Garden Ramblings: Our visit with the Murphy's

On May 4th, we flew up to Seattle, rented a car, and then drove to Aldergrove, BC, to visit with Cathi, Don and kids. There were lots of events going on, and we wanted to be there and join in, and visit with everyone.

First, Nathan was there. He was in the process of transferring from Cordova, AK, to Long Beach, CA, and after spending many days on the Alaskan Marine Ferry, he finally arrived home for a short leave.

He totally enjoyed visiting with his family and friends, and the "littles", Patience, Jordyn and Nick, loved the time and attention that he gave them, to help make up for all he had missed while he was away from home. Needless to say, everyone was enjoying having Nathan home.

One of the things that Nathan did was to invite his "important people" out to dinner. We went to Everson and ate at Herb Neimans Steak House. Steaks are king there, and they are among the best we've ever had. We all had a fabulous time - and it didn't hurt that in addition to the two bottles of wine we ordered, two more were delivered to our table, compliments of Herb himself, and a long-time customer that is a friend of Dave's. Thanks, Nathan! What a generous thing for you to do!

Dinner was on May 5th, which also happened to be Cathi's birthday, so we had lots of reasons to celebrate! Dylan, bless his heart, took care of the "littles" for us, so we had an "adult" evening. Sean unfortunately had a jazz concert that night, so wasn't available to join us. While we were enjoying ourselves at dinner, Dylan and the girls whipped up a birthday cake for Cathi, and decorated it! It was great to come home and celebrate her birthday with a cake. Thanks, Dylan!

This will be a birthday that Cathi won't soon forget! Not only because Nathan was home, and her cake and dinner, but, earlier that day, Cathi, Nathan, Dylan and I went to the mall to do some shopping. We were in Payless Shoe Source, Nathan had gone up to pay for his shoes, Cathi and I were still browsing, when we heard gunshots being fired and people screaming! We were quickly herded into the back room, along with the other customers and staff, and the heavy steel door was shut and locked! We found out that armed men had robbed the jewelery store, which was pretty darned close to where we were! There were about 25 people in the back room, including two double strollers with babies. We waited for about 45 minutes, and then security led us out the back door, and we were able to leave via the loading dock. Nathan and Dylan graciously carried the two double strollers and their occupants down the flight of stairs. The moms were very appreciative!

They did catch the criminals, and no one was seriously hurt, thankfully! But, what an experience!

After our action-packed Thursday, Friday was a joint birthday party for Patience and Jordyn! Patience's birthday was on the 9th. Six little girls came, all dressed in party clothes, for the "Garden Party". Don Sr. had made bird houses for he girls to paint, and Cathi had gotten some adorable pots and plants to put in them as well. Everyone had a great time! Waneta brought all the paints and helped with the painting. The bird houses turned out great, as did the potted Alyssums. After presents, cake and lots of playing, 6 happy little girls headed home.

Patience got her family birthday presents that evening, and she was a very happy 7 year old! Jordyn didn't quite understand that the joint birthday party with friends didn't extend to the family gifts. She got some gifts, too, but as she'd had her birthday in February, they didn't quite measure up.

On Saturday morning the Murphy family had an appointment to have family portraits taken! We were all up, showered, fed, dressed, and out the door by 9:30 am! Quite a feat for 10 people, let me tell you! The photo shoot was scheduled to be outside, and of course, it was raining! But the photographer took us to a location with a great covered area, and she got some great shots, both individual and group!

After family portraits, Don and Nathan left for California! They stopped along the way in San Jose and caught a Sharks play-off game, one of the things on Nathan's "bucket list". Unfortunately, they didn't win, but at least they were there.

Next stop was Long Beach, where Nathan will be posted at a Coast Guard Small Boat station for the next 4 years. He reported on May 10th, then began his 10 day house-hunting/moving leave. More about that later!

Thanks, you Murphy's, for a wonderful, if short, visit! We had a great time and so enjoyed seeing all of you! Can't wait to see you again in July!

Nathan's "important people" From the left, Cathi; Mark Cutler, Leslie Smith, Aunt Valarie, me, Lee, Uncle Dave, Alex Cutler, Nathan, cousin Hailey and Don