High Hopes for Jonny Jr.

The week of April 12, Jenny's family threw a baby shower for Jonny Jr. (or whomever he will be).  Jenny's sister, Tess, was in charge, and she planned clever games, refreshments, and decorations.

 

The first game involved cutting features from photos of Jonny and Jenny and gluing them together into a new photograph of what their son might look like.  There were many variations on giving the son Jonny's fine-chiseled nose and twinkly eyes, but lots of Jenny's luxurious dark hair (including as a moustache and beard)! 

The second game was painting decorations on a wooden set of letters for Jenny to use in teaching her baby.  I painted a "G" green in honor of St. Patricks Day.  Jenny and her mom both do oil paintings, so the level of artistry on the Leatham side was impressive, even on alphabet letters! We finished the games with a test of trivia about babies.

 

I enjoyed Jenny's relatives--her sister, Tori (and Tori's cute son), and her sister-in-law, Ashley...

 

Jenny's mom, Shelly...

Jenny's grandmas, Shirley and Afton, and her 90+-year-old great-grandma.

 

 

There was also a fun collection of Jenny's aunts, cousins, and friends of the family, all laughing, chatting, and excited for Jonny and Jenny.

 

 

 

Jonny arrived at the party in time to open gifts.  Jenny and her family are talented at needlework, so the gifts included home-made blankets and even a sweater hand-knitted by Jenny's mom.

 

 





 

Two Journeys--Spencer's and Mike's

On April 7, 2013, Michael arrived home from his vacation in Uzbekistan.  On April 6, Spencer arrived from Seattle to get his wisdom teeth taken out at the Ogden clinic where Kyle's aunt works.  Both young men survived their ordeals very well. 

Mike brought back a box of Turkish delight candy from Istanbul, where he paused on his way to Uzbekistan.  He also brought back a sheepskin hat that looked like a piece of skin and hair hacked right off a living animal.

 

 

Mike also brought back some exotic photos that reminded us of how glad we are when he finally returns home to the developed world.

 

On Monday morning, April 8, I took Spencer to Ogden to get his wisdom teeth out.  By noon, we were home again.  Spencer was a model patient, doing everything the doctor suggested, including eating soup and icing his jaws well so that he didn't get the swollen, "chipmunk cheeks" that many of his friends suffered.  On Tuesday and Wednesday, Spencer's Grandpa Flindt took care of him during the day, and we welcomed him back at night.  I tucked Jonny's old truck-patterned comforter around Spencer to make him feel at home.

 

By April 12, Spencer felt well enough to go on a rock-skipping trip with Jonny and Dave to Antelope Island.  The water was smooth and wave-less, and there was the perfect type of flat rocks for skipping.  Dave is a champion rock-skipper, but Jonny skipped one rock for six big skips and a bunch of little skips afterwards, and Spencer was a fast learner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spencer also came with me to an exhibit on mummies at The Leonardo, a museum of art and science in SLC.  There were mummies from all over the world--Egypt, Peru, English bogs, and even mummies who had been "freeze-dried" in drafty Balkan crypts.

 

 

At the end of the week, we welcomed Michael home from Uzbekistan and Jonny and Jenny home from Chicago at a Rodizio Grill Brazilian dinner, where we also bade Spencer goodbye.  He'd recovered from losing his wisdom teeth, and he'd had some fun, too.

 

Elder Flindt

Michael Flindt entered the Provo Missionary Training Center on April 3, 2013.  He flew to SLC from Seattle and spent his last day and night with his two sets of grandparents.  We helped Michael pack his bag with all the clothes he bought at Mr. Mac at Christmastime.

We then took Michael to dinner at The Roof Restaurant, in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.  We enjoyed the buffet from a table overlooking Temple Square.

Michael's other grandparents, Herb and JoDee Flindt, helped Michael assemble the family history information he needed to take on his mission, including a fan chart with many generations of his ancestors.  Herb, JoDee, Michael, and I then went to lunch at the Red Iguana Restaurant for one last goodbye.

 

 

We tried the strawberry mole (much better than it sounds) and answered Michael's questions about the ancestors on his fan chart.  One of his first missionary assignments is to know his own family history.

We then drove to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, and entered into the queue of cars delivering missionaries.

 

We were instructed to pull right up to the curb next to one of the 25 numbered spots (each a docking area for new missionaries) and to spent no more than 2 1/2 minutes before leaving our missionary and pulling away.  We were glad we'd had a lunch over which to make our goodbyes.

As soon as we pulled up to the curb, a missionary welcomed Michael and helped him get his bags.

 

A few hugs later, Michael was gone.

 

We used the rest of our 2 1/2 minutes looking at the missionaries lined up by the curb, awaiting their new-missionary charges, and sharing the enthusiasm as so many young people marched towards the MTC to begin their grand adventure.  They are Mormondom's best and brightest.