Grands Eight Days a Week

It was a great week of gardening, grands, friends and fun.  Here you see me having a small reunion with former members of our Payson ward.  Dad and I ran over to Olson's to pick up some plants for our garden.  Then I saw these two chatting, and stepped in.  Once we were all in the Mountain View Fifth ward, and now, though none of us moved, we are in three different wards.  We are also in three different decades, Pat Zeeman in her eighties, Ginny Taylor in her seventies and me in my sixties.  Such great women.

I just love Olson's sign, don't you?

When I got home I put this garden feature together, along with planting the garden house flower boxes, adding flowers to the troll and fairy gardens, as well as a few in the sea horse flower fountain, and some red and white petunias in the cast iron urn by the front door to remember Ben by. Oh and I also planted some veggie seeds and put in tomato plants.

I ran over to Coralee's, my main street next door neighbor, to have her identify a plant, and saw that she has these beautiful lily of the valley.  She says they grow great here, so now I need to figure out where to get them, and where to plant them.  She came over to see the plant, and we showed her through the house.  Its fun to talk to her about the family who built our house, and their history, since it was her great grandfather's brother who built our house, and her ggf who built hers.

Tuesday morning I went over to Mariah's, a neighbor, to learn how to make a granny square.  I got all these small granny squares in Finland but need to make them larger and then crochet them together, so I'll can have a granny square afghan like my mom's.  Mariah and I are friends on facebook, and I saw that she is into crocheting and asked for lessons.  She has a cute two year old and is hatching chicks in a box in her kitchen.  The first one had hatched that morning, it was so fun to take a peek. 

I snapped this picture of a broken cement walkway.  I thought it was charming.  I was on my way home from getting a perm at Diva's.  

That night we went to see a performance of Broadway songs that Titan was doing with his choral class.  Here is Reagan giving me a hug with my new curly/frizzy hair. I love that she calls me her fun grandma.

You can see Titan in this picture above his teacher's leading hand.

The star of the show.

With us and Mac too.

and it was fun to remember Emily days at the Purple Turtle when we went there to eat afterwards.

After our fun evening in Pleasant Grove and American Fork, I came home and finished my third granny square.

Wednesday was a happy accident.  I went to work forgetting that I had given my third Wednesdays to Nikki.  I had about five boxes of product to put out, so I just stayed for a couple of hours to do that.  You may recognized these china head dolls and heads from a display I had atop a cupboard in the family room. Its one of those groupings that was displaced for the flooring to be laid, and that I just didn't want to put back.

Joyce came in to shop, while I was putting out the goodies, and since I was not actually working,  I was able to invite her to the house, where we had lunch together, and did some catching up.

I made her weird vegan food, and I think she liked it.  I have been loving these grilled cheese bruschetta sandwiches  that Britt introduced me to last time we were in Idaho, and I  also made her bulgur salad to go with it.  

Dad worked at Darby's both days, putting in five doors on Thursday.

I went into work that day, but didn't take any pictures.  I did, however, stop and buy my own crochet hook at the dollar store after work, as I had borrowed Mariah's.  It is plastic, isn't that funny.  I thought it looked cute with this square that had a touch of yellow.  We are watching an old BBC of Northanger Abbey here.

On Friday morning we headed north to see Alex running in his final track meet of the season in Meridian.  Britt had events for all three kids that evening, so she had to divide and conquer, She called us to come for Alex's  track meet, while Mike and his parents went to a closing senior swimming banquet to Kai,  who is graduating, while she took Charlie for auditions for the dance program next year.  Whew.

It was delightful to see Alex as he won first place in three events, (relays) and then came in first in his heat in the 200 yard dash.

When we got back to the house afterwards, Charlie had two dance friends there, and it was fun to see them showing off their moves.

After her friends left she got her Obaachan and grandmother to play clue with her.  

I feel like I got sucked in, she is really a pro, neither of us had a chance.  Charlie won both games.

You can tell she loves it.

On Saturday, Dad, Tom and I went garaging.  It was Tom's first time in over a year, since Edi was not comfortable with him garaging during Covid.  

