Carrie and Grant

On Saturday, 19 December, niece Carrie Boynton and Grant Gebhard were married in the Draper Temple. I took Phillip and Meagan to the airport for their very early flight to Hawaii and then met Kris and Katy at the temple a bit later. It was a beautiful but very cold morning and the breeze blowing out of Corner Canyon made it feel even colder. Because the temple is up in the mountains, it sits above the level of a nasty inversion in the Salt Lake Valley. So along with the cold, the air was fresh and clean. Carrie was a brave soul, taking pictures without the benefit of a coat.

The newlyweds emerging from the temple

Katy, Kris, and Vic braving the bracing weather

Rod and Vic with all their offspring, minus Andy

The Boynton siblings: Tom, Steve, Rod,
Ellie, Carrie, and Margie

The reception was that afternoon. Our family gathered to wish the couple well and enjoy the wonderful refreshments. Later in the evening all our kids gathered at the house for supper and visiting.

Anna, Clara, Ellen, and Kris

Anna greeting Carrie with a hug

The Gebhards

Jayson, Liz, and Max

Max and Anders

Clara had no problem eating alone

It was a fun day of celebration.

OXO

D.

Poetry Rocks!

Today Katy, Alison, and I drove north to attend a poetry recital presented by the fourth grade students at Navigator Pointe Academy, the Hastings kids' school. Lucy was a star participant. It really was a great event with choral recitations of works by Carl Sandburg, Shel Silverstein, Edna Saint Vincent Millay, Christina Rossetti, and others. We had a wonderful time and appreciate the invitation.

Alison, Katy, Anna, and Clara at NPA

Lucy et al.

Lucy, a narrator

Well done, Lucy Jane

What mom wouldn't be proud?

If we bend down, Clara can be in the photo, too

A less-familiar view of Mighty Timpanogos from
near the Navigator Pointe Academy

That's all for now.

OXO

D.

So, Now It Begins

We awakened to a surprise: 3" of soft, white, lovely powder snow. Ian posted pictures of a snowstorm in Houston this week and I told him to send some snow our way. It appears that the request was granted.



That's all for now.

OXO

D.

The Halls Are Officially Decked

Yesterday evening we threw an intimate party and decorated the tree. It all went according to tradition and we are mostly ready for Christmas.

The traditional supper

The traditional lips

It's a lonely job
(because they believe that if the ornaments aren't
hung in the right place, they will be moved
and consequently don't want to risk helping)

Voila

This last photo is bonus from Sunday evening:

Lizzy and Clara

That's all for now.

OXO

D.

Thanksgiving 2009

The family gathered on the 26th for Thanksgiving dinner. To our delight, we were joined by members of the in-law families: Meagan's mom, Lenore was here from Hawaii; Todd and Courtney from Rob's family came; and Jayson's brother Adam was with us. After dinner Uncle Rod's family made a surprise visit; our two families now make quite a house full. Later in the evening we watched many carousels of slides, including some great ones of Jayson's childhood. The evening was finished with a few tooth extractions. We are thankful for lots of things, but mostly for our great and fun family.

Some things don't change much

Clara, Tucker, Max, and Anders

Madeline, Lucy Jane, Oliver, Meg, and Lizzy

Meagan, Adam, Emily, and Jayson serve themselves

Lenore, Meagan, Phillip, and Emily

Kris, Jayson, and Adam

Courtney, Anna, and Kathryn

Robert, Todd, and Courtney

Rod and Vic's grandkids

The Boyntons with most of their progeny

Katy, Marge, Ellie, Carrie, and Emily

Traditions are strong!
Lizzy, Emily, Katy, Winnie, and Clara
running with the first load of cousins

Lucy and Lizzy were thankful to be rid of a tooth

So it was a fun day and we have begun the High-Dickie-Days celebrations in earnest. We look forward to the arrival of the Youngs who will spend Christmas and New Years with us. What larks!

OXO

D.

Double Digits!

Today is Lucy Jane's tenth birthday. Where has the time gone? The celebration has been a two-day affair starting yesterday with a 3:30 viewing of Planet 51 at the Jordan Landing Cinemark followed by dinner at Sakana, a Japanese eatery also at Jordan Landing. It was a fun afternoon and evening.

An afternoon at the pictures

The enthusiastic celebrant

Waiting for sushi etc.

Katsu anyone?

This afternoon we made the pilgrimage to Taylorsville for family dinner and another birthday celebration. It has been a fun couple of days, remembering when Lucy Jane arrived at the UVRMC ten short years ago. The party was over all too soon and we headed home in the first blizzard of the year.

Anders and Auntie Katy

Meg and Lizzy enjoying delicious lasagna

Baby goat "cheeser"

The ten-year olds

Clara is always up for opening presents

The root of all evil . . . really?

Birthday brownies

Happy birthday dear Lucy Jane. We all love you.

OXO

P.P.

Just a Spoonfull of Sugar . . .

I had some weird muscle pain for a week or so and wondered what it could be. I checked every possible disease related to muscle pain and found no matching symptoms or maladies.

I have been taking Claratin D and Mucinex for stuffy-head allergy symptoms for several months, together with Costco generic Prylosec for heartburn (for even longer). Being skeptical about taking processed chemicals into my body, I wondered if the medications might be responsible for the weird pains and pondered what to do. Now, I am going to go out on a limb here and call it inspiration: I awoke at 3:00 A.M. with a very distinct impression, coming straight out of nowhere, that I should drop refined/processed sugar from my diet. Frequently, those 3:00 A.M. revelations that seem so brilliant at the moment, fade just a bit at 7:00 A.M. in the clear light of day. This radical idea, however, still seemed OK the next morning so I told Kris I wanted to try dropping refined sugar from my diet. Happily, she wanted to do it, too. So on Veterans' Day, 11 November, we made the leap. That evening we told Katy what we were doing and she looked at us as if she didn't know who we were. She said that she felt like she had just learned that she was picked up at the pound as a baby! Nevertheless, though she wanted to cry, she also wanted to try. So all three of us were off and running.

As an afterthought, I Googled "adverse effects of sugar" and BAM!, I was awakened to a whole new world of sugar-related crud that had, surprisingly, escaped this conspiracy-theory seeker. Holy cow! I had no prior idea what refined sugar does to one's health, but it became very clear that my midnight madness was anything but.

So far, dropping sugar has not been difficult. Withdrawal may cause minor headache, but the only serious bump in the road came on Sunday evening when the munchies set in. I munched on nuts and some of Kris's popcorn as we watched Masterpiece and made it through unscathed. Sunday dinner without a wonderful gooey dessert was fine; instead we had pears with some delicious white cheddar cheese recommended by the cheese whiz at Harmon's.

Goodbye ol' friends

The goal of this program was to get off the meds and feel better. I dropped all the pills on the first day and have felt much better. After reading about the adverse effects of sugar I widened my horizons to include lowering my "high-normal" blood pressure and my marginally high cholesterol. We'll see with time how that goes, but it appears promising. An added benefit seems to be weight loss. When I started this crazy regimen last week, I weighed in at 207 lbs. This morning I was down 7 lbs. to 200. So, what the heck: Whoopee!

I'll keep you posted and possibly even tell you what we eat.

OXO

D.