39 Years!

It's May 31st again. The years whiz by and here we are with 39 years of marriage under our belts. I'm still glad you agreed to put your lot in with me. We have had many great times together and I am looking forward to even more. Much love to you, Kris, on this our thirty-ninth anniversary!

OXO

D.

Memorial Day 2011

Memorial Day dawned rainy and cold this year and there were no flowers, so not everyone made the traditional visit to the cemetery. All the SKT and DAT cousins gathered at our house for lunch and visiting. This evening, at William's request we had a good old slide show. It was a very nice day and actually ended up being quite beautiful in spite of a wintry start.

The snow came half way down below the Y

The family group, such as it was, at the cemetery

Lizzy, Emily, and Dickie prepared for wet
grass and mud with their wellies -- Jeff thought
I looked like a Yorkshire farmer

Will and Jamie are in town for a long weekend

By the time we finished the rounds, the crowd had grown

Visiting after lunch

Phillip's cookies and Millie's Rice Krispy squares

Some of the slides: Phillip and Millie before they knew
how to make such good treats

This is an old favorite and still elicits the same comments

Maren, we even got to your birth!

We missed the Hastings, Youngs, and Auntie Katy, but we will see you all together in just a few weeks.

That's all for now.

OXO

D.

P.S. I am glad I got the slides digitized because the old ones are really starting to degrade.

It's the Best School in the Land

Today was the last day of school in the Provo School District and since I am not teaching, Emily invited me to attend the celebrations at Wasatch School. It was as fun as ever and I enjoyed watching Lizzie and Max dance. Probably to honor the Chinese Language Immersion Program at Wasatch, the first graders did a Chinese ribbon dance instead of the more traditional Sink and Wiggle, and the parachute dance was set to Eye of the Tiger. Otherwise, all was much the same as you remember it.

Lizzie is a serious dancer and did a really good job

Max is marginally less enthusiastic than Lizzie,
but did a fine job nonetheless

I sat next to a freezing Maria Magdelena and
we were joined by Max after the 5th graders finished

Lizzie struggled to smile after a minor kerfuffle

To celebrate, Kris and I are going to La Casita for supper and will then watch the final two episodes of The House of Elliot. Good times!

That's all for now.

OXO

D.

Sun Dried Tomatoes

OK. So they were dried in Millie's dryer not the sun, but you may remember reading about drying our abundance of tomatoes in the fall. Well tonight we finally used some to make a delicious pasta dish. It was simple and easy and we will certainly do it again.

Millie's dryer

Dried tomatoes in olive oil

Tonight's dried tomato pasta

I know it's not an exciting trip or anything, but it's what's going on. So that's all for now.

OXO

D.

Finn Is Seven

Finn's big day started with a soccer game, the last one of the season. Gavin is his coach and their team is great; they went undefeated. After lunch Finn opened presents from the family before being joined by friends for miniature golf and cake and ice cream. We finished the day with dinner at the local Cheesecake factory. I think he enjoyed the day, as did we.

Goalie

Coach Gavin with Beckham and Finn

Opening family presents

Beckham tries Maren's sun hat

Golf at Castles and Coasters

Warm but beautiful day

Finn making short work of the flames

After dinner at the Cheesecake Factory

Well, that's the end of the adventure; we are headed home tomorrow morning. We have covered a lot of territory and it has been fun. I hope there will be something to post about once we return to normal. We shall see.

That's all for now.

OXO

D.

Candeo

Yesterday, in anticipation of Finn's birthday, we went to Candeo School to provide treats for his class. They made Gavin's famous green smoothies for the kids. They kids drank them before they informed them that they are made with spinach. Finn got to show everyone his baby brother for show and tell; it was all a great success.

Last night was the Candeo Night on Broadway and we watched Finn and all his schoolmates perform. It was a very ambitious production and went well, although the high-school techies who ran the lights and sound had some issues. (You will be familiar with those problems from your own high-school assemblies: "Wrong tape!") It was a fun evening.

Green Smoothies Are Us

The celebrant

Finn's classmates guessing what was in the smoothies

Finn showing and telling

Finn with his great teacher, Mrs. Gagner

Finn et al. were Chefs in a number from Cinderella

After the production

Today is the actual birthday, so there will be more later unless we are all drawn up to heaven (I am hoping for the positive outcome) in today's predicted evangelical-rapture-end-of-the-world scenario. That's all for now.