I bought a bag of both of these types of rocks, so if you want one let me know. I think the people are into rock hounding  in Arizona.

When we got back, Tom snapped a picture of Alex with Missy.  She's such  a sweet dog.

Now look whose playing Clue with Charlie, her Obaachan and Grandpa Tom.

Meanwhile Dad and I went shopping with Brittany for misc sundries for the Sushi Mike was making the next day.  Britt said that this great arch was put up during covid.  We thought it was cool.

As is this Chinese Dragon.

After church on Sunday, one of Britt's friends and her daughter came over to visit. Kathleen Spear, the daughter, is going to Finland on a mission this fall.  We were so thrilled to meet her and talk about the wonderful country she will get to experience.  She is sooo excited. 

Cute pic of Charley hanging out.

That afternoon Mike started getting ready to make sushi.  Here he is washing the shrimp.

Alex is helping with the prep work too, he is cutting mushrooms into matchsticks.

One of Mike's employees, who was born in Japan, came to help.  Here she is getting the sushi rice ready.

How beautiful is this. Sasimi? 

Here is Charlie with our sushi specialist and her little boy.  Her husband, who also works for Mike, and other employees also came to join the sushi fun.

Here is Alex rolling a cream cheese veggie roll for his veganish grandparents.

Kai and a friend had left early that day and had done a 14 mile hike, it was so fun to hear him talking about his adventure.  Another day he and this friend walked the length of the Boise River park way, which is 26 miles long.  

I kept busy crocheting, because you know what they say about too many cooks in the kitchen.

Tom and Edi are very into K-dramas right now, and have branched into a drama that was made in Taiwan.  We watched about a million episodes of that. all subtitled, of course.  Then there was this movie called,  Always Be My Maybe, which we enjoyed.  The main character reminded me a lot of YC Feline, on the left, who we got to know in Finland.  The fun thing is that this actress's mannerisms were also amazing like YC;'s/  

The TV shows were all subtitled, but the movie is American made and set in San Francisco. 

And now to address the eight days a week moniker.  Since we stayed in Idaho until Monday, we thought we'd end this week with Monday, making it the eighth day of last week.  This is the lawn decor left to congratulating Charlie on making 'Company'. the group she really, really wanted to dance with.

Britt and I saw the sign when we headed out for a session of Hot Yoga.  She goes daily, but it was a first for me.  Lets just say it was an interesting experience for me, not sure I am a fan, but it was pretty amazing to see some of the great moves she has mastered in the last nine months, or so. 

When we got back Britt shared the good news with Charlie.

Before we all left, Tom directed some memorable family group shots.

This one was my favorite.

Then we headed home, ride sharing with the daughter of another of Britt's friend's daughters who needed a ride back to BYU.  I crocheted all the way ... and found it to be pretty tiring, weirdly.  But with the bits of arthritis that are starting to show up lately, I am happy that it appears that my hands will not be a problem ... cross your non-arthritic fingers for me, please.

 

Reunited and it Feels So Good ...

So this week turned out to be a week of reunions.  Everyone knows that for Dad, reunions are a touch of Heaven.  Sometimes I think that is what will make Heaven glorious and joy-filled, reconnecting with those we worked along side with during our earth-life.  Well, if that's so it definitely felt like Heaven this week.

On Monday I met with the We-Can Ladies Service group as they got together in person for the first time in a year.  They had dropped off various donations for service collections all year, but this was a first time to get together, though we wore masks until after eating lunch.  We had all brought items to put in birthday kits for the local food bank, then we cut out and assembled Reading Scavenger Hunt Booklets for the United Way.

Carolyn, Sandy (middle) and I are also in a book club together.  A Book Club that has been operating for over 20 years.  The lady on the end is from England and since we were doing this literary project we naturally talked about books.  She said she thought that the Harry Potter books normalized witch craft.  She said that growing up in England there were all kinds of practicing witches, and that she was surprised that people embraced the books the way they did.  That was an interesting thought, and I'm still considering some of the things she said.

Getting together with these ladies again, was a lot of fun, of course.

