Midge the Pidge

 ***   Catching up old blogs since we haven't done any in a year.   ***

We had a little pigeon roost on our patio in Roadhaven.

We noticed this pigeon or dove that came a sitting on a roll in our patio awning outside the front door.  When we checked we found a nest there and in a few days two eggs.  After a while longer two babies.  It was fun to watch her and her mate care for them, but we had to be careful.  If we made a loud noise or got two close she would flap her wings noisily and fly away.  I named her Midge the Pidge.

One day we went to the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix.  We timed our visit to coincide with cactus blooming.   You might not think of a desert in the Sonora as having beautiful vegitation but you are wrong.  It was gorgeous.  These are you common Prickly Pear.

Jumping Cholla and Ocotillo in back.

Old Man Cactus and Agave Cactus.

Mexican Cardon and Organ Pipe Cactus.

Agave and Saguaro.

Octopus Cactus.

Aloe Vera and Straw Succulents.

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Teddy-bear cactus.

Mesquite Ironwood Tree

?????  This was our favorite but can't remember what it was.

??????

Arizona Sycamore

Three Baptisms

 ***   Catching up old blogs since we haven't done any in a year.   ***

Three of our grand-children got baptized this winter.   Because of COVID we could only attend one in person but we got to attend the others two via zoom.

The first one was Spencer.  He looks really sharp in his white clothes in front of the baptismal font.

Malachi with his son Spencer.  They did the baptism in Puyallup.  We couldn't go because the attendance was limited because of COVID.  But we watched it all via zoom.  And we were real proud of Spencer.

Malachi's whole family:  Andrew, Mallory, Layne, Spencer, and Malachi.  It was a special day for Spencer.

Leon also got baptized in Japan.  We were not allowed to travel there either because of COVID.  Here's Leon with proud parents Doranda and Bob.  He got baptized at the Navy Chapel on the base.  He is a special little boy.

 

Leon at the reception afterwards.  They had giant sugar cookies with Japanese writing on them.  I think it said Choose The Right.

Doranda's whole family:  Penelope, Tucker, Leon Beatrix, Bob, Doranda, Calista, Scarlett.

Finally Hannah also got baptized.    She is looking so happy in her white clothes at the chapel.  It was a special day for here.

We all got to attend, in Utah restrictions have been easing up, but we did have to wear masks.

Hannah with Nathanael right before the baptism.

Hannah with proud parents Mary-Anne and Nathanael.  She is a special little girl.

Here's proof that Jacquelyn and I were there.  You can see us in the back middle behind Hannah.  You can also see Tianna and Jim, Nathanael and Mary-Anne, Amery and Josiah, Joshua and Rebecca, relatives on the Taylor side, and tons of cousins.  Hannah has lots of people that love her.

Winter Activities at Roadhaven

 ***   Catching up old blogs since we haven't done any in a year.   ***

We had a lot going on this winter.  There were three grandchildren baptisms: Spencer, Leon, and Hannah.  We also had more visitors to Roadhaven and problems with COVID restrictions.  We also try to visit my dad and Jacquelyn's mom as much as possible.  On a daily basis we play pickleball, golf, workout at the fitness center, do line dancing, and go on hikes in the desert hills and mountains.

The kids heard I was wanting to buy and plant a cactus.  Tianna organized them and they got me a cactus for my birthday.  I had fun shipping for one and then buying and planting in.  I got a Mexican Giant Cardon, also known as a False Saguaro or Mexican Saguaro.  They are a little bluer than normal Saguaro and grow faster and get arms quicker.  This one I bought is about 5 years old.  I planted it here at the side of the driveway.  Thank you everyone for the cool cactus.

Homer and Connie Rogers visited us one day.  They are good friends from our Mission in the Philippines.  They were in the same mission and had the Bustos Branch while we had the San Ildefonso Branch.  We got to know them quite well in the Philippines.  They live in Arizona and we get together once in a while when they are in the Phoenix area.  Homer and I played a game of golf.

Jacquelyn and I got our COVID vaccines at the first opportunity for our age group.  It was really hard to get an appointment and took me about 5 hours to get us scheduled.  We finally got in at the Cardinals Football Stadium parking lot.

We got our first shot on February 1st and the second one on February 23rd.  We also took my dad with us and he got his first on February 23rd and second on March 17th.  We didn't have any side effects and 

I got a call from the Red Cross and got a deployment down to the Mexican border in Texas to help with the immigrant crises.  So I went down to Dallas for two weeks where we set up a shelter.  Jacquelyn was all by herself for two weeks.  The entire first day at the Shelter was spent in setting up cots at the Dallas Convention Center.  Then the clients started arriving.  All unaccompanied minors, teenage boys from Guatemala, Honduras, and Costa Rica.

