May Happenings

We flew home to Wenatchee (via Seattle) and arrived just in time to grab some Chinese food with Mark, Eunice and Monte at the Golden East then went directly to the Saturday evening session of Stake Conference (without going to the house). It was great to see so many friends. As we got dropped off at home after the session (our car is still in St. George), we found our house safe and secure. Thank you Sarah Cabbage! We both felt a great flood of relief as we crawled into our bed for the first time in many months. We were home. And we both felt that we gave 100% of our capacity - a very satisfying experience for us.

The following week was a blur as we re-connected with family. Jon, Cher, Mark, Laurel, Kyle, KT & kids all got together at various times and in different combinations. It was wonderful. Our family is such a joy to us. Each individual is unique and each of the 29 adds something that makes for an even better summation.

Baseball and Baptisms

May 29-31. What a wonderful weekend. Amy flew up and Mark brought his crew over to Seattle (we missed you, Matt!) for a mixture of the temporal and the spiritual (although I am sure we will play baseball in the next life). Will was finishing his season on his father-coached Richmond team, so we were able to enjoy watching a couple of his final games of the season and attend the award ceremony after the final game. Will has the frame of a baseball player and is growing up too fast. He has skills.

Anytime we can get the gang together is a good time (did I say we missed you, Matt!). They have become such good citizens, parents, and people. We are so proud of them. 

On Saturday afternoon, after a nice lunch, we were thrilled to attend the baptisms of our grandsons, Noah and Jonathan (Jonny), as they became official members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We are so pleased they made the decision to take this important step.  

KR's 60th Birthday

As always seems to be the case with us over the past decade, many of our birthdays occur when we are traveling or otherwise occupied. We just haven't had the opportunity to celebrate them as we would like. KR hit the big "60" this year and, naturally, it occurred the day of our return from our mission. Happy Birthday, mi amor. Thanks to M&M for at least helping us remember her while we were in Houston.

Houston, Back in the U.S.A.

We flew Cartagena-Miami-Houston, with a layover in Miami of several hours. We took advantage and had some lunch at Chili's. Aahhhhh! We live in such a great country (patriotic flag waving). We finally arrived in Houston the evening of the 14th to spend a few days (leaving on the 17th) with Matt & Megan and get to know grandchild #17, Charlotte Raelynn Anderton. She was born in April, so KR did not get to spend the customary "Grandma time" with her due to our Colombia commitment. We were very excited to see Charlotte, her two brothers, and M&M.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time with the Anderton Houston clan. We attended Elijah's preschool graduation, bonded with Charlotte (what a cutie), rested, ate too much, participated in Charlotte's blessing, and generally chased Elijah and Oliver around. Just hook the power grid to the wiring of those two and you would fulfill our energy needs for a couple of decades.

The Doors of Cartagena

Mike was fascinated by the thousands of wonderful, vintage doors in Cartagena and he kept snapping pictures!