Tuesday morning I walked with Carolyn, and she showed me the 35 birthday kits we had put together.  She is such a great lady, and such a great example to me, of finding all kinds of ways to serve others.

When I got back from walking with Carolyn, Dad was reuniting with the original kitchen flooring, which we hadn't seen since laying the parquet floor tiles the weekend before Trevor's farewell, because we had pulled up the carpet in the kitchen and had to do something quick.  Yikes.  We had originally planned to lay the new flooring over the parquet, but when Dad tested it and found that it came up without too much effort he decided to go that route.  Fortunately Dave and Bri came later in the day, and Bri demoed a lot of the floor for him.  So great having a daughter in law with construction experience.  

I took off to meet Joyce in Salt Lake for our annual birthday junking and lunch.  We met at my favorite DI, then went to lunch at the Cafe Rio in Sugar House, which just happens to be on Douglas street.  That made me think of when Mom told me that it was after seeing a street sign for Douglas street in Sugar House when she was pregnant with her 6th child, that she decided to name him Douglas if it was a boy.  Historic fun, and a very nice reunion with Joyce.

She had collected a large bag full of black and white polkadot goodness.  The mask was my absolute favorite, because my other black and white polkadot mask is getting truly shabby.  I have also transferred my purse goodies into the purse she gave me.  She is  so fun, and we found out that while we were in Finland, she had her trailer house hauled away, and had a manufactured house put on her property.  She lived with Nina for around two months, and then some of our other siblings moved her into the new house.  Not sure how I never heard one word of these goings on, but it does make me sad that I am so little connected with my own siblings. 

I stopped at the DI in Springville on my way home, and ran into two old friends.  LaVern is on the left, and we have been out to dinner with her and her husband since we got home, but Raelee Steiniker, who was originally in our book club, I have not seen for possibly 10 years, so that was fun.

When I got home, I saw we had been invaded by some of my favorite people.  Their parents were hard at work, Bri demoing the floor in the kitchen, while Dad and Davin pulled up the carpet in the family room. 

They then hauled out the flooring boxes to their truck and loaded them on the old carpeting, all of which they then hauled away for us. (thank you, thank you, thank you)

Than all the kids, and Dad and Dave and Bri hauled out the goodies in the two large cabinets in the family room, to lighten the load and make it possible to moved them about while Dad laid the flooring in there later in the week.

What a mess .... on Wednesday I was off to work, and it was Dad who did the reunioning.  He spent the day working at Darby's on her electrical since he had to go to SLC that day anyway, because he has been invited back to sing with the Saltaires again.  Which he happily did that evening, reconnecting with guys, some of whom he has sung with on and off  for thirty years.

On Thursday I was at work again, but this time Dad stayed home and finished up the family room floor.  After work Dad picked me up and we sped to the nice Sushi place in American Fork to meet Hannah and Scott for a quick dinner before going to the Pleasant Grove Community Theater's play, She Loves Me, a musical retelling of The Shop Around the Corner.  It was so fun to go with them, and though it couldn't really be considered a reunion, since they had come to my big Mother's Day surprise party the week before, it was a wonderful evening.  They are so great and we love Hannah so much.  Its been great to get to know Scott as well.

During intermission I ran to the upper floor of the library and saw this charming original painting. Its pretty much an illustration of my perfect dream life, babies, books and antiques (Quilts) right?  Of course implied here, by her very leisure, is a loving husband in the background working hard to support her and the littles. 

I woke up on Friday morning to a rendition of Happy Birthday, when Britt called as soon as she saw me active on line.  How sweet is that?? It was the beginning of a picture perfect birthday for me.

Dad ran off that morning to get acquainted, instead of reunited, with a new endodontist, who gave him the root canal he had 'sorely' needed for 6 months.  Carolyn came by and brought me a bag of birthday sunshine, which was so fun.  The house was in the midst of the flooring mess, but we had a lovely visit and she got to go up and see the changes in our bedroom.  I had seen her new travel room, on Monday, after our We-Can meeting.  So fun to share.

