Grandma and Isabella Get Creative

 Before we leave for our mission I wanted to take Isabella on a fun outing.  First lunch at Chick-fil-A , which was was her choice!

Then painting pottery at 'A Way With Clay' in Meridian.  You pick out a piece, paint and decorate it and they fire it for you.  The hardest part is waiting a week to pick up the finished piece.

Isabella decided on a cute bear 

And worked very hard on her painting.

It took a lot of patience to let it dry between coats.  

Luckily they gave us some fans to help with the process

Next Isabella added details.

I stuck with a simple geometric vase in one color.

Isabella wasn't too impressed but I like it.

When we were done with our pottery, Isabella asked, 'What are we doing now?"  I thought we were going home but when she asked for a treat I did what any Grandma would do.....we went to Crumbl!

Isabella was a bit impatient waiting to see her creation but she was very happy with what she had created.  I love it too.

I will miss spending time with this cutie....

I am leaving when she is in 3rd grade. I'll be gone for her whole 4th grade year and will be back just about the time she starts 5th grade.

I fully expect her to be taller than I am by then.

I couldn't 't possibly love her any more than I do!

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104 Years Ago Today

 September 10th 1920 - My mother, Bessie Jane Boyle was born.  At her funeral her minister expressed it this way, 'She bounced into the world.'  He went on to say, "her years spanned such incredible eras in our nation's history, most that radically affected her culture here where she was born and reared and later where she came back home to live.  Somewhere along the way she resolved to live out her changing times with energy and optimism. Maybe it was born of her years as a navy wife, living in Boston or Brooklyn or Providence, Rhode Island or her time living in Sicily.  Or maybe it was something just born in her to engage her life actively one day at a time.  However she came to that way of living, it served her well throughout all her days.  Moreover, it stands as a model for our own way of doing whatever it is that gives us fulfillment in life."

I know she loved being a mother.  Moma and Daddy were married almost five years before I was born and they were thrilled to be parents.  She was 33 when I was born but it was 25 years later when I think she found her greatest joy. That's when Mary was born and she became a Grandma for the first time. 

Nothing gave her more fulfillment than these 4 children! 

Holding Mary for the 1st time

And here she is in 1980 holding newborn Matt.

And when we added Jonathan in 1984

Then in 1987 with all four of her darling grandchildren.

For her there was never a more true statement than

"Happiness is being a Grandparent"

Frozen - Broadway Comes to Boise

Months ago we bought tickets so that Isabella and I could go see 'Frozen' as a part of the 'Broadway Comes to Boise' series.  A couple of weeks ago, John told me that she didn't really want to go because she wasn't 'into' Frozen any more.  I reassured her that this was not like the Disney movie or like some of the plays we've seen produced by local children's theatre groups.  This was like something you would see on stage in New York or London.  That seemed to have convinced her to go. And it was 'simply magical'!

Monica and John got her a very fancy dress for the occasion.  I think she looked adorable.

I love that they gave a special welcome to those who were seeing their very first Broadway production.

The voices and choreography were outstanding!

 The set design was clever and so beautiful!

It even 'snowed' on the stage.

So many mesmerizing scenes.  Our favorite was the 'Let It Go' scene just before intermission.

My two favorite characters were Olaf, the magical snowman and Sven, the reindeer. The actor who brings Sven to life every night makes you forget that there is a person inside that costume - a very strong and very flexible person!  I still don't understand exactly how he does it.

Isabella had a great time and now thinks she would like to go and see 'Wicked' in the spring.

Another memory making 'Grandma and Isabella date'.

Notice how tall she is.  It seems possible that she will pass Grandma before she turns 10 in 2025.

The play was the Saturday after the 1st week of school so on the way to the theatre, I asked Isabella to rate her first week of school on a scale of 1-10.  Without hesitation she replied, "A 10".  After the play when I asked her the same question about Frozen her comment was, "7".  I don't think that is because the play wasn't wonderful. Just an honest assessment that she LOVES school!

Way to go Mrs. Bergman!

