Shower of People, Love, and Gifts

 "I don't know if she's ever seen so many relatives together in one place at one time before," said Rebekah's mother at the wedding shower we held for Rebekah on August 10, 2016.  Rebekah comes from a family of two children. Her parents have few brothers and sisters, and Rebekah's family lives well-insulated, in Georgia, from the relatives they do have, far across the country in California and Arizona.  Rebekah's mother didn't have a wedding shower when she got married, and we all agreed that Rebekah should have one. 

The guests included Jenny and Heidi, Camille and Lisa with their daughters, JoDee Flindt with her two sisters, Rebekah's best friend Victoria, and Rebekah's mom and me.

 Lisa and Rebekah's mom have become good friends, as they have planned the wedding, wedding dinner, and two receptions, in Seattle and Georgia.

 JoDee's sisters made a special trip from Huntsville to attend the shower.

There were lots of good gifts, from crock pots to cookie sheets, but the most distinctive one was JoDee's laundry basket of the real essentials for keeping house, such as Ziploc bags.  Rebekah's good friend, Victoria, wrote down all the gifts.

 Heidi and Jenny have had time to talk, during Jenny's month-long visit to SLC, about the similarities between their husbands, born just 17 months apart.  "Really?  He does that, too?" they exclaimed.

Almost Made It

 Dave wanted to climb Mt. Timpanogas one more time before he died.  In early August, he took the hike with Michael and Heidi.  They summited, but Dave only made it as far as the meadows.  "Maybe if I was thinner," he said.  "Maybe next year."

 It was salt in the wound to meet Steve, running up the mountain as training for his Ironman races.  While it takes normal people eight hours to reach the top of Timp, it took Steve 3hours 45 minutes.

Ben Comes Home

 Ben Moreland, Dave's and my nephew, came home from his mission to the Philippines on August 9, 2016.  I was the Dave Spendlove family representative at the homecoming.  I have loved reading Ben's emails, filled with both spiritual insights and interesting details about the Philippines.

 There have been lots of changes in Ben's family since he left.  Baby Finn, son of Joshua and Ashley Moreland, wore a sign around his neck saying, "I've waited my whole life to meet you."  He was born while Ben was gone.

 Alan Dale was at the airport without Lindy, who left him while Ben was gone.

 And Ben's father, Vincent, kept a careful distance from family hugs and photos.  He and Janice divorced while Ben was gone.

Notwithstanding the painful changes, Ben gave his dad a warm hello and a big hug.  We will absorb these changes and more, and still love each other.

At Northcrest with Sam and Henry

Jenny, Sam, and Henry are spending the whole month of August with Jenny's parents, the Leathams.  Unfortunately, we haven't gotten to see them very much, since it has been crazy busy, hosting Flindt house guests and getting ready for Michael and Rebekah's wedding.  On Tuesday afternoon, August 6, 2016, I met Jenny at Northcrest for a swim with the boys.  Sam had his water wings and Henry had an elaborate floating device with its own umbrella to keep him from getting sunburned.  Jenny blew it up.

 I sat on the swimming pool steps, in my shorts, and got almost as wet as the rest of them.  Seeing an old lady in a swimsuit would have been too scarey for the grandkids!

 After our swim, we went to supper with Grandpa David at Paradise Bakery.

Hires with the Flindts

 Bryce and Alyssa visit us for two weeks every summer.  This year, they spent the last two weeks in and around SLC, but we didn't have as much time with them as we would have liked.  They spent several days with Camille's family in St. George, and then several days at the Flindt family reunion in Yellowstone.  Just before they flew home to Seattle, Dave and I took Alyssa and Bryce, Michael K and Rebekah to Hires.  We had burgers, shakes, and root beer floats--the best anywhere.

Let the Parties Begin!

Michael K and Rebekah arrived in SLC on July 26, 2016, after the Flindt family reunion in Yellowstone.  Jenny, Sam, and Henry arrived in SLC on July 31, 2016, after the Leatham family reunion in Yosemite.  All will stay in SLC until after Michael K's and Rebekah's wedding on August 13, 2016.  From July 31 through August 13, we will have one party after another.  Sam highlighted our picnic on August 1 at Red Butte Garden by singing "Far, Far Away on Judea's Plains," with its chorus, "Glory to God! Glory to God in the Highest!  Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men!"  That was the song he spontaneously sang as sunset fell over the peaks of Yosemite last week.  The tourists watching the sunset with Sam gave him an ovation.

We spread ourselves and our food in our favorite nook off the garden pathway at Red Butte.  Michael K and Rebekah told us about how they will spend their days till their wedding--obtaining their marriage license, pressing and fitting their wedding clothes, painting an apartment for their Flindt grandparents, and getting used to being together almost full time.  Rebekah will spend her nights with us and Michael K will spend his with his Flindt grandparents, JoDee and Herb, down the street.

Gretta has become both a farmer and a hunter/gatherer this summer, assembling food from far and wide for a succession of parties.  She had lots of helpers for the Red Butte picnic--Jenny brought the fresh peaches and Camille the lemonade and cookies.  Mike Spendlove took photographs--the beautiful ones for this blog are his, and the underexposed ones and ones with unattached body limbs are mine.

 Mia was delighted to spend an hour or two with her good buddy, Sam.  The two of them look enough alike to be brother and sister.

 Emilie and Annelise get prettier and prettier..

Camille is a good sport about always making time for family parties.  She did a fast run to the grocery store for supplies, after having visitors from Boston today.

 Dave worked until 7 p.m. and then hurried to join the party.

 Heidi has a great collection of hats.

 On Sunday, July 31, Gretta cooked a dinner featuring fresh produce from her garden in Glendale.  In addition to the ham, there was Gretta's own red cabbage, stewed with bacon, onions, and apples. There was Gretta's own summer squash, baked with tomatoes, artichokes, herbs, and Parmesan cheese.  And there was Gretta's own kale, sliced into a salad with oranges, dried cherries, and pistachios.

 Michael K and Rebekah looked very cute, all dressed for Church.

 Herb and JoDee Flindt joined us for the feast.

Almost as good as the dinner are the leftovers!

Figs and Shakespeare

We made a quick trip to St. George during the weekend of July 30.  Our main motive was to see two plays at the Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City.  An unexpected delight was to find our two St. George fig trees loaded with fruit.  We pulled figs off the trees and ate them on the spot.

 This is a historic year for the Shakespeare Festival, with the opening of a new theater, and the new Southern Utah Art Museum next door.  We loved the art museum, including its permanent exhibit of paintings of Zions Park by Jim Jones.  We didn't love the new theater as much, since there was pouring rain the night we saw "The Three Musketeers" there.  We reserved seats on the second row, right where the rain was pouring down.  We viewed the play from the back balcony, where it was dry!  The musketeers did their sword fights in slow motion, to keep from slipping on the wet floor and skewering each other!

We didn't expect to enjoy "The Cocoanuts" as much as we did.  It is an Irving Berlin/George Kauffman Broadway musical first staged in 1925.  The musical was written for the Marx brothers and has slapstick humor that we found both charming and hilarious.  The story is about the building boom for hotels in South Florida, and it reminded us of our recent tour of the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Florida, with Jonny.  The Biltmore was built during that same Florida building boom, in the 1930s,

 We have many traditions surrounding the Shakespeare Festival, including eating dinner at Rusty's, up the canyon towards Brianhead and Cedar Breaks.  There are animal trophies on the walls, red rock cliffs out the window, and good steaks, ribs, and apple crisp.  Cedar City is getting newer, trendier restaurants, but we still like Rusty's.