Waterfalls, a Baby Bird, and a Tooth Fairy
It was so nice to have my niece, Mari, here this past week. We did a lot of fun things together, which I felt was really important because her opportunities are limited for her back home in CA. We explored out in nature, baked bread, went shopping, and watched a few shows together. We hung out in the back yard, had fun chatting, and I think she felt comfortable and content here with us, so that made it all worth the drive to Reno TWICE to pick her up and then take her back, ha ha.
Gwen:
That's Gwen, way up at the top:
Our color palette: (acrylic paints by the way)
And after: (it still needs to be hung in the bathroom, ha ha)
The coolest part: Amber and I both got to sign our initials on it. She did a lot of the painting herself, but I was able to try some new techniques under her patient tutelage. :)
Once we finished our tasty meal, we walked around the town square of Jackson, enjoying some window shopping along the way.
Me, underneath the classic antler arch in the town square park. There is a massive antler arch at each of the four corner entrances to the park.
Jenny Lake
As we shuttled across the lake on the ferry boat, I got a text from Scott asking how our trip was going. So I took this picture to send to him. I had to hold on to my hat so it didn't blow away!
Click here for a short video:
Click for a video of the waterfall:
On the ferry ride back across Jenny Lake (and properly socially distanced):
Goodbye beautiful mountains!!
DEFINITELY CLICK HERE TO SEE THE BABY BIRD:
Later that evening, we checked on him and he did not appear to be breathing anymore. How sad. I felt good about what we did, though, knowing that we did our best to help him. It's hard to let nature just do its thing. I hope he's happily flying around in birdie heaven now. :)
Taylor (Natalie's roommate) and Natalie
My delicious s'more inside 2 fudge striped cookies
Gwen digging in
Mari and Emily (Natalie's other roommate)
Mari
And last night, we had some "pillow talk" - me in Reno at the hotel, and him on the base in Riyadh. Sigh. I love our chats though. We have good times no matter what our circumstances are.
Something we did not set out to do, but we ended up doing by the end of the week was to see three massive waterfalls in one week.
Downtown Idaho Falls:
Hidden Falls in Grand Teton National Park:
Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls:
Here's the recap for the week.
Monday: I was able to get my hair cut and colored (finally!!) by my friend Tessa. We are in phase 3 of getting things back to "normal" here in Idaho during the coronavirus pandemic. And yay - hair salons opened back up recently! I had to wait a few weeks for my turn to get my hair done, but it was worth the wait. While I was in the chair, Scott texted me to ask, "How is your hair coming along?" So I sent him this picture.
It all turned out great.
Later that afternoon, I took Mari out to get a few gifts and souvenirs for her friend back home. We stopped at a cute gift shop downtown by the Snake River, called "Love at First Bite". They not only have all sorts of homemade goodies and candies, but they also have several varieties of balsamic vinegars, teas, olive oils, etc. and tons of gifts and fun things.
While there in the store, I heard someone say my name. I turned around and saw my friend Lisa (Vanderstoep) Morales from Ukiah, CA where we grew up together, but she has lived in Idaho Falls for several years now. I see her from time to time, but it's been a while. We took a selfie and sent it to my sister, Charmaine, because Lisa was a friend to us both. Lisa got a kick out of meeting Charmaine's daughter, Mari, in Idaho Falls of all places! We used to ride in Lisa's cool orange VW bug from seminary to the high school every day back in the late 1980's.
After we finished up our shopping, we went a couple blocks over to see the waterfalls in the middle of town.
Here is a link to a video showing the magnificence of the waterfall:
Mari also made us a delicious salmon dinner that night. She sprinkled on some black Hawaiian salt, some freshly cracked pepper, paprika, she drizzled on some olive oil, and I can't remember what else. But it was so good! We had sauteed kale with garlic as a side dish, along with some cheesy toast to round out the meal.
Tuesday: In between the usual things during a day - fixing meals, entertaining little ones, running errands, swinging in the back yard, etc. - we had some extra fun with the girls.
Here's Gwen being her usual spunky and cute little self:
While Amber and her friend Lindsay did some exercise at the Community Park that evening, I entertained the girls at the playground on site.
Even though Gwen looks unhappy here, she really did enjoy learning how to climb up the huge jungle gym, and with my assistance, navigate across a giant hole at the top and over to the next section to slide down. In her case, she more like "sloth-styled" down, taking an eternity on her tummy. But then she'd run right back over to do it again and again and again.
