Week 45

16 June

Gloria left this beautiful coffee table for us when she left for Chile. It was one of her favorite pieces of furniture.

17 June

Cayelle, when told she could dance in her new smocked dress, decided she liked it after all. The straps were the most difficult part of the dress to make (after the one side seam)—which is not to insinuate any great difficulty—but they add a great touch.

18 June

Lora, bless her heart, offered to help me do one of my tasks in exchange for helping her with sewing projects, so we tackled the back patio. When we were finished, it looked terrific (compared to what it has been for too long).

19 June

And here is the cute apron for Maya that she got in exchange.

20 June

Jennifer and Ryan held an early birthday party for Cassius since we’ll be gone on his actual birthday. He is a sweet, very good-natured boy.

21 June

What—no picture, you say? You mean while you were losing hours flying from Salt Lake to Chicago to Delhi that you didn’t get your camera out? Shame on you—such gorgeous pictures of snoozing people, boring airports, and airline food you could have taken.

22 June

We’re back in India—this is our hotel room in Delhi. In this room I closed the bathroom door only to discover that it was locked from the inside. We had to call the reception for help at 11 at night.

Week 44

9 June

On our way into eastern Arizona, we visited the Painted Deseret and Petrified Forest. The petrified wood is harder than steel and can be quite striking in colors and design.

10 June

One of our favorite places at our family reunion in Snowflake, Arizona, was this Smith Memorial Home; Jesse Nathaniel Smith, my great-grandfather died about the time it was completed, but there is a room dedicated to each of his five wives. Dad is flanked here by his eight children in order of age, left to right.

11 June

We were so eager to be back home after our weeks away that we got up early and drove straight home. It was great to see Lora and Jennifer and their children again. We’ve been able to see all our children and grandchildren in the past couple of months.

12 June

We had piles of mail to catch up on after our sojourn away from home (and this doesn’t include the many books Stephen opened).

13 June

Tupperware home parties—does that ring a bell? Well, years ago I purchased a couple of sets of bell tumblers in the basic colors of bright red, blue, yellow, and green. Somewhere along the way I also acquired a purple one. The famous Tupperware lifetime warranty is that items can be replaced if they are chipped or cracked, so look what I got in replacement for some of my old tumblers!

14 June

You may not recognize this area—this is the botany/duck pond on BYU’s south campus minus the ducks. The entire southern area has been renovated with waterfalls and beautiful walks. I think the ducks will find their way back when the construction is finished.

15 June

Lora was so kind as to prepare this family tree for our heritage family reunion in Arizona. I believe this represents all my ancestors on this line for whom we have a picture. Lynette and I have spent the past year or so collecting great stories about them. The moral is that if we want our posterity to know about us, we need to write about ourselves.

Week 43

2 June

Stephen squats by some of the Civil War books he purchased at Givens Books in Salem, Virginia—he went through 35 boxes of books to see which books the BYU library didn’t own. He purchased 8 boxes of books to bring back. By the way, our country is now commemorating the sesquicentennial of the Civil War.

3 June

Here are two people I came to know at SVU—Pat, the secretary to the president, and Vivien, one of the volunteers at the desk.

4 June

We lived in 303 Carriage Town House, the second unit from the left (see Stephen’s bicycle) for the time we were at SVU.

5 June

Gayle was kind enough to invite several of us to her home for dinner on our last evening in Buena Vista. The knight on the porch is an indication that she is a significant supporter of the university.

6 June

At the Stones River battlefield museum in Tennessee outside of Murfreesboro, we learned more about this significant Civil War battle (31 December 1862–2 January 1863) that determined military control of central Tennessee in favor of the Union. One-third of each army was killed, captured, or wounded—particularly high casualties.

7 June

Our drive west brought us to 97°F weather in Sallisaw, Oklahoma (preparing us for our upcoming trip to India).

8 June

Carrying on with our family’s tradition, Stephen and I like to visit capitol buildings on our travels. Here is a striking view of the dome in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Week 42

26 May

The front room of our apartment features an entertainment center (which is usually closed) and a coffee table, which serves as a place to collect books, papers, and laptops.

27 May

My morning walk can bring many views—this view of the sky with the jet stream was pretty spectacular.

28 May

I forget what a small temple is like until we enter one again. The Raleigh North Carolina Temple has the baptismal font at one end, the dressing rooms on either side of the endowment rooms in the middle, and the celestial room at the other end. The important thing is that it has been dedicated for the purpose of making covenants with the Lord, both for the living and for those who have passed on.

29 May

I like this picture of Rod, Bruce, Madison, Allen, and Clayne because they all have big smiles—they are enjoying their time at SVU, either as president, provost, or volunteer teachers.

30 May

This is a view of Thomas Jefferson’s beloved Monticello from the back—I think this view is nicer than in the front. We enjoyed seeing his Great Clock (with two faces—one on the outside porch and one directly behind in the entryway), his library, his polygraph machine with two pens (to make a duplicate copy of what he was writing—a precursor to carbon paper and copy machines), and other innovative features.

31 May

Stephen took his class (and families and significant others) to Buena Vista’s answer to Los Hermano—Don Tequilos.

1 June

Is this supposed to be a painless way to get your taxes and hair done at the same time--tax office and beauty shop together?