Spring into Summer 2020

Springtime always encourages a "fix-up" project so this year's included Joanne repainting the pergola as the hot sun really takes a toll.  In that the temps were already up in the high 90's + Joanne's energy level, the project was stretched from a couple hours a day through probably 10 days.

We always enjoy the beauty of the spring Palo Verdi blooms.  (To be honest...this season also includes LOTS of raking when those blossoms come tumbling down!)

The 2020 Argentine Giant blooms were the best we've ever seen...probably 100 blooms came forth during the days of April 2020.

As we all know, the Easter season 2020 was unique because of the Virus that is sweeping the world.  Thus, on Palm Sunday the Parsons shared their palms with their Oregon Church Family via an internet posting.

Likewise, other life celebrations were shared with friends and family via Zoom, Skype, etc.  Here on April 12, our twin granddaughters Lily and Karina and the family in Portland celebrated the girl's  birthdays!  

It was fun for the entire family located in three different states to see their smiles and give them an "internet hug"!  (We have been invited to use this same format for other birthdays and as grandparents...we love it!)

Another fun zoom conference was attended by Joanne's Oregon State University sorority sisters.  Many of us hadn't been together for YEARS!  One always needs to keep the focus on the positive and certainly this current use of technical resources has helped our psyche!

Can you imagine having a 1st birthday without being with your family and friends?  April 21 was a super fun day to share Mary and Shawn's little Bodhi's celebration from southern CA. 

Grandma's confident that Bodhi will forever remember the YUM YUM of her mommy's cake!  (Certainly our mouth's were watering!!)

Of course the entire family and several friends were also present via the internet to enjoy this memorable day in our family's history!

Following all the rules for health and safety will make spring 2020 stand out in history.  Here Ken and Rich (in their safety masks) wait in line...socially distanced...outside Costco.

The gentle breeze of May 10th 2020 was also evident with the beautiful wind chimes...absolutely gorgeous melody!

Joanne and sister-in-law Terry celebrated together this year!  First of all were their birthdays and then...later that same week...both had surgeries.  Indeed...this was a memorable year in which we are blessed to have successful medical interventions.  However, we are joyous that these experiences are behind us!

Upon leaving AZ and heading north for the summer, we were faced with driving through an area in Nevada that was having significant earthquake activity!  As you see from the black line down the middle of the road, the cracks in the roads were significant for several miles!

Our first stop along the route north was at our Prospectors and Metal Detectors claim near Rabbit Hole, NV.  The fun part is always enjoying the companionship of friends...this year always out in the open air of course.

This is a BLOWN up image of the gold we found by drywashing.  Half of this is thanks to the Smith's as they left us a few buckets to check out when they departed for WA.  It is always fun to be out in the fresh air when we are at the claim!

Upon arriving back in La Grande, Ken always has the pleasure of checking out the equipment and getting things repaired.  Here he is cleaning the blades on the lawn mower!  It usually takes a couple weeks to get caught up.

Of course social distancing in 2020 encourages us to be "out and away from people".  Therefore, we jumped at the opportunity to go fishing.  Our first stop in our motorhome was Thief Valley Reservoir for three days.  Definitely the weather seems to affect "the bite".   

We did bring home some really nice trout!  The larger ones will be fried/barbecued.  The smaller ones Ken will smoke and can for wintertime happy hours!

We proceeded on to Phillips Reservoir for a week in their Union Creek Campground.  We were pleasantly surprised to have excellent perch catches.  Each day we landed about 70 within 2-3 hour fishing trips.  There will be lots of frozen fish for the year's meal-time enjoyment!