Last Sunday in the afternoon, Stacey, Hannah, and I took a walk up to the woods at the top of the hill behind our house. We went hoping to see, or at least hear, some birds. The warblers are arriving and they are a delight to see. We wanted to see wildflowers. The trees have only begun to leaf out and the forest floor should have been full of Trout Lilies (Erythronium americanum), Wood Violets (Violoa sororia), and Spring Beauties (Claytonia virginica). We didn't see or hear any warblers. We did hear a woodpecker tapping somewhere deeper in the trees. We found some spring beauties and a few trout lilies, but the wide swathes of violets I've seen in years past were nowhere to be found. We found a patch of Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria), but only leaves, no flowers. The Mayapples (Podophyllum peltatum) were coming up with their dark green, shiny umbrella leaves. There were lots of brambles. The woods looked scruffy, not as lively as in years past. Maybe spring hadn't advanced enough. It was a nice walk anyway.
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Spring Beauties.
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| Wild leeks, also known as ramps. |
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| Trout lilies. |
Monday morning, to my dismay, but not really my surprise, it was 26° when I woke up and there was frost. I delayed my morning walk until the sun was up and the world had warmed a little. When I did finally go out, I approached the garden dreading what I might find. The warm weather from the previous week had coaxed the lilies from their sleep. Their stems were several inches above the soil. Too many years we've gone without lilies because of frost. I was hoping this year would be a good one. The weather for at least the next ten days was supposed to be too warm for frost, so I thought if they survived this one, they would be okay. At 9:00 when I checked on them, they looked a bit sad, the way lettuce looks when the back of the crisper drawer in the fridge has gotten too cold. I said a little prayer over them and waited. I checked them again at noon and they looked okay, but it might be too soon to tell.
That morning I had to chase an eagle away. A young bald eagle has taken an interest in my chickens. Several times in the last few weeks it has perched on a tree across the road by the beaver pond to watch my flock. I think the chicken yard would be a hard place for it to fly in and take a chicken. There is a six foot fence around most of it and trees with over hanging branches that would make flying in and out difficult. Even so, whenever I see it, I go down and chase it away. I've dealt with possums, raccoons, skunks, rats, foxes, bears, and most recently a mink, now I can add bald eagles to the list of critters that want to eat my flock. That's life in the country, I guess.
Because I was going to be gone for the rest of the week, I spent as much time as I could working in the garden on Monday. After a cold start, the day warmed up and it was perfect for weeding. I focused my weeding effort on just dandelions. They are blooming now and easy to spot in the flowerbeds. I started counting them as I pulled them up, but lost count after 138. I don't mind dandelions in the lawn or in the orchard, but I don't like them in the flowerbeds. I know I'm fighting a losing battle since the seeds from everywhere float into the places where I don't want them to grow, but after a day of pulling dandelions and seeing not one remaining in the gardens, I feel like I've accomplished something great.
On Tuesday we left for Utah. The reason for this trip was the wedding of my niece Elisabeth Shillig. Elisabeth is one of the special cousins in our family, if we're allowed to have special cousins. Her mother is my sister Mindy and her father is Stacey's brother John. John and Mindy's children are double cousins to my children. John and Mindy had six boys before Elisabeth was born. Mindy was fighting cancer during that pregnancy. Elisabeth was born on 9/11/2001 as the Twin Towers were falling. Mindy died a few days after Elisabeth's seventh birthday. Those circumstances qualify Elisabeth as a special cousin and why we could not miss her wedding. Sorry to all those nieces and nephews whose weddings we did not attend. You are special too, but not quite as much as Elisabeth.
So we set out on Tuesday to travel to Utah. We drove to Buffalo, Stacey, Sarah, Miriam, Hannah, and I, and caught a flight that was supposed to take us to Phoenix to catch a connecting flight to Salt Lake City. But there was a huge storm sweeping across the eastern United States and our flight out of Buffalo was delayed. By the time we got to Phoenix, it was too late. Luckily, Stacey's sister Roxann lives there and we spent the night at her house and caught a flight to Salt Lake City on Wednesday morning. At SLC, we rented a car and drove to our Airbnb in Riverton. Others had arrived before us – my sister Hollie, my sister Nancy and her husband Bob, and Daniel and his family.
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Snack bags for traveling.
