Shakespeare Festival

I get a lot of joy out of spending time with grandchildren, but this week I had an especially satisfying visit with some of my grandchildren--not quite one on one, but almost.  

Monday I picked up Ollie for some grandma time (mostly to give Adrienne a short break).  I asked him what he wanted to do and he said he'd like to play with his cousins, so I stopped at Jieun's house and picked up Doyeon and took her to my house, too.  They were awesome and played so well together.  First they played with the chickens, then they played with the sand, then the toys, I fed them cheese pizza for dinner and they watched a little TV together.  I should have taken pictures because they were so cute with each other.

While I was having grandchildren time, Roy was seeing to it that Jennie got a little time on our boat with her friends.  I heard they had a good time and that the water was smooth for at least the wake boarding/skiing time.

Jennie

Caitlyn

Tuesday, Caitlyn and I went up to Logan to see Crista.  Crista had offered to give Caitlyn a tour of the campus at USU because she's been considering going up there next year.  We took Crista, Greta, and Ruby to lunch at Herm's, then did a driving tour (due to the rain).  We visited for another hour at Crista's home before we headed back.  It was great to have some Ruby and Greta time.  This time I did take a couple of pictures.

Cait and Crista

Grandma and Greta

Even Greta likes taking selfies

 After Ollie and Doyeon had their turn, Gunnar and Hyeji definitely wanted time with grandma, too.

I was a little shorter on time on Wednesday, so I sent Caitlyn to get them after she was done teaching Learn to Skate.  She brought them home about 2:30.  They also played fairly well together.  Gunnar even consented to play Fashion Pollies with Hyeji for about 30 minutes.  I went down to relieve him from that activity and we played some games together.  Hyeji had to leave around 4:00 for a class, and Gunnar stayed for another hour after that.  We played a fun family match game.
Next I'll have to have Ori and Yuna time.
After he went home, we had a quick dinner, then Roy and I, and Caitlyn and her friend Rachel, went to the Legacy Center Point Theater and watched 9 to 5.  It was a little amateurish, but we had a good time.  It was especially fun watching Rachel, because one of the roles was played by her young women leader--(her part was Roz--the secretary that was enamored by her boss).  Rachel saw her leader in a different light and said, "I was a little weirded out."

The rest of the weekend I was able to have one on one time with Roy that is even more rare than having grandchildren time.  We left early to go to Cedar City for the Shakespeare Festival.  We saw 5 more plays over the next 3 days. We saw Guys and Dolls; Romeo and Juliet; As You Like It; Treasure Island; and Shakespeare in Love, which was our very favorite.  It probably helped that we were on the front row and didn't miss out on any of the dialog.  The leads were husband and wife in true life, which made it really fun.  I heard that they met at the Festival a few years ago and now have a 7-month old baby.  The female lead also played Juliet, in Romeo and Juliet, which meant she probably rarely has a night off.  How she can do that with a baby, I don't know, but she is very talented, and her husband is a favorite that we've seen in previous years.  We loved the plays, and we loved having time together (alone).

I should have bought this for Caitlyn.

The old Shakespeare Theater (It's been condemned and has to be
torn down).

All in all, it was a great week.

A Happy Occasion

I am so grateful for goodly parents and a wonderful upbringing.  My parents taught me the gospel of Jesus Christ, and they gave me a solid foundation of family that has been a blessing to me throughout my life.  This was reiterated to me this weekend as we celebrated Sarah Christensen's marriage.  I love associating with my siblings and their children.  It was truly a joyous occasion.  We had a good time at the dinner on Friday night, and again at the wedding and reception  on Saturday.

Me with my beautiful sisters

Pictures are a necessary evil after the wedding ceremony.  We patiently waited for a place on the temple steps--a hot commodity on a Saturday of numerous weddings.  While waiting, we ran into a first cousin, David Salisbury and had a short visit with him.  It was a very hot day, but we managed to find some shade and lots of family to visit with.

Sarah and Paul Roberts

Roy was able to make the wedding and the reception, but he was busy with lots of service this weekend.  He was involved with a ward campout with his young single adults on Friday night.  This was held at a mansion up Hobble Creek Canyon.  The mansion had been owned by Elder Robbins'. His daughter is in Roy's single's ward and she told him that after serving in South America and seeing how the people lived, her parents decided they had too much, and donated it to the use of  the church.  It is overseen by BYU.  Saturday night Roy was again serving in his capacity as the high councilman over service.  We both went to the activity and served dinner to over 500 young single adults, and then left that activity to join family at the reception for Sarah.

