Seeing Things (Rings?)

"Come wearing your old, funky momentos from the 2002 Olympics," Dave and I urged our ward members, as we advertised our February 26 Olympics party. And they did. The Garzas had the best outfits, including "silver medals" made from shiny CDs hung around their necks on striped ribbons.

One of our favorite oldsters, Senja from Finland (who describes herself as "finnished"), wore an Olympic hat and vest.

Karen Derrick and Nancy Monson wore the bright yellow parkas they received as volunteers at the SLC Olympics.

Roger and Skip Young wore their collection of 2002 team and I.D. tags.

Darrell Moench wore his red Olympic tie.

We said we'd celebrate ward members' great athletic moments, so Pam and Wynn Johnson came to the party in biking gear, which they'd worn last summer to bike from village to village along the Danube.

We ate potluck chili of all varieties, including Jody Moench Kennedy's vegetarian chili, with chunks of squash mixed in! I painted murals of interlocking rings and the Vancouver logo on bright butcher paper around the walls. Gail Miller brought the 12 ft. banners that draped the Delta Center during the ice skating programs at the 2002 Olympics, and she also brought the two Olympic torches and racing suits she and Larry used as Olympic torch bearers.

The program was real-time Olympic events beamed into the ward cultural hall on a huge screen hanging from the ceiling, and a power point presentation I assembled of ward members' great athletic moments.

Some highlights were Darrell Moench and Wynn Johnson playing ward ball many, many years ago and Dave running a 3:06 St. George Marathon...

Dave and I hiking the New Zealand Routebourne trek during 1985..

Jody Moench Kennedy as a West High cheerleader...

Pam and Wynn Johnson on their bike trip...

and Josh Kennedy bouldering.

There was Nancy Moench water skiing in the summer....

and in the winter.

Tracey Cannon was a track star who was so fast that she set the pace for the boys' cross country team, with the whole crowd of boys chasing after her across the Pocatello golf course.

I showed a photo of Bishop Seedall riding the sailboat that was the subject of so many stories during Gospel Doctrine class...

Annie and Ron Poelman on horseback near Santa Fe...

and Bishop Edwards whizzing down a slope as a 17-year-old on the U of U ski team.

There was even Jim Derrick dragging a Suburban across a parking lot during an Iron Man contest.

And there were great pictures of Lindsay McSweeney taking state in swimming and our home teacher, David Rae, lettering in three sports at West High.

We finished with the perfect picture to show that we can all be Olympians!

Meeting of the Tribes

Sunday, February 21, was a big day--Elizabeth Calder's missionary farewell and a party to welcome Janice Moreland to Salt Lake City

Elizabeth spoke movingly and fluently at the Arlington Hills Ward about the truths she will share with the German people of Hamburg and Berlin. She told the story of her Swiss/German great-great-grandmother, Mary Bomelli, who was thrown in jail for preaching the Gospel.

Afterwards, Scott and Jean hosted a buffet decorated with the colors of the German flag--black, red, and yellow. Elizabeth wanted "something simple," Jean said, so there were platters and bowls of gourmet fruit and cookies.

Scott and Gretta both prowled with their cameras...

taking pictures of Elizabeth and her guests.

Vanessa and David flew in from San Francisco, bringing their dachshund, Frankie, in his "doggie bag." Vanessa hugged an Oblad cousin. Grant and Jamie came with their new baby daughter, middle name "Rose."

Janice flew to SLC for a midwinter trip to Yellowstone with Nancy Moench. The Spendlove tribe gathered at Nancy's house for dinner--Josh with his homemade bread...

Michael...

Lindy...

Nicholas with his arm around his fiancee and his dad peeking over his shoulder...

Megan...

and Jared with baby Jessica.

Road Trip!

"Road trip!" my assistant exclaimed, as I described my assignment to take three depositions in two days, in Prescott, Arizona, and Las Vegas, on February 17 and 18. "I'm spending tonight in Prescott, Arizona," I casually mentioned, as I rode down the elevator with a fellow attorney at 7 p.m. "How will you get there?" he asked, startled. By car and plane--taking the night flight to Phoenix, and then driving 100 miles north in the darkness.

The Hassayampa Inn, built in 1927 during the Prescott mining boom, was a time warp. There was a Tiffany lamp next to the bed, with its carved headboard...

and a cage elevator that only hotel staff could operate.

I ate quiche and two types of homemade salsa for breakfast in the Peacock Room, beneath a tulip lamp....

and then wandered the lobby, full of antiques...

from the tiled floor to the painted ceiling.

So why couldn't my work site be as picturesque as the hotel?

I savored the ride from Prescott back to Phoenix, with its mountains and cactus.

"That should be a good time--a single girl loose in Vegas," Jonny said, as he talked over the phone with me as I cruised towards the Strip. The Luxor was a cheap hotel deal. I took in Carrot Top's show (rated Best comedian by Las Vegas Weekly and only mildly raunchy), and I wandered to the Mandalay Bay to admire the flower arrangements and get some dinner.

I tried the $80, six course "tasting menu" at the Red Square, including caviar, calmari, salad, granita, filet with garlic blue cheese sauce, and creme brulee.

That's a statue of Lenin with his head knocked off at the door to this Russian restaurant.

And, of course, there was gambling everywhere, which didn't tempt me in the slightest. I have not lost a nickel in slot machines during my visits to Vegas over the past 40 years.

However, I quite enjoyed the strangely dressed natives...

the flashy baubles in their stores...

and their temples.

After all that glitz, the deposition site seemed staid...

I remained in Vegas for the DJP shareholders retreat at the J.W. Marriott Resort in Summerlin, an upscale residential area, on February 19. This was the largest hotel room I'd ever inhabited.

I couldn't resist photographing the palatial bathroom, before accompanying DJP partners to dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe and a Santana concert.

The resort was magical at dusk. Dave drove to Vegas to take me home the "back way," past stunning, stark desert country.

We drove through the Flindt family seat, Alamo, Nebada. Lisa suggested we check out the cemetery, where Kyle's Flindt grandparents are buried.

Kyle's dad was listed on his father's gravestone.

The cemetery was both dry and remote--a bit of the Old West.

The flashy rental car Dave drove made the road trip even more fun!