Butchart Gardens

Mary, Sandy and I took off early in the morning and drove to Anacortes, Washington, to catch the ferry going to Victoria.  It was a fun ride over with a beautiful view of the San Juan Islands.  The ferry docks at Sidney.  We then drove down to Butchart Gardens that evening and toured the gardens for a few hours.  We got an inexpensive 2nd-day pass and spent more time there the next day.  We drove down to Victoria and spent the night in a fancy Marriott Hotel.  We walked about some the next morning.  I'm sure we could have spent a whole day just checking out Victoria, but that wasn't on our agenda.  We went back to Butchart Gardens to get our fill of flowers.  I wish I could go there 3 or 4 times a year so I could see every different type of flower they have there.  It is such an amazing place.

Kurt's Family

Randy, Heather, Kaitlin & Elysha Krupp

Lucy & Richard Stevens

Roger & MarJean Krupp

Allan & Susan Anderson

Mary & Angela Gilmore (David got left out because he was also taking pictures)

Eric & Angela

Jason & Story

Tim & Yvonne Krupp

Kurt & Linda Krupp

 Of course, Irma Krupp is the center and focal point of all these photos.  She is a great lady, and her children love and appreciate her.

Those cute Krupp brothers

Kurt, Susan, Roger, Mary, Tim and Lucy

Kurt, Sandy and I drove up through Oregon and met my Uncle Gary Fordyce, cousins Jen & Denny Mansell, Laura & Walt Kastner for dinner at The Spaghetti Factory in Beaver.  It was nice to get to see them all for a short time.  I sure wish I had taken a picture!  We then spent the night in Portland and drove the rest of the way the next day.  Mary was so good to organize a get-together with all the siblings, and I took lots of pictures this time.  We took Sandy to visit some neat gardens and had lunch there one day.  She and I went up to Seattle one day and went through the aquarium and shopped around Pike St. Market.

Sacramento Trip

Kurt and I left for a road trip after Alicia and her children left.  First we went to Dublin to see Adam and Eileen and their cute apartment.  We spent Friday night with them, and they cooked us a yummy dinner.  On Saturday morning they took us to a nice park that had hiking and bike trails that went around a small lake.  We walked and enjoyed the beautiful scenery and warm weather.  Afterwards we went out for lunch to an all-you-can-eat salad bar.  It was great, and I stuffed myself totally full.

Then we headed back to Sacramento for a few days.  We got to visit with my mom, brother Fred and sister-in-law Ingrid, along with cousins Johnnie and Leora Matranga.  Sandra came to join us, also.  She then traveled up through Oregon and Washington for a stay with Kurt's family and a trip up to Buchart Gardens in Victoria.  I only have one picture from Sacramento, and it isn't a very good one because it cuts people out. Sandra was left out.  But I'll post it anyway.  We all went to Buggy Whip for dinner, and that is where the picture was taken.

Cousin Camp, August 2009

Emmett was a little young for some of the activities, but he loved having Kayleigh and Amber play with him at the Ammon pool.

Amber, Tyson and Ethan.

We had perfect weather for hanging out on the deck for picnic lunches.

For Halloween, we went through the costume boxes and found something to dress up in.  We only went to a few neighbors and we gave out candy to them instead of receiving.  It was ridiculous, but kind of fun.

Tyson & Megan and the rest out trick-or-treating.

We had our own 4th of July celebration with fireworks & sparklers.

Grandpa Kurt gave us a scripture lesson.

We decorated gingerbread houses, or shacks, as Amber called them.  They were all cute and creative, but I only have a picture of Amber.

We had our cousin camp just a few days after returning from Nigeria.  It was fairly insane because I was not even recuperated from the jet lag.  Then there was the huge adjustment to being back in our big house surrounded by so many family members.  It was exciting, but exhausting.  Nonetheless, we had cousin camp.  Kurt came up with the good idea of celebrating the different holidays that we had missed with the kids while on our mission.  I'm lacking in photos of Dylan, Cassie and Brianna.  We also dyed Easter eggs and had an egg hunt after our swimming outing.  The kids had fun entertaining themselves while I sat around in a stupor trying to figure out what to do next.  All in all, it turned out fine even though I felt so out of it.  I never would have survived without the help of Heidi, Alicia and Haylee, not to mention Kurt and Owen.  Family fun is the best.

Getting Released

We went to meet with our Stake President, Doug Wheeler, to get released from our service as missionaries. It was time to take off the name tags and try to get back into our former life as parents, grandparents, homeowners, etc. We are adjusting just fine.

Our Welcome Home

I wanted to remember this awesome sight forever. Here we have our family at the airport to greet us on our return from our mission. So I was taking a picture of them as they were taking a picture of us.
We arrived home to a beautiful, sunny summer day. Later that day however, we were reminded of our crazy Idaho weather as we got some thunder, lightning, hail along with our usual wind. But for our drive back home, it was just gorgeous.

The Saints go Marching

I have enjoyed listening to the drums in the mornings. Some mornings a man plays a trumpet while the students play the drums. I assume he is a teacher. Some of the kids can march so well.

School Time

Almost all children start school here at a very early age - 2 or 3 years old. Since most mothers work outside of the home, the children go to a day care or "creche" as they call it. The school behind our apartment is a very nice private school, and the children look quite sharp in their dark navy and white uniforms with red accents. The girls wear white anklets and black shoes. They rotate classes that have a sport day or P.E. classes. On their P.E. days, they wear a red, yellow, blue or green t-shirt and shorts. Their morning opening exercises include a rousing drum ceremony.
Sometimes the pre-school age classes have a swim day for about an hour once a week.

Recess time with the nursery helper giving them a ride on the merry-go-round.

Many of the older girls participate in a group similar to Girl Scouts every Friday. They wear these horrible, brown sack dresses. They work on crafts and I've noticed that they help with the young children.

I really enjoy watching the children playing outside from our apartment window. Now they have ended their school year, and it is so quiet out back. I will take home lots of nice memories, though, of the Abiola International School.