Early June 2010

Today is a Katy-Kathryn kind of day, the kind of day she loves; I love cloudy, misty, rainy, cool days, too. We should live in Seattle.

June 3 was Anders 7th birthday. It was a fun celebration. The following Sunday we drove to Highland to have dinner with Katiana and Jeremy Goff and family. Since Phillip is a lone man for the month, he came too. Katiana made a delicious Brazilian dinner and her maionese was exactly as I remember them in Brazil; the secret ingredient is green olives. I will have to see if I can adapt my recipe to capture that note of authenticity. That evening Tom and Katy invited us over to enjoy their newly spiffed-up arbor. We had fruit and cheese and felt like we were in Europe again.

This weekend, the Hastings came to spend the night before Rob ran in the Utah Valley Marathon. He had to be up at 3:00 A.M. and being in Provo gave them a head start. He ran his best time ever. It was Rob's birthday and the kids were sure that I should make pancakes for breakfast . . . so I did. Rob was in need of some new clothes for work, so we accompanied them to the Park City outlets. The drive up was spectacular, as beautiful as any place in the world we have visited. I informed Kris that we still needed to visit those other places even if our own home is beyond beautiful. We more or less kept an eye on the kids while Rob and Anna shopped. We also managed to score a couple of bargains in the deal. Anders informed me that the tooth he has been fussing with for a couple of months was ready to come out, so we performed a quick and easy extraction. No one seems to like to pull teeth as well as I do, so it is my pleasure. We had a great lunch at the Happa Grill before returning to Provo for a bit of grocery shopping, World Cup, and an open house for Griffin (who just arrived home from Russia) and Tom and Zoe who will leave tomorrow for Wales. Kris and I went to the Provo Peak 2nd Ward this morning for his "welcome home." He did well and Zoe also sang beautifully. This afternoon the family gathers here for Sunday Dinner.

It's a Katy-Kathryn day today

Anders' birthday

It was windy so Clara never had a chance

The Goff's home in Highland

They are nestled in the Alpine mountains

Are we in Italy?

The marathon-running birthday boy and his family

The empty spot to the right of the incisors is
the scene of the crime

Utah is spectacular! (note the orange barrels
left from the marathon earlier in the day)

The fashionista tried a new hat

A study in blue: Tucker and his
crystaline goatee

Yummy Asian food

"Kris, don't even think about pointing that thing at me."

Squaw Peak with its nose in the clouds

Welcome home Griffin

So far, it has been a good month, with more fun to come when everyone arrives home again for the end of June and July.

That's all for now.

OXO

D.

Memorial Day Weekend 2010

It was a long, but enjoyable, Memorial Day weekend this year. Will and Jamie came from NC and Katy Kathryn flew in from TX. On Wednesday, 26 May, Uncle Stephen hosted a fete to celebrate Jamie's birthday. Friday was the last day of school in Provo and Wasatch School marked the day in the traditional way with a dance festival that Katy and I attended; Max and Lizzie performed. Saturday was the Uncle-Tony museum outing posted earlier, and Sunday was family dinner at our house, followed by a walk around BYU campus. That evening there was a sleepover for the binkers, hosted by Auntie Katy (although, as is traditional, I made the pancakes). Monday the 31st was Memorial Day and our anniversary. We visited the cemetery, placed flowers on the graves of immediate family members, and stopped by each of the ancestors' graves. That afternoon we gathered at Emily's for swimming and grilling. We had a very good day.

Will and Jamie

Lizzie shakes her groove thing

Handsome Max joins in the ever-cool parachute dance

Everyone was promoted

The museum group on Saturday

Katy's friend Eve, whom she met in Texas, joined us
for dinner and the walk

Feeding the ducks

Katy explains the finer points of an ant war to the binkers

Scads of pancakes were made and consumed

Meg gives them a thumbs up

The binkers at my parents' grave

Jayson

Anna and Katy are properly subdued by the setting

Uncle Tony's flowers were appropriately offered up
in a pasta-sauce bottle

The older folks plus Holden who wasn't interested
in the kids' photo shoot

Later at Emily's pool

Grilling: Phil's veggies were delicious!

Those silly Taylor cousins

Yesterday, Tuesday 1 June, we took Katy to the airport for her return to Texas. So, once again, we are suffering from empty-house syndrome where it feels way too quiet and lonely. That, however, won't last long. It will soon be the 4th of July and the house will be overflowing -- sweet!

That's all for now.

OXO

D.

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.