Weekend with Lisa

Lisa joined us in SLC, the weekend of September 18, 2015, to visit Spencer and Grant, who have just started BYU, and to take part in a round of family parties.  On Friday night, we ate dinner together at The Aerie at The Cliff Lodge at Snowbird.

The food was elegant--elk meatballs, tiny cups of potato soup, and calamari as appetizers, then baked salmon with mushroom risotto and other entrees.  It was wonderful to see how excited Lisa was to see her boys, and how glad they were to see their mom.

On Saturday morning, Dave and I took Grant and Spencer to the Farmer's Market for breakfast, while Lisa rested up.  Grant has always loved dogs, and he greeted a bulldog puppy with the delight we both felt for "Boris", the bulldog in Seattle who became our "dog of the decade."

There were, of course, other contenders for Saturday's "dog of the day."

I stopped by the shop of my friend, Aluel, from Sudan, and ordered her delicious chicken, spinach, and lentil stews.

Dave, Grant, Spencer, and I ate our brunch on picnic tables near the stage, where a Bulgarian folk dance troupe was performing.  The combination of food and entertainment reminded us of how diverse SLC is becoming.

Lisa joined us for an afternoon of riding snowmobiles at the cabin.

Lisa brought to SLC handmade levi quilts for each of her boys.  Grant's quilt was large and comfy enough to share. 

Saturday evening, Mike and Heidi joined Spencer, Lisa, Dave and me to watch a televised BYU football game.

On Sunday morning, Mike and Heidi treated us to a fancy waffle breakfast at their home on "D" Street.

 

Michael keeps a large stock of syrups for his waffle and German pancake specialties.

I promised Emilie that I would cook a Peruvian dinner for her if she'd tell our family about her recent humanitarian mission to Peru.  She came through and so did I.

The entrée was "arroz con pollo," which was a treat to Spencer, too.  Chicken and rice dishes are typical all over the Hispanic world, including in Spencer's Arcadia California mission.

We fixed Jonny's Brazilian specialty, fresh limeade with a bit of condensed milk mixed in, and we served up platters of fruit.  Emily said that was not quite what she ate in the tiny Peruvian town where she helped to build a school!

Emilie gave a 15 minute report on her adventure.  The report was fascinating, but it was almost as fascinating to watch the audience (photos courtesy of Annelise).

Spencer finished the program by telling us a bit about his Spanish-speaking mission in Arcadia.  What talented grandchildren Dave and I have!

On Monday, Lisa and I toured the new Church History Library and ate lunch at the Blue Lemon, before I dropped her off at the airport.  We held early editions of The Book of Mormon in front of a sheet with the hashtag, "one more voice."  What a pleasure it has been to spend this weekend with Lisa.

 

Cousins

 On Saturday, September 18, I spent the day with my female Calder cousins at Millie Kay Francis' cabin 54 miles past Heber City, on the way to Vernal.  There were children of each of my dad's brothers and sister there--Cal Volkman (Aunt Sally), Millie Kay Francis (Uncle Howard), Sally Joyce Bradshaw, Colleen Marshall, and Susie Liechty (Uncle Dave), and Janet Calder (Uncle Ham).  My cousins were spending two nights together at the elegant cabin, but I could only get away for the day.  We sat around a table for seven hours straight, telling family stories, laughing, and eating luscious bits of this and that.  Sally Joyce let me copy an album of precious photos from when our dads were little.  There were 20 to 30 photos I had never seen before, including a picture of the Calder brothers showing their pet sheep at the county fair!

I spent the evening of September 17 with Larry Stratford, Aunt Sally's son and the Calder family genealogist.  He and his wife were visiting from Northern California.  They invited me to meet them at Blue Lemon for supper, and Larry presented me with treats only another would-be genealogist like me would appreciate--old family photos and letters. 

Snowbird

 Dave and I have spent a week in September at Snowbird for some twenty years.  We love looking out at the massive, rugged mountains across from the Iron Blosam Lodge, where we own a time share week.  We also love the music and food at Oktoberfest, which Snowbird sponsors during our week.  On September 13, 2015, we listened to Bavarian polka music and wished we could afford the calories of toffee nuts, pretzels, Black forest cake, potato pancakes, bratwurst, and rouladen.

 Camille brought Emilie, Ezra, and Mia to Snowbird on Thursday evening, September 17.  They were hopeful for a swim, and they brought their goggles with them.  The clerk told us that, most unfortunately, there had been an "accident" in the pool, and the pool was closed for the evening while they emptied it and cleaned it up.  We were all relieved that the Eberts hadn't ventured into the pool before the "accident" was discovered...  No matter.  The little kids played video games as Dave and I caught up on how Camille's life is going (frantically busy, as always, but good things are happening--Jono has become sophomore class president and Emilie is just back from Peru on one humanitarian project and will be leaving soon for India on another). 

 Dave and I drive to Snowbird each night after work.  High points of the week, for me, are that beautiful drive, morning and evening, between the jagged cliffs of Little Cottonwood Canyon, as well as sitting in our warm living room and watching the night fall on the mountains through our floor-to-ceiling windows.

50th Reunion

 The Skyline High Class of '65 celebrated its 50th reunion at the Zermatt Hotel in Heber Valley on September 12, 2015.  Dave and I were part of the crowd.  We gathered on the porch before dinner to greet old and new friends.  I was particularly intrigued by a plastic surgeon and his svelte, wrinkleless wife.  The surgeon had patented numerous medical devices in his hometown of San Diego.  Were they as rich, stylish, healthy, and happy as they looked?  A reporter wandered among the crowd, asking questions and videotaping our answers.  I noted the irony as he asked Doug Rich, Dave's friend and former boss who has cancer, what he hopes to be doing in ten years.  "Just enjoying my life," Doug replied.

 We sat next to the Riches at dinner.  Doug was told three years ago that he had three months to live.  He says he has "good days and bad days," but he looked good tonight.  Doug's wife, Linda, was one of the Class of '65 cheerleaders.  We enjoyed a slide show featuring Skyline in '65, with photos of the students' styles and activities.  Dave played the saxophone in the Pep Band, and we craned to see him as the photo of the band flipped by. 

 Dave Hilbig was Dave's friend at Skyline.  We have enjoyed good times with Dave and his wife, Babs, since we were all newlyweds.

 There were a few people at our table whom I didn't know--a businessman and his wife from Phoenix, and an architect who knew our friend Jack Hammond.  I had the feeling that the hall was full of one fascinating life story after another.

The high point of the reunion, for me, was when one of Dave's friends whispered in my ear, "What do you do to look better than the other wives?"  No, his wife wasn't with him!