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| Hollyhocks in Roxann's garden. |
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| Catching scorpions with a UV light in Roxann's garden . |
We did so many things in the days we were there and even though I've only been home for less than twenty-four hours, it's getting pretty blurry. Wednesday afternoon we picked up my friend Jay at the train station in Lehi. He and I met when we were on our mission. He lives in Orem. Then we drove to Thanksgiving Point where we met up with lots of family to tour the Tulip Festival. Some of the tulips were past their peak, but there were so many amazingly beautiful tulips and other flowers. I wish we'd had more time to take a more leisurely stroll through the gardens, but we had a time schedule.
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| My friend Jay and I. |
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| At the Tulip Festival. |
From there we drove to my nephew Christopher's house in American Fork where even more family gathered for dinner. Some of us stayed there, but again, we were on a tight schedule and some of us had to leave. Our next stop was the Provo City Center Temple where we met up with even more family for Elisabeth to receive her endowment. I had never been inside that temple before. It was very beautiful.
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| The Provo City Center Temple. |
Thursday was also busy. Stacey and Miriam took the train up to SLC in the morning to spend most of the day at Family Search where they also met up with Roxann, newly arrived from Phoenix, and our friend Kathy Birch (Tante Kathy to all my children). I got to spend a little time that morning just chatting with my sisters. Around noon we went to Deseret Book, always a treat. Then Hollie, Nancy, Bob, and I went up to SLC where we met up with the Family Search group.
That evening was a dinner for invited family members of the bride and groom, hosted by the groom's family at the Sky Room at the Wilkinson Center at BYU. It was a very nice dinner followed by tributes to the happy couple from family members. From there we went to Christopher's house where a Cousins Party was still underway. I got to see nieces and nephews and their families, some of whom I hadn't seen in years and some I'd never met before. His house was Party Central through this whole affair and it was so nice of him and his wife Rebecca to host so many gatherings. That was the end of that very long day.
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| At Christopher's house with cousins, aunts, and uncles. |
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| Stacey's brother Vance and his wife Cindy. |
Friday was the big day. We gathered at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple in South Jordan where we saw Elisabeth and Brandon married and sealed for time and eternity. It was wonderful to see so many family members in the temple. That temple is also very beautiful inside and out. After the sealing, there was lots of picture taking in the gardens around the temple.
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| The bride and groom. |
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| Steve, Nancy, me, Hollie. |
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| Geoffrey, Rachel, Sarah, Miriam, Daniel, Hannah, and Josiah. |
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| Steve, Linda, Nancy, Bob, Stacey, me, Hollie. |
From there, we went back to our Airbnb for lunch. I had an In-n-Out Double-Double Protein and Animal Style, always a huge treat for me. That evening we went to the reception at a very nice venue in Pleasant Grove. There we met up with even more family. Daniel, Raven, and Thistle left after the reception they needed to drive to Montana to a cousin's graduation.
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| Kathy and Nancy at the reception. |
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| Geoffrey and Joni at the reception. |
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| Elisabeth and Brandon. |
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| Elisabeth and her dad, John. |
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| Cutting the wedding cake. |
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| At the reception. |
Saturday was a sad sort of day as people began to go their separate ways. Hollie left first early that morning to fly back to North Carolina. Josiah and Vanessa left next to return to Idaho. Then we said good-bye to Geoffrey and his family and Bob and Nancy, Roxann and Miriam. Miriam didn't come home with us. She stayed and went down to Phoenix to housesit for Roxann for a couple of weeks.
Our flight home went without a hitch. We flew from SLC to Las Vegas and then to Buffalo. We were all day in airports and airplanes. We arrived in Buffalo at 10:00, retrieved our car and drove the two hours home. It was after midnight when we got here and after 1:00 till we got unpacked and into bed.
I was very tired this morning. Before church I took a quick walk around the yard. It was cool and rainy. I am amazed at how much things changed in the five days we were gone. Plants have erupted from the soil. The lawn is shaggy and filled with violets and dandelions. The trees are leafed out more. Things are in bud and in bloom that weren't near that when I left. I didn't fall asleep at church, which was a good thing. When we got home, we all took naps. This week looks like it will continue to be cool and wet. I have a hundred things I need to do outside and will grab every chance I can get to work on them.
Our five days away were great. Being with so much family was wonderful. Seeing Elisabeth and Brandon set out on a new life together and getting to meet his family was a great experience. And now it's May and the world is fresh and full of flowers and that is all good.
