Memorial Day Weekend Up North

Roger and I greatly looked forward to going Up North for Memorial Day Weekend this year, 

for two different reasons.

He was invited and treated by our oldest son, Rick, on a golf adventure to Bandon Dunes, Oregon, 

with Rick's son, Josh, and our other son, Ryan. 

That same foursome went to Pebble Beach over six years ago, and this was kind of a farewell golf trip 
for Josh, who will be leaving soon for the MTC. 

I was going to meet up with my siblings and spouses (Kay and Ken couldn't be there) 

at our parents' graves in Logan, to place flowers and to honor them.

We rarely get together and we haven't been on a get-away trip for a few years.

So I was really excited to see them! 

We left Wednesday morning with the goal in mind to stop at the Open House of the new Payson Temple 

on the way to Rick's home in SLC. 

Payson, Utah Temple

Though the day was overcast, there were many lined up to go through this beautiful new House of the Lord.

The surrounding grounds were strikingly beautiful.

With the theme of apple blossoms, representing the many apple orchards in the area, 

the interior rooms are stunning.

The Baptismal Font

There were gorgeous painted murals all around the font.

There are five stories in the temple, with finely crafted staircases. 

We were so impressed with how orderly the volunteers handled the crowds,

and it was a special experience to be there.

I stayed Thursday and Friday with Jodie and the kids, and thoroughly enjoyed being with them - 
they are such a great family!  
Jodie treated me to lunch on Friday at a fun restaurant near downtown SLC, Gourmandise.

Saturday morning, Patty and Hal picked me up at Rick's to travel to Logan to meet up at noon 
with my brother, John and his wife, Cindy, who drove from Caldwell that morning, 
and my sister, Joan, and her husband, Tom, who had gone on a little road trip to Bear Lake and Soda Springs, then spent the night in Logan Friday night.
It was so fun to catch up chatting with my sister, Patty, and her husband, Hal, 
as we drove to Logan, then greet the others, when we arrived, with great joy! 

It had rained hard earlier that morning, but we were very lucky and we didn't get rained on.

We set our cameras on a tombstone in front of us, set the timer, counted to six, and click, click, click!

Four of the five Lyman and Dorothy kids - we missed Kay and Ken!

And Roger hated to miss the reunion - why do good things so often happen at once?

Cindy is our sister, too!

Evan and Kelly, who own a large flower company, sent the most absolutely gorgeous flower arrangements!

Mom's (who loved pink) . . . 

. . . and Dad's

We next drove to Wellsville, where our Grandma Peterson's parents who raised her, 

James and Sarah Parks, are buried.

Our mom's mom, Libby Fox's mom (our great-grandmother) died in childbirth when she had her, 

so a barren second cousin and her husband, Sarah and James, took her in. 

It really pleased our mom, when, years ago, we drove to Wellsville to put flowers on the Park's grave, 

so we like to do it after we go to the Logan Cemetery each year that we can go.

Tradition is to drive to Brigham City to eat at Maddox, 

before the gathering breaks up and everyone heads for home.

The food is always delicious, with everything homemade, including amazing rolls, 

cornbread, salad dressings, pies and ice cream.

Their fresh halibut is a special treat!

We had so much fun laughing and talking, sharing what's new in our lives 

and teasing each other about the past.

We genuinely like each other and love to go on fun trips together.

We set a tentative date for our next adventure (in 2017) and talked about the destination possibilities.

John's birthday is in May, so I gave him V chocolates caramel and chocolate-covered pretzels. 

We were all so full after our yummy dinner, so I hope he enjoys them later!

We were all reluctant to say good-bye, 

but were glad that we will see each other at the extended family Gabrielsen Reunion the end of June. 

There is just kind of a magic that happens when we are all together, 

and we don't realize how much we miss it until we are together again!

"Who Ya Gonna Call? BLUBBER BUSTERS!"

Well, we've been at it again!

Though most of us couples are retired in our Green Valley 8th Branch,

we're not dead yet!

And get-togethers are not even close to boring!

Charlotte Nebecker (front row, middle) is a pistol!

She and her husband have served three missions to third-world and exotic places like Mozambique, interior China and Italy and have lived overseas for his long military career. 

When Charlotte does something, she jumps in with her whole heart and every sinew of her anatomy.

When she was assigned to organize an Enrichment meeting on Health and Fitness, 

she wasn't about to have the sisters yawning (oh this again?)!

To the music, Ghostbusters, she had us kicking and twisting and punching and gyrating and bending and swiveling and . . . well, you get the idea! 

And, in the middle part of the song, when she had the audience call out, Who ya gonna call?

We answered, Blubber Busters, then we went out and vacuumed blubber with our handheld vacuum parts. 

I know, it's one of those things that you had to be there. 

composite pics taken from our Relief Society Newsletter

Each Blubber Buster shared a Health Tip.

