July 2024 - Oregon, Grandchildren and 50 year High School Reunion

AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL

Provo Utah fireworks

I love the month of July and the many opportunities to celebrate this land of America.  Fireworks stir my soul as I ponder and reflect on the sacrifices  and miracles that have happened for us to have what we have today living in this Country.  

It was fun taking our grandchildren to the fireworks and seeing their excitement and wonder.  I hope and pray they can have a united and free America as they grow up.  I want them to be able to have that same wonder and awe when they see fireworks and to be proud to be an American.  

We spent the Fourth of July in Portland, Oregon with Joshua.  What an awesome night sitting at the top of the main bridge coming into Portland and watching the fireworks being shot off from a Barge in the middle of the River.  It was so festive and fun.  The Spirit of America was felt and celebrated!

OREGON

It is always a nice day when you visit Bob's Red Mill.  We stalked up on some unique grains and delicious granola.  They have a small cafe with a nice outdoor patio to enjoy a delicious lunch.  Russ had Asian Chicken salad with quinoa - so delectable.  

Russ and I took the opportunity to visit and attend the Portland Oregon Temple.  It is so majestic as it sits on a hill surrounded by tall pines and gorgeous gardens.  We really enjoyed our time there and the peaceful Spirit that is all around.  The only thing that would have made it better would being able to be there with our dear friends the Blanchards.  Praying for healing and blessings in their behalf.  

Josh took us on a nice walk to a Beaver pond.  You can see the tree they have chewed for their habitat.  Take a close look in the second picture under the tree and you can see a beaver.  It was fascinating to see this large pond that they have built a park around that is a natural habitat for the beaver and lots of ducks and other animals.  I have always had a love for beavers - my family had a Beaver Ranch when I was 10 years old that we built from the ground up and raised 600 Beaver for about 4 years until the SEC came in and determined you could no longer domesticate wild animals.  They were released into the wilds, mostly in Northern Idaho and Canada.  We still used the Beaver Ranch as a place for my Dad's horses and many family reunions and picnics.  It will always be a part of my life.  

Russ and I took a day and drove to Sag Harbor Washington - just outside of Seattle and visited our dear friend, Sam Swan.  What a wonderful few hours we had together.  Sam is a Texas friend who moved to Washington about the same time we moved to Utah.  

Sam taught me so much about life, love, art and friendship over the years.  I will always be grateful for her friendship.  She has a charming casita next to her son's home on the most beautiful piece of property.  She enjoys the birds in their many varieties, gardening and her pesky family of Black Bears that visit her yard nightly!  She makes the world a better place everywhere she goes.  

On our drive back to Portland we were able to see Mt. Rainer - so Majestic.  

On July 4th we started the day with a great adventure with Josh.  We took a drive through the Willamette Valley along the Columbia River into the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.  We were in some back country driving for about 2 hours and then it opened up to this panorama with Mount St. Helens in front of us at McClellan  Viewpoint. We were so lucky to have a beautiful day with no smoke or clouds.  

On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens changed from a lovely snow-capped peak to a steaming crater in just seconds.  Although the main force of the blast was focused to the north, the south side of the mountain was buried under massive mudflows.  The geologic record indicates that Mount St. Helens has major eruptions approximately  once every 125 years, with potentially catastrophic consequences for the surrounding landscape.  

During the 1908 eruption, hot ash, pumice and gases melted the upper 23 fett of snow and ice from Shoestring Glacier.  Meltwater mixed with rock forming a rapidly-moving mud slurry.  Traveling at speeds of 30-60 miles per hour, the thick flow seized trees, rocks and two bridges.  The mudflow's path down St. Helens' can still be seen today.  

Josh and Julie have discovered so many places to have dining and dessert adventures,  We got to be treated to a Korean Frozen Milk.  Oh my goodness - we got the mixed berry and Josh got Oreo.  Frozen ice milk with berries and cream.  It was so refreshing and big enough for us to share.  