Davin and Bri came by after Dad got home to wish me a happy birthday, and give me this amazing piece of Bizmuth.  I had seen theirs and had been so amazed.  When the mineral Bizmuth is melted and then cooled it forms these geometrical shapes naturally, and to add to the amazement, they coat themselves with this rainbows of colors.  Some of the process can be manipulated by those doing the cooling, but it is a natural process, and simple fascinates me. 

I was so tickled when I got a call from the Kervinens.  They had a few minutes at the airport, as they were there to greet a member of the area Presidency, Elder Kopischke, who was flying in with other area authorities to organize a third stake in Finland.  It was to be a historic weekend.  When it was over, every member of the church in Finland would live within the borders of a stake, and have the benefits that come with the change.

We so loved talking to them, it really was one of many highlights of a perfect birthday.

After that sweet reunion, we hopped to, and starting getting everything put back into the family room.  Dad spend the lion's share of the afternoon reinstalling the washer and dryer, which required buying new parts for the dryer air vent.  I started with taking the decor items I had formerly used on the mantel in the dining room, (Which we decided to move into the large guest bedroom) out to the garden house.

I was pretty happy with how it turned out.  The mushrooms, and birds seemed perfect for the garden house.

It felt so good to get the family room together for the first time with the new art work I had acquired last week in the place of honor over the sofa.  I love how it goes together.

Hauling and putting away all the goodies that we had on every surface of the parlor and dining room, was daunting, and it took hours, but as always, I love working on projects with Dad and his unending energy.

Here is Dad's collage of the finished floors.  It really does look good, and Briahnna, who is pretty knowledgeable about flooring' as they recently researched and laid something similar in their four plex, said she thought it was a great choice, and would probably choose it herself. That made us feel good about our choice, and going with the higher end product, which is pretty unusual for us.  Its nice to know that having Dad do it, cut the price in half.  I recall paying about 2500 for our flooring in the attic bedroom and sitting room, which is more than we paid for all the flooring for the main floor, including four and a half rooms. Good Job Dad!!

Some of our bestest besties, brought us dinner, just as we finished up putting everything back, with seconds to spare.  The wonderful, and I do mean wonderful, Finnish apple pie, which our adorable basement renter, Rolle brought up for me that morning, was our dessert.  He sang happy birthday to me, in Finnish of course, which I loved mainly because I love how Finn's pronounce my name.

Dinner was great, playing games was fun, and Barb and I even got to win.  Randy made wonderful lettuce wraps, somewhat like those at P F Changs.  Its so great having friends who are also doing Plant Based/Whole Foods as well.  And Randy's always been a great cook!!

Dad literally ran off first thing on Saturday morning to run in the Pay It Forward 5K.  He ran into (hahaha) Kyle Snell from our ward in Orem, and his sweet little daughter Boston.  Of course he told him that Krista Moe (Terranova) also has a Boston.  Of course Dad loves it when he runs into former youth whom he mentored as a bishop.

I also ran off to a reunion, though not literally, at an antique sale run by my friend Bruce Allison, who I used to work with at Treasures, and who was one of my best dealers at Flea.o.logy.  

Bruce lives in Wyoming now, where he is active in a couple of antique malls, but he likes to come to his old stomping grounds once in a while.  He had such great stuff.  I found a beautiful antique floral painting, which is about the same age as my house, and which is now hanging in the parlor.  I also got an over sized metal top hat, that is a figural shoppe sign, and which I have decided to hang on my garden house, painted up with the Mad Hatter's Tea House ...  I had been playing with the idea ever since temporarily making the Mad Hatter sign for the cottage for my Mad Hatter Tea Party last month, so when I saw the hat sign it all jelled.

The sale was held at Bruce's brother's house in American Fork.

Here I am with Kathy Ainge, with whom I work on Wednesdays, and Bruce. It was a great reunion.

With my car loaded up with antique goodness, I headed further north for a quick visit with Becca.  She had to leave for a busy Saturday visiting houses with clients, but we had a nice half hour chat.  Then I took the kids to breakfast.

Here is Mac with his Mac Griddle ... he was a fan, and we loved that he got to eat his own signature food.  Of course he ate one and then ran off to play on the play ground we ate at because the McDonalds in AF is drive through only still.  Actually I think the kids preferred this outdoor playground to the play place, so it was all good.

