Epic Last Trip from Rexburg

 

Tom is good at planning these trips we take to help Kimo drive 

either to school or drive home and this, being his last drive from Rexburg, was no exception.  Had a good, memorable time 

visiting family, friends and beautiful sights!  Well done, Tom!

Tom waiting at our hotel for signs of Kimo 

Awww, sweet photo 

Showing us the "Potato Loader", his capstone project

Class of 2025

                                           

Kimo was chosen to give the invocation at his convocation!

                                          

Made Kimo a money lei and a Idaho potato lei,
complete with potatoes, butter, S&P~

Showing us the machine shop

Left Rexburg, then on to Richland to see the Smith's.
Sure miss them!

On to Oak Harbor to visit Paula.  
Love, love, love taking the ferry!

Tom advising Paula about drywall...

Hard to fit all of us in one car, but we did it!
We traded places periodically!

I get all nostalgic for Whidbey.
Love it here in the summer

A Whidbey right of passage-Kimo found an agate!

Love experiencing Whidbey with Tom

Another Whidbey right of passage; making pies from 
blackberries you've picked yourself

Daisy

Also love finding rocks, especially at Rosario Beach

Beautiful Rosario

Another ferry ride

Saw a herd of Elk on our way thru the Oregon hills

California Coast

Made it to Glass Beach by Ft. Bragg

After being on the beach for such a long time, 
the glass here is getting worn smaller and smaller

Friends at Glass Beach

Tom feeling friendly at Glass Beach

Made it to Gilroy to visit Tom's family in his hometown.
Tom and Aunt June

Three generations of Katashimas

Ice cream wheel

Tom wanted to visit the Ronald Reagan Library--it turned out to be cool!

An exhibition of the Dead Sea Scrolls was extra special

Piece of the wailing wall and a live feed of the wailing wall

Piece of the Berlin Wall

Impromptu speech

Airforce One plane inside!

Cockpit of Airforce One

Kids practicing their ever-ready political smiles

Piece of the Twin Towers

Photo opp reality-Horse with no legs

We were all tired after two weeks of traveling

30 !

 I can hardly believe it's Tom's and my 30th anniversary!

I often marvel at how good it feels to like Tom and love him as well; 

those two don't always go together.  

It's just the beginning of our eternity together...

Tom is referring to how we met; we were both volunteering at
my school, cleaning then painting the roof with reflective paint.  💖

Pretty romantic note! 
(Attached to a reminder to return something to Staples!) 💖

I will take as much of this guy as I can get! 💗

Tom gifted me with a cardboard cutter!
He knows me well!  💗

Project Hail Mary at the Lot

Haven't been to an actual movie theater in a long time, 

and had never been to The Lot theater before.

Went to see Project Hail Mary (it was cute, but long) with the kids.  

Had a great time sitting next to my honey in actual recliners.

Could've ordered some food to eat at our seats 

(with mini tables at each seat), but we'd already eaten.  

Might not ever be able to go back to regular theater chairs after this!

Lobby

 

Making Shumai & Elves

Kimo had the idea for us to make some shumai at home.

Tom wanted to use rice wrappers and the rest of us used wonton wrappers.

Where's quality control?
Off eating shumai.

Emi rolled the pork/shrimp mixture into balls,
Tom and I did the wrapping and Kimo added the 
carrots and timed the steamer.

We made about 50 dumplings that cost significantly
less than ordering them at a restaurant.

A little bit of carrot on top and then into the steamer.

Serve with a little soy sauce and chili oil and you have a whole lot of yum!

And I welcomed some additions to my small elf collection.
These Gilner elves are so cute!

 

Mountains Made of Steel

Kimo works across the street from the commissary where we do our grocery shoppping, so we see these ships under construction all the time.  A couple of weeks before he got hired, I commented on these ships, that they literally loom like mountains above us; how we've seen them so often that we take them for granted.  Most folks never get to see ships like this, and we reminisced about the opportunity we had to see a ship launching at this very site many years ago (The USS Sacagawea).  Now Kimo works here!  He is learning how to do robotic welding of the giant metal sheets needed to build the ships-quite challenging!  

Kimo's new ventilated helmet-Go, Kimo!