This was the Spring of lots and lots of rain, sometimes snow and sometimes hail, but a lot cooler than normal. Sort of reminds me of the spring we had in 1965 when I got married. It snowed on June 5th and our outdoor reception on June 15th at the Sterling Home Living Center had to be moved to the inside so we didn't freeze to death.
I'm writing this the end of May and I still haven't turned the sprinklers on, but maybe this week it will finally happen.
I must be getting slower, because I'm not sure I'm busier, but its taken me a bit of time to get around to recording the events in my life the last couple of months.
When Rog and I were serving in the Arcadia California mission, working with the Armenians and waiting for medical clearance so we could return to Armenia, we met some wonderful people who were active in the Armenian group of the Glendale Stake. One of those was Henry Ammar. He is now doing Motivational speaking and he was coming to Salt Lake City to do a concert. So I got a couple of Armenians (Alina [who I also met in California], and Zara [one of our young adults from Armenia and one we helped get ready for her mission to SLC...and who is now married, has a darling little boy and lives now in Salt Lake] to go with me to support Henry. Never having been to a live concert of this nature, it was a new experience. I'm not sure I'd do it again, but it was interesting. There were lots of lights and lots of noise, hammocks and couches and chairs all around so you could be comfortable listening. One of the people that Henry introduced that evening was a young man without legs. The young man had such a positive attitude and said that even though he was in a wheelchair, he could still dance and sing along which he did.
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| Alina, Zara and Me |
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| Henry on Stage |
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| Zara, ? and Alina |
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| The scene before the concert |
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| Alina, Henry and Me |
A beautiful snowstorm in March. Maybe I came back too early from Arizona??
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| A March 13th snowstorm |
I go walking nearly every week day and we like to celebrate birthdays with balloons. It was Maxine's 85th birthday.
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| Shirley and Maxine |
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| Me, Shirley and Maxine...I'm not so good at "selfies" |
I love to watch my grandchildren do their thing. Its a lot of sports for Merit and Davis and Stuart is a thespian.
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| Me and Merit at the end of her basketball season |
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| Merit's Dad, Mike was the coach and the season is over |
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| Stuart and me after his performance in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory |
A couple of years ago, I went to the Middle East with a bunch of people, one of whom was in the process of building a home in Mapleton. Their home was finally finished and we were invited up for a tour. It's built on several acres and is huge. It includes a full size airplane that was converted to a playhouse for the grandchildren, an indoor Olympic-size pool, a pond, several dining areas, movie room, lots of bedrooms including a couple of dorms (one for the girls and one for the boys), a museum with it's own dinosaur, a sewing room, etc.. Sandy and Andrew Lai are the owners. Sandy made all the quilts for the beds. Amazing!They love to travel and collect souvenirs and a lot of their collection is displayed in the museum and throughout the house. Here are a few pictures.
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| Mona and Maxine were a couple of the women whom I toured the home with |
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| One of the eating areas with the outside view |
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| One of the dining areas |
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| The swimming pool complete with slide |
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| A pottery/ceramic colllection |
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| The airplane playhouse |
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| The museum, including a dinosaur |
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| Creche from Jerusalem |
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| One of the bedrooms with a hand painted tree |
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| Boys bunk room |
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| One of the bedrooms with a quilt that Sandy made |
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| View of living room from upstairs |
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| Another one of Sandy's quilts |
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| Nice big closets |
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| The sewing/craft room with its own free arm quilting machine |
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| On display in the museum |
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| Decor reflecting Andrew's heritage (Chinese) |
In April, we did have some nice days and we managed to play outdoors for one game, but it was a short-lived experience.
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| Me and Sherry Libbuti playing some doubles |
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BYU Singers at their Bon Voyage Concert Museum of Art (Liza [niece] and Salmon Gee were singers)
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| Me and Merit at one of her soccer games |
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| Dying eggs with the Maughans, Merit, Delaney, me, Stuart and Davis |
The end of April was an exciting time as Jacob Peterson was graduating from BYU! He and Kenzie had lived with me for a couple of years, so I would soon be losing my roommates. Jake had accepted a job in San Francisco and Kenzie had to finish up her contract teaching 3rd grade. They got an apartment with a view of Alcatraz and Jake moved there May 3rd. Kenzie followed a few weeks later and I'm an empty nester again. April 25th was commencement and John and Julie hosted a barbecue for Jake and his friends. The next day was Convocation at the HFAC. So proud of him and his hard work.