It was pretty cute when Mac found this telephone system under the unit, about the same time a little girl found it and they were talking back and forth.  It was so fun to watch.

I made sure I got home in time to go with Dad to a small reunion with missionaries from our first mission in SLC that afternoon.  But when I got home, he said that his friend Clark Sevy had just called and that he an his wife were stopping by in a few minutes.  Of course it was fun to visit with them, being aware that the reunion was going to be five hours long, and that it was an open-house style. We spend about forty five minutes getting to know his new wife Kimberly.  Of course Dad knows her better than I do because he was the high counselor to their ward for years.  It just fun that Dad knew them both, after they met at a widow and widowers convention at BYU, a couple of years ago. They got married when we were in Finland, and this was our first time to see them as a couple.

Here we are at the reunion, Susie Carili, Lyn London, Katheryn Margets, Me, Laurie Kehr and Katheryn's sister who was just called to serve a mission in Finland and who will be going this summer. 

Here we are with the Londons, who served as the office couple for their second time, when we were serving our first mission.

at times like this I wish I could play chess, but that is pretty much the only time I wish that.

The Margets sisters made and brought pulla, which was delicious, and Lynn made pirrakas,  everyone's favorite Finnish treat. 

This morning we awoke early to watch the meeting where in the third stake in Finland was organized.  It had actually happened about two in the morning, but fortunately it was not live, but will remain available to view for a while. 

The new Jyvaskyla Stake covers most of Finland, as the two previous stakes cover about twenty percent of Finland, including the most populous part in the south.  Now the entire country is covered.  One ward from each of the previous stakes were included, along with three branches which were large enough to be wards once they were in a stake.  That made for five wards and 7 branches.  I had tears streaming down my face for most of the broadcast. 

I loved  Elder Kopischke's message so much.  He is currently the second counselor in the Area Presidency, but he has been the Area President in that past, in fact he's been a general authority 70 since 2002. 

The others pictured above are the area women's organizations leader, with her translator, Sister Noora Holopinen, who I found to be the best translator I ever had the privilege to use.  (She is my friend Ulla Lehtinen's daughter.) I included the masked picture of Finnish church leaders for atmosphere, and then Sister Jouttenus, the temple matron, who is one of my favorite Finns, she is so kind, generous and humble, yet when she speaks her thoughts always resonate with me, as they did at this meeting.  Evidently Elder Kopisheke was likewise touched as he enlarged on the theme of her talk for most of his.  The spirit was so strong.

We got ready for church and headed to the Canyon Rim area of SLC for Sister Karren's homecoming.  She is in the yellow dress, It was wonderful to see more missionaries, and this time it was those from our second mission.

One thing that is fun to note about Katheryn Karren is that her best friend is the Smith's (Our game playing, vegan, Finnish Missionary friends) granddaughter.  So here they are 'Reunited, and it feels so good',

We were so close that we ran over and saw my brother Clark after the reunion, which means I have seen four of my five siblings who live in Utah over the last two weeks.  That has been wonderful.  I was sad to hear that my siblings did not have a reunion during the time we were in Finland.  Hopefully that can change this year. Jo had gone to St. George with Brooke for a few days, so we missed her, but it was fun to hear what's been going on with them of late.

Then for our final reunion of the week, we met on line with Sister and President Aura for their  bi-monthly fireside. 

They shared this map of Finland showing the outline of the three states, which I thought I should save, so you get to see it too.

Here is Sister Debiasi, evidently in the car with her fiance, somewhere in Italy.  We also had an Elder who is now living with his parents in Japan, where they are serving as mission presidents. The other missionaries we noticed listening were mostly from the western US, though one is headed to Philadelphia and another is headed to a conservatory in Boston.

It was fun to see these three watching together, whom we had just seen at the homecoming of Sister Karren in the morning.  The friends we've made on our missions bring us so much joy, and add to how many reunions we get to attend, as you can tell by our week this week, where three of our reunions were related to our missions.

We love you all and are so grateful for the opportunities we have to be reunited occasionally with each of you.