05 May 2013
The transition month, beginning cold and windy and some
promise of warmer weather. It was not until the last week did we start to see
seasonal temperatures. Thank heavens we visited the cemeteries two days before
Memorial Day. Memorial Day was cold and windy.
The beginning of the
month we visited Josh and Danielle and their family. We attended a wedding
reception (Elder Burton) of a missionary we knew in Mozambique and stayed with
the Russells. It was Golden Corral time for family dining!
The cotton candy was a big hit as they stuck it on their faces.
We golfed with Angie Bytheway (Dawn’s cousin) and Tate. He is a great golfer and can drive it on the green 160 yards. It was great to see their family and Danielle is now teaching them at home. They are busy with gardening, caring for animals and recreation. We took the two older boys to then Aquatic Center to swim, then to lunch at Great Harvest.
May brings life back to the trees and flowers around the house. I have to admit spring is one of the seasons in Idaho, all-be-it short! As you can see the back yard apple tree never looked better. It was loaded with blossoms. The front of the house is festooned with flowers for Mother’s Day. The hanging plants are so beautiful. Tulips came up and thrived for a week. The grass started to grow and we started to mow.
Julia and Woody took a real chance and planted their garden before Memorial Day. There were a few days the temperature dropped to near freezing but so far no damage.
Mother's Day flowers in the front of the house.
Dawn became excited about biking and bought herself a Jamis road bike and entered an event with her cousin Angie Bytheway. The Goldie Locks ride is for women only. It started in Harriman, Utah near Kennicott mine. The route they followed was towards Provo, Utah. There were over 1100 women riding on a very cold and wet day. It was raining heavy at the beginning of the ride and I thought for sure many would cancel. Oh No! Not these women. They were determined to ride if it “Hare-liped every cow in Texas! Away they went and hours later returned after Dawn had ridden 65 miles in rain and hail. All the hard work at the YMCA paid off. Her spinning classes had her in shape for a fun time.
The end of the month always brings a visit to the cemeteries for the Memorial Day celebration. Dawn and I went to the New Sweden cemetery and cleaned up Brian’s grave. Then the next day, on Friday, we took Julia to the New Sweden, Shelley, Taylor and Rose Hill cemeteries to put on flowers of our loved ones who have passed away. Nancy Need and Gordon Anderson along with his wife Paula visited us that same weekend. She is battling cancer and is doing quite well. Gordon and Paula were up to visit the grave of their family members. The Anderson's are buried in the Taylor cemetery as well as Linda. I sent a message photo to my children to keep them in the loop in remembrance of their mother. I even got out my old military uniform to remind me of those in our family who served their country. 
This is the burial site of Linda next to her family at the Taylor cemetery. Dawn and I rode our new bikes from our house in Idaho Falls to Taylor and back. It was our first bike ride of almost 20 miles. The only difficulty was the strong winds blowing from the south. However, going back home towards Idaho Falls was a "BREEZE" !
Lastly, it is spring when the geese have their young and feed them on the grassy lawns at the Green Belt. I am so glad for the warmer weather. We are looking forward to many wonderful activities this summer with our grandchildren and family.
