Happy Holidays!

Dear family and friends-

Holiday time again. We hope you're well and happy. Time seems to move ever so quickly- here's the thumbnail version of the year.

Clif returned from study abroad in France and would love to go back to Europe. Since he was there during the winter; summer would be the season of choice. He's finishing his senior year at Kalamazoo College with a double major in Theater and Economics and will graduate in June. He worked there this summer preparing for the fall season's play, “Death and the King's Horseman” by Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka. He was the student host for the author who visited “K” to see the production. He plans to move to New York City once he graduates and find work in the theatre world.

Ian spent this year on the BLM Boise Helitack (helicopter based wildfire fighting crew). It was a busy year with lots of travel and learning experiences. Biggest lesson learned was that fighting bureaucracies(local, state and federal) can be every bit as nasty and frustrating as fighting fires. It's amazing how much work they do accomplish in a year though. Throw in a nasty bike crash (not motorcycle – bicycle) and it was good just to survive the year. Our thanks go out to Ray and Tara, his uncle and aunt, who are our hands and hearts in Boise.

Morgan and Frank had the most fun this year. They had a baby boy in June and now that it's December, they're enjoying sleeping through the night again. His name is Rainier Joseph Kozlowski and he is almost as big as his name. He is a really happy baby (easy to say now, harder to say when he's awake at 3 A.M.) and loves to hear his parents laugh. They live in Southfield, about 45 minutes away, so we get to see him on a regular basis. It doesn't seem that long ago we were clearing out all our unused baby toys and books, and now we are shopping all the good second-hand stores to find them again!

So that makes us grandparents. Kerry looks it; Linda does not (mostly because Linda takes advantage of Morgan's cosmetology skills; Kerry does not). It is fun having a grandbaby around. Morgan and Frank have been good enough to let us have him overnight a few times. It gives them a chance to sleep and enjoy some time to themselves, and us a reminder of how being young sure made it easier to handle kids. Linda still enjoys the challenges of the library, which won the Best Small Library in America award from Library Journal for 2008. A really well deserved award. Kerry stays busy at Smithy and keeps working to get through this current economic mess- a daily challenge in Michigan!

The Ballards in Michigan

Time to catch up....

It's been another three months since I last sat down to blog so it looks like that may be my "normal" schedule. Some days it seems like not much is happening in our lives, until you have to try to compile it for a blog- then you realize how much has really happened!


Rainier is now six months old and so cute and fun to be around! He is sitting up pretty well but will still fall over if left unattended. He is quick to smile and laugh, and is eating food that his mom makes herself so it is fresh and has no preservatives- smart mom! He weighs about 20 lbs now- rolly-polly like Morgan and Ian were as babies. Morgan and Frank went to Chicago the first weekend of December to celebrate their birthdays (Frank had never been!) and we got to have Rainier for three whole days- such fun! I had a volunteer appreciation event at the library on Friday but just took Rainier along and everyone had fun holding him and playing with him- he was a big hit! We had the library holiday party on Saturday evening and again, Rainier was the hit of the night. The annual holiday light parade was earlier in the evening but Grandpa Kerry stayed home with Rainier while Grandma Linda walked in the parade with the library contingent. It was cold and snowy but a lot of fun. Sunday was cold and snowy, too, about 28 degrees so we just stayed in with Rainier. Mom and dad came home about 8PM and even though they had lots of fun visiting with Ian and Ashley in Chicago, they were pretty happy to see Rainier. I think they were surprised at how much they missed him! He was so happy to see them too, and kept smiling and sqealing for them- so cute.

Ian moved to Chicago since we last wrote. He has been dating Ashley for about a year now (they knew each other in high school but didn't date then) and relationships are hard to manage long distance, so he rented out his house in Boise and moved in with Ashley. Her parents live in Chelsea and have a small business here so Ian and Ashley come in about once a month. We sure like seeing more of Ian, and we like Ashley lots, too!

Clif is finishing up his last year of college and making plans to move to NYC when he graduates. He just spent 10 days there during winter break and loves that city. I have never been but have a feeling I will be visiting soon! He will have a double major in Theatre Arts and Economics, and hopes to manage a theatre some day. Free tickets all around!

