The Rec Center set up is very well for moms. The weight room looks down on the pool where the kids' swimming lessons are held. I’d drop Ryan off at lessons, then warm up with a few laps on the track, and then do my weights until I saw him finishing up. Then I’d go downstairs in time to meet him.Saturday, August 4 was one of those days that you can just hardly believe. We went from a spiritual and emotional high to a very, very low point in a matter of hours. One of my little Cub Scouts was baptized at 8:00 am. He lives with his single mom - she is a member, but has been inactive for years. He is 9 years old, so the missionaries have been working with him. Ryan and I usually take him to church with us. It was a wonderful baptism. The family is Polynesian, and they had a big support from extended family members. A couple of them sang - it was beautiful. It was a "spiritual high" to start out the day.
After lunch, Ryan went to play with one of his friends down the street. A couple of hours later, he came running in the door screaming. I was downstairs with both the washer and dryer running, so I hadn't heard any commotion. A fire engine, an ambulance, a paramedic vehicle, and two police cars were at the Chase’s house. (Jane died on January 8, and Phil died on July 9.) I ran out to see what was happening. Steve, who is 27 days older than me, was taken out on a stretcher with about 6 paramedics around him, and one on the stretcher over him doing chest compressions. Several of our neighbors were watching what was happening, and everyone was asking how to get in touch with Kevin and Wendy. I have stayed in touch with both of them, so I had the very unfortunate responsibility of calling them to let them know what was happening with Steve. Kevin was actually in Roosevelt at Wendy’s house instead of at home in L.A. They hopped in the car and started driving to get here. Steve passed away due to an acute asthma attack. Ryan and I cried together when we heard that Steve had passed away. Ryan has gotten to know Steve very well, spending so much time at the Chase’s home over the years. It was very difficult for him to experience another death in a family that we are so close to. Steve and I have been great buddies since we were four years old. I have a picture of us on our front porch getting ready to go to Kindergarten. I'll try to find it to post it. Even though our lives took drastically different paths, it never seemed to matter when we saw each other. We always had plenty to talk about. I will miss him as my "tree man" and as my friend.
Wendy has a son, Carter, who is just a couple of months younger than Ryan. They are so much alike, and are such great buddies. We had Carter stay with us for most of the week while Wendy, Kevin, and Karl worked out Steve’s service and other necessary details. Carter even slept over at our house for a few nights – something that Ryan was very excited about, since I had previously told him we would not have sleepovers until he was twelve. This was obviously very different. Ryan and Carter had a great time together playing football and doing Lord Voldemort impressions.
The past several months, I've been involved with a group hoping to get curbside recycling in Bountiful. I pay a private company to pick up my recycling twice a month. A group of us have been working to get signatures to take to the mayor and city council to have them look at the possibility of a city-sponsored service. We were invited to present our "case" at the city council meeting on Tuesday, August 7. I have my cub scouts bring their recycling to me, and we have talked about the importance of recycling. The guy that is spearheading this whole thing is a friend of mine from high school. He decided that it would be great if I took my cub scouts to the city council meeting. (My first thought was, "Does he KNOW any cub scouts? Has he seen boys that age try to sit through meetings?" But then I decided that it might make a pretty good statement to have the kids supporting the recycling effort.) So, I took my cub scouts, plus Ryan and Carter, to the city council meeting. As soon as Mayor Joe saw us, he came over and asked me what "merit badge" :) the boys were working on. The boys told him that they weren't there for a requirement, they were there to show their support for recycling! Then the mayor asked one of my boys if he would lead the pledge for the meeting. He thought that was so cool! The meeting went well. I took paper and crayons for the boys to draw (I'm so smart!), and it kept them quiet through the whole meeting. We were about halfway back in the room, so no one even really knew that they were drawing. They just thought they were a whole row of little angels!Every summer, Bountiful hosts "Summerfest" - dancers and artists come from all over the world to attend. They set up booths at the main city park, and the countries make and sell their crafts and food, and they also perform their dances on the big stage at the park. Wednesday night is always a street dance. The dancers from different countries come in their costumes and the public can either watch or join in the dancing. Poland was one of the countries that came this year, and my mom's maternal line is from Poland. We learned all the dances with them. It was a lot of fun. Ryan wanted to dance, but Carter didn't. So he and my dad stood on the side and watched while the rest of us danced.
