July 30, 2023
Dear Family:
I missed last week. I
was in Utah. Birthdays this week: Danny & JoJo’s Dawnie’s birthday is the 3rd
of August and Danny’s is the 5th; Thursday and Saturday.
I had a great week in Utah (except for my flight TO Provo
that was delayed about 5 hours). I left
Portland on the 21st of July and returned on the 28th.
We went to the Mapleton parade which started at 9am on the 22nd. This was on my bucket list. I’ve always heard about pioneer day parades. As a little girl I remember having “pioneer parades” in Primary, which were just nods to the day. This was complete with floats (by local businesses, senior center and Mapleton wards), bands, horses, big trucks, and a Scottish bagpipe band. I loved the bagpipe band. Thank you Brian and Megan for putting our chairs in place the day before. We had perfect seats.
Later on Saturday Marissa and Megan drove into the driveway
(on their way home from Portland) just as the fireworks started at 10pm. We sat on the driveway and watched a
beautiful display – perfect location because they were set off just a couple
blocks away.
Sunday we went to church.
Monday we went to the Spanish Fork Fiesta Days Rodeo. It was great but it was extremely hot. Like 95 degrees in the shade. We saw bucking
horses, calf roping (guys and gals), bull riding (no trick riding) but we got a
couple of crazy kids doing trick riding on motorcycles up a ramp and flipping in
the air before landing on an inflated huge pad.
Just before the last couple of bull riders it started to rain. Crazy weather! So we left before the fireworks show because
we didn’t want to sit in the rain. We
had already seen fireworks.
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One interesting thing – they showed commercials on the big
screen and Rip from Yellowstone was in a commercial for a western wear
store. I forgot my phone – darn!! He looked gorgeous!
I enjoyed the rest of the week by reading, visiting Kathy
and Kent and visiting with Megan. By the
way I am a huge fan of Sodalicious and Fizz.
They are soft drink shops that feature lots of flavors. I was introduced to them over the years while
I’ve been visiting and I can’t visit Utah without a few visits. Now I thought I’d really miss them, but guess
what. Yesterday when I was grocery
shopping at Safeway, I bought Dr. Pepper Zero with Strawberries and crème.
FABULOUS!! I’m not going to miss Fizz or
Sodalicious now. I had already
discovered Dr. Pepper Zero with crème soda which I loved. But this new one is
now my favorite.
The best part of visiting family in Utah is being able to
nurture my relationships with Hayden, Brian, Megan and this time Marissa. Missy is staying in Utah for a short time
before she and Clarke move to Arizona for Clarke’s schooling. It’s difficult to remain close just
connecting by phone. Nothing can replace
a one on one face to face visit.
Communication is key in any relationship and nurturing that relationship
long distance is hard.
I love it when Carter video calls me from Chile. I love to
see Kenlee’s posts about her little family.
Gee whiz they had a hard time leaving Texas and getting to Spokane. I love posts by my other grandchildren keeping
us up to date on my great grandchildren.
By the way, I’m leaving Tuesday
for 2 days in Spokane. I haven’t met
Addie or Jude yet. It’s been a long time
since I saw Cole and Emery. I can imagine
the big houseful in Spokane with all the grandkids and parents there!! Brad and Sheri should be in 7th
heaven with everyone there except Carter.
My opportunity to REALLY communicate with Brian, Megan,
Hayden and Marissa over this last week has stood out as the most valuable thing
that happened last week. Sure the
parade, fireworks and rodeo were fun, but the memory of those events will
fade. The memory of connecting with my
family stands out as much more important.
In the last 25-30 years the communicating and connecting
with my sisters Judy and Glennda has been extremely valuable and precious to
me. When children grow up, leave home,
start their own lives and make their own memories the connection and communication
becomes less frequent. I’m sure that Brad & Sheri, Brian and Megan, and Amy
and Mike will attest to that with their own children. You really have to work hard to keep it.
I will say that when communication isn’t open, honest and
frequent – marriage relationships suffer.
I can say that from first-hand experience. It is hard to maintain trust when communication
ceases.
“Communication
is an integral part of our everyday lives.
It helps us express ourselves to others and let them know our expectations
of them. Brandon Walch, Founder of Dads Agree
“Communication
is the number one skill we all need to improve, whether in the workplace or at
home. It doesn’t matter if you have an
audience of 1 or 1 million, connection should be the goal of any kind of communication. Communication for the sake of communicating won’t
help build or strengthen relationships, CONNECTING WILL.” David Tyler
I can look back in my life and see what connecting is and what
it isn’t. To me you can communicate in a
group setting, joking, remembering, etc.
But connecting takes a little more time, one on one time, looking each
other in the eye, and making sure that the other person understands what you
are saying and reaching an agreement.
Sometimes there is an issue involved where reaching an agreement is
crucial