I have totally neglected my blog, but I feel the pull to return to it. The last post had my little granddaughter Gracie in the hospital. She declinedsteadily until doctors decided she needed to be mediflighted to Cincinatti to prepare for the bone marrow transplant.

Little McCoey flew out to be with Jeff and me while his family was in chaos. He was such a little angel, it was incredible. (I hear he saved up all the naughtiness he didn’t spend here to pour out on his parents’ heads when he got home after three weeks.)

So Walt flew with her, since Tricia was nursing Carina and couldn’t be separated. Tricia also caught a cold and couldn’t follow Gracie until she got over it.

But then the miracles we had all been praying for began pouring in. As soon as Gracie got to Cincinatti, her new doctors re-ran the tick panel. They all knew that tick panels are notorious for false results when taken too early. She had already had the whole panel, but this second time, LO! She had indeed been infected with a tick-born disease. (Not anything I had heard of.) But that infection was easily treated with antibiotics. As soon as they began the appropriate antibiotics for the infection, the HLH receded until it went away on its own. So the chemo had fought it off long enough for the tick panel to come back with accurate results.  Ironically, she never got any chemo or other treatment in Cincinatti, other than the appropriate antibiotics.

Doctors do not believe that there is any significant chance of recurrance.

Of course the steriods and chemo do have side effects. Grace had been sick for so long that she was left weak and with dramatic weight gain. Now, almost 6 months later, she’s back to her normal weight and is getting strong, too.

Before the events, she had been non-verbal. Now she’s quite a little chatterbox.  She’s thriving and happy, though she has developed a penchant for coloring on things she should not.  But I’m sure that every little naughty thing she does creates a dilemma. How blessed we are that she’s here to be naughty! (Of course, she’s not coloring on MY walls!)

Tricia missed Thomas and Katie’s wedding because Grace was in the hospital. But all seven of our children were in the temple with us for the first time at Chris’s and Lexi’s wedding. I truly felt that I could die that day with no regrets.

The Bowers family five months after Gracie (center front)  came home from the hospital at last.

Thomas and Katie Stephenson

Chris and Lexi Stephenson

Good things are happening with my writing, too. But more on that SOON! Lots of things are “in the works,” but I’m still waiting to see how events will unfold.

I love this nation! There is so much that is good and great and so much that most people don’t know about, I feel it is a sacred opportunity to share the miracle that is America.

The Selfie is from the Great Wall of China

I never thought websites pirating my column hurt me. In fact, the more sites that publish Americana, the better it fills its mission of highlighting the good and great of America. I’m even a bit pleased to find it on a new site.

But the pirates have caused me a royal pain in the backside lately.

Jeff has been working on formatting and adding pictures to prepare Beth Stephenson’s Americana Volume Two  for publishing for a few months. I got the new cover designed and we finally submitted for publishing.

But the darn pirate websites (other than the newspaper sites that I have authorized to publish the columns) keep triggering the copyright filter’s red flags in the publishing website.  They say, “Since the material in your book is available online, you have to prove that you own the rights.’

I obtained letters from the newspapers stating that I retain the copyrights, and that cleared Beth Stephenson’s Americana Volume Two for publishing. We ordered some copies and they were delivered, but when I went to verify available online, the title was supressed again.

Up and down, round and round.

But oh happy day! At this moment, Beth Stephenson’s Americana VOLUME TWO is available both in paperback on Amazon for $9.99 and on Kindle for $2.99. The picture link at the top of side bar is active so just click the picture to check it out. The paperback has black and white pictures but the kindle version has colored pictures.  If by the time you try the link it says ‘unavailable’ again, you’ll know that the pirates caught me AGAIN!

Only in America, God bless it!

Note: All photos are copyrighted. Ask permission before using.

I had to go. I was obligated. I’ve been writing Americana for 26 months now and had never been to two of our US states. Now I’m down to one and we’ve already planned a trip for the summer that will knock off that last one. I’ll have a perfect set!

Jeff planned a fun trip and once again, succeeded in providing 8 days of fascinating culture and history, and a variety of fun hikes, wondrous snorkeling and spectacular scenery. . .all on a relative shoestring. (Costs at the end.)

oil rising from the sunken battleship Arizona in Pearl Harbor

We started out with a visit to Pearl Harbor. We got there early and got the free tickets for the boat out to the Arizona Memorial. The whole park is solemn, but rich in context of the times and mindset of all the warring countries. The sunken Arizona is one of three ships that was not salvaged and put back into commission during WW2. About  2 gallons of oil per day leaks up from the engines of the battleship turned tomb.

BEST of Arizona Memorial

In fact the Arizona itself is an active Cemetery. The bodies of about 940 soldiers are currently entombed there. Men who survived the attack on the Arizona have the option of having their remains laid to rest with their shipmates when they die. There are currently just 5 men remaining, ranging in age between 93 to 99. Two of those men have arranged to be cremated and have their ashes interred with their shipmates. It’s a holy place. The names of the men who died that day, Dec 7 1941 are inscribed on the back wall. The Arizona had the highest casualties because the Japanese bomb hit the Armory and detonated all of the ammunition on board.