The "Tour of Utah" bike race was going on this week.  They went right by our house on main street.  we walked down the street a few minutes before they went through and watched them ride by.  I thought there would be stragglers, but there weren't.  There were 3 or 4 bikes ahead of everyone, and then everyone else rode in a pack.  They went past us and disappeared in minutes.  It was really kind of cool.

Tour of Utah bike race

Crista sent me this picture earlier this week.  I asked her if it was safe.  She said, "not really, but Greta finished the ride happy."

This picture was also sent around this week:  I'm guessing lipstick?  Apparently it did not wash off easily.  I hope they didn't use any of the family's suggested methods of removing it.

We had everyone over for dinner this evening.  It was chaotic, but fun, too.  We love our family.

Ori, Hyeji, Ollie, Doyeon

Yuna, Hyeji, Ollie, Doyeon

Finn, Ollie, Doyeon and chickens

Gunnar, Ollie, Doyeon

Finn.  The kids love the creek

Finn

A weekend in Flaming Gorge, a birthday party, and other summer stuff.

On the way to Flaming Gorge
Doyeon, Yuna, Ori and Hyeji.  Those are kiddie cones!

Setting up camp with Effie and Dojin

For the 24th of July holiday, we spent a great weekend in Flaming Gorge.  Our family is getting so big we can't fit everyone on the boat at the same time, so we decided to divide and conquer.  We  invited Nick and Dan and their families to join us.  We'll take Adrienne and Crista and their families in a couple of weeks.  We left Friday morning and stayed through Monday night. 

We had a great time, and the kids were in heaven.  They loved the campfire, sleeping in tents, and everything that goes along with camping in Flaming Gorge.   However, some of the parents had a couple of hard nights with babies and didn't get much sleep.  By the third and last night everyone slept pretty well. 

Church in Dutch John is always entertaining.  We got there early and got seats up front (which is a big deal when there are only about 30 of them).  When Jieun took the baby out, she said there were so many people that they were even sitting on the floor.  In the afternoon, Sara, Dan and Jieun took all the kids to Vernal to see some dinosaurs.  Nick took a much needed nap in the tent, and Roy, Caitlyn and I napped in the trailer.  Jennie joined us by dinner time on Sunday evening.  She stayed behind for work and  because she really wanted to go to Jacob's homecoming.

Caitlyn and Catharine

Nick and Effie

Dan, Jieun and Dojin

Catharine

Yuna

Hyeji, Doyeon and Yuna

Ori

Cait and Ori

Caitlyn, Yuna and Ori

Hyeji, Dojin and Effie

Dojin

Jieun and Caitlyn

Effie and Dojin

Effie

Nick, Yuna, Ori, Doyeon

Monday we packed up camp before we went boating.  We didn't get on the lake until nearly 11.  After Nick, Dan, Crista and Jennie all wake boarded, we blew up the tube and had lunch.  After a quick swim, it started raining (and hailing).  We huddled in the boat and Roy drove around looking for possible breaks in the weather.  It was worse by the dock, so we headed the other way.  We were cold for about 30 minutes, and then the sun came out.  By then most everyone had taken their boats off the water, so the lake was glassy and smooth.  The kids tubed for another hour or so, then we took the boat off the lake and headed home.  We didn't get home until 10:30. 

This past week was fun, too.  Friday night the chef from Mountain Land came and cooked a dinner for 10 in our home (a thank you for our appliance purchases).  She made halibut in our steam oven, steamed it with lemon and dill and that was it.  It was to die for.  She also made a risotto with mushrooms and asparagus, which was as delicious as it was fattening.  For dessert we had a peach and raspberry gallette (a sort of pie).  We also had an appetizer and salad.  It was all excellent.  The best thing about the evening was that though I invited my kids, I didn't invite their children.  Now, don't get me wrong, I adore my grandchildren, but it was amazing to be able to sit and visit with my kids for one evening without distractions.  Sadly, I could only have 10 guests, so Jennie and Cait had to sit out.  However, Caitlyn had to work and Jennie babysat for Dan, so it all worked out.  

