Three Delightful Ds - Desert Sunset, Dedication and Harvest Delights

Roger stepped out on our balcony the other night and captured this gorgeous desert sunset.

On September 7, DSC held a dedication for the new Jeffry R. Holland Commons Building on campus. It is a marvel of steel and glass that houses the library, classrooms, and many commons areas for the students. 

Roger and I picked up our old friends, Kathy and Jim Jensen, from their new residence in St. George (they used to live in our ward in Ogden) to go with us.

The ceremony included a short talk from Greg Buxton, our old friend from Roy, and Roger served in a bishopric with him.  He was a homebuilder, and he is now over the construction of state buildings. We caught up with him as we walked from the Cox Auditorium to the new building for the ribbon-cutting, and we were tickled to see each other after all of these years.  We lived in Roy about thirty years ago!

During the ribbon-cutting, we stood right beside Elder Marlin Jensen, the outgoing Church Historian and Dad's old friend from Weber High. He is now appointed to the Utah Board of Regents and had flown in that morning for the ceremony. 

When he came up to me, he started chanting, "You can always tell a KD Girl, but you cannot tell her much!"

I said, "Hey, that sounds like a song I know!"

He said, "I know!" 

He is married to Kathy Bushnell Jensen, a good friend and sister KD.

Hearing President Uchtdorf's talk and dedicatory prayer was wonderful. He continues to be the Church's rockstar!

Brother Holland was so very humble about the building being named for him.  He and his wife graduated from Dixie and, at first, he wouldn't let them put his name on the building. 

"It's not about me," he said.  "It's about every student who ever went to this school."

 He continued, "It's a common building for a common student with common dreams and common life and maybe an uncommon hope. Because no more common student from any common background with anymore common resources ever attended Dixie State than I did."

It is so refreshing to hear truly great men speak.  Instead of postulating, yelling and making podium-pounding gestures, they speak with genuine humility. 

Roger took this pic on his iPhone from the back of the auditorium, and it's a bit blurred, but Brother Holland and his wife, Pat, are at the podium.

After the ribbon-cutting, we drove downtown for lunch at Piccolo Mundo, the Italian restaurant run by Fredrico, the Princess Cruise chef to whom Roger leased the building. It was so great to catch up with our old friends and we are excited that they have moved to St. George!

And, I'm just saying, we are even more thrilled that my sister, Kay, and her wonderful husband, Ken, live in St. George.  It's great to have a sister living in the same town, and we love them both so much!

They kindly gave us some delicious produce from their garden, and I had such fun trying new creations with the peaches, cucumbers, zucchini and yellow squash. I made these harvest delights.

I have been on a quest to find a crunchy crisp, and I think this one did it; it is Peach and Raspberry Crisp.

I shared a lot of this with friends and neighbors.

I kind of made up a Chicken and Squash Cheesey Bake.

This is a White Gazpacho Cold Cucumber Soup.

The best part of this time of year just might be the wonderful produce!

Oh, and college football!

USU 27 - U of U 20!

GO-O-O AGGIES!