Later that day, we toured the USS Missouri, which is now a museum. This ship was under construction on Pearl Harbor Day and didn’t enter the war until 1944. But she fought in subsequent wars, even the Gulf War, most recently. The guns on the deck are never fired to the front, but must be turned so that the percussion doesn’t blast a hole in the gun deck.  It is most significant because the instruments of the Japanese surrender were signed on board in Tokyo Bay. This is the deck on the USS Missouri where the Japanese signed the papers that ended World War 2. It’s hard to comprehend what a powerful event that was! How many hundreds of thousands of lives were saved!

This is a little hard to read, but this is propaganda, dropped on American positions. Psychological warfare takes its toll, too.

Overall, Pearl Harbor and other sites around Oahu give context and incredible detail to help us understand what happened in Japan and in Germany that they could perpetrate the vast evil on the world that they did. Pride and power lust are a deadly combination.

On  to the eastern side of the island for some spectacular views.  This is Hanauma Bay. (below) It’s actually the ancient crater to a volcano. The open side eventually eroded enough to let in the sea and coral reefs grew. The amazing variety of colorful fish entertained us for a couple of hours snorkeling. But the weather was a little chilly and we needed to bask for a awhile just to warm up. (I didn’t expect the water to be so cool.)

Unexpected company as we ate our picnic on the grass above Hanauma Bay. 

We hiked to this 100 foot waterfall, Manoa Falls. Lush, wet jungle and LOTS of other hikers.

I do look fat in this picture, but I’m wearing a bathingsuit with bunchy shorts underneath because I thought we could swim at this waterfall. We did swim later that day.

We hiked to the top of Diamond Head. That’s Waikiki in the background. Diamond head is actually the front edge of a volcanic crater. It was used as sort of a natural fortress during WW2. See the pill box on the little rise on the right side of the picture? One of the flights of stairs inside the Diamondhead crater. I’m standing opposite a long tunnel. There are 100 stairs in this flight.

Jeff on the Manoa Falls hike.

The Hawai’i temple in La’ie is more grand and impressive than we had realized. Attendees move from room to room in symbolic progression upward.

The Polynesian Culture Center is an Amazing highlight. Here are a few pictures I’m not using in the Americana column.

It is impossible to get a still photo that depicts the violence with which those ladies wiggle/shake their hips! I didn’t know I had joints that would do that! 

roasted pig at the Luau

They were teaching us to twirl the fire sticks. Thank goodness they were not lit! See my temporary tattoo on my wrist?

Jeff getting ready to go into the water at Waikiki

That’s Waikiki from the other direction. We were lucky to have a warm, sunny morning even though rain was forecast all day. It wasn’t crowded at all, and on the Diamond Head end of the beach, there was good snorkeling a few feet off the beach. (Not good for regular swimming, however.)

Diamond head from a huge park on the end of Waikiki (plenty of free parking on that end of the beach, too.

Much too windy for sailing!

View from a steep hike to the Makapuu lighthouse overlook.  

I have always had a fascination for lighthouses. They’re so wonderfully symbolic and each seems to have interesting tales associated with it. A WW2 plane was patrolling along the coast in bad weather during WW2. It mistook this lighthouse for the one below Diamond Head and crashed into the cliffs just behind the camera angle. 9 soldiers lost their lives.

This is the living room of our Air BnB

This is the kitchen of the Air BnB where we stayed in Aiea     Cliffs like these are all over Oahu. Violent natural forces at work!

After snorkeling and basking at Waikiki in the morning, we explored another area of the island that was purported to have the most beautiful beaches of all. Yes, they were lovely. Though this beach was on the leeward side of the island, it was so windy that these kitesurfers were taking flight. On the left of the pictures, there is a guy doing a flip with his board. He looks kind of like a fly on the lens. There were about a dozen people windsurfing.

this 250 pound sea turtle was basking on Turtle Beach. Volcanic rocks surround the island and punctuate each beach.

We also went to Waimia Valley, but forgot our good camera. This has a fun hike to a swim-able waterfall and lovely botanical gardens. It was raining that day, so impeded our enjoyment somewhat, but still worth it. There are archaeological ruins with interpretive signs that depict native life before the pineapple growers took over the island (very literally). The gardens are conducting research for countries all over the world in preserving and improving native plants. It’s organized by country, too. If it hadn’t been so wet, we could have spent 5-6 hours there very easily. I also got to blow a conch shell. I thought it would be difficult but it’s about like blowing a trumpet. It squeaked a bit when I first tried, but I got the hang of it.

I had always wanted to see the Pipeline where the surfers are roaring down 40 foot swells. It’s hard to tell, but some of these waves were probably 20 feet! The picture doesn’t do it justice, but they were the biggest waves I’ve ever seen. . .

