More May Activities

It's been a cold and wet May. On the 7th Gayle and I drove to Sandy, UT to Hoopes Vision to get a follow-up checkup on my laser eye surgery (PRK). The original surgery went fine, but it's not 20/20 and I'm pushing for a touch-up job to improve it. I've only had one eye done and use the other (left) eye, which is near-sighted, for reading (mono-vision). We had Japanese food down there afterward, and did a little bargain hunting at the local Deseret Industries store. On the 13th, Alex, youngest child of our good friends the Mortensens, married Kelli at the Riter Mansion. They'll be sealed in the temple once it's been a year since Kelli's baptism. The Riter is where Alicia and Jesse got married.

Here are some of the girls throwing petals in advance of the bride. It was cold and a bit rainy, but all went well.

Dave Mortensen and his two girls.

Brent, Alex, Kelli, and Margaret

Jared caught up to his high school buddy, Robert Mortensen, who now lives in Salt Lake City.

Spence, Avril, and Alicia

Avril met Amy and Travis's daughter, Laurel.
The weekend of the 21st and 22nd, Jared and I went with ward men up to a Fathers and Sons camp-out to commemorate the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood. It rained during the entire ceremony around the campfire, and proceeded to rain all night until about 5:30 a.m. Unfortunately, while we had a nice tent and ground tarp, we forgot the rain fly. We improvised with several ponchos. We only had one puddle in the tent and slept more or less dry all night. It got pretty cold during the night but we were toasty in the tent. While cooking pancakes in the morning it hailed off and on, in between snow squalls. But a good time was had by all. Colton Parker even snagged a duck a hawk had killed at first dam and cooked it up and ate duck that evening.

Yesterday and today (27, 28) we took some vacation days to get the landscaping going (our annual effort). It's raining right now, which is why our outdoor activities have stalled and I'm able to finally do another blog posting. Earlier today I gave Avril a quick ride in the wheelbarrow.

As it rained, Avril got to practice some soccer moves in the garage. The following video clip shows a bit of this.

April Continued

April continued with our usual busy schedule. Gayle and Alicia went to a luncheon bridal shower for Alex Mortensen's fiance, Kelli Danielle Harris. Gayle thought Margaret's decorations and food looked like it came right out of Better Homes and Gardens.

From Kelli's bridal shower.

Amy, Laurel, and Alicia.

Margaret and Kelli.

Alicia and Gayle.

Full length.

From April 19 - 24 I was at my annual meeting in Manhattan. We stayed on Times Square again and walked each day to the Javitts Convention Center. I didn't take any pictures this year. Been there and done that too many times to really show anything new. Still, I enjoy the diversity and big city; and the dining options too, of course. Good to get home, however.

Alicia held a recital for her piano students at our house. We rounded up lots of folding chairs in advance and had treats after the performances. About 35+ attended. The pupils did well and I got to tend Avril while it was going on. We were upstairs, but Avril clapped most of the times the audience clapped at the end of each piece.

Our neighbor, Jordan King, was a star performer.

And Madison Olsen did a super job too.

Samantha Eliason was brave and went first. She did well!

Kary Ausen is the daughter of Alicia's bishop. She did more advanced pieces.

Avril loved the treats, and even wore a bit of them on her face.

A good time was had by all!

Other recent events included a High Priests fireside on "grand" parenting, given by a former general authority, Glen Jensen. And yesterday, after we held a three ward meetinghouse and grounds cleanup project, our elders quorum sponsored a golf outing. Jared and I teamed up with Runar Andersen and Tom Weyarts in a scramble competition. Although we had fun, we also had to brave high winds, hail, snow, and very cold, wet hands. On one green the hail was so thick we didn't actually putt, we just figured that out of four tries, one of us would have sunk the two foot putt under normal conditions. Today, May 2, was Fast Sunday. We enjoyed the testimonies and also seeing Alicia, Avril, and Jared for awhile. Then we returned folding chairs to mom and dad Parkinson's house. Yesterday Jesse drove with his dad, Bryan, to Idaho to play in a Stampede football game. They won, but he was bitterly cold with only his football uniform to keep him warm in 50 mph winds and snow/hail. We look forward to a real spring sometime this year!