More Fun

Our fun experiences continue into the month of June. June 1 we toured the Grand Canyon. We had been before, as we had to most of our stops, but this is one spectacular scene that bears repeating. We decided not to take our own vehicle but to take the shuttles that run to various point of interest every 15 minutes or so. It was the ideal way for us as we could spend as much or little time at each stop. Interesting, at these high tourist area that we almost feel like we are in the minority speaking English. Last summer when the economy was low and the gas prices high the visitors as such places which came from this country was way down but the foreign visitors was up so the year was at least as good as any other year. The value of the dollar, or lack thereof, made spending time in our country a good deal.
This year attendance is down.

Tuesday and Wednesday we drove to Ridgecrest, CA. The last miles into Ridgecrest were VERY windy but it was cool and we appreciated that because Ridgecrest is in the desert and they already have had days with temps over 100 this summer. Still driving the RV is tricky when the wind is so gusty but we made it okay.

Harlan and Kim have added to, redecorated, enclosed, and in all ways improved this house in the years they have lived here. The flowers and shrubbery around the house continue to amaze me, of course, they have milder winters so flowers we would have to re-plant each year carry over in this region. None the less, there are many kinds of flowers. Each plant has it own little hose and nozzle so it can be watered automatically every day. This is definitely desert and even skipping one day of water could be disastrous to plants.

The main reason we came to Ridgecrest at this time was to see Maddie graduate from Immanuel High School. Here she is receiving a award, and she got many. She will be going on to Dordt and got a very nice scholarship from Dordt as well as being a Kuyper Scholar which really makes me proud and happy

Harlan and Kim hosted a graduation party on Saturday night. They made their prize-winning, in my eyes and many others, tri-tip steaks on the grill. Not even a smidgen was left of all the meat they had done even though we had a plethora of other things to eat. It was a fun time.

Here Maddie and her fellow graduate are enjoying the goodies. Both girls are a bundle of giggles and smiles.

Maddie's other grandpa and grandma, Harlan and Sybertus Kooima and Harlan's sister, Marla also came for the graduation. And Gary, MariaElene, Renee and Hannah came Thursday night and stayed until after the party on Saturday. The little girls and Tony all had a blast with the trampoline being the main attraction. So busy we seldom saw them except for a bite to eat. The weather continued cool so that helped keep us all more comfortable.
The week was made even sweeter as we got to celebrate the 3rd birthday of our oldest great granddaughter, Amanda, the daughter of Marie and Rick. She seemed to enjoy all the activities but her cake was definitely a high lite for her.

The week was a round of fun parties and milestones. Memories were also a part of our thoughts, and that is good, but we did make more memories celebrating with the events of the week.

We leave for Gary and MariaElene on Friday in Yorba Linda, CA. Looking forward to spending time with them. Hope you are all doing well, God's blessing on each one of you as you face the opportunities and challenges life has a way of offering us. God is Faithful!

Love, Mom and Dad/ Marilyn and Wilmer