Idaho Jan

Swim time fun with Cole and grandchildren.

Swimming with the grandchildren and Cole is always fun. Cole's wife manages an apartment complex with a hot tub and swimming pool in Idaho Falls. The hot tub was nice and warm. Here we have Kimball, Rilee, Cole, Holdem, Kyler, me, and Madison. Madison practicing her gymnastics moves. She has good balance unlike me! Madison's parents were on a motorbike trip so I had the children Friday and Saturday. Cole and Holdem in the hot tub. Cole is a good daddy and Holdem calls him "Papa."

What I like to do in the summer time... eat jello on my favorite swing. This is the type of summer I like. Time to relax, time to watch the crazy golfers, and time to soak in the vitamin D. I hope you're having a good summer too!

How to make banana chips: Start out with some ripe Dole bananas. ($7.00 for a huge box at the grocery store) Slice them up thin and as even as you can. (I found that my Vegomatic works great for this) I try to put as many as possible on the trays...oh, and I line them with screen material and spray that with Pam before they go on the tray so they are easy to pull off. Put them in your dehydrator and forget about them. Takes many hours at a low temperature to dry out but they're worth it. Peel off the banana chips and enjoy!

Peek a Boo! Kyler is having more fun climbing the cherry tree than picking the cherries. Picking cherries is much easier with plastic gloves on. and it helps to have a clown in the tree to entertain you. Rilee gave us a hand too. Kimball helped also and was our official photographer for the event. As a result, we picked enough for 13 quarts of cherry juice, 2 cherry-o cream pies, and 1 pint of sugar free jam for me! Another crop of cherries bottled and stored.

This was in an art gallery mall and these animals were made of paper mache'. Gladys liked them. This photo is pretty much self explanatory. Kelvin was kind enough to make sure we toured the Pentagon where he worked and the memorial. The office in which Kelvin works is the spot where the plane entered the building years ago. It has been rebuilt and updated to modern standards. I didn't know it but the Pentagon is really a city within a city. It has restaurants, stores, and a credit union located in it to serve the people (about 21,000 of them) who spend their whole day at work in the building.

Kelvin took us here after the tour of the Pentagon. We looked and looked for Brady Howell's name on one of these "benches." He was working at the Pentagon on 9/11 and was killed. He was a young husband and was from Sugar City, Idaho. We had time to think about what happened back then and to appreciate life each day together.

More pictures of Dale and me at the National Mall. This was in the 4th of July parade down Constitution Avenue. An antique police car. How fun! Sailors marching in sinc. Dale in front of the Vietnam Memorial. He did not know personally anyone who was killed during that war but he was there. I was amazed at all the names who represented those who perished. I'm glad Dale wasn't one of them.

This is actually the plaster cast model for the huge Lincoln Memorial. Pretty neat! We made it to the botanical gardens in D.C. but by then my feet were mighty tired. I took off my shoes at one point and put my feet in a little pool of running water. That helped until we made it back to the Metro.

In front of the National Capitol Building in D.C. If you go there, take some good walking shoes and a backpack. Take sunscreen too. I forgot and my arms got pink from sunburn, but not as pink as my shirt, thank heavens. Having fun with Mandy and Gladys. I just noticed- red, white, and blue. Must have been July 4th.

This is Gladys, the new big sister to Frankie. This is Frankie all decked out in his red-white-and blues. If Frankie cries, Gladys says, "Help him Mommy!"

Gladys has some amazing hair-- natural curls. You don't have to do much to fix it. Just add a barrette and she's good to go. Here she is with her mommy Mandy. Gladys is a good big sister to Frankie. I sure enjoyed visiting with her and playing ball. Blurry, but oh well. . . Leaving on the jet plane to come home. It took me 3 days to get my energy up after the time zone difference. That's OK. It was all worth it.

Kelvin and Mandy with their little family. They live in Fort Belvoir, Virginia for now. . . They have a cute New England style townhouse apartment and will soon be moving to Hawaii. This is Dale and me in front of the Potomac river. The weather was so nice there. I could even wear a summer shirt and capris!

More on the parade...I liked this drum and fife band. It was just like back in colonial days. This high school band had a lot of spunk. They were actually dancing together as they marched their way down Constitution Avenue.

How fun it was to be there in our nation's capitol to see the parade. We were in a great spot towards the end of the parade under the shade of a great big tree. There was so much beautiful color, energetic music, and cultural displays to watch.

I'm so glad we haven't had any hail this summer. Of course, summer isn't over yet but we hope that our plants continue to grow. We are in D.C. right now. Maybe the garden will be really lush by the time we get home.

Madison decided to take on grandpa but I think he has her in a foot hold here... His weapon? Two paper roll inserts. Good cheap fun!

I love it when Dale fixes things around the house. This case is the broken sprinkler head. He had to dig a trench, replace the plastic pipe and apply new heads. He finished the job and now we have water going to the raspberries again! Thanks honey.