Blooms of the Week - From Temple Square

We often find ourselves in Utah for a BYU graduation on our wedding anniversary. It was our 33rd this April 25th. We took off by ourselves Friday afternoon after Andrew's convocation. We drove to SLC and went to Temple Square. We have often made this couple's trip in April to see the beautiful tulips and flowers. It was also at Temple Square in front of the Christus statue that Glen proposed to me in 1974. We parked under the Joseph Smith Building and while passing through, decided to watch the Joseph Smith movie. We had already purchased tickets for the Emma Smith movie later that evening. We highly recommend both movies. We think it is important to see the Joseph Smith movie first. Emma was sponsored by the Joseph Smith Family Historical Society and it uses many of the scenes not used in the Joseph Smith movie which was sponsored by the church. They very much complement each other and there is a special connection which occurs with the same actors playing Joseph and Emma in each movie.

Ranes Family Graduation Pictures

The plan was for the boys to wear their matching Easter outfits. Too cold, so Janae had to pull out their winter sweaters. Andrew was one of the few receiving a bachelor's degree having his picture taken while holding two children. I guess you could say he had some physiology and developmental biology going on at home, too.

Andrew's Commencement Day

As many of you know, and as we learned at Eric's BYU Commencement eight years ago, if you want a decent seat in the Marriott Center you have to go early. I volunteered for seat saving duty as long as I was dropped off at the MOA first. I very much wanted to view the Minerva Teichert exhibit while in town. The Marriott Center opened at 2 pm for commencement at 4 pm. As I walked to the exit of the MOA at 1:50 I was amazed to see snowflakes falling. This was a first, snow falling for April graduation. It was a memorable walk to the ramp and over to the Marriott. I did get the row of seats I wanted, Portal G just above the wheelchair seating. More room for legs.

The processional started at 3:30 pm. The organ music began and Raymond said, "Church hongs?" He then proceeded to direct the organ for the next half hour. Henry just wanted to eat.

Andrew's mom and husband flew in from Florida that day to celebrate with Andrew.

I know, I know, not such a great picture but Andrew is seated down below us in that sea of black and Elder Bednar was speaking. He talked of the importance of continuing to learn and to always include spiritual learning.

After the ceremony, we went out to the southeast lawn for pictures. Notice that now the sun is shining. The grass was wet from melted snow. That little tree on the left by the girl's elbow is usually in bloom this time of year and our preferred background. The trees in front of the condo are usually in bloom in April as well, but not this April. I had purchased tickets for everyone to go to the Hinckley Building for a dinner and dance and fireworks. The fireworks were canceled due to weather and the band and tables and chairs had been moved indoors as well. It made for less than ideal conditions but we enjoyed one another's company and we enjoyed seeing inside the Hinckley Building for the first time.

Thanksgiving Point

Large billboards advertised a "Tulip Festival" at Thanksgiving Point. Glen and I rounded up Janae and boys to visit this new place and see the color. Utah has been unusually cold, so it wasn't their best tulip season, but the "Garden at Thanksgiving Point" was beautiful.While Grandpa Glen purchased our tickets, Raymond and I wandered the gift shop. Raymond fell in love with the big chair. It took some talking to get him back out. Perhaps he was just resting up for his "long walk."
We will definitely have to visit again during our summer visit when this curving arbor/walkway will be covered with climbing roses.
Henry napped in his wrap around stroller. Thank goodness it wrapped around because it was a windy day. Grandpa insisted on a picture of him and Henry Glen.
Raymond takes a rest near some of the more colorful beds.
That's Janae with her camera. She also added many pictures to her blog. The garden was very big covering a large area of rolling hills, streams, and even man made waterfalls.

I'm sure you have been waiting for "Blooms of the Week"

The 2nd iris has finally bloomed. It is lovely.
The 1st iris continues to bloom in the background. Which color do you like best? 2nd iris is named "Orange Flirt." I was expecting something, well, orangish. Maybe it flirts because it is winking at orange from across the color wheel. Your father brought home these lilies, which look much like my day lilies but bigger, earlier this Spring. One finally bloomed. It is small, but beautifully formed. It also lasted just a day, but there are buds promising more to follow.
I planted some of these autumn sunflowers last Fall because of their coloring. This is a left over volunteer trying to break into Spring and looking very out of place.
Last year's hollyhock also "volunteered" everywhere except where I left room for it. It has worked it way up through the climbing roses after sprouting in a crack between the walkway and the brick planter wall.

Hummingbird Hums

While taking a picture for possible inclusion in "Blooms of the Week," I heard a high pitched chirp. Hummingbirds may make a humming sound with their wings, but their voice is a high pitched chirp.
I moved quietly to the left and caught this blurred wing creature at work.
He moved to the right. So did I most guietly.
He moved further to the right and so did I.
Then he obligingly turned so that I could see his profile. Pretty cool!

Daniel Boone opened the way for the Ricks Family

I just finished this biography of Daniel Boone. Well researched and well written, the book tells the story of the real Daniel Boone as well as the story of the legend written about him during his lifetime and published in the United States as well as Europe. It was even more interesting having traveled over some of the topography during our trip back east a year ago. As I read, I began to better understand the migration of the Ricks family from Virginia and North Carolina to Trigg Co., Kentucky during the presidency of George Washington. Daniel Boone was the trail blazer who opened a way through the Cumberland Gap leading to a migration west into what would become Kentucky. Joel Ricks along with other members of the extended family moved to Donaldson Creek, Trigg County, Kentucky where his son, Thomas E. Ricks was born in 1828. As a toddler, he moved with his family north to Olive, Madison County, Illinois. When 16, his family joined the church and moved to Nauvoo, Illinois.

