Up North

See the little directional icon at the bottom corner of this map, with the North arrow pointing "up"? To me, North is always up. If I'm facing North everything is fine.  But if I turn to the West, then West becomes North. If I were the Kardashian baby, I'd be so confused if my name was North West! There are no magnets in my head. If I were a bird, I would probably fly North for the winter and perish.

But beginning this winter, I am going to fly North every Thursday morning and Friday afternoon, and serve as a Church Building Hosting Service Missionary at the Conference Center! I am excited and nervous. It is under the Public Affairs department. They ask for a 24-month commitment and that we be there 80% of the time, which gives plenty of time to go visit kids, catch a cold, have family reunions, or go to Cancun. Or combine them and have family reunions in Cancun and catch a cold!

I had my interview yesterday after interviewing with my Bishop and Stake President and then waiting forEVER to hear from downtown. They had needs at the Conference Center, the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and the Relief Society Building. I was thinking about the Relief Society Building on my drive downtown and how when I've gone to a training there it seems so filled with the Pioneer spirit. A real link to the past. And maybe that's where I'd choose.

While I was waiting for the Sister who is over the whole thing (there are 900 volunteers at the conference center alone!) the Sister in charge of the Joseph Smith building poked her head out of her cubicle and said, "Choose the Joseph Smith building!" followed by the sister over the conference center playfully saying, "No, choose the Conference Center!" So I said, "I guess I'll have to pick the Relief Society Building" and they said, "If you want to take a nap!" Then of course she quickly followed up by saying everyone who serves there loves it.  But, I bet it is pretty quiet there most days. So when I met with the Sister who is over everything, I told her I'd serve wherever they needed someone, and they needed people at the Conference Center so that's where I'm going. I'll start training sometime after Thanksgiving! It doesn't involve working there when they have "events." That's another group of volunteers. So, no checking handbags during the Christmas Concert and listening in (dangit).

Part of my brief initial orientation included telling me that as part of our day we are also the "eyes and ears" for church security and that they give us training on what to be watchful for when we're giving tours.  She was very sober when she went over all of that. Then she gave me some handouts which included a flow chart of all the supervisors over each area, a list of appropriate dress code requirements, worthiness requirements, and a map of the "35 acres" encompassing the various locations of all of the church buildings downtown. I can't wait to learn more about them so I can answer questions! They recommended that I take a tour at the Conference Center too so I can get a taste of what it's like. I seriously hope I can remember everything...........because.................after I finished the interview I headed back to the gorgeous lobby of the Joseph Smith Building and sat in one of their cushioned chairs and called Dennis to make sure those shifts were okay with him. He was really happy for me, and who knows, he may join me at some point (but he'd have to shave off his goatee :-). Then I stopped by the Nauvoo House restaurant and bought a bowl of tomato soup to go, burned my tongue terribly because I it was so hot and I was so hungry, found my car in the conference center parking lot....pictured below. They fill me with terror because of the magnet thing.

Then I headed home..........(South).  At some point, I looked around for my handouts. I didn't have them with me! I was already a security risk! I remembered vividly what happened. When I called Dennis, I put them on the chair next to me and then forgot to pick them up. At every red light I'd call the church offices and first was asked if I'd like to speak with Shauna who is the one who GAVE them to me. And I said, No, not yet. Not a good beginning. Then I got transferred to one voicemail after another. Finally on the third try I got an employee who said she'd go look for them herself. She asked if I was sitting in the chairs at the South end of the lobby? I started to explain to her about the missing magnets in my head, but then she asked if I was sitting by the revolving doors and I said "YES!" AND SHE FOUND MY HANDOUTS! So she scanned them and emailed them to me and then shredded them. Whew.

I LOVE being downtown. The energy and hustle and bustle of it all. Below are a few photos I took on my way back to my car, right after losing my papers and burning my tongue. I am excited for this opportunity to serve!

They are getting everything ready for the Christmas season!

City Creek waters.

"My Conference Center!"

Love, Mom

Pineapple Tidbits

Winter is blowing in over the Wasatch as I type this on a chilly Sunday night. We're supposed to get snow tomorrow. But I'll still hold out for a few more gorgeous days. I want my whole 90 days of fall. And then winter - BRRRRRING IT ON! Let's get it over with. Although I read something about someone from Russia or somewhere freezing who said to embrace winter - the coziness. And I do like the coziness. The smell of the furnace when the heat comes on; the early evening twilight; wrapping up in a warm blanket and watching whatever is on t.v.. I also love the photo above with dribbles of fall decorations along the mantle. They match Tony's painting so well. That painting is of Center Creek in Heber City where the Sweats settled.

Autumn is also time for crisp apples. Angie introduced us to "Honey Crisp" apples. They're so good. Big and crisp and honey-ish. But they're $473/lb. So this one is a Gala at $1.39/lb. Remember back in the good old days when life was simplier and apples didn't have individual bar codes stuck on them? Andrew, please tell Avery Dennison to use lighter glue.I wonder whose job it is to stick them on. Oh, well, probably automatic.

