M'orial Day Weekend

Friday, 23 May, we had dinner with the study abroad directors group at the Barton's house. We had a great Mexican nosh and we made some flan (really pudim de leite). It was fun to be together again around the table.

Saturday, 24 May, Emily, Jayson, and the kids came by on their bikes. It is their "summer of the bike." Anna and Rob brought their binkers by while they went to P712 for an adult evening. We had great fun.

Sunday, 25 May, we went to SLC for the farewell of one of our study abroad students. It was good to see them again. Afterwards we went to Taylorsville and spent the afternoon prior to Sunday dinner. That was provided by the Hastings and prepared by Anna. She made Annemarie's tortilla soup, which was delicious.

Yesterday, Monday, 26 May, we gathered with all the Taylor cousins for a visit to the cemetery, where we decorated some graves (I remember when it was called Decoration Day) and visited some of the older ancestors graves as well (sans fleurs). Because it was so cold and rainy, we didn't go to the cabin, nor were we able to swim at Em's. So we ate and hung out here at our house.

We finished the weekend with a viewing of the new Indiana Jones movie, which was OK. It was a little difficult for me to suspend disbelief.

With Ringers and Bartons at the Barton's new home

Saturday afternoon with various members
of the family

Jayson and Clara

Tucker and Anders checking out their cousins in the trailer

The Ensign "summer of the bicycle"

Everyone had to eat their dirt and mud

The dirt and mud were even better with snow on top

Haley Alland's (center front) farewell

Sunday dinner in the Hastings back yard

Flowers from our yard for the Taylor grandparents graves

Young Holman Hunt with his Opa

The H.D. Taylors gather at the cemetery

This dragonfly at the cemetery created a thrill for Ollie and Meg

Fun times, but we missed Maren, Will, and their families. See both of you soon.

OXO

D.

The Weekend in Review

Back in olden times, when Tony still lived in SLC, we often had dinner with the kids at the Ho Ho Gourmet Restaurant on State Street, near South High School where Tony taught for many years. One of our favorite dishes was their pan-fried pork noodles, and whenever we went anywhere else for Chinese food, Katy ordered noodles in hopes of recapturing (unsuccessfully) that wonderful dish with its crispy noodles and delicious topping. On Friday, we took Allison Werner to the airport and then headed to Ho Ho to see if the magic was still there. It was -- sort of. The fried noodles themselves were just as we remembered, and though good, the rest of the food wasn't up to the high standard set by our friend Janet on the Springville road.

Anna has been jonesing for chocolate cheesecake since our last post, so we stopped in Murray at the Cheesecake Factory and picked up a VERY frozen Godiva cheesecake. We shared it with the Hastings (and Courtney) in Taylorsville. Everyone was so impatient that we ate it a little frosty (a no no with cheesecake, which should be served just below room temperature). Even cold, it was delicious and it was fun to pass a little time in the WVC.

On Saturday, Anna and the kids came down to spend the afternoon. We were joined by Emily and her girls (and eventually Max). All helped Katy make brownies for a reception later that evening. It was a beautiful afternoon, perfect for some park time, and later Janet made us some delicious Chinese take out. That evening we regrouped at BYU's Harris Fine Arts Center in the main B.F. Larsen gallery for Katy's photography show.

Gary Barton, the art teacher on our last study abroad in London, suggested to some of the students that they put together a show. They invited Katy to join them and their application was accepted. Friends and family gathered for the opening and enjoyed the evening together. Nice work, Katy.

Could reality match the memory?

The pan-fried pork noodles were good

Katy signals her approval

The Hastings binkers watching the cheesecake thaw

Lucy Jane and Maria Magdelena licking the brownie pan

Tucker and Anders lend a hand

The set up for the reception in the HFAC

Christian Smith, Carly Cowser, and Katy Kathryn

Katy with two of her six photos

Some of our girlies

Attendees including the Boynton cousins
and the Taylor-Woodburys

Meags, Meg, Katy, Ollie, and Phillip

It was a nice evening and it was fun to have the family gather around in that unusual setting. Because it is Spring Term, the reception was the only show in town, and the kids had a great time running around all three levels of the otherwise-empty gallery.

P.S. The Curitiba Brazil Temple just opened for visitors. It is a beautiful building in a wonderful setting, surrounded by Paraná pines (with the flat tops). When I served my mission in the south of Brazil (including Curitiba) over 40 years ago there wasn't even a stake in Brazil. How things have changed! This is the 5th temple in Brazil, with one more announced for Manaus, right on the banks of the Rio Negro where it joins the Amazon River. Good stuff.

O Templo de Curitiba

OXO

D.

Happy Mother's Day

Yesterday the family (that was in town) gathered for Mother's day dinner. We were in the Southwest for Ollie's birthday, so we had a small presentation of gifts. The bag full of bucks is still going down well. The food was great and the company was fine. Happy Mother's day Kris.

Ollie with his stash

The kids ate outside

Godiva's recipe for chocolate cheesecake

OXO

D.

