Category Archives: Family

Irazú, Costa Rica

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The language school announced a paseo (outing) to see the volcano, Irazú — up close and personal. Families were welcome and we’d board a bus at the school for the excursion. Enthusiasm ran high among the students and their families.

Saturday arrived and we all boarded the bus. It was crowded! After we got out of San José and off the main highway, the driver stopped and ask some of us guys if we’d mind travelling on top of the bus where we could hold on to the luggage rack. Guys being guys, we were up for that adventure too. It took a while, but we arrived at a parking area near the rim of Irazú.

The volcano had been quiet for some time, and so it had been deemed safe to send a bunch of adventerous families to enjoy the view.

I took this picture of Scott. If he looks unhappy, it’s because he is!

Scott @ Irazú

A while later, we had wandered away from the rim as we explored our surrounds. Then, we noticed fog beginning to roll into the area. At least we thought it was fog. We heard some shouting and Sylvia took Bryant by the hand and I picked up Scott. We began to run for the bus.

That wasn’t fog. It was steam from the volcano. The bus driver was nearly panicked and seemed ready to dash off with his bus, leaving his former passengers stranded on a volcano that appeared to be waking up. (To what?) Fortunately, some of the more advanced students were talking with the driver. They convinced the very nervous man to wait until all of us were back and aboard the bus. Then we “flew” out of there.

Sylvia and I just returned from lunch today with Bryant (Scott’s older brother). Bryant said he remembered that the bus had been repositioned so that it was pointed directly at the parking lot exit. He also remembers a stop we made at a cane field, where we had a taste of sugar cane. Sylvia said it reminded her of chewing on a wet rope.

Fortunately, we all lived to tell about our big adventure. As for Scott, the spirit of adventure lives on for him.

Scott with his black belt

Okay. Would I do it again? Probably not — at least not with youngsters in tow. Sylvia says she’d do it again, and take the boys along. Scott’s mother still has the spirit of adventure! What happened to dad? Poor old fellow.
If you are interested in Irazú, you can learn more here and here.
Celiac and Food Allergy Alert

Today, Mikki started a weekly series on her journey to diagnosis of celiac disease. Check it out.

Food allergies are a serious problem, and they can be very difficult to diagnose. I discovered an allergy to chicken and turkey (not eggs) only because my sister Clara had the same problem and shared that experience. Even with that “heads up” I almost failed to realize the source of my problem. I’m glad those terrible headaches are in the past.

Thanks Clara!

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Tuesday was a wonderful day! Mikki‘s mom, Clara, came for a visit and we spent the day together working on blogs and having fun. You can see some of the results here on my Blog. Sylvia (my beautiful bride and wonderful wife) agreed when I said, “You can tell we both got our DNA from the same source[s].” Sisters are great!

Here’s a photo of us with our sisters at a recent family gathering.

Maggie, Barbara, Chuck, Clara
(yes, that’s a chupa cabras tee shirt)

Of course, we didn’t always look like we do today. Here is a shot that was taken a short while before. (At least it seems like it was a short while ago . . .

Clara, Chuck, Barbara, Maggie

The day flew by as the ever-patient Clara taught her big brother. She really is a humble, unmitigated genius. At least that’s what her brother thinks. (Other opinions don’t count.)
Of course, our sisters are wonderful folks. I’m a fortunate fellow.

Mary Baxter Yallup ~ Hero

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Heroes are courageous. That’s part of what makes them heroic. In JFK’s book Profiles in Courage, he tells of elected officials who displayed courage in the face of opposition. You can contrast that with courage on the battlefield. Both can change the course of history and alter the face of the world. There’s another kind of courage and it’s quiet and personal. It may only impact a few persons, or perhaps a family. Here’s a story about that kind of courage and of a hero.

Leon, my father-in-law, lives across the road from a woodlot. Just east of that woodlot is what used to be the northwest corner of his great grandparents’ farm. That farm was the realization of a desire for a better life.

George and Mary Yallup came from Norfolk, England. George was a farm hand, but he longed for a better situation for his family. George had married Mary Baxter in 1845, and now they had three daughters. Mary was pregnant again in 1851, that’s when George left to find and prepare a place in America for his family. He found that place in Bingham Twp, Clinton Co, Michigan. It took three years to prepare a home for his wife and daughters (now four of them). It took courage for George to leave England and come to Michigan, which had only been a state for 14 years.

I think it took greater courage for Mary to stay in England. The 1851 England census shows her living in Norfolk, England. She is shown as the head of her household, a pauper living with her three daughters: Sarah (age 5), Mary (age 2) and Hannah (age 1 and Leon’s maternal grandmother). The fourth daughter, Maria, came along soon after. Perhaps you can imagine the difficulties this brave woman faced raising her family alone. And later (about 1854), she would make the difficult crossing by ship with four young daughters to the US and from there across land to Michigan.

George died in 1895. Here’s a portion of his obituary, which was written at that time:
“The subject of this sketch, Mr. George Yallup, was born in Norfolk, England, in the year 1819, and grew to manhood in the land of his birth. On August 14th, 1845, he was united in marriage to Mary Baxter and together they have toiled for over a half a century. Six years after his marriage the husband started for this county in search of a home for himself and family. After about three years of toil and struggle he succeeded in obtaining: a place in the wilderness of Michigan he could call his own, and on which he has spent the remainder of his days. The wife and mother were sent for and with her four small children started on what was then a perilous journey. Shipwrecks and disaster followed, but out of all it pleased the Lord to deliver them. Great however, must have been the anxiety of the husband and father who, for three long weeks after he had expected to meet them, must watch and wait alone with no tidings of his lost family.”

I salute Mary Baxter Yallup for her courage, determination and faith. Qualities I see in her great great granddaughter, my wife, Sylvia.

Isaiah 50:7 “Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.”

Who are the heroes in your family?