My August morning walk

I decided it would be interesting to take pictures along the same route I recorded in March.  Again I wish all my family and friends could join me, one at a time, and walk with me and have conversations.  It is one of my favorite things to do--talk to people I love.  (Which I guess make some sense since that is also my career choice to listen and talk to people.)  I spent almost two hours talking to my sister this morning on the phone.  It was a perfect way to spend a Thursday morning.  She got some ironing done...I did a bit of folding of laundry but just mostly talked with her.  Back to my walk,

Along side the first part of my walk, there runs a stream and along the banks are rows and rows of cattails.  They are maturing now but not yet breaking apart to send their seeds to the wind.  I love cattails because they remind me of my childhood and the ponds that were below our home in Richalnd, Washington.  We played there often and picked cattails and tried to make things with them.  We got tadpoles and watched them change into frogs in a bucket and then took them back to be free again.  Funny what sweet memories come from a cattail.

                       These  birds must live here most of the time.   They hardly moved on these weeds right next to the path asI came down.  They were some of the only birds I heard singing.  Even at 8:00 in the morning it was warm enough that the other birds had quieted their sounds.

 

I love old fences.  Here is the same one I showed before but with the summer weeds and wildflowers almost covering it.  It is at the turn in my walk going from east to the south.

There is a LDS Primary song about mothers that talks about "how all flowers remind us of you (mom)".  For me that is especially true when I see wildflowers.  My mom loved wildflowers and would point them out to us on our drives and vacations.  I have a memory of her having dad stop the car once on a trip so that we could go and look at some black-eyed susans.  She loved those.  Those and the other related daisys and sunflowers often trigger memories of my mom.  What a gift she gave me to notice flowers along my paths.

See my shadow...now I am heading west as I photograph this fence line with wild sunflowers.

And again, at the end of my walk, I cross a bridge over Jensen Pond.  It is a spot to reflect in more ways than one.

Have an awesome day and enjoy the flowers along your paths.

Back to School, Jena is now an 8th Grader....

First day of school on a sunny August morning...I didn't notice that she mostly had her eyes close because of the sun.  She was excited to go.

.....it is hard to believe that she is in 8th grade but she is thrilled.  Many of my friends and neighbors commented that they can't believe they are old enough to be a parent of a _____________ fill in the blank.  Well, I know I am old enough to be the mother of an 8th grader.  In fact, I am probably too old judging by the ages of the parents I see at back to school night and even the teachersBut it is wonderful.  She keeps a young and a smile on our faces.

The first day of school, she told me that the principal had said hi to her and still knew her name.  I mentioned that to him at back to school night.  He smiled and said that he wasn't even sure if she heard him.  He said that she had the biggest smile on her face as she was heading to class through the crowds and she didn't even stop or look at him.  He was glad that she had heard him and shared it with me.  She has an excellent school and it looks like another year of good teacher.

Other Jena news, she will be starting piano lessons on Monday.  One of her life goals is to learn to play an instrument.  She wants the violin but we are starting first with piano which she is good with.  She is excited to play the piano like Tosha.  She like us loves to hear Tosha play the piano............

75th birthday and ....

no, it was not my birthday.  It is our third annual birthday trip with Gary's mom (she is the birthday girl) and Gary's three sisters.  We started this tradition after Gary's dad passed away 2 1/2 years ago.  For the first two years, we went to Park City and stayed in a condo at Deer Valley.  Park City is a major ski town and the site of many of the 2002 Olympic event but it is quiet in the summer and we enjoyed two nice stays there. 

