Back to Bavaria

 It was our own Oktoberfest! 

To welcome Daniel, the son of Dave's sister, Janice, and Daniel's new wife, Chelsea, to their new home in SLC, we held a garden party at our home on Sunday, September 10, 2017.

 It was almost as much fun to make the food as to have the party.  Sophia and Kirsten made spaetzle noodles by pushing bits of dough through my new spaetle maker into boiling water.

 In my last minute frenzy to get dinner on the table, I handed a bucket of roses and daisies to Charlotte Alvey, Janice's daughter, who turned them into seven florist-worthy flower arrangements.  The decorations also included my whole collection of Swiss wood carvings, cow bells, and German Hummel statues.

 The entree was rouladen--thin slices of flank steak spread with mustard and rolled around slices of bacon and pickles--Ymmm!  Daniel, who is a chef, presented me with a bowl of his own, homemade mustard to accompany dinner.

 Kirsten's and Sophie's rouladen tasted great.

 So did the homemade rotkohl, or red cabbage, flavored with sugar and vinegar.

 Dessert was homemade apple strudel ala mode.

 Charlotte's husband, Tony, is an airline pilot.  He got off work especially for the party.  His son is aptly named "Jet"!

 The newest member of our group was Cohen, son of Janice's son, Joshua, and his wife, Ashley.

 We were delighted to have Jonny's son, Sam, visiting us, with his brother, Henry, and his mom, Jenny.

 Jenny's parents, Dave and Shelly Leatham, were also treasured guests.

 It is always more of a party with Camille's family with us.  Annelise and Ezra were two of Camille's five children to enjoy our German food.  Steve's Ebert grandfather was a German immigrant, so Camille's family gets their love of all things German from both sides of the family.

Mike was the photographer, and his untouched photos were better than ones I photoshopped for hours!  Heidi likes jewelry as much as I do, and she wore the beautiful string of jade (?) beads she chose from the Christmas table.

Shauna loves ethnic food, and I love her compliments.

And Dave was a gracious host, warmly welcoming Janice's family and all the rest of us.

Fleeing a Hurricane

How glad we were to greet Jenny, Sam, and Henry on September 7, 2017!  Hurricane Irma had been smashing across the Caribbean as a Category 5 hurricane for days, and the Florida governor warned his citizens to "Get out!"  When Jonny shopped for plane tickets, there were no flights out of Miami or Ft. Lauderdale, but he found flights for Jenny and the boys out of Orlando.  Jonny had to drive from Florida to his meetings in Moline, Illinois, to escape the storm.

When Jonny and Jenny headed from their home to Orlando, they found the freeways packed and barely moving.  Service stations were out of gas along the way.

They got off the freeways and cruised to Orlando along the byways with virtually no other cars in sight!

Although Hurricane Irma lost force after hitting Barbuda and the Keys, it was still a dangerous storm as it crashed through Miami.

One of the many construction cranes building the new Miami skyline collapsed during the storm.

In SLC, it was balmy and bright.  Camille brought Mia and Ezra and Jenny brought Sam and Henry for a family trip to the Utah State Fair.

Sam is old enough, now, to play it cool.

Our favorite stops at the zoo are the animal pens.

This calf got a shave and comb-out for its time in the judging ring.

And this farmer took a catnap right in the middle of all the tourists!

Mia and Sam both petted the woolly sheep.  "It's so soft!" Mia said.

This sheep owner eyed his newly shorn animal critically.

Grandpa with the little guys.

Two cuddly stall-mates.

Camille gave her kids their choice of one midway ride.  They chose the "power jump," where they got strapped into harnesses, jumped on trampolines, and catapulted dozens of feet into the air.

Sam lined up for the ride, too.

Ezra is very strong and sailed high.

Mia is a gymnast and wasn't scared of leaping and sailing through the air.

Sam was just a bit more hesitant.  It took a lot of courage for a four-year-old to jump into the sky, protected only by a harness.  "He'll always remember this ride!" Jenny assured me.

We finished our adventure at the fair with cold cherry lemonade.

Good Times with Kent and Toshiko

It is always a treat when my brother and sister-in-law, Kent and Toshiko Calder, stop by.  They have spent a lifetime traveling, thinking deeply and analytically, publishing their ideas, and nurturing friendships with interesting and influential people around the world.  They are fascinating people to be around.  On September 4 and 5, 2017, Kent and Toshiko landed in Salt Lake City to supervise the movers in finally transferring items from Mother's estate back to their homes in Washington D.C. and Princeton.  

All kinds of treasures, from a painting of Mt. Kenya to Mother's speckled marble coffee table, have languished at Cubes since Mother's death.  They will now decorate Kent and Toshiko's homes, and maybe be shared with Ryan and his fiance, Elise.

When Kent and Toshiko drop by, I share them with friends and relatives.  Camille and Annelise, as well as Michael and Heidi, joined us for an Indian dinner on September 5.  

Mango lassi is one of my specialties.

Toshiko is a good cook, and she helped me season the chicken tikka masala and dal just right.  For dessert, I served kulfi, an Indian ice cream flavored with cardamom and pistachios.  Kent and I have a heritage of good ice cream from our dad, who churned homemade raspberry ice cream even in faraway places like Ethiopia.  Despite our many trips through India, he never made kulfi!

 Kent and Toshiko are both distinguished professors.  Kent heads the East Asian Department at SAIS, a division of Johns Hopkins University located in downtown Washington D.C., and Toshiko teaches advanced Japanese.  Both of them train graduate students who serve in the foreign service, teach at universities, and hold other positions all over the world.  I enjoy hearing about their past research and latest projects.

I also enjoy hearing Kent discuss his latest book.  He recently was a visiting professor in Singapore and has analyzed its success in "Singapore: Smart City, Smart State."

Kent has been invited to conferences in Beijing on the development of "The New Silk Road," as a result of his book, "The New Continentalism".

When we saw Kent and Toshiko over Labor Day, they were just back from San Francisco, where they had visited my cousin, Camilla Smith, and her husband, George.  Camilla and George are generous donors to Democratic causes and campaigns.  Camilla is now chair of the Board for National Public Radio.  The Smiths are good friends of Kent and Toshiko.  They are similar types of people--very interested in public service and the big issues facing America and its culture.

And of course we discussed, with Kent and Toshiko, that controversial character, Donald Trump. Kent is concerned about the damage President Trump is doing to America's relationships with foreign leaders.