Our days are

jam packed with lots of activities, and I haven't been very good about taking pictures.  Suffice it to say that we love that Tiffany and the kids are able to stay longer and that Justin is generous enough to share them with us.  He went home after four days, so he could put work hours in, and is flying back on August 7.   Then the whole family will drive home on the 8th.  It will be a very quiet house, so it is fortunate that on the 9th we will be at an Anderson reunion in Heber with my brothers and sister.  

I've tried to spend at least four hours a day working, but it is a little harder when there are cute little girls that want to make paper dolls and play barbies and older kids who we also want to spend time with.  But it is working out, and I'm very grateful that I have a job that can be so flexible. 

Have I mentioned that the website is open now?  Go to loraleelewis.com and browse through the hundreds of amazing products.  I entered most of the products into the website, so if you see misspellings, you can blame me.  It is exciting times as she is getting some well known clients to create work for.

I'm going to attempt to give a representation of our activities of the last week and a half.  Here we go.

  

Hard to believe

that our grandson, Jackson, turns 16 today.  I remember clearly watching his birth and being totally amazed when he was a boy.   Well, now he is more than a boy.  He sould say he is a man, but I'll modify that a little and say that he is a wonderful, handsome, talented, and perfect "young" man.

He is getting a little big for sitting on our laps

 but we'll let him as long as he will!

We love you, Jackson!

Happy 16th Birthday!

What fun

we are having . . . . . .

Saturday there was a

30 year reunion for the 1982 Provo High State Championship Football team.  Gary was an assistant coach on the team, and he was invited to a golf tournament during the day and we went to a banquet in the evening. 

There was quite a camaraderie among the coaches and players at that time.  I loved hearing the memories and was inspired by the comments about how being a part of a championship team had influenced them in their lives.  They had each of the coaches speak for a moment, and it was great to hear the memories and thoughts they shared.  It touched me when one of the players sitting at our table told Gary that there had been two big disappointments in his high school life.   One was when a friend moved out of state and the other was that Gary wasn't coaching baseball his senior year. 

It was a reminder to me that you never know what influence you may be having upon people, especially youth.    Gary taught and coached at Provo High for 7 years, but then he took a sabbatical to get his Masters in Computer Science.  He came back the following year and coached baseball for three more years.  Now, thirty years later, he's come full circle.  He's back coaching baseball and football.  

Here is a picture of the four coaches 30 years later.    They have remained good friends, and Gary (Base), Gary Roylance (Personnel), and Bob McKay (Bob Bitch'n) have always been known as the "Blimpos."  I think the name speaks for itself.  Basically, a whole new terminology was developed in their name.  In fact, I may have just "blimpoed" my blog by posting their pictures.

 Gary (Base 1), Frank (Head Coach), Gary (Personnel), Bob (Bitch'n or Base 2)

Here is the whole team.  Several of them went on to play at

BYU, such as Sean Covey and Fini Unga.

When I decide to

make a mess, I really do it well.  I think I can have bragging rights in that regard.

It's been, I don't know how long, since we had the carpets cleaned.  And they were driving me nuts.   It was especially bad in my craft room.  The carpet cleaner asked me what the stains were (so he could best know how to clean them) and I told him I had no idea.  Glue, ink, chalk, food?  You name it, and it was probably there.  

In the process I had to get everything off of the floor in all the carpeted rooms in the house.  On top of that, I was trying to sort, organize and purge, with only limited success.   Just imagine piles of stuff stacked on every non-floor surface.  When will I ever learn?

Anyway, the carpet cleaned up really well, but it is still not completely dry in the basement.  I'm starting to panic a little bit, as our very anticipated guests are coming in the next few days.  We are so excited to have the Idiart crew come to visit.  They will just have to forgive me if they have to sleep upstairs for a few days.

But, it feels really good to have the carpet clean.  Even in places that it doesn't look different, my bare feet know the difference.    And now the craft room is ready for the next wave of projects, which I know will include lots of paper doll making.  I can't wait!

LaArtiste Yearbook of 1934

I've been trying to get my mementos, documents, and pictures organized.  I did really well for a bit, but then ended up putting most of them back where they started.  It is overwhelming, to say the least. 

I did run across a real gem, though.  From the Springville High School Yearbook of 1934, I ran into a "Sentimental Gentleman" and a "Red Faced" girl (who just happen to be my parents).

I love it!   I'm sure I've seen the pictures before, but I don't remember the one of Dad at all.  The descriptions are classic, though I wish I knew a little more history behind the "Was My Face Red."   Dad always was a "Sentimental Gentleman."

And here are the name tags we wore to our 40th high school reunion.  The pictures are from our Provo High School 1972 yearbook.   

Oh, where does time go . . .

40 years!!!

It's really hard to believe that it has been 40 years since we graduated from high school.  Really!  We went to our Provo High School Class of 1972 reunion on Thursday night.  It was so fun to catch up with people I hadn't seen in a long time.   Some of them I really haven't seen for 40 years, and it was almost like meeting them for the first time.  

I've felt very blessed by the friendships we have maintained with so many of our friends through the years.  Between my girlfriends and Gary's guy friends (and also the fact that many of us married each other), getting together has always been something we've wanted to do.   The planning committee did a great job of contacting people, too.   With the ease of face book and social media, it made a difference in being able to find people, too. 

There were a lot of people that weren't there that I would have loved to seen, but my very best high school friend was right there with me.  

Happy

Independence Day!

I've had mixed emotions today about what used to be our annual "Ashton Stadium of Fire."  I'm big on tradition, so it didn't seem right not to have it.  But, now that we can no longer do fireworks in front of our home, it's also just not the same.  Last year we held it at the elementary school, but the personal aspect was gone and the work was tripled.   For that reason, I was very relieved today that we weren't having to worry about it.  But I still have mixed emotions, and Natalie said she was disappointed because her favorite part is hearing Dad's commentary.   

We did celebrate the 4th, though, with a barbecue at Gary and Lynn's.  I love having them so close. Tom's kids are in, and we had such a good time visiting with them.   I'm really feeling for them right now, as the reason they are here is to go through their Mom's belongings.  That is such a hard thing to do, and I'm glad that they are able to do it all together.   

Here are some pictures to make Tom jealous!

 

   

Saturday night we went

to a family get-together for the Thomas Reese and Lucy Anderson grandchildren.  It was held at my cousin, Jean Ann's, house in Orem.   We didn't always have a lot of opportunites to get together with some of the cousins when we were younger.   We were close with Uncle Arch and Uncle Jack and their families.  We got together with Uncle Hal and Uncle Ruelon sometimes, but their kids were considerably older than us.    Dad had only one sister, Nita White, and they always lived further away.  So it was nice to get to know several of the White cousins better at the get-together.   The cousins range in age from the oldest, Floyd at 89, to me at 58.    Grandpa Anderson died in 1957 when I was just 4, and Grandma Anderson died when Dad was 14,  so they have been gone for many years.
 It gives you an interesting view on the cycles of life.   I wonder if they are given a glimpse of their grandchildren as they gather now as mature adults.   50 years from now, my grandchildren will be in their 50s and 60s.   What will they be like, and what remembrances will they have of us?

Here are some pictures from the evening.