After taking the bus into downtown Portland and walking around and seeing the sights we ended at the Food Truck Court for dinner.  Always a treat.  After a fire in one of the Trucks, a company in the area helped to establish a permanent place for the Food Trucks and it is now enclosed with a fence, public restrooms and tables and chairs with a canopy to eat under.  I always go with the Egyptian Truck.  

Walking up the bridge to get ready for the fireworks.  They closed off the two main bridges into downtown Portland and by the end of the night they were packed with people.  We were the first people up there and had an amazing spot at the top.  We watched the boats gather below as they prepared to see the festivities.  We loved being in a new place on the 4th of July and being a part of their celebration.  

STONEHENGE OREGON

Oregon's own Stonehenge.  This structure is the first monument in our nation to military personnel who gave their lives in WWI.  Memorializing 13 young Klickitat County men, it also serves as a lasting reminder of the works of Samuel Hill, patron of this region.  He established a townsite here with a postoffice, hotel, general store, nearly 10 miles of experimental paved roads, and the Maryhill Museum three miles to the west - all on his own land.  His tomb is on the opposite side of this monument.  

The design duplicates in size and original form England's famous Stonehenge (dated 1900-1350 BC).  When Hill, a Quaker pacifist, visted England during the 1914-18 conflict, saw Stonehenge and was told it had been used for human sacrifices to pagan gods he remarked: "After all our civilization, the flower of humanity still is being sacrificed to the god of war on fields of battle."  From that inspiration came this monument, built by Hill.  On July 4, 1918 the altar stone was dedicated.  The full structure was completed and dedicated May 30, 1929.

Today the sacrifice legend is generally discredited.  Current belief is that Stonehenge was a device used by stone-age astronomers to measure time and mark seasons of the year by observing positions of the sun and moon.  The diagram at left suggests how the original may have been used by its ingenious                                           builders.

Mt. Hood

Inside of the circle

World War I Memorial

This was a nice side trip on the Washington side of the Columbia River.  We crossed back over to the Oregon side to continue our drive.  We stayed with my sister, Brooke for the night in Ontario Oregon and the continued to our next event in Declo, Idaho.  The wedding reception for:

RICHARD AND LEAH ROBERTSON

JUST MARRIED

We served with Richard in Freiburg, Germany.  We are so happy for both of them as they begin their family together.  They traveled in style - compliments of a neighbor who provided the ride.  It was so fun seeing other missionaries from our mission at the reception.  Love our Mission Family!

CUMORAH FAMILY

Yevheniia and Ryker 

We called her "Ginger" at Cumorah - she is from Ukraine and has immigrated to the United States.  She and Ryker were engaged last month officially and were married this month.  We are so happy for them.  We had them over to dinner to celebrate.  

Beautiful night to enjoy the Sunset.  Emily and I had a Church Relief Society activity and this was the sky as we were coming home.  We had such a fun time together learning how to water color.  I am a good food artist and can decorate but I have never been good at drawing, painting or sketching.  Below is my first real attempt at water color - we did all things watermelon - we all attempted to paint the same picture and then they served watermelon, cookies and cupcakes decorated like watermelon and watermelon rice Krispie treats.  It was such a fun food table.  

Water Color 

50 YEAR HIGH SCHOOL REUNION

We drove to Twin Falls Idaho for the two day 50th High School Reunion on Friday morning.  We decided it would be best to travel in the morning before the heat of the day.  This gave us the opportunity to attend a session in the Twin Falls Temple.  It brought back so many memories of the last time we took my parents to the Temple in Twin Falls before my mother passed away.  It was a really nice afternoon for both of us and was a great way to start off the weekend.  

The Reunion started with a Taco Dinner catered by Rosa, one of our classmates who owns a restaurant in Twin Falls.  They served great street tacos with rice and beans.  It was fun remembering names - I stayed up late the. night before going through my year book refreshing my memory and only hoped I would recognize and remember.  

