December 2010: Faculty Party, Trip to Utah

 The next week in the recap of our December (see the two earlier posts) was Finals Week which generated even more grading for both Dave and I.  In between the pen to paper, I started preparing for Dave's faculty party.  That Friday, we had quite a spread: menu is up on ElizabethCooks.com.

 In the kitchen, we had Make-Your-Own-Paninis, which some enjoyed (we did)!  The Open House, which was supposed to go from 5 until 7, lasted until nearly 9:30, when we said good-bye to the last guests, cleaned up and packed.

 The next morning, with Dave asleep in the passenger seat beside me, we head out across the Mohave dessert on the way to Utah.  These clouds are the leading edge of what will be a week of rain for Southern California--and we're leaving them behind.  Our garage will flood, but other than a thin layer of mud in some places, we escape any serious damage from all the rain.

The Narrows passage through the corner of Arizona has never looked so green--or stormy.  We usually see in it the heat of summer with brilliant stripes through the red rock. The rain was our companion all through the drive, and would remain throughout the week.

We were headed up to Ogden to Mom and Dad's, but decided to stop and see the newly purchased grave sites--an Eastmond family project of last summer.  So, here we are: alive and standing on top of where we'll be laid to rest.  Hopefully that will be a far distant time in the future.

Getting some flour from Lehi Roller Mills.  Everything is so festive--even the Roller Mills. 

The next day, we went down to Susan and Tom's for church services.  It was amazing--song after song with only one 8-minute talk.  Quite a celebration of Christ's birth, topped by the back doors opening up and a bagpiper playing a Christmas Hymn.  Zounds!  We went over to Susan and Tom's for a lovely spread, where we gave Mom and Dad the Christmas gift from all the children. 

Then it was off to see Matthew, Kim and family for baby Danielle's blessing.  It was held at her sister's house, and was attended by all of Kim's family, along with Dave and I, Mom and Dad.

Mom and Danielle have a conversation.

Me, Mom (holding Danielle), Kim and Kim's mother Karen.  Danielle's middle name is Karen, after her grandmother.

The requisite four-generation shot.

Four generations, again, but a different permutation.

The cute family, all up in Christmasy red.  After the blessing, Kim's family had a lovely buffet, with this great cake for dessert.

Thanks for a wonderful day!