For Katy Kathryn and Other Afficionados

Click the hyperlink for an interesting little video blog posted for Katy and any others who love Peter Jackson's Tolkien movies. Only two more years.





That's all for now.

OXO

D.

Bye Bye Beardie

On April 19th I gave my last final. On the morning of 20 April I put away the razor and we headed to Virginia, Arizona, and Texas on our round-the-country visit to the kids. My beard has been growing ever since.

I begin teaching again on Monday and need to spend some time on campus in preparation, so it was time to lose the hirsute face. Katy Kathryn captured the event:

Full beard

Goatee

Okely dokely

Oh!

All gone

That's all for now.

OXO

D.

Monday Outing Near Dulles Airport

(NB: The last three posts were created in chronological order from oldest to most recent.)

Monday morning we had breakfast before checking out of the hotel. At Rob and Anna's we played with the kids while everyone got ready for the day. What started out as a walk with Clara and Anders, ended up being another frog hunt. Once the troops were ready we headed northwest to an area near the Dulles International Airport. The first stop was Great Falls Park. This is a small pocket-sized national park that includes a set of impressive falls on the Potomac River near Washington DC. They formed an obstacle to George Washington's vision of a waterway into the Ohio Valley and the west. Consequently, canals and locks were constructed to bypass the falls. Photos never capture the scale properly. Trust me, however, they are impressive. After visiting the falls, we filled our rental car with gas and had lunch in Great Falls, VA. The place looks questionable, but the food was great.

We drove to the airport nearby and dropped off the rental car before heading just south of Dulles to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, an arm of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. It is a beautifully designed facility with huge spaces filled with interesting bits and pieces of aviation history. One of my favorite features there is the observation tower where you can reach out and almost touch the planes arriving at Dulles. For someone like me who loves to watch airplanes, this was a treat.

Chasse de grenouille, part deux: note
the teeny frog about to jump from the rim
into Tuckers hand

The visitors center where one is repeatedly warned
that one will die if one goes into the falls

The very direct warning photographed by Anna
in the ladies' restroom

Great Falls of the Potomac

The crew at one of the observation points

The full wide view of the falls

Bill, JLynn, Jim, Whitney, Clara, Rob, Lucy,
Kris, Tucker, Anna, and Anders

Lunch time

The burgers were particularly good

Udvar-Hazy Center

Entry way of the Udvar-Hazy

Plane watcher's delight

IAD: Dulles International
from the observation tower

Lockheed Blackbird spy plane flew from
coast to coast in one hour

The Boeing Aviation Hangar

The Kringles, Anders, and Grammy at the
space shuttle Enterprise in the McDonnell hangar

JLynn beneath the Enola Gay

Anna and Rob dropped us at the airport and we flew home by way of Chicago's Midway Airport. It sits right in the middle of the city and the approach and take off were a series of what seem like evasive maneuvers, banking right, then left until we were far enough out onto the prairies that we could finally just "straighten up and fly right." It was another late landing but we seem to be fine today in spite of the abuse to our circadian rhythms. It was a quick but great trip.

That's all for now.

OXO

D.

Sunday Twofer

Sunday was Anders' baptism and Rob's birthday so there was ample reason to celebrate. Their church is at 1:00, so Sunday morning was spent making more elements of the Brazilian dinner Rob requested as well as completing the infamous cake. There was also a bit of gift giving -- scriptures specifically -- and a small frog hunt in the cul-de-sac at the top of the street. The hunt was small and the frog was almost microscopic, so the "small" tag fits very well.

The baptismal service was held right after church and Anders planned the program. Tutu accompanied, Whitney conducted, Bill and Kris prayed, Courtney and Dickie spoke, Tucker and Tutu played a duet, Rob baptized and confirmed, and the grandpas witnessed. It was a very nice event.

Returning home, a delicious Brazilian dinner was followed by the cussed seven-hour chocolate birthday cake. The cake is very complicated and put Anna just a bit over the edge. The finished product was tasty, but I believe it will never be duplicated.

Anders Taylor Hastings

Watching the frog in the bird bath

Anna completing one of many steps on the cake

Anders and his parents

The Hastings/Taylor family group shot

The whole family in silly mode

Kris, Bill, and Tucker digging in

Brazilian food is a favorite

The birthday boy with the cake

That evening we stood on the deck and watched the fireflies, a treat we don't get in Utah.

More to come.

OXO

D.

Saturday in Virginia

Friday afternoon, 10 June, Katy Kathryn dropped us off at the SLC airport for a flight to Dulles by way of Denver. We arrived around midnight in Virginia and after picking up the car, making a wrong turn onto the DC toll road, we finally arrived at the Hampton Inn in Warrenton around 2:00 A.M. We jumped up early to attend the kids' soccer games which occupied most of the morning. I spent the afternoon helping Anna with supper and the preparations for Sunday dinner while Kris took a group back to the hotel to swim. We had delicious pulled-pork sandwiches with coleslaw and Courtney made her famous whoopie pies for dessert.

Watching Tucker's game in the hot morning sun

Hiding from the sun in the shade of a small tree

Post-game celebration at the famous
Carousel in Warrenton

Soft ice cream treats

Courtney making marshmallows for
Rob's birthday cake

It was fun to be back with the kids in Virginia and we had a nice day.

More to come.

OXO

D.

A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That

With Uncle Stephen's help, we have installed a "square-foot" raised planter box along the south side of the house. We were inspired by Millie and Colton's square-foot garden that they put in last year. I killed all the grass and weeds before we installed the box itself. With the box in place, we installed the drip irrigation system, amended the soil, installed trellises, completed the irrigation system, and planted the plants.

Katy is in town for a couple of weeks. The woman she cares for is in a special rehab program for the month, so with the generous gift of Debby's miles, Katy made a little ausflug. It turned out to be timely because she was not feeling great and Phil Freestone was kind enough to have a look at her poor uninsured body only to discover that she is infected in a place or two and also has mononucleosis. So she will be able to rest as much as she needs to and will be able to help us with our airport connections as we head back to Virginia for Anders' baptism. Nice timing.

On Sunday we went to Lehi for Katiana and Jeremy Goff's baby blessing. Young Christian David is very handsome, Katiana looks great, and the meal she prepared was spectacular. I put my sugar fast on hold to sample all her wonderful Brazilian desserts. The maracujá (passion fruit) mousse was heaven.

Uncle working on the irrigation system with
Millie and Scout's moral support

Christian, Katiana, and Jeremy

The Goffs with Kris and Katy Kathryn

The completed project this afternoon

That's all for now.

OXO

D.

Oliver David

It doesn't seem long ago that I baptized Phillip, and today, he baptized Oliver. It was a very nice service and lots of friends and family met at the stake center for the important event. Many gathered at the park for a delicious spread. It was a great day.

Phillip and his dad in 1986

Oliver and his dad today

Family and friends

Meagan, Ollie, Meg, and Pip

Grammy, Ollie, and Tutu

Oliver with Grammy and Pop Pop

Phillip and Meagan at the grill

Annika, Colton, Kris with Maisie (Missie's baby),
and Millie with Scout

Next week it will be Anders' turn in Virginia. We are excited to join him!

That's all for now.

OXO

D.