Poppy, Babsy and the Girls on the Town

I was waiting in Babsy's driveway when she got back from taking Jake to school this morning. We didn't even allow the girls to dismount, but I loaded in and headed to the Point of the Mountain and Cabela's. Of course both Lydia and Katie thought the fish in the aquarium were really cool. We wandered through the display and talked about all of the different kinds. They also enjoyed all of the mounted game animals, so as far as they were concerned, the trip was successful.

Babsy became intrigued with this particular fish. Not just because it had a hook jaw, but because it also looked like it had a bad cold sore. She took several pictures of it while we looked around.

I didn't buy much at Cabela's, I never do, but we also made stops at Costco, and REI. We had some lunch at a Greek joint but I don't think we chose wisely from the menu. Then we picked up Jake from school and headed to the Sugarhouse park to feed the ducks. Aunties Liza and Karen met us there with Jasper and Ted.

The kids had a ball and ducks were well fed. Once the bread was gone, we had to review duck and geese feeding etiquette. When the bread runs out it is improper to substitute rocks and sticks. For some reasons when the kids do that, the waterfowl all run away!

Of course a good time was had by all, and we returned home in time for naps and other more homey chores. I had to pick up Bubby downtown at the Raddisson at 4:30 PM and it only took us 20 minutes to drive back to Sarah's. We are having a pizza party tonight with Daniel, Rosalyn, and Andrew and Laurie, Big K, Brianna, Gracie, and Ella. Lots of fun. The kids made their own individual pizzas and have gone down to the basement to play.

Buboppy

APPL and Dinner with Impact

We started this day of the conference at a keynote speech where the various values and characteristics of the Greatest Generation, the Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y were presented. Bubby sneaked into not only this keynote, but anything else she was interested in, including the trade show. This was accomplished by her use of my badge from last year.

That evening, the folks at Impact photographic took the entire BCNHA group out for dinner at a Brazilian Restaurant. There were 14 of us all together. Of course the main theme at a Brazilian BBQ is meat, but their salad bar was the most remarkable thing I have ever seen. They had every type of side items, exotic preserved meats and cheeses, seared ahi tuna, and the list goes on and on. Of course once the meat started to arrive all else was forgotten. They had chicken, pork, beef, sausages, and lamb in all sorts of Brazilian preparations. They just keep coming, and coming, and coming. I wished I could have only ordered salad, but that wasn't in the cards.

While we were waiting for our reservation, we visited Bass Pro Shops and the Garfield County coys bought new logo hats. I had to take their photo. We encouraged Judge Lee of the 6th District to wear his new yellow Bass Pro hat on the bench, but he didn't think it would work.

As usually, Shawn was really serious about the meat. He couldn't decide if he liked the plain or bacon-wrapped beef tenderloin the best. One thing for sure, he was still eating long after everyone else had faded.

Our usual morning routine at the conference includes a trip to the Corner Bakery, which due to the BCNHA Seinfeld fetish, was nicknamed "Monk's". Bubby took a picture of our breakfast clatch this particular morning. There are lots of good, reasonably priced items to eat, but the Diet Coke was amazing and those who imbibed were returning for refills multiple times each morning.

I took this photo of the BCNHA ladies outside of the trade show. Bubby really worked it over, although we are far more discriminating than at our first APPL convention. She ended up with lots of whale and dolphin books for mister Jake.

Our last evening at the conference, we went to find White Fence Farm, a restaurant featured on "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives". I captured the back seat brigade on the way there.

We always work hard to make Judge Lee laugh on our outings, because when he really gets going, he laughs like Kermit The Frog. In this photo, he is going for it.

After a major family-style chicken dinner, we wandered through the retail section, and had a nice time. Bubby posed with this bronze, along with our friend Paula. It was a lovely couple of days and lots of fun going to all of these fun restaurants. We finished this day with a trip to Cold Stone Creamery. Bubby and I couldn't eat much, but participated anyway. The best part of this day was that we got to change our room for the last night. We finally got a king bed and Bubby said it was her best night's sleep while we were gone. We are so spoiled.

Buboppy

APPL Happenings

While I was being good and attending conference sessions on Monday, Bubby, Auntie Nell, Debbie Hafen, and La Dawn Clove went out and about town. It was really quite a lovely day, and they did some exploring. In the photo above, TriNellie are standing in front of the J.J. and Unsinkable Molly Brown home in the downtown area. It is located Pennsylvania Ave, where Molly always wanted to live.

After their trip to see the historic home, they went to the Brown Palace Hotel for high tea. I fear that Bubby is polluting others, because neither Debbie or La Dawn have ever participated in that pleasant ritual. Bubby says it is a beautiful hotel, and they had a lovely time just taking in their surroundings.

Although she is posing with a tea cup in this image, Auntie Nell drank lemonade, rather than tea. I guess only Bubby and Debbie actually enjoyed herbal tea. One day, it is Bubby's fondest wish to take all of her grandchildren, although not necessarily all at once, out for high tea in a beautiful venue.

Debbie is poised behind the three layers of tea treats. Bubby said the scones and clotted cream were outstanding, as good as any she has had. The other treats were good, but not the best ever. The newcomers were overwhelmed with their first experience, and the civility and social reality associated with "ladies of quality" enjoying a dignified repast.

