A Busy Month

The last several weeks have been filled with fun and memorable events. For example, all the college kids finished their school year and for all the BYU kids it meant lots of changes. Cameron graduated and Lisa and Cameron moved from Provo to Park City. Jessica packed up all her stuff and brought it home, only to repack again and move to Virginia for the summer.

Dennis officially moved into the "big office" and although it is not decorated yet (at least to my standards) his furniture is all arranged and personal belongings stored. He has been on the road a lot, flying to Colorado, Washington and driving to Virginia with Jessica so he hasn't really been bothered by the lack of wall hangings, matching furniture.... Of course, at the pace he is traveling, or maybe just because of who he is, he may never be worried by those things.

Our friend, Lydia, came to visit for three weeks. We have been busy seeing all the sights we can. Our first weekend was spent at BYU Women's Conference. despite the rain and snow and cold, we had a great experience and learned a thing or two along the way. It was fun to run into people I knew and to meet new people. It is so fun just to sit down next to someone and begin talking to them. You just never know who you might meet. We sat down next to a big group of ladies and come to find out they knew a family from our ward in Arnhem. Amazing.

We celebrated Netherlands Queen's Day with about 30 people at our house. It was fun to meet new "dutch" friends and see old friends who all had been on missions to Holland or had lived in or visited there. We had LOTs of food and fun orange decorations. Everyone seemed to have a good time.

The next week, Lydia and I went to SLC and met friends along the way. We met her friend Rachel early in the day and then we met up with Sherryl van der Stek at the Lion House for lunch. It was a beautiful day and the gardens at temple square could have rivaled those of Kuekenhof.

Later that week, we headed to Yellowstone. It was cold and rainy and snowy up there but it just added another dimension to a place that we usually only see in the summer. We couldn't drive all the way through the park and near the lake and the canyon area the snow was still 2-3 feet deep. It was interesting driving through the park with the contrast between the cold air and the hot water bubbling causing lots of vapor. We couldn't decide if it felt more like a sci-fi scene or an end-of-the-earth scene.

This Bison and I were traveling in the same lane but opposite directions. I wasn't sure which of us had the right of way so I just stopped and he had to go around me. I really wanted to unroll my window and pet it but decided maybe that wouldn't be such a smart idea.

For mother's day, we went to Ralph and Lola's for a family get together. Our food assignment was some fruit.
After we got done eating, we got to hear Trevor as they did their mother's day call from grandma and grandpa's house. He has a very thick accent. It will be really fun to see him when he gets home. We took a picture of the family that was there that day (except Dave had already gone home.)

The last couple of days, we've gotten 14 new windows put in our house. They look so great. Partly because they are the only clean windows in the house. I have been blaming Mother Nature on my very dirty windows but I got motivated to clean at least the inside of the remaining windows and I guess not all the dirt is on the outside. It has probably been about 3 years since they were all cleaned well - at least I don't remember cleaning them the summer before we moved overseas.

This is the most changed spot on the house. Back in the olden days, all five windows were there but since we've lived in the house, only two of them have been opened. One had a swamp cooler in it and the other two were sided over. There is so much more light up in that and the adjoining room now.