AJ's grandma, Fae Fridal Francis passed away this past week. She was 97 years old. Fae was a friend of my father, as they were both raised in the Tremonton, Utah area. Back in 2007, just before Adrienne's marriage to AJ, we had a family shower in their honor at Lisa and Mark's home (AJ's parents). My dad drove over from Salt Lake with a couple of Christine's children in tow. When he arrived at the shower, I could see that all was not well. My dad was very listless and obviously didn't feel very well. I directed him immediately to the food and encouraged him to eat something. He loaded his plate and sat down and bowed his head. Lisa saw him and thought he was praying, but when I looked over, I realized he had passed out. There were severalnurses present at the shower--Roy's nephews Shane and Brady (nurse anesthetists), and Adrienne and Dan who had both been trained as CNA's. I had someone call 911, and the nurses immediately began helping him. Apparently, my dad had taken his insulin before driving to our home, knowing that he could get something to eat when he arrived, but it was a half hour drive and his blood sugar got too low. My dad started to revive and was given orange juice, etc. and helped him to a comfortable chair. He smiled up at everyone and said, "I'm not making a very good impression on Fae." We called 911 and told them not to come, but they must've been bored because they showed up anyway. It was a memorable shower!
Roy and I went to the viewing. There were See's chocolates strategically placed for all to enjoy. It was obviously one of her favorites. There was also a basket of Hostess Twinkies, cupcakes, etc. She was quite the junk food connoisseur. It was said of her at the funeral that a rice krispie treat and a milk shake was her idea of a healthy breakfast. Of course, she was always very thin and it seems could eat anything she wanted without gaining weight. Caitlyn and I went to the funeral the next morning. It was a nice memorial for a wonderful lady. The highlight, however, was when Ila got to sit by Caitlyn and grandma. She put her face to mine and cuddled for a minute. It was heaven because she has never given me that kind of attention before.
Saturday Roy and I planted the garden. We planted tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, basil, various winter and summer squashes, a couple of melons, and planted seeds for beets, onions, and peas. Luckily we were able to fit in a short nap before heading to the Bee's game with friends. It was a good game, though the Bees lost, with a fireworks show afterwards. The rain threatened all evening, but waited to pour down the minute the game was over. Everyone took cover. We weren't sure they'd still do fireworks, but soon we heard the booming so took a seat to watch.
Selfies are always so flattering (NOT)
Dan and his family were able to get down to Santaquin for a visit with grandpa. He took them out to dinner. I was quite surprised because he doesn't usually want to leave the care center.
It's great that we can decorate Tom's grave so easily now. We are planning to decorate his grave this evening. and my parent's graves tomorrow. Nan Theobald decorated Roy's parents yesterday (I think), so our thoughts went with her for them this year. We remember our loved ones all the time, so we don't really need a holiday to be reminded.
As I mentioned in last week's letter, May is the month for recitals and programs. The day before Roy and I flew to Texas, I was able to watch Ori's pre-school program. She is starting Kindergarten next year so this was her last day of pre-school. She always knows all the words to the songs, whether it be in Primary or pre-school, or acting out Little Mermaid or other princess shows. I missed her ballet recital since we were in Texas. Caitlyn went though, and said Ori did great, but she didn't get her turn until 1 1/2 hours into the recital--apparently they left after Ori danced.
The Jackson Family
Mav, Elise, Max, Andy and Beverly
We arrived in Texas on Thursday evening and headed straight to the Jackson's. After visiting for a short while, we left and checked into our hotel. Elise told us we didn't have to hurry the next morning, that we should sleep in, have breakfast and then come over until time to go to the graduation. We obeyed. I guess she didn't understand that since we were on Utah time, sleeping in meant we wouldn't get to her house until 10:30 or so. We started getting texts asking where we were. I understand because our visit was going to be short.
The graduation started at 4:00, but it was downtown, and Houston has a LOT of traffic. Andy and Elise left around 1, and then Roy and I followed with Julie and Darren (Andy's parents) around 2:30. Elise saved us seats near the front.
Roy, myself, Marni and Curtis Burke, great friends of Elise and Andy
Like most graduations, it was a little boring. The president of the class gave a good speech, but the keynote speaker wasn't great. Elise said that they could have had Mathew McConaughey because he's an alumni of the school, but not enough people voted for him. She thought he would have been preferable :) However, it was definitely worth attending to see Andy receive his diploma after such hard work over the past few years. There were about 240 graduates. Most of them have residencies set up, but there were about 9 that didn't get placed and have to apply again. That means a wasted year with no guarantees they'll be selected next time. Elise says the percentage of graduates around the country with no residencies is around 24%.