That evening, when the meetings were over, no one had a clear picture of what they wanted to eat for supper, and so Bubby pointed out that she had noticed that Maggiano's Little Italy was just one block away, and off we went. There were 10 of us for supper, and only Bubby and I had eaten there before. I took a photo of the second half of Bubby's baked chicken, portabello mushroom, and sun-dried tomato pasta dish. It was rendered in a cream sauce that immediately gave her the BU. It was incredibly delicious but way too rich. I had the ever delightful eggplant parmasean, and we all split a spinach artichoke hot dip appetizer. All were impressed and over fed, of course. Lesa Pollock's husband, Greg, ordered the lasagna, and although I warned him about portion size at Little Italy, he was till in shock when the dish arrived 5X6 inches and 4 inches high. It was drowned in the most amazing marinara sauce.

This is the irrepressible Shawn Chenoweth. He is loads of fun at these things, and always eats everyone under the table, calling for an ice cream dessert afterwards.

We stepped out the the restaurant and lumbered up the 16th Street Mall looking for incidentals in Walgreens and Rite Aid. I took this photo of the immediate skyline, and we parted company and headed to our accommodations.

Buboppy

Safely Installed in the Adams Mark

No photos yet, but a quick report to let you know that the conference weekend activities are concluded and we arrived in Denver last evening for the APPL convention with very little mishap. We were expecting stormy weather, but seem to have pretty much missed it during our drive to SLC. Once we checked in, our flight was quite uneventful. We had a reasonable taxi ride in, and saw Gayle Pollock, Lyman and Debbie Hafen, and Uncle Roland and Auntie Nellie in the lobby of the Adams Mark. We had a snack together last night, and Bubby is out and about with Auntie Nell and Debbie today.

I did have a rather embarrassing moment during my reading of the sustaining in our general stake conference meeting. I was given the paperwork far enough in advance to look it over, but I spent all of my time looking over the personnel in our stake. I never bothered to look at the general authority portion. I started out and got about as far as "Gordan B. . . ." before I realized that the document, which comes out of the Church's computer system, has not yet been updated to reflect the new First Presidency or Council of the Twelve. Anyway, I began to wing it, scrambling to remember who the new councilors in the First Presidency are, and did OK until I reread Elder Uchdorf as a member of the Twelve. Our visiting authority, Elder Stone of the Seventy, asked President Wilson to tug my coattail and ask me not to sustain him twice, and of course by then I had already read his name, did not want to reread the names (I just wanted to sit down), so I asked, "Would you like me to unsustain him?". I quickly shifted to "And the other general authorities are presently constituted", and pressed on. It was very amusing for the audience, but much less so for me. I left a note in our Stake Clerk's mailbox pointing out that we used to be friends.

Buboppy

A Pleasant Surprise

When I got home last night Trisha was down in the basement putting on a quilt. I was headed to the "reading room" when the doorbell rang. I opened it and there stood our old friend Ann Haws! We were so glad to see her. We talked and talked, caught up on everybody's lives and had a grand time. We grabbed a bite to eat at The Pub, and then went to the Escalante-Panguitch regional basketball playoff game. It was a fun evening, and probably not what would have happened if Ann hadn't showed up.

We were saddened to hear that Grandma Griffin passed away this winter. We saw Grandpa Griffin at the game, but it is sad to think that she is gone. We saw her in September when we borrowed a Gott cooler from them during our field trip, and now she has moved on. Kind of sobering.

Buboppy

Friday Afternoon

It's Friday, and I feel like I need to post something, but have nothing outstanding to report. We are gearing up for our departure to Denver on Sunday and planning ahead so we can be ready to run. The weather is a little unpredictable this weekend, which could make things interesting. It is sunny and breezy right now, but the weather gurus are predicting significant snow (3-6 inches) by morning and more on Sunday.
It is our stake conference this weekend. We have a visiting general authority, and of course all of the meetings associated with stake conference. I start tomorrow afternoon at about 4:30, and the pressure won't be off until afternoon on Sunday. I have to speak in the Saturday night session, and I need to go over my talk a few times before then.
We are planning on packing tonight and tomorrow morning for our trip. I also have an appointment with Dr. Vlasich at the University tomorrow. He wants to look at my pontoon boat. He is interested in buying one and I would be glad to sell him mine. I don't like it much, but of course I won't tell him that. I think the deal will hinge on whether he thinks an electric trolling motor can be mounted on my boat.
I did go out to lunch with Barb, Pearl, and Ty today. We drove over to the Parowan Cafe because Ty got to choose. Bubby declined the invitation, because she ate Chinese at work today.
I offered Bubby a chance to go to the movies, but she doesn't seem interested. The only reasonable option is the "Spiderwick" business, and you know how she feels about fantasy. We have been stockpiling episodes of "My So Called Life" for Sarah to view while we are gone, and so we don't even have a decent Netflix to watch.
Let's hope we have more to report later. I guess Laur is in SLC. We hope for a report of some kind about those events.

Buboppy

Bubby Can't Wait

Bubb took her 50%-off coupon for Roberts' Craft and added to the collection this morning. She says she can't wait to do a page in the new books. She does have a photo of Leo (or Leona) to work up a page for. It is just too fun to have grandchildren to scrapbook for.

Buboppy