The Dole plantation was mostly a tourist trap. Stop in and have some pineapple soft serve ice cream, (Dole whip) It’s like gelato. . .expensive but worth it. We went to the botanical garden which was fun, but overpriced. Go up the highway a little farther and you can see the pineapples growing in the fields.

So. . .costs. Flights combined were a little under $1100. Lodging was an Air BnB $475 for 7 nights. (Incredible deal. Nice apartment, good location, excellent hostess) rental car $200 Picked up and dropped off at the airport. $150 in Restaurants and treats. $73 on groceries, (We made lunches most days.)

The Polynesian Cultural Center gave me free press passes but the day admission, all-you-can-eat-luau and dinner show and Ha, Breath of Life show in the theater (with astonishing firedancers and great entertainment) would have been $115 apiece. SO WORTH IT! If you go all the way to Oahu, bite the bullet and go for the gusto at the PCC!

The Arizona Memorial is free to everyone, but reserve tickets in advance, or get there early in the day.

The USS Missouri museum costs $27 per adult, but those tickets were also given as a press pass. Also worth it for adults. (Kids, not so much.)

Parking for hikes, Admission to Hanauma bay, etc, total about $75.

We spent about $50 on souvenirs.

All total, about $2025. If we’d had to pay for the USS Missouri and PCC it would have been  almost $300 more. We were gone 8 days.

Baby Carina on her blessing day, at 6 days.

New baby Henry having a cuddle

Tricia’s pregnant belly was so outstanding (in the very literal sense) I had to share it. The baby blessing and  family photo were taken 6 days later. After just two weeks, Tricia had lost 30 pounds.

I tried to shed the pounds that were creeping back, but the older I get, the harder it gets.

So I joined Weight Watchers (again) I like it because I don’t feel hungry and eat a balanced diet. It’s a lot easier to eat just one cookie when you know you are going to take a hit in points for every bite.  If you are thinking of joining, do it the DAY BEFORE you go grocery shopping.

There is a free app issued by the US government called “My Plate” that is similar to the old version of Weight Watchers. It can work if you’re diligent, but I think Weight Watchers is much easier. Probably the most important difference is the free foods. You can fill up on 0 point foods and even when eating as much of those foods as you want, calories tend to remain low. They’ve added some free foods that are good protein sources that make it satisfying. The tracking has been streamlined and simplified, too, so it’s easier than before.

No, this is NOT a paid endorsement!

Next, how to be humble:

Two new grandbabies have joined the Stephenson family. Jeff and I spent a total of three weeks travelling and visiting (and hopefully helping.) I don’t think there is anything more profound or spiritual than holding a newborn baby. I feel the love of our Heavenly Father so abundantly and my gratitude is deep!

While there, Tricia commented that when she visited other families she came away grateful that her children are easier than most. Both her older kids were in their naps at the moment. Three-year-old McCoey had said he wasn’t tired and Tricia had allowed him to take paper and crayons into his nap to sit at the little table and color while Gracie slept.

She should have frisked him first. After about an hour, we heard a bit of stirring and Jeff peeked in. He noticed that Grace was out of her pack n play. He quietly shut the door and then checked again a moment later when we heard more stirring. Grace was in her pack n play. But McCoey was hiding behind the pack n play. That’s when Jeff noticed the Gracie-sized hole in the mesh wall of the pack n play.

We soon noticed that McCoey had a pair of safety scissors in his hand.

I asked him if he had cut the hole in the pack n play and the little saint said, “I don’t think so.” I pressed a little more and Grace (who is 2) was accused. I pressed a little more and he said, “well, maybe I did.”

Tricia got up from her nap and immediately noticed that McCoey had a new haircut.

As she picked up the tufts from the corner of the bedroom, she realized that not only were there tufts of McCoey’s hair, Gracie’s hard earned golden curls were mixed in, too!

Grace has been follicularly challenged but has finally (at age 2) achieved some delicately curling hair on the back of her head and some on top… He left the one curl on top. I suppose if she can grow it once, she can do it again.

McCoey is usually a very helpful and polite little person. But new babies rock everybody’s worlds. He may yet grow up to be a fine, upstanding man like George Washington, (who is said to have admitted cutting down the cherry tree,). I wonder if part of the story is that first he blamed it on his sister. . .and THEN his conscience got the better of him. But I wonder if George Washington would have thought to cut off his sister’s few little curls?

Time will tell. I’ll update in about 20 years.

Almost the first thing Kate (Daniel’s daughter) said to me when I got to their house in Texas was, “Grandma, you look bigger than the last time I saw you.”

Why is it fine for me to say that to her, but not cool at all that she say the exact same thing to me?

Most of getting older is terrific. Grandkids are great fun and I am profoundly grateful that I can experience this new kind of love.

Maybe the two elements of this post are more related than I had thought. Maybe women are supposed to get soft and cuddly to invite the wee grand little souls to us for a snuggle. Maybe a little extra cushioning isn’t the worst thing…

Kate, Grandma and Andy in the Ft. Worth Stockyards