Greetings from Crystal Lake

Dear Framily,

The more settled in we get, the fewer things I find to say.  I guess that we basically live boring lives.  Or at least not much varies. We really did miss spending Memorial Day at Flaming Geyser Park with our Clark Lake friends.  We have done this for so many years it is almost as natural as getting up in the morning.  We are hoping to be able to start a similar tradition here.  I might be able to have some influence there, Sunday Dave and I were sustained in our new callings.  Dave was called to be the Priest Quorum advisor, and I am the Ward Activities Chair.  The party gal!  Jon the stinker whispered to me during Sacrament meeting "Isn't that calling for young people!"  How dare He refer to his Mother as a "Oldie".  We are excited to get going and will certainly have a great time doing it.

David has finally got a job.  He is working at one of the hundreds of Dunkin Donuts around here.  They were grateful to have his language skill in Spanish.  The manager stated that he has lots of Mexican employees who don't speak English well.  He doesn't speak Spanish and it is hard to communicate with them.  He is excited and that is important.

We had lots of fun Monday morning working out in our yard.  We trimmed bushes and are starting to prepare the garden space.  I am sad to report that we lost some of our baby Robins.  While pruning the tree and bushes around them they got frightened and jumped from the nest.  They are just not quite ready to fly.  So they hopped around and one just got a little to close to GILLIS!  Hopefully the other 3 are safe somewhere.  This morning I did notice the mommy preparing worm for breakfast and she flew to another bush.  So I am hopeful they are safe on the ground.  They don't have to worry about cats etc around here.  If fact I have not seen a cat since we have been here.  I mentioned it to someone and they said there are not many and those who do have them guard them well and they are strictly indoor animals.

Mike did spot a deer crossing the road in front of our next door neighbors home.  My mind is still spinning to figure out how we are going to protect our efforts in the garden from the larger predators.  I have some dreams so we will see how the play out.

The boys just have a few more weeks of school and then we will be figuring out how to keep them occupied during the summer.  Mike would like to get a job, and Jon will just play and play hard.  There is a dog kennel grooming facility just about a block and a half from our house.  He would like to see if he could get a job there.  I am not sure if any place will hire a 14 year old, but perhaps he can volunteer for a while and then get paid down the road.

It is fun and rewarding to work on getting our house put together.  Dave and I have spent much more time than either of us are used to shopping and looking for just the right accessories.  Although it has been tiring, it is fun to spend time together and be creative.  My job today is to recover some benches we got from Arbor Village.  We are slowly making it all happen.

Again I hope all are well and happy. We are grateful to hear from many of you the fun things happening back home.  Each day brings it one more day closer to when we will meet again.  That new grandson of ours will be coming soon.  I am so excited to meet him, and see friends and family once again.

Until then, blessing to all.

Love You

Diana

Robins Nest

Here are the pictures of the robin's nest outside my kitchen and dining room windows.
One of the joys of spring.

 
 

Diana

Hello From Crystal Lake

Dear Framily,

Well it is beautiful here in Illinois. I love waking up in the morning to the sounds of the birds singing. The very first day we were here we were greeted by the songs from a pair of Cardinals. Later in the morning we noticed that a Robin had built her nest right outside the kitchen dining area. It is in a low bush (must not be too many cats around here, in fact I have not seen one since leaving our Pretty Face behind) that is about waist high. So we can walk by and see right into the nest. David took some pictures of her, and I will post them as soon as we find all the cables and etc. we need to do so.

The area here is very open. It is almost like being out in the country. What a contrast to the week we spent downtown Chicago. There will soon be fields and fields of corn growing. We find most of the same stores here. Some have different names but same parent company. The one thing we have noticed and miss is they don't have any purchase and take furniture stores anywhere around. Laura better appreciate the sofa and chairs we left her. We are all vying for a place to sit around here. It is order and wait 6 to 8 weeks for the furniture to be delivered. We were able to find one sofa we liked that was on clearance and they would sell it and let us take with us. So that will have to do until something is ready.

The neighborhood is wonderful. It is turning out to be a positive here where fences are not allowed. This in the sense that you look out a window and are not sure where the boundaries are. I our case we will have a lot to keep up, the neighbors all have a gardening crew that come in and maintain. I don't think my crew is as motivated. I hope we can keep up with their good work. We have I think 4 member families in the neighborhood. Two we can see from our front yard. Jon is happy about this because one has a son just a year younger and they have a very large sports court open to all the neighborhood kids. A fun small world story, Sunday after Sacrament meeting in church a lady (Bonnie Milner) came up to us and introduced herself and told us she had grown up in the Seattle area. The conversation revealed that we had grown up in the same area of Burien, attended the same High School, and been in the same ward Seattle 9th growing up. My Mother used to pick her up for seminary when she took my older sisters. Her parents have been dear friends of our family for many many years. Shortly after we moved into the then 2nd ward, we realized that her parents lived right across the street from us in the Soos Creek Village. Lloyd and Wilma Mc Donald. They moved from the Park Orchard ward about 2 years ago, and since Wilma has passed away and Lloyd is about to celebrate his 92nd birthday. What wonderful people they are. It is Bonnie's daughter who lives down the street from us and have the sport court. This just verifies to me that home is never far away.

I hope that all is well with everyone. Please know that we love you and appreciate the good influence you have had on our lives.

Love Diana