Doing Those Summery Things

Summer. It's hot, occasionally muggy (I know not much compared to, say, Georgia, but muggy for us). This year we had the hottest July ever on record in Salt Lake. It's often miserable and sometimes I forget that there is, along with the discomfort and claustrophobia of the heat, also a lot about summer that is awesome. In the middle of the afternoon I sometimes even think I'd be fine with it suddenly being January, but then comes a late summer night with the stars and crickets out, or an early morning spent in the garden and I know I'd still pick July. 

We have had a lot of fun things going on. Here's some of what we have been up to:

Garth Brooks!

Garth Brooks came to Salt Lake City a year ago. I really wanted to get tickets - Troy is a fan and really enjoys his music. I tried but the tickets were gone in a half hour and I was out of luck. Then I heard the announcement that Garth was going to return to Salt Lake for not one but two shows this June. This time I vowed to get two tickets. What was funny was that I had the bad luck of needing to fill a volunteer assignment at our church cannery at the exact time the tickets went on sale and while in the cannery you are not supposed to have your phone on you. Well, I was a little devious. I faked an urgent need to visit the bathroom. I snagged my phone, stood in a stall and got online. I was in there for a while because there were so many people buying tickets you have to wait your turn. I didn't even try to figure out what seats would be good, I just bought the first ones that popped up. Whatever! I was so thrilled when I got the tickets. I hurried back to volunteer and I'm sure everyone wondered if I was ok after such a long trip to the bathroom. 

The night of the concert approached, and we found out that Sam and Kathleen also had tickets. We decided to get together before the concert for dinner and then to walk up to the stadium together. June was pretty mild and it was a pleasant night to walk up there. Troy and I enjoyed the concert a lot, although he and I always seem to pick the winners when it comes to horrible obnoxious (and often drunk) neighbors. We were sitting on the aisle, and were next to a large party of very annoying people who just loved to go in and out of the row. I mean like 20 times. And dance together and then do a dip basically into my lap. And have conversations with people in the aisle right in front of our faces. It was so obnoxious! But we still loved the music, Troy especially, and when the concert began to wind down, there were some empty seats across the way that we slipped into. I was so impressed with Garth. What a performer. What a show! It was the most massive display I have ever seen, and he was so generous with the audience. I was entertained by the big screens showing fans all night long. It was great.

Also with Sam and Kathleen we got to go to the temple and take Sam and Troy's mom, Grandma Carol. It was wonderful to be together inside. Kathleen's parents joined us as well. They are such lovely people. Then we all got dinner together at Cubby's afterwards.

Another evening of music happened at the end of June - our 80's favorite, Howard Jones, came to the Red Butte Garden Amphitheater. I have written before about how sad I was to miss him at Park West in the 80's and how I felt I had made up for it by seeing him then 3 times. Make this 4. We might not have made it a huge priority to go except that Troy's best friend Mike and his wife, my cousin Katrina, asked if we would like to go along with them. Any chance to see them is a good thing so we bought tickets and saved the date. Of course it was a delightful evening. It was a little cloudy and stormy, but no rain on us. Just a 10 minute lightning delay. That actually turned out to be perfect timing. We had heard earlier in the day that the son of one of Troy's other really close friends from high school would be opening his mission call that night. We were sorry we wouldn't be able to zoom in or attend the event. Right in the middle of the concert Troy got a phone call from Dave, the dad, and I had this feeling that his son had gotten called to Chase's same mission. Troy went and returned the call during the delay and I was right. Cute Ben was called to serve in the Washington, Spokane mission, leaving in November. So cool!

During that last week of June I called in a favor from Peter and Sheri. Not that they owe me any favors, so I guess now I owe them one. Peter was going to be in Salt Lake City for some cello events, and heading home on the evening of Saturday the 25th. I had put Emma in some sewing classes earlier but she didn't really have a lot going on. I asked if I could send her home with Peter to spend a week in St. George. I was so happy that worked out. Emma loves her cousins so much and needed a change of scenery. She spent the whole week there, taking a couple of dance classes, hanging around, going swimming, and hopefully not driving them crazy. From what I hear it was great. I drove down on Thursday the 30th, stayed one night, and Emma and I came home the next day. On the way down I took the long way, stopping in Mt. Pleasant to deliver a cello in need of repair to Peter's favorite Luthier there. Long story. It was kind of nice to just have a day in the car to myself.

Before Emma and I left for home we took most of the cousins (sorry Iva!) to go get shaved ice which was massive and had a much more extensive menu than any shaved ice place should reasonably have. It was crazy. 

Also in June I had the chance to drive up to Brighton Girls Camp for a memorial for the camp's most legendary president, and one of my mom's best friends, Floss. She passed away in the fall but the family wanted to gather with special friends up there at camp. Not as many people were there as I expected, but a couple of very close friends. I was especially happy to drive up the canyon with my dear friend Edie, who graduated from high school with Troy. She's just the best. I loved talking with her and running around camp together afterwards. 

The Take That Step Totem Pole from 1997

I forgot that I painted these signs for the cabins. They don't look very good.

A blanket I signed when Floss was released as President

I don't actually have much to say about The 4th of July. We are old, hot and tired. We helped at a neighborhood breakfast, grilled burgers with the Moores, and went to the Country Club for fireworks and were surprised by an extra short and extra early but definitely pretty fireworks display. I don't think I took a single photo. 

What was more fun that week was having breakfast the next day with my friend Krista, visiting from Texas, and also that evening having dinner with the beloved Durhams, in from Seattle. Dinner at Kathleen's parents' home, with popsicles on the back porch, talking like we always do, watching the sun set and listening to the kids laughing their heads off like usual. That's a little slice of heaven right there. 

Our church held its second-annual chalk-art festival on July 9th. It was so hot. I was not very excited about this event. And I wasn't sure if it would be as fun as last year. We tightened up the area a lot, from 3 square blocks to just 3 blocks all along the same street. The girls and I went and found some shade in the late afternoon to work on some chalk art and actually it was really fun. There was another neighborhood event happening at the same time - a band playing in someone's front yard - so lots of people were out and about, drawing and listening to music. After we finished our masterpieces we walked up and down the blocks, talking to a lot of people we have never met before, which is the exact point of the festival. It was great. I only needed two showers afterwards to cool down. 

  

We did actually make a summer bucket list. We kept it simple - with both Chase and Romney having jobs this summer (doggy day care and Old Navy, respectively) - there aren't a lot of hours when we are all at home. So far we still have a ways to go on the list to get it complete, but a few things have happened. One was to make the perfect root beer floats. We decided that the perfect float would be made with Nielsen's Vanilla Frozen Custard and Henry Weinhard's Root Beer. I put some glasses in the freezer to get all frosty, and we did indeed made the best floats ever. Romney's cute friend was hanging out and we were happy to invite her too.

Also on the bucket list was a drive-in movie. Lucky for us, our dear Mayfields also had that item on their list and we connected to get mediocre popcorn and watch the latest Thor movie. I loved being with the Mayfields. I thought Thor was ok. But not great. I was kind of disappointed. But hey, it's a drive-in movie. Good fun for all. 

So there you go! A marathon post about our summer fun. Summer has been going on for a decade now, in case you were wondering. Time slows when you have a record number of days above 100 degrees. If you need me, you can find me in the garden at about 6:30 am.