Temples, Friends, Eating Out and Vultures too.

 Monday started out with a visit to the dentist for me, where I found out I need to have a tooth pulled.  Yikes.    Then I spent an hour or so at the DI in Provo which is near my dentist, then headed home to pick up my ministering partner to do some visits.   We saw Carol and Dad's cousin Jerry.  Then I asked my cute 88 year old partner if she'd like to come along and meet a friend of mine, who had some things to sell.  She said yes, 

 

So we headed to Carol's house in Elk Ridge.  Carol is in her mid seventies, and her sister, who is ten years young, recently brought her several boxes of family heirlooms.  Really?  Carol's sister is a doctor and just doesn't have the time to deal with it all.  This is Carol with her mother's teddy bear.

The doll on the right is Carol's mother's baby doll.  She has been badly redone, and Carol gave her to me.  Some day I hope to restore her, to look like the original on the left.

As we were leaving I thought I'd like a picture of Luanna with Carol, and we snapped this.  I love both these ladies, they so enrich my life.  They are both friendly and happy, and always are on the verge of laughing.  I need to be more like them.

That night Randy needed a couple of  copper pipe fittings soldered.  Dad had the necessary stuff left over from helping your cousin Megan with her basement bathroom (Which, BTW has become a necessity, since Megan and her new husband are all tucked in there together with their allotments of children, says Aunt Shirley) It took them about three minutes so since we were there we decided to play games.  This was an interesting Asian travel game, which was quite different than ones we're used to.

Its always a good time when we get together.

On Tuesday I met up with Arlene to go to the temple and do a family name for the first time in 40 years.  I have done some of J. Scott's names, but they were from his mother's side.  Afterward we went to Zupas, and I am so geeky that I took some chopped broccoli to add to my salad there, since I need a cruciferous veggie every day, and that was the best way to get it.

 That night Dad and I headed over to a big fancy 'barn' in Mapleton to hear one of the men on his temple shift talk about his experience as a gunner on a plane during WWII.  He's in 90's and joined up when he was 18, there aren't many such men still alive.  It was terribly interesting, and terribly sad to hear about all the loss of life. He said that once when they had crash landed and all 18 occupants had run from the plane, the pilot insisted on going back because he could only count 17 men.  They had to hold him back and remind him that he hadn't counted himself.

 I seem to be trapped in WWII, the book I just finished for book club was about a 14 year old young woman who lived in Vienna, and who was shipped to England as the war broke out in a kinder transport program for Jewish children in occupied countries.  The girl lived in London in a hostel set up to house such children.  She worked to support herself, paying 3/4 of her income sewing and then later playing a piano in a lounge.  The book was written by her daughter and was a fascinating new view of the war for me. It was especially interesting because I knew it was all true.  Its called The Children of Willesden Lane, if your are interested 

Here we are by a blanket stamped with the flyer's picture.

 It was fun to meet this couple who dad had told me about, who also work on this shift. Their names are Bob and Wendy Lewis and they live near Davin and Briahnna.  They seem very nice.

Here's Dad with Ken Porter.  The fireside was organized by Mark Sheranian, who is also on their temple shift, as were the rest of the 150 people in attendance. Mark is the younger brother of Judd Sheranian, who plays for the Utah Symphony and who lived in our Cottonwood Hts ward, back in the day. Dad loves those connections ... I knew you when ...

On Wednesday morning, as we were studying our Finnish, we did this good sized scripture and I knew most all of the words.  That was very, very exciting for me.

On Wednesday I worked, and tweaked my platter and transferware plate display, adding the blue green plate and using a big plate stand I'd found at DI.

After work, since Dad had gone to his barbershop practice, and I had no Young Women's, I headed to the remodeled DI in Springville and found this little wonder for $3. Its a reproduction of the door knobs in the SL temple to be used as a paper weight on a marble base.  I'd seen them in the Deseret Book catalogue and wanted one, because I love the doorknobs in the SL temple, but they were $50.  Yeah, Dad was even impressed and took this picture and posted it on FB.

