Congratulations are in Order

Saturday was a full day. I was mowing the overgrown front lawn by 7:45 AM. We had cars to drop off at Auto Trim, and of course it was stake temple day in St. George. Bubby had some stuff to leave with Auntie Nell, but when we got there, she was tending the three youngest of the Jon Lee Family. After a very insightful conversation with Max, we drove over to the DRMC to drop off a car seat for the newly arrived Dallin James Lee. Jon, and of course Jolynn, are very happy to have him here. I asked Max what color Dallin's hair was, and he pronounced it black. Either he doesn't know his colors, or he was telling a windy to his old Uncle Rob. I suspect Dallin's hair will disappear upon washing just like all of the other Jon Lee kids.

Bubby thought it grand to get her hands on this fresh little guy. He is very cute, and seems content. Of course, as Jolynn pointed out, all he'll do is sleep for the first 24 hours. We will probably not know much about his personality until he has had a little time to settle in. I'll bet he will have lots of sisters who want to hold him.

I took a couple of up-closes for our readers who want to see whom Dallin looks like. It is clear to me that he is a full fledged member of the family, and will be chasing chickens and bunnies in no time.

He is a nice, sturdy little package. Bubby commented on that.

Of course, with the arrival of Jon and family from the Sevier Valley, comes eggs from Alisa, the egg lady. Bubby said one egg was so huge, you couldn't even close the egg carton on it. She cracked it open for her breakfast Sunday morning, and it was a double yolker. She was reveling in the orange wonder of it all when I got home from my morning meetings and couldn't understand why I didn't want to strap myself into a fried egg, too. I like them, but not nearly as much as she does.

We ran into W. Del Smith in Costco on Saturday. He is teaching at DSC of Utah and we visited their home and went to dinner with them. Bubby was very jealous of their backyard pool. It was grand to see them doing so well. He has been at DSC for over a year, but we never seem to cross paths.

Buboppy

Ground Breaking!

Bubby went to the ground breaking of the new SWATC auto mechanics/truck driving school facility yesterday. She had been involved in the planning all week, and although her participation meant sitting out in the sun for a couple of hours she wanted to be a part of it. She arranged for popsicles (cherry and pineapple Big Sticks) for everyone and she said they were really refreshing. She wanted her photo taken by one of the newly acquired ATC trucks. The program is expanding.

This is Dana, Bubby's boss. He is standing by his project vehicle, and old truck of one sort or another. She really likes him and says he is both kind and thoughtful.

This photo is for all of our readers who know and love J. Ty. This is Teresa's (Ty's new wife's) ex-husband. He is a long haul trucker and a member of the advisory board for the SWATC truck driving program. As I look at him, I know he is a successful businessman, but I just can't see Teresa with him.

Finally, when I look at the gentlemen on the left side of this line, I have to think of the statement the former Dean of Science made about my geologic mentors at commencement a few years ago. He was introducing our faculty , and as he introduced the geologists (both of which were very large) he said, "You might think we hire our geologists by the pound (a pause, and much laughter), but if you think about it, you realize that we couldn't afford them!"

Buboppy

Aunt Virginia's Funeral

Monday was a big day on campus. We had lots of meetings with the President, Provost, our public safety people, and etc. I broke away from the meeting with the Provost to run out to Newcastle. As most of our readers know, Aunt Virginia passed away late last week, and the funeral was held in Las Vegas. She was staying with Nancy down there at the end. After the funeral, a graveside service was held in Newcastle, which is where Uncle Leo, and now Aunt Virgina, are interred. We are so happy for Aunt Virginia. She has missed Uncle Leo so much for the last nine years, and now can be with him. We love them both. All of their kids were there. We saw, and visited with, Janet (Los Angeles Area, CA), Nancy (Las Vegas, NV), BJ (Bay Area, CA), and TL (Beryl Junction, UT). Tom looks an awful lot like his Dad, and Nancy could be Aunt Virginia's twin sister. Bubby gave Tom lots of hugs.

Of course the best part of funerals is to get to see the family that attends. Lumpy's siblings have narrowed down to a few, Katie, Donna, Ilene, and Connie (who was at the funeral in Las Vegas but didn't come to the grave side) are the only remaining sisters. Uncle Jay is the last remaining brother. Aunt Ilene and Uncle Wilmer looked great at the funeral and haven't changed much in the passing years. We had a nice visit with them. Their children, Rick, Cindy, and Pam were also there and we had fun catching up at the luncheon. There is much reunion talk on the Eves side as well, so hang on to your hats. Bubby renewed her crush on Rick and they exchanged contact info and talked endlessly about shopping at Trader Joe's.