We've celebrated a lot of birthdays this week--  My brother Dave's on the 27th.  (I called him on the 28th),  Nick's and Effie's on the 29th, and my dad's today, July 30.  We were invited to Nick's and Effie's party on Saturday.  It was a great afternoon with a pinata, gifts and cake.  Sara had made a delicious chocolate cake with cream cheese peanut butter frosting.  I've never had anything like it (Roy and I will start our diet on Aug. 1--we need it after a summer of treats nearly every day).  

Effie 1 year-old

Yuna and Ori looking at Nick's bunnies

Roy eating cake and holding Finn.  We found out
Finn is allergic to bunnies :{

5 candles, 36 years old

A real bat for the pinata??? Nick didn't want anyone to get hurt
so he took the first swing and emptied out the pinata.
The kids all wanted a turn to hit it anyway.

Ruby had fun with Grandma and Grandpa this weekend.  She, Greta, Crista and Matt stayed overnight Friday so they could have dinner with us and go to the birthday party.  Grandma and Grandpa had fun with Ruby and Greta, too.

Ruby loves "Sofia the First"

Tonight is quiet (we didn't have our kids for dinner because we were together yesterday and Friday).  I had to make another dessert as it's our turn to provide treats for ward prayer (single's ward).  I made Banana Cake with cream cheese frosting out of Charlotte's cookbook.  I didn't do it, but I wondered if  adding chocolate chips would add or detract.  

Of course, we didn't spend any time with Elise and family this week, but we spent a little time on the phone, and she sent pictures.  They finally got Max home from grandma camp (he was gone 2 weeks), and they're very happy to have him back-- Maverick was especially happy.  We miss them but we're looking forward to seeing them in November when their baby girl is born.  

Max at grandma Jackson's house

Andy and Mav

I think this is Maverick

I think this is Maverick, too.

Service

Today I taught the lesson in Relief Society.  It is true that the teacher learns the most out of lesson because she's had the time to read, ponder and pray about the message.  The lesson in the manual was excellent and I hope I conveyed at least part of what was intended.  While planning the lesson I was reminded that I can do more.  I had two women in our ward share what the service they do has done for them.   One of the women has a day each month where she opens her home for "Days for Girls" where women come together to make feminine hygiene kits for girls around the world where these items are not readily available.  They have to be washable so they can be reused.  We take so much for granted here.  She spoke on how she schedules her service so that it is something she can do without thinking about it.  The other sister has a calling.  She's the ward "Refugee specialist."  She spoke about how she was inspired at conference (the one where the General Relief Society Presidency spoke on helping the refugees) to get involved.  She has worked for a year with a refugee family that has six children.  She said it has been really hard, and there were times where she thought she couldn't do it anymore, but she said, she has seen blessings, one of which is that she now knows she has the ability to love all of Heavenly Father's children.  I emphasized that there is a time and a season for everything, that not everyone is in a position to take on that kind of service responsibility, but if we are listening we can feel the promptings that the Lord gives to us for acts of service, however small. 

I always admire women like these two sisters who make such an effort to make service a part of their lives.  I am always glad that the church has service built into it; you serve in your calling, you fulfill assignments, you reach out to your neighbor, etc. 

Family also gives us lots of natural opportunities to serve.  I was able to serve a little myself this past week as I helped out with Adrienne's boys while she was in Europe (I didn't help nearly as much as the Green grandparents, but, nevertheless, I helped out quite a bit).   I think that the boys were totally spoiled by us (and even more-so by the Greens)

Making playdough

Singing with grandma

mom and dad are nearly home

Gunnar got all the way to the top

I also had opportunity to spend a short while on Saturday morning enjoying Nick's girls while he and Sara and Roy went on a bike ride.  I told Nick that Ori is no ordinary little girl.  She used the word, "hilarious," to describe Jennie, and she asked me "Can I play with the 'kinetic sand' grandma?  She has an amazing vocabulary for a 3 year old.  

Effie is crawling.  Her glasses have helped her
in her progression.  She's such a sweetheart.

Whether it's service to family or to those around us, we usually find that through our service, we are the ones that are blessed.