Saturday, June 20, 2009

It's Summer


We went to Zion National Park and Sand Hollow State Park for our vacation this year.

We traveled with another family with two boys, and stayed in a very beautiful house in Hurricane. (Thank You L's brother)

It rained a little the first day we were there, but after that the weather was wonderful.

There were snakes, deer, lizards (lots), birds, squirrels, tadpoles, chipmunks, red ants (big), big horn sheep, and a huge mean looking insect.

















































Sand Hollow State Park- We had fun swimming and - sigh - throwing rocks.

Oh weather, you are acting so very strange this year. A friend who babysat my house didn't have to water my plants. It's been nice to have a break from watering the yard this year. My raspberries, strawberries, and peas are so happy. Rainy weather makes me want to curl up with a book.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Speaking of Graduations


Christopher graduated from the Academy for Math, Engineering and Science last Friday. The graduation was held at the University of Utah and was similar to other graduations only the students and audience were better behaved. There were more student speakers, ten of them, and no long dignatary speakers. The student speakers represented a wide, politically correct, ethnic array with most minorities represented. There was of course the stereotypical self-proclaimed rebel, dressed in jeans and long hair, who gave the same speech every such self-important nut gives at such occasions. There were also some excellent well-prepared speakers and musical numbers by graduating students. These kids (71 of them) had an impressive number of scholarships to their credit. Chris has three!
We went on a tour of the new Oquirrh Mountain Temple yesterday. It's beautiful and we're looking forward to serving there. The wind was so wild while we were in the introductory tent, we were a little nervous, but other than a lot of noise, the tent was fine. The staircases and chandeliers are pretty remarkable. The paintings in the session rooms are nice, but a little dark and I was a little disappointed in the bride's room. The bride's room is nice, but a little more modernistic than I care for. Most of the decor is gold tones with some browns and sage greens. There's a stylized star pattern that appears frequently in glass, mirrors, and the chandeliers. I want to go through again soon.