Extended family – Page 28 – Letters from Home

Prom 2014

These are some of the kids from our trip to Escalante; they are in the same Sunday school class and they are delightful people.

We found Paige’s dress in Provo and the girl at the shop told us that it was one-of-a-kind. Paige didn’t love the dress at first, but finding a dress her size was a challenge, as was finding a dress with sleeves. She loved it by the end. I think the blue dress looked lovely on her. I had to do some hemming in the front so she could walk. My sister Susan did her hair.

Most of the parents gathered to take these photos. It was nice to send our daughter with kids we knew and to enjoy the photo shoot with our friends, their parents. One of the parents told me that she thought that this low-pressure, friendly date would probably be more memorable than others they will have. Who knows, but I don’t think you can forget how beautiful those girls look in their dresses and how happy everyone looks.

Whirlwind

There is no writing going on in a whirlwind. But here are a couple of pictures of things we have been up to. Richard’s mom celebrated a birthday with us and we welcomed Sara home from her mission over the weekend.

We checked on Spring Lake and admired the foundation.

Richard’s parents stayed for a few days and then Russ’s family stayed. There was Indian food, the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit, a piano recital, a district math test, baseball games, an overnight retreat in Midway, and a violin-piano duet in a church in Spanish Fork.

We put together an answer to an art-themed prom invitation.

Daniel’s friends spent several days in the basement constructing a physics project… with lots of Lego man spectators.

I’m glad the pace isn’t always this busy, but it was good to see Richard’s family and to be among so many good friends.

Impromptu temple tour

Paige and I had an adventure this week across town and noticed that we were close to the Oquirrh Mountain temple. We had never visited this temple so we stopped by and took a picture. On the way home we drove past the Jordan River temple and looked around. The next day we stopped at the Provo temple for tradition’s sake. When I was a little girl I would ask my parents to take me home by way of the Provo temple, which wasn’t in our path home, but I never remember them saying no to my request.

Birthday Girl

The kids were out of school so we were able to go on an early birthday picnic for my mom. We gave her a tiara. If you see her today, remind her to put it on. She’s a queen and it’s her birthday.

Happy, happy day!

Spring Lake Easter Egg Hunt 2014

We gathered at Spring Lake for the annual Easter egg hunt, hosted by my parents.

The Round House is gone, and there are only the footings of the new house in place.

The boys and Richard helped my dad haul literally a ton of rocks and remove dead wood. Paige and I helped my mom hide all of the eggs while they were thus distracted. Timothy and Mark enjoyed working with the saw and pruners. Mark was especially proud of his bundle of sticks and asked to make one more before we left. Some cousins arrived and baby Ruth and Sparky hit it off almost immediately.

Sparky noticed that she needed a little face wash and he cleaned her right up.

It was such a pleasant day. We had some lunch and began the Easter egg hunt. We spectators had a great time watching the kids find the eggs. Richard *might* also be smiling because we bought that truck in the background on Friday. It’s a nice ride.

This is a picture of Richard and me eating chocolates and watching the kids play.This is the view of the new temple from my parents’ property. Beautiful.

We missed Sarah’s, Matt’s, and Paul’s families who couldn’t make it. We know what it’s like to miss the Annual Easter Egg hunt, but the beauty of family traditions is that there will always be next year.

(Most of these photos were taken by Paige. Thank you!)

Being an Aunt

We had a few cousins over on Sunday afternoon during General Conference. I took a picture of what they looked like as it began. Five minutes later, the cousins were looking for something to do.

I promise that this wasn’t my idea, but they decided they wanted to sew. They had never sewn anything before (they are in preschool and kindergarten) but they saw that Mark knew how to embroider, so they wanted to do that, too.

They embroidered little sketches I made of swords as we watched Conference.

The older brother was so excited about his sword that I framed that he decided he wanted to do another project: the Easter Bunny. And he wanted it to be pink.

Does anyone believe me that they wanted to do this? These little boys sat for an hour together, then the older brother sat for another hour, completely focused on their work. I sat with them, threading needles and saying good job. It was focused attention and I loved it.

They had a good time here, and that was a relief. I know that I am not the fun aunt or the young aunt. But yesterday, I felt like my version of an aunt was okay. I am the aunt who will untangle knots in your thread, make drawings for you, and feed you carrot sticks and lemon bars.

I’m also the aunt with the fun kids to play with. There was a mighty game of dress up clothes and battles in the basement. It was a good time, and I am glad that my brother could take his older kids to a session of Conference in the Conference Center.

Sacred Gifts

Paige had the day off from school on Monday and we decided to get tickets to the Sacred Gifts exhibit at the BYU Museum of Art. We went with my mom and made a day of it. If you have an opportunity to go, you should. These paintings are on loan from several locations, mostly churches, and they are all depictions of the Savior. The altar pieces take some time to study. There are paintings by Carl Bloch, Heinrich Hoffmann, and Frans Schwartz.

I realized that I had never seen real art before. I have visited community and university museums all of my life, but never felt what I did at this exhibit. Part of it was the subject matter and seeing original paintings rather than the washed out prints I have looked at all my life. The paintings were luminous and vibrant in color. I could see the foreground of the paintings were painted differently than the backgrounds. I could see the “spectators” in Bloch’s paintings more clearly. My favorite was the first painting, Frans Schwartz’s Agony in the Garden. It touched me deeply.

One caption near a painting by Heinrich Hofmann told of the inadequacy that Hofmann felt when he began painting the Savior. The painting took him two years to complete, and the writer of the caption emphasized the courage it took for Hofmann to paint, despite his youth, inexperience, and the immense subject matter he was trying to depict.

I think that’s the message that I needed to hear this week. Even though we may feel inadequate, our time and talents given to others can become sacred gifts, and they can be magnified in quality when we give with a pure heart.

Sahuarita friends

We had a nice visit from some friends from Sahuarita, Arizona. They’ve all grown so much, but the friendships still feel comfortable. It was a fun night. It’s a sacrifice to take time to visit friends when people are on a trip to visit family. It meant a lot to us.

Spring Lake house demolition

We stopped by at dusk last night to see the progress on my parents’ cabin demolition. It felt a little surreal to walk among the piles of rubble, and looked something like the pictures you see after a tornado.

We took my dad to dinner to celebrate the demolition, an early birthday for Richard, and a reading goal completed by the little boys. My mom was out of town to help take care of my grandpa who had surgery for cancer today. My day has been largely devoted to hopeful waiting for news. So far so good.

It’s Fun in the North, too.

1620580_10203291784404280_1102347882_n — Day 2: snowshoeing

IMG_20140208_125121 — Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the women gathered for hot chocolate, salads, and shopping.

A couple of weekends ago Richard and the big boys had a blowout winter sport extravaganza. I stayed warm and enjoyed a visit with my sisters.

This post looks short, but it took an hour to get these photos to post. I wrote and deleted a long post while I waited. You’re welcome. Now go have a great weekend.