Enjoying Henry (5.23.26)

Jonny and his family, including Orlando the Dog, spent the weekend of May 23, 2026, at our St. George house.  Henry had more important things to do, including a sleepover with friends on Friday night and a birthday party on Monday.  Henry spent the weekend with Dave and me, and it was a treat to get to know him better. On Saturday, Dave took Henry to visit our cabin and then treated him to an ice cream cone, while I went to the symphony.  Dave then drove to St. George to spend some time with Jonny, while I hosted Henry and Camille's family for a Balkans dinner.  In addition, over the weekend Henry and I visited Temple Square to see the exhibits about the renovated Salt Lake Temple.  We also sat in on an organ recital in the Salt Lake Tabernacle.

Camille, Steve, Henry, Sophie, and I spent good time together at Sunday dinner.  The table decorations included copies of icons from Balkans monasteries.

It is always a treat to have Camille's Sophie visit us.

We ate typical Balkan foods for dinner--cevapi (meat rolls of beef, pork, and spices), borek (a roll of filo dough stuffed with cheese and parsley), and baklava for dessert.

Dave loves road trips, even if he has to take them all by himself.  During his weekend in St. George, Dave drove to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, where a major construction effort was in progress.  The iconic North Rim Lodge had burned in a fire.  Dave paused at such picturesque spots as this old Sinclair service station.

Hello and Goodbye (5.22.26)

Grant and Meg are off to Rochester, Minnesota where, in July, Grant will start his internal medicine internship.  On May 22, 2026, we met Grant and Meg, with cute Junie and Rose, at our home in St. George, to say hello and goodbye.  Junie's impressive skills had preceded her.  Although she just turned two, she can already count to 11, sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and do other amazing things.  Junie was not in the mood, however, to perform for us.  She enjoyed pushing a big green truck around our living room, which was the only children's toy we had.  Part of Junie's pushing included heading the truck towards her little sister, Rose!  Meg came to the rescue with a collection of safer toys to amuse Junie.  Meg gave Junie a page of stickers and Junie plastered them all over her face!  In addition to enjoying the children, Grant, Meg, Dave and I talked and talked and talked.  We will look forward to seeing all four of them at Christmastime!

Looking Our Best (5.20.26)

Dave and I got new photos taken at Busath on May 20, 2026.  The immediate event was a celebration of Dave losing more than 40 pounds and looking exceedingly handsome.  The clerk at Busath suggested these might also make great obituary photos!  

Baby Luke (5.17.26)

Emilie's baby, Luke, was christened (blessed and named) at Camille and Steve's LDS ward in Salt Lake City on May 17, 2026.  Emilie and Jake have been living in Dallas and are moving soon to Arizona.  Because Emilie's whole family was in Salt Lake City for Annie's reception, Emilie and Jake blessed their baby the next day.  "Luke just adores you," I commented to Emilie.  "And I adore him," Emilie responded.

Annie, Married Lady (5.16.26)

Camille's daughter, Annie, married Mason Thomas last September in St. George.  There wasn't time before Annie and Mason left for jobs in Florida to plan the reception Annie dreamed of.  On May 16, 2026, Annie hosted guests at the spectacular party she had been planning for months.  It included a dozen bridesmaids dressed in black, silky dresses, holding bouquets of green chrysanthemums, strolling into the Thomas Monson Reception Center on the arm of a dozen groomsmen.  It included a ring ceremony by a close family friend of Mason, and then dinner and dancing to a live dance band on the plaza.  Annie wore her mother's wedding dress.  I need to get copies of the official photographs to show how artistic and memorable Annie's reception was.

Annie's sister, Emilie, attended the reception with Emilie's husband, Jake, and their new baby, Luke.

I got to hold adorable Luke.  Being a sleepy party pooper was exactly the right strategy for a baby at a wedding reception.  Much appreciated!

Our family members turned out to support Annie.  Lisa's son, Bryce, was at the party, as were his siblings Kirsten and Michael, as well as Michael's wife, Rebekah.  

Jonny and Jenny also attended the reception and chatted with us at a table on the plaza.  Unfortunately, our son, Michael, was out of town, but Heidi loyally supported Annie and attended her party, even in Mike's absence.

Grant Flindt, M.D. (5.15.26)

It seems like yesterday when we watched Lisa's son, Grant, get "white coated" at Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, as he began his medical school training.  On May 15, 2026, Grant
graduated, and will start an internal medicine residency at Mayo Clinic in July.  
 

The graduation, in Dallas, was a family affair.  Grant's brother, Spencer, and his wife, Naomi, traveled from Houston  to Dallas for the event with their three children, including my new namesake, Grace Gretta.  Alyssa, Grant's sister, has been tending Spencer and Naomi's children before returning to BYU in the fall, so she was at the graduation, as well.  Kyle and Lisa flew to Dallas from Seattle.  Dave and I were en route home from our trip to the Balkans on May 15, but we followed reports of the festivities avidly.  

Grant and Meg are parents to two little girls, Junie and Rose.  "Rose" was a coveted name among the Flindt grandchildren. I imagine my mother, Rose Calder, is peeking down from Heaven to get a look at little Rose!

I adore all my grandchildren and "greats", but I take a special interest in Spencer's Grace Gretta, my namesake!

Balkan Tour: Birth of World War I (Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzogovina 5.14.26)

I have always been confused about exactly how and why World War I began.  On May 14, 2026, we visited Sarajevo and literally stood in the footsteps of Gavrilo Princip, the assassin of Archduke Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the  Austro-Hungarian Empire.  It was here in Sarajevo that Archduke Ferdinand was shot and here, in what was then Serbia, that the Serbians refused to turn the assassin over to Austro-Hungary to punish.  The Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia and the allies of Serbia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire piled on.  And over this squabble millions of soldiers and citizens died.  Sometimes World War II is described as a continuation of World War I, so the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand was momentous, indeed.

While Archduke Ferdinand traveled along the parade route through downtown Sarajevo, an assassin shot at his open car, but the bullet merely grazed the car.  Instead of retreating to safety, the Archduke continued the parade to the town hall.

Three sets of assassins were planted along the parade route.  When assassins shot at the Archduke's car on the return trip along the parade route, the driver ducked into an alley.  The driver tried to turn the car around, but it stalled.

By chance, Gravilo, the least experienced of the assassins, was standing outside a cafe near the car, eating a sandwich.  He saw his chance, grabbed his gun, and shot both the Archduke and his wife, Sofia.  They both died.  This is a replica of the Archduke's car in the spot where the Archduke and Sofia were killed.

 

The spot where the assassin stood.

We went inside the old town hall, now the national library.

This sign confirms the hostility that still exists between the participants in the Balkan Wars.  It decries the "Serbian criminals" who burned down the National Library on the night of August 25, 1992.  "Do not forget.  Remember and warn!" it demands.

The center area of the National Library is particularly beautiful, with a magnificent stained class ceiling.

Today was the last day of our Balkans tour, and we spent the rest of walking tour visiting "one last" of the major categories of sights we saw throughout the last 19 days in the Balkans.

We visited one last, beautiful mosque.

We visited one last "ethnographic museum" housed in a Turkish-style house.

We visited one last bazaar.

We visited one last hilltop fortress with a great view.

And we treated ourselves to one last luscious Balkans dessert!

We flew home on May 15, 2026 and turned our attention to a different challenge---the broken water line that had resulted in our front yard being dug up!