I'LL GRAB IT!
LET ME TRY FROM HERE!
I'LL TRY AGAIN - WHAT IS THIS?
They say that curiosity killed the cat. I don't believe that to be true , but as long as that faucet drizzled, they were determined to try to catch it and figure out what it was and why they couldn't grab it. Might it be a good trait to develop?
We finally have our pergola. I have wanted one for many years, even at our home in Taylorsville, and now it is a reality. Can't wait to get some comfy furniture to put on it so we can spend some enjoyable hours lazing in the cool mornings and evenings. 
Here we are, the Asay family with newly adopted Lynette Marie, Jerry, Linda and Robert, age 41/2. This new baby daughter had, in our minds, every future potential that any child could have. We were so naive and unsuspecting of what was to come. Our Heavenly Father had much different plans for our family in sending this child to us. It wasn't until she was about six months old that we admitted that she just was not developing the way she should. She had a hard time holding her head up, wasn't anywhere near sitting alone and when I asked the doctor about it, his comment was that all babies develop at different rates and not to worry about it. However, as time passed, I kept commenting to him that I didn't think "all was well". At about 8 months of age, I said to him that I thought something was definitely amiss. She wasn't rolling over, and she just kicked her right leg and her left hand was always in a fist. He finally said that we better have a neurologist take a look at her.
That was a day never to be forgotten. Because I believe that our minds try to rule out the worst case scenario, I went with her to the neurologist with the highest hopes that it was just some little problem that could be easily fixed. Silly me! When I think back, I knew that it was really serious, but I was trying my hardest to not go there. The neurologist dashed that hope in a few moments and less words. He sat down across his desk from us and said, "Her head is too small", picked her up off my lap and took her into another room. When he came back he bluntly said, "I believe the right side of her brain is missing". Did I break down in front of him - No Way! I sat and listened to his plan to set up an EEG at the hospital to confirm his findings. In my mind, this doctor flunked his course in "bedside manner". To me he seemed brutal in his "matter-of-fact" telling of the situation. When I told him that she was adopted, he asked if the adoption was final and suggested that we contact the agency about giving her back. I left his office in a complete daze and really don't know how I ever drove home.
What was going through my mind? I think I was in total shock and it was really just as if he had told me my baby was dead. She was never going to be the little daughter that I had envisioned. As I look back on it, we suffered much the same grieving that we would have if she had died, for that child we thought we had was gone and in her place was one that we had never thought we would have. His suggestion that we give her back was just not an option for a family with our beliefs, we knew that Lynette was to be a member of our family forever.
Now, 38 years later and through all the highs and the lows and all of the learning experiences both for Lynette and for the rest of the family, we are very grateful for this special person. She has never ceased to amaze us and continues to do so. One day we will see her as she truly is and understand the full extent of the blessing she has been in our lives.
September 3, 2010 and we went North to pick up Lynette in Spanish Fork and then on to Clinton to spend the Labor Day weekend with Rob and his family. As it happened, Ellie and Maddy had a piano recital on Friday night, which was so fun to attend. Since moving to St. George, we have missed going to the granddaughters events and this was the first one we have attended when Maddy played. She was first on the program and although she was supposed to say something about her pieces before she played, she sat right down and played them note perfect. When she got up her piano teacher reminded her to say something about what she had played, which she did.
Ellie was farther down the program and she played her pieces memorized. She did a great job!
After the recital, Rob and Kristine went out to dinner and to stay overnight to celebrate their 10th anniversary. We took the three girls to Farr's Fresh (a great ice cream shop). Their friend was there with her dad and Ellie and Maddy went home with them to have a "late night". We took Claire home and the girls came home at 10 p.m. and we all went to bed.
Saturday, Rob and Kristine came home a little before noon and we had a fun day and then went out to a baseball game in Ogden. Sunday we went to church and Monday was Labor Day. We went for a walk in the park behind Rob's house and following are a few pictures taken there. In the afternoon we went to the home of friends of Rob and Kristine and had a Labor Day BBQ and left from there to take Lynette back to Spanish Fork.
Claire swinging Ellie Skating
and
Maddy jumping
We had a WONDERFUL WEEKEND!
This is Ginger. She is a calico. I have always wanted a calico. She is much more shy but is finally more friendly and loving instead of hiding and darting away when we come around. Last night she got on the couch with me and acted like she couldn't get enough petting and purring.
Wow! Look at what was waiting for me in the garden. Mmmmmm, how many can I eat at one sitting. Oops, better watch out for too much acid - hives, you know! I'll give some away, make some tomatoe juice and eat, eat, eat.
Another plaza. These cities in Eastern Europe all have many of these where there is only walking, no vehicles at all and I thought they were great.
This is an area that has been completely rebuilt since WWII. The Nazi's blew up all of these buildings before the city was liberated by the Soviets and they have been built to look as they did before but you can tell that they are not "old" old buildings. Everywhere are these sidewalk cafes where you can stop to get something to eat. We had lunch at one after the tour was finished.
We also were taken to the area of Warsaw that was called the Ghetto where the Jews were confined before they were sent to the concentration camps. The first winter 100,000 died in the Ghetto from disease caused from the cold and unsanitary conditions. If you read Mila 18 by Leon Uris, this is the area he wrote about in that book.