There's also a giant hill next to the playground and the walking trails. I couldn't resist an amazing photo opportunity with the way the clouds and sky were illuminated and so spectacular in the background.
Abby:
Wednesday: Scott and I noticed immediately when we started our video chat that something extraordinary had happened. We were both wearing a similar "hero" type of shirt for the day. We both laughed at the same time and then we took a screenshot.
His shirt is easier to read because he wasn't trying to take a picture at the same time as stretch out a shirt so that it's more readable, ha ha. My shirt says: Most Loved Mimi. Mine was a gift from Amber for mother's day.
During the quiet of the afternoon, Amber helped me to recreate a fresh new painting from an old one that I got on clearance from TJMaxx a while ago. It had some dings on it and the colors weren't quiet right for my upstairs bathroom.
Before:
Partway:
Later that evening, while Mari and I took the girls on a walk around the greenbelt and the waterfalls, Amber and her friend Lindsay went running and then met up with us a little later. The girls really enjoyed getting a snow cone and seeing the water, as well as getting out and exploring in the Japanese gardens.
After the girls were all tucked into bed, Amber sat down with Mari to help her create an OIL painting of a rose. Mari had always wanted to paint a rose, but was really intimidated by the idea. ( . . . Enter Amber) Amber is so patient and has such a talent for explaining what to do, and the background to it, and is a wonderful mentor. She said later that Mari did most of the painting herself, with only a little bit of help.
Thursday: I took Mari on a drive over to Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Grand Teton National Park. It was a gorgeous day, with the bluest of blue skies.
First, we stopped for some lunch at a place called Healthy Being Cafe. Mari was especially interested in eating here because they have cold pressed juices and very healthy selections. It was a bit spendy, but it was the only meal we purchased the entire day (besides getting some square ice cream on the way home in Swan Valley - you just have to stop there every time!).
I chose some fancy avocado toast, with a boiled egg on the side.
Hanging out with George Washington. My kind of day.
After we had our fill of shops and art galleries, we drove on a little further to Grand Teton National Park.
As we disembarked at the boat dock, we hiked about 0.6 miles (mostly uphill) in search of Hidden Falls. I figured that the shortness of the trail would be appealing to Mari. And it was. She mistakenly brought her purse with her, and partway up the trail realized what a heavy burden it truly was. I offered to trade purses with her, and she happily obliged since my purse weighed significantly less than hers, ha ha.
We could hear the cascades long before we got to them. This was about halfway to the waterfalls.
While it was only about 72 degrees in the Park, we were pretty sweaty by the time we reached Hidden Falls. The mist quickly cooled us off, though, and I ended up putting my hoodie back on!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/h4oRU1fJu9yT6an58
There were several marmots in the area, and they were not shy at all. They came within inches of a lady and her husband who were right next to us, visiting from Louisana.
Mari, taking her own photos of the waterfall:
Short video of the marmot:
On our way back down the trail, we took a few more pictures.
I was so proud of Mari and I was glad that she was willing to go on a hike with me. I knew that she would be pleased with the end result: a spectacular waterfall. And it sure beats the boredom she was experiencing in CA with just staying at home, especially with having to shelter-in-place for so long because of coronavirus.
Friday: An interesting thing happened. I was walking out to my car in the driveway to go to the grocery store with Mari, when I did a double take. On the grass next to the driveway was a TINY baby bird, just laying face down.
I panicked and didn't know what to do. I tried texting and calling my sister, Charmaine, because I knew that she would know what to do. But she was in a meeting. So I called my in-laws, because they know lots of stuff and they are also avid birders. My father-in-law, Phil, suggested that I try to locate the nest and place the bird back in it. I had already looked for the nest in the pine tree above where the baby lay. But I could not see a nest anywhere. So the next best thing was to place him in a shoebox with some softness.
I found a small shoebox and placed some paper towels in it first. Then I added some cotton balls to nestle him and provide some warmth. I punched holes in the sides of the box and used yarn to string it up in the tree once I got him all settled in.
I put gloves on and as soon as I picked him up, he moved around quite a bit - it was actually SO CUTE! I placed him carefully in the box and Mari helped steady the box as I tied it to a tree branch. The hope was that his parents would come back looking for him and hopefully find him to take care of him.
That same evening, we invited my other niece, Natalie, and her two roommates to come over and hang out around the campfire with us. We chopped our own wood (Amber and I), built ourselves a fire, and had fun roasting s'mores and chatting with all the girls.
Amber, Mari, and Gwen
Even though it had been a serious WHIRLWIND day, it was nice to kick back and just sit around a campfire and talk for a while. I want to invite Natalie and her friends to come back and do this again soon! I always love a campfire evening!!
