A Weekend in Northern Utah

We left Cedar City on Wednesday afternoon on our way to visit Sarah and Daniel and their families. Of course, we needed to make a stop in Spanish Fork to visit Jean and Jerry. They have a newly remodeled kitchen and it was really nice to see them. They are starting to talk about moving back to Stewart Point. I can't believe the summer is almost gone!

When we left Spanish Fork, we contacted Daniel and had him meet us at Mr. Mac in Orem/Provo. We helped him select a blue blazer and pair of banker-gray trousers so that he will have an additional interview ensemble for the upcoming season. After stopping at Ross to pick out three complimentary ties, we drove to Bruce and Patti's for dinner and a visit with the kids. Evelyn has new tricks! We never really got a great photo of it, but she can grin and coo at you with the best of them. She is so sweet and cute. We just love to hold her.

We also got to see Hurricane Andrew before his bedtime (undoubtedly the highlight of any given day in this busy household). He is so full of life and runs full speed from one thing to the next. He hardly slows down to breath.

We slept at Sarah and Aaron's that night. When we rose on the 24th, we prepared ourselves for a trip to Red Butte Gardens (the 24th was a free-day). The little girls looked fresh and ready to go. Notice the difference in coloring for these two little ones. Katie has Sarah's coloring and tans quickly and deeply. Lydia is much more fair (like her Dad and Jake) and does not take a tan easily.

We got a photo of the Wells family at the gardens. Both looked beautiful. We had a great time there and everyone seemed to be enjoying their surroundings. Bubby said that the Gardens were her favorite part of the weekend.

Daniel and Rosalyn were up from Provo visiting an Aunt and having some breakfast, so we all rendezvoused at the Olive Garden for lunch. The food and service were great. I caught Rosalyn enjoying her Tuscan Chicken Flat Bread, although she would probably rather I not post it to this site.

As long as we are posting uncomplimentary photos, this one of Bean is a dandy. He has a mouthful of some decadent chocolate silk pie, or other, and is lucky I didn't post the shot just before this one on the camera. Much less attractive.

On Friday, Sarah had a coupon for the Gateway with its discovery museum. We got a lot of cute pictures of the kids, but sent them to Sarah so she can include them in her blog. Katie spent the majority of her time in the play kitchen "mothering" this little baby. You can see that she is perfectly happy to do what she loves, no matter the surroundings.

On Saturday afternoon, Bubby and Babsy went to lunch with Auntie Nell, Jennie, Jodie, and Barbie. They had a lovely lunch in Gardner Village and even spent some time wandering around the stores doing some window shopping. While they were there, Aaron tended Jake and the girls and I ran to Cabelas. I bought a fish finder for the front of my boat and I look forward to getting it into operation. I am going to mount the transducer on the shaft of my trolling motor.

On Sunday morning we got ourselves un-installed from Sarah's house and headed down to Provo to go to church with Daniel and Family. Andrew was very well behaved during the meeting, except that he was ready for the closing prayer to be over way before the person offering it. He shouted a resounding "Amen" several times but the offerer never got the hint. Before we left Sarah's, Bubby wanted me to take this photo of the Ly, a natural. She is trying on her mom's shoes. This photo was taken just before she shed her diaper and spent the rest of the morning running around in the buff. I guess she enjoys the breeze.

Thanks to our hosts for the weekend. We had a wonderful time and really enjoyed seeing everyone.

Buboppy

Mr. Vince

Last Sunday evening, Tony, Jaye, and Mr. Vince came for a visit. He came to play toys and we enjoyed watching him play toys. As you can see, he is a very cute, but serious young man. He is troubled by loud noises and other distractions. Kind of a gentle giant, it seems. Tony and Jaye are doing a great job with him and he is a nice boy.

After he warmed to us, Jaye trotted out his tricks. In this photo, you can see him very seriously patting some cakes. I had to laugh because just like Cindy's boys, Vince thinks I am his Grandpa Phil. He kept coming over to me and asking to be picked up. Of course I love the thought of beating UP's time with his grands, and I picked him up every time he asked.

He is pretty mobile and Jaye said he can really motor when he crawls. We broke out the Big Sticks and although he liked the sweet flavor, he wasn't too fond of the cold. He kept coming back for more, but would make a face after every bite.