OXO

D.

Arizona Stuff

Since returning to Arizona we have been hanging out with the kiddos. Today we drove to Scottsdale so Kris could take Maren to H&M. The boys and I cooled our heels in the comfy seats while the ladies looked and touched. Maren headed back to Peoria and Kris and I went to visit Grandmother in Mesa. Kris lengthened the skirt she gave her mom for Mother's Day and then we had a good Mexican supper at the Gecko Grill in Gilbert. The weather has been perfect (in the 70s) and we have had a good and relaxing time.

Breakfast time for Finn before school

Harry entertains himself while Finn is at school

Grammy and Pop Pop baby sat while Maren and
Gavin went to dinner and Mama Mia

The sitters bought supper at In-N-Out

Little Dude makes "the face"

The boys entertaining themselves at the Mall

This pretty much sums up how I feel about
waiting while the ladies shop

Beckham cooled his heels, too

Grandmother, the altered skirt, and the
seamstress after dinner this evening

Finn's birthday celebration is coming up starting tomorrow, so we will keep you posted.

That's all for now.

OXO

D.

A Tale of Two Dinners

I cooked Sunday dinner (surprise: roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, and green beens) for the troops and after church we were joined by Chris Brown and Katy's roommates Katie Whipple and Katherine Thom. Katie's fiance, Danny Shannon accompanied her.

I also made a Brazilian nosh and last night, Monday, Katy's former bishop and his wife, Rob and Jan Chappell as well as Chris Brown were here. It was a particularly good iteration of the dinner and it was very nice to meet the Chappels who have been so good to Katy.

Danny, Katy, and Katie

Kris and Chris

Debra Sue and Katherine

Katy, Alison, and the Chappells

Chris and Debby

These were good batches of beans, rice,
maionese, and pudim de leite

Rob, Jan, Katy, Kris, and David

This has been a great visit and today we are heading back to Phoenix. Thanks to Debra Sue and Alison for such a fun time.

That's all for now.

OXO

D.

"There's No Basement in the Alamo"

Friday we and our luggage all squeezed into Debby's car and headed to San Antonio, via Austin and Fredericksburg, with yours truly at the wheel. We had barbeque at Rudy's on the outskirts of Austin before heading downtown to have a quick look around. The afternoon was spent at Fredericksburg, a quaintish little Hill-Country town settled by Germans. Though most shops are of little interest to me, Fredericksburg seems to have some unique shopping opportunities. I, of course, was interested in the architecture, and I was particularly taken with the off-white native Texas stone with which the Hill Country abounds.

Later that afternoon we checked into the Fairfield Inn near the San Antonio Temple and then headed downtown to spend a little time and eat dinner on the River Walk. I really like San Antonio -- it is the only place I ever visited on a design-educators' conference to which I wanted to return with the family.

Lunch at Rudy's

Wonderful moist barbeque, coleslaw, and creamed corn

Texas State Capitol in Austin

Capitol rotunda -- NB the lone star

"Water Is Best"

The whole crew on the capitol steps

Fredericksburg, Texas

Lots of good shops if you like that
sort of thing

The shoppers plus Katy

Native Texas stone that I love so much

The Alamo at dusk

San Antonio's River Walk

Lots of atmosphere

The view from our table

Yup, no basement

Saturday morning we attended a session at the San Antonio Temple. It is one of the small ones, but felt surprisingly large and is filled with sparkling art glass. It was a nice morning. Headed home again, we drove to New Braunfels for a really delicious lunch at Huisache Grill (where we had previously eaten on our first trip to Houston many years ago). After lunch we headed out into the country and visited Wimberly Glass Works where Debby's pendant lights were crafted. We were just in time for a glass-blowing demonstration that was remarkably interesting. A few hours later we were back in Houston.

All that is missing is the bride

San Antonio Temple

Huisache Grill is wonderful: ambiance and food

This was a very entertaining demonstration

It was a delightful trip. Thanks to Debby for all the planning and good management.

That's all for now.

OXO

D.