The First Day of the Journey

Thursday 24 April, Donna, Kris's aunt, arrived early from SLC and we loaded up the Pilot and headed for Mesa, Arizona. Donna spent the two weeks with the other Beck girls in Arizona. The trip down went well and rather quickly. We made it to the Phoenix city limits in just nine hours, and that included a short stop for lunch at Glen Canyon Dam. Getting to Mesa took another hour. Maren, Gavin, and the boys drove to Mesa from Peoria so we could visit a bit before we flew off to Houston the next morning. Grandmother made one of her wonderful suppers with bread, cheeses, cold cuts, and other good things to nibble. The aunts were all there as well.

Grandmother Boynton was kind enough to take care of Winnie while we were in Texas. She and her sisters treated Winnie like a princess; she never had it so good. She was spoon fed on at least one occasion.

A cool and breezy lunch at the dam with Aunt Donna

Dickie doing bug abatement at the Maverick in Flagstaff

Harry David, Junior, Junior

We spent a short night in Mesa before flying to Texas. The adventure continues in the next post.

OXO

D.

Eating One's Way Across Houston

Friday 25 April at o-dark-thirty in the morning, Bonnie picked us up at Grandmother's for a "shuttle" to Sky Harbor Airport where we caught a very early flight to Houston. Debra Sue Darling Gibbs met us at Hobby Airport in her spiffy new Acura MDX. She set the GPS, affectionately know as Pearl, and we headed for Houston's, a great restaurant that has wonderful stuff of all sorts to eat. After lunch, before heading north to Kingwood, we stopped at Central Market, purveyors of every good comestible known to mankind - seriously. The quality is remarkable. We picked up some odds and ends that we really never had time to eat. Because, for example, that night we went to Raffa's, a new restaurant on Lake Houston near Deb's house. Ian was driving his brother Brian home from BYU and so we were joined by Hilary who was spending the weekend alone.

Saturday 26 April, we had chance to see Hilary and Ian's great new home before going back into Houston for lunch at Chacho's. It is probably my favorite place we ate. The carne assada quesadilla was spectacular. We kept the Mexican theme going with an afternoon viewing of Under the Same Moon. It was great and I would highly recommend it to y'all. That evening we had some Brazilian food at the Emporio Brazilian Cafe.

Leavin' on a jet plane

Katy, Kris, and Deb at Houston's

Central Market makes your mouth water

Hilary and Katy posing in Debby's fantastic new kitchen -
note those spectacular hand-blown glass pendants

Mr. and Mrs. Brown's spiffy new home in Kingwood,
not too far from Debby's

Hilary looking great in her new living room

Kris, David, Katy, and Debby at Chacho's

Those silly Taylor and Gibbs girls at Chacho's

A really good film

Oba, Brasil!

The Emporio Brazilian Cafe

Sunday, we went to church and then made roast beast Sunday dinner for Deb, Hilary, and Chris Brown, Ian's mother. Yum!

That was just the beginning. The fun continued unabated!

OXO

D.

The Fun Just Never Ends

On Monday 28 April we went to the Woodlands on the other side of Houston to visit some shopping venues. There, Debby taught me one of those essential life lessons that had heretofore evaded me somehow: men are hunters, women are gatherers! We started at the Korean stuff dealers and ended up at Jones New York where Katy found a very cute frock that required a cardigan in white or yellow. We broke for lunch at Tommy Bahama's and then continued the search for the cardigan (or so I thought). I was anxious to head straight for the cardigans and that is when Debby taught me the critical life lesson. I, as a hunter, wanted to go straight for the prey while they as gatherers were gathering all kinds of things along the way; the real prey was essentially immaterial. Now I get it! When the gathering was completed (the hunt for the cardy was also a success, in spite of lots of gathering along the way) we returned to Kingwood and had supper with Ian's mom, Chris, at a Thai/Japanese restaurant close to home -- satay and sushi. Yummy.

Debby works in the temple on Tuesdays so we met her there where she accompanied our session. Afterwards we went to Lupe Tortilla for lunch. We had to pace ourselves for later so Katy and I split our lunch. That afternoon Katy and I mowed Brown's lawn so Chris could be ready for a shower at her home that night. We had supper later that evening in downtown Houston at Dolce Vita with Ian, Hilary, and Ian's brother, Brian. Those men had just arrived from Utah. The restaurant is set in an old Craftsman-era home and has a great menu.

Wednesday morning we packed, hung by the pool (it has been cool and beautiful in Houston and the pool is still cold), and then headed to town for lunch at Yia Yia Mary's Greek restaurant. After lunch there was just enough time for a little gathering (no hunting) at Dillard's at the Galleria. With our gathering baskets full, we headed to Hobby airport where we bid fond farewell to Debby and headed back to Phoenix.

Finishing up the key lime pie at Tommy Bahama's

The new king of the gatherers -- as if!

Katy Kathryn strikes a celebratory pose

This Texano-Italianato shopping center is quite amazing,
but has the most common stores imaginable

Debby, Katy, and Kris at the temple

The Houston Temple

Happy Dickie enjoying lunch at Lupe Tortilla

Katy, Brian, Ian, Hilary, Deb, and Kris at Dolce Vita

Katy cooling her heels

After lunch at Yia Yia Mary's

The gatherers squeezing in a few items
before flying back to Phoenix

We had wonderful time in Houston! Thanks Gibbs and Browns!

OXO

D.