My Health Tip was to have a passion, and I taught the sisters one of my favorite songs to sing with my grandkids, Would You Like to Swing On A Star? complete with lots of actions that all of the sisters did with me.

Pouty Face

Owner of a popular Thai restaurant in town and new yoga studio, Benja led a fun "chair" session of yoga. 

I guess that as long as we're able, we're going to keep kicking and twisting and punching and bending and gyrating and swiveling and . . .

A Concert, A Fitbit and A Golf Warm-up

Roger and I always look forward to the Keynotes Spring Concert in the St. George Tabernacle.

My sister, Kay, The Keynotes Music Director, finds wonderful music for them to perform, 

then executes it to perfection with rehearsals and expert direction. 

The concert was gorgeous!

And this year provided a bonus! 

Our sister, Patty, her husband, Hal, and a visiting German young man from their last mission to Berlin, David,

surprised Kay when they walked into the Tabernacle for the concert. 

Patty and Hal took their German friend on a tour of some of the national parks in Southern Utah, 

and came the night before they had told her for the surprise. 

More of Kay's fans - Ken's brother, Don, and his wife, Ada, who live in St. George and Kay and Ken's daughter, Michelle and her three kids, 

who drove up from Las Vegas.

On Mother's Day, Roger always takes a pic of me and sends it to the kids 'cause none of them live nearby.

I had already changed out of my church clothes and am wearing a Mother's Day gift - my new fitbit pedometer! 

10,000 steps is a lot, I've discovered!

Our oldest grandson, Josh, and Roger have talked many times about him coming to St. George 

to golf with his grandpa and let me cook for him. 

Josh has always been fun to feed, because he loves food and will try anything!

Josh will be leaving for the MTC in June, in preparation for his Mandarin-speaking LDS mission to Hong Kong. 

So, Josh drove down to St. George on Monday after Mother's Day to stay with us and get in a couple days of golf. He was on his high school golf team, and is really pretty good.

He arrived in time for lunch and I made Cuban paninis, then they played 18 holes at Sky Mountain in Hurricane. 

That night we barbecued ribs and had baked beans, potato salad, sour cream cucumbers, balsamic tomatoes, garlic bread and chocolate sundae cake.

Next morning, they played 18 holes at Sunbrook.

Josh had five birdies and they both had some great drives.

 Josh couldn't wait to tell me that Grandpa drove it for 317 yards!

(Roger said it was helped by being downhill, and it took a great roll!)

I took their pic in our backyard.

That is the 7th green of Woodbridge in the background.

We loved having Josh all to ourselves for a couple of days. 

They don't come any finer than this kid!

Next week, our son, Rick, Josh's dad, is taking these two plus his brother, Ryan, on a golf adventure 

to Bandon Dunes in Oregon, so look out, Rick and Ryan - 

these two are warmed-up!

Trip Up North # 7,838,391,55 . . .?

Roger and I get lots of things done on our Trips Up North.
(St. George is at an elevationof 2,884 feet and SLC is at an elevation of over 4,400 feet.
Hence, the UP north.
It is just over 300 miles from St. George to SLC and about another 40 miles to Ogden.)

With two of our kids and their families living on the Wasatch Front, in addition to Roger's mom, 
all of his siblings and their families, our old friends, and that's not mentioning 
my long-standing hairdresser and family dentists, 
we have many occasions to travel up there. 
Here's the #1 reason to go up recently -
Our Miss Katie was in South Davis Junior High's Production . . . 

. . . of this:

Our cute Katie definitely has a future on the stage!

She was so fun to watch! Mom Jodie and big brother Josh were cheering her on . . .

. . . as were Grandmas Pam and Kathie and Grandpas Roger and Bart and her sister, Sadie.

We adore this beautiful granddaughter!

We also brought Katie's birthday present . . .

. . . as well as her sister, Abby's.

And here is our laundry list of other Up North activities:

#2. Pick up caramel chocolate-covered pretzels at V Chocolates for the mothers of the branch for Mother's Day (check)

#3. Roger get his tooth fixed by Nephew Sam (check)

#4. Pam get her hair cut/colored/fixed by Jessica (check)

#5. Visit friends RoJean and Dave (check)

#6. Visit our friend, Gordon Jones, who just received a kidney transplant (Yay, Yay, Yay! - check)

#7. And last, but definitely not least, visit our Mindy's cute family in Highland (check)

Charlie insisted on Grandpa wearing his new Mickey hat.

And we tried to store up on hugs and kisses with little Fiona.

Mindy, Jeff and kids went with us to have a yummy Mexican lunch at Mindy's new favorite restaurant.

While I could probably eat fish three times a day,

 Mindy is my girl who could do the same with chips and salsa.

We headed back home after lunch with our car full of Mother's Day treats 
and our hearts full of good memories of Trip #7,838,391,55 . . .? Up North!