The End of January 2026

Five years ago I closed the door on a long chapter of my life in Palo Alto, California and set off on a new one in Provo, Utah!

Recently my Carlston girls (Phoebe, Stephanie, Julie, and Elise) all gave a home concert as Elise (right) finished Suzuki level 3 and beautifully performed all its challenging pieces!

Joshua Henry, Broadway performer, currently starring in Ragtime at Lincoln Center, NYC, gave a wonderfully entertaining audience participation show at the BYU Music building.

I was relieved to finally finish a 1000 piece Monet puzzle! Do I still love Monet? Well....

Emily persuaded me to make my first (and hopefully last) appearance on BYU television where she has been doing a wonderful series on conflict resolution, her specialization. Afterwards we got a tour of the amazing BYU broadcasting studios.

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One of my very favorite BYU performing groups is the internationally traveled folk ensemble,with gorgeous costumes, choreography&dance

       a sampling of photos representing Utah.....

             Wales and the Ukraine...

Mexico and India

                                        Hungary and China

Turkey and American First Nation, and several others

          all contributing to the wonderful tree of the earth's people

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Vicky Hou and Nitta Xie, English teachers in Taiwan at the Shin Min vocational high school, have brought a large group of junior high and high school students to Utah to spend 2 1/2 weeks immersed in the American school culture and to explore sites in the area and experience a bit of life here. Included are Antelope Island/Great Salt Lake, Temple Square, BYU, Utah State Capitol, an NBA game. They are delightful!

Vicky took lots of photos during a gathering I hosted of former Palo Alto adults now living in Utah. Here are a few of them.

Stoltenbergs, Wilsons and Katie Steiger

Kelly Bonham and Sharon Hack

Miriam, Andrea and Todd Miner

Vicky Hou, Mark Bonham and Nitta Xie

Katie Taylor, Sara Gilman, Jim Welch and Vicky

Not only did Vicky take LOTS of photos but she and Nitta did most of the dishes!

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We have had almost no snow in Provo this winter so the sunny spots are bare. We had to go up to Sundance and South Fork in Provo Canyon for Vicky and Nitta to see their first snow and build a very tiny snowman. They were delighted!

                    Sundance resort, Mount Timpanogos

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Sunday evening Emily and Taylor family put on a fun early birthday dinner for me with a French theme, complete with berets for all. 

                         Fernanda, Peter as mime, and Marc

Miriam, Nick and Marc

                                 Julie Carlston and Lucie Taylor

Vicky, Nitta, Ming Lu de S. and friend Issie

Aaron Taylor, Luke Carlston, George Taylor

Delicious French dinner. (Younger grandkids at another table)

Charades &Peter impersonating family members for us to guess

              Kelly made delicious mousse au chocolat for dessert!

                                Ken Taylor, chef and host

Taffy Carlston and Miriam

A huge thank you to Emily, for organizing and hostessing, & the antics of Peter for entertaining all 30 of us! I am so blessed and grateful to be part of a wonderfully fun, spirited, kind and loving family. 

Today, February 2, is "Groundhog" Day. 

As they do every year, tens of thousands of people gathered in Punxsutawney, where temperatures were about 1 degree above zero, for the prognosticating marmot’s long-term forecast. Phil purportedly picked one of two scrolls confirming the extended winter prognostication. It works like this: If the sun is shining and Phil sees his shadow, he takes that as “an omen of six more weeks of bad weather and returns to his hole,” according to the Punxsutawny Groundhog Club. If it’s cloudy and Phil doesn’t see his shadow, he will stay above ground, signifying there will be an early spring.

Wishing you all a happy Valentine's Day, February 14, and Presidents' Day February 16. May we remember and honor our Founding Fathers and the tremendous efforts they made to establish a democratic nation where all have the same rights and privileges coupled with responsibility to ensure those of all who find themselves here. 

My love to all family, friends, people everywhere. It is my wish for greater peace, health and safety for all those who are suffering, mostly through no fault of their own, that they be blessed and comforted. I'm so grateful for the peacemakers of this divided and tumultuous world.