Our original plan was to do something a bit more exciting this time (although the Alpine slide-73rd and the Balloon ride -74th were pretty exciting :) ).  We decided a trip to the Orgon coast would be great and I developed a tentative plan for it.  Then it was discovered that Gary's mom breast cancer had returned and we weren't sure what that would mean for her (medication is currently reducing the size of the tumor slowly).  Then Scott got engaged and we weren't sure of the date for awhile.  I was still thinking that a trip would be good, but in the end we decided to stay close to home and we went to Snowbird (another Salt Lake area ski resort).  We missed one of Gary's sisters who got the stomach flu and couldn't join us, but it was a nice but quick trip.  We rode a tram,

This isn't the one we rode--it was the one going down while we went up.

hiked a small hike on the mountain,

Looking down on the switchbacks on the trail we were traveling.

Gary's mom decided that she was proud that she climb down 1/2 mile on a rock trail at the age of almost 75.

rode a ski lift down,

It was beautiful and very quiet on the ski lift.  The mountain side was green with patches of wildflowers all over.  I know it shows brown in this picture...that is where the paths are for hiking and biking in the summer and skiing in the winter.




went to "Pirates of Panzance",

Not my favorite play--but the staging, costumes, and singing were great.  It was just a bit hard to follow the plot and very little reason that you would want to.  Some people love it.

 and ate some great meals.

Forklift Eatery or something like that.

I had yummy french toast made from whole wheat/walnut bread with strawberries on top.

We were only gone just over 24 hours, but it was nice.  The only downside is that the hotel we stayed at had a couple of family reunions going on so the pool and hot tub were filled with people---mostly under the age of 10.  It was fun to watch them interact with each other, however a quieter pool is always nice.

Next year---plans are in the air...or at least in my mind...so many places to see or options to explore.

Quote from Wood-Badge:

"The most worth-while thing is to try to put happiness into the lives of others."  Baden-Powell

Have an awesome day...whever you happen to read this post.

One more item of note:  For only the second time in the 37 years that I have known Gary and we have gone bowling, I beat him...by only 2 points but a win is a win.  Of course, it was one of my top scoring games ever--150 and around his average--148, but certain things are worth writing about.  And of course, I will never be writing a post about a Scrabble game victory...mostly because we never play Scrabble because Gary ALWAYS beats me.  Gary, Jena, and I enjoyed our family night bowling game.

I talked to Scott and Chantel.  They are on dry land now after their cruise in the Western Carribean.  They had a great time.  Now they are spending a few days in Florida with Chantel's grandparents.  They will be in Utah on Thursday.  I can't believe that they are already married for almost 2 weeks.  Time is flying....

The END...really  :)

Hanging out,,,

with Jena and Mowgli................Jena heard me snap a picture and I got her cute smile as she looked to see who was taking their picture.  He is her good buddy. 

Scott and Chantel are married on a perfect day.....

I cooked meatloaf for Scott on his last Sunday dinner with us as a single person.  I know it was silly but it was one of his favorite dinners so it was fun to do it for him.  They spent the weekend getting things moved into their apartment in Ogden near Weber State.  They both have 3-4 semesters left until graduation. On Monday they were hanging pictures and putting candles on their end table.  It is darling.  They have a cute style together.

Tuesday was the BIG day and it was a big day and perfect................the weather even cooperated with beautiful skies with fluffy clouds and a slight breeze in the morning and not too hot through the day, although we did get a bit hot while taking pictures outside the temple after their noon wedding.

I don't have the best selection of pictures but will share some.  The day started with them doing pictures around the temple grounds in Salt Lake with their professional photographer.  Then we gathered in the temple with family and some friends for their marriage.  They were married by the temple president, President Sheldon Child.  He is a close friend of Gary's family as they were next door neighbors for over 20 years or so.  (Side note:  Pres. Child was Gary's bishop at the time we got married and attended our wedding with his wife in the Provo Temple.  In addition, we also were married by the temple president of Provo although we did not know him.--another story--Another connection is that he was also my brother Scott's mission president in New York City back in the early 1990s.  And as it turned out, Chantel's grandparents also knew him as they both were in the furniture business and were competitors throughout their careers.  That was fun for them.)  Knowing him added a sweet touch for all of us especially for Gary's mom.  Scott and Chantel looked beautiful and so in love.  Chantel's mom had the best view of Scott's face during the ceremony and she commented later on the sweetness of the emotion on his face.  She was very touched by that.