The poor economy is affecting sales at Smithy Company and its future is uncertain as we move into 2009. They have cut back to only five employees and discontinued some of our benefits but we aren't sure if that will be enough to carry them through until the economy turns around. On the other hand, things at the library are going well. A poor economy usually means more people borrowing books and DVDs, not buying them, so we are as busy as ever. We did make some staffing changes though and Linda is now responsible for Volunteer Services as well. Never a dull moment in libraryland!

Of course, some of the most exciting news in the past three months has been the election of Barack Obama as president! Morgan took Rainier with her to vote and he is all smiles after she put her "I voted" sticker on him. Our family is very much looking forward to the changes his administration will bring in Washington and to the whole country! By all accounts, he is putting together a fantastic team to lead this country for the next four (and hopefully eight) years. After the travesty of the last eight, things can only get better!

We were very disappointed at the news of Californians passing a constitutional amendment against gay marriage but heartened by the news of Connecticut joining Massachusetts as states performing gay marriage. New Hampshire joined New Jersey in recognizing civil unions in 2008, Oregon passed important Domestic Partnership laws, and New York now recognizes gay marriages from other states, so progress is being made! See hrc.org for more details and state by state maps. I heard a great quote- just can't remember who said it- "Minority rights issues can not be decided by majority opinion." It is so true, and the reason we have courts to help stand up for the minority when their rights are being compromised. We are hopeful the courts will eventually set things right so gay people can take advantage of all the rights they were born with but are being denied. The current issue of Newsweek has a great front page article debunking the religious arguments against gay marriage, and actually making a religious case for gay marriagge. A very interesting read!

We enjoyed having all of our family around at Thanksgiving and are looking forward to seeing them all at Christmas. We have put spending limits on everyone this year in hopes of keeping our spending in check, so we expect to spend the holidays just enjoying each other's company and eating good food. Happy Holidays to you and yours!

The busy life of grandparents!

I can't believe it has been almost three months since our last post. We have been having so much fun with our grandson, Rainier, that time is just flying by! He is growing so fast- has gained six pounds and grown five inches in length since his birth. At ten weeks he is now smiling all the time and starting to make cooing and gurgling noises on purpose. He is holding his head up pretty well, also. Most importantly to his parents, he is sleeping in 4-6 hour blocks so they are finally catching up on some sleep and feeling almost normal again! They are doing a great job of working as a team and helping each other navigate this exciting new experience.

Grandma Linda took one day off a week in June and July to spend with Morgan and Rainier so mom could get some rest or catch up on errands. We also took a trip to the zoo. Now Rainier knows grandma's face and voice very well and always has a big smile for her! Grandpa Kerry is getting in his time too by helping out with projects on the weekends. He helped finish the addition where the washer and dryer go, and then helped put the electrical and plumbing in place so the W/D could be hooked up. Then on to the gutters which needed to be upgraded to vinyl and added to the new addition. Rumor has it that the next project in insulating the very tall ceiling in the living room- a fall project when the weather is a little cooler. Break time usually involves holding Rainier! We have enjoyed babysitting a few times so mom and dad could go to a movie, and we even have a baby play mat and rocking chair at our house so it is starting to feel like a real grandparent's house.

Uncle Clif is a seasoned baby handler now and Uncle Ian finally got to meet and hold his nephew on his last short visit home earlier this month. Rainier didn't quite know what to make of Ian and burst out crying every time Ian tried to hold him! We assured him it would get better as Rainier got older...

Everyone told us how much fun it was to be grandparents and they were right! It is amazing how much you can enjoy these cute little ones when you aren't sleep deprived and don't have the stresses of other children around.

Here are some new pictures to enjoy- is he cute or what!?

Oh Happy Day!

Two wonderful things are worth noting today-
1- I got to spend a few hours with Morgan, Frank, and Rainier on their first day at home. They brought him home about 12:30 today and Frank had to go to work for a few hours so I was able to spend some quality time with mom and baby while Frank was at work. We did all the normal things- changing diapers, feeding, burping, changing diapers again! It was lots of fun and a great relief to be home doing such "normal" things!
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(We spent a few hours in the hospital on Father's Day so new Grandpa Kerry could hold Rainier for the first time.)

