The Dead and Those Who Merely Look Dead

We were an unlovely group--25,000 people who spend every free moment sitting in front of their computers, searching the names and stories of dead people.  RootsTech 2017, February 7-10, 2017, was four days of non-stop lectures, workshops and displays on family history.  It was the largest family history conference in the world.  My first attempt at a selfie, taken during RootsTech, shocked me. I was as unlovely as all the rest of my co-conferencers!  Still, this was definitely my crowd, and I dashed from one lecture to another with unquenchable curiosity and delight.  Online Irish records! Scottish landlord data from the 1700s!  DNA testing and how it can help you find lost cousins!  It was irresistible.

 I spotted a few friends, like Jodee Flindt, as absorbed as I was in the delights of the conference.

There were many speakers from FamilySearch, the LDS Church family history site, telling how to use the latest features.

There were also speakers who had traveled across the world to attend, such as Dr. Durie, from Scotland.  He pressed his card into my hand as I asked him how to bridge the gap between Calders from the 1500s in northern Scotland, whom I know only by name, and the Calders from the 1700s in northern Scotland, who are related to me.

 The huge conference halls in the Salt Palace were packed with people.

One special treat was sitting at lunch at the table with the speakers from Ancestry.com.  The fellow in the foreground is in charge of new DNA products and analysis and the fellow at the podium is in charge of records.  Ancestry.com now has 80 billion records, outstripping even FamilySearch.

 Another treat was a "general session" during which African-American speakers talked about their breakthroughs in family history research.  DNA testing now makes it possible for African-Americans to bridge the Middle Passage and find their relatives in West Africa.  One speaker told about DNA testing leading him to distant cousins in Ghana, with whom he had a joyful reunion.

Your House or Ours

Mike and Heidi are great friends and neighbors.  They invited us to dinner at their home, the week of February 4, 2017, to try a meal from Mike's new Peruvian cookbook.  It featured spicy beef over mashed plantains, garnished with sliced red onions and cilantro.  All was delicious except the mashed plantains, which didn't taste right because Mike and I were squeamish about mixing in the full allotment of bacon grease called for in the recipe.  Heidi, who grew up on a farm and knows how good lard can be, was incredulous.  "It's what makes pie crusts flaky and taste so good," she reminded us.  We have a lot to learn.

Mike and Heidi then joined us at our house for the Super Bowl, on Sunday, February 5, 2017.  We watched the New England Patriots beat the Atlanta Falcons in overtime.  Dave and Mike rooted for the Falcons, but we were very aware that, out in Holladay, young Jono was delighted that the Patriots won.   He gained great loyalty to the Red Sox and Patriots while living in Boston.

The real fun of the Super Bowl, for me, is the food--fat and creamy and spicy.  Baked chicken wings dipped in hot sauce are the ultimate Super Bowl specialty, but I agree with Heidi that, "There's so little meat on them that it's hardly worth the trouble."  We substituted nachos with guacamole and salsa, chili with cheese and sour cream, and ribs dripping in barbecue sauce, washed down with root beer floats.  I wasn't up for the cheese ball decorated with pepperoni rounds to look like a football. Maybe next year....

While the Super Bowl thundered on, Heidi taught me to make fondant for chocolate-covered cherries. There is as much art to fondant as there is to pie crust, another of Heidi's specialties.  In the past, my fondant has always turned to sugar.  My first try with Heidi, it didn't turn to sugar, but it was rock hard.  Heidi patiently re-boiled the fondant, tested its doneness by dropping spoonfuls into bowls of cold water, stirred it for 20 minutes, and we were ready to dip our 90 cherries.

Hello, Romania!

 "Emilie got her call!"  The word spread like fire across our mobile phones.  Family and lots of friends assembled at the Ebert home at 8:30 p.m. on February 2, 2017, to hear where Emilie would serve her LDS mission.  "Dear Sister Ebert," the letter began.  "...You have been called to the Romania/Moldova Mission..."

Camille hung maps on her walls, pinpointing where friends and family predicted Emilie would serve. No one chose Romania!  Naomi was particularly excited, since Romania borders Bulgaria, where Naomi served her mission.  It also borders Slovakia, where Grant is serving his mission now.

 Everyone hugged Emilie and wished her well.

 The Eberts' large family room was stuffed with people, and some, like Jonny and Jenny, even Skyped in.

 Camille and Steve were proud parents.

 Jono was surrounded by cousins and buddies.

 It is a long way from Provo to Holladay, but Spencer and Naomi came.

Dave spent the evening in his Church job as stake auditor, but he arrived soon after the Opening of the Envelope.

Mike and Heidi are very loyal to their family.  Mike was also the photographer for the event, capturing a video of Emilie reading her letter that was posted on Instagram.

 Annelise is a social creature.  She loved the party, and invited her good friends.

Mia and Ezra didn't understand all the fuss and spent much of the event playing in their bedrooms. Mia emerged, though, for this picture.

Marilyn and Al Ebert were at the party, with a large contingent of their children and grandchildren, including both Steve's brother and sister.

The Year of the Rooster

Our Spendlove family is half Oriental.  I grew up in Asia, and Dave and I have visited China, Thailand, Indonesia, Burma, and Cambodia together.  Mike spent six weeks traipsing through Bhutan, Nepal and other exotic spots alone, and then took Heidi to Japan.  Camille's family has traveled together to China, Japan, and Taiwan, and Emilie and Jono have served humanitarian missions in India. Jonny and Jenny spent a summer in Delhi, Bangalore, and Bengal.  No wonder celebrating Chinese New Year is a beloved family tradition!

On January 29, 2017, we gathered to celebrate the "Year of the Rooster."  I cleared the Buddhas out of my living room for Christmas and brought them back for Chinese New Year.  We had 18 guests and 10 dishes, a Chinese proportion.

 Part of the fun of Chinese New Year, for me, is assembling the decorations. There are posters for the walls, with Chinese good luck sayings,  My long red dragon emerges from the garage and takes his place on the table.  I stuff goodie bags with fortune cookies, chopsticks, fans, Chinese yo-yos, and pencils and notepads emblazoned with the logo, "Year of the Rooster".

Almost everyone gets into the act of cooking.  Naomi and Spencer fried the eggrolls, Emilie served the mango juice, Kirsten and her friend Lauren stir-fried the beef with broccoli and chicken cashew, and Camille was the chief taste-tester, making sure all the dishes were flavored just right!

 Other family members knew it was their job to stay out of the way until dinner was served!

 Spencer pronounced the eggrolls good, indeed.

 Naomi and Heidi shared a tale or two.

Jono and Emilie made sure their Grandpa knew they loved him.

 And then it was time to eat.

 After dinner, everyone told how China had touched their lives, from "It made all my clothes" (Spencer) and "It made all my grandchildren's toys" (Dave's sister Janice) to "It was on my first trip to China that I decided I wanted to spend my life traveling" (Mike).