I observed that those who partied during High School had a lot more friends and had stayed in touch - mostly because they stayed in Twin Falls or went to the same colleges.  Most of my close friends were a year older than me so I never get to see them.  I was friendly to everyone in school and so it was nice to just get to see so many again.  62 classmates have passed away since graduation.  That is a lot out of about 450 in our class.  We had about 125 attend the reunion.

One of our favorite things was THE ROCK.  I even had my name painted on it for about 24 hours when I was a Sophomore running for class Secretary.  The Rock was painted Friday morning by some of our classmates in honor of our class of '74.  It was fun to take a picture together around the rock.  It was put there by a class as a prank the year before I started High School.  It was so popular that it was placed permanently in this spot and has stayed for the past 50 years.  

What a walk down memory lane it was to be back in the High School after all those years and walk the halls together.  We had a tour of the school on Saturday morning and about 43 classmates came for that event.  That was one of the most fun parts of the reunion.  We shared stories of lockers, teachers, detention and study hall and all things high school.  

The first picture above is in the gym.  In 2020 they put in a new gym floor and took the middle section of floor with the school logo BRUINS and hung it on the wall.  That is the floor the State Championship team played on in 1974.  I can still remember the winning shot of the last game played determining if we would go to State.  It was a 1 point game with seconds on the clock and we were fouled.  We needed two points to win - a foul shot would not do it.  Landy Haynes knew just what to do - his Dad was the coach.   He through the ball to hit the rim and got the rebound and put it in for two!  We Won the game and were off to Pocatello at the Idaho State Mini Dome for the State Playoffs.  We won that year and as you can see from the banner the next Twin Falls Team did not win state for 32 years!  That was an amazing team and so fun to be in Drill Team and so involved in the excitement.  Unfortunately none of the players from that team came to the reunion.

One of the fun things on the tour was taking us down into the basement - they call it the tunnel where all the heating and water pipes are and let us sign the walls.  It was so fun to find my brother, Tad's name and message on the wall that he had signed last year at his 45th Reunion.  

One of the other highlights was meeting up with one of my best High School friends, Meg Harvey.  He father owned a nice women's clothing store downtown called The Mayfair.  They did fashion shows at a local restaurant on Thursdays and I was one of the models - even got Model of the Month and was on the local TV station for one of their advertisements.  Those were fun days.  We lived out in the country close to each other and I would give her rides to work after school.  We have not seen each other in 20 years and it was nice to visit and catch up.  She was liked by everyone, so smart and one of the best dressed girls in school.  Many said this would be the last Reunion they would attend.  I was remembered for the freckles on my face, my smile and being a "straight arrow".  That's OK - the good living I have had the past 50 years has paid off in so many ways and I would not trade my life for anything else.  

Another highlight was visiting one of my best friends, Carolyn Hall Browning,  who was a year older than me and lives in the home she grew up in.  Oh how I love visiting their home - so many memories.  It is interesting how childhood friends can be some of the best lifetime friends - all the memories from our formative years.  We stayed with my brother Tad and his wife Kris.  So grateful to still have some family in the Twin Falls area and that we could spend some time with them and also visit my brother, George.  It was a wonderful two days with family and friends.

My brother suggested we stop in Burley, Idaho on our way home and see the construction of the new Burley Idaho Temple.  It sits on a small hill just outside of town in the middle of farm land with the mountains in the background.  It is almost completed and will be really nice for the people in Southwest Idaho to have a Temple in their area.  

We stopped in Kaysville, UT and picked up two of our grandkids - William and Nora from Wichita Kansas who will be spending the week with us.  On to new adventures!

GRANDKIDS

This month has been filled with fun times with grandkids - we don't get to see most of them very often so we have enjoyed the time we have had.  

