Sad But True

All good things must come to an end, and on 22 July I drove a car full of luggage and boxes to SLC International as Meagan and the kids headed to Hawaii for five years! Ollie and Meg were accepted into Punahou School and so Meags and Phil made the decision to jump. Phillip has remained behind for now to finish all the packing, storing, and to sell the house. I hope the move works out well, because we will certainly miss them. The next day, the Youngs headed back to Arizona, and the Hastings drove off to Reno for a week before their family reunion in Salinas, California. So we are alone again, naturally. Well, almost. We still get to have Phillip around for a little while. The end of July saw us meeting with family and old friends for various dinners.

 We will miss them

 They said Evy was driving them to Taco Bell

The goodbyes begin

A heartfelt group hug


This time, "I don't want to go back to Reno" was not heard

One last hug before the Youngs headed south

See you in the fall


Breakfast with cousin Millie Kay


Diner dinner with the Boyntons who were in town


Dinner with Leslie and Ray Taylor with Jacques and Diane Booth,
mission buddy and friend from my youth in SLC

It was a wonderful month of noise and confusion covered with huge helpings of love and fun. That's all for now.

OXO

D.

More July 2017

The family stayed on through July with some coming and going for in-law reunions, Girl Scout camp, and the like. Lucy made it back from Thailand and joined in the days out, the family dinners, and Ollie's Court of Honor. She and I had a great day in Salt Lake City visiting the University of Utah on a familiarization tour. We finished our adventure with lunch at Chipotle in Sugarhouse.

 Clara and I each made a banoffee pie

 Close inspection of the cream

 Finished pies

 Beautiful skies on my morning walks

 La Capizza

 Up Timpanogos to...

 ...Cascade Springs

 Wonderful water

 Grammy and the boys

 Beautiful palette of greens

 Grass in the warm breeze

 Anna drove us over the mountain to Heber to meet the Young 

boys for supper at Spin

 Katy took some photos of the boys and Evy joined in

 Picking out the best ones

 A visit to Bridal Veil Falls with the Hastings kids

 Of course they climbed to the falls

 Key lime pie and silly faces at one of many family dinners

 Meat pie night...

 ...With the whole family

 Oliver David received his Eagle Scout Award

 Proud grandparents

 Oliver is a fine lad

 2002 (Olympics) Legacy Bridge

The University of Utah

 A quick visit from Chelsea Gibbs, and Phillip joining Instagram

A month of fun and games

Good times, but that's all for now.

OXO

D.

New Entry Path

Kris has wanted pavers on our entry path for ages. So she arranged the whole thing and on 7 July the contractors came and did it all in a single day while we were out playing in Payson.

 The stones are gone

 Road base and sand

Installing the bricks

 

 

 The finished walk

Kind of like cobblestones

It looks good and makes a nice companion piece to our new driveway. That's all for now.

OXO

D.

Sundance, Rock Canyon, and the Grotto

As I mentioned, the moms like to keep moving and there was some sort of an activity or two every day. We rode the lift at Sundance to Bearclaw for spectaculars views and some excellent nachos. I promised Anna I would go up Rock Canyon with her, but only if we went before sunrise. Payson Canyon beckoned and we made the short hike to the Grotto which was lovely and cool on a hot July day. We finished the trip with a stop in Payson at Daley Freez for some goodies.

 Stewart's Cirque on mighty Timpanogos

 Deer Creek and Heber Valley from Bearclaw

 Provo Canyon, Cascade Peak, and Utah Valley from Bearclaw

 Our happy band at the summit

 This is why they were happy

 Some mighty fine nachos with real cheese

 Headed back down into Sundance

 Finn and Beck in the Sundance store

 Can't visit the store without getting suckers

 Rehearsal Hall pond

Rock Canyon Creek

 

Up Rock Canyon early with Anna

 Keeping ahead of the sun

In Payson Canyon

 The Grotto

 Another beautiful, cool spot on a hot day

 The gang (less Auntie Em, the photographer)

 They said it felt good

 Em sort of got in

 The crew

 An ice cream stop

 Daley Freez in Payson

Refreshment

There were many other activities, but these are the ones I attended. There is still more of this madcap month, but this is all for now.

OXO

D.