13 August 2017 - Happy Anniversary

A whirlwind week started on Monday with Stephen getting a text message from Don Powell inviting him on a boat ride and fishing trip on the Sound. Stephen replied back requesting permission to take Isaac and Andrew. They didn't have much time to get ready but they made it on the boat and enjoyed themselves immensely. Stephen had to take the boys to get fishing licenses and the poles on the boat kind of fished for them. They came home with a medium sized salmon and 3 crabs...or at least the legs of the crab. The Salmon was eaten that night and the crabs were saved until the next day.
Monday was a long day of work for Benjamin since he was leaving on Thursday. He wanted to get as much time in as possible so he was gone about 14 hours.
Tuesday, was a work day in the yard for Kathleen. Stephen worked in the Family History library from 3 to 6 and then Rebekah and Stephen had a dinner appointment with the Single Adults so the rest of the family went to Cafe Rio for their Tasty Tuesday special. Isaac, Andrew, Emeri and Oakley all got a free quesadilla and everyone else got salad. Stephen had meetings after the SA dinner so he was gone for the rest of the evening.
Wednesday was a canning day for Kathleen. She managed to can up 3 double batches of Loganberry jam into pints and quarts. The Loganberries are coming on strong and Stephen and the boys picked quite a lot of large bowls full. Kathleen used the Squeezo to take out the seeds then heated up the jars and lids (which she had to get down from above the washer and dryer) and cook up the jam. It was a long process but turned out pretty well. By the time she was finished she started making a batch of bread for dinner. Unfortunately the yeast must have been bad because it took HOURS to raise. The final product came out of the oven by around 8:00 that night.
Thursday was the day Ben and Elizabeth with Rebekah, Issac, Andrew, Emeri, Oakley and Ezra were leaving to Susan's house. There was a lot of last minute packing and hunting for shoes, picking up toys, preparing lunches, scrambling for seats and places in two cars. They were finally off by 11:00 or so and after they left to Rebekah's place to drop off her car they came back and picked up a stuffed unicorn and then they were finally on their way. Kathleen had to water plants after they left. It was still not and dry with over 50 days of no rain. Along with heat in the 90's the grass and outdoor life has been hit hard. Thursday night Stephen had Stake presidency visits so he was absent for the evening.
Friday the alarm went off at 4:40 and Kathleen and Stephen were up and dressed with a back pack ready for a road trip to Port Angeles where they had tickets on the Black Ball Ferry to Victoria. Stephen planned to have this activity for our 37th anniversary. He knew that Kathleen would love it. From the dock in Victoria it was a shuttle drive to the Butchart Gardens. The Gardens cover 130 acres of what used to be a cement plant in the early 1900's. The Butcharts were wealthy owners at the time and the wife, Jenni, liked to garden. When the limestone quarry went out of business, Mr. Butchart put his men to work helping Jenni create a larger garden. They entertained many royal and government people. After a guest challenged Jenni by saying "nothing could grow in the old limestone quarry", Jenni set to work making sure that it would have a beautiful garden which is now a famous sunken garden. There was also a rose garden, an Italian garden and a Japanese garden. It was quite beautiful even in the heat. There are over 1.5 million visitors to the gardens each year now and it has been designated a National Site. Of course Kathleen had to talk with the gardeners in charge about the watering. There are 3 large reservoirs on the property which supply almost all the water used on the gardens. They fertilize each time they plant a new planting (which happens 3 times a year) and they use foliar feedings to keep the plants nourished. They water frequently especially in the heat. The flowers were lovely and the landscaping was gorgeous.
It was about 2:00 when we headed back to the boat. We wanted to make the 3:00 ferry or we would have to wait until 7:30 for the next boat. We barely made it on time and it was a bumpy crossing. The wind picked up and clouds were moving in. When we got back to Washington State we decided to check out Port Angeles. There is a paper mill in town and lots of lumber that looks like it's going to be shipped out of the state. We drove along a large spit that was a man made barrier between the rough waters of the ocean and the calmer waters in the port. There were lots and lots of feral cats in the rocks on the ocean side. They looked well fed from either fish or birds.
We left Port Angeles and drove to Squim where we went to a Nature preserve and the John Wayne Marina. We then drove to Silverdale where we had dinner at Applebee's. It was much better than the one here in Covington. We got home that evening at 10:00 to find Samuel enjoying the review of "The Flash" on TV with Vinay.
Stephen had originally planned on staying in Victoria for the night but with the activities that we needed to be at on Saturday it just didn't work out. Our official anniversary was on Saturday the 12th but it lasted for two days this year!
Saturday Kathleen had Seminary training in Tacoma. She thought it was in Federal Way but when she got there no one was there so she checked her email and it said it was in Tacoma. She was only 15 minutes late getting there. The lessons were very good. The goal of Seminary is to help the students develop the skills and habits that they need to navigate the trials/challenges that will come to them in this fallen world. Ultimately it is to bring the youth to Christ so that he can give them the power to overcome Satan and the temptations of the world. There were some great lessons taught.
While Kathleen was at training, Stephen and Samuel attending the funeral of Br. Aaron Sampson who passed away the week before. Samuel that it was a great funeral, Stephen said he hadn't experienced one quite like it.
Later that afternoon, the Mitchell family came by at the invitation of Stephen, to pick Loganberries in the backyard. They left with 4 very large bowls full of Loganberries. It was a fun conversation while we were all picking at the vines. Samuel then left for a missionary farewell dinner and Stephen and Kathleen had a nice dinner of salmon salad. That finished off their Anniversary. It has been a wonderful 37 years!!!
Sunday was filled with missionary farewells. Parker Welch and Tyson Wenger both spoke at the same time in two different wards. We managed to see both young men but only one during their talk. Our ward had talks on the importance of family and how to keep family strong. Kathleen ended up helping in the nursery because Rebekah had gone to Provo. It was a challenge but she managed to keep the kids mostly corralled in the room.