Supercalifragilisticespialidocious

 Each spring break a group of dedicated and extremely patient directors of Meridian Children's Theatre bring a group of children together to perform a musical.  Every child who tries out is given a part and then they practice every day during spring break and perform on the weekend.  Several kids from our ward participate.  This year they were doing a junior version of Mary Poppins and we decided that it would be a perfect outing with our darling granddaughter, her first time at a play.

I think she enjoyed it!  

Her favorite scenes were the ones with most all of the cast singing and dancing.

Her favorite character was the girl with the pink hair who taught the group 

'Supercalifragilisticespialidocious'

I agree she was darling!

I am impressed with the adults who manage to turn this large group of excited kids into the cast of a play!  They do a great job.

Isabella loved meeting Mary Poppins.

And she loved our traditional doughnuts on the way home.  George loved that we got there so close to closing time that they gave us the doughnuts for free.

We all love spending time with Isabella!

The Spirit of Boise

I often tell people how wonderful it was to live in Portland because it is such a great city.  Last week when Mary and Jackson were here, I was reminded that Boise is pretty great as well!

Jackson loved our visit to the Discovery Center of Idaho. It's small but full of fun things to do.  Our dinosaur crazy boy particularly loved the T-Rex exhibit.

His favorite in the 'hands-on' area was the train set.  No surprise there!

Next we did paddle boats on the Julia Davis Park Lagoon and feed the ducks way too much popcorn!

Jackson liked it much more than his facial expression shows!

I felt guilty about the popcorn when I learned that this duck's deformity is caused by a nutritional deficiency in vitamins and minerals combined with a high level of carbohydrates and sugars - like in the bread people feed them.  He will never be able to fly. Hopefully popcorn wasn't as bad.

Friday evening we joined John, Monica and Isabella at the Spirit of Boise Balloon Classic to see the "Night Glow".  Just us and 100,000 of our closest friends! It was spectacular!

The finale was a combination drone and balloon show that highlighted Idaho.

We loved it!

Of course my favorite part was watching these cute cousins playing together.

I love being a Grandma!  And I'm so happy that Mary and Jackson came to visit!!!

Fairy Gardens

 When I saw a Facebook post describing a 'Fairy Garden' class, I knew that I had to participate with my fairy-loving granddaughter.  I am happy to report that it was a great afternoon at a small 'community garden' in Nampa called 'Undercover Community Garden'.

Always satisfying to get your hands dirty!

Isabella's favorite part was painting.

I think our fairy garden turned out pretty cute!

I love spending time with this cutie!

Unfortunately, the garden turned over in my car on the way home.  The rest of the way, at every turn Isabella reminded me 'slow and steady Grandma'.  Luckily we were able to rebuild it all quite easily. 

On Sunday, Isabella gave me what way be my favorite compliment ever.

We had invited other friends over for dinner so she and I had not had our usual one-on-one Grandma - Isabella time.  When the others left, she wondered what we were going to do now.  I asked her, "If you could do anything in the world right now, what would you do?' Her answer warmed my heart, "I'd play with you Grandma."

I can't even tell you how happy that made me!  

Disney Princess Concert

'I can show you the world!  Shining, shimmering, splendid! A whole new world!'

 Watching our own little princess, Isabella experience the world of a live concert for the first time was an 'indescribable feeling'! 

The Disney Princess Concert did not disappoint.

Isabella was fascinated by it all!  She loved intermission almost as much as the show.  Sour patch candies and a Rice Krispie treat to tide us over during the 2nd act! 

Her favorite song is "Let It Go" from Frozen, which was the closing number.  The audience was invited to join in and sing the chorus as the scenes from the movie were projected on a huge screen.  Lots of sweet little voices ringing out with :

Let it go, let it go

Can't hold it back anymore

Let it go, let it go

Turn away and slam the door

I don't care what they're going to say

Let the storm rage on

The cold never bothered me anyway

I suspect that this was the first of many evenings at the theatre for Grandma and Isabella.