Summer Photos

Some photos from around the farm.

Lens flare over straw rows.

Spectacular sunrise over Ontario

My really wonderful wire garden basket

Can you spot the hummingbird? This was taken through the patio door

Cabbage butterfly on echinacea

My little dragonfly friend. This was taken near the pump pond among the kochia weeds.

New (part time) digs in Mesa!

Hi family,

Craig and I go to spring training in Arizona nearly every year. He loves baseball enough for both of us and I love him so we go and have a good time. This past March we were sitting by a couple from Spokane who had bought a condo in Mesa a few months earlier. They couldn't stop talking about it and it really did sound great. So we went to visit. It is an age restricted community of over 1,000 condos and homes with 2 golf courses, pools, every kind of court for every kind of game, plus all kinds of rooms full of equipment for sewing, woodworking, stained glass, lapidary, dance, travel, etc, etc. It is quite an active place! And very impressive, more impressive than we expected. While we don't want to live there full time, we liked the idea of having a place to stay during spring training, and a place to visit if the weather is too cold or foggy at home in the winter. We waited until the temperature went up and the prices went down and now we are in escrow! We are buying a 2 bedroom condo that is about 1400 square feet. It is 36 years old and has been empty for about 4 years. It needs a lot of work, but we are looking at it as a project and are excited about it.

The carpet is "newer", but we will need to completely redo the kitchen and bathrooms, some of the electrical and the roof will need some repairs. The current owner is older and lives in another state so they took a low offer. We have lots of ideas, but want to keep costs down! We will be able to use a lot of things from around our house to take there.

So if you are visiting spring training or Arizona for any reason, just let us know and you can stay there!

Love,

Linda and Craig

The Robinsons visit Nauvoo and Chicago May 2010

Dear Family,
We got to go to Nauvoo again this year! We went with 2 couples from our ward. We were able to stay in the same wonderful house directly across the street from the beautiful Nauvoo temple that we stayed at last year. Here is the view from our bedroom window!


Aunt Arlene had sent me an article about the bronze grillwork in the Celestial Room that a relative of ours worked on in this temple. Craig and I made sure to look at it and even touch it. Gorgeous! Of course, I made sure our friends noticed it as well.

All three couples work in the Sacramento temple. One of the other couples works in the baptistry like us. So after attending a session, we asked if we could see the baptistry and were able to take a tour of it. WOW! That baptistry is HUGE. The font is oval shaped with 4 oxen on each side and 2 on each end. Back in the 1840s they could baptize 4 people at a time! It has its own chapel and a lovely stained glass window, even though it is downstairs. We saw Joseph's saber hanging in a box on the wall and several old temple aprons that are really unusual. Pretty cool!

Here is a picture of the temple at night.

This year we made sure we had time to go on the Community of Christ (Reorganized church) tour. They own all of the Joseph Smith properties. Our guide was WONDERFUL. He is a great grandson of the Prophet Joseph and really knows his church history. At the last stop on the second floor of the red brick store he asked if any of our group had ancestors that lived in Nauvoo in the 1840s. Several of us raised our hands. He asked their names and I was the last one. I said Redd and Butler. He asked what Butler. I said John Lowe Butler. He said his very favorite quote of any pioneer was from John Lowe Butler. He gave a very brief background of the voting day experience with the mobs and quoted this by heart: "I never struck a man the second time and while knocking them down I really felt that they would embrace the gospel." I had read the quote before, but I didn't have it memorized like he did! That made my day.

We left Nauvoo on Thursday and our son and his family drove in on Saturday. So close! But we did not get to see them.

We drove back to Chicago and here is proof that Craig was really at Wrigley field. It is a small stadium and pretty cool. We rode the L to the game and other places, we ate at a famous pizza place and got pretty close to Lake Michigan. We had the best time! What a wonderful trip.

Love,

Linda and Craig

Yosemite - Davises & Feddocks

The Davises went camping at Yosemite last week,
The Feddocks joined them later in the week.
We stayed at Tuolumne Meadows campground,
which is way up high at 10,000'. We had such
a nice time together!

Here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure!
Admittedly, you can tell whose mother took the pictures.

If you want to see any picture larger, just click on it.

Blair and Susan Davis

Laurel, Michael, and Michael Feddock.
Breanne stayed home to work.
She didn't mind the peace and quiet.

Mesmerizing fire where we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows

Half Dome from Olmsted Point

Bridal Veil Falls


The Michaels rock-hopping in the mist of the falls


Merced River at Swinging Bridge
Do you see the water fall?


Susan on Swinging Bridge (that no longer swings)


Mikey spots a deer


Half Dome from Glacier Point

So spectacular!!





