38 Years Today

May 31st! The years just keep rolling around. It was 38 years ago today that Kris and I were married in the Mesa Temple. I just wanted to tell her that I am glad we were married and that the 38 years have been great ones. I hope the next 38 will be as interesting and as much fun. I love you Kris, and am glad you said, "Yes."

Happy Anniversary!

With loads of love.

David

P.S. What the heck were they thinking? Memorial Day on our anniversary. We will celebrate properly very soon.

The Tony Taylor Collection

On Saturday, 29 May, the family met at the Utah Museum of Natural History on the campus of the University of Utah. Anna contacted the museum and made arrangements for us to see Uncle Tony's collection of Native American artifacts, collected over his lifetime and donated to the museum before he died. They are in the process of preparing everything for a move to a new museum near Red Butte Gardens in a about a year, so only a few things are on display. Many are archived and stored, and some are being prepared for exhibits in the new museum. Sarah George, museum director, and her staff had gone through and identified all Tony's things and had laid out a number of items just for us. We were divided into three groups and taken by Sarah and others into the archival and work areas of the museum and allowed to see much of the collection. They were incredibly kind to go to all that trouble when they are so busy. It was a walk down memory lane; we saw many items that brought back a flood of memories and triggered several stories.

When the tour was finished, some of us migrated to the Lone Star Taquerria for supper. It was a wonderful afternoon and a great addition to the Memorial Day weekend.

The Grand Poohbah for this event

Katy took quite naturally to Natural History

Phillip, Kris, and some of George's family peer
into the archival drawers

These masks hung on the wall of the cabin
for many years

They laid out many of the thing that Tony made
himself, including these pieces

They also set out some of the things that have been
published about Tony and his collection

This Nuulmal mask was always a favorite

These are packed and ready for display in the new museum

The left half of the group

The right half of the group, less Rob and the boys
who were still upstairs, and Kreg Calder
and Dorothy who took these photos

Those Ringers are pretty cute

The Lone Star Taquerria

More diners

Some of the S. K. Taylors chatting with Rob and Anna

I can't imagine a better Memorial Day activity. A big thanks to the Utah Museum of Natural History and its staff. And an even bigger thanks to Anna who thought this up, planned it, and made it happen!

OXO

D.

This Week in Taylorsville

Monday I finally wrapped my brain around Clara's room; I had several days to psych myself up and the time had come. When I remembered to take the photo below, we had already made great progress. As a reward we ran some errands to Kinko's and Harmon's and then went in search of a place for a picnic. We ended up at the same park we had visited twice before, but it works well for both of us: Clara can slide and play and I can snooze in the shade -- there was no plane watching because they were all approaching from the north that day -- bummer.

Tuesday, after a phone tip from Anna, we located a very nice little wet-lands park on the Jordan Parkway. It was a cold and rainy day, but the sun came out for the noon hour and we had a fine time. We walked along the parkway trail for half a mile to the I 215 bridge and back again. Clara is a trooper. Since Tuesday was my last night, I cooked sausages and made a HUGE stack of pancakes -- they were all devoured down to the last morsel. Grammy joined us again because she and Lucy went to a church mother-daughter event together that evening.

Today, Clara and I got the kids off to school, washed and changed the sheets, and headed to the airport to pick up Rob and Anna. At that point, we suffered the first major cock-up of the week: the car was dead (perhaps an overhead light left on all night, who knows?). I threw Clara in the back of Rob's car (without the proper car seat and seat belt, tsk, tsk) and rushed north, arriving just as they got off the plane. Their trip was successful and they leased a house; I believe Anna will be posting about it soon. Rob went to work, Kris came from Provo, and we went to NPA to see Lucy perform the roll of Abigail Adams in their "Wax Museum." She looked wonderful and had her lines down cold.

Before

After: Hooray!!!!

This is what you get when you ask for a smile?

Riparian picnic on a rainy Tuesday

Clara is a first-rate slider

Jordan River is chilly and cold . . .

Fine weather for ducks

A wave from Clara along the trail

Pancakes for supper

Abigail delivers her well-polished lines

Lucy looked great

We are now back home nursing Kris's nasty spring cold, so all is mostly well. It was a fun week with those cute little binkers and I am surprised how well it all went.

That's all for now.

OXO

D.