Friday we went to the park for the Summerfest booths and dancing. They always have a kids' art yard where the kids can learn different arts & crafts projects from different countries. Carter and Ryan had a great time making petroglyphs and worry dolls, getting their faces painted, and all kinds of other fun things.
Saturday, August 11, we had a Jensen family reunion. It was fun to see all of my second cousins & their kids. When we were younger, we used to do things together all the time. As we have gotten older, we only see each other at reunions.Carter's parents and two older siblings left Saturday afternoon to go home. But "Uncle Kevin" was taking Carter and his sister, Mallory, to California with him later in the week. When we got home from the reunion on Saturday, Kevin asked if he could take Ryan and Carter and Mallory and Mallory’s friend, Jessica (Chris Peters’ daughter), to dinner and a movie. They were all going to go see “Hairspray,” but apparently at the last minute, the boys decided that they’d rather see something else. Kevin, if you’re reading this, the story would have been SO much funnier had you taken them all to “Hairspray”! ;)
Ryan and I do “Friday Field Trips” every summer. Since I have usually put in at least a 40 hour work week by Friday, I take Friday afternoons off during the summer for us to go do fun things together. Friday, August 17, Rara and Papa joined us for a trip to the zoo. On our way into town, we stopped at Caputo’s Deli in downtown SLC to get cannoli - it has become a tradition whenever we're anywhere near the place. The zoo was hosting “The Ghost of the Bayou,” a white alligator. We had a great time at the zoo, and Ryan even got a cool shirt and stuffed white alligator with his allowance. When we left the zoo, we drove up Emigration Canyon for dinner at Ruth’s Diner. Yum!
Friday, August 24, was a typical crazy day for us. Ryan had a Primary party from 10 to 11 and then a birthday party at 11:30. He only stayed for about 20 minutes until I picked him up to go to his last swimming lesson of the year. I dropped him back off at the party after swimming. He got home at about 2:30, and we left to go to the Utah Museum of Fine Art. Now, before any of you panic that I took a 7 year old boy to the museum of fine art, remember that he is quite the little artist. He has always been respectful and appreciative of museums - even at 3 years old in Italy, he was fascinated! We actually went to see the traveling exhibit of Robert Sabuda, one of our favorite authors and illustrators. He does pop-up books, and we have every single one that he has done.
We were at the UMFA until it closed at 5:00, and then we stopped at Caputo's deli in downtown SLC to get cannoli. The owner, Tony Caputo, was out in the front part of the deli chatting with customers. We told him that we come in on Fridays for cannoli – that we had fallen in love with it in Italy, and stopped in there as often as we could. He thought that was great, and we enjoyed talking with him about Italy. As we were walking to the car, Ryan kept saying, "THAT was Tony Caputo? That was TONY CAPUTO? I met Tony Caputo?" It was hilarious - he was totally star struck. That night, Ryan's school had an outdoor movie. We all sat on blankets on the lawn and they showed "Cars" on a big sheet on the side of the school. It was a lot of fun.
Wednesday, August 29, Ryan started second grade at Muir Elementary. Since this is his first year at Muir, I parked the car and went up to the school with him to find his teacher. He spotted a lot of friends from Rara’s and Papa’s neighborhood, including two that he has played with often. They are even in his class! His teacher, Mrs. Noyce, seems like she will be great. I stayed through the Star Spangled Banner and the school song, and then I left him to enjoy his day.
Wednesday, August 29, Ryan started second grade at Muir Elementary. Since this is his first year at Muir, I parked the car and went up to the school with him to find his teacher. He spotted a lot of friends from Rara’s and Papa’s neighborhood, including two that he has played with often. They are even in his class! His teacher, Mrs. Noyce, seems like she will be great. I stayed through the Star Spangled Banner and the school song, and then I left him to enjoy his day.
School let out at 1:25, so after school, we went to the Utah Museum of Natural History for the “Toadally Frogs” exhibit. That was also a lot of fun, as you can see by the pictures.
Oh, and of course, what would summer be without baseball?
Being that we’re all educators, we gathered several Lewis & Clark/Sacagawea books for Ryan to read. I also got on the National Park Service website & printed a bunch of stuff. We stopped at several places through the gorge that were significant in their expedition.