Lest you think that Vince can't smile, in this photo you can see he is very capable. Jaye has to get him going, but he really lights things up when he grins. We thoroughly enjoyed his visit, and hope to see a lot more of the Tony family.

Buboppy

Quilting Mania

Over the past two years I have been working on this quilt with some friends in my neighborhood. We meet monthly and work on one quilt square together. I have made some effort to finish my quilt over the past week and am very happy it is almost complete. The name of this pattern is the Under Ground Railroad. Each block had a message for the American slaves to follow in order to find freedom.
Poppy asked me to point out which was my favorite square. I like the look of the bear paw, although it was not my favorite one to sew. I guess I just like the contrast of the fabrics in this block.

I am very happy to be finished with this project so I can start a new one.

Trying to Maintain Some Sense of Balance

As I mentioned, Bubby helped me move my books into the new office last Saturday, but it still took most of the time that I could spare on Monday to finish the job. It has been a week of frustration as I migrate to a new computer, try to restore my iTunes library (I will no longer be using my CubeG4 as a jukebox), restore printing, and a myriad of other computer related tasks, all of which is complicated by an IT technician who hates Macs. All of this is further complicated by the fact that I am teaching accelerated general chemistry and being the Dean at the same time. Because of the Y-generation (lead me, guide me, hold my hand while I work this problem) crowd I am teaching, both activities are full-time! I had to go back to work nearly every night last week just to keep up.

Of course I am doing what I can to maintain sanity. I played early morning golf everyday last week except Friday. Jim Johnson played three times with me. We are loosing daylight so we can't start until after 5:45 now. It won't be long and I won't be able to squeeze it in comfortably before I teach at 8:00 AM. I have been faithfully tending the garden. We ate zucchini and pea pods from our garden this week. These are are first products. There are tomatoes on the vines, flowers on the beans and crook neck squash, and lots of beautiful basil and parsley. Things look really good in the garden. Now if we only had some tomatoes.

Bubby is doing wonderfully well. She has been quilting and scrapbooking this week, and seems very happy. I am glad she allows me to go back to work when I feel stressed. I think it would get old fast if I did too much of it, but so far so good. I am afraid nothing much will change until after August 8th (when summer school ends for me). We are trying to plan a three-day get away after summer school ends but before August 16th (when I have to be back at my desk). Not missing Sundays feels really inconvenient, but I should probably carefully examine those feelings.

On Friday morning, I made my weekly run to Sand Hollow. The moon is full, so the fishing was a little slower than it was the week before. I caught 15-20 fish (down from 25-30 the week before). However, I caught this nice 2.5 pounder on a Senko (can't wait to help Aaron and Booty master this technique). It was a beautiful morning and until the sun got on the water the bite was pretty good.

Just before I moved out into the sun, I caught this nice fish in the shallows. I didn't have a scale, but I am guessing 3.5-4 pounds. He really gave me a battle, diving into the weeds and making me wonder if I was going to see him at all. He finally broke the surface with a mouthful of "salad". I was going to shoot him on the deck of the boat, but he got away before I was able to. It is hard to take photos when you are all alone. I need fishing buddies!

Buboppy

A Close Encounter with Miss. Evelyn

This weekend was our first chance to get really close to Miss. Evelyn. She is such a cute girl and very sweet. There has been some conjecture about after whom she "takes", but . . .

if you look at Andrew (pictured here with his dolly, Belle) there is little doubt in my mind that these two grandchildren were fished out of the same part of the gene pool. We couldn't be happier and it was fun to see and touch her.

Of course her life is currently dominated with eating and sleeping, but we did get to enjoy a few of her wakeful moments. Daniel would bring her up to visit with us in the early mornings and it was fun to see the two of them together.

Of course everyone wanted to get their hands on her. Sarah took plenty of opportunities, and of course so did Bubb. I got a chance to hold her, but babies this tiny make me nervous, so I'll get in some serious loves at a future date. Even Jake wanted a turn. He is a notorious baby-hair-sniffer (which is illegal in five states!) and Bubby got a photo of him drinking in Evelyn's baby scent. Jake loves babies, and has lots of practice holding little girls.