2- Gay marriage became legal in California at 5:01PM! Second only to New York, and the only state to recognize gay marriages from other states. Almost makes us want to move there, but we know other states will follow suit and soon it will be legal in all 50 states. The struggle for gay civil rights continues and we know that one day our son will be able to have a legal marriage recognized in any state in this great union!

Rainier has arrived!

Our first grandchild, Rainier Joseph Kozlowski, entered the world on June 11, 2008 at 2:21PM. He weighed 8lbs. 9oz and was 21 inches long, with lots of dark hair (mostly in the back like his Granpa Kerry). Mom Morgan got to go all the way to full-on pushing labor before they decided a C-section was in order, so that was a little traumatic for them but she is doing fine. Rainier got a little stressed during delivery (who wouldn't?) and had a bowel movement, and then aspirated some of it, so he had some trouble breathing right at first. We were told later that he actually had to be resusitated in the delivery room! He was whisked off to NICU before we really got a good look at him and put in an tiny oxygen tent- it was so hard to see him that way- couldn't hold or even touch him-but new dad Frank kept vigilant watch over him those first few hours, stroking his little feet and softly talking to him. After about 24 hours of steady improvement, he was taken off the oxygen but mom had had a fever when they took her to recovery so they assumed he might have an infection, and they sent his placenta off to the lab for testing and put him on anitibiotics, just in case. Sure enough, the test came back positive for infection so after two days on antibiotics, they took more blood for testing and we should know today whether the infection is gone. Morgan will be released today but Rainier will probably have to stay another day or two, just to be safe. Isn't he the prettiest baby ever? We will be posting more of pictures of this sweet little boy soon!

Catching Up

It has been over a month since our last post and lots of fun, interesting, exciting things have happened. Let's get caught up-

Frank's mother and step-mother threw a fantastic baby shower for Mo, Frank, and soon-to-arrive Rainier. It was a wonderful event with lots of family and friends. We didn't get to meet everyone but considering all the family get-togethers Frank's family has, we are sure we will eventually meet everyone. The shower was a sit down lunch and was the nicest baby shower we have ever attended- probably the only one Kerry has attended! They received so many nice things and now have their nursery/house/car all ready for Rainier's arrival. He is due in three weeks and Morgan looks as beautiful as ever. She hopes he makes his appearance a little sooner, as he is officially full term now and all systems should be "go".

Ian was in town to celebrate Ashley's birthday and since we usually only get to see him once a year or so, it was a real treat to have him here, if only for a couple of days. We got to meet Ashley's parents, Scott and Bonnie, and Scott's aunt, Velma. They had us over for dinner and birthday cake; they are a really fun group! We enjoyed getting to know them better.

We spent the first week of May with our best friends, Patti and Mike Hanks, in St. Petersburg, FL. They moved down there last August and we miss them terribly! We went down for a long weekend in November for Linda's birthday, and even though we email and talk by phone often, it just isn't the same as sharing meals, long walks, and trips to the beach. They had their first grandchild in October so we are relying on them for lots of good grand-parenting tips. They live in a great condo one block from Tamp Bay and just a couple of blocks from downtown, with lots of fantastic restaurants and shopping. They are only 20 minutes from the Gulf and wonderful white sandy beaches. Mike works at home so we had the use of his car whenever we needed it. We saw "The Pirates of Penzance" in the park the first weekend, under beautiful, clear skies and 80 degree weather! That morning we had strolled through the Saturday market, full of food and shopping booths, and enjoyed a fresh fruit and bakery breakfast. Their daughter, Camille, is just finishing her freshman year at University of Tampa and she met us at the market with her boyfriend, Andrew. He is an intelligent, interesting young man, not to mention handsome. And you gotta love a guy who doesn't mind being shorter than his 5'11" volleyball-player girlfriend!

We saw lots of nature this trip- dolphins, jumping fish, alligator, blowfish, a pod of rays, and even a manatee! We brought home a few new shells, a given on any beach trip with Linda. It was hard to come home to cold Michigan but Rainier's imminent arrival made it a little easier.

