AnnaMae and Mom in Utah

Whew! What a week! We're exhausted, but had a great time.

Friday morning I had a little spare time, so we headed down to the conference center. It was really neat to see, since the last time I was there was for my brother's wedding, and we didn't have time to wander around. Before that, Brian and I had visited while it was still under construction. It was hard to keep AM from climbing into the fountains on the roof.

Right now they are having an art show in the lobby of artwork made by members of the church. It was pretty neat to see the collection. Mom was getting re-inspired to paint, while I tried to keep AnnaMae from touching anything.

While I was busy teaching and demoing all week, my Mom took AnnaMae down to see her relatives. First they went and visited an aquarium. Ever since then AM has been obsessed with fishies. She already loves my mom's big fish tank at home, but these tanks were huge!

Then, Saturday they stayed down in Mapleton with my mom's brother. Mom's family threw her a mini family reunion because we were coming in town. Here's AM with her second cousin and my aunt that I adore.


I missed most of the fun, since I was still up in Salt Lake working, but I was able to drive down and get the last little bit of the action. AM had a chance to visit cousins and see lots of neat animals, like this horse, and the baby chicks that my aunt was raising in her bathtub.

Driving was a nightmare- they had thunderstorms the whole time we were in Utah. What should have been a quick drive was slowed down greatly by blinding rain, lightning, and water-logged roads. Luckily the roads were clearer when we drove back to the airport on Sunday.

It was nice to see my cousins and other relatives again, but it's also great to be home. Traveling with a baby and my Mom is definitely not as easy as traveling by myself.

Here in Utah

I haven't been here in Utah in many years (I don't mean layovers at the airport). Although it's been mostly work so far, we have had a chance to visit with some family and friends.

My mom and AnnaMae are with me. Mom is watching her while I do my demos and teach my classes. Wed, after we flew in and got into our hotel we had some of my mom's relatives come and visit, along with Brent, Brian's old mission buddy.

Now it's all work. My class yesterday was at the historic Armstrong Mansion. This was the home of the former mayor of SLC back around 1893. It was a small class, that lasted all day, then I went and visited 2 more stores after the class. I didn't get home until almost 10pm. Now I've got another day of work. I'll try to post photos soon.

The last days of school...

Here are some photos my mom took of my big boy at his last day of school, and the last day of Maple as a school. All of my brothers & sisters attended this school except Tom. I'll try to get some photos of it coming down as well.

Luke and old Bear walking to the school...

Luke in his classroom...

Luke and Mrs. Gallagher
Here are a couple photos of the poor old school. I can't remember how many times I went into the gym as a child- for plays, for PE and for lunch. This will be the first section to go....

Biking on his own...

Last night I went out with the girls for a fun evening. My mom took AnnaMae so that Brian and Luke could have some "Guy" time.

I got home really late and Brian proudly showed me a map of the neighborhood with a red line drawn around it (see exact diagram he made).
Just so you understand: the red is the path they took, the black lines are segments where Daddy wasn't holding him. The daqshes are where they had to stop for a break. So you can see that Luke was riding on his own for most of the journey.

That's over 2 miles! Brian was running behind Luke the whole way. Luke was wearing his flip-flops so he kept losing his shoes, but still, not bad!

Luke hasn't quite mastered the whole concept of breaks and turning, but he's got all summer to work on it. This means that Daddy will get a great workout running behind a now very-mobile 5 1/2 year-old.

Luke also has now completed Kindergarten. He is officially a 1st grader. One year of school done, 16 or so years to go. They're tearing down the old elementary school this week, so Luke gets to go to a brand-spanking-new school next Fall.

What a grown-up little boy we have!

WAY TO GO LUKE!!!