Finally, a photo of the Bubb and Evelyn. She loves this little girl and couldn't wait to have a photo with her. Welcome to our family Evelyn, it is so fun to have you! Maybe you will like to come to Cedar City as much as Andrew does.

Buboppy

Laurie's Shower

Although I was not in attendance myself, I have it on good authority that Laurie's baby shower was a big hit. She got lots of great and practical gifts for the new arrival. In the above photo she is holding some baby items (burp cloths? blankets?)artfully shaped into a layer cake. I heard that it was really "cute", although I couldn't have used that word during the shower. I would have lost my pacifier.

The Three Fountains clubhouse was used for the event and as you can see from this photo, it was very well attended. Thanks to all who participated and to Babsy and Bubby for putting it together. I even got in on the act by grilling up some chicken to fill the Caesar wraps consumed by the guests.

Bubby was having a great weekend, and although she is probably not happy to have this photo posted, the grin she is wearing was a permanent feature during all the festivities. By the way, notice the beans climbing their trellis in the background. We now have several plants that have reached the top and are looking for something else to climb. The cooler weather has returned and the garden is starting to turn on.

One last photo of the Ly. I thought this photo, which I didn't take, was pretty nice. Why is it that even little girls know how, and are willing, to smile at the camera. I couldn't generate a grin that genuine just for the camera.

Buboppy

Independence Day

Our holiday was wonderful. Everyone was here and we spent a good part of the weekend together. Sarah and Rosalyn had cute celebration attire for the grand babies and so lots of photos were taken. Ly was the first one dressed so I followed her around and she struck her best Vogue poses for me. She really is a pistol. I get quite a kick out of her.

The light was pretty nice in the solarium so I got a few nice photos of the other Wells children. Kate is turning it on for me here.

Here is the wild threesome. I thought this one was the best of those that I took.

I also got a photo of the two girls together. I have to apologize to Rosalyn, Sarah asked me to shot some pictures, and they are all I have for this blog entry. We are not playing favorites.

We were on Main Street before the appointed hour and we witnessed the Independence Day parade. Lots of fire engines and OHV (four wheelers) and not much else (except thrown candy for the kids). We did see Deana and Confidance. but that was the only music offered. After an hour of waiting and finally observing the parade, we headed for The Cow. We sat in the cool getting refill after refill and letting the kids "play" video games (they don't know that you have to put money in them). Going to the Top Spot is one of our favorite summertime activities. Bubby says the ice cream is better than DQ, and the bottomless fountain drinks are a draw for the heavy drinkers.

We had a nice hamburger/sausage dinner with all of the trimmings. It was a hot day, but once the shade gets on the east side of the house, it doesn't matter. We even fixed up some caramelized onions and peppers and mushrooms to top everyone's burger. Most of the kids (and Poppy) had a dog instead. It was very nice. We made a major fruit salad and had Big Sticks for dessert. No one cared about the fireworks, so we played games, instead.

Buboppy

Too Busy to Blog

I realize it isn't much of an excuse, but I am swamped this summer. I am trying to do my new job, and teaching the accelerated chemistry course at the same time. I can't seem to find time to get anything important (like blogging) done. So to all of our hostile readers, our most profound apologies. I could swear an oath that it will never happen again, but it has happened before, and . . .

Matt finally arrived from Dallas and we had a great week with him and Laur. He is pictured above putting the last few stitches into Bubby's shower give for Laur. The theme we were given was "modes of transportation" and so Bubby used a cute cartoon of a tugboat named "LEO" and made a nice tricot quilt for the Baby. By the time Matt got here, Bubby's fingers were so sore she couldn't finish up the last few stitches. She is a quilting machine, but it takes its toll.

On Thursday, July 3rd, Aaron, Jake, Matt, Daniel and I went fishing at Newcastle. It was fun to all be in the boat together, and while the fishing wasn't as good as it was in mid-June, we caught plenty and had some great laughs. Jake is pictured with the biggest bass we caught that night. I was doing the hooking and Jake was putting everybody's fish back in the water. He was as busy and a lint picker in a blue serge suit factory!

Buboppy