This week we drove to Kalamazoo to see the K College spring play "Angels in America" by Tony Kushner. We would recommend it to all of our friends and family. It deals with the aids crisis in the mid-80's and will really test your notions of compassion and responsibility. They only did part one and that was a good thing or Linda would have cried her eyes out. Clif was the stage manager, his second production at K, and did a great job! It is so fun as parents to see him doing what he loves and being really good at it! We can't wait to see what they do next....

And last but not least, we saw KT Tunstall in concert last night. She is a Scottish blues-rocker famous for "Black Horse and a Cherry Tree" and "Suddenly I See" from the movie "The Devil Wears Prada". Her opening act was a singer-songwriter from Dublin named Paddy Casey, and we really liked his music, too. We had dinner in Ann Arbor before the concert- a very fun date night! We'd actually like this place if it wasn't so damn cold most of the year......

28 years ago.....

On April 4th, 1980, two young college students (who had met two years earlier), decided they wanted to build a life together and got married in Provo, Utah. With only her brother and his girlfriend as witnesses, they pledged their love to one another in front of the local justice of the peace at city hall. Not the most auspicious beginning but 28 years and three great children later, we are still crazy about each other and more in love than we ever thought possible. We have lived in Utah, Washington, Oregon, and Michigan. We have camped, fished, hiked, kayaked, skied, played volleyball and tennis together; attended countless kids activities; achieved personal success in our careers. In a couple of months we will begin another exciting phase of our relationship when we celebrate the birth of our first grandchild.

As we sat in the restaurant Friday night reflecting on our life together, we felt so amazed and thankful for grandparents and parents who had taught us how to be good partners and hope our children will each find a wonderful partner to share their life with. Morgan has made a good start with her new husband Frank; Ian is a lot like his dad and will make someone a great husband, and Clif is a sweet, loving man who deserves to find a wonderful mate, too. Even though he is gay and marriage may only be possible in a few states right now, we are confident our country will evolve to the point of seeing the value in letting committed, loving gay adults enjoy the benefits that the rest of us are afforded when we marry . Having such a long, happy relationship only makes us want this for all people. We don't believe that allowing gay couples to marry somehow threatens marriage in general- ours or any others. Everyone who is willing to put in the effort deserves this kind of happiness.

The Story of Stuff

Clif sent us this link to a very interesting site about consumerism. Most of us are probably familiar with the concepts discussed but this short video puts them together in a way that is easy to understand, and the site gives suggestions for what we can do to change a system in dire need of improvement. Enjoy.

www.storyofstuff.org

Tofu Banana Cream Pie

Our cooking classes are over now but we learned some fantastic ways to improve our health and some great recipes. Clif and I made Tofu Banana Cream Pie this week and even Kerry liked it! You make a banana flavored pudding using soy milk, then mix it with whipped soft tofu, and pour it in a shell lined with bananas. It has been really fun to learn new ways to cook, especially after 25+ years of cooking meals every day. And it is fun to cook with Clif while he is home before we take him back to college this Sunday. We got him a vegetarian student's cookbook- low cost ways to prepare vegetarian meals on a student's budget. He has already perfected a chocolate cake made with wheat flour and no eggs.

We have made a couple of trips to Kalamazoo to deliver furniture and house in preparation for Clif going back to Kzoo for the last quarter. We were lucky to find a really nice house only one block off campus at a very reasonable price- since the study aboard students come back mid-quarter, most of the housing is taken or what is left is not available for only three months. Clif will be stage managing the spring play- Angels in America- so his class work load will be lighter than usual as the play takes hundreds of hours of work, but he thinks he would like to do theatre work for a living so this is what is required and he is very good at it. We can't wait to see the play and if you haven't seen the movie, we highly recommend it.

Ian is very busy being a full-time student also. He is trying not working this time around so he can get done faster and he has his hands full. He continues to work on his house and is helping Ray and Tara with a woodpecker adventure. Ask him about it the next time you talk to him! He will be in Vegas during his spring break. And don't forget to ask him about Ashley....

