July/August 2001

More and More Visitors…
Hi again friends and family. Now that the warm weather is upon us, we are getting visited by far-reaching relatives. We had Heather’s visit as reported in the last issue, and then some more recently. It has been a regular tourist attraction around here lately.
The Dallapes--In the middle of June, Jerry’s parents, Jerry and Jerilyn Dallape, and brother Ryan, came to visit for a couple of days. This was their first time meeting Ewan, and he was a happy baby for their stay. One day of the visit was spent just hanging out, enjoying the kiddies, and the other was spent doing many activities in and around Salt Lake City. We went to the Great Salt Lake, where we walked out along a bank, and ate salt-water taffy made from the lake’s water. Then we went to Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake. Finally, we took a trip up into the mountains, where we had a nice picnic lunch in the cool air, and we went to one of the upcoming Olympic sites. Of course they were pleased to see their newest grandbaby and Rio too—and Rio had a ball playing with them.
The Bettonvilles—Then, just last week (early August), Suzanne’s parents, Jim & Roxanne Bettonville, and sister Allie, came for a week-long visit. (In fact, at the time of this writing, they just went back to California this morning, which accounts for the lateness of this issue.) They had met Ewan at the age of three months, when Suzanne took the boys to Los Angeles last December, but they were thrilled to see how big their grandbaby has gotten. The weather was too hot to do much outside, but we did manage to do a few activities. We went to the Children’s Museum of Utah, where Rio had a ball playing with all of the cool exhibits. We took a trip up into the mountains, on a very treacherous road overlooking a cliff. (That was rather nerve-wracking!) Jim "The Handyman" did some home improvements for us while he was here—he installed a screen door in our front doorway, he trimmed some overgrown trees, and he stained our deck. Living in an apartment, he doesn’t get much opportunity to do these sorts of things (which he enjoys), so he was glad to help. Grandma Xan took Rio on a nature walk, where they collected a pile of interesting things, and they also learned a lot about dinosaurs (one of Rio’s favorite subjects). It was a fun visit.
Weather News…In one word: HOT! We have had an unusual heat wave the last week or two (during the Bettonvilles’ visit, unfortunately!). The temperature got up to 100 a couple of times, and the humidity feels rather high, which is unusual for Salt Lake. Luckily, we are still able to open our windows at night to save on the air-conditioning costs, so it is not as bad as it could be!

About Rio… Lots going on with Rio this time around! In our last issue, we presented Rio’s journal about his tadpole, and promised a second installation in the next issue. Well, that is not to be. For a week or two after that last entry, Rio really had nothing to write about, since Harvey never got any legs. Finally, he died, leaving Rio tadpolesss. Happily, he got a frog at a fair recently, which he named Hammer and put into his frog habitat. Hammer is doing fine.
      The other big news with Rio is that he completed his Kindergarten requirements and is now in 1st Grade! His last requirement involved giving a presentation, which his did, on the subject of Space. He is a great reader—he doesn’t even bother to sound out words any more; just looks at them and says them. His biggest academic interests at this point are Space and the Human Body, and he also loves anything having to do with the Old West.
     Rio also made his first sales on eBay. He sold one of McDonalds’ Disney’s Atlantis crystals (which you find in Happy Meals) for $10.75! He used that money toward a set of Lincoln Logs, which he uses every day. Soon after that, he sold a picture book, autographed by the author (which he won in a contest last year), for $13.50. He was very pleased with his decisions to sell these items, and tracking the auctions made good lessons for him.

About Ewan… One week before his first birthday, Ewan is 23 pounds, and has seven teeth. He has been cruising for several months, and finally decided to crawl. Now he occasionally stands without support, and he can also climb up the stairs very quickly. He idolizes Rio, copying him in voice and action as much as he can. Rio has a painting on the wall by his bed that his mother did of him, and Ewan not only recognizes his beloved brother, he even gave the painting a hug. He absolutely loves music—rocking back and forth every time music comes on (he has also been known to rock to the sound of tooth-brushing, the dishwasher, and coughing as well as music!). He has a healthy appetite, eating anything that is put in front of him.
     Ewan can say a few words now. In addition to calling Rio "Ah-dot" (which he has been doing for some time now), ha also says "Daddy," "Mama," "Nuh-nuh" ("nurse"), "Bah-bah" ("Splash-splash," in the tub), and "Tuh-tuh" ("Toy time," our term for the time in the morning when he sits on the floor and plays with toys while Mum dozes). He gives big wet sloppy kisses, and lays his head down on people when he wants to hug them. While his Grandpa Jim was visiting, he taught Ewan to identify moustaches. Now Ewan plucks at someone’s upper lip when you ask, "Where’s the moustache?" His favorite game is "Where’s Ewan? THERE’S Ewan!" He pulls a curtain over his head and then pops out for the "punch line," smiling sweetly all the time. While playing "Where’s Rio?" he once yelled "Dat Ah-dot!" ("There’s Rio!"). He is a real Daddy’s Boy—happy as a clam when Jerry gets home from work, seeking him in bed to hug him in the middle of the night.

     When I mention that I watch One Life to Live (a soap opera), people tend to say something like, "You don’t seem like a Soap Person." This is true. I am practical and don’t like to waste time on silly things. To know me is to know that I would never waste my brain cells on a soap opera. And this is true. Yet I still sit down for my Daytime Drama five times a week. So what’s up?
     It’s a matter of loyalty. A matter of sweetness and nice memories of nice gestures. I watch because of something that happened one year, back in 1996.
     I have watched the show off and on most of my life. My mother watched it, so I was privy to it every day growing up. As an adult, I would have times when I’d watch, and then, when the storylines got too tedious, I would quit. In 1994, I started watching again, just for the heck of it. Then we moved to Yuma.
     Yuma had no ABC station, so I was unable to watch One Life to Live any more. It kind of bummed me out, but I was okay about it. It wasn’t that big of a deal to me. I would ask my mom for updates, which she gave in her letters, and I tried not to mind too much that I couldn’t actually watch it.
     But life was a bit dull. My job at B. Dalton Bookstore ended when the store went out of business, and I didn't bother getting another job because I was soon to be a stay-at-home-mom. We didn’t have any neighbors, and I didn’t know anyone in Yuma so there was no one to talk to. So there I was, in the desert wilderness (on the outskirts of an already-remote town), with no friends, nothing to do, pregnant and bored out of my mind. So what does Mom do? She starts TAPING One Life to Live for me and sending me the videotapes! Every few weeks I would find this big package in the mailbox, and have a little One Life to Live party! (And she would always include a letter and little presents for the upcoming baby, too.) During a very hot (120 degrees), dull summer, my mom brought me some of my most pleasant times. I never asked her to do it; she just understood that this small gesture would make me happy. She knew that she could bring some pleasure to a bored housewife out in the Boonies, so she did it. I looked forward to those tapes—the little entertainment escape.
     We moved to Houston the following year, and the taping/mailing days were over, but I have decided I will NEVER stop watching the show, no matter how bad it should get, because of the sweet connotations.