Grandma Afton's Funeral

Thinking and writing about Grandma Afton is still fairly tender for me.  I am forever grateful for someone as amazing as her in my life.  Such simple, yet significant memories....  her tee-hee laugh, her and Grandpa Joe's romance, her piano and love of music, her stories of growing up during the Great Depression and "making do," her sweet quiet loving nature and simple service--baking pies and handing treats over the fence to the neighbors.  If I someday come close to being like her, it will be a great accomplishment.  Her funeral was very special and just enough "fuss" I think-- I'm sure it made her proud of all her legacy.  I think my favorite moment was when all of the grandkids, who are nearly all adults now, sang "I Stand All Amazed" together--grandma's favorite song. (Thank you Mandy for finding the arrangement and leading, and thank you Jenae for playing.)  It was such a testimony to me of legacy and family and of our Savior's love.  

The following day was Sunday, and everyone came together after church for a bbq at my parents' house.  It was so nice to just hang out together and catch up with cousins that we haven't seen in a while.  

Mom is SIXTY?!?!

A few months ago I received a phone call from Dad that Mom was turning 60 and when he asked what she wanted for her birthday, her first off-hand response was "I want my girls."  So, with the stealth of a ninja, he offered to help with plane fare, and with the help and support of sweet husbands, the four of us made plans to surprise her!  Aunt Michelle offered to help with Grandma Afton (it turned out that she passed away that week, so plans changed slightly..but more on that in another post) and let us use her cabin, and Mandy did some great research for fun things to do.  IT WAS A BLAST.  I don't think I laugh with anyone as hard as I laugh with my sisters.  No kids, no men, just the girls-- this was a first.  I was definitely missing Jason and my kiddos by the end, but we had such fun!  I feel like we did things that are such Meyers-Idaho-native things to do-- antique shopping in funny little stores, rock collecting, hiking and gathering delicious huckleberries, decadent homemade breakfast, and playing speedy card games.  It still tickles me that when Mandy got our her games, everyone commented in one way or another-- "Oh!  Let's play the speed game!  I love games like that, but nobody will play with me!"  Haha!  We all were pretty good and the scores were pretty even when we decided to quit and start the movie.  I'm thinkin...  we should make this girl's weekend a regular thing.... maybe every other year or something???

Suprise!!

Hiking and huckleberries-- soooo delicious!

I now know why they are so expensive.  Not only are they delicious, but they do not grow in bunches and they are very very tiny--smaller than a pea.

Silly selfies at a restaurant in McCall

Shopping--cute pants!

The Meyers gals arrived in Boise Thursday, partied in McCall and Cascade Friday, participated in Grandma Afton's funeral Saturday, and did church and a BIG family bbq on Sunday.  Whew!

As was mentioned in another post, it was truly a "tender mercy" that Grandma Afton passed when she did, and that we had already made these plans.  Although Dad had to spill the beans so that they could schedule the funereal, we were all able to go to the funeral on Saturday, and Mom still got a real birthday celebration on Friday.

PS

While I was gone, Jason, being the amazing man he is, took all the kids to the cabin for a weekend-- just him and the kids!   Everyone loved it. 

I love this picture taken just after they got home. Everyone wanted and snack and Sue was already filthy dirty, so Jason decided to let her go for it!

Mmmm.....CHOCOLATE.  

Meyers Family

Just had to post this wonderful picture.  It's been a long time since we had just the girls.  No offence guys and kids, but when we get them together without any distractions they really get going with the chatter and laughter.  It truly brought back some wonderful memories and Sue was thrilled to have them all to herself for a night up in Cascade.  What a wonderful tender mercy that what we planned for Sue's birthday worked out just fine for Afton's funeral.

What a beautiful family...if I may say so without popping too many buttons...

Middle Fork Salmon Trip

What an incredible trip Sue and I had going down the Middle Fork of the Salmon River!  96 miles of wilderness down the heart of Idaho back-country.  For 25 years we have been faithfully entering the lottery to go down the river and for 25 years we have lost out.  This year was different because Paul Proctor decided it was time to work the system and sat at his computer for hours searching for a cancelled trip.  He got one!!  25 years ago, Paul Proctor, Stan Pierce, Paul Wolters and I among 12 others, went down the Selway River.  That was the trip that resulted in the tragic accident that took the life of Paul's brother, Kirk.  We have managed to stay in touch all these years, but this is the first time we managed to get together to do something we all love....Rafting and the great outdoors.

My brother Paul and my cousin Jim were going to go with me on this trip but cancelled just a few days before we were ready to leave.  I see this as a wonderful blessing, many things all happened in perfect timing to allow Sue to decide to join us.  Just two days before we were to leave, Sue ran out of reasons not to come along :o)..  and of course, it was a very busy couple of days getting everything ready to go.  Much like a Lake Powell trip, where we purchased all the food and organized the menus, fortunately I had already made the menus and all we had to do was go shopping.  Still...Sue's wonderful organizational skills made it all the better.

The first day on the river we went over Velvet falls...a pretty big drop, and the water just sucked the 4 burner stove right out of the raft!!  I thought I had everything pretty well tied down, because that's the only thing that was missing Friday night when we pulled into our first camp.  Oh well...We made do with a large grill we put on the fire pan and a small MSR camp stove with only one bottle of fuel for the entire week.  We ate very well, we had a lot of fun, and Sue got a very healthy dose of good fishing every day.  I had a lot of fun each time we stopped at a camp or for lunch, I would make rock cairns.  After a while I got pretty good at stacking rocks and many other people would float by and comment on them.  For some reason, it was very relaxing to do this...kind of a Zen thing..  The only other things that went wrong during the trip was that I went swimming with my cell phone - ARRRGGHH!! , and my air mattress would not hold air.  Eight nights sleeping on the hard ground did wonders for my back ;o)..  One might conclude that this one not a very fun trip, but I would counter that we had a wonderful time and I quickly ran out of adjectives to describe my awe of  the beauty and majestic grandeur of this incredible country!!  Yes!!  I can't wait to do it again!!

MacKay-grams

Shelley is in town!!  Couldn't pass up a chance to hang with this gal and catch up over dinner!  Love this girl! 

Water day with our cousins!  Love this little crew! So cute! 

This is how we keep the kids reading over summer-- I LOVE BOOK CLUB!  Basically, the deal is, if you read the book, you get to go to the fun activity with your friends.  This year we had three age levels and they all did great!  Jake even spent 2-3 hours reading one day just to catch up. 

I love it when these two play together!  Today it was building a fort for their stuffed animals. Very focussed. 

It's tomato season!  Yum!

I love this happy girl. We're just hanging out during swim lessons and she just trots around smiling at everyone! Sunshine Sue! 

The boys love to play spy ninjas!  The only drawback, is that sometimes this game includes sneaking up on mommy then screaming when she looks your way-- causing mommy to be in a constant state of startle!   Aaa!!!!!  Haha!  They're pretty stinkin' cute though! 

Suzy LOVES her cousin Lincoln.  Every time we go to dance class, she wants to hold him.... Even though I'm pretty sure he out-weighs her!  Little pixie! 

Wrestle Daddy!!   I love this man.