Graduations and Happy Gatherings    Happy Memorial Weekend!

My daughter Emily and her husband Ken Taylor organized a fun "Dunk the HS Seniors" activity for our ward/congregation. The object was to throw a ball at a bar that would tip the senior into a tank of water. Below is the Ford family sharing things about daughter Ellie who will be playing soccer at BYU in the fall. We have many great seniors deserving of congratulations and well wishes.

                        Billy Bird will play baseball for U. Utah

My granddaughter Kelly Taylor (with mom Emily and sister Lucie) opened her mission call to Iowa (which includes Nauvoo and Carthage). She will begin July10, with one week at home and then 2 weeks at Provo MTC. It's been fun having her live with me this spring/summer.

We had a Provo Community Resource Center potluck to say good-bye to the Hatfields (directors) and to get better acquainted with our fellow volunteers. My fellow missionaries Beverly and Scott Zimmerman have new administrative responsibilities. I enjoy teaching English there 2 mornings per week.

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Granddaughter Grace Ming Lu de Schweinitz was happy to graduate from Timpview HS in Provo. She will attend Utah Valley University (where the ceremonies took place) in the fall to study engineering/art/illustration/animation (She has many talents!). Grandparents and parents and sister Cordelia came to watch.

                 Cordelia is our budding talented soccer player.

    Ming Lu and a friend perform karaoke at her party in the afternoon

The Provo River is rising to a dangerous level with the winter's snow melt. People are putting sand bags in hopes that river will not flood their homes.

My sons (center 2) and sons-in-law aren't too sure about the caps I brought them from Uzbekistan! Julie and Peter are enjoying them!

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My friend Semiramis Espinoza from Ecuador, (recently moved to NYC) and her soon-to-be daughter-in-law Marisa Pincock and her son Jared and Semiramis's mission companion now living nearby invited me to attend the Saratoga Springs LDS Temple (the Church's 179th) open house. Anyone can visit a temple during the open house held before the temple is dedicated. After dedication (in this case August 13,2023), members need a worthiness recommendation to enter to make covenants and perform sacred ordinances (for themselves and their ancestors). The sealing ordinance binds couples and families for eternity. To see inside click on:

https://www.ldsliving.com/watch-first-official-look-inside-the-saratoga-springs-utah-temple/s/11433

    I was anxious to show Semiramis some of my favorite pieces at the      BYU Museum of Art. The first are a few "From the Vault"

Mahonri Young's"Ploughing Valley of the Great Salt Lake" (1930). Seagulls saved the lives of early settlers by devouring the cricket infestations. 

                 Daniel Ridgway Knight's 1892 "Premier Chagrin"

Edward W. Redfield's 1924 "The Valley." He was a student of William Bougereau, but owes more of his mature style to Monet. He is one of America's most prominent impressionists.

Hermann Kaulbach's 19th century " Rest on the Flight (of Mary, Joseph and Jesus) into Egypt. The light on their faces is beautiful

Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret's 1885 "Madonna of the Plane" (in the carpenter's shop)

                      1989 "Annunciation" by James Christensen

I'm always touched when I look at Minerva Teichert's 1938 Jewish arrival in NYC painting. 

The following works are incredibly complicated, intricate silk, cotton, wool, etc. stitchings, all commentary on climate change and our earth.

                                        "A River Ran Here"       "Rose Hips"

 After the Warming---Permanent Winter.".After global warming has blocked the sun, the earth may plunge into an ice age.

Semiramis in front of the museum. The snow has melted from the lower Wasatch front. We drove up Provo Canyon to Sundance where we found tulips blooming and rivers close to or overflowing their banks. There was dredging in hopes of saving roads, houses, etc.

   Mount Timpanogos from the back side. Always a spectacular sight!

Alpine Loop is closed because of flooding and avalanche danger, etc.

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Wasatch Elementary School has a wonderful end of the school year program. Each grade traditionally performs the same dance each year.

Cordelia (in longer shorts) and her fellow second graders do an African safari dance to "Lion King" music

                          Third graders do the Filipino Tinikling

                                    Another grade does a fun parachute dance

      Sixth graders do the maypole dance (2 of the 3 were successful)

This is the weekend we commemorate the men and women of the United States who died in wars. It is traditional to place flowers on cleaned graves. In Utah, chrysanthemums fill the stores, and are placed on graves, even those who did not die in war.

Way back in 431 B.C., soldiers killed in the Peloponnesian War were honored with a public funeral and speech given by Greek statesman Pericles, This is thought to be the first communal ceremony recognizing those who gave their life in war. Year after year, ancient Greeks and Romans hosted similar commemorations.

Not long after the Civil War ended, freed enslaved peoples, members of the U.S. Colored Troops, and some locals organized a ceremony to bury Union troops who died due to horrendous conditions of a prison created at what was once a racetrack, History.com reports. They honored the dead by singing hymns and placing flowers on their graves.

Here are a few familiar and moving quotes:

"Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country."  John F. Kennedy

"In the face of impossible odds, people who love this country can change it." — President Barack Obama

I wish we would take to heart the following quote written on the Statue of Liberty: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."

A year ago, our Prophet and President Russell M. Nelson pled with us in these words: “None of us can control nations or the actions of others or even members of our own families. But we can control ourselves. My call today, dear brothers and sisters, is to end conflicts that are raging in your heart, your home, and your life. Bury any and all inclinations to hurt others—whether those inclinations be a temper, a sharp tongue, or a resentment for someone who has hurt you. The Savior commanded us to turn the other cheek [see Book of Mormon: 3 Nephi 12:39], to love our enemies, and to pray for those who despitefully use us [see 3 Nephi 12:44].”

I pray that we can all be more loving, compassionate, other-centered, seeking harmony and understanding with those who see the world differently, who practice other religions, other traditions. If we do, there will be fewer costly and deadly wars. We honor those who have died for just causes.