Uncle Jay and Aunt Barbara were there and we had a good visit with them. Uncle Jay is quite the techy. He had a cool digital SLR and showed me around it. He was showing Uncle Phil some of his photos on an iPod Touch, so he must be an Apple man. Lots of common sense that flows from the Eves genetics. They are still living in the Central Valley of California, and they looked great. Uncle Jay was really taken with Mr. Vince who was, as usual, the life of the party.

Got a great photo of UP and AK at the luncheon. They came with Tony, Jaye, and Vince. I guess the luncheon was nice, but I didn't partake. Instead of the usual ham and funeral potatoes the good sisters in Newcastle prepared casseroles and pasta dishes, made salads and cakes. Bubby said it was really fun and felt small town to her.

Finally, for dinner last night we cooked up some of the bounty of our garden. The first tomatoes are ripening, but last night we ate what may be the last of the pea pods, some squash, and mung bean sprouts. We tossed in a little shrimp for protein, and it was a wonderful stir fry. I can't take a decent photo, but Bubby thought the plate colorful so concentrate on that.

Buboppy

A 33 Hour Vacation

I finished teaching summer school on August 8th. I really wanted to take all of last week off and go and do something. This summer's chemistry class seemed to go on, and on. They were a good group, but I think I am getting too old for teaching year-round. Anyway, Bubby could not get away last week (it was teachers back to school and she had lots of meetings) so we didn't get to leave town until Friday at 1:00 PM.

We drove toward Manti, stopping at Gary's Shoes in Richfield. It was good to see the owners, and we visited a little. Bubby said she didn't need any shoes, but she went home with a pair anyway. We found out that our old favorite Mexican restaurant in Richfield, El Mexicano, has moved to Salina, so we stopped for an early dinner. The chilies relleno were outstanding. We also stopped in Gunnison and went into a quilt/archery/diving shop (when you live in a small town, you have to diversify). Bubby found fabric for a quilt for our bed. It will be a big project, and of course, very blue.

We drove from Gunnison to Sterling and then to Palisades State Park. It was a beautiful afternoon, and we played nine holes of golf in the long shadows of evening. I thought this was a particularly impressive divot, so Bubby took a photo. We had so much fun, we wanted to come back in the morning for another nine, however, a tournament was scheduled, so we didn't get a reround.

We had a reservation at the Yardley Inn and Spa in Manti. We reserved the Wedgewood room, and of course it was extremely Wedgewood blue. They even brought our cold, lemon scented, water in a lovely blue decanter. Bubby insisted on a photo.

The bathroom was large and commodious. It had a nice whirlpool tub and a large shower. Of course chilled sparkling cider and chocolate were also part of the ammenities. The Yardley is getting a little threadbare, but it was a lovely stay, and we only got out of bed in time to eat our breakfast at 9:00 AM.

Bubby thought the bed divine, and we slept the sleep of the dead. After breakfast, we headed to Antimony to check out a family ranch for a possible family reunion site. It was definitely unsuitable, but we went up to Fish Lake and looked around and there are some possibilities there. We are returning for a second look with UP and AK on the 5th and 6th of September, so stay tuned.

When we finished at Fish Lake, we drove to Torrey and checked into the Boulder View Inn. It is a far cry from the Yardley Inn, but scrupulously clean and very reasonably priced. We watched a couple of "Office" episodes and walked down the street and had dinner at Cafe Diablo. What a memorable occasion that was. We started with a salad that contained coconut fried calamari and was dressed with an orange marmalade dressing. It was wonderful, but Bubby lost her interest when we found the fried head of the squid (it's the tentacles!). Bubby had the pecan encrusted chicken and I had a vegetarian tamale. Hers was excellent. I wouldn't order mine again. We went all out and ordered key lime cheesecake for dessert. It was served on a plate decorated with cream fresh and raspberry coulee and a scoop of homemade vanilla bean ice cream in a twiel cookie. We did everything except pick up the dessert plate and lick it clean. What a wonderful evening. The grounds were beautiful and we ate on the veranda.

The next morning we rose early, headed home and were both in our respective sacrament meetings at 11:00 AM. I could stand at least another 33 hours of vacation, but it was sure nice to get away. We wish all of our readers could have enjoyed it with us.

Buboppy