Spring, where art thou???

When it's cold outside and the world slumbers, what is better than a nap with a bearded dragon?  Grandson Aaron has a whole reptile zoo upstairs in his bedroom.

                                 Snow can be dreary or glorious!        

             It helps a lot when the sun comes out and the sky is blue!

 Emily's (left) psychology research assistant, Parker Gardner (pictured with his parents, who came from their church assignment in Hong Kong), gave a truly spectacular senior violin recital. BYU, purported to be one of the top three universities in the US for performing arts, is filled with talented students.

       I love the BYU Ballroom and Latin dance company: the music, costumes,  choreography, and dance, all are outstanding! Curt and Sharon Holman, head artistic directors and costume designer, are in my Provo ward. The company will attend the famed Blackpool Dance Festival (founded in 1920 and considered the "world's first and foremost festival for dancing") and compete in the British Formation Championships (held every 3 years) on May 31st and June 1st, 2023. After a Church history tour and visit to the Lake District, and a brief stop in London, they will head to Brussels, Belgium, to perform for ambassadors and dignitaries of the European Union. In 1971, BYU BDC became the first American team to win the title. I especially loved the "Carmen," "Sound of Music" dances. Photo of finale.

                                                                  

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I enjoyed an Easter walk with the Taylors. I needed an arm to lean on in order not to sink knee-deep (like George, behind) and Andrew (emptying his shoe) in the soft snow of Vivian Park in Provo Canyon. There was a huge avalanche on March 10 that closed the highway through the canyon, and evidence of many smaller ones, which continue. We should be preparing for flooding of the Provo River near us with the heavy 2023 snow melt.

Family Easter gathering at the Taylors' after the egg hunt. The only 

ones missing were Neil and Anne, so we called to sing Happy Birthday (53!) to her in Vermont.

                  Below, Hannah, Fernanda, Marc, Emily

Plastic eggs filled with scriptures and small symbols of Easter (cross, rock, etc.) for the children to share, created by Julie.

Aaron accompanies Julie as she sings an Easter song she wrote. Beautiful!!

It was fun to watch Ming Lu 's very clever, beautifully done, short video "Frog Hat" featured in Provo school district arts festival

Also fun to watch my grandsons John and Luke who came to Timpview HS in Provo from Skyline HS in Millcreek to play Lacrosse. The next day the temperature dropped 20+ degrees. Is Spring ever going to stay?? It is great to see children and  grandchildren developing skills and talents and enjoying life.

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I feel blessed to have made so many friends and to have met so many people who have inspired me throughout my life. Hank and Colette Taylor (my friends and neighbors in Palo Alto) came to Utah to celebrate Colette's 90th birthday with their large and wonderful family who mostly live in the Provo area.

Every day I reconnect with someone! In my small Italian class I discovered yesterday (our last day of classes for the term) that one of my classmates is the grand-daughter of friends I made (and keep in touch with) years ago at Stanford, Paul and Joyce Smith, who live in Illinois. At our orientation for the new term of ESL, I discovered that our new teacher (Karen Knight Cushenburg) grew up around the corner from my house in Palo Alto. Almost all the morning staff are from the California San Francisco Bay Area! Small world!

Our good friend Peter Weiler (an old neighbor in Palo Alto) is recovering in the hospital from Covid, with the help of his daughter Britt. 

And, of course I love my new friends and new church congregation. We are blessed to have the LDS Church's general young men's president Steve Lund in our ward, and just called 2 weeks ago, my neighbor Tammy Runia, as a counselor in the general Young Women's presidency. We have so many wonderful leaders to help our youth (and all of us) in these challenging times.

I hope you are well and that there is an abundance of daffodils, tulips, and blossoms where you live. Here in Utah we are waiting for those tiny green tips to emerge from the cold ground. Where are they?

There is hope!