Logan lives upstairs from us and we can go days and never see him.  He usually comes around when he wants Grandma to fix him food or needs batteries for one of his devices.  He got a new music CD from one of his favorite games and it came with a recipe book.  He likes to cook and learn new things so he asked if we could make a few of the recipes.  He picked their Traditional Pizza to start off.  We made a grocery list and got all of the ingredients we needed.  We made the Pizza dough and while it was rising we went to the store.  We made the homemade sauce and it was time to roll out the dough.  He wanted to follow the directions exactly and even Grandma had to learn some new tricks.  I was praying it would turn out so he would be happy.  We put the pizza stone in the oven to get hot.  Then it said to form dough on a pizza board - I don't have one so we used my pastry sheet.  

I put lots of corn meal on the bottom so it would not stick.  Logan spread the toppings he wanted and it was ready to transfer to the hot pizza stone.  It slid off right on to the stone and even stayed pretty round.  That was a first for me and I was so relieved.  

Ready for the Oven

Logan ready to eat the first piece

The next project was the Pizza Supreme - Deep dish

New dough recipe and baked in a springform pan.  Logan topped it like he wanted it and we baked it.  It looked amazing and actually easier than baking the first one.  

Just out of the oven

Sides off and Logan drooling over getting to eat it.  In the end he said it was too much crust - more like a stuffed dinner roll.  He liked the thinner crust the best.  It smelled so good and was a real test of will power for Russ and I not to be able to eat any of it.  I am the cook so I did get to have a little taste to make sure it was good enough to eat!

The best part was spending time with Logan and seeing his delight in the process.  

MOON'S RARE BOOKS

Brian, Beth and kids arrived from Wichita Kansas and we spent a fun day with them.  We started at Moon's Rare Books in Provo.  They love books and movies and this was such a treat.  We did not get to take a tour but if you ever are in the Provo area it is a place you will not want to miss.  

Below is the door into the vault room where very rare items are kept.  It is a real experience to have a tour with Mr. Moon as he tells of his acquisitions  and what they mean to him.  He travels the world to get first editions and signed copies of books and movie memorabilia.  It is a bookstore museum and a true adventure.  

Vault Room

Next stop was to the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University for a Lego Exhibit.

For the last 50 years, one of the most accessible and universally understood means of creation has been the LEGO or plastic brick.  Initially created in 1949, LEGO comes from the Danish phrase leg godt, which translates to "play well" in English.  

Temple Square Assembly Hall-

Took nearly 200 hrs. to design and build.  16,300 Bricks

The stained glass windows are photographs of the real windows.  The door handles are LEGO ice skates.  

On the right is the Salt Lake Tabernacle -

24,000 LEGO bricks.  Took 1,200 hrs. to build

The roof and its substructure have nearly 500 hidden hinges and about 7,500 pieces that were altered using custom band saw and table saw jigs.

The Salt Lake Temple

Made up of 25,000 LEGO blocks

This build has 400 LED lights including ones in the towers and the flower beds.  

Parts that had to be altered to capture the beauty of the temple of at the time of building now exist in the LEGO inventory.

Joseph Smith Memorial Building - Formerly Hotel Utah

Took 2 years to research, design and build

Built with 97,000 LEGO bricks

The German flag colors of black, red, and gold are part of the internal support structure.

The Garden Restaurant has been built out, complete with tables, menus, and food.  

The stained glass ceiling over the main entrance was created using actual photographs of the original building and then resizing them.

It was a special time telling the grandkids that this is where my family began.

My parents met in front of Hotel Utah back in 1941.  My Dad was parked in front of the Hotel and had gone across the street to an appointment.  My mother worked as a telephone operator and had just finished her shift.  As she and a girlfriend left work they met up with her friends boyfriend who was a good friend of my Dad.  He said, "Ruth, you go sit in the front seat of George's car and we will hide in the back seat and surprise him when he comes.  When he was walking toward his car he saw someone sitting in the front seat and as he got closer he wondered who is that beautiful women sitting in my car?  It was pretty much love at first sight and they dated and married within a few months.  So, this building has always been a special place in our family and we have heard that story for many years.  

