yard and I will take it easy.

How time flies...

I can't believe how quickly the school year has zoomed by this year. The year of Chas' kindergarten debut, he was only in the principal's office 4 times, and the administrators think he is the cutest thing. Emma has grown in leaps and bounds this year, pushing through some real physical and emotional trials to have a fabulous year. Having a hard surgery and changing classes mid-year couldn't dampen her sweet soul as she soared to new heights as the top reader in her class. Katie has grown about 6 inches this year! She is tall and lean and an incredible soccer player. This school year Katie became a real force for good in her class and her teachers and classmates all love her. She has great leadership talent! It was Dan's idea to post the 1st day of school picture and the last day of school picture. As I look at them I can't help but laugh at the difference. The 1st day picture was all about new clothes, excitement, anticipation. The last day picture exudes confidence and a sense of happiness and relief! Congratulations on a job well done, Kiddos!

Happy Birthday Matthew

Matthew was 12 on the on May 21. Matthew is excited to be a Deacon and move up to the full blown scouts and get to spend a week at scout camp this year.

I was in charge of getting the cake so we had pie.

As you can see he blew out all twelve candles in one shot.

Именно завтра в Украине

It is tomorrow in Ukraine and tomorrow I will be there but when I get there it will be two days from now ... so if you want to know what is going on in the future, I will know for two weeks!

If you want to keep track of me you can view this web cam http://www.1plus1.net/video/camera.php I will actually only be in Kiev a few of the days but I'm sure that on one of those days I will pass through Independence Square which is pictured in the web cam.

Mississippi

Hello from Mississippi ...... and thanks to Dan for calling me and reminding me that people miss me. Life as a road warrior is no easy feat, and I appreciated Dan's wisdom and sympathy. Thanks too to Jon, who is a saint, and my kids, who offer more grace than any one person deserve. They are pulling a heavy load while I'm down South helping people recover from Hurricane Katrina. The encouragement they offer is profound and the daily (hourly from Joe) text messages, phone calls, e-mails and picture messages keep me in the loop on things both good and bad. Nate is the lightkeeper at home. He makes sure the garbage goes out on Tuesdays and Fridays and recycles every other weekend; he also assures me that the house is safe and I KNOW he is watering my little garden. I miss them more than I knew was possible and at the same time I'm learning in leaps and bounds. Today I told Joe that when things are tough you have to look for the things that are good .. the silver lining. As grandma taught us. You have to play the "glad game." We did just that for a while and we decided that what matters most in the whole world is having people to love. You're right Joe. I'm glad you love me and I love you too.

here is Old Man River ... it's huge.

Natchez was once the capital of the Spanish territory that included Florida and Mississippi. The town is a step back in history with dozens of homes that were built prior to the civil war that you can walk through. Look close at the names on this plaque and you'll appreciate the flavor of Mississippi.

These are my feet walking around Mississippi .... I'm here :-) might as well pay attention.

This is Emerald Mound -- it is the second largest Indian Mound in the US. These sites were used as burial grounds, temple foundations and places for the people to gather. This picture doesn't show it well but the right angle you can see is about 20' off the ground level .. the top looks like a giant soccer field.

The Natchez Trace ... this trail goes from Natchez on the banks of the Mississippi up to Nashville, TN. Before the advent of the steamship people used to use Old Man River to move goods to the South and then sell the flatboats for lumber. They used the Trace to get back to the North - either on foot or horseback. The journey was dangerous because of floods, thieves, and snakes (the snakes are still here - yikes).

The section of the Trace in the photograph is called "Sunken Trace" because time and travel wore the path down this deeply.

http://www.nps.gov/natr/

Sibling Reunion

I found this website for a vacation home that is located near to Navy place we are staying at for the reunion. If you look at the photo showing the view it shows some of the Navy houses. Anyway it shows some the the fun things to do on the WA coast.

http://www.bobspacificbeachhouse.com/index.html