The Bridge at Wapato Park

It's a cool long, narrow bridge, high over wetlands. Kate and I went to Wapato Park for the first time (without the camera) back in June. I had seen some pictures of this bridge but didn't know exactly where it was. We managed to find it along the back edge of the park. We thought Dad and Andy would enjoy it too, so we all went back together.



You're pretty much level with the tree canopy, and the trees are really close, too.  Parts of it are like going through a dense, leafy tunnel.



Andy takes off. Kate is always ready to chase him down.



We walked the rest of the way around the lake and ended up at the playground. Andy had some fun with this animal-mix-up board. We decided the rabbit-turtle combination should be called a harapin. (That's hare-terrapin... I figured I should explain that since we don't use the word terrapin much in the U.S.)




The kids have fun climbing around on the playground. I mostly just putz around with the camera and end up taking weird photos.

Kate spotted several people playing Pokemon Go. The park seems to be a hot spot.

I didn't get any pictures of the lake.  It's a nice walk around.  Pretty park!

Sunset Ward

With our stake splitting and all the ward boundaries being rearranged, we are now in Sunset Ward, and I've been called as the Relief Society Secretary. We got a presidency pic at church recently--I promise there was no wardrobe consultation, it just happened. (Hopefully this bodes well for our working together! We are in sync!)

After working with the cub scouts for over two years I was hoping to be in Relief Society for a while. I get to take attendance, rather than passing the roll around, so that'll help me get to know people.



One of the things I get to do is send birthday cards to all the sisters, and of course I decided I had to make them myself. This is a job for the gelli plate! And I have a whole ream of cardstock I got for a project recently, that turned out to be too heavy to go through our laser printer, but it makes great cards.



I've been making a lot of foam stamps lately, so it was fun to have a chance to try them out. I really like the way this one turned out. Pretty!

Painting for Fiddler

I got to help out with the painting for the multi-stake production of Fiddler on the Roof. This one was more minimalistic, set wise, but there was still plenty to do! This time we only had about a week and a half to lock up the gym.



Anne Marie and Tracy Del Toro both helped me out. (Anne Marie also did a lot of sewing for the costumes and played the piano for rehearsal--she was super busy!)



I got to use my mad dry-brushing skills, getting that weathered wood effect. (I got lots of practice doing this for Threepenny Opera.)



Sign for the train station, in Cyrillic. (Only two characters don't match up with the English, and those two look like other English letters, so it just ends up looking like it's spelled wrong. Hopefully this was not too confusing!)



Some fun detail on the stove.



I spent the last two days working on this along the front of the stage.  (I guess it came out more or less like I was picturing--it was supposed to be kind of understated, to not draw too much attention.  As it was I don't know if anyone past the first row really saw it at all.  Heh.)



I took Kate and Tavah to the matinee performance on Saturday. We got there early to get a seat (JoLee had asked me if I could take some pictures), so I took the time to explain the plot to the girls so they would understand what was going on with the dream scene.



The papas.



The daughters.



"...And one even longer coming down!" Tevye was perfect.



Fruma Sara was fabulously creepy. (Seriously--this was the coolest part!)



At the train station.



JoLee Watson as Golde, at curtain call. The whole thing was just really well done. Great show.



There are four more shows this week! And it's free!

Fiddler is a family favorite because my brother Peter played Tevye in a high school production.  The fun thing is that his wife Karen was Golde at her high school.  (Clearly, it was meant to be!)

After we got back from Ohio it took me about a week to start feeling somewhat functional again. You know when you're too tired to do anything and then you just feel all bleah from not doing anything? Then I started painting and realized I was still tired. Toward the end I was feeling better, but I had some rough days there!  Laura Call in our ward does personal training--I'm thinking I should do a couple months with her before we go to Korea next year, to keep my energy level up.  The spirit is willing but the flesh is wimpy.