May 2022 - Spring Yard Projects, Family, Friends and Special Events

 

May was filled with so many events and projects I can't believe how much we accomplished.  Actually very glad to have a rainy Memorial Day weekend to get some rest --not sure I know what that means!

Emily and I finished the school year managing the cafeteria at Ignite Academy.  We celebrated Cinco de Mayo on May 5th - our Texas influence - with Taco Pie.  Memories of Dolores Richey teaching us how to make the paper flowers!

Our final lunch for the year was a homemade lunchable.  Emily went on a girl's trip to Texas the last two days so I was on my own.  It was nice to have no cooking and minimal clean-up.  It was a great experience and gave me an opportunity to serve in the community this school year.

SUMMER BREAK!

WEDDINGS AND GATHERINGS

WEDDING LUNCHEON

THE BOYS FROM AGSM

Emily and I helped with the decorating and food preparation for the luncheon and reception for Sam and Jessica Olsen.  It was held at the Olsen home in Lindon.  Emily is magical with decorating and it turned out beautiful.  We put together the fruit and vegetables Charcuterie style.  I could not even say that word a year ago and now I have put together many boards for events.  Always learning something new.  

We had so much fun putting this together and being a part of the day with the Olsen family.  Sam served with us in Vienna - he is one amazing, talented, brilliant and crazy young man!

We served over 200 people and it is always a great time getting together with friends from the mission.  The wedding season has just begun!

Get Together at Kiwanis Park, Provo, UT

The Vienna Group

Kristina Mogensen from Denmark and Christian from England - served with us in the AGSM were in the USA visiting friends and family.  They had a little get together for an afternoon at Kiwanis Park in Provo.  It was fun to catch up and to visit with so many friends.  We are so grateful they thought about us to invite and to hang out with this group - we are family!

Jonathan Coleman - served with him in Vienna - was in Provo training for being a FSY Counselor this summer.  It is a program for 14-18 youth in our Church.  He is currently living in Nauvoo, IL and we have not seen him for over 2 years.  

Tami, Linda, Claudia, Carol, & Sharon

BEST DAY of Shopping, Visiting and Eating Lunch at Gardner's Village in Salt Lake City with these amazing ladies from our mission.  It is always a great time when we get together.  Claudia Bretzing was visiting from Texas and it gave us a great opportunity to get together and catch up.  We missed those who could not come - just another reason to get together again.

I found this fun quilt while Shopping to update our bedroom for the summer.  Memorial Day was a great time to make the change for the next 100 days until Labor Day.

IN MEMORY OF GEORGE CASTELERO

American Fork Cemetery 

On Tuesday, May 17th we attended the graveside service for our dear friend, George Castelero.  He was in our Ward in Arlington, TX for many years.  We were so grateful to join with John and Denise Sivo and Tom and Linda Larson (former Texas friends) to support Trudy on that special day.  

MEMORIAL DAY REMEMBRANCE

We miss our tradition of visiting the National Cemetery in Dallas Texas on Memorial Day.  It has been a cold and rainy weekend so we only went to Wasatch Lawn Cemetery.  

Our Grandson, Logan competed in the Utah Special Olympics in Swimming.  He received 2 Silver and 1 Gold Medal for Free Style and Backstroke.  We are so proud of him.  He loves the water and enjoyed being back on the Swim Team after 2 years of not events due to Covid.  

Preslee finished Soccer Season with a great experience. Emily was her Coach and they learned a lot together.  She is hooked and wants to keep playing.  

Preslee in the middle hanging with one arm.

 EXHIBIT OF THE TABERNACLE OF THE CAMP OF ISRAEL 1447 BC - 967 BC

FRONT GATE

WASHING LAVER

ALTER OF INCENSE 

ARK OF THE COVENANT

There is a traveling exhibit with a replica of the Tabernacle during the days of Moses and the Camp of Israel.  I am teaching the Old Testament in Sunday School this year and it was very instructional and interesting to visit the exhibit.  It will be in Utah the whole month of June in Kaysville and Syracuse.

Temples are an important part of worship in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Learning the original instruction, symbolism and language helps us understand the purpose of today's Temples.  If you want to learn more about the ancient Temple Exodus 35-40 and Leviticus are a great place to start in the Old Testament.  Becoming Holy is part of Heavenly Father's Plan for us.  Temples help us become more Holy.  "Greater happiness comes from greater personal holiness . . .The scriptures teach us that among other things, we can be sanctified or become more holy when we exercise faith in Christ, demonstrate our obedience, repent, sacrifice for Him, receive sacred ordinances, and keep our covenants with Him...The hymn 'More Holiness Give Me" (hymn 131) suggests a way to pray for help in becoming more holy.  The author wisely suggests that the holiness we seek is a gift from a loving God, granted over time, after all we can do."  President Henry B. Eyring

HAPPY 72ND BIRTHDAY TO RUSS!

