My Mom's 83rd Birthday

My mother Thelma Lindsay, and my Uncle Ed Cook (from Twin Falls, Idaho) have been on a road trip visiting all the LDS Temples in the Northwest for the past couple of weeks. They've been to the Spokane, Cardston, Edmondton, Vancouver, Seattle and Portland Temples. On their trip, they stopped to visit us and stayed for several days on Camano Island. While they were here, it was my mother's 83rd birthday, so we took the day to go on a picnic and celebrate.

We drove them over to Deception Pass......I'm not sure if Uncle Ed had ever been there before. It was a beautiful warm day, so everything was extra gorgeous.

Since it was such a lovely day, we decided to drive up to the top of Mt. Erie, just outside the city of Anacortes. The view from the top is breathtaking, to say the least. The photo below is looking south, down the length of Whidbey Island, with Campbell Lake in the foreground. Camano Island is off in the distance, to the very top left of the photo.

The wind was not blowing at all, so it was calm and warm at the top of Mt. Erie......there were several other people there enjoying the view. I think we all could have stayed there a while longer, except we were getting a bit hungry.....so we headed down to the marina area in Anacortes. We took them to the newly refurbished Seafarer's Memorial Park for a picnic of chicken, fruit salad and birthday cake.

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing at the park watching the boats going in and out of the harbor. Can you believe that my mother is 83? She's always game for a new adventure!

Christmas in June

The final product!

Last week our house looked like it was Christmas time. We had Christmas decorations spread out all over the dining room table and the studio lights sets up............and I must say, that it peaked the curiosity of several of my students.

I am in the middle of recording a Christmas album (which I've been working on for almost 2 years.....at a very slow pace I might add.) During the past two winters, I have been trying to get a really good snow photo to use on the cover of my album......which I have failed miserably at. So this February, Ron took a great snow picture at Tollgate area in Oregon......but when we converted it to CMYK color instead of RGB, it just looked lifeless. (The company that produces that actual CD needs everything in CMYK colors.)

So giving up on a snow photo, I decided to try coming up with a Christmas photo just using decorations. I don't want to show you the first ones I came up with.....they aren't worth looking at. Ron was very patient with me and set up the red background and also let me use his camera. After several dozen shots, I finally came up with something I liked......but there was still something lacking.

So I asked Ron if he would take the photos this time..........and we were much more meticulate in arranging the decorations and lights. By using my new star filter, we were able to create the great sparkly effect which I love. So this photo is the final result of our efforts.....this was truly a team effort.....I set everything up and Ron actually took the photo and processed it. I wanted an album cover that would "jump out at you" and I think this one does! I love it!

I'm Seeing Stars !!

Several months ago Ron asked me what I would like for my birthday........I told him that I would love to have a Star Filter for my camera. On my birthday, he handed me a large, heavy box. I thought to myself...."well, this certainly isn't a filter." As I opened the box, I found a huge, heavy wrench! Oh wow.....just what I wanted! Then as I removed all the newspaper that he had stuffed into the box, I found a 6 point Star Filter! Yay! (Ron was having a great time teasing me.) What is a Star Filter you ask? It takes points of light and shoots the light rays off into pin points of little stars.

Ron and I love the town of Anacortes.....we always seem to find ourselves in that area if we are out for a drive. Last evening was no expection....only this time it was planned. The city of Anacortes has just updated a beautiful park at the Cap Santa Marina area, and we felt that it was the perfect spot to try out my new Star Filter.

The following two photos are of the same lightpost at the Seafarer's Memorial Park......one photo without and one with the Star Filter. (I think I would name this photo "Lost at Sea.")

With the Star Filter.....

I think that the filter really creates a cool effect. Last evening was so beautiful....the sun was turning everything golden and the newly updated park was really, really nice. They had put in a new dock, new breakwater, new landscaping, new picnic tables, new rock edging along the beach, and new restrooms. It's the perfect place for a picnic and for setting off in kayaks, or just watching the boats coming in and out of the harbor.

Before the sun went down, looking towards Cap Sante Marina...

Ron, with camera in hand in the warm sunset light.....

It will be fun to try photos of different things with this new filter. The oil tankers across the bay were even interesting. Thank you Ron, for the great bithday present!! I love it!!

38th Wedding Anniversary

Thirty eight years ago today, Ron and I were married in the Salt Lake Temple, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Life is good, even though it is filled with challenges. It really helps, when you are married to your best friend, and that companion is one whom you do everything with.

We spent the day around the Anacortes, Washington area. It was beautiful out, and we had a lovely picnic and relaxing day. We love the water...docks, boats, seagulls and the wonderful smell of the salt air. We're looking forward to the next thirty eight years!

I found the old photos of us on our wedding day, and scanned them into the computer. I thought that it would be fun to see how much we've changed.....hmmmm.....less hair, more weight, but other than that, not too bad!

