Snow Experiments

Vinny is studying snow in his class. So when he and Owen came over this afternoon, we Googled "snow experiments" and found two--(1) melt some snow in a saucepan, then pour it through several layers of paper towel to see how clean the snow is--we saw four or five specs of dirt; and (2) make snowballs, dip them in colored water, make a little igloo and put a candle inside-it was cute, but daylight--we may do it another time when it's dark. (Don't you love Owen and his magnifying glass?!) And then Hernan made a snowman cannibalizing the colored snowballs, making a scarf, buttons, ears, and red hair (not shown--by pouring on the left-over red colored water). Lots of fun!

Mailbox and vegetables

Remember the blue toy "mail box" at Doug and Linette's? Linette said the boys could take it home, but Dallas and Shannon said they wouldn't let them put it in the car. So the boys said they'd walk home with it--and they did--picking up BBs along the way. Then when they got home, they set it on the lawn and ran and jumped on the mailbox with one foot--they reminded me of long jumpers or pole vaulters. Occasionally Vinny would get a real running start--he'd go in the house and run down the porch stairs, make the turn, and approach the mailbox. At first they said they were going to doing running jumps two hours a day, but I think they decided one hour a day was very good.

We "picked" and cut open the three watermelons we had grown in the Spencer W. Kimball Garden at Dallas and Shannon's. There were two small long ones and one small very green perfectly round one--but they didn't start growing until August--so they just didn't have enough time to mature. The long ones were still white inside--but smelled like watermelon. The round one was pink--and tasted like watermelon. Dallas offered Vinny a little quarter-slice, and Vinny bit the rind and didn't think it was very good. Then, after Dallas told him, he spit out the rind and had a taste of the watermelon. Next year we'll just plant sunflowers and pumpkins--no watermelons, zucchini or spaghetti squash.

Friday Owen took the pumpkin we grew to school for show-and-tell.

Utah State Fair 2009

I went to the Utah State Fair today with Aunt Angie. I thought Kara would like to see the three cakes entered in the Fair. And the fourth photo is a cross-stitch done by Linda Peterson, mother of Harrison's friend, Justin; she was awarded a second-place ribbon. The last photo is a photograph taken by a ward member who also received a second-place ribbon.

Cedar City - The Shakespearean Festival

Kristy, I, Harrison and his girlfriend Lucy, Liz, and Mont's granddaughter Courtney were in Cedar City for the Utah Shakespearean Festival August 20-23. Our favorite play was Comedy of Errors. Some of us also saw Henry V, As You Like It, The Secret Garden, and/or Private Lives. As always, we had a great time!

My Spencer W. Kimball Garden

Pictured are four plants from my Spencer W. Kimball Garden. President Kimball (1895-1985) said we should plant a garden, so following the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law, at the first of May, I planted (at Dallas and Shannon's house so Vinny and Owen could watch things grow) 2 pumpkin plants, a zucchini plant, 2 spaghetti squash plants, 7 mini-watermelon plants, a half dozen sunflowers that were supposed to grow to 14 feet, but are only about 5 feet tall, and a half dozen very interesting red sunflowers that often look black. I don't have a green thumb--or the black thumb of death; I have a brown thumb--my plants don't die--they just wish they would. For example, my zucchini plant is about the size of a large salad bowl--I think most people have zucchini plants the size of Volkswagens. I've harvested a few zucchini, and 3 spaghetti squash are growing, but until a few days ago, there were no pumpkins or watermelons--because, I think, there were no bees. But finally I spotted two pumpkins (in the photos) on one of the plants and two watermelons (the large one is pictured) on two plants. I just h0pe we don't get an early frost. (For size comparison, it's a dime in the pumpkin and watermelon photos.)

Utah Festival Opera - Logan, Utah

Elma Leta, Kristy, and I attended the Utah Festival Opera in Logan on July 15 and 16. Elma Leta and I saw Gilbert & Sullivan's The Mikado (I've got a little list of people who would not be missed). Then Kristy joined us and together we saw Bizet's Carmen. (Carmen works in a cigarette factory, and that part of the opera always reminds me of my Grandma Fercik who worked in a tobacco factory, making 600 cigars a day, for four years, from ages 16 to 20, 1910 to 1914.) And we saw Lerner & Loewe's Broadway musical Camelot--which was very touching--and nobody gets the girl! All the productions were excellent. Gail Miller (Mrs. Larry H. Miller) was at the first two performances we attended. The photo is of the principals in Camelot. Lancelot was also Escamillo in Carmen. Guenevere is Vanessa Ballam (Michael Ballam's daughter). For those of you who remember Farley Family Reunion, James Arrington played Merlin and King Pellinore in Camelot. UFO doesn't sell postcards, but I took the photos taken with the various casts and had Costco turn them into postcards--69 cents each, with return address and message! I ordered 90 postcards--you'll probably be getting one from me. The Festival runs till August 8.

A very happy day!

Megan Moulton Smith and Sam Smith leaving the Salt Lake Temple on Saturday, June 6, 2009, after being married there. It was a very happy day. You can see the happiness in both of their faces--and if you could have seen the family and friends gathered there, you would have seen the happiness in all of our faces.

I'm in my glory! And I've retired!

When we moved from out offices in Magna at the end of September 2008, none of the furniture made the move. So I was able to buy the desk that was brand new and mine when I went to work for Kennecott in 1989. It was my desk the whole time I was with Kennecott/Rio Tinto. And now it's at my house in what was the dining room/dad's bedroom area. I love it!

And on January 20 I was notified that I was one of the 66 employees and 184 contractors to be laid off in the Salt Lake City area, due to falling metals prices. My last day at work was January 30, and I'm on the payroll till March 21. I'm old enough for Social Security, so it came at a good time for me. I have a long list of things I want to do, and I do hope I actually get something done.