Ann's Words

Since raising up Claire, my role as family photographer has relaxed immensely.  She’s taken over with her professional photographer’s eye.  I just snap a few pics here and there for the fun of it.  Claire is the real deal now.  Here are a few of my pics from our time at Newport, an overview of what we do here, how we play, how we love being together.

Aaron drove with us.  Claire, Graham and Abbey flew in a few days later, Then Heidi and the 4 kids flew in.  For a few days, we divided into 2 villas, then our numbers thinned again as the workers had to return to their jobs, leaving us with only Heidi and the kids the last few days.  It was a pretty perfect holiday for everyone.

We go to the beach for part of almost every day.  We swim in the resort pools.  We eat when we’re hungry.  We read books and watch movies.  We love spending this time together in a care-free and relaxing place.

Here we are facetiming with Dr Adam, who started his 2nd year of residency at St Louis University Hospital this summer.  We are missing him here!

I took my traditional box of books and we worked our way through it.  This year, aside from reading dozens of books to the kids, I finished reading 2 series I’ve been loving this summer–The Great Brain books (8 in the series) by John D. Fitzgerald, and the Flavia de Luce series (10 in the series) by Alan Bradley.  It was my 2nd time reading The Great Brain, a series I love dearly.

The kids love playing Wingspan and Monopoly Go, and we all love Mormon Bridge.

The kids loved some of the fun at the activity center, like this Princesses and Pirates party:

When we weren’t at the beach, we went to the pools here at the restort.

We listened to this little ditty more times than we every wanted to:

I had a wonderful visit from my dear friend, Kitty Butner.  We’ve been friends since we worked together at the MTC in 1984!

Our final day, last meal, before taking Heidi and the kids to the airport to fly to SLC.  Then we got in our car, alone, and headed home too.

So this afternoon, Tuesday 20 June, this text came to each of our phones:

We decided to wait until evening to open it, when Adam would be home from his work at the hospital.  Then we gathered around with our phones and opened the call.  Here is a part of what we read:

We are THRILLED.  It’s just what we hoped for.  We learned of this opportunity last August while we were at Ashley Lake in Montana.  That afternoon John turned to me and asked, “are you ready to go again??”  I knew exactly what he was asking and said, “YES!!”  That evening we went on the Missionary Portal to see what kinds of options were available for Senior Missionaries.  We quickly found 2 requests for missionaries in Frankfurt, Germany that spoke to us.  One was an Archivist Record Extractor, the other was a Public Communications Specialist, both in the Central Europe Area Offices.

When we got home from that trip, we called on both, wondering if I could do Records and John could do Communications.  We learned the records job was filled.  We had trouble reaching someone about the other job.  When we finally connected, we learned that the couple (the Parrys) in Salt Lake recruiting for all the world-wide Public Communications posts are dear friends who served in Ghana while we were in Bamako.

On 7 October, The Parrys arranged for us to have a Facetime call Dinis (pronounced Deneesh) Adriano, the Public Communications Director for the Europe Central Area.  He was in town for General Conference.  We had a great visit and he asked how soon we could come–next week??  We told him we could be ready early in the new year, possibly February or March.  He was thrilled.  We were thrilled.

We started filling our our application papers and scheduling doctor appointments for all the medical checks.  I went in for my yearly mammogram that week.  A few days later they called me back for a second mammogram check.  I wasn’t worried, that happens.

On October 13, I recorded in my journal:  “Today John has his yearly physical at 2:15 with Dr Stalehi. I’ll go and get my TB test read. He’ll do his labs. All needed for our missionary papers. It’s been excellent timing to have these Dr apts this last week and this. I’ll go next Tues for my labs and the 2nd mammogram. Tues afternoon I have my dentist apt. Then my papers will be complete. John goes to the dentist on the 27th. That will be the last thing we need before submitting our papers.”

On October 26, I had to go for a biopsy.  The mammograms revealed a small tumor they were concerned about.

On November 1, I got the call.  I had breast cancer.  We took our trip to Germany and Israel in December and January, then I had surgery.  Radiation followed in February.  Mission plans were put on hold.  I recovered and by April, I was given a clean bill of health.  In May we submitted our mission papers.  And now we are ready to go!

The Europe Central Area, headquartered in Frankfurt includes 20 missions, 34 stakes, 20 districts and 37 countries: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

We will live in Frankfurt for 18 months, doing what we can to promote good relations and awareness of the Church in these areas, working with the country public communication specialists and leaders in the stakes.  There will be training and traveling.  It will be an exciting and interesting job.  We are really excited to contribute what we can here.