Interestingly, Daniel Boone and several of his children moved on west of the Mississippi to what would become Missouri before the Louisiana Purchase and about the time the Ricks family was moving to Kentucky (which was made a state in 1792). Kentucky was becoming much too crowded and "civilized" for Daniel's taste. He is known to have hunted and explored as far as the Rocky Mountains before his death in 1820 in his youngest son Nathan's home in Missouri. The Ricks family eventually outdid Daniel migrating to the Salt Lake Valley and then Idaho where Thomas was one of the original founders of Madison County, Idaho.

I always love it when I read historical things and then am able to make connections to our family history providing a frame work to better understand ancestors and their reality.

Announcing Max

Ryan and Emilia added a new member to the family over the weekend. Meet Max, a mixed breed from the Arizona Humane Society. Emilia went to look at cats. Ryan took her back on Sunday for Max. Reminds me of their car shopping. Emilia thought they were buying an economy car for work. Ryan took her back for a Jeep. Ah, wedded bliss. Max came for his first visit tonight. He growled at his new grandparents as they attempted to figure out their estimated tax. However, he seems to have adjusted to his new parents fairly well. He peed on my flowers out back. So much for a first impression.

Please note the new light over the kitchen sink. The old fixture nearly burned the house down. Luckily, I was standing right there as flames erupted and promptly flipped the switch. I love this new light with directional bulbs - sort of like tract lighting in a circle. The circle part was important. It covered the blackened ceiling so that I didn't have to repaint. And, yes, your father hired a licensed electrician to install said light and did not attempt to correct things on his own. You can now see to bake cookies, do dishes in the sink, and load the dishwasher. Very nice!

Which of these sweet peas is not like the others?

I know, I know. You are all thinking, "How many flower pictures do we have to look at?" Sweet pea growing has become a bit of an obsession. I first tried to grow them from seed over a year ago. They grew but never bloomed. Too hot, too soon. So I tried again in October. Very little happened. I purchased another seed packet of very fragrant lavender sweet peas and planted them in December in the same place AND they finally grew and bloomed. I guess those October slackers were not all slackers. That seed packet boasted of vibrant red, white, and blue blossoms and it sort of delivered.
Your father presented me with this hand blown glass, heart shaped vase today. I promptly took scissors outside and cut a sweet pea bouquet. It smells heavenly and the vase is so pretty in my kitchen window.

New blooms of the week

Look what is new in the garden. Lovely pink trumpet shaped flowers on the bower vine.
My very first iris bloom, EVER! The Wimmers shared bulbs with me in Fall 2006. Patience on my part is represented right here for your viewing. The Wimmers had labeled each bulb. This one was called "Smoke Rings."
Heather and Ruby (with help from Grandpa Glen and Daddy Dave) planted seeds sometime ago in the new blue pots on the pool steps. The nastursuims have finally shown their true colors.
These daisies have appeared in the large blue pots. I didn't plant any this year because they took over their pots last year, aggressive little buggers. I guess they spewed a few seeds before I yanked them out.
The pomegranate tree is also in full bloom now. So pretty and even cheerful.

What to do during Priesthood Session

Right after the Sat. PM session of conference, Eric and family joined us for hamburgers and hot dogs. The men left for the Priesthood session and it was time to pick the peas the kids had planted during their grandkids sleepover in February. Heather wanted to take a pea pod to everyone in her class. Toby and TJ were glad to let her have their pots harvest as well. She had a few beyond her required "28."
TJ isn't much for hamburgers or hot dogs either. Thank goodness grandpa shares his chocolate protein bars kept in the pantry. And I do mean plural.
Toby loved playing in the big box he found next to the trash can. He loved being shut in with the flaps closed.
TJ always likes to browse through the non-fiction books in the grandkids room. He found a how-to about building boats. There was more than one box in the pile so they used cardboard and left over paper plates and cups. Their only request - a roll of scotch tape.
Heather floats her boat. We retrieved them with my special gift from Ryan for my birthday, one of those gadgets one uses to pick things up without bending over. I knew it would someday become useful.

Utah's Best

The best part of my trip to Utah occurred after Andrew picked me up in SLC and drove me to his home in Provo. Raymond greeted "Monga" with a great big hug and a smile. He and I watched "Music and the Spoken Word," played hide the burp cloth, experienced a car wash together, and enjoyed hanging out and discussing all of his new words. Henry shared his famous smile over and over, demonstrated how quickly he can down 8 oz. of formula, and let me squeeze his pudgy arms and legs. I wouldn't have missed this "Grand" boys time for the world!

Trippin' to SLC

These are the ladies I traveled with to SLC. This is a group shot in the Joseph Smith Building prior to lunch after our RS meeting in the Tabernacle. We ate at the Garden Terrace overlooking Temple Square and the food was delicious. After lunch, we ran into Elder Darl Garn, our former Stake President now a Seventy, down in the lobby.
It definitely still looked and felt like winter. This was the most color I saw on the entire trip. These tulips were a florescent orange. They were located by the RS Building. We went on a tour of the building and I found my grandmother's name in the book of donors in the late 1940's who sent money to build the building. It was interesting to sit on the second row in the tabernacle. We had training with the RS General Presidency. It was a great experience. However, the "new" tabernacle benches really are as uncomfortable as the original benches.

I took the following picture for Raymond who loves the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and his hymn book. He points to the organ pipe stamp on the hymn book and states, "Church hongs."