A Family Affair

We recently had occasion to go visit Moosebeere and his family.  They'd had a baby a few months ago, our eighth grandchild, and we wanted to go visit them. Couldn't let this kid get too old before we came to visit. So we hopped on an airplane and make the trek to where they live. 

This trip provided a lot of contrast from our climate to the climate where Mooseberre recently moved.  When we left our house there was two feet of snow in the yard and it was below zero. We spent most of the day on airplanes and when we landed it was over 70. You know all those people who like to take a vacation to a warm place during the coldest part of winter? We'd never done that but this trip brought to mind some reasons why someone might do such a thing.

The actual occasion of this trip was to participate in the blessing of this new baby. That was very nice. We saw some interesting landscape on the way to the church. A small stream with a narrow bridge over it we had to cross.  Some cactus. A very different landscape from what we left at home.

Some interesting things were going on at Moosebeere's church.  They had only recently been made a ward, having been divided off from a different ward.  So during the business portion of the meeting, in addition to the blessing of the baby, there were quite a few sustainings as they worked on staffing this new ward.  I thought that was interesting, anyway.

The blessing was very nice. Plenty of family made it there for the occasion, mostly from the other side of the family. But that's alright. Afterward we all went back to the house for lunch and visiting.  Its a good thing Moosebeere has a fairly large house because all the company filled it right up. Lots of little cousins and cousins once removed running around. No kid pictures, though. Moosebeere has asked that no pictures of the kids be posted online. I think the sounds that families makes when a lot of them get together is a very sweet sound. And so it was that Sunday. It was a very good time.

But like all too many such times, it was too soon at an end and it was time for us to head back to the cold and home.  The weather was a bit merciful, I guess.  The temperature at our house had warmed up a little and at Moosebeere's it had cooled off a fair amount so that there was only 15 degrees difference between the two locations. That helped make coming home a little easier.  I've often wondered how people do it when coming home from that kind of trip.

As we said when we left, "This was fun. We'll have to do this again." So now the trick will be to not let it get to be too long before we do that again.  It was a good time. I'm really glad we went.

Snow Again!

 The other day it snowed again.  I asked Himbeere if he'd clear the driveway and he jumped right up and got to it!  I was impressed! It is such a help when he or the other kids are willing to help like that because I can't do it myself.  So he was out there, in the cold, working away and it hit me - he was wearing shorts.  Sixteen degrees and he's wearing shorts to clear the driveway. He's a bit crazy. Good thing it was one of the warmer days we had during January.