Life Goes On - Utah Trip 8.09 Part 1

Spent last week in Utah - Maebe's 2nd birthday, Keileigh back to Utah State, Luke's Concert at the Park, Carter Family Reunion and more. Pictures are worth a thousand words, so here goes...

On Wednesday Keileigh and I left sunny SoCal. We spent the night in St George and got into SLC Thursday afternoon, in time for Keileigh's reunion with Luke. (Two weeks away-what a stretch, haha!)

On Friday Keileigh & I went to the Blaine Avenue house to retrieve some items from the garage. It is weird going to a place you lived in for twenty years and being a visitor. After dropping off some items and picking up college stuff for Keileigh we left with a quick phone call to Eric confirming the need for his gifted outdoor skills to put the yard back into tip-top shape, a task he undertook later that week. Finally after months of waiting we went to the Smith's home where I finally got a new look from Amy. I had wanted to go short since January, but each time I went to a new hair stylist and expressed an interest or showed them a picture, they waffled and that made me nervous. So, I waited for the touch of a master. She asked what I was looking for and I said short, she asked if I liked her daughter Rileigh's hair cut and despite the fact that she had major bedhead I said yes and voila - three hours later I looked liked one of the Smith kids!

Later that night there was dinner with the Wojciechowskis - grilled brats, fruit, chips and ice cream. An evening with Verl, Leeanne, Brandon and Martie wouldn't be complete without a Disney movie (for Maebe) and Wii bowling (courtesy of Brandon):

On Saturday Keileigh, Noelle & I did some traditional back to school shopping at Target and then took lunch to Grandma Hazel's for a visit. After dropping the girls off for their respective Saturday night pursuits the night was still young so I ran errands - the DI to drop off items, Sears for Maebe shoes. I decided to visit Meredith Watson since she said I never let her know when I'm in town, but I didn't find her at home so I visited with Erin Carson for updates on the neighborhood scene and then ended up at Shopko where I scored on a darling dress for Maebe.

While there I ran into my cousin Karen Carter who filled me in on life in her world and then I got a phone call from Luke & Keileigh inviting me to join them for dinner at Cafe Rio (thanks Luke for treating!) We had a lovely visit and when we finished it was a perfect time to head back to Joe's.

On Sunday morning I was privileged to attend Sacrament services at Primary Children's Medical Center where Drew serves in the Branch Presidency and Noelle is Primary President and chorister in Sacrament meeting. An outpouring of the Spirit makes attendance sweet. It is during times of challenge and affliction that we turn more dependently to our loving Heavenly Father.

After church I drove through the avenues to look at the old Primary Children's Hospital where I had eye surgery in my seventh or eighth year. I remember being afraid and alone although I'm sure my Mom was there as much as allowed. It was interesting going back and remembering that experience. I continued my drive through Memory Grove/City Creek and up to the Capitol where I used to work for the Governor's office. To my surprise there were lots of motorcycles lining the building. I parked and walked around and found out there were over 3000 bikers in attendance that were honoring officers slain in the line of duty.

Following that, with more time to kill before services started in the old Wilson Ward, I went to Liberty Park where I found a car show taking place. It was Eric's dream day but I was the recipient!

I had a great reunion experience at the old home ward. It was wonderful catching up with so many of our neighborhood friends.

Luke was invited to participate in the inaugural Northwest Riverfest Community Celebration in Rose Park. Family and friends joined to support his concert appearance. He did several solo pieces and was joined on stage by Julia Meacham, Jacob Kahn, and Alice, Simon and Clay Williams. He is very talented and a CD will be available for purchase soon. Here are a few visual images from the event.

After the concert we went to the Kremer's for a yummy Navajo taco dinner. Jaclyn showed us the cool new scooter she bought with her summer savings! Grandpa & Sage tried to figure out what was causing the chain to not engage the back wheel but were unsuccessful. Hopefully her neighbor can figure it out for her.

Each evening I spent with Joe we had the chance to visit, play or relax with a TV program. On Sunday he recorded the World Track & Field Events and we enjoyed them late that night when I got home! It's great to have that one-on-one time.

On Monday I had lunch with Meredith Watson at Moochi's, a local eatery owned by friend & neighbor Joanna Rendi & husband Don McDonald and featured in this clip from Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Meredith is a talented soul with much to offer. I've enjoyed her musical and creative offerings throughout the years I've known her. After that I went to the University of Utah to talk with the Family and Community Studies academic adviser as well as an admissions adviser. I am hopeful that I will be able to work things out and complete my degree at the U over the next few semesters. I was then able to meet Noelle at her office at the University of Utah Medical Center where she works in the Neurosurgery Clinic. It was fun to see her work environment and meet her colleagues. Noelle works with a woman named Kim Rasmussen. They were comparing musical tastes one day and found out that we were longtime Yankee Clipper/TenPenny fans, the band her husband Paul plays in with Mark Jardine. Next time I'm in town I definitely want to enjoy the music of these gifted local artists. They play most Thursdays at McCool's in Foothill Village and on the 17th of each month they play in honor of St Patrick's day. Although I wanted to attend that night (it was the 17th), it's hard to fit everything in and instead we enjoyed dinner at Grandpa Joe's home where he prepared his traditional feast of roast beef, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob and more for the family and his friend Darlene.

While the women cleaned up, Maebe decided she needed to sculpt her abs on Gpa's workout equipment before the strawberry shortcake!

On Tuesday the sisters-in-law celebrated Vali's 50th birthday with lunch at Tres Hombres. It was great to spend some grownup time with these treasured friends. We really need to follow through with that girlfriend getaway!

The cousins spent some fun time bonding as well. The coeds are sharing the Corelle dishes with Mary taking half to BYU and the other half going to Utah State with Keileigh. They are already used to being starving students as they scarfed down the leftovers from their mom's lunch!

Rachel has a clothing line that is sold in a great little boutique in Layton called The General Store. The store has antiques and hand crafted merchandise and everything is very reasonably priced. It's worth the drive I found as we took up her latest batch of consigned items. You can check out her designs and purchase these unique, one-of-a-kind items online at Parisol Clothing.

We loved Joe & Annie Post's wedding reception. It was beautifully presented and they were gracious to all. The photo booth was great fun and the marriage heritage photo collection was a tribute to their family values. Their photographer had some gorgeous shots from the Salt Flats and we ran into lots of old friends and enjoyed the evening immensely.