End of April and Early May                             Activities

   With Sunday's violent hail/thunderstorm the blossoms are gone now.

Funeral procession at the Vatican of beloved 88 year old Pope Francis from Argentina. He was a special friend to the poor and marginalized of the world. Conclave will choose new pope this week.

Great to visit/breakfast with Colette and Hank Taylor at Denny's

Celebrating the end of the BYU semester with George, at Tamako.

 He loves sushi!

           From my back fence: I love my lilacs and our sunsets!

Utah Valley University graduation of Aaron Taylor and girlfriend Ivy

With Ivy's parents Roni & Renee Alvino, Ken and Emily      

          Emily, Lucie, Kelly, Aaron, Andrew, Ken and George Taylor

Dinner after graduation at Asado Restaurant in Orem    Kelly and Luke

                                                                                wedding coming up!

                                                         Lucie and Aaron

Beautiful wedding of Brooke and Nathan (Asays lived in Palo Alto)

 

      Former Palo Alto friends at the wedding (Taylors, Steigers, Woolfs)

Emily and Ellen Holsinger and Deanne Welch and I were among those who enjoyed Jim Welch's wonderful all Bach organ concert

Dominican Republic senior missionary lunch reunion in Provo. I served in the Santo Domingo Temple 2010-11

 Happy Easter 2025!

   Pear blossoms at Provo Recreation Center where I swim every day!

    Along with gorgeous pear, cherry, apple, crab apple blossoms, bulbs and other flowers, the mountains and hills still are covered in dazzling snow!                  Campanile, "Y," and Mount Timpanogos from BYU

Joyce Yang played a fabulous concert at the BYU Music Building

Among the many books I have read recently, I especially appreciated this book about many amazing Black civil rights leaders from Civil War until today.

                             Full moon rise from my back door

       Wonderful Baroque ensemble Easter concert

     I recommend the very well done PBS 2 season series "Cromwell."

Attending the Orem Temple the day before Easter added to my celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, who knows our every joy and sorrow, and as the speaker at a beautiful Easter devotion on Good Friday said "He is never distracted " (from each of our individual needs and desires). Broken hearts and bodies will be healed!

I loved watching (in the theater) Season 6 (in 3 parts) of The Chosen as a special way to remember the week leading up to Easter. It will be televised in the near future.

As we celebrate Easter, I am so grateful to our Savior Jesus Christ, who through his sacrifice and resurrection made it possible for us to one day meet again all those many people, ancestors, friends, all our loved ones who have passed on. I was very touched by the celebration of life of Jordan Ricks (daughter of Nicole and John, grand-daughter of Hank and Colette Taylor), only 33, after a 4 1/2 year battle with stomach cancer. Her courage, faith, light, and cheerful spirit were an example for us all. Until we meet again!

        Easter with most of my kids and grandkids!

       Happy end of March......Arts and Culture

The new Wasatch Elementary School looks barren, but lots of learning goes on inside! The old building on 900E was 75 years old. My grand-daughter third grader Cordelia (in top center) enjoys singing in the  choir and Mandarin immersion program.

This Paris based baroque string group founded in 1979, was absolutely spectacular. Highlight was Vivaldi's Four Seasons, this concert at BYU celebrating the 300th anniversary (March 25, 2025) of this famous work. The leader and 29 year old violinist Theotime Langlois de Swarte was absolutely amazing!

My daughter Emily Taylor, certified mediator, developmental psychologist, teacher and and assistant director of conflict resolution at Utah Valley University was a presenter at a wonderful recent Mormon Women for Ethical Government (MWEG) spring conference.

I recommend Nikah (persecuted Uyghur minority in China) and A Simple Life (family and age theme), and especially touching was a survey of ordinary people in Bhutan about their happiness level.

I often attend the International Cinema at BYU with my friend Kerstin Grimmer

March 27 was the last day of our ESL term. With almost perfect attendance are my wonderful students Angelica from Chile and Rogerson from Haiti. We have a week of spring break now.

My daughter Julie Carlston came down from SLC and we visited Brian Kershisnik's fabulous exhibit at BYU Art museum. I've included some of these very thought-provoking works in a previous blog.

         The pear trees are finally starting to blossom...hurray!!!!

                                                    We all have burdens to carry

 Ruth, Gardening in the Rain, and one depicting the curiosity of children are favorites of mine

The BYU Concert choir gave a lovely concert of  sacred music from many faith traditions, followed by the fabulous BYU Men's Chorus (folk and sacred music). I can never get enough! 

It's always wonderful to make new friends. Thanks to Kerstin for introducing me to Frances, Phiroze (retired Cornell professors from Taiwan and India), and Barbel. She also introduced me to a delightful book for all ages!

Each of us makes a difference as we live good lives and let our light shine and courageously let our voices be heard.

We look forward to our semi-annual church wide broadcast from SLC this weekend  Sat and Sunday, 10-12 and 2-4 MDT to be inspired by our church leaders. Try tuning in!

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/feature/general-conference?lang=eng  (and MANY other languages)

It is amazing to watch my grandchildren grow up. 4 Easters ago they were little children, now they are young people! Enjoy the anticipation of a lovely Easter ! (photo from 2021)