On Thursday I was off to work and Dad was off to the temple.  This nice man asked me if my last name was Perkins when I was checking out his order.  Then he asked if I was married to Scott.  Turns out he was in charge of the Toy and Joy machines that Macey's used to have near their entrance.  He went on and on about how great Dad is, and what a gentleman he is.  He said he rarely ran into people as nice as Dad in his business.  It was quite a tribute.  I took a picture of Bob to surprise Dad when he uploaded the pictures for the blog ... and it worked.

Later that day this gal wanted the blouse off this mannequin, so I went back to help.  It didn't appear to come apart, but as we tried this and that, pieces started separating, we were laughing our heads off.  Yes, she went back together fine, and the gal bought the blouse.  Her mother (who took the picture) said her daughter loved vintage clothes from the time she could dress herself.  It was super interesting to talk to her about recycling, and not buying clothing produced in sweat shops, and even avoiding  harmful chemicals used in cloth production in foreign countries now.  Who knew?

On Friday we started slow, going shopping at Sprouts and then Macey's before heading to Bountiful where we shopped at DI for an hour.  Dad found the President Monson biography he'd been looking for for three months, and went to the car to read it.  He was the winner of that DI stop.

Next we went to meet the Londons at the Sizzler on 500 S and when we walked in I saw them, then saw my brother Doug.  How fun is that.  He was there with all these Mechams (Including Arlene who I had just attended the temple with on Tuesday)  They were meeting some cousins, and we just happened to run into each other.  That was fun.

Here we are after finishing our dinner with Lynn and Rick London. Its so nice especially since we are missing two Finnish mission reunions as we come home from Hawaii on Conference Sunday.  

Dad and I were up early to attend an art auction in Salt Lake, as we seek a place to sell our newly acquired art. Well, we decided this was not the place.  The highest selling items went for 2 and 3 thousand, and several items with reserves of 10 to 50 grand went off without a bid.  There was a Minerva Tiechert painting, but it was done before her marriage and was a portrait, that was atypical of her work, though it was well done.  The reserve on that was the 50 grand reserve.

I did bid on this large portrait of an unknown Pioneer, by an unknown artist, but I only bid a hundred and it went for two. 

 I dropped Dad off to help Spencer with his floor, and headed to my favorite DI in Sugar House. A gal had these boots in her cart, and later told me that they were selling on Ebay for 100 bucks, but they were too big to ship priority.  I thought about putting them in the mall,  but they really don't with the stuff I sell.  So alas ...

 I headed back taking Dad lunch, then, because we had an hour before we needed to leave, and Brittney was heading off for a sister date, I checked out a couple of shops in Sugar House.

I loved this bit of reclaimed art that I found in a gallery on 21st S.  I even got to chat with the man who was on shift, as its a co-op, and found out it was his art.  He said he found the adult size coppered shoe in the trash.  One wonders.

Then we met up with the Moes, and other members of their empty nesters group for dinner at La Dulce Vita, before heading to BYU

To see this play.  Though it was well performed, I'm afraid that Dad and I just don't know enough about Hamlet to get most of the references, and in the end, for us at intermission ... we headed home.

 Today we got to speak about temples in our Sacrament meeting.  The others sisters who spoke were girls, and one leader who talked about our temple trip the week before last.  I talked about how good it felt to be prepared to take a family name to the temple this week.  Dad told about his experience, as a veil worker in the Salt Lake Temple, when he got to take a person of African decent through, just 6 days after the official declaration, that all worthy male members could be ordained to the priesthood.  I know I've told you all already, but every prayer I said with my family growing up included a plea for the Blacks to be able to receive the priesthood.  I still tear up when I think about it.

After church I made whole wheat pizza with non dairy 'cheese' and lots of veggies, and a big salad.  I'm going to try again, before I give up on pizza, but it was pretty pathetic.

Dad wanted me to announce that the swallows have returned to Capistrano.   Err, I mean that the turkey vultures have returned to Payson ... he counted 17! He thought you would want to know.