The Trials of Owning Property

We love having Audrey visit any time, for any reason.  On December 12, 2020, Mike, Heidi, and Audrey spent a day with us when their sewer line got clogged.  Mike had to shut the water off to all four apartments in the historic home where they live.  Audrey loves climbing up and down stairs.  She found a couple of squashes on the landing of our staircase.  They were bright yellow with green stripes, and they became her favorite toys!
 

Meanwhile, Mike's contractors dug into the road, late into the night, searching for the blockage to the sewage system.  Once they found and removed it ($9,000 charge), Mike, Heidi, and Audrey went home.  It was all in a day's work for Mike, who owns 25 apartment units.

Love and Guitars

Jonny and I had two goals, as we took Henry and Sam shopping with us on December 11, 2020.  I wanted Jonny and his boys to help pick toys for my Christmas table, from which family members take turns choosing their treasures.  Jonny wanted to buy a guitar for Sam for Christmas, partly financed with my Grandchildren's Christmas fund.  We celebrated our success with frozen yogurt and mix-ins--caramel sauce, gummi bears, sugared nuts.

We first stopped at The Red Balloon, my favorite Salt Lake City toy store.  It is crammed, from floor to ceiling, with every sort of board game, stuffed animal, tech toy, and other little kid treasure.  We emerged with a huge bag of child-approved choices for the Christmas table, including a package of yellow plastic chicken legs that stick to the ceiling when you throw them straight up.

Next stop was The Guitar Center, where Jonny chose an acoustic guitar for Sam.  "You'll sound just like Elvis Presley," we encouraged him.  Jonny wants to take guitar lessons, himself, and he wants to share that experience with Sam.

Henry was beside himself at the thought that Sam was getting a musical instrument and he wasn't.  Henry chose a ukelele and then ran in circles around and around the store until Jonny promised to buy the ukelele for him.  "We can take ukelele lessons together," Jonny decided.  "I've always wanted to play the ukelele."  I have no personal yearnings for an acoustic guitar or a ukelele, but I loved the drama and delight of father and sons creating a new hobby to share!

 

Good Buddies: Thomas and Audrey

Jonny and Jenny spent Thanksgiving in California with Jenny's family, the Leathams.  By December 6, 2020, they were back in Salt Lake City for the holidays.  Jonny's family joined Mike's family and Dave and me for a Cuban dinner--roja vieja (shredded beef in a spicy sauce), rice and black beans, tropical fruit, and flan for dessert.  Jonny loves all Latin American food, and I love preparing it with and for him.  Audrey was captivated with bright foam blocks that Jonny bought last year for my "Grandma's play box."

Thomas liked those bright blocks, too, and we enjoyed watching the little cousins play with each other.

Sam is becoming a good piano player.  He has a nice touch and sense of rhythm, and we enjoyed listening as he played Christmas carols, including a duet with Jenny.

Henry is the live wire of Jonny's family, full of energy and jokes.  He is also very sweet, and gives great hugs which I gratefully accept, even during COVID!

The best part of dinner, for me, is sitting at the table after the meal is over, talking with the people I love.

Mike sometimes has a bit of business to take care of on his iPhone. He is a generous advisor for friends and family who want to invest in real estate.

Thanksgiving

The third big Flindt Event in November was Thanksgiving at our house in St. George.  Dave, Mike, Heidi, and I joined the Flindts for an elaborate turkey dinner,  We added all the gourmet touches.  Mike was in charge of the turkey, made with his special herb butter rub.  Heidi baked six pies--pumpkin, cherry, apple, lime, chocolate, and lemon meringue.  Lisa and Rebekah made homemade rolls.  I supervised the traditional dishes--mashed potatoes, corn bread stuffing, sweet potato casserole--with many helpers.  Michael K and Kyle washed the dishes.
 

It was winter in Salt Lake, but there were still flowers on our bushes in St. George.

Naomi's mom was a florist, and Naomi arranged beautiful bouquets for our Thanksgiving table.

After dinner, the family spread out and relaxed.

Board games are a favorite past-time for both Mike Spendlove and the Flindts.

Audrey is an accomplisher crawler, and she prowled the halls, carefully watched by her mother, Heidi.

Dave was worried about catching COVID, so we stayed overnight at the Holiday Inn Express near our home.  Dave then went on a seven-mile hike while I helped the gang fix dinner.  We ate outside on the picnic tables, and Dave joined us for just the half hour that we ate.  Dave and I both survived Thanksgiving Day without getting sick!

Dave and I left for home early on the Friday morning after Thanksgiving.  We took the "long way," clear into Nevada, almost to Great Basin National Park, and then looped back through Delta.  Dave loves expansive Western vistas.

Lisa and Kyle needed to hurry home to Seattle after Thanksgiving, so they left St. George soon after we did.  We met them in Salt Lake for a lunch at Cafe Rio before they drove farther northwest.  One more fun time with Alyssa and Bryce.

