Hey! It worked this time! So Auntie Dianne wants to hear about Hawaii. It was awesome. My Grandma Rada invited me to join her, my two cousins Jess and Hannah, and Jessica's friend Ashely on their two week vacation. We spent one week in LA with my aunt and uncle and my newest cousin Iolo. Then we left for a week in Hawaii where we stayed with my grandma's sister. Her house was really cool, she and her daughter were fixing it up and redoing all the rooms and stuff. Like they had this little kitchenette downstairs that they painted dark red with black trim and had a standing table and tall chairs around it. And about half of the walls were like big windows that were always open so you could get a nice breeze going through the house. They'd even turned their porch into a sun room where the outside walls were just screens. On one of the days we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center wich was awesome. They had little areas set up where we could see stuff from several islands then we got to stya for a luau dinner and see a big show after it got dark. They had some really good food and these purple rolls that we all really liked. The show was really cool they did dances from each island and one group even did this fire twirling thing. We got to spend a lot of time at the beach too. We went to three different ones, but I can't remember the names. The one we kept going back to was farther away from the house, but it was nice because the water was really calm and there were no rocks. We also went to one where they had a lot of waves, but I didn't have as much fun since I'd forgotten to take my gogles that day and I ended up losing both my contacts in the water and had to go put new ones in. Then we also went for a few hours to this one beach where you could go snorkling. The only problem was that there were tons of rocks and even if you were floating on your stomach you'd still get scraped. Which I did. We ended up leaving after a couple of hours and going back to the calm beach. We basically used that week to relax from our week in LA where we had to play the loving cousins to a very talkative and active 6-year-old. I didn't have a camera with me, but my cousin and her friend had their cameras. Jess and Hannah are visiting us this week and I asked if they could bring their camera so I could get some of the pictures.
So I guess my summer started off really good. I got to see all of you guys in Portland then I got to spend two weeks with the other side of my family.
Lots of Love!
Jerilynn

For those who Know Sarah Garletts...Norman and I got to go to her wedding in Mass, on the way back from our vacation in Maine. (In fact that's why we chose Maine, so that we could go) Well, you know how tall and skinny she is--her wedding gown looked fabulous on her. Just a little chapel train and this small bustle back. And she went barefoot down the aisle! Even so she was just the same height as Ben! ...and that's the other funny thing! When the parents came in at the beginning of the ceremony Norman leaned over and whispered, "I know that woman," about Ben's mom. It turns out that she went to school with Norman in Madison, TN for 6th through 8th grades! When we got home Norman even pulled out his old 8th grade yearbook and showed me her picture. "She looks just the same as she did then." (?!? --my comment) Even more interesting, she just had a 3rd boy 2 months ago!

Hi! I've had the invite on my email list for a few days, but just finally got a chance to sit down and read it! I've been doing all sorts of fun (and some not-so-fun-but necessary) things.

Norman and I just got back from a 20th anniversary trip to Maine. It was absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately, Brandon had our camera in Belize, so we don't have any really good pictures. Norman took a few with his video camera, but they aren't really great. I'll see if he even has one that you will be able to see from a monitor screen. --but the memories were fantastic. Dad, you really DO need to get out to Maine, you'll love it! If you go to Bar Harbor, you might look at some of the B&B's that say they're on "the quiet side of the island." I wasn't sure what was what, so when I was looking, I looked specifically for addresses in Bar Harbor. That was nice, but I think I would like it a little bit further away next time (and the price is cheaper, too!) And, they have this nice free bus system to get around if you don't want to drive. It was just a wonderful blend of nature (Acadia National Park), and tourist area (lots of neat shops and restaurants in Bar Harbor proper, with a good hard-working seaside port or two thrown in. While I was on vacation, I finished the knitting portion of that blue/purple top that I was working on at Liz's graduation. I got some interesting yarn at a little yarn shop in Bar Harbor and started knitting a little bag, as well as started (several times, as a matter of fact) working on Norman's hockey socks. I finally got those working, and am about 5 inches along on the first one. But I had to invest in some expensive addi turbo knitting needles to be able to work the yarn without killing my hands. Brandon came back from Belize the day before Norman and I got back, and he was working hard to help put together a vespers program for this Saturday night (which I missed because I was working). I'll have to get him to get on this site and post some of the stuff he did. He had a blast! I called him on Sunday evening (we were in Massachussetts for Sarah's wedding) and he was still in the car on the way home from the airport. Just about the first thing he said was, I think they're going to Guatemala next year, can I go? Huh, huh? Please can I go?!! The other funny thing is that, in the past he's always complained bitterly because I would not let him turn the air conditioners down past 72. Well, even worse, this year I've been making them keep it at 75 (electricity is expensive!) and he thought I was (literally) getting him ready to live in hell...or maybe he'd already arrived! Well, now (with the A/C still at 75) he sits around the living room in the eveining wrapped in a blanket (QUILT!) while watching TV! I told him he was now ready for Grandma's next visit (Mom's always cold and the kids are still too hot!) well, this is getting long...love to you all! Terrie

What I'd like to hear about

I'd love to hear from Brandon about his trip and maybe he could post a couple of pictures or a link to a page with some of his pictures. I'd also like to hear about life and times in Alaska and how Mom and Dad are enjoying retirement. Jerilyn also just got back from a trip to Hawaii and Terrie has started another knitting project. Kathy, how has graduating affected your work life? So how about it? Care to tell us what you've been up to or what kind of mischief you're planning?

Oh, what have I don'e? Well, last night was my monthly spinning meeting and I have been asked to start a blog for our group since some of us are not able to get the group emails. Mine are being rejected as spam because it is going out to too many email addresses.

Lots of love,
Dianne

Staying in touch

Hi All,

I had such a wonderful time being with all of you in Portland that I decided to try a new method of staying in touch. I have also heard rumor that Elisabeth’s phone doesn’t work at her new home and since calling Alaska or calling from Alaska can be expensive, I thought we might try blogging instead. I am also hoping that this will alleviate the problem of not being able to coordinate times to catch each other on the phone. Please drop in and write a sentence or two to keep us up to date on what is happening in your life. Pictures are also welcome.

Once you have responded to the invitation to become a member of this blog you will be able to post in it directly as well as by commenting on other member’s posts.

So what have I been up to? I’m busy spinning some beautiful chocolate brown merino wool into yarn and I just ate my first tomato out of the garden. Because of the very cold long spring we had this year I was late getting the garden in and then right when the tomatoes started blooming for the first time we had very high temps which prevented fruit set. So I am just now getting my first tomatoes.

I have also just started a knitting project, my first in many, many years. It is a wool scarf from the merino yarn I’ve spun up. This stuff is so fine and soft it is amazing. I’ve spun it as a very fine 3 ply lace weight yarn. I guess I’ll have to go visit Elisabeth once I’ve finished so I’ll be able to wear it.

I have also been busy building my on line businesses, creating websites and writing for my news letters, web pages and articles.

Love you all,
Dianne