Morgan is looking very pregnant and beautiful these days. You can catch up with her and Frank (and Rainier) on their blog- just click on the link under Family blogs in the left hand column. We told her she needs to post a new picture since she didn't look very pregnant in that last pic she posted.
Happy St. Pat's Day to all!

Monday night is cooking class....

About four weeks ago Kerry and I started taking a cancer prevention/survival cooking class sponsored at no cost by The Cancer Project. First off, I guess I should say neither one of us has cancer but I had recently read "The China Study" and learned that more and more research is indicating a strong link between animal protein (meat/fish/poultry/dairy/eggs) and cancer. As it turns out, all of us ingest toxins, intentionally and unintentionally, and animal proteins contains hormones that kick start some of those toxins into cancerous cells. (That is a VERY abbreviated explanation so get the book from your local library and get all the details.) Anyway, we decided we needed to change our diet to a plant based one and eliminate as much animal protein as possible. The success to this approach seemed to be educating ourselves further and learning how to shop and cook more in line with this new knowledge. Shortly after reading the book, we saw an ad in our local paper for this cooking class through our local hospital and signed up. It has been one of the best decisions we ever made! Check their website at www.cancerproject.org for classes near you- we promise you won't regret it.

You get a great booklet with the weekly lesson in it and lots of great recipes. Every week we go over the lesson and the instructor cooks 3-4 recipes that we all get to sample. We have tried so many new things already! The first week dealt with how foods fight cancer and how much fat is in most animal flesh compared to plant foods- even the leanest meat.

The second week we learned about the importance of fiber in our diets and how much it combats colon cancer. Beans are one of the best sources of fiber, as well as most vegetables and fruits and grains, whole grains better than white. We got to try a great brown rice recipe, a quick black bean burrito with tomato corn salsa, and a simple guacamole recipe with green peas added for extra fiber.

Next we talked about dairy alternatives and got to sample soy, almond, and rice milk (we liked them all), veggies and beans that have lots of calcium, and tofu based sour cream and cheese (better than you'd think). We had kale for the first time and it was very good!

The fourth week we learned about replacing meat and the focus was on tofu, tempeh (a soy product with a different texture than tofu) and seitan (made of wheat protein). Portabello mushrooms also have a very meaty-like texture and make great grilled "burgers"!

Tonight's class was about the importance of antioxidants. You may be familiar with the term "free radicals" but did you know that these are oxygen molecules that have become unstable and go looking to replace the electrons they have lost by attacking other cells and even chromosones? These cells can lose their ability to control their basic functions and multiply out of control- and that is the beginning of cancer. Antioxidants attach to regular cells and the free radicals attack them and leave the healthy cells alone, so we all need to eat lots of antioxidants! Beta-carotene (found in yellow-orange or dark green veggies and fruits- carrots, pumpkin, yams, kale, etc), lycopene (found in red veggies and some red fruit- tomatoes, watermelon, pink grapefruit), vitamins E and C, selenium (found in grains), and phytochemicals (found in cruciferous veggies- broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, cabbage, turnips, etc) and allium vegetables (named because they contain allicin, which has been shown to help the body eliminate carcinogens and slow the growth of cancer cells- these include garlic, onions, scallions, leeks, and shallots.) We tried quinoa (pronounced keenwa), a nutty grain, and yam and collard green dish (really good!), and a delicious chocolate mousse made from tofu and soy milk.

Clif has attended the last few classes when Kerry had to work and he is getting all kinds of good recipes to take back to school when he heads back to Kzoo at the end of next month. The instructor is a "true believer" and very enthusiastic about a vegan diet, always emphasizing how important each week's topic is and how much we are going to like the new recipes. So far we are having a great experience and really feel we are doing something that will have la ong-range positive effect on our health.

Getting started

Reading Kerry's brother Brad's blog got us interested in starting our own, so here we go! With our only daughter expecting our first grandchild, our first son going to school and fighting fires in Idaho, and our youngest son just home from study abroad in France, we thought we would have plenty to write about and hopefully keep our families (in Las Vegas, Boise, Olympia, Indianapolis, and Cedar City) up to date on this adventure we call life!
We hope many of you will start your own blogs at blogger.com, too. Our goal is to post about once a week, so we'll see how it goes.
Kerry and Linda