After the graduation, we headed back to the Jackson home to pick up the kiddos and go out for pizza. Andy and Elise treated everyone as a thank you for all the support they've received through all Andy's schooling.
Beverly--she's always happy. She's super skinny because she never stops.
Her favorite phrase is "get down."
Mav--he loves his rootbeer. The cup of ice is for Beverly because
I learned pretty quickly she'd put her hand in my water to get the ice.
Curtis Burke and Max are behind us.
Saturday we spent the day on the beach. I thought it was going to be a little miserable because the winds were forecast to be 20 mph. It was windy, but the day was hot, the water was warm, and there was enough overcast to keep us cool. It ended up being perfect.
Mav
Bev
Mav, Roy and Max. These boys
did not let a few big waves get them down. They didn't
seem to mind getting knocked about and hit full in the face.
Elise and Beverly. Bev loved it, too, but was a little more cautious
than her brothers.
Following the beach, we had seafood at a place called "Shrimp and Stuff," and then had dessert at The Chocolate Bar. Roy and I will miss this dessert place when we no longer have a reason to visit Houston.
Sunday we met at Elise's church for their 9:00 am meeting. We were fortunate that Elise was asked to speak, since it was her last week. Andy's in the Bishopbric, so I'm kind of assuming he had a previous opportunity. Interestingly, neither Andy, nor Elise were released from their callings.
Elise shared an experience in Italy where she'd been invited to dinner. She was hungry in the afternoon, so she had a yucky cookie from a vending machine, and consequently wasn't as hungry as she should have been when she showed up for dinner. As is somewhat usual in Italy, the dinner was literally a feast--with several courses--antipasto, pasta, fruit, dessert...She said that she hadn't been as prepared as she should have been to enjoy this feast. She compared this experience with preparing ourselves to feast upon the scriptures.
She fixed us a nice dinner of Jambalaya. I cut up some mango and papaya to go with it (they get delicious mango and papaya there because they're so close to Mexico). We didn't have much time to visit before we had to leave for the airport. It was a quick trip. We're glad we were able to go, but Elise probably feels cheated with the amount of time we spent together. Her life is pretty hectic right now, though. Julie stayed with her to help her pack a few things and make the drive to Houston--she'll sit in back with the kids and keep them happy. The boys are great travelers--Beverly--not so much.
It's that time of year--lots of recitals and programs for end of school. I never realized that this wouldn't end for a mother of 8 when her last child graduated from High School. I'm glad that I get to keep a foot in the door and still enjoy watching children grow and progress.
Gunnar representing the founder of Hershey's chocolate. Their
class had a wax museum. If you stood in front of the "statue" they came
to life and told you about themselves. It was a cute idea. Gunnar
did a great job. Ila loved the chocolate!
No school for these two--except educational programming.
Caitlyn and I had our own spring recital at the Bountiful Recreation Center on May 4 and 5. Most of the family were able to come and see us. I am going out on a limb here and showing both of our performances (usually I only show Caitlyn). I will never be as fast or strong a skater as Caitlyn, but for my age I think I do pretty well. Don't make them full screen or they'll be super blurry. I'm not sure why, but it may be because we transferred the videos from Jieun's phone to mine.
We planned a lot for our skating weekend. In May for Roy's birthday we get coupons for a few of our favorite restaurants. May is so busy that we had to start with using the one to Market Street Grill right away (May 2nd). Then on the 4th, Roy, Nick and Matt went on their yearly bike ride--the Frontrunner. It is a 67 mile course. Matt restrained himself and stayed with Roy and Nick for most of the ride. Roy lost a lot of time being a good Samaritan and changing a tire for a woman along the route. That's okay, he wasn't planning on winning or anything :)
Matt, Nick, Roy, and Mike, Matt's friend who rides with them
Roy
Nick
Of course, Roy runs the spotlight for all the skating shows, so he was committed on Friday and Saturday as much as Caitlyn and I were. Crista also celebrated her anniversary on Friday night, so we enlisted Jennie and Jordan's help to take Ruby and Greta to the skating show so that Crista and Matt could go out. After all of this, we left Sunday after church to go for a short week to Lake Powell--we had to get there before Caitlyn's surgery sometime the week of the 21st. Nick and Sara and the girls went with us to Lake Powell. He suggested that next time we go to Lake Powell it isn't immediately following a 67 mile bike ride. He may have a point.