A Week With the Hastings

Rob and Anna are in Virginia hunting for a house. Since I am not teaching spring term, they asked if I would stay with the kids. "Sure, why not," says I. So here I am in Taylorsville for a one-week refresher course on how to be a parent of young children: cooking, doing dishes, cleaning, making lunches, making breakfast, making dinner, driving the car pool, attending school programs, church, primary activities, watching soccer games, making picnic lunches, keeping Clara entertained, running to the potty (mostly making it), shopping, mowing lawns, helping with homework, helping with reports and typing them, reminding all and sundry about various things including eye patches and homework, and many other things. And for me there is lots of good plane spotting here in the west part of the valley. So far all is well. I do understand though, why God lets young people have the kids.

Rob and Anna en route

Tucker played a fine Apollo

Clara en route, aussi

Sand is a wonderful thing

Soccer night

Picnic in the park

Clara played; I spotted planes (you will have to
enlarge to see the plane)

The carpool

Saturday at Liberty Park in SLC
(that's Malia, Lucy's BF)

Back home, while the kids played in the yard,
I spotted planes . . . again

Dinner al fresco at Smash Burger, another excellent spot
for plane spotting 35 blocks from the airport

Grammy, who does have to work, joined us for
Sunday dinner, an Abigail Adams dress fitting, and. . .

A haircut for Anders: the fondest desire
of his heart, so said he

I'll keep you posted on the rest of the week. But that's all for now.

OXO

D.

Disneyland, Day 3

Thursday 6 May was the final day of our 3-day Park Hopper Pass and we were entitled to one Magic Morning where we got in an hour early at 9:00 A.M. So we sped up our morning routine and were there as the gates opened. There was a bit of cock-up because the Ensigns' passes, oddly enough, did not include a Magic Morning. So there was some running around trying to get that sorted out, although it never was resolved. We dashed with the rest of the world to the Peter Pan ride and still had to wait 30 minutes in line. I guess there is never a good time for that ride. We hopped a Storybookland boat with a guide that was sweet as honey, but not in a good way.

The pack then broke into smaller groups and headed in different directions. Since we had enjoyed CA Adventure so much, we headed there. We met up intermittently with various groups including Debra Sue Darling Gibbs and her family who were there celebrating Alison's graduation. Also, Anna helped Shauna Terry Hruby, a 1988 London Study Abroad student meet with us. Shauna was one of our favorites and she has kept in touch over the years. Anna provided her with my cell phone number and we arranged a meeting in the park. She lives near enough that her family purchases a yearly pass and visits often. It was great to see her and meet two of her kids.

Emily and Jayson met some friends in Disneyland for supper and we met the Gibbs at the Taste Pilots' Grill next to Soarin'. It seemed to be the day for meeting people and we were happy to be able to do just that.

California Adventure closed at 6:00 and we went back to Disneyland to finish the evening. We made sure Gavin had a chance to ride Splash Mountain and we had one last ride on Pirates. We would have done the Jungle Cruise, but the lines were too long. It was another fun day and I am glad we were able to have most of the family there together. We missed Phillip's family and Anna's family, but we will do it again some time.

Katy and Kris at the Disneyland entrance

The Young boys were excited to fly over London

I love models and miniatures,
so this is a favorite

A princess at the castle

Shauna Terry Hruby with Rose and Randall met
us in Hollywood Backlot

One last run down the rapids

Supper with the Gibbs

Alison, Rob, Debby, and Michelle

Two silly guls

Dusk settled as we bid the park farewell

On Friday the 7th, we dropped Katy at LAX and headed east to Phoenix. All went reasonably well until we passed Highway 101 in Phoenix. At that point everything came to a screeching halt. For two hours we inched towards 59th Avenue where 5 lanes of traffic were forced to merge and leave the freeway because of a fatal shooting earlier in the afternoon. We sliced and diced on city streets and eventually made it back to I 17 at the height of rush hour. Needless to say, we were friddled, frazzled, and fried by the time we reached Mesa. We found Grandmother Boynton significantly improved, and after running a few errands for her, we collected Winnie and drove back across Phoenix to Maren and Gavin's to have supper at the Pita Jungle and spend the night at their home. The trip back to Utah the next day was uneventful, but LONG.

This is a news photo of the queue at 59th Avenue

This fortune from Panda Express was mine on the night of 20 April before we left Utah for Arizona and California. If, like Katy and me, you belong to the Church of the Fortune Cookie, you would have known from the start that this was going to be a great vacation -- and it was.

That's all for now.

OXO

D.