Grant and Meg's Wedding

"You'll never have another opportunity like this," a temple worker told us as our 16-member wedding party walked the halls of the Provo City Center Temple, as its sole occupants.  Having the entire temple to ourselves during the wedding of our grandson, Grant Flindt, to Meg Owens was special, but it was not the only unique aspect of the wedding.

I've never before seen a bride and groom adding masks to their wedding clothes!  During this COVID pandemic, Grant and Meg were thrilled to be married in the temple at all, since temple marriages have been canceled or heavily restricted during this difficult time.  All of us wore masks, and it was a small price to pay to see Grant and Meg married by Meg's grandfather, a former president of the Sacramento LDS Temple.  The ceremony was beautiful and intimate, and it was all that was needed.  We were very aware that everything else about a wedding, besides that sacred ceremony, is happy fluff.  The Flindt and Owens families were restricted to just an hour inside the temple and then 40 minutes on the grounds to take pictures, with only 20 family members and friends to take part in that picture session.

Grant and Meg paused in the temple waiting room, before going upstairs to one of the beautiful sealing rooms to be married.

Lisa had invited Dave and me to have our pictures taken on the grounds, but we offered our places to Bryce and Alyssa, since there weren't enough spots for us all, under the tight regulations.  The Flindt kids did a great job decorating Grant's car.  Rebekah took her job as decorator seriously!

Bryce and Alyssa had matching masks.  They aren't old enough, yet, to attend temple sealings, so they tended Naomi's and Spencer's baby, Ellie, while they waited for the ceremony to be over and the photos and celebration to begin.

Lisa had planned an elaborate wedding dinner to follow the wedding ceremony (with Camille and me as caterers), and Meg's family had planned a reception with music and dancing.  All was canceled, as the pandemic raged more virulently during October and November 2020, and as state regulations tightened.  We still met for a delightful Flindt family dinner at Magleby's in Springville, with Camille, Steve, Heidi, and Mike included, along with the Flindts and some of Grant's friends.  Annelise Ebert was the photographer at the temple and wedding dinner. She took this charming picture of the new Mr. and Mrs. Grant Flindt.

Blessing Eliza

Naomi and Spencer Flindt's baby, Eliza ("Ellie") was blessed on November 22, 2020 at the home of Naomi's parents in Orem, Utah.  

Naomi and Spencer plan to move to Houston later this year, after Naomi finishes her Ph.D.  Spencer has already begun work with McKinsey's Houston office as a management consultant.  It has been a treat to get to know Naomi and Spencer during their years at BYU.

Naomi's parents have a really interesting home.  They used tree trunks as pillars for the front porch, and they are living in the home while they finish it.  When it is done, it will be spacious and unique.  Spencer has helped with the construction and is excited to see how it will turn out.

Naomi's mom is an important person in Ellie's life.  She tends Ellie part-time and, while Naomi and Spencer took a trip to Mexico, she trained Ellie to sleep through the night!  Ellie has a striking resemblance to Naomi's handsome dad, with the same big blue eyes and round face.

There were lots of grandparents and great-grandparents, aunts and uncles at the blessing.  Herb and JoDee Flindt are great-grandparents, Kyle Flindt is the grandpa, and Grant is an uncle.

Michael K. Flindt and Rebekah Flindt are also Ellie's uncle and aunt.

After Spencer blessed Ellie and gave her a name, we moved to the important business of dessert.  I brought tres leches cake and berries, and Naomi's mom brought pumpkin pie and cream.  We were honored to share Ellie's special day.

Never Enough Bryce and Alyssa

Lisa arrived, late on November 20, 2020, with Kyle, Alyssa, and Bryce.  Everyone got a bed but Bryce.  I figured Bryce could make himself comfortable under the fake bear skin and the cheetah throw in the downstairs Timp Room, on the couches, or on the portable mattresses.  Someday Bryce may tell me I didn't fuss enough over him, but, for now, I figure a teenage boy can forage for a place so sleep, so long as I feed him well!  Lisa’s family has a big week ahead of them.  Spencer and Naomi’s daughter, Eliza, will get blessed this weekend, Grant and Meg will get married, and we will then have Thanksgiving together in St. George.

Bryce and Alyssa are special favorites (as are all my grandchildren)!  When they were little, Lisa put Bryce and Alyssa on the plane in Seattle and I picked them up at the Salt Lake Airport.  They then spent a couple of weeks with Dave and me and with their Flindt grandparents, down the street. I remember a trip to Lagoon in which Bryce, Alyssa, and I rode every roller coaster while Dave waited for us below, dizzy at the very thought of getting so "shook up."  We then ate pineapple slushies together.  Bryce and Alyssa have grown up to be talented and charming young people.  They are good athletes, they get good grades, they excel at their part-time jobs, they go to Church.  What's not to like?

I kept the food coming.