Ron and I with our parents: Derrell and Thelma Lindsay, and Doris and Joe Southworth

Standing in our wedding line: Cindy Hoeft, Tami Medonich, Cheryl Cook (my cousin), Ron and I, Lynn Southworth (Ron's brother), Leslie Ann Lindsay (my sister) and Jean Southworth (Ron's sister.)

I Admit....I'm Another Year Older.......!

I will be the first to state that birthdays have never really bothered me......you know....that fact about being another year older. But somehow, this year is not quite the same. On April 28th, I turned 59......and to be honest, the sound of that is awful. I'm sure it's because next year comes the big 60.
But age can't stop you from having a good time!

Since I spent the entire day teaching music on my birthday, we took the next day to celebrate and go to Camano Island Stake Park for a picnic, with my mother, and Will, Jenni, Preston and Taylor. We lucked out with the weather....it had been raining all week, but on the afternoon of our picnic, the sun broke out and it was beautiful. That was a nice birthday present!

The beach is always a draw for us. There were boats out, and not too many people at the State Park. Preston immediately started beach combing.......hmmmmm.......you'd think he'd been here before.

I made a lemon cake (because I think that poor Will had been 'chocolated out'). Preston just ate the ice cream though. Taylor just got his first two teeth (at 8 months!!) and was really eyeing down everything we ate.....and not too happy that he didn't get a bite.

I guess that getting older doesn't really matter much......just as long as you have your family around you......nothing else matters much.

Spring Has Finally Arrived !!

Spring Fever has hit ! Today was one of the first really nice days that we have had all year.....it was 65 degrees, and beautiful out. However, we weren't the only ones who thought about getting outside and enjoying the day. Everybody and their dog was out !! (and I literally mean everyone and their 'DOG') The gas stations were lined up a dozen deep....people were standing in line to get into Costco at 9:30 in the morning, and they don't even open until 10:00.

Ron and I drove out to Anacortes and just enjoyed sitting along the shore watching the boats. It was still pretty early in the day, so the air was cool. We sat on the tailgate of the truck and soaked up the sun.....it felt wonderful!

Our little outings are usually spur of the moment adventures......we decide where to go as we are driving. We decided to drive over Deception Pass to Whidbey Island. As the day wore on, more and more people started to show up. We got out and went into the little shop at Coronet Bay......we used to stop there all the time when we had a boat. It hadn't changed much.....except that they didn't have any little pecan pies.

The Marina is still the same......but the tulips are blooming so that made the docks even prettier.

As we headed back into Skagit Valley, the cars started getting thicker and thicker. People were everywhere! I guess that because it was such a beautiful day, that everybody (and their dog) wanted to go look at the tulips. We tried to take a short cut to avoid the traffic, but it was so backed up that we gave up, and just found our way to the freeway. As we drove south to our exit, the Northbound lanes of I-5 were at a standstill.....it was a total parking lot of traffic from downtown Mt. Vernon to past the Starbird Exit.....which is at least 6 miles away. This was NOT the day to look at the tulip fields.

The only tulips I wanted to see today, were in pots at Coronet Bay......that was plenty!

It was just a nice way to spend a Saturday morning. Wish that you could have come with us!

Preston and the Stake Choir

The Arlington Stake held their semi-annual Stake Conference April 16 & 17th.....the meetings were absolutely wonderful. I'm still the Stake Music Chairman, so I conducted the choir. We recently called Jenni as the Stake Choir Accompanist, which I am very grateful for.

During the last song that the choir sang, Will had just taken Taylor out in the foyer (because he was jabbering like crazy) so Preston (who will be 3 in June) was supposed to sit on the pew alone while Jenni and I went up to sing and play. However, he didn't like the idea of sitting there alone, so Jenni brought him up and sat him on the first riser where the choir seats start.

As the choir stood, Preston stood up too, climbed up on the riser next to a soprano, gave her a little shove so he would have room to stand beside her. He started waving his arms in the air, mimicking me as I conducted the choir. As the choir progressed into the song, Preston noticed that all the members of the choir were holding music folders, and that he didn't have one, so he promptly got down and walked to the pew where he had been sitting and picked up a hymnbook.

By this time, Will had come back into the chapel and noticed Preston heading back up to stand in the choir.....and grabbed him so he couldn't go back up. Poor Preston came unglued! He started to cry.....big tears! He wanted to go back up and sing in the choir! Neither Jenni or I knew that any of this was going on, because we were concentrating on the music, so we heard about all of this from both Will and the first counselor in the Stake Presidency, David Flake, after the fact.

I'm sure that it was a traumatic thing for him at the time, (and I'm sure he got over it fast) but I just thought that it was so sweet that he wanted to "be there" next to mom and grandma and do what they were doing. Preston, I sure love you!