No pictures of the boys for privacy reasons but these were the beds we set up for them on cots.  I worked the night shift.  We in-processed the boys and the Red Cross had responsibility for feeding and monitoring and helping with problems. 

The first night we took in 200 boys for a soft opening then gradually built up to about 2,300 boys all in this one giant convention room.  It was almost wall to wall cots.

They boys were all very polite and well behaved and cooperative.  They were happy to be there after having finally made it to America after a very danger trek across Mexico.  I was glad I as about to be of assistance.

I'm doing the baptisms on a separate blog.  The only one we got to attend in person, because of COVID, was Hannah's.  And it was close to Easter.  We got to see Nathanael's and Joshua's and Tianna's families.  It was great.  Nathanael put together a big Easter Egg Hunt at his house where we were all staying.

They have a huge backyard and it was a lot of fun.

We also went on a hike up in the hills near his home.  The trees were barren without many leaves yet.

We also had some visitors, but no pictures since I left my camera at the hotel in Dallas.  Talitha was out and also Tianna several times with James and Ashton since she has her own place at Roadhaven, and it was really nice to have Amery and Josiah come for a visit.    What a blessing to have grandchildren grown up and married now and coming to visit.  Josiah is really really good at pickleball.  We had fun playing and showing them around Roadhaven.  Also Nathanael and his family came out for another visit.  they seem to love going swimming, especially since it's so cold back home.  We love them all.

Talitha and David are building a house nearby in Maricopa.  We went down and got some pictures to show her the progress.  This is the foundation and one wall.  In the background you can see the lake.  Their backyard will be lake front.  It's going to be nice.

My Dad was with us went we went to check out the house.

Here's a different view up towards the front.  You can see our Jeep parked at the street.

December visitors at Roadhaven

***   Catching up on old blogs.   *** 

We had four of our children and their families come and visit in December of last year.

Talitha and David were the first ones to come visit us at Roadhaven.  One day we did a fun hike that was all up.  It was a challenge for Lucy but we all  made it.

Next Nathanael came out with his family.  We did two great hikes with them, one to Wind Caves.

Jonathan exploring.

View from the top.

Joshua came out with his family also and we did some hikes and other sight seeing.  Unfortunately those pictures were all lost with the camera when I lost my camera in Dallas.

For Christmas we went over to Jacquelyn's family in Buckeye.  Here are the names row by row.  

Top row:  David, Talitha, Connie, Jacquelyn, Doug, Melissa, Mike.  

Middle row:  Ben, Patty, Genevieve, Duane.

Bottom row:  Ben, Bella.

Caleb's birthday

 ***   Catching up on old blogs.   ***

Caleb had his birthday in October of last year.

We had company up for Caleb's birthday so it made for a fun day.  Here's Caleb with a birthday cake.  Also around the table you can see Ashton, James, and Mallory.

Caleb with his sister Talitha wearing COVID masks.

Anyone ready for cake.

Caleb at the corn maze farm with Talitha, James and Ashton.

Time to cut the cake.

Jacquelyn in the corn maze with Talitha and Tianna.

Goodbye to Isaac and family

*** Catching up on old blogs   ***

Isaac and his family stayed with us for the summer last year.  He graduated with his PhD in Economics from the University of Minnesota and had several months until he needed to report for his new job in Hong Kong.  It's very hot in Minneapolis and there's been a lot of rioting going on there so they asked to come stay with us in Puyallup for a few months.  We were delighted.

Joslyn has here own way of going up and down the stairs.

Jacquelyn had a lot of fun with the kids making stone art.  This is a turtle Joslyn painted.

Dorian with some lady bugs.

One of my favorite activities was walks and hikes and I had some willing partners in Joslyn and Dorian.  On this particular walk we ran across a very friendly kitty.

Joslyn at the big rock by the Manorwood clubhouse.

Isaac had to leave first because the VISAs hadn't come in for Kim and the children.  He had to get COVID tested three times before finally getting to Hong Kong.  One that they didn't accept at the airport, a certified test, and one when he landed in Hong Kong.  Then he had to quarantine for two weeks at a hotel.  Finally in mid-August the rest of the family got to go.  Fortunately they all passed their COVID testing.

Joslyn and Dorian all set to go with backpacks and travel suitcases.

We are sure going to miss them.  Good luck in Hong Kong.