Cubberley Class of 1980

That's the class Tom would have graduated from if they hadn't closed his high school between his junior and senior year. So instead Tom graduated in the Palo Alto Class of 1980.

Now, after 30 years alot of these kids have found each other on facebook and decided it was time for the first reunion of the Class of 1980 from Cubberley High, Palo Alto, California.

And that is how we ended our trip to California. We had fun meeting all Tom's friends from high school and getting to know them. For me it was a new experience to be in a large group of people, most of whom were toting a can of beer or some other alcoholic beverage.

We left the party Saturday night about an hour before it ended and while looking at the photos later, Tom commented, "I think the party got wild after we left." Since we've been home, Tom said, "When my two friends came and told me how they feel...I think they were sloshed." Because I grew up in Utah, that just wasn't something that happened in my neighborhoods or schools. I asked Tom if we were the only members at the festivities and he said, "No, there was this guy and that guy, too." Five or six of us in 150 people. Very different than what I'm used to, but I never felt out of place or weird because I wasn't doing what they were doing.

All in all, I think Tom was part of a pretty good group of kids/people. Since we've been home some of the comments we've read thanked us for coming, commented on how much they enjoyed meeting me and the kids, and, my favorite, calling me "the love of Tom's life." I just love that phrase!

A couple of Tom's friends told about a time when they decided to dig a fox hole in the backyard. They got it about 4 feet deep and ran into hard clay. So they filled it with water, thinking it would soften the clay. After four days the clay was still hard so they covered the water hole with a towel and then a truck tire and built an obstacle course. The goal was to get Tom and a couple other boys to run the obstacle course, fall into the hole filled with water, and get mad at them and chase them around the yard.

Well, all was going well until Tom fell into the hole of water...climbed out of the hole and finished the obstacle course. It definitely wasn't the reaction the two boys wanted, but it was so Tom!

Tom also took us to tour his old high school. It is a number of buildings that contain classrooms. The "halls" were only covered overhead by a roof, but other than that it was open to the weather with the class buildings on either side. The lockers were on the sides of the buildings. So virtually they were outside except for when they were in class. I'd never seen a school built like that, but in Palo Alto where the weather is so temperate year round...why have walls and air conditioning?

I'll end with one of my favorite quotes from one of Tom's classmates...

"Mid-life sure beats teen angst!"

I've always said life STARTS at 40!!!

Hands on!

I've visited several National Parks and have always enjoyed the sights from afar. However, we learned from our friends in Yosemite that the best way is to get up close and personal. I've never seen a place where you can scramble, boulder and climb to your heart's content.

We had a blast scrambling to the foot of the Lower Yosemite Falls to find there's a swimming hole where you can actually swim! Tom and the kids climbed close enough to put their feet in the water, but I sat in the mist and enjoyed nature's air conditioning.

Tom and James thought it would be fun to take pictures of us actually climbing El Capitan. So...

And James had a grand time jumping on top of the world! (On top of Sentinal Dome, that is.)

Next we discovered another swimming hole at the base of El Capitan. Tom and the kids are standing on the rock at the bottom of the picture. I was standing in the middle of the river.

And finally, we discovered a fallen sequoia tree that was hollow. Tom crawled half way through it, but the kids made it all the way.

I think I put in another 20 miles of hiking on this trip, so overall for the summer I have a total of about 35 miles hiked. I'm so excited about that! I couldn't do that just last summer. How I've missed hiking!

Wildlife

We've always enjoyed looking for the wildlife while we're camping. Yosemite had lots of wildlife...and most of them liked to pose for photos.

While we were hiking Sentinel Dome we saw a bear and her two cubs.

The Best Thing

First...

The friends we stayed with in California were an older couple who lived in the ward Tom grew up in. Hank was Tom's bishop at one point. His wife, Colette collects nativities and had hundreds of them on shelves in the garage.

Colette gave this nativity to Tom because Tom's mom made it.

She gave me this one because I served my mission in Honduras. This nativity is from Honduras.

Best of all...

While we were in California I checked my facebook and found a message from a girl whose family I taught while on my mission in Honduras!

This is the Meza family: Jose Angel (dad), Francisca Blanco de Meza (mom), Nancy (smallest girl) and Jasmin.

Jose Angel and Francie took the lessons for a long time. We should have dropped them several times, but we just couldn't because they were such a great family. Jose Angel had studied with the JW's for two years. He was very careful to study everything out to be sure of the move he was making. Finally, they committed to be baptized and I was transferred out of the area just before that happened. I kept in touch with them for a couple years after I came home.

Here's the Meza family on the day they were sealed in the Guatemala temple. Both parents and Jasmin have been active in the church ever since. Manaces served a mission in Costa Rica and is now 24 years old.

I keep thinking of the story that was told about a general authority who served a mission in his youth and only baptized one person. Yet, how much good came from that one baptism?

I wasn't the one who first introduced this family to the church, but I played a part in their progress. How much has happened because of my role in that? Already six people in that one family have been influencing those around them. Add all the others I taught and it is mind-boggling.

Merced

Usually I post about events chronologically, but this time I thought I'd get the unpleasant out of the way first. Back in April we got the rear brakes fixed before Tim left on his mission. Not long after we started hearing noises from the front brakes. We hoped it would last until after the trip to California, but it wasn't to be. On the first day in Yosemite the brakes were toast. We did the best we could while in Yosemite, but we were NOT going to waste an entire day traveling to a city over 100 miles away to get them fixed. Finally, we left Yosemite on schedule and made our way to Merced, California. We found the Sears there, left the car and walked to a nearby restaurant for lunch. Long story short...finally 4 hours later we left Merced to drive to Palo Alto and arrived there soon after 9 pm Pacific Time.

Here's James after lunch.

"Hey, I know you're a teenage boy, but don't you think you ate enough?"

(Really, that's all the plates for the entire family stacked up in front of James.)