Welcome Home, Sophie!

Camille's daughter, Sophie, returned from her LDS Spanish-speaking mission to Virginia on July 4, 2025.  Sophie's family had teased her that her brother, Ezra, would drop by the airport to pick her up.  In fact, there was a large delegation of relatives, from both the Spendlove and Ebert families, at the airport greeting center set up for returning missionaries.

Sophie was the last missionary from the plane to arrive in the waiting area.  We speculated all sorts of things, such as that she had lingered in the ladies room to do her hair or that she had decided to return to Virginia!  When I talked with Sophie a few days later, she said that, although the mission was a great experience, she already felt like she had never been away!

Emilie was waiting with the family sign.

Jake and Emilie traveled from Dallas for Emilie's homecoming.

Jonny's boys came to the airport from July 4th celebrations, with their faces painted.

Thomas and J paused from wrestling to say hello to Sophie.

And, of course, we all wanted to snap our pictures with our heroine, Sophie.

When Dave and I heard that Sophie's plane was arriving early, I came running, in my gardening clothes!

Barbecue with the Princess (7.3.25)

Audrey has a closetful of princess dresses. When the family gathered at Mike's house on July 3, 2025, for a barbecue, Audrey welcomed us as a princess.

After deciding to reappear as a commoner, Audrey led me to her "view" and her "secret place."  The view was from high above Audrey's house, on the steep hill that is part of Mike's one-acre lot.  Audrey and I had to climb up a sandy cliff after Mike's garden path ended, but it was worth the climb.  We could see not only Audrey's  red brick house, but lots of trees and even the mountains on the west side of Salt Lake Valley.

Audrey's "secret place" was next to a trail made by deer crossing high above the houses.  She could crawl behind some bushes to be even more private.  What a lucky girl, to have such a large lot to roam in, with views and secret corners!

Mike is a barbecue master.  His brisket, smoked on his Traeger, has just the right flavor and is fork tender.  Mike and Heidi also make great mac'n'cheese.  The rest of us added our specialties--Scott's fresh fruit, Camille's salad, and my mint lemonade and carrot cake (recipe relics from the 1970s).

Liz Calder was our special guest.  She was home from Boston for a few days, and she helped the conversations to roll on and on.

Steve and Ezra had spent the day planting the truckload of trees and bushes that Camille bought that morning, as part of the re-landscape of their yard.  The Eberts were ready to relax with a plate of barbecue.

It was the best of parties.  Good food, a balmy summer evening, and family members who loved each other.

At Home with Orlando (6.28.25)

"I've never loved an animal this much," Jonny once said of his new doodle, Orlando.  Orlando was named after a hero in Shakespeare's "As You Like It," because, as Jonny said, "He needs a dignified name." (I had suggested Beezlebub or Caesar).  On June 28, 2025, Dave and I stopped by Jonny's house to pick up Sam and Henry to attend the play, "Noises Off," at the Parker Theater. We verified how deeply Jonny loves Orlando, Orlandlo loves Jay, and Jay loves Jonny.

 

Then, it was off to "Noises Off" with Henry and Sam.  This was a slapstick play, perfectly understandable to 9 and 11 year olds.  Completely relaxing, and much easier than trying to interpret Jane Austen or Shakespeare!  For a moment, I forewent my goal of constant self-improvement.

Pines and Water (6.28.25)

"Where shall we go today?" Dave asked me on Saturday, June 28, 2025.  I spend most mornings working in my garden and most afternoons doing legal work.  By Saturday, Dave was ready for us to have an adventure together.

We decided to try the new Kamas, Utah, restaurant, Route 32 Bistro, and then hike around Mirror Lake.

We sat on a shady porch at the bistro, with an order of my favorite comfort food, shrimp and grits. My plate had creamy grits, spicy barbecued shrimp, and a topping of savory bacon and chopped tomatoes. We will come again.

The parking lot and campground of Mirror Lake were filled to overflowing, but, as soon as we began hiking around the lake, the crowds thinned out.  As I stopped to catch my breath, at the high mountain altitude, I took pictures, trying to capture something I had not taken a picture of during earlier trips to the lake.

One photo was of the rough bark of a tree, another of new growth on pine trees, and a third of a waterlogged tree trunk in the lake.

I enjoyed noticing the beautiful details of this familiar place.

Emilie and Jake (6.22.25)

It is cause for celebration whenever Emilie and Jake Willardson come to town!  Camille held a family dinner party on June 22, 2025, to give all of us the chance to congratulate Camille's daughter, Emilie, on her graduation from Harvard Business School, and to congratulate Emilie's husband, Jake, on his new job in private equity.  The Willardsons have moved back to Dallas after two years in Boston. 

It was a warm summer evening on Camille's back porch, with the food and conversation flowing, and roses from my garden decorating the tables.  Camille's son, Jono, is back in Utah, living in Heber City with his wife, Sarah, as they supervise the branches of their businesses around the country.  Mike and Heidi gave their little kids, Audrey and Calder, the run of Camille's backyard as the adults talked.

Jonny and Jenny joined the party with their four boys, including Henry (above) who contemplated life while enjoying a cookie.

Hungary and Austria: Vienna Again (6.20.25)

We had one more afternoon for sightseeing in Vienna, after driving north from our condo in Villach.  There were so many tempting options!  We chose the Belvedere to explore on June 20, 2025.  The Belvedere is the baroque palace of the great Hapsburg military commander, Prince Eugene of Savoy, built in 1723.  Queen Maria-Therese, the Hapsburg ruler whose influence we felt throughout Hungary and Austria, turned the palace into the Imperial Picture Gallery in 1777.  It was Vienna's first public museum.  I chose the Belvedere over the other multitude of interesting sites in Vienna because it has the most complete collection of Gustav Klimt paintings in the world.  I love the flamboyance of Klimt's gold-encrusted paintings, and their emphasis on women and on lush garden landscapes.

The palace building itself is massive and ornate, with highly decorated towers and statues.  The Upper Belvedere houses the permanent art collection.

This room in the Belvedere is the spot where the Allied Powers announced, in 1955, the Austrian State Treaty.  That treaty allowed Austria to become a sovereign nation, after the end of its post-war occupation by the US, France, Britain, and the Soviet Union.  The treaty also required that Austria be a neutral state and banned Nazism in the country.

The most famous painting at the Belvedere is Klimpt's "The Kiss".  A man and woman are so tightly wrapped together in a gold covering that they appear to be one person.  It is passion in paint!

The Upper Belvedere also includes a number of other Klimt paintings.

The Lower Belvedere, another residential wing, houses temporary exhibitions.  Its baroque galleries are also magnificent, filled with painted ceilings, marble, statues, and inlaid floors.  Of course, baroque style feasts on excess.  A minimalist would be horrified, but I loved it.  As David says of me, "Gretta thinks more is more."

We were totally in luck.  The Lower Belvedere was hosting a special exhibition on how Klimt's paintings were constructed, so we saw even more Klimt paintings borrowed from private collections and other museums.  This painting, "Judith," is famous.

Klimt painted in the late 1800s and early 1900s in Vienna.  The model for this unfinished painting was a Jewish woman who died in the Holocaust.  The plight of Jews in Europe reappeared on our trip again and again, as we visited Hungary and Austria.

I love medieval art, which is obviously more plentiful in Europe than in the US.  The Belvedere's permanent collection of medieval art was housed in the Lower Belvedere, along with temporary exhibits.

After all that heavy stuff, Dave and I needed some culinary relief.  Viennese cafes are famous for their fancy cakes.  I ordered a slice of sachertorte.  I think Dave's pastry might have been a Mozartorte, or some such.