Jono the Missionary

There have been lots of speeches and celebrations, as Jono has been called as an LDS missionary to Japan.  On July 16, 2018, Jono was "set apart" as a missionary, and the next day, July 17, he entered the Missionary Training Center at BYU.  In his first email home, Jono described the shock of going to class, his first day at the MTC, and hearing nothing but Japanese!  He will be in the MTC for nine weeks, studying from 6:30 in the morning until 9 at night, before flying to Fukuoko, Japan to begin his mission there.

Jono was "set apart" as a missionary by his stake president, the lay religious leader over approximately 2000 people.  Three missionaries were set apart the evening we met with the stake president, and family groups lined up in the hall, waiting their turn.  Jono's family and grandparents met in the stake president's office to listen to advice given by the stake president to Jono.  We then each took our turn, sharing our love for Jono and our belief in the Gospel.

 After the ceremony was over, Jono placed a pin on the world map in the Church hall over Fukuoka, Japan.  The map was covered with pins for other places missionaries in Jono's "stake" have served.

The stake president warmly welcomed Ezra and Mia--future missionaries.

Name: Thomas Leatham Spendlove

Jonny's new baby, Thomas, received a name and a blessing on July 15, 2018.  The Leathams and Spendloves gathered at Jenny's parents home to listen to Jonny's beautiful prayer, and to celebrate having Thomas in the family.  Thomas was resplendent in a white christening suit and a hand-crocheted blanket.

Thomas rested in the loving arms of his great-grandmother, Shirley.  Shirley is Jenny's mom's mom, the hostess of years of family bingo games and Easter egg hunts.

 It was a true family event, with Jenny's parents and Jonny's parents, Jenny's grandparents, Jenny's sister (Tess) and Jonny's brother and sister-in-law (Mike and Heidi).

 As I look at this picture, I seem to have morphed into my mother.

 Mike and Heidi

 Henry is a bundle of energy.  Jenny's dad, Henry's "Papa", took Henry outside to help him hang from the monkey bars and go down the slide over and over and over.

Sam, the Birthday Boy

The birthday boy was not happy.  We baked a cake, for Sunday dinner on July 9, 2018, and invited Sam to blow out the candles.  He was having none of it.

 Jonny provided some motivation by pretending that he would blow out the candles if Sam didn't!

Sam took a deep breath.

 And he blew out all the candles at once!

 Sam had many admiring onlookers.

 Dave gave Sam a big hug, and his presents.

As Dave and I agonized over what to buy Sam, Jonny commented, "Sam likes money."  It was a gift that pleased!

Bucket List: the North Rim with Bernie and Elinor

One of Dave's and my bucket list items has been to spend a night in a cabin on the edge of the Grand Canyon.  Over the July 6, 2018 weekend we did that.  It was even more fun than expected because we were joined by Bernie and Elinor Engelhard, friends from the 1970s, when Dave was in the Air Force in Tucson.  We like the Engelhards better and better as the years go by.

The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is spectacular, and not as hot or mobbed with people as the South Rim.  It is several thousand feet higher than the South Rim and is much harder to get to.

 The cabin was spartan, for $235 per night, but we could see the canyon through the trees.

One highlight of the weekend was an early morning hike with Elinor for several hundred feet below the rim.  We took the trail that leads down and down to the Colorado River.

 We watched, fascinated, as groups of tourists rode down the trail, past us, on mules. 

 As the mules and tourists paused for instructions before heading down the trail, we heard the wrangler admonish her charges.  "Don't let the mules stop to poop.  They can do it as they walk.  Don't let the mules stop to nibble at branches.  Look how fat they are.  And if you get scared, close your eyes."  We watched the mules step within a few inches of a thousand foot drop-off, and we were glad we depended on our own hooves, rather than theirs.

 Elinor made a point of stopping in "every spot of good shade" as we traipsed back uphill.  I stopped every hundred steps to catch my breath.  It took us a long time to get back up to the rim!

This couple had hiked from the South Rim to their camp along the Colorado River.  They then hiked to the North Rim and would soon turn around to hike back down, break camp tomorrow, and return to the South Rim.  Elinor and I couldn't comprehend doing that.

In the afternoon, we joined Bernie for a ranger lecture.  The ranger told about a couple who, in 1928, had tried to brave the Grand Canyon on rafts without life jackets, as they set out to make a speed record through the canyon.  They disappeared, with their boat found floating in an eddy at the bottom of the canyon.  As the ranger began his presentation, he asked the group, "If you were going to float down the river in a boat, what would you bring with you?"  The little girl in the picture above cried out, "Bath toys!"  The ranger led a discussion of the lessons to be learned from the doomed rafters' adventure. (Bring bath toys?)

 Bernie and Elinor relaxed, while Dave and I drove to Cape Royal, a scenic outlook twenty miles farther along the Rim.

 The highlight of the trail at Cape Royal was a peek-a-boo arch through which we could see the Colorado River.

It began to rain while we were there, and the sight of clouds above the canyon was unforgettable..

Dave rested up before dinner at the lodge.  The food was amazingly good for a spot so remote as the North Rim. After dinner, we came back to our cabin with Bernie and Elinor, rocked in the rocking chairs on the porch, and talked about past and future adventures together.

July 4 with Friends and Fam

Letters from my missionary grandchildren send greetings to "Friends and Fam".  I assume "Fam" means family members of all ages, shapes, and qualities.  July 4, 2018, was a true celebration of "friends and fam."  We spent the day at our cabin in Oakley, Utah. Jonny slept, the night of July 3, at the cabin with his little boys, Henry and Sam, as Jenny recuperated in SLC with their new baby, Thomas.  Dave and I arrived at the cabin as Henry was trying out a stylish Stetson from our hat tree.

Jonny fixed a fine American breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast for Sam and Henry, as Sam winked to say "hello".

 Henry carefully inspected the lumpy blackberry jam to decide if it was edible.

 Jonny brought chocolate milk as a special treat.

 We sat next to Jonny and Jenny's close friends, Scott and Jane Swallow, at the Oakley Parade.  Jane Swallow's mother is my good friend, Judy Lever, so there were lots of friends to go along with the "fam."  We gave each of the children a bag to scoop up the taffy and tootsie rolls that were tossed off the floats.

Actually, this was a low cost parade and there weren't many floats.  There were trucks with pep clubbers shaking pompoms, fire trucks, and lots of horses.  Queens from every town around rode horses in the parade, and horses pulled carts loaded with county commissioners, city auditors, and sheriffs.

 Sam took in the sights with his new shades.

 We met Camille's family at the cabin, after the parade, for Grandpa Dave's famous hamburgers.

 Janice joined us, looking very Texan.

And Nancy came, as well, home, temporarily, from visits to her children and grandchildren across the US.

Shauna is a fun guest, with lots of praise for the food, hugs all around, and colorful tales about her life.

 We ate lunch at the enclosed picnic table which Dave's dad so carefully built many years ago.

 It is not often that Cliff and Carol Spendlove's four children are together.

And of course, there were lots of rides on the four-wheelers.