A Pot-pourri (literally and figuratively)

In June, I was still on crutches, but I'm free at last! I walk on my own, but still have my temporary Handicapped parking pass. It comes in handy for those fast runs into Costco, or my over-sold parking garage. I do have a beautiful scar!

What fun we had with Reese living with us this summer (oh, and Jake, Lindsay, Mal, Jon and a short time Tyler and Kenzie, too!). Here Reese is making sure Grandpa took his nap!

The Twin Falls Temple. What a gorgeous, small temple. It can be seen from the freeway if you look hard.

Shoshone Falls, near Twin Falls, Idaho are the Niagra Falls of the West! I took some of my priest quorum to the Twin Falls Temple open house, and we went here. This is running only about 3/4 strength. Some years, it is even bigger.

Oh, the adventures we have with moving, cleaning, packing apartments! When we helped Mal and Jon unpack and move into their new apartment in Portland (note we're not in Utah anymore, Toto), Lorrie was putting some blankets up on the top top top shelf of the hall linen closet. Perched atop her stepstool, she reached for something and handed it to me and Jon and innocently asked: "Do you guys know what this is?" She didn't. My prosecutorial days came in handy, and for those of you who think it is some kind of art piece, you're right and wrong. It is a pipe, and not the kind that Mark Twain smoked. It still had remnants in it. We took a picture and then destroyed it in the garbage bin. That's as close to drugs Lorrie has ever gotten (if you don't count the Vicadin she took for post-wisdom teeth surgery). Only in Portland!

Finally, when we went to Provo to help the Sassers move their stuff, I brought back the 3 bikes we had taken for the kids to use. They had been parked on the fence next to Mal and Jon's old apartment for the past year. While one wasn't even locked to the fence, they were all still there. Only in Provo, can good things sit out for months without anyone taking them. No one wants to "steal" something, even though it is clear that it is abandoned.

End of an Era

Last Wednesday, we drove down to Provo to help Tyler and Mackenzie pack up in preparation for their big move to Buffalo, New York. (Yes, it's back east and WAY far away.) Kenzie is the last of our kids to graduate from BYU, and for us, it's the end of an era. The end of another era, really, the first being Kirt and my years at BYU. Here, in no particular order are some things I'll miss about BYU and Provo, in general.

I'll miss the Brick Oven, with it's fabulous pizza. And cookies. Need I say more?

Ill miss the happy (and slightly smug) feeling whenever anyone says, "Meet me at the HFAC," or the SWKT (pronounced "swicket", stands for Spencer W. Kimball Tower), or the JKB, or the JSB, or the Wilk, or any of the other buildings on campus. I know where all the buildings are, and I don't have to ask directions. This is the Brimhall Building, where I spent most of my last two years in college. Since that time, it's been gutted back to the bricks on the inside, and totally reworked. Amazing!
This is the Maeser building, right after the steep stairs in a following picture. I love the craggy mountains in the back.

I'll miss lower campus with it's fun paths.
I would try to go for a walk along these every time I was in Provo.
One of steep staircases leading from the streets south of campus up to campus, which is set on a hill. I walked these stairs every weekday, during both my pregnancies. When I was expecting the twins, Kirt pretty much dragged me up these stairs.
If you can't quite make out the sign, it says "For your safety, do not walk alone in this area after dark." I believed the signs. I never did. The signs date back to fall of 1977, my first fall on campus, where a girl (walking alone, I presume) was attacked. The hand-lettered signs are still there today. I have walked alone on these paths in the daytime.
I love the design of these. They're just uber cool.

I'll miss the fun places--this is an open area of grass where Kirt and I used to bring a blanket, and games to play like Uno or Backgammon on hot summer nights.

I'll miss the Creamery on Ninth--the world's best (and cheapest) ice cream. We would go there after Mal's concerts, or really, just any time we were in town. Everyone would invite their roommates, current boyfriends or girlfriends, and friends. We could feed a whole bunch of people for about $25.
This is my personal favorite, Roasted Almond Funge. I've tried some others, but I always come back to this. My kids don't even ask what I'm going to order any more, they just know. On a sugar cone.
It's always fun to run into old friends at the Creamery. This is a picture of Peggy Hastings, one of our good friends from Boise, who just happened to be down for BYU Education Week.

