Seattle II--Michael's Farewell

 

Michael gave his farewell speech in the Sammamish First Ward on March 23, 2013, before leaving for the Denver, Colorado LDS mission.  It was the last time the Flindts would be together for many years, since Spencer, Grant, and perhaps Kirsten will all be following on missions, one after another.  The event demanded many family photos.

 

We spent an hour at Pine Lake, a lush, beautiful area in Sammamish where the Flindts go boating.  We tried to find the perfect poses.

 

 

 

 

Everyone wanted to have his picture taken with Michael....

 

 

 

Michael gave a great speech in Church, and then we went home to dinner to celebrate.  One visitor--the boyfriend of Kyle's sister, Julie, from Portland.  He heads a startup company and is as distinctive and interesting as he looks.

 

Dave and I took a break from family festivities on Sunday morning to stop by two of our favorite Seattle places--Pike Market and SAM (the Seattle Art Museum).  Pike Market is endlessly photogenic, whether filled with visitors or almost empty in the early morning.

 



 

 

 

 

A new favorite at Pike Market was Market Spice, where I bought little plastic sacks of tandoori seasoning and herbs de Provence.

The new ferris wheel at the Seattle Pier was picturesque, and I promised myself to ride it on my next trip to Seattle.

The special exhibit at SAM was the treasures of Kentwood, a country house in England.  The exhibit included many Old Masters, including paintings by Rembrandt, Frans Hals, and their Dutch contemporaries.

 

 

Seattle I--Alyssa's Baptism

Alyssa got baptized, the weekend of March 22, 2013.  Both sets of grandparents attended--the Flindts and Spendloves--as well as lots of Alyssa's friends. 

 

Alyssa's special weekend began with a family dinner and birthday cake--red velvet with cream cheese frosting.  Alyssa had just turned eight.

 



Alyssa shared her baptism with another girl from her ward.  Before Kyle confirmed Alyssa a member of the Church and gave her the gift of the Holy Ghost, Alyssa's bishop had both girls stand on chairs next to him, while he gave his talk, to show the guests how beautiful they were!

 

Alyssa's family and good buddies attended the baptism and the luncheon afterwards.

 

Alyssa's mom and grandmas fixed a fancy lunch of croissants filled with chicken salad, fruit kabobs, mint chocolate brownies, chocolate chip cookies, and frosted sugar cookies.  There were pink flowers, pink cups, and cherry/white grape juice punch.

Alyssa's family took lots of pictures of Alyssa in her lacy white baptism dress.  Grandpa Spendlove took her shopping before her baptism to buy fancy white shoes and socks to match.  "I want some socks with lace around the ankles just like yours," Grandpa said.

 

 

On Saturday afternoon, after the baptism, we drove to the Festival of Color in Redmond to pick up Spencer.  He was with his friends, Logan and two girls, all covered in brilliant paint.  Festival of Color is an Indian holiday, and Redmond has a large population of East Indians.  We stayed for just a few minutes, but I took dozens of pictures.

 

 

 

We finished the afternoon at the Pacific Science Center.  A visit there is a perennial favorite with the Flindts and us. 

We wandered among the exhibits, including a display showing how toilets work and a guitar, so big that the Flindt kids could walk inside it.

 

We watched an IMAX film on the intercontinental flight of monarch butterflies, and then we wandered through the butterfly enclosure, watching butterflies dine on overripe fruit and pose amidst the bushes.

 

 

We finished our Pacific Science Center outing putting together giant, 3-D animal puzzles in the children's section. 

 

 

 



Photographer

In March 2013, I started a three-month photography class at East High.  I felt a sense of deja vu, as I settled behind a desk in the school my children attended for so many years.

My class was offered through the Salt Lake City School District, and my teacher was Cathy Linford.  Cathy was a hands-on teacher, not only showing slides of her own good and bad photos, but moving from one work station to another, offering comments on our photos.

I gathered with 15 classmates for two hours on Monday nights to learn everything from composition (rule of thirds, portrait balance, patterns and disappearing lines) to the mechanics of taking good SLR photos (f-stops, ISO, shutter speed).

 

I learned a lot and resolved to continue honing my skills as a photographer.  I want to keep up with my children and grandchildren who take beautiful photos already.

 

Jonny:

 

 

 

Camille:

Michael Spendlove:

 

 

 

Michael Flindt: 

 

 

 

 

My Birthday: A Shower of Favorite People and Things

"The party begins as soon as you walk in the door," I told my vivacious niece, Charlotte Alvey, as she arrived for Sunday dinner on March 17, 2013, with her new baby, Jett. We missed Tony, Charlotte's husband, who is an airplane pilot and often flies on weekends. Charlotte's brother, Joshua Moreland, soon joined us with his wife, Ashley.  With the addition of our son, Michael, the party was complete.  David is very fond of Joshua, who is witty and fun, like his uncle.

All of us admired cute Jett, with his huge brown eyes.

I often cook corned beef and cabbage for St. Patricks Day, but the Morelands and Alveys are vegans.  "Yes, that would be too gross," Charlotte agreed, when I said I had skipped the corned beef.  They stretched their principles and shared some salmon, along with salads and fruit.

St. Patricks Day is my birthday, and Dave provided the perfect dessert--cake from Market Street Broiler.

Michael was my only child at the party, and he remembered me with a sweet note and my favorite chocolate bar--Cadbury's fruit and nut.

Camille, Jonny, and Lisa all called, and showered me with a miscellany of treats, including a bouquet of flowers delivered to my office on Monday, so I could enjoy it all week, and a book by my cousin and favorite Church author, Henry B. Eyring.

 

 

Dave found a luxury I had never even seen before--cake pops!

I felt very loved.