This was one of the most sobering experiences of my life. Over the years, I have heard and read in various ways about the concentration camps of the Nazi's in World War II, but none of that prepared me for actually experiencing being there where it all took place. These buildings were actually barracks that the Nazi's used at first until there were too many Jews, political prisoners and gypsies to keep here. Over 90% were Jews, but it was interesting to find out that there were others incarcerated here. There was only one gas chamber here and one crematorium to burn the bodies so a short distance they built Auschwitz II, which was named Birkenau. Much of it was destroyed when the Nazi's found out the Soviets were coming to liberate Poland, in fact 85% of Warsaw was destroyed by the Nazi's to hide their evil practices. Much of historic "old town" Warsaw was leveled by them. It has since been rebuilt, but you can tell the buildings are "restored" and not truly "old".
This is not a "grassy mound", but the gas chamber and chimney of the crematorium where the Jews were taken for their "shower", after having removed their clothing and having their hair shorn. They were taken into this cement room and the poison gas was dropped down through the ceiling. Some died quickly, some not! They were then cremated, however they could not burn them fast enough, given the number that had been killed each day, thus the Birkenau gas chambers and crematoriums and sheds to house the prisoners were built. The prisoners were used for the labor to build the new facilities.
These are the train tracks that brought the Jews to Birkenau. In the distance was the point where they were taken out of the cattle cars and separated according to the Nazi's judgement of whether or not they were "fit" to work. Women with children and older people were summarily sent to the gas chambers. The rest were sent to the barracks to be sent to work.
These are the bathroom facilities at Birkenau. No privacy, no dignity. They were brought here summer and winter with no clothes to wash and use the "facilities".
A picture from the guard tower of the buildings that are left. You can see the entire area that has been destroyed. This picture was taken of the right side, the train unloading being in the center and more buildings on the left. The gas chambers and crematoriums were in the distance and could be identified by the chimneys.
There are about 4 million visitors to these memorials/museums at Auschwitz and Birkenau every year. There were many teary eyes and quiet sober faces as we walked around and heard and read the stories of what happened here. In the buildings at Auschwitz there were many rooms of memorabilia, but no pictures were allowed. They had suitcases with peoples names on them, thousands of pairs of glasses, toothbrushes, hair brushes, and to me, hardest to see was the hair that had been cut from their heads before they were taken to die. One of the members of our tour group was a woman from Canada whose mother survived Auschwitz. She even knew the building (#25) that her mother had been in and miraculously survived. It was a difficult experience, but one that I am glad that I had.
This is the view from our hotel room in Krakow. that is the train station across the plaza. It rained the entire time we were here and the temperature in the 50's. Needless to say, it was too cool for Jerry to go out. We missed the tour to the castle and through the old town, which was all a walking tour. Those who were brave enough to go, came back soaked above the knees. The raincoats and umbrellas couldn't keep their legs dry.
Although we couldn't see the historic part of Krakow, the hotel was only a few yards from a huge modern mall - just what we came to see?
Three levels and huge, with hundreds of shoppers and this was on a Wednesday early afternoon.
We found some "fast food" that was very good. It was a long rectangular slice of breat with sauteed mushrooms, ham, red onions and cheese. The bread was crusty and it was delicious.
We spent most of the afternoon in our room napping, reading and I spent some time on the computer. The rain finally let up and Jerry found the name of a restaurant, Jerema, that was within walking distance and so all was not lost - we had a bit of a challenge finding it, but after directions (not followed very well) and a bit of frustration (on my part), we found it and it was absolutely wonderful. I was agravated because I didn't expect much and didn't take the camera but it was quaint and very typically Polish. The waitresses were dressed in Polish costumes, the food was Polish and the music was two men playing music on a piano and violin. They played classical, pop and some that sounded like gypsy music. They were very good. It was a delightful place and the food was delicious. I had turkey with roquefort sauce, potatoes and Jerry had salmon with a delicious sauce on it and a side of vegetables.
Some things to remember of Europe: No one hurries you when you are dining. The server only comes when signaled. You can stay as long as you like and they don't bring your check until you ask for it. They bring a credit card machine to the table so they don't take your card out of your sight. In all the restaurants we have eaten on our own, they have all been very polite and helpful, even when they don't speak much English. Also, for the most part they don't expect tips and seem genuinely pleased when they receive one.
As it turned out, rain or no rain, Krakow was a very pleasant place to visit.
We got up early to leave Budapest by 8 am. Our first rest stop, I finally got to take a picture
After crossing over the mountains to the north side and into Poland, it started to rain. Pouring rain for the rest of the trip to Krakow. At the point where we saw a sign 100 K to Krakow, which is about 60 miles, the tour manager told us it would be about 2 hours more. This was because the roads are mostly 2 lane and the closer we got to Krakow, the heavier the traffic. We arrived in Krakow about 5:30 p.m.Dinner was a buffet at the hotel and very good. We had chicken, salmon, potatoes, vegetables and dessert was strawberry mousse and little chocolate cakes. I have found the desserts to be very edible for me since they are small and not very sweet, but very good.
It was a day of touring Budapest. We left the hotel at 9 am and were on our way when I checked the camera. Most upsetting, I had left the card in the computer at the hotel so no pictures this morning. This is such a beautiful, old city with so many historic buildings and so many that have been rebuilt since the bombings of WWII.
The shopping street and the Market Hall. Many shops of all kinds and cafes were found on the street and the Market Hall was full of food shops on the main level with vegetables, meats, fruits, cheeses, and all other fresh foods. Also they had a lot of paprika for sale. We went upstairs where we found some t shirts and other things and had lunch at one of the lunch stalls. They were full of all kinds of Hungarian food. A few places also had some sandwiches.
We came back to the hotel and rested for a while and then went for a walk to the chain bridge for some picture taking and then to a restaurant for dinner.