Saturday, June 2 - Went to the Port Townsend farmer’s market, and then an art walk in a nearby town, Quilcene. It was fun to explore both of those great towns.
Monday, June 4 – Took the ferry from Bainbridge Island to Seattle, first stopping for lunch at one of my favorite restaurants in the world, Ivar’s. We had a great time at the Pike’s Place Market, the Pacific Science Center, and the Space Needle. Ryan had a loose tooth, and thought it would be cool to pull it on top of the Space Needle. He worked and worked on it, but didn’t pull it.
Tuesday, June 5 – Took the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Again, Ryan thought it would be cool to lose his tooth either in Canada or on the ferry to Canada. Didn’t happen. On our bus ride to Butchart Gardens, we were the only passengers! Our driver was a fun guy to talk to. As soon as we said we were from Utah, he said he knew about the Mormons. He started asking us all kinds of questions about our beliefs, and just clarified several things he had heard. It was fun talking with him. We didn’t have any Books of Mormon with us, but asked if we could send him one when we got home. We did. We had a great time at the Butchart Gardens. They are absolutely beautiful! What a stunning transformation from an old cement plant to what it is now! 
Back in the harbor area, we walked through the famous Empress Hotel, and then walked a few blocks for dinner at a restaurant called Earl’s, which was recommended by our bus driver.
Wednesday, June 6 – Spent more time at Fort Worden. Hiked to some of the old bunkers and explored those.
We spent the afternoon and evening with Dad’s cousin, Mimi McCooey, in Sequim. She took us to dinner at the Three Crabs restaurant right on the Dungeness Spit.
Friday, June 8 – Left Port Townsend, and stopped for breakfast in Sequim with Mimi. Then we drove north-west to Neah Bay and the Cape Flattery trailhead. Cape Flattery is the north-western most point of the continental U.S. It is only about a mile hike, but it is so muddy that most of the hike is on wooden planks. It is also pretty much straight down getting to the point, and then straight up coming back.
We finished driving down the Washington Coast, stopping at various points to hike down to see some of the sea stacks. They are so cool!
Drove to Astoria, Oregon, where we spent the night.
We stopped in Tillamook to visit the cheese factory. Ryan thought it was really funny that he could say "cheese" for a picture in front of the cheese.
Monday, June 25, was scout day camp at Tracy Wigwam. Nicole and I took our 5 boys together in my car. One of my boys is autistic and is deathly afraid of bugs. Any bug. Day camp was outside. In the woods. Lots of bugs. About 10 minutes into the day, Nicole and I decided that she would be in charge of the 3 Bears (ha - that's funny) and my other Wolf, and I would be Alex's "buddy" for the day. I consider myself to be a pretty patient person. But he wore me out. He clung to me the entire day. I literally had to pull him along with me everywhere we went. During most of the activities, he was practically on my lap instead of paying attention. I'd have to tell each new leader of each new activity just to go on without us - either physically or verbally. It was not a fun day for him, which is too bad. It was a CSI theme (Cub Scout Investigators), and was really a lot of fun for the other boys and Nicole. It was really sad to see that such a fun experience for the other boys was so traumatic for him.
Dad was in Chicago the last week of June for a convention, and Mom was diagnosed with pneumonia! (Now, before you accuse me of giving it to her, I had it 3 months ago! Weird.) Ryan and I checked in on her several times a day while Dad was gone.
We lost another close friend on June 29. We have known Martin and Jean Thomas since we moved into this neighborhood when I was 4. Martin was our Bishop when I was little, then in our Stake Presidency, and is now one of our Patriarchs. When my mom went back to teaching about 25 years ago, she was the aide in Jean's classroom. I remember the day I was baptized, they gave me a card with a brand new one dollar bill in it, and a note that said, “Here’s a brand new dollar for a brand new member of the Church.” She has also been very cute with Ryan, always wanting to know the latest happenings in his life. She treated him like a little man. She always had profound words of wisdom for me, personally, as well as some she has shared in meetings. Jean and I share a favorite hymn, “How Firm a Foundation.” On the last day she was able to attend Sacrament Meeting, we had a testimony meeting about our favorite hymns. I had gone up right after Jean, so I just sat on the front bench while I listened to her. She looked right at me as she bore her testimony of the words of that hymn. That experience added even more tender feelings to those I already have about that hymn. I will really miss Jean and her loving encouragement.