A couple years ago, when she'd had her fill of apartment living, Jess bought an older 2-bedroom little place of her own in one of the established neighborhoods in Boise. It wasn't especially close to her work, or near any of the places she frequented at the time, but she fell in love with it and decided it would be worth it. She's never once regretted her decision. Jessica, like all our kids, is highly social, and her job at the knitting shop, which she loves, also causes her to spend time all day with other people. So she felt that a little place of her own, a bit out of the way, might be a perfect way to give her some of the quiet time alone that she also really enjoys, between the frequent parties and dinners that she hosts. And she was right!
Jessica was her usual hospitable self while we were in Boise. Curt and I spent a little time at her home one afternoon on her day off. We love the way she has fixed up her home. In college she majored in Art, with an emphasis in ceramics. She has certainly put her artistic nature to good work in her home. It's such a warm, comfortable place to relax, and yet be stimulated by all the wonderful texture and color, with all her art, ceramics, and fiber interests.
That evening we enjoyed one of the parties she's well known for. She cooked our meal in individual pie pumpkins. Everyone had their own baked pumpkin stuffed with chicken, mushrooms, other veggies, and seasonings. What a creative idea!
Rand and Hudson enjoying the stuffed pumpkins.
Sarah, Brenna and Jessica, who have been friends for years, since they met when they all worked together at a knitting/fiber/ceramics shop in Eagle, Idaho.
Our last day in Boise, we headed back over to Kelly's. We went on a walk with all the 5 little girls who are at home during the day. As you can see, a "walk" involves lots of wheeled vehicles as well:
L to R, Elin (2-1/2), Chelsea (1), Melissa (4), Dottie (5) and Millie (6-1/2).
The favorite destination on walks is to visit the horse Janie who lives about 6 blocks away and to take carrots and apples to her. On this particular day she turned up her nose at the apples, but she ate every carrot the kids brought (which pretty cleaned Kelly out!).
That evening I had the joy of taking Heidi, 16, to her first college night. She had been contacted by the admissions department at the University of Oregon and was invited to attend a presentation in downtown Boise. She's very interested in a Math/Science/Technology/Engineering program, though she also has a good background in the Japanese language. How fun it was to take this accomplished young lady downtown to begin her search for colleges!
Afterward, we met Curt, Kelly and Annika (14-1/2) for a farewell get-together at Jessica's house. It was great to have a little girl-time with our two girls and Kelly's oldest two.
I didn't realize until later, when I looked at this photo, that there are 4 generations here. Me, two daughters, two granddaughters, and the photo on the far right is of my mother when she graduated from high school in 1941. What a great surprise it was to find Mom in this photo!
The next morning Curt and I were up early to return our rental car and fly home. It's a good thing we got a real early start, because after the rental car was returned and we were getting ready to pick up our boarding passes, I couldn't find my little case that held my Drivers license ANYWHERE! After I totally emptied my purse and replaced each item one by one, it was obvious that it wasn't there. But how could it be anywhere else? There's only one place I always put it, and it wasn't there.
So we started thinking back. The previous day I had made only one purchase, at Walgreens, but I distinctly remembered replacing the case where it belonged. Then I recalled that last night, when I had driven Heidi downtown in Kelly's car, I had placed my purse behind the drivers seat so Heidi would have plenty of leg room. I remembered that it was lying on its side when I retrieved it before going to the college presentation. Could the little case have fallen out and not been seen in the dark? I called Kelly from the airport and asked her to check the backseat. She found it--under the driver's seat! Hallalujah!
Kelly offered to pack up the 5 little girls and bring it to me, but Curt thought it would be better to just hail one of the taxis waiting just a few feet away and make a quick trip to Kelly and Tim's house. So that's what I did! My taxi driver, originally from Sudan, navigated the morning Boise traffic like a Mario Andretti. I didn't know the trip could be made so fast! One more quick round of goodbye hugs and kisses while the taxi waited, checked to make sure my license was in the case Kelly handed me (it was!), and I was off again! Whew! We still had plenty of time before our flight, but that was a pretty exciting start to the trip!
As we browsed the shops waiting for our flight, I saw this great Idaho T-shirt. I wanted to buy it, but I wasn't sure who among our friends or family might wear it, so I thought a photo might be better:
We had a safe and relaxing flight. Here's a shot of the Grand Canyon from the air...a pretty amazing place!
So, now I'm pretty well caught up with our travels. We'll be moving into our cottage the day after tomorrow. We can't wait!
Several people have asked if we plan to continue with the blog. Since we're still exploring and finding new things, I do plan to write about them. Perhaps not quite as often as I did when we're traveling and found ourselves in a different place every couple of days. But all of life is an adventure for us, so I'm going to shoot for about 2 blog posts a week...more if we find ourselves in the middle of exciting adventures, and perhaps less if we hit a stretch where nothing new happens for a few days. I've gotten in the habit of carrying my iPad with me everywhere for photos, so at least you'll have a chance to see what it's like in south Texas in the winter!
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