Lake Powell was eventful. The drive went well, but when we got to the lodge, our trailer wasn't ready for us (8:00 pm). The lady at the desk was pretty clueless and it took her at least 15-20 minutes to figure out that the cleaning ladies were still working on it. We finally got checked in, and within 30 seconds, Effie, in her excitement, jumped on the bed and flung herself down--hitting her head on the window sill. We found out quickly about the medical clinic behind the visitor's center. She had 2 staples put in.
Effie's head
The first day in Powell we were able to enjoy fairly warm weather. The water was a little cold, but probably no colder than Flaming Gorge in August. We boated a lot, and swam a little. The next day was cooler by about 5 degrees. Nick, Jennie, Jordan and Caitlyn all wake-boarded, then we blew up the tube for the little girls. They loved it. They both had huge smiles as they practiced standing up and jumping around. Our tube is pretty stable! When the wind picked up around 3:30 or so, we got off the lake and spent the evening playing games. Our last full day in Lake Powell was about 10 degrees cooler than the 2nd day. We went boating anyway. No one really wanted to get in the water, though we did get in a little bit. Ori and Effie didn't seem to mind the cold water very much. We powered through a rain storm, tried playing on the beach, then gave up after about 30 minutes. It was still after 3 when we got off the water. Since it was our last day we loaded the boat, had it inspected for mussels, and put the cover on. When we were in the trailer playing games, we had a really good downpour.
The next eventful episode was that Effie, after eating a big dinner for a little girl, ate a handful of Swedish fish. A little later all everything she ate came back out! We all took a walk while Nick and Sara cleaned up. She seemed totally fine after that.
Thursday we headed home. We stopped for gas and snacks in Wellington. The plan was to head to Springville for lunch, but just after we left the gas station, I looked over at Roy and asked what the speed limit was. Everyone was passing us. He looked kind of out of it. He started to speed up and then said, "I feel really weird, I don't feel very well." I instructed him to pull over immediately. He was so dizzy he couldn't even stand up on his own. Nick and Jordan (who were following in Nick's car) came and gave him a blessing. He laid down in the back seat and Caitlyn took over driving. We were nearly to Price, so I asked Roy if we needed to stop at a hospital. He said, "I think so." So, we had a several hour detour to make sure Roy was all right. We were really worried. His speech wasn't slurred, but it was slow. We had to get a wheel chair to take him into the hospital as he was too dizzy to stand. After several tests to rule out other things, the doctor gave him the diagnosis of Labyrinthitis (inner ear infection). The doctor said she didn't think it had anything to do with his cold, but everything we read on-line said that it could be caused by a common cold. As is normal for Roy, he got up Friday morning and went to work for an 8:00 am meeting, then came home around noon to prepare for a camp-out with his Young Men. He was instructed not to drive as long as he had symptoms, but apparently his dizziness was gone--he just felt like he was hit by a truck.
Pictures from Lake Powell:
Avie in the trailer
Avie on the boat. She was pretty happy most of the trip.
Jennie and Jordan
Captain Roy eating lunch.
Caitlyn
Sara with Effie, Nick with Avie
Nick, Ori and Effie
Avie, Jordan and Jennie
Ori on the playground near the trailers.
Effie
Effie
Ori
Avie, Catharine and Caitlyn. This was the 3rd day on the boat.
I had dressed appropriately for the temperature
The clouds around the lake were beautiful, even though it indicated rain and cooler weather.
Caitlyn and Effie, avoiding the rain while on the boat.
Jordan, Jennie and Ori
The tube got a little water inside
Catharine and Caitlyn
Roy and Ori
Avie loves ice cream, too!
Saturday night, Dan and Jieun came over and made sushi for Roy, Caitlyn and me (in honor of Mother's Day) It was Jennie's birthday but she was involved all day with a friend's wedding. After dinner we all settled on the couch and watched Spiderwick. Hyeji had asked if we could watch a "Netflix Original" although I don't think she really knows what that means.
Roy has been pretty wiped out from his "episode" on Thursday. He still does everything he has to do, but he probably shouldn't. He stayed home from church and rested, so hopefully he'll be on the mend soon.
We had a wonderful, enjoyable Mother's Day celebrating all the mother's in our family. I'm so pleased with the choices my daughters have made. I am so happy they want to be mothers. Caitlyn made a cake celebrating Mother's Day and all the May birthdays (Sara, Adrienne, Roy and Jennie). We missed Crista's family and Elise's family today. Next week I'll have pictures of the Jackson's as we'll be heading to Houston on Thursday for Andy's graduation from Medical school.
