Hello, Unc!

Two years ago, Uncle Blake departed from his home and life as he knew it, and began a new life as a missionary for the LDS church.  Having finished his service in Missouri and returned home, we were eager to see him again.  So we took a little (11-12 hour drive--aagh!) trip to the Far Grandma and Grandpa's house a few weeks ago (sadly, sans Brandon--he was very busy at work).

It turns out that Uncle Blake served well and had an excellent time being a missionary (except for when he face-planted onto the asphalt after a brief flight off of his bike and then had to have a new tooth implanted into his jaw).  It was fun to hear about his experiences and we also got to hear him speak about it at church service.

I think Blake was a little disturbed by the fact that he and Onion Ring are now the same height.

It was fun to take some time off of school and the normal routine and play at the Far Grandma and Grandpa's house.

We got to visit Great Grandma Norma.  She showed us a slide show of her trip to the Arctic where she saw a lot of walruses, birds, and polar bears.  It looked like an awesome trip!

This is Uncle Mountain Man Tyler and Jessica.  Tyler (along with his cross country teammates) is preparing to enter a mustache contest.  When contest time comes, he will shave off everything but the mustache.  I can't wait to see.

Great Grandma Ellen even came!

She got her 90 year-old self onto a plane and cruised on over to stay for a few days.  She doesn't look much older than 75, does she?

Welcome home, Blake!

Grandma Norma

We are really glad that Great Grandma Norma lives so close to the Far Grandma and Grandpa so that we can visit her when we visit them.  It is just a half-hour drive to Grandma Norma's from the Far Grandma and Grandpa's.  I guess that makes her a Far Grandma, too!

We were sad that Dolly is no longer with her, having passed away since the last time we visited.

The boys kept asking Grandma to tell them stories.  They asked for stories about spiders and snakes.  She told them stories about her visits to Antarctica, and a terrible storm that she and her husband, Dick, sailed through.  She gave them a book about penguins (that she plans to quiz them about at our next visit) and a collection of little spoons that she acquired throughout her travels. 

Grandma has new digs and when I asked her how she likes it, she said, "What's to like?"  We are sorry about that, but one cool thing is that she gets to do slide shows about her travels for the other folks there.  I didn't know she did slide shows!  She told us that she used to do these slide shows for the elementary schools in her area.  I'm really hoping to see some the next time we visit (in the near future!).

Great Grandma Norma

While we were in Kennewick we visited Great Grandma Norma who lives nearby, just over the Oregon border in Hermiston.

We took this nice picture of everyone and isn't it great? Two boys being oh so good and two boys being ... not so good.

The boys were fascinated when Grandma Norma fed her dog, Dolly, and watched her every move.





Grandma said she'd never had an audience like this before.



Here's Dolly! She is a cairn terrior, just like Toto in "The Wizard of Oz".



Grandma took us out to dinner and it was a real treat for the boys.


While we were visiting, we asked Grandma if she had any photos of herself through the years, and she sent these to us along with written commentary. I enjoyed them so much that I thought I would share. I have typed her commentary in green.

I was 15 years old here--with about the first serious boy friend--at Sprague River. He was at a reunion I attended in August 2008 and has hardly changed--lost most of his hair is all and of course looks older--no one should look that unchanged. He's two years older than I am.

My father, Henry Ivan Hall (went by Ivan) and Chuck Ciocca--my second husband. I think I was late 20's (had married him at 25). I weighed 110 pounds soaking wet and had a 24 inch waistline!! I didn't get fat till after Dick died.

Same day.

One of my early bosses after I went to work for the Navy, and a girl I worked with. I was early to mid 30's.

Late 30's.

Getting my 25 year pin from the Navy. The wedding ring is gone so this was between 1971 when I divorced Ciocca and 1979 when I married Dick Cornell. Sooo--mid forties. (I was born in May, 1928.)

On board our boat ... in my 40's.

In my 40's. My husband, Dick, and I owned a 40 foot sport fishing boat and spent our summers deep sea fishing and cruising. We kept the boat, "Red Eye," on the south New Jersey shore.

While we were visiting, Onion Ring asked Grandma if she had any good fishing stories. This was one of the stories she told him. My biggest claim to fame through the fishing years ... on a friend's boat, (no fishing chairs) and wearing a man's fishing belt, I brought in a 70 pound yellow fin tuna. The position of that metal belt left massive bruises!! I was 50 years old.

Dick Cornell and Duffy. When Dick ate, Duffy ate--from fingers, spoons, or forks. About the only thing Duffy couldn't handle from a spoon was soup!! (About 1972 or 1973.)

About the last boat trip before my husband passed away in January 1982. I was 53 years old.

Summer of 1982 or 83--after Dick died. Richie Cook was like a son to Dick and I and helped me with the Red Eye--this was in the salon (living room to landlubbers). I was 53 or 54 years old.

With the penguins at a Polish research station on King George Island at the tip of the Antarctic Penninsula. December 1985--56 years old.

In the Arctic, way above Nome, Alaska at an Inuit graveyard. The curved fencing is the jaw bones of whales. This was in 1995 ... I was 67 years old.

Dolly the day after I bought her in Roseville, CA. She was ten weeks old and wheat colored.

Dolly's first visit to her vet. They took pictures for a bulletin board. I had just turned 69.

And here's Dolly as we were leaving.

This is the rock after which Grandma's neighborhood is named--Hat Rock.

We had a wonderful time visiting Grandma Norma.