Happy Sabbath Day!

This is where we had the Sacrament last week--on the back patio of Mom Hall's house.  As always, it is a sweet moment to partake of the sacrament--although I have noticed that the much shorter time that it takes to pass the sacrament doesn't allow me the same time and pattern of reflection.  It occurred to me this Sunday that I needed to take that time at another time on Sunday to reflect on Christ and what He has done for us.

Gary and Jena got a head start on our Sunday walk so they opted to hid behind the mail box.  Stuff like this gets Jena giggling--and that is a sound that I love.

We ended up on a very short walk and two neighborly (social distancing) visits with the Larsons and the Pessettos.  It was so great to have some face to face conversations--not over Zoom.

All and all, a very nice Sunday.

Police Officer's Memorial Day

Also, on Friday, May 15th, flags in Utah and throughout the United States were flown at half-mast in honor of all policemen and women who have died in the line of duty.  That included Gary's grandfather, Joseph Quigley.  Here is the write-up about him on the Fallen Heros page--

JOSEPH HORALD QUIGLEY

Patrolman Joseph Quigley was shot and killed after surprising two men stealing gasoline from a car.

He had just completed his rounds and had been picked up by two other officers to be driven home when they spotted the men. Patrolman Quigley jumped out of the police car and gave chase. He then jumped into the back seat of the suspects' car as it sped away. The suspects inside shot him several times and then left his body at 23rd and Monroe Streets.
Patrolman Quigley had been employed with the Ogden Police Department for four years, and is survived by his expectant wife and four children.

Gary's mom, Horaldene Virginia Quigley, was the baby who arrived a month later.  She was named after her father, but they began calling her Holly when she was very little and that is the name that everyone knows her by.

Our flag at half mast---

As is customary when bringing a flag in at night which was flown at half-mast, the flag is raised again to the top of the mast (to honor hope in my mind) and then lowered and taken down for the night.  It was a sweet moment to remember---

You can see the name of Joseph Quigley in the memorial to policemen on the Utah Capital grounds and also in Washington, DC, at the national memorial.

Social-Distancing Visit

I texted a friend Friday evening and asked if they were up for a porch visit--we would bring our own chairs.  She replied "YES!!" so after dinner, Gary and I walked over for a visit.  When we arrived, they had already set up two nice camp chairs for us on the side walk and two chairs for them on their porch--10 feet away.  Plus this "pandemic supply" table--it included anti-viral kleenex; water; masks (we had our own, although we didn't wear them during our visit); bug spray-because we live in Syracuse; wet whips; and hand sanitizer.  Now there is a hostess with the mostest!  They laughed at the end of our visit when I asked to take a picture of the table, but this is a glance at life in a pandemic.  I loved it and I loved having a conversation with Jolee and Kevin on a pretty Friday evening.

Jena took this photo of us after our visit so that we could have a picture with our masks on.

Friends and Family on a Friday---doesn't get much better than that!!!

PARTY TIME

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESSICA!

Friday was Jessica's birthday and for the past few weeks, we have been watching the guidelines in our state and anticipating a "possible" gathering for her birthday.  We had decided that doing it outside at Jensen Pond and limited contact--between the adults--between kids and their grandparents and aunt and uncle--that isn't doable!  All together there was only 10 of us, below the guideline of 20 in force on that day (It has now moved to 50 people gatherings.)

I woke up on Friday and began making a cheesecake for her birthday.  I couldn't believe how much it made me remember when she and my other kids were all little and I would be getting ready for their birthday.  It has been a bit of time since I made cheesecake for Jessica's birthday.  It was fun to make it and to remember.

I was so excited to see them all since it has been since they came to dinner on March 1 that I have seen them in person.  Thank heavens for Facetime, but it isn't exactly the same.  I expected the boys to be so excited and come running from the car for hugs.  That would have been the "Hollywood version" of the event.  In real life, Alex and Carter were a bit nervous.  At 19 months they are leary of strangers and despite the fact that they loved to facetime with us, in person was a different story.  I understood that.  But as they got out of the car, Liam fell to the ground because of some reason I can't remember while Zander was unhappy because he couldn't ride his bike immediately.  They didn't even talk to us for the first 5-10 minutes while we set up for our pizza picnic lunch.  Real Life!!  It was fine.  We got it.  They were hungry, they just had a long car ride, and they were at a park.  Soon everyone settled in and we had a great afternoon at the park.  It was so great to see them and Jessica and Elessia and share a fun afternoon together.

Zander

Liam

Alex

Carter

We ate pizza and cheesecake and sang happy birthday to Jessica, then headed off for a walk around Jensen Pond.  It turns out that Liam likes crossing bridges as much as I do.  He would look ahead and spy a bridge and head it that direction--just to ride his bike across it.

A photo that Jessica took of me walking with Liam
and Zander on their bikes.  I think I was pointing out the
pelicans who live around here during this time of year. 

 Along one side of the man-made pond, there is a row of birdhouses of all different kinds.  Would a bird really settled into the top of a panda's head???

Look at that beautiful sky---

What about a castle fit for a king?

We were glad Ben could come with us.  He and the kids had a great time playing together.

Liam developed a game where they had to be on the tables because the rest was "hot lava".  However, Uncle Ben (and later grandma) were special and they could walk safely in the lava and carry you from table to table.  I bet Ben was tired from flying four kids from table to table.

These are California Gulls which live near the pond and around the many
lakes in Utah.  There is technically no bird call a "sea gull".  They are all
part of the gull family of birds of which there are many.  They live near all types of
bodies of water.  Some flew in near the end of our stay and grabbed
one of the girl's bit of pizza left.  It had sat there for over an hour or so.

Trying to get a posed picture on the rock.
Carter was not having it at the moment.

You can't be by water and not touch it.  Not on person, the colors of their shirts matched nicely and contrasted with the sand and pond.

And throwing rock--another age-old past time of children everywhere.

Her siblings had all stood on these rocks, so I think Carter decided that she wanted to try it, but she then decided that maybe crawling on them was a safer move.

Happy Birthday, Jessica.  It was a great time, a happy memory, and a perfect way to celebrate our first "easing of restrictions" gathering.  We will be having more outdoor activities, I am sure in the upcoming weeks.