Evelyn & Hailey Came to Visit - In May

My friend Evelyn Drew, from Cedar, and her daughter Hailey came to visit for a week. We had such fun!! Here's a bit of what we did . . . more to follow.

We drove to Newport, RI to see the MANSIONS. They were actually the "summer cottages" of the wealthy in the late 1800 and early 1900's - the one behind us is 148,000 sq. ft.!!! These were honestly used just a few months out of the year. For about 7 years, Evelyn and I went to the Parade of Homes together in St. George & Provo, so the Newport trip was a must! We, of course, giggled and talked the whole drive - so much so that I didn't notice the speed limit. It's very LOW in Newport, and the officers are very stern, and they don't care if your friend tries to explain that we haven't seen each other for a long time, and we were just busy chatting, and on and on . . . . He did, however, give me a break on the amount over I was going, so that I didn't have to return and appear in court!

The gate to one of the "cottages." It was BITTERLY cold day so we didn't walk the grounds very much, but all the homes are on the coast. It is amazingly beautiful. This would be a PERFECT week-long trip for a group of girlfriends. There are 11 mansions - we quickly saw three in one day. It's a definite MUST if you're ever in the area. I can't even begin to describe the insides of these places - couldn't take pictures inside, but you can check it out online.

At the Boston Public Gardens - so postcard perfect. This is the pond where we rode the famous Swan Boats.

Out for a ride - saw swans and ducks and turtles. All the trees and shrubs were in beautiful bloom!

Maia couldn't resist using her spending money on a stuffed swan and some other souviner.

Keeping the Swan Boats company on the water.

The events of the famous Make Way for Ducklings book takes place in the Boston Public Gardens. The kids had fun on the statues commemorating the eight ducklings. Can you name them all? Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Oack, Pack, and Quack - I think I got them right.

McKenna didn't want to come with us. What is up with my kids and not caring if they miss out on opportunities????

Maia, Tessa, and Hailey!

We stopped at THE Parker House Hotel - known for its Parker House rolls and also as the invention place of Boston Cream Pie! I bought one for all five of us ($10 apiece) (It's part of the experience of Boston, right? That's my justification) but of course we couldn't eat them all. So we took the leftovers home, but Richard didn't know what they were the next day and threw them away!!!!

Morocco

Richard spent a week in Morocco on Army business - or so he said. I look at the hundreds of pictures and tend to think it was more of a vacation than work. But, judge for yourself.

Just like in Iraq, the children LOVE the cameras - especially the digital because they can see instant results.

Boys are boys no matter the country. This is at the orphanage the guys visited. Very sad - but Richard said all the kids were actually very happy and clean and well cared for. Makes me feel a little better.

One of the orphan girls.

I had told him a number of times on the phone to bring me one home! The children are divided by gender and age groups, and then they stay in these "padded" rooms for most of the day.

I told him he had better hold as many children as he could because they don't get that often - but I don't think he held them because I told him to. He loves kids.

Another one. There were babies as young as two days there - all lined up in a row in cribs, with four of five babies per crib.

I'm pretty darn MAD he didn't bring this one home. Look how beautiful!!! Ivy's mad too. Out of the blue on Sunday - as we walked into church - she reprimanded Richard. "Daddy, next time we send you to the airport you'd better bring home a baby!" I wish it were that easy. -- Who on earth could have given this one up?????
Playing basketball with the teenagers at the orphanage. How sad that so many are without parents. Maia has been praying for them since she saw the pictures.

This is a young man that Richard met - can't remember his name. However, he was around the guys quite a bit, has even been to church a couple of times with a Utah Guard guy who lives over there, and he's attending school. Richard wants to help sponsor him to bring him to a university over here. Anyway, the incredible story Richard told me - and I saw on a video clip, I'll see if I can find it and download it - is that this boy visits the orphanage often. There is one (or more?) rooms full of disabled children. One in particular is a blind boy and this kid visits him often - and the blind boy can identify him by feeling his face. It was very sweet.
A room with some of the disabled children. The sad thing is that many of them would be fine if they had been born here. But do you notice how this boy with the pink stuffed animal still has a smile on his face!!!! What a lesson we can learn.

In the ancient Roman ruins - relaxing in the spa. Larry and Richard don't look like they're working too hard, do you think?

The mosaic tile floor of a wealthy home in the Roman ruins.

More of the ruins. So cool that something thousands of years still stands - sort of.

Walking through town. I can only imagine the smell. The market had a real camel head and other disgusting things on display. I heard him on tape tell Larry that "Rhonda wouldn't last too long here." He knows me so well.

A 600 year old saddle.

Weapons I guess.

One of the feasts they were given. Richard said they spent nearly 3 hours at one meal, being served course after course. -- Funny thing is that when he arrived there some of the Utah guys (whom he hasn't seen for a year) noticed he had put on a little weight. He's dieting now for the few weeks before we come home.

The room he stayed in.

I'm thinking our guys look a little under-dressed!!!!!