I'm doing a couple of random "catch-up" blogs. ..."Tidbits."    "Pineapple Tidbits." I've always liked that name. It's a fun Sunday activity. It was Reagan's birthday in September and they had a picnic and party at the park up the canyon close to where we go when we have family reunions. It was so pretty up there. Happy 15th birthday to Ray!

 I can still smell the leaves Calvin and Vivi were tossing into the air that night.

Cindy made a pinata. They also played touch football too and I tried to play. My brain and my legs don't match any more.Not that they ever did. It was loads of fun, although Jane plays a mean game of football!

and Lauren plays a mean game of "demolish the leftover pinata!"

 I also took three different trips up the canyons this fall. All of them were soul-satisfying! Brilliant.

 Phones can take some good photos.

Here is a quaking quakies video! UPDATE: Apparently it didn't work. I think my Flashplayer is broken. It was really gorgeous - just picture in your mind's eye the wind rustling beautiful mountains of quakies.
I'd never uploaded a video before. And it takes about a hundred years. Patience is not my best quality. Random memory about patience: When we were first married we moved into a little one-bedroom apartment on 3rd Avenue. Dennis had been living with Ross for the summer prior to our getting married. When we returned from our honeymoon (and Ross has skeedaddled to who knows where), the first thing I saw was a poster hanging on the wall with two vultures sitting in a tree looking down at a I don't know, some kind of carcass. One of them is saying to the other, "Patience My ***! I'm gonna kill something." I didn't get it. I was baffled. Kinda funny looking back. .

Speaking of looking back, and of our first apartment on 3rd Avenue, here are some photos of that little apartment with our adorable Angie! I love her smiles and eyes, and her pretty auburn hair and the one of her standing up in her crib. That was her favorite thing to do after she woke up in the morning - play with the mobile standing in her crib. Don't worry, she was generally in pj's. Oh what sweet memories. The one in the lower corner is Great-Grandma Jolley holding three generations of little girls: Granddaughter Kimberly Jolley; Great-Grand-daughter Angie Sweat; and Great-great Granddaughter Brooke Heaton. Dennis hasn't changed a bit. I think he still wears that shirt.

These last four photos are more of one of our hikes.

We weren't the only ones up the canyon! This is the hairpin turn coming down Big Cottonwood. It was unbelievable.

That's all for tonight. Love to alL!
Mom

Rocky Mountain High

Hello autumn time!

As I work on this blog, there are "men at work" in the field behind us, and the whole house just shook so I had to go investigate. The air is filled with the beep beep beeping of heavy machinery backing up. I love a certain amount of change, and having a subdivision built behind our house certainly qualifies.

Witchy-poo says "Hello!" She's as old as this house which makes her a teen-ager. So THAT explains all of the trouble she gave me this year. She kept falling off her support stick so I had to glue her mid-section back together and the whole time was mumbling "excuse me, excuse me, pardon me dear...." She handled it with dignity and class, although I think her eyes became a little closer together in the process.

Speaking of becoming a teen-ager, so did JANE MARIE! Finally! She's already rockin' it but still gets excited over a Halloween outfit for her American Girl doll.

Jane is sizing up Eli's intentions here........

...............yup - just as she suspected!

.........she finished the job.......

.........and gives him a tap to let him know he didn't fool her for a minute.

I love how Dennis has this calming influence on little kids. They climb on his lap and their bio-rhythms go right down!

Whereas, Anthony Ross, on the other hand.............!

Here are some moments from a wonderful weekend in Colorado where we had the opportunity to bring along Eli and Vivian on our visit to Amy and Dave's family before the snow flies!

They would put on their head phones and we hardly knew they were back there! We talked and listened to music and they colored and we played my favorite old-school travel game where you fold a piece of paper into thirds, but we didn't play the license plate game ONCE! The best is when they're watching a movie and break the silence by bursting out laughing at random moments when something funny happens.

Vivian sporting red hair extensions courtesy of Family Dollar!

I think of the poor Martin/Willie pioneer Handcart company having to trek through those high plains of Wyoming in September and October without any of our comforts or connections. When you're down in the valley beginning your trip there's nothing but bluebirds and sunshine. Ha! There's just no counting on getting in or out of the rocky mountains without seeing some snow between the months of October and May.  Dennis was a gem and a jewel and knows I have freeway anxiety, (tripled this time with our precious cargo), and he drives more slowly, lets the semis rule the road, doesn't pass unless there's a passing lane and leaves a bigger space between us and the car in front of us. It wasn't ever bad at all, but we did encounter some snow flurries both coming and going.

Eli said I-80 reminded him of Radiator Springs in CARS and it DOES!

There was an antelope at a rest stop. I'd never seen an antelope up close and they're beautiful little guys. Their horns are thick.