Here is the mission photo we submitted with our applications:

I recorded this today in my journal (the italics):

My favorite thing today (after stopping for donuts at City Donuts) was Clark asking question after question about my life and my grandparents and great grandparents and on. “Tell me a story about. . . .” I told him stories in the car as we drove here and there. The black widow story, the burning the trees story, the day Paul freed my Monarch after it came out of the chrysalis, my Grandpa’s black widow bites, Grandma’s long white hair (Elsa is a Frozen princess). I told him about Paul trying to catch burglars by sitting in the dark house and about the day burglars really did break in and steal our TV. He wanted to know how everyone in my family died, going back generations. When I told him that my grandpa probably had a heart attack on the day he died (that morning he said he was ready to die now), he asked “did he go into cardiac arrest?” I immediately thought of his doctor father and asked if his dad taught him that.  He said, “no, I learned it on a show about constrictor snakes.  They squeeze their prey until their hearts stop and they go into cardiac arrest.”  Snakes are his favorite topic right now. 

Of course he asked me to tell him stories about snakes, so I told him about the time I was walking down a road in the bush of Nigeria, and I heard the villagers around me shouting and running towards the road, waving their arms and stick branches.  I wondered what was happening, then saw that they were chasing a huge, maybe 12 foot long snake up to the road where I was walking.  The snake had gotten into the villagers chicken coops and eaten all the eggs and they villagers were Mad.  Just as I walked by, the long snake crossed the road a few feet from where I was walking, spanning the whole width of the road. At that moment, a car sped by on the road, and ran right over the snake, killing it. As I watched it writhing in death, I looked down at my clothes.  They were splattered with egg yolks. Clark Loved my snake story.  He started asking for more stories and the others joined in.

John told the story of his sister, Diana, playing with matches and setting the house on fire (she threw the match in a trash can that lit on fire, then hid the trash can in a closet that caught on fire).

I need to wrack my brain for more stories to tell him. He loves to hear them, the others too. Heidi later told me that he repeated all of my stories to her (she wasn’t in our car). She said he remembered so many little details. Now every time we get into the car, the kids want me to tell them stories.

I told them my black widow story found here:

Black Widow Spiders

And I told him about how we went gigging bull frogs in the night with headlamps and how we tried to catch robbers in the dark when we were kids.

The Hunt for Bullfrogs

I explained what it was like growing up on a farm and what jobs we did.  It was interesting that Clark specifically asked for stories of times we got into trouble. Storyteller, Donald Davis says those stories are the most interesting. Too bad I didn’t get into trouble very often!

I found it interesting that the kids were enthralled with each story, no matter how long or short or dramatic.  They wanted more and more.  I was grateful for the stories I had in my head that I had recorded somewhere.  They were so much easier to remember.  But in time, I ran out of stories.

Then I had a brilliant idea.  I told the kids if they’d give me a topic, I’d tell them a story about that topic.  So they started giving me random topics.  It was like having a prompt for a free-write. Here are some of the topics Clark and Josie gave me:

Snakes (they loved my Nigeria snake stories–the egg eater and the vultures) and a story about a boy in my ward who was their age when he was bit by a rattlesnake that stunted his hand.
Giraffe–told them about the crooked necked giraffe at the Santa Barbara Zoo. Later looked her up and learned she died in 2008 and her neck skeleton is now on display there
Raccoons–told about how our neighbors at Sundance had their watermelon eaten off their porch
Butterflies–told about the bug collections in my Grandma’s upstairs closet and how I collected bugs, had killing jars, mounted them, etc. I told them about the time their dad caught his first Monarch.
Rabbits–Shep, our German Shepherd would chasing jack rabbits and leave the dead rabbits on the yard for us to find.
Sharks and Wolverines (Clark’s favorite animals). Told him I’ve had no experience with them yet.
Bugs I don’t like: mosquitoes and cockroaches.  I told them about living in Africa with those bugs around me ALL THE TIME.
Birds–told about my brother Paul hunting starlings with his BB gun when we were kids.  Starlings pecked the fruit in the orchards, ruining it.
I told them about the vultures who sat on our tin roof when I lived in Eket, Nigeria.  We collected rain water (for drinking) when it ran off that roof, so we’d have to let it rain for a bit to wash the poop off the roof before we gathered it in our big water barrels.
Frogs–hunting for bullfrogs with Bro. Danner, gigging, cleaning, eating them
Snails– kids with bush lanterns in Eket hunting for snails to roast over fires for dinner. Aunt Berta’s pet snails and how she let them climb all over her arms.
Sad things that happened: My Grandma Ruby’s little sister, Lucille Lundquist (b. 1906) died at age 2 1/2 after playing with matches and catching on fire.  Her brother Carl (age 18) died of sun stroke after working on a roof on a hot day.
How people died –told him about every ancestor I could think of

Now every time they ask for a story, when I can’t think of one, I’ll ask them for a topic.  I’m trying to write down what comes out, so I can remember to record those stories, especially the ones that seem especially interesting to them.  They like hearing some of them over and over.  I hope I will become a better and better storyteller!  Stories hold families together.