Image of Christ Mosaic 

made out of LEGO pieces by Jen Raine Smart in 2023

Why are these pieces of toy so crucial to creation?  Because there is no limit to how they are used or for what they are used, there is no wrong way to create with them.  Whether you follow instructions or prefer to "freestyle," you create something as uniquely designed as you are when you connect tow bricks together.  "We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter (or brick) into our. hands and mold it into something of beauty."

Can't be at BYU without a trip to the Bookstore and a visit with COSMO the BYU Mascot.  Russ and Preslee just taking a break.  

Last stop was the 9th Street Creamery for a scoop of Ice Cream.  Logan said it was the best part of the day.  Brian and Beth have made sure their kids know about all things BYU.

Brian and Beth went back to work and William and Nora stayed with us for a week.  Lots of activities together and fun family time with cousins.

Baking and Craft days.

Nora chose to make Snickerdoodle cookies.  She did a great job - they turned out so good.  She had her favorite treat for the rest of the week.

finished cookies

William chose to make a Chocolate cake.  We made it from scratch - no box mixes and it was the perfect consistency and great taste.  We frosted it with melted chocolate chips - my favorite part.  He decided he would have like chocolate buttercream better but there was none left by the end of the week!

Nora wanted to make a blanket for their little Corgi  dog, Bailey.  We went to the fabric store and she picked out this cute dog print fleece with a matching back.  we trimmed it to be even, pinned the edges and then Nora sewed the seam.  She did so good for her first time sewing.  Straight lines are not as easy to sew as you might think.  I did the round corners and she did the rest.  Fleece is very forgiving and was a great project to begin on.  She slept with it until she could go home and give it to Bailey.

Nora sewing

finished blanket

William offered to make dinner one night.  He made the most delicious beef stroganoff!  He made enough to have leftovers for the next two days lunches.  Win for both of us and because he made it he wanted to eat it.  He knew the recipe by memory and we shopped for the ingredients and then he put it all together, even down to the seasonings.  He was so cute and is a great chef.  

William ready to eat!

Nora and I made an apron for her.  She helped to lay it out and pin all of the pattern pieces and then she cut it out.  It is a two sided apron with a pocket on each side.  We had to adjust it a little to make it smaller for her and it is still a little big but she loves it.  

Cotton fabric was good for her to sew on and she learned some good skills that she can build on.  It brought back so many memories of me learning to sew.  I have enjoyed teaching my granddaughters how to sew.  

Nora cutting the fabric

Time to cool off in the pool and on the water slide.  My sister, Pam brought some of her grandchildren over and we had a great time.  The kids loved playing in the water and the excitement of our giant slide.  They spent 2 hours playing along with a delicious Taco bar dinner.  We loved having family together and getting to know each other.  

Adventures at the Trampoline Park.  We only came away with 1 injury and an ice pack.  The cheese wall won when William tried to navigate on it to the other side!  

Nora on the tires

William just about there.

24th of July - PIONEER DAY

What better way to spend Pioneer Day than in the Utah State Pioneer Museum in Salt Lake City.  Our plans had been to climb to Ensign Peak and then drive down Gravity Hill before going to the museum.  Unfortunately there was a wildfire on the peak and it was closed and also the road to Gravity Hill.  So we headed to the museum.  My sister, Pam is a docent at the museum and it was fun for William and Nora to learn more about the Pioneers.  They even found a portrait of their great great great grandfather, Henson Walker.  

Every Pioneer museum has to have a handcart pull.  First stop to get everyone in the mood and feel like a pioneer.  

Nora thinking it is easy

American Fire Engine Company Steam Engine

Date of manufacture:  1902

Date of restoration:  1994-1996

Type:  First size, horse-drawn steam pumper

Performance:  1,000 gallons per min. at 100 pounds steam pressure

Original cost:  $8,900.  Restoration cost:  $125,000

William asked if it was Willy Wonkas machine

Nora was excited that the Days of 47 Royalty were in the museum after the parade in Salt Lake City.  The Queen was so friendly and took time to talk to Nora - she loved it!