When we arrived at Amy and Dave's, we left Eli and Vivian in the car and went in and got our warm hugs of welcome. Then we told Jack, Macy and Carly that we'd left something out in the car and asked them to go get it. I didn't get a very good picture because it was all so quick and exciting, but at least I got this!

and then made them pose for this.

They quickly settled into this.......

....and this! One of my favorites - we go lie on Macy's little bed and "talk!"every day.

Lots of good little piano players! Makes my heart happy, because they really do enjoy it!

I don't have any pictures of our Sunday night jam session where I coaxed Amy into bringing up her amplifier and plugging in her acoustic guitar and we did all of the Beatles songs. I LOVE doing that. I'm going to buy a second-hand acoustic guitar before this summer when we're all hopefully able to move heaven and earth and be here in Utah at the same time. Maybe I'll buy an "egg" and some more instruments too! seriously

Who knew a desk chair could become the wall and ceiling of a house?

View from above of the boys patiently building intriciate little dinosaur models that we bought at the dollar store. (All they needed was Wyatt).

Our cutest little strawberry blonde 7-year-olds (all we needed was Care Bear!).

Plus the brown-eyed brunette (all we needed was Elise and Whit!).

Macy is an avid journal keeper. She uses Amy's old diary. She is also a list-maker!

We went to a place called Monkey Bizzness and the kids had a blast. Most kids their ages were in school so they were there with a lot of little 2, 3-and 4-year-olds. For awhile Dennis was the only man in the whole building, but little kids would come up to him all morning, just wanting his approval. Cute.

As soon as Amy put 50 cents into the hockey table, Eli and Jack attracted quite a crowd! I guess there were more older kids than I remembered, based on this photo!

Monkeys in the midst of Bizzness.

.......taking a breather in the midst of Bizzness.

Vivian + "Catsy" = Wuv, Twue Wuv!

The boys created these from scratch. AWESOME! Dave gave Eli two creations to take back to Utah because he knew they were going to a good Lego home.

Here is a peak into the basement laboratory. Hours and hours of fun! The "blue leather" furniture graduated to the basement when Amy and Dave bought their new lap of luxury couches.

And here is a peak into the upstairs bedroom where the girls and I not only "talked" but spent three sessions drawing and coloring pictures.

And Dennis in Dennis pose in the lap of luxury on the new couches.

We also came this weekend because Macy was having a gymnastics meet. It ended up being an in-house meet (or "fake" meet according to Macy). I'm so glad they had the opportunity to do it because it is always nice to do something for the first time and get the butterflies out.

Ouch! She looks like a little doll to me in this picture. So tiny! Dave's favorite saying when he's threatening to "eat" either Macy or Carly - "so tiny! I'm going to eat you up!"

We got to watch everyone play Wall Ball in their entryway. Who knew when they bought this house that the entry would become central to kid central fun? It is perfect. I know I'm getting old when I had no desire to join in but was perfectly content to watch the fun.

Grandpa perfectly content to read to Carly!

And Dave perfectly content to make us homemade pumpkin pies.

And the kids perfectly content to watch their allotted "show." It's so fun to listen to them laugh. This is one of the two pieces of their awesome new couches. They have automatic footrests and it's the literal lap of luxury!

Castle Rock is named after a mountain that looks like a castle that can be seen for miles around. We had never hiked it so took the opportunity to revel in a perfect autumn day. Oh it was wonderful.

We bought donuts from a shop owned by a French couple. The owner was so excited about Macy and Jack's freckles. She said her family has freckles too. Everything tastes better if someone with a French accent makes it!

Macy then got ready to go to the gymnastics meet, and got to wear her gorgeous competition leotard for the first time.

I didn't get any good shots of her doing her actual performances because I guess I was too intent on watching her. But she did a fabulous job and got a medal! Such a combination of strength and skill. I can't even get out of a row boat.

The other kids were patient supporters! None of us in the audience knew if we should clap or cheer or what we should do. It was so quiet for much of the time because who isn't going to be silent watching a little girl do a routine on the balance beam? The owner of the gym finally had to tell us spectators that we can cheer for our kids. It was a learning experience for everyone!

Way to go Macy!

Sunday morning - All dressed up and somewhere to go!

More play time.

Dave has built a Ninja Warrior training course in the basement.

Work it Vivi!

And then it was time to say our fond and bittersweet farewells, and head home. And exactly two hours after buying the kids their Maverick drinks it was time for a potty break.

Prettiest rest stop just outside Vale, Colorado. I could literally feel Thanksgiving in the air. 

And before we knew it, there were the familiar windmills of Utah County which meant we made it! It was such a terrific experience and we will always cherish the time we got to spend with Amy and Dave and Jack and Macy and Carly and Eli and Vivian.

 When I was going through Amy's collection of books to read at night, I picked The Secret Life of Bees. I was pretty sure I had a copy at home and had started it once but didn't finish it. I didn't get to finish it at Amy's and told her I'd finish it next time we visited, but when we got home I found my copy and devoured it along with our obligatory spaghetti dinner that we have every time we return from a trip.
XO Mom