This is Mackenzie and Tyler's second home. The top two right windows were theirs. I will miss our annual "Tour of Apartments" with the Hallmarks. We would get together in the fall, and after pizza at Brick Oven, we would take a look at where each of the cousins were living. Some were awesome (Kyle and Lesley's, Jake and Stacey's latest condos), some were hellish (Jon and Mal's apartment, Kyle and Lesley's first apartment), which were really cute, but hotter than you know where. Some were dives (Erin's experience with the Elms, a hot spot to live 30 years ago when I attended BYU, I swear the landlord STILL hasn't changed a thing!) and some were amazing (this picture of Tyler and Mackenzie's--small, but thoughtfully remodeled.) I painted the kitchen in Kenzie's place. Come to think of it, Kirt and I did some painting in everyone's Provo apartments!
This is the apartment that Jake and Lindsay lived in. Just the door and windows on the right belonged to them. We painted the living room, dining room, and kitchen walls. I must say, it's never looked so good on the outside. Of course, that's because it's for sale.
This is the 2nd house that we lived in. (the first old home we lived in has been torn down for condos.) I loved the little window in the front. The upstairs was another apartment. When we lived there, the trim was a light green. We convinced the owner of our home to put in the driveway.

I'll miss past projects. This is the Hannah Libbey Smith House, where one of George Albert Smith's plural wives lived. It was the subject of my senior project. I did drawings and made suggestions on appropriate furniture for restoration. It was never restored, though. Currently, it's a real estate office.

I'll miss Center Street in Historic Downtown Provo, and the way it keeps reinventing itself. The upper (blurry) picture shows some new restaurants, and the one below is an amazing Craftsman house on Center and 4th. I used to walk by it with Jake in his little umbrella stroller and wonder what it would be like to live there. The pictures are a little blurry, because I took them at night, and didn't hold still enough. Sorry.

I'll miss running across awesome things, like this stained glass window. It's on a building a block from Center Street that used to be the Christian Science church, now it houses the Provo Theater Company.

I'll miss staying at Hotel Hallmark, and getting to help out with various projects because we WANT to. (Really!) Here, we're helping UNfold pillowcases so they can be printed on.

I'll miss cousins. Here is Kyle, Erin, Lesley, and Ella. Thanks to cousin Mark for starting Cousins dinners. I went to one, and it was lots of fun, and helped the cousins stay in touch.
Kyle took the picture on this one, so Kirt could be in it. I'll miss out on Stefanie's first year! Send me a picture of your apartment, Stef!

There's really too many other things to even mention, but I will say one more--Mint Brownies. Yummy! Provo is full of happy memories for me. It's here where I had my first experience living away from home. Steve and I have a special bond because of the years we were together at the Y. Kirt FINALLY figured out I was the one for him, our three kids were born in Provo.

Goodbye for now, Provo. We'll look forward to visiting Reese there in another 18 years--another era starts!

The Great Huckleberry Adventure

This is the beginning . . . see that little tiny berry between Mal's thumb and finger? That's a huckleberry! Very, very small. I went huckleberrying two years ago, and after an hour of picking with little to show, vowed I wouldn't come back without helpers.

This picture shows Kenzie holding a glass that is mostly empty. It has ten huckleberries in it.

Lindsay has picked a few on our first day...

Jon has done even better!


Here's Mackenzie (white shirt), Malorie (orange shirt) and me searching for our treasure. I'm holding one little huckleberry, though the only way you know it is from the smile on my face!

Here's our bounty after the first day of picking--in order from left to right--Kirt's cup, Lorrie's cup, Jon's cup, Lindsay's cup, Mackenzie's cup, and Malorie's cup. Looks like Lindsay is the winner, with Jon in second place. The second day of picking has us with less pickers, and the berries were a little harder to find!

Our fingers are a little stained here, and here's Kirt, looking very proud of his cup.

Here is the combined results of our labors--we picked for about an hour an a half on the first day, after a half an hour of driving up and down Warren Wagon Road, looking for the logging road I'd only been on once before. I've also only done this once, so we found a couple of bushes that looked like they might be huckleberries, but they weren't. I should know. I tasted the look-alikes, realized after swallowing the first that the texture and flavor were wrong, the second was so bitter, I just spit it out! I'm still alive and well, though! My thanks to my helpers--they have been rewarded with huckleberry pancakes, and huckleberry milkshakes!