Tucanos Brazilian Grill

We celebrated Russ's birthday with a quiet lunch at Tucanos Brazilian Grill.  He got a new Electric Bike - I hope I can keep up with him - his is much nicer than my little electric bike.  We look forward to better weather in June to get back on the trail.  We really enjoy biking together.

MELALEUCA CONVENTION 2022

On Stage for 30+ years

Backstage waiting to go on Stage

It was so good to be back at Convention after 3 years of not getting together due to COVID and 2 years of being in Europe.  So much fun being with my Sisters Pam and Brooke and my daughter Emily.  It has always been a family affair.  So many memories of being with our Parents at Convention.  

Melaleuca is an On-line Shopping Store.  It is just a store.  We have over 400 products, Made in the USA.  I have been pushing the virtual shopping cart for 35 years.  Every year we are more grateful for these products that have helped us have a quality life.  

We were honored with a group of about 80 others for being Customers for over 30 years.  It was fun being behind stage and seeing people we have known for many years but usually don't run into with over 5,000 people attending convention.  We were part of the National Anthem for Canada and the USA sung by Nathan Pacheco.  It was so emotional and stirring.   We were introduced as the Pioneers of the Company.  It was a great experience!

One Year ago we started R3 to get back to our pre Covid weight.  This is a game changer.  It is a 6 week program to reset and then reintroduce good foods into your daily routine.  I have shared many recipes this past year and we will continue to follow the plan to maintain where we are.  It just makes sense with room for real life with no calorie counting and breaking the "diet" mentality.  

The R3 Cookbook will be released on June 1 on a limited basis.  These are recipes to help make healthy choices.  

HOME PROJECTS

We think we are nearing the completion of our home projects and moving to maintenance mode.  It has been a year since we started the Walk Out Basement part of our renovation.  Winter came and we still had some work that needed to be done.  We finally finished the walk way from the front of the house to our entrance in the back of the house.  This was one of the most labor intensive projects we have done.  We moved A LOT of DIRT and hauled 4 truck loads of paver base, sand, limestone and 120 pavers.

laying out the pattern

Base, Sand and Pavers laid

At this point, still hoping we can make it work.  We had a plan, vision, and self appointed deadline to get it done.  We missed the deadline, but making progress.  

We filled in with blue limestone and plants.  Just moving all of the junk, tools, bikes, etc. from when we moved in made a huge difference.  We wanted to put in grass, but with the drought conditions in Utah we decided it would be better to use rock.   We really like how it turned out.  It is level and the pavers do not rock!  Russ shoveled the sand and rocks and I was on my knees for about 6 hours spreading and making it level.  I still have sore knees and Russ is feeling the motion of lifting rocks on his side - new muscles that he doesn't usually use.

We found a great deal on fresh sod and filled in a few areas to finish off our yard.  Our back yard is like a park and we are really enjoying it.  A few paint projects left and it should be good.

new grass turf

Entrance to our walkway

The City Inspector came for the final inspection.  WHAT?!?  The space between the wires was 5 inches and CODE is 4 inches.  He said we had 6 months to make the change and have it reinspected.  He was very nice and complimentary of our design and what we had done.  He was actually sorry he had to ask us to make a change.  We went and bought the right wire panels - $300 more for the project - well worth it!  We removed the old and installed the new.  Much more sturdy and will last for years.  

Finished stairway

Looking forward to watching the flowers grow and fill in.  My Happy Place!

I think we survived the month!  We are grateful at this point in our life we are not just writing about all of the Doctor appointments we had.  We are healthy - Russ had his 6 month check up and doing great.  Dental Appointments were on the schedule this month.  New Crown for me and cleanings for both of us.  The whole month was filled with PEOPLE that are so special to us.  Time spent with friends and family is what makes it all worthwhile.  We had a delicious lunch with John and Denise Sivo in their lovely home in Salt Lake.  We had the bonus of being with their grandson, Van - what a delight!  The best part was seeing John delight in being a Grandpa!  It was a great month to see friends from our Texas days.  Tii and Mary Lolotai came and visited with us. It was so nice having them in our home and catching up with them.  We are so blessed to have so many wonderful friends and people in our life.  Our home is always open for a visit.  Looking forward to all of the adventures of Summer.  

With much Love,

The Grimmett's