With Jonny and His Retinue

Jonny and Jenny flew to SLC on Saturday, March 22, 2014.  Jenny came to tend Camille's youngest children, Ezra and Mia, while the older Eberts toured China and Japan.  Jonny visited for just a week, before returning to North Carolina.  While Jenny attended a friend's baby shower and David worked on house repairs on this Saturday afternoon, Jonny, Sam, and I went rambling.  We started at the Farmer's Market in the old Rio Grand train station.  There were displays of paintings by prominent Utah artists, including Jonny's favorite, Brian Kershisnik.   

We ran into our neighbor, Wyatt Petty, pressing some of the best cider we'd ever tasted. 

Next stop was the Red Iguana, one of Jonny's favorite SLC restaurants.   

Sam got strained beans, while Jonny and I tried the Red Iguana's distinctive moles.

We took Sam on his first trip to the zoo.  Sam is a curious guy, and he was interested in the elephants and the giraffes, but he was just as interested in a little girl's red coat.  The whole world is new and different to Sam, and he doesn't know what's new and different (like zoo animals) to people who have lived in the world for a long time! 

Back home in our basement family room, Jonny pulled out the reading cards that they use with Sam.  "I just love this little guy," Jonny said.  "Don't you think he's good-looking?  He's so attentive and smart."  I agreed.

We met Jenny and Camille for a Chinese supper at the Hong Kong Café.  Sam adores his mother and Jenny adores Sam.

Dave doesn't like me taking photographs of him eating, so he mugged some shots, showing what really disreputable eating looks like!

We finished the evening at Camille's house, where Sophia showed us the Japanese crafts they'd been doing, to learn about Japan before they traveled there.

Steve is the miracle worker in the kitchen, cleaning the dishes before the meal (or dessert) is barely eaten.

Our house is torn up with construction, with the kitchen under a thick film of sawdust.  Jonny's family and Mike joined us for Sunday dinner at O'Falafel, a restaurant in Sugar House run by Palestinian immigrants.

We took a Sunday afternoon walk around Liberty Park, enjoying the views of mountains, lake, and seagulls.  I thought of Liberty Park as a skuzzy place, when I was growing up, but I became more impressed with it after seeing how Central Park in New York provides respite and a gathering place for citizens rich and poor.

Sam's face finally told us, "Enough!  Time to go home for a nap!"