Food is a Big Part of our family vacation experiences.  Here are a few things we brought with us, often the same kinds of things from year to year:  cold cereal, chips, PB&J, beach snacks for the kids, candy for John.

We eat out most nights when we’re here.  We stop at Costco and shop at the local grocery store called Pavilions, buying things like fresh produce to make Salsa Sorta, steaks to grill for Sundays, ice cream and root beer for RBFs (root beer floats), popsicles, lots of milk and eggs and English muffins for breakfast sandwiches, local artichokes when they are in season, lunch meat, cheese and crackers, cottage cheese and fruit.  We also buy lots of fresh daily donuts!

Food keeps everyone happy.  The kids spend considerable time planning where to eat out and making reservations.  They make spreadsheets and Aaron made a Qualtrics survey for everyone to enter every meal (and pics) so we will remember what we liked and didn’t like from year to year.  This is how our data-driven kids’ minds work.

Eating experiences will change a bit when Heidi and the grandkids arrive in a few days.  We try to make it a little easier on her.  Four kids 6 and under make restaurant eating fun!

Our favorite restaurants are Bandera’s, Nick’s, South of Nick’s, Bear Flag Taco, Chronic Tacos, Summer House, Rose’s Bakery, Acai Bowls, The Beach  Comber at Crystal Cove, Ruby’s Diner, and ice cream cones at Rite Aid.  And donuts, lots of donuts!

Our first days in Newport Beach, Claire, Graham and Aaron were with us.  One of my favorite memories is going out to dinner in Laguna Beach at a restaurant called Mozambique that served South African food.  Before our dinner reservation, we walked through some lovely residential streets, enjoying the beautiful yards and landscaping.  I found a loquat tree and introduced the kids to this fruit that I grew up with.  Grandma had a loquat tree in her yard and we loved the fruit all summer long, sweet and juicy with such beautiful big brown slimy seeds that were fun to suck on.

We ordered several dishes so everyone could try a bit of each:  Indian Samoosas, Durban lamb curry, chicken peri-peri, and boerwors with fried onions and tomatoes with mashed potatoes (not miele pap). The kids loved it all. It was really really good and fun. Something new for them, something very nostalgic for me.

Sunday after church we took a walk along the beach.

And we walked through some of our favorite neighborhoods, wondering who lives here??  I was thinking about mansions in heaven.  Some of these might qualify.  Then I think about mud huts in Mali, and think I might be more comfortable there.   I wish things in this world were more equitable.  It sometimes makes my heart hurt.

Today we also tuned into our home Stonewood 4th Ward because a new Bishopric was sustained by our neighbors there.  Dallin Anderson is our new Bishop, with Kyley Jex and Mike Pelo as his counselors.  That was exciting!  They will be fantastic.

When I was a little girl, my family was tied to the farm and we hardly ever went on vacations.  I grew up in central California, in the San Joaquin Valley, “The Fruit Basket of the World.”  All summer long, we worked long hard hot hours in the fruit packing shed, sun up to sun down.  Summer was a time for hard hot physical work.  I worked in the shed all of my growing up years, until I went off on international adventures and then lived on my own.  Growing up, I never knew summers could be fun.

Later, with a family of our own, I discovered summers to be a whole new world–with summer play and trips to the beach.  Instead of a grind, they have become a delight.  Today we loaded our car with FUN things (like car seats, vacation food, beach chairs and boogie boards) and we headed to Newport Beach.  We vacation there every year with the kids, who will be flying in to join us.  This will be our last vacation for a little while.  We’ve submitted our mission papers again and we are waiting for a call.  It’s an exciting time.  We expect to hear from the Missionary Department sometime in the next week or so.  I’m grateful for a clean bill of health.  I’m grateful for our family, kids and grandkids.  And I’m grateful for summer fun!

When I was a girl, the few times we took a family trip (usually during spring vacation, before the harvest began).  We went to places like Yosemite, Caramel, Death Valley, San Diego or the Gold Rush Country, all somewhere in California and relatively easy to drive to.  Whenever we pulled out of our driveway, my Mom would sing a little jingle from her childhood, “We’re On Our Little Way.”  Then in the song, we’d sing goodbye to our house, the dogs, the yard, and whatever else we saw as we pulled out of the driveway until our home was out of sight.  I still sing that little song every time we drive away from our home.  I always connects me to my Mom and to her Mom.  It’s how we leave a place.  This will be our last little leaving, until our next Big Leaving.  Please stay tuned!