Mr. and Mrs. (Bro. and Sis.) Hall

Afterwards we headed outside to wait for them to come out for the family pictures on the temple steps.  For some reason they came walking out of a different door than we expected so we weren't quite ready to get pictures, but here they are.     

Getting everyone up on the steps of the temple

the new Hall family

with the rest of the Halls

We were quick with our pictures and were ready for lunch about 45 minutes early but luckily they were ready and we were able to start 30 minutes early.  We had it at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building which is a couple of minutes walk from the temple.  This building was originally the Hotel Utah (where my parents actually spend their wedding night almost 56 years ago.)  It was redone and now a beautiful spot to hold parties, meals, and other events.  There is also a Family History Library, restaurants, and other things that are there.  The meal was great and we had fun giving advice to Scott and Chantel as we ate dinner.

It is hard to see in this picture, but there is a good view of the temple out the window.

Then we headed to our homes to get ready for the reception which was held at Chantel's grandparents home.  Chantel's parents, grandparents and family did an amazing job with the food and the reception in general.  It was beautiful and perfect for Scott and Chantel.  It reflected their personalities and taste and what they wanted to celebrate their marriage.  It was wonderful to share this day with our friends and family who came to visit.  It was fun as we had friends we knew from most places we have lived in Utah plus Texas friends at the reception.  Gifts have come from friends from Hong Kong as well as our friends enjoy the moment as well.  (My camera was full because I had forgotten to download the memory card at the beginning of the day. I will add pictures from Jessica's in the next day or so.) 

The reception ended around 9:30 and Gary and I got home about 11:30 after doing a few things to help clean up and to spend time getting to know some of Chantel's family better. 

While I was dancing with Scott, I asked him about the day and the reception.  He said things were perfect.  "There is my friends at the back of the yard visiting, family and friends are milling around eating good food, and see those little kids wrestling in the grass having fun.  It is just the way to we wanted it and a perfect start our lives."  What could be better than that!

We watched them open presents the next evening and helped them get the gifts into their cute apartment late Wednesday night.  Scott had a final today and they are off on their official honeymoon--a cruise to Western Caribbean and then a couple of days with Chantel's sweet grandparents from Florida.  They will be back just a few days before school starts and life begins in earnest...............

As a side benefit to having a wedding, my sister and three of her children came from AZ to attend.  They stayed a couple of more days and we had some talking time and some playing time.  It was fun and our house seems quiet now that they are gone.

All in all, a wonderful week and we are so thrilled to have Chantel as part of our family forever and to share Scott with her amazing family, too.

First Visit to the Temple.....

Jordan River Temple as we left

Scott and Chantel took out their endowments at the Jordan River Temple on July 29, 2010, the day before Scott's 26th birthday.  It was a sweet and amazing experience to be there with my sweet son and the woman he loves.  As many have said, it is one of the highlights of parenting.  It was made even more sweet because Scott and Chantel selected the Jordan River Temple because that is the place where Scott was sealed to us in April of 1987 when he was 2 1/2 years old.  I doubt they will understand how much I loved that connection and being surrounded by the memories of that day as well.  In fact we were able to go down to the floor where the sealing rooms were and one of the workers came and showed us a room and talked about marriage.  Chantel's parents also had a sweet moment as her dad reunited with an old friend that he had not seen for over 7 years in the dressing room of the temple.

I remember wanting to go to the temple from a very young age.  As I attended BYU, I would often go up and walk around the grounds of the Provo Temple and be excited for the opportunity that I knew would be mine some day to enter into the doors of the temple and make additional covenants with my Heavenly Father.  Now over 32 years later, the temple is even more important to me than back then.  How lucky I feel to have a place to feel peace and take a break from the world for a moment!  It is a great privilege.  Sharing that with my children is amazing.