Retirement Party

This was the day of the big shindig for Ley Yeager when people who have been associated with Vista for the past 20 years came to say thank you and farewell. I don't know how many people came, but it was probably more than the 300 children who currently attend our school.  We ate, children performed, people spoke loving words, the staff sang a special song, and in this photo, we unveiled the sketches for two murals which will be painted in Ley's honor on either side of the hallway leading to the garden.

I love our saying of Vista which exemplifies what  Ley nurtured in us all - "Looks like a school - Feels like a family".  This is one pretty big family!

Remembrances

I came home from Kansas with some mementos from my grandparents.  From Grandma's jewelry box, my eye caught this pin which I wore to the memorial service.  Grandma always liked to look nice and she had quite a collection of jewelry in her box.

My Grandfather, who passed on in 1999, was not only a Mennonite preacher, but he was also a wood carver.  This is a plaster cast of a carving he did for the Kansas Wheat Centennial in 1974.

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Gold Rush Beet Salad

Vegetable Masala

Today I got an additional 2 hours in the day to celebrate my birthday.  I started out in Wichita, Kansas and ended up back home in Claremont before lunch (so you can guess how early my flight left).  I was fortunate enough to have lunch at Eureka! Burger with H, C and B and eat this delicious Gold Rush Beet Salad (with fried goat cheese medallions).  Then, for dinner, H made me this Indian curry dish - Vegetable Masala (tofu, chickpeas, carrots and cauliflower), finished off with a Marie Callender's Razzleberry Pie.   Tonight we have The Illusionist (animated movie) queued up from Netflix.
It's been a whirlwind of a week, and it's only Wednesday!

Final Passage

Today my family said our final good-byes to Grandma Sawatzky here in Newton, Kansas.  We gathered at the gravesite out on the windy prairie to place her at rest next to her beloved husband before celebrating her life at First Mennonite Church.  My mother read her life story, my sister shared her remembrances, I played Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring on the violin with my second cousin accompanying on the piano.  The church bells tolled 96 times at the end of the service to commemorate her 96 years of life.

My sister has blogged about the passage of both of our grandmas at her site here.

Tioga Pass Road

Even though we aren't planning to go to our beloved Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite this summer, I am still interested in when the Tioga Pass Road will open.  We've had a tremendous snowfall in the Sierras this winter, so I took a look at the road conditions, and they have no projected opening date for the high country this year.  Yet.

I went to this website and watched the movie of the work it takes to plow near Olmstead Point.  I now have an even greater respect for the amount of labor involved in this project.

Loving Hut

Curry Masala

 While we wait patiently for Loving Hut to open in Claremont's Village West, we drove out to the Upland location on Foothill last night.  Our vegan daughter introduced us to this place back when they called it Veggie Era.  I had the Curry Masala while H had Sweet & Spicy Lady.

It just so happens that the Loving Hut is right behind Cherry on Top frozen yogurt, and that makes a nice ending to a good meal.

First Retirement Party

After the last day of school next week, we will have a big, huge shindig for Ley Yeager's retirement where many, many people will come to celebrate, but last night we had a smaller staff party.  Besides the time spent with colleagues, the highlights were a song written and sung by one of our teachers which brought about many tears, and this lovely sculpture for Ley which, if you look at it more closely, are children climbing a tree.  If you know Ley, this is probably one of the most perfect gifts that he could receive as a remembrance of his years in education.

Grandma Sawatzky

Ruth and Victor Sawatzky

On Wednesday, June 1, Ruth Louise Phifer Sawatzky was granted her final wish - to go home to Jesus and be with her beloved husband, my grandfather, Victor. Grandma lived 96 years, spending her life up and down the mid-section of this country.  Grandpa was a Mennonite minister, and Grandma fulfilled her role as a preacher's wife and mother of five in parishes in Nebraska, Minnesota and Kansas.

My sister and I spent several weeks over two summers in the early 1970s in Hillsboro, Kansas attending Vacation Bible School at their church.  Grandma often carried Wrigley's gum in her purse and would dole out a 5-pack to us on occasion.

Here is a link to her obituary in The Kansan, the Newton, Kansas paper.

Rest in peace, Grandma.

Multicultural Day

Every year-end, Vista celebrates diversity with our Multicultural Day.  For a month beforehand, each classroom studies a different culture (or biome) and decorates their room.  Then on the big day, each student gets a passport and travels to two other countries and also takes in an assembly.  In the classrooms the kids get to learn about that place, make a craft and eat something representative of that place.  This year the rooms were transformed into Africa, Outer Space, Italy, Hawai'i, Ancient Greece, Brazil, Jamaica, Peru, Guatemala, China, and the Rainforest.  For the assembly, we were treated to a magic act which had the kids mesmerized.

My favorite part of the morning, though, is the end when all the students parade around the school waving flags they've made and then gather at the stage to sing three songs we've been practicing.  This year the songs were Greg and Steve's The World is a Rainbow, Tom Chapin's This Pretty Planet, and Tish Hinojosa's Bandera Del Sol.  There is great power in many voices uniting as one.

This year is poignant as it is Ley Yeager's last Multicultural Day as our principal.

Yoga Pose with Props

This is not me, but it IS the pose I did yesterday in yoga class - hanging headstand with ropes.