June/July 2022

Life after Europe has been busy!

It took me 3 days to get all the weeds cleared out of my yard. Next year I need to hire someone to keep up on the weeds. I spent a good week doing laundry, cleaning the house, unpacking, etc. The kids seemed happy with the gifts I brought them. The movie "Top Gun: Maverick" came out while I was in Europe and I went to see it. I loved it. Everyone was saying how good it was and I agree. I really liked it. It was just an entertaining movie...no politics, no environmental message, no agendas. Just pure entertainment with flying stunts, great characters, etc. 

Baby shower for former TA, Dia. Pictured: Ashley, me, Allie, Dia, Alissa, Karina

Kim Blight and I walked up to Timpanogos Cave one Friday

Thistles remind me of Scotland. They are the national flower because they have been used historically to brush wool fabrics

Springville had their Art City Days and my neighbor Lynn and I went to their evening concert in the park again. Last year was an ABBA cover band. This year it was QUEEN. We had a blast! She's such a fun neighbor. I will really miss them when they move away, but in the meantime, we're enjoying time together. I sit by them at church and Lynn and I love to do things together. 

The June Conference for FCS teachers was June 15 and 16. It was in Tooele. I stayed at James' and Allison's house because it's closer to Tooele than my house. Kristen was in town, so she and I shared their guest room. it was fun spending time with them in the evenings. I enjoyed the classes I went to. It was also fun to connect with former students. They had a silent auction to fund scholarships for high school students and I was lucky to get support from Minky Blankets and Courtney of Cake by Courtney. We also picked up a donation from Dave's Bernina. Dawna Baugh and I threw those donations together at the last minute and we brought in more than half of the auction total. 

Kristen and Karen were in town, so we helped Jenny organize and pack

Karen and I always find time for a walk

I did some sewing and made skirts from the fabrics I brought back from Europe. 

On Sunday, June 19, Father's Day, Dotty May crossed the rainbow bridge. The kids were in Arkansas for a conference that Bekki actually didn't attend because they got Covid when they arrived. Anyway, they stayed in a hotel and were bummed about missing out on visiting with friends when they got word that Dotty was in heart failure. They rented a car on Friday and left around noon. They got back Saturday around noon and spent Saturday and Sunday with sweet Dotty. They took her to the emergency vet to have her put down on Sunday afternoon. Bekki just couldn't put her through another hard, scary night. We will miss that sweetie. I wasn't done babysitting her. She had the funniest way of walking backwards. 

I started teaching 340 online this month. It's gone well. We did have to replace our TA because the original TA wasn't keeping up on the grading. It was a hard decision, but I felt she was so far behind that it would be very difficult for her to get caught up. It's been fun to read the students' write ups and to see their huge smiles in their photos. I love my job. I've also been feverishly reading textbooks to find another book for 110. The book we've been using for years is out of print. Time to find a replacement. It's going to be a huge project, but Allissa Kelley has been hired to help out. She also teaches 110 and they found some funds so she can help with the project. 

Allie came into town for a couple of weeks. She stayed with me a bit, but she also went on some mini vacations. She went to Park City and to Moab. I love her independence. As long as she shares her location with someone, I think it's fun that she goes on adventures alone. She and Mario are no longer together. Mario got a job with American Airlines, which is a huge thing for him. It means a move for him and Allie decided that she isn't moving again. She loves Indianapolis and is going to stay there to move her career forward. She moves to a job teaching at an online school. They will pay for her to go to graduate school, so she's going to work on her masters. She's understandably sad about the change, but knows it's a good decision. She's strong and will be ok. I told her I can relate to how intimidating and scary it can be to be on your own. I've done it for 2 years now. She can do it. I'm going to California later in July and changed my plan to go to Indy for a few days from Oakland before returning to Utah. It's proving to be a big summer of travel. We're all making up for 2 years of no or limited travel. LOL. So, I go to California on Saturday, July 23. On Wednesday, August 3, I go to Indy. On Saturday, August 6, I return back to Utah. 

When Allie's in town, we have to go to Allison's house to hang out.  We had a spontaneous BBQ

We have so much fun with Allie's instant film camera

Veronica Pachiarotti, house guest of Oswald's, earned her bachelor's degree. Dinner to celebrate

Cousins and friends

Allie and I decided to go into SLC on the 3rd. Hot dogs!

JDawgs now has a mini dog, which makes me so happy. Perfect size. 

One day we met up with Allison, Audrey, and Mac at a park. We had a blast talking while the kids played

I did something I've wanted to do for a while...I had neighbors over for dinner on Sunday, June 26. I invited the Woodruffs over and made a yummy Star Wars inspired salad from Disneyland. I also made chocolate chip pound cake. We had a fun visit. They are a young couple that has been very nice to me since they moved in to the ward. They have 2 cute little kids. I want to be more social. I am very content to be alone most weekends. I also like it when I actually push myself to socialize, so I want to do it more often. 

The main thing of June was taking advantage of family time before Jenny and Scott left on their mission to Angola. They will be leading the missionaries there for 3 years. I'm hoping to go visit in summer of 2024. Kamiko, Bekki, and Allie all want to go too. I'm not very good at goodbyes. I keep them very superficial and act like I will see the person soon. I will really miss Jenny and Scott, but I'm so excited for them and for their missionaries. It will be such a great experience. The photos that Jenny has sent so far look great. They have a lovely home with a pool. Scott seems to be in his element training these young adults. Jenny seems very happy to be nurturing so many others. She'll be great. They were in the MTC in Provo for a week, then went home to do some last minute packing. Serious packing, from what I hear. I had work commitments and couldn't go up and help. Debbie and Mark moved into the house, so Deb helped a lot. Jenny and Scott flew out on June 29. 

Packing crew: Kristen, Jenny, Andrew, Me, Audrey, Karen, Mac, Debbie, Allison

Jen and Scott checked into the MTC and had a couple of free hours so we met on campus and went to see Mel and Lee at the upholstery shopt

Took mom and dad to say goodbye. Dad gave Jenny a very sweet blessing

Jenny and Scott's backyard, including an outdoor kitchen and eating area

I didn't do anything social on the weekend of the 4th of July because I wanted to stay away from Covid. The kids and I had a trip to Disney World in Florida planned and I did not want to risk getting sick. It worked. Allie left Sunday morning, July 3, to drive back to Indy. The guy she was carpooling with, however, got sick, so she called off the trip. She decided that since they were in Utah and near family, they might as well spend the 4th and 5th with family and drive back on Tuesday. Allie came to church with me and we went to Allison and James' house for some grilled burgers and hot dogs. It was great. We played a new game called "Cover Your Assets". Allie and I did go over to Kamiko and Bekki's on Monday, the 5th. We hung out and played games with them and Jay and his girlfriend Asa. Kamiko and Bekki were testing out a new dog named Jerry. He's a cutie. I spent the whole week reading a dang textbook. I wanted to get it done before going on vacation. I also did some research on Disney World. I wanted to have a bit of a plan of attack. 

On July 6, I went to the temple to do initiatories and went to see Erica and Allie Dietz. Erica is my cousin. Her daughter is going to London in the fall for study abroad. I went to give Allie tips. Erica, Ike, and Hunter are going to Paris and London for fall break, so I gave them some tips. They gave me some Disney tips, then we went to Jon and Marianne's house. I had a framed swatch of the Hunter tartan for them. It's always fun to visit with them. 

Life is great! Really great!