ROAD TRIP TO WICHITA KANSAS

We looked at all of our options for the drive to Wichita and wanted to make it a fun adventure for Will and Nora and not just a long 18 hr. drive home.  It was better than we expected traveling with kids again.  

We drove from Lindon to Heber and then past Strawberry Lake and on to Vernal.  It has been over 45 years since we had driven this drive and it was so beautiful.  Oh the memories.  When we first got married my Parents owned a cabin at Strawberry and Russ and I spent many weekends at the cabin.  My Dad decided it was too far from Idaho and a luxury for his kids at BYU and sold it.  We also had many vacations to Vernal UT on our way to Dutch John to visit The Campbells - close friends of my Dad.  This trip was the first time seeing the Vernal Temple that had been restored from the original Vernal Tabernacle.  I can't believe that was 26 years ago.  The Temple grounds are beautiful and Nora and I were excited to see a Bride and Groom having their pictures on the steps of the Temple.  

Next stop was Dinosaur National Monument. Both Russ and I had been there as kids and it is even nicer now.  It is well worth the visit.  Can't believe we never took our kids on the many drives from Texas to Utah.  

Paleontologist Earl Douglas in a 1923 letter to the Smithsonian Institute said, "I hope that the Government, for the benefit of science and the people, will uncover a large area, leave the bones and skeletons in relief and house them in.  It would make one of the most astounding and instructive sights imaginable."  That is what is here.

Fascinated with finding dinosaur bones

Paleontologist Othniel C. Marsh identified the first Stegosaurus fossils near Morrison, Colorado in 1877 based on a few fragments of strange looking bones.  The scientific process embraces new discoveries and uilds on older ideas to incorporate better information.  Ongoing investigation of the fossil record lets us piece together more accurate pictures of the past and allows dinosaurs to run wild in our imagination.

The Stegosaurus statue in the top photo is one of nine life-sized dinosaurs sculpted by Louis Paul Jonas for the Sinclair Dinoland exhibit at the 1964-65 New York World's Fair.  Jonas consulted with leading paleontologists and drew on his experience as a taxidermist and wildlife sculptor to depict each dinosaur as accurately as possible based upon the current knowledge.  

This Stegosaurus has greeted visitors since the late 1960's.  It was restored to its original World's Fair colors in 2016.

In this area an ancient river flowed swiftly across a vast plain.  Then a long drought killed many dinosaurs.  Some dinosaur bodies lay near and in the dry river channel.  When extensive rains returned, floods drowned some dinosaurs and swept up carcasses of others that were already dead.  The river carried the bones downstream along the river bottom.  As the river slowed the bones dropped to the river bottom and began to pile up.  They were covered by sand and mud.  The result was the dinosaur "logjam" that is what you see today at this site.

Paleontologists have collected fossils from almost 400 different dinosaurs at this site.   There are 1,500 fossil bones remaining.  They are from 100 individuals.  The first bones were excavated at this site in 1909.  

We spent the night in Denver Colorado and then continued our drive onto Wichita.  So glad we had a nice day on Saturday because 1-70 across Colorado and Kansas is uneventful.  Stopping at Fuzzy's Taco Shop for lunch was the highlight of the trip!

Many people tell me it makes them tired reading my Blogs.  I have to say even I am amazed at all the places we have been and all we have done in the month of July.  We will end the month with continuing our drive to Texas to visit friends, get a haircut from my favorite hairstylist, Tiffany and eat some good Tex-Mex food!  

We are so grateful that our friends Chuck and Karen Spitzer returned safely from their mission to Malta in the Rome Italy Mission.  We are sorry to miss seeing them in Texas - they are celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary.  Wishing them a bright future together and continued blessings.  They have been a light and example to so many people over the years and have blessed so many lives.  

Enjoy the last month of Summer heat. I think we are all looking forward to a cooler Fall.

The Grimmett's