With the shopkeeper's daughter. I wonder if the shopkeeper was trying to set him up with another wife. A sheik in Iraq tried that, but Richard turned him down. Said one wife was hard enough! -- He brought me lots of pretty things, but none of that gorgeous silver behind him. He shouldn't have let me see the picture because now I know what he didn't buy!

Larry with the shopkeeper's daughter now. Some of those wood pieces and pottery plates are what Richard brought home. Only one broke - but he did a pretty good job glueing it together!

Before one of the big dinners. Their entertainment that night was a belly dancer. He responded a little too quickly and enthusiastically when I asked if she was cute! He said he doesn't like their music, but I'm sure the dancing took his mind off it.

General Tarbet, Richard, and somebody important I presume.

The Moroccan Army

So what's your verdict? A business trip or VACATION???

Cute Clarissa

This is my favorite baby girl in Boston - Clarissa. She's 8 months old and a doll - mohawk hair and all. She moved a couple of weeks ago and I have missed seeing and holding her!! Luckily, her family is stopping to visit us in Utah soon. And even more luckily, there are two new babies on my street in Highland to cuddle.

Chewing on the baby hedgehog.

Hmmm, maybe it's a kiss.

Wondering what I'm doing.

The one on the left is scary, but the one on the right is a doll!

Sweet cheeks.

Friends

Here's a little look at some friends we've made here. Interestingly, many of our favorite people I haven't caught on camera yet. I'd better hurry!

Little Nicholas is the son of Richard's fellow Fellow (get it?). Anyway, Ivy won't pay him the time of day because "he's a boy, and I don't like boys except Cooper 'cause he's my brother!) But Nicholas has spent lots of time at our house being babysat, and he's content playing with the cars while Ivy ignores him.

Nicholas's dad - Patrick Hogan. He and Richard became very good friends during the Fellowship this year.

Coop and one of his very good buddies - Emerson Baker. Emerson was in his kindergarten and Primary class (he moved a few weeks ago). He's going to come visit us in Utah right after we arrive there! We could always count on Emerson to say something funny - even though he didn't realize it. Example: His mother is VERY musically talented and TRAINED. I was fixing the boys lunch one day and singing some silly, made-up song (in my VERY untalented and untrained voice) and I asked Emerson if I sounded like his mom. He quietly replied no. Then I asked if his mom could sing better than I. Emerson paused, and then said, "well, I like your voice too because it's interesting."

At Walden Pond with good friends. This is the REAL Walden Pond - and it's a lot of fun. It was a bit chilly that day (We've learned that New England doesn't have Spring. Just Winter and then Summer) so we had the beach to ourselves and the kids had a blast.

Cooper and Aiden - his buddy from school.

Not only is this the one boy Ivy will tolerate, but she ADORES him and talks of him all the time. This is Andrew! Ivy likes to call him "goofy boy," and he surely gives their Sunbeam teacher a run for her money - oh that's right, she doesn't get paid. Luckily she is full of charity toward God's children. I've been substituting in Cooper's class and so get to watch the Sunbeams from the back row during Sharing Time. Ivy gets a little warm, but it's no problem because she just lifts her dress up to her chest to cool off. She doesn't see the sense in having to stay seated either.

Tessa's group of girls. We finally got around to celebrating her birthday with a "late night" party. Richard was out of town and I, frankly, was glad when the party was over. Girls can be loud!! They had lots of fun though, and I did get to eavesdrop on their when-my-dad-gets-mad-this-is-what-he-does conversation. Very enlightening.

Funny moment because Ivy had just given Emily (Maia's friend) a "chipmunk kiss." Ivy believes (INSISTS) she is a chipmunk, and a proper chipmunk kiss is a lick across the face.

Maia's (late also) birthday party. She's had a struggle with friends this year (little girls can be so mean!!) so she chose only two girls from school and the rest from Activity Days to come to her party. ChaeBin (the dark Korean girl two girls to the left of Maia) has been her special school friend. She spoke no English when she came and Maia was assigned to help her. She has been by her side since day one, helping her with work, at recess, getting lunch, whatever. ChaeBin speaks the language quite well, now, but the girls are inseparable. Her parents are SO grateful to Maia - profusely praising her in their broken language. "Maia's mother, I thank you much. Oh, Maia's mother, Maia help ChaeBin every day, every day she help. Thank you Thank you. I thank you forever, Maia's mother." Brought me to tears! Maia swells with pride to know she has done something so good. (But it's no surprise to her parents.)

DEFINITELY in the Mood to be Photographed

If you've read the blog before, you're sure to know that our little Ivy is photographed on HER OWN TERMS! She either LOVES or DESPISES the camera - there is no middle ground. So this day was a good day (I think it's because I had just brought home this Belle dress and she was feeling very princessy) and she warmed right up to the camera. The funny thing is, I had intended on just taking a couple of pictures, and without me saying a word she started "modeling" for me, so I couldn't stop snapping. She's a doll! (Ignore the red eye problem please)