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| Jacob and Kenzie with the Cougar |
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| John, Julie, Michelle and Mark Tullis (friends of J&J) came to barbecue |
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| Joseph, me, Kenzie, Jake, Julie, John following Convocation |
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| Kenzie and Jake, almost 3 years married and done |
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| Me and Jacob |
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| All the graduates from their Advertising group |
The over 80 and coming closer to 80 celebrated Vickie's birthday at Los Hermanos at the University Place.
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| Gayle, me, Shar, Marian, Vickie, Pat, Joyce, Mona and Maxine |
I took a quick trip to Oregon on the 3rd of May to catch JaneAnne in a concert with the Cantico singers, see Berit in an Aerial Dance Performance, and watch Anna play a Lacrosse game for her high school. I didn't take many photos but managed to get one of my niece who was visiting from Salt Lake City, and a game playing night with the Petersons and their exchange student from Germany.
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| Julie, Melissa Holyoak, Me, and JaneAnne |
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| Julie, Anna, Me, John and Aenne playing Club 7 amongst fruit loop consumption |
I got back home in time for a ball game for Davis and some Mother's Day flower and garden planting by Joseph and a couple of his friends. One of the best Mother's Day presents, I'd say!
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| Davis looks happy to be playing ball |
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| Joseph and crew help me plant my garden |
May 11th was a fun bridal shower for Lisa Ferguson, one of the young sisters I met when Rog and I served in Armenia. Another of those great missionaries, Amanda Cornwell was also there. So good to see those cute girls.
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| Cornie, Me and Fergie |
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| Celebrating Davis' 12th birthday with family |
Next up was Awards Night for graduating seniors. Delaney received several. This one picture was taken to show off the fancy pants (with rivets) that I was wearing. Not so fancy, just different for me.
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| Mr and Delaney at her Awards night |
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| Me and Delaney |
Next event was the wedding of Justus Warner. He was a missionary that served with me in the Washington Federal Way Mission. He was fairly short and as missionaries, we sort of liked to mother him
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| Mr with the new Mr. and Mrs. Justus Warner |
Alisa, Brett, Maxine and I went to an Americana Concert in Highland. One of the singers was Curt Redd who is also my myofascia massage therapist. It was a wonderful building for a junior high and I liked the engraving on the soffit (I sent it to Anders and know he'd appreciate it ) and the Pi numbers running across. They also had plaques on the wall as you entered with "hello" in several different languages. Cool building!
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| Me and Curt Redd |
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| Mathematics rules! |
May 20th, Delaney Maughan graduates with honors from Timpview High School. It was so fun to see her come across the stage.
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| Me and Delaney after Graduation |
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| Me, Delaney and Alisa |
May 24th, I was able to meet up with my companion from the Washington Federal Way Mission, Sister Connie Henderson. She and her daughter, Shannon, and two grandsons, Dillon and Blake, had driven to Salt Lake City from Oklahoma. We took in some sites and had a great lunch at the Lion House Pantry. Thanks for taking the time to visit with me, Sister H. It was so rainy and we even had some hail...so much for beautiful springs in the Mountain West.
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| Connie Henderson and Me |
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| Shannon, Dillon, Connie, Me, Blake in N Visitors Centur |
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| Sister H and Me with the beautiful Christus |
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| Me and Connie with SL Temple in background |
Memorial Weekend followed and Alisa and Brett were able to go with me to put flowers on Rog's grave. I can hardly believe its been almost 7 years since he passed away. Miss him!
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| Me and Alisa at East Lawn Cemetery |
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| Brett, Alisa and Me at the Cemetery |
One of my dear friends celebrated her 100th birthday last week and I finally was able to get over to find out how the celebration went. She is amazing!
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| Maxine, Me and Martha |
The last week of May, I was able to have a little family reunion, minus my sister, Julie! Kathi, John and Annelise Nelson came to Utah from Reno to attend a granddaughter's graduation from high school. Bob lives nearby so we were able to meet up for lunch. It was so great to see them all! I was able to ride the Front Runner from Provo to Farmington and back again at the end of our visit. What an adventure! It sure beats driving on those freeways during rush hour! I forgot to take a picture at the time so they sent me photos a day later. Thanks!
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| Bob and Peggy Watkins |
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| Got the graduate and Annelise, but no Kathi or John |
I guess that''s the end of Spring and June is just around the corner. And it's raining! Hopefully next month we'll see more sun. Wishing you all the best!