Saturday: Mari and I made the LOOOOONG drive back to Reno to meet up with Charmaine again. We stopped at Shoshone Falls (in Twin Falls) on the way. It did not disappoint! The waterfall is 212 feet in height, but what surprised me is the enormous canyon surrounding the waterfall, and the multitude of other cascades and waterfalls in the area. It was spectacular!
It took us longer to get into the park and get a parking place than it did to get out and take pictures from two separate lookout points! But it was all worth it.
We made it safely to Reno by 6:30 p.m. and found a great restaurant in the area called Poke Bowl (I think it's pronounced Pokey Bowl). It's sort of like ordering at Subway, only they offer things like cubed salmon, fresh tuna, shrimp, scallops, etc. for the proteins. You can choose white rice, brown rice, salad greens or wonton chips as your base. And then there's all the add-ons. It got pretty fun choosing all the colorful sides. In addition to getting salmon, tuna, and spicy tuna for my proteins, I chose seaweed salad, mangoes, green onions, fish eggs, diced cucumber, edamame, and some sauces and sprinkles. It was amazing!!
Sunday: Today, I drove all the way back home by myself. I made excellent time, all except for the 1-hour delay just outside of Wells, Nevada due to a collision. Traffic was backed up for a long ways, so I just sat there in my car and relaxed. Thankfully, I had great internet capabilities, so I perused the internet for a while and called Amber at one point, too.
I stopped in Wells just prior to the traffic delay, so that I could get some gas and some lunch. I was talking to Scott as I pulled into the gas station, and told him I needed to call him back because I saw a young man standing across the street with a sign that said, "NEED GAS," and that I wanted to help him out. I waved him over to where I was, so he scurried across the road with his 5-gallon gas can. While he filled it up, I learned a lot about him.
His name is Robert and he is only 18 years old. He was driving from North Dakota all the way out to Sacramento, CA to go live with his grandparents because his situation at home was not good. He left with $200 and a van to get out there. I asked him if he had any food, and he happily answered that he had an apple. I was about to invite him to come eat at the diner next door with me, but he said he was just trying to get to Sacramento as fast as he could. He told me he was really nervous, and a little scared, because of all the rioting going on, and he hoped that he would be safe. I told him to pray, and that I would pray for him, too. I told him to be smart and careful in what parts of town he drove through. I offered him a string cheese that I had with me, which he very happily accepted and started eating it immediately, right in front of me! That told me just how hungry he probably was.
As he finished filling up his gas can, I went to see how much money I had in my purse. I was devastated to see that I only had $3.00. I wish that I had had a twenty instead. His eyes lit up when I offered him my pitiful $3.00 and he said, "Oh thank you! This will help so much!" I suggested that maybe it could buy him a hamburger at some point. He said, "God bless you." I wanted to give him a hug, and I think he wanted to give me a hug. But you know, social distancing and all. So I told him I was just glad he had grandparents to go to, and what an honor it is to be a grandma myself. He was such a delightful and lovely young man. I hope he made it safely to be with his grandparents. I have prayed more than a few times for him so far today.
News from Scott:
We celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary yesterday (June 13th). Obviously we couldn't do anything really special on opposite sides of the world, but we vowed to once again add this special occasion to all the rest of the special occasions we have to make up for when he gets home. But between yesterday and today, we spoke probably 7 times on the phone, so that was nice. :)
He's had to move around a bit because of coronavirus fears in Saudi Arabia. They are having a huge spike in new cases recently, so everyone is on edge. He's just going with the flow, though, and seems to be doing well.
During one of our recent phone calls, he was washing dishes in his sink. Such a small and seemingly mundane task. But when you're apart, it just seems homey and endearing. :)
When I got home tonight, I saw this on my bed. It made me laugh. Maybe the girls wanted me to have some sort of adventure. Not a bad idea.
And last, but not least, Abby lost her FIRST TOOTH! I leave for the weekend and she loses her tooth while I'm gone! She noticed about a week ago that it was loose. When we first talked to her about losing teeth, she seemed disturbed and anxious about the idea. So Amber took her to the library and they found several books about the Tooth Fairy. Reading those for several days was a perfect antidote for her previous fears. While visiting her Nana Whitworth yesterday in Rigby, Idaho, she lost her tooth shortly after eating lunch.
Amber cleverly designed a "thank you card" from the Tooth Fairy.
So, off we go into a new week. Hope it's a good one!!
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