Busy month, gone in a flash!
Of course the best beginning was the Womens' and General Sessions of Conference. I was amazed to see the amazing art and memes showing up before the sessions even ended! I especially loved the pages done by this artist -
Kent Carollo
Addie, who was born on Easter Sunday 5 years ago, shared her birthday weekend with Easter and Conference again. We went over after Saturday Conference sessions to celebrate her day. We got her a trundle bed for her Bittie Twins. The hit gift was the box full of Hello Kitty stuff from Auntie Heidi! The next Saturday was her party. I'm always thrilled to see the cousins getting together. Stephanie came with Luke and Sophie, and Amy brought Avery. Here they're playing Hot Potato. (That's a blow-up potato!)
For Christmas, the girls gave me a gift certificate to have my stainless steel appliances sealed. Heidi had hers done last fall and was impressed. It was truly the perfect gift - something I could definitely use but would NEVER have bought for myself. Emily scheduled the appointment, and it has been remarkable! This is the next day, but amazingly, they still look this shiny and unmarked! The dishwasher especially ALWAYS looked water drippy. Not now!! Highly recommend if you have stainless steel!
While Emily took Addie for her kindergarten physical (and 3 shots!) Neil and I spent some quality time together. He cracked me up when he climbed into this cupboard (next to the fireplace.) It's just his size. Emily keeps it empty for him for the time being.
Heidi had the Dreaded Sunday Birthday this year! After church she came over and spent the afternoon. We finished watching "Death Comes to Pemberley."
She stayed for dinner, and I made a batch of celebratory Chocolate Scotcheroos! This is one of the very few things everyone in the family likes. I got the recipe from a roommate in the Management House during my last 2 months at BYU. This is an old card! I assume everyone has the recipe.
John bought me a 'whirlygig' for the front yard. It's for 'me' whenever he wants something but can't justify spending money!! Sweet man! We fell in love with these in Moab, but those are artisan-made and very expensive. So he was pleased to find this one at Costco! I really enjoy seeing it spinning in the wind.
A now-retired TV weather forecaster used to say Utah had 8 seasons: winter, sprinter, spring, sprummer, summer, fummer, fall, and finter!!! We had a taste of sprinter when an April snowstorm dumped several inches - the biggest storm of the year.
Were you devastated to learn of the death of Jonathan Crombie - Gil from Anne of Green Gables? I loved Emily's instagram:
We've been having Family Dinners on the 3rd Sunday of the month. In April we did a Spring meal: ham, mashed red potatoes, asparagus, pasta-less salad, Red Lobster cheese biscuits (grain free!), and a blackberry cobbler, which turned out ... weird... This is the only photo I got that day.
We were glad for an excuse for a get-away: Sam and Jeneca's wedding in Sacramento. We left on Thursday so we would have some extra time in California. We got hung up at the Salt Flats (still in Utah, near Wendover and the border) where John just HAD to get a photo. So he headed out and got this:
The next day was free so we headed toward Lake Tahoe. On the way we stopped in Placerville, which reminded us a bit of Park City. It's one of the many gold mining towns that dot the foothills in that area. Back on the highway, I was astounded when we passed a sign that said "Berkeley Family Camp Echo Lake"!! So John headed off the main road and we arrived back in my childhood. We spent at least 2 family vacations, maybe more, in this family camp when we were very young. Linda and I have many happy memories - Bonnie the lifeguard at the pool, arts and crafts (boondoggle!), the dining hall where we ate communally. If you were caught with your elbows on the table during a meal then everyone would sing out: "Mable, Mable, while you're able, Get your elbows off the table! This is not a horse's stable, but a first class dining table! Round the table you must go..." I lived in fear of having to make that very long trek around the loooong dining table!
The dining hall. In my memory we entered around the right corner.
I can't imagine these are the same tent-cabins we used, but they definitely look weathered. It was trying to snow and you can see the snow spritzing in these photos.
When campers are there, a tarp stretches over the top as you can see in
the old photo below. This is probably 1958 or 1959?? Notice I have my
purse there on the chair. I was such a girlie girl!!
On our last trip there - probably 1962 or so - Linda and I, with some friends from camp, walked down the little hill to Echo Lake, and decided in our childish wisdom that we had time to walk all the way around the lake before we headed for home later that morning. Well, we made it about halfway, which took HOURS! And by then, we knew we were in trouble! Fortunately someone had a cabin near that end and he brought us back to our worried parents in his motor boat. And we got a good scolding from those worried parents!
We finally got to Lake Tahoe, and John insisted on getting an iconic shot of a little tree growing out of a boulder, in the water! 40 feet down from the road! With nothing but rock-fall around! He would not be persuaded against going, so I just prayed the whole time and he did return in one piece. But he wasn't happy with the photo. Whenever I get it, I'll add it here.
Back in Sacramento that evening there was a gathering at Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour. It was so fun to see Kelli and Holly again after so long!! It was a little challenging because our group was in the same room as another group from a radio station. And there was such a level of noise! Lots of revelry for certain! Food was delicious, and everyone got a yummy sundae for dessert! One of the employees 'married' Sam and Jeneca. They exchanged giant ring pops! It was really a fun evening.
Saturday was the wedding in the beautiful Sacramento Temple. The weather was perfect for most of the day.
We were delighted to be there to see Sam and Jeneca sealed together for time and eternity. What an adorable couple!
We then traveled into the mountains to Colfax, where the reception/luncheon was held. Jeneca's aunt did it all and it was amazing. She transformed a cultural hall into a beautiful venue. There was a fajita bar (delish!) and cupcakes! Jeneca and Sam had their first married dance. Jeneca and her dad danced. She threw her bouquet, there were sweet toasts. Bubbles to blow at the couple as they left! All the bases were covered! A wonderful time with family.
The next morning John and I headed to Yosemite. We spent the rest of the day there, the evening up at Glacier Point, which had only recently opened for the season. John was in heaven. I don't have copies of his photos yet. He stood there for over 3 hours to get the sunset colors reflecting off half dome and he got some gorgeous shots. It was COLD up that high, and I spent most of the time in the car reading. I heard languages from all over the world all around me as people came and went.
This is upper Yosemite Falls taken earlier in the day.
The next day we headed to Mariposa Grove to see the giant Sequoias. Having been to the Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park many times, I wasn't too excited! From there we went back to the Yosemite Valley floor. I had recognized one of the campgrounds where I'd camped with Annie's family back in the 60's, and I wanted to see if I could find the other one. And we did! I was surprised that after 50+ years I could still remember the two campgrounds where we'd stayed.
Since we had stayed in Mariposa, we had a LONG way back to I-80 in order to head home on Tuesday. It was very picturesque though. We drove through so many of the little gold mining towns that sprouted all through those hills back in the 1840's and 50's. John has a soft spot for the rolling foothills with giant California Oak trees, so when we passed this one, he had to turn around and go back for a photo. This photo shows what most of our trips are like - pulled over on some road while he finds the perfect shot.
And this is what he saw (my photo, his would be much nicer!):
Fourteen hours in the car that day but we finally made it home at 10pm. And poor John had to get up at 6 am the next morning for work! I was lucky - I could take it easy and rest. (And do a bunch of laundry!)
April was a very good month!!