Rock-hopping at Glacier Point

The Michaels running down a rock.
Notice they are exactly the same; head tilt,
right arm down, right leg forward. Clones!

Mr. I-love-to-run-and-jump Feddock

Recharging

The Pop Tart Boys; Michael & Blair.

Blair wore a cool head net to keep the bugs out.

The rock-hoppers wanted to run up this rock
that juts out of a meadow.

They ran right up it! Mikey had to stop and rest
a few times, being at 10,000'.

The Thinker, thinking on the way down

Phrew! That was fun!

Laurel & Mikey swimming in Tenaya Lake on the way home

Going home too soon.

Thanks for the fun campout, Susan & Blair!

Laurel & Breanne in Mexico

Breanne and me in the bathroom mirror in our Puebla hotel.
So happy to be together!

Breanne and friends on a wall around a fort.
The boy on the end made us homesick for Michael!


A touristy souvenir vendor street in Puebla with painted cobblestones.

My matchy earrings I got on the souvenir street.
I'm sure I'm in the middle of saying something very important.

View from our second floor hotel room in Tehuacan,
the city Breanne lives and teaches in. I had to laugh that
morning because all morning we could hear honking
cars. Honking honking honking! They are impatient
drivers! It was funny. If I lived there, it might not be funny.

Bree stops to admire a painting in our pretty hotel

Pretty street across from the little shop where Breanne's
family makes school lunches. She works there with them
in the mornings. The school children stop on the way to
school to buy their lunch, or climb up this wall and call
to them to bring their lunch!

This is how you buy pastries and rolls.
You get a tray and tongs, walk around, take what you want,
then bring it to the front to pay for it. They wrap up your goods
and off you go. We tried a few bites of several things!

Back in Puebla, this is the view from our window
in the morning before the bustling begins.
The gray brick on the right is a church.

The church across the street

Is it a cathedral?

Church detail

Outside of the church, food vendors are setting up.
This is Holy Week (week before Easter) and there will
be a LOT of people going in and out of the churches.

These are common for lunch. I forget what they are called.
We had them in Tehuacan. $.50 for two lunches!


I saw some Mexican Scouts and had to take a picture!
I felt tall.

I'll put these photos in our next Boy Scout newsletter at work.

We stayed in on this day and watched DVD's in
our hotel room on Breanne's laptop.

Breanne feverishly finished knitting a muffler she was
making for a friend so I could mail it from home.

Here come the Holy Week crowds

This cute lady is burning "Michael" into
a leather bracelet for The Boy.

Out and about at the zócalo, the main square.
There were families, couples, teens, children, all out
enjoying the perfect weather, restaurants, vendors
and church. A lot of happy hubbub. I loved it.
I also enjoyed thinking of Uncle Earl Redd who
served in this city (Puebla) on his mission. I'll bet
you a million bucks he spent time here at the zócalo.

Laurel and Breanne at the zócalo

Breanne introduced me to many things including 'elotes.'
It is hot corn on the cob, spread with mayo, dusted with
powdery cheese and sprinkled with chili powder or sauce.
You get messy, but it's oh so yummy! It made me
think of artichokes. It was probably the mayo.

Didn't think I'd want to finish it, but I did.

Breanne brought her dad's film camera.
She's quite the photog.

Friday was pyramid day in Teotihuacan.
I saw this sign on the bus on the way
and thought of home.

Women in Mexico often link arms or hold hands while walking.
We liked doing that. This is on the pyramid bus.

It was a long way to walk to the pyramids.
I liked thinking about the Book of Mormon people
who probably dwelled here. Wow! These sunken
grassy areas were surrounded by artistic-looking
rock walls and ruins that looked complex to me.
Like divisions of rooms and even some water drainage.

Wow, the Temple of the Moon pyramid. So cool!
It felt like another world and another time.
It was all so big and spacious and ancient-feeling.

Close up of a wall

Getting closer to the Temple of the Sun

Artsy photo by Breanne
She hopes to display some of her
work at a local cafe.

Water drainage?

Almost there!

We're halfway up the Temple of the Sun pyramid!
Being out of shape, having climbed half way up,
and being at 10,000', my heart was racing and
decided to not get in line to go to the top. Breanne
had been here recently and made it to the
top with her friends.

It was bright!

Pyramid girls

Got some loot to bring home

Bree introduced me to mangos-on-a-stick.
They peel the mango and cut it like a flower
for you so it's easier to bite. I don't
remember liking mangos before today.
I fly home in the morning.

After pulling an all-nighter in the bus station and airport
I'm on my way home. I'm pretty sure this is Baja
California and the Gulf of California.
I can't wait until Breanne makes this same flight
and comes home to us. After almost four
months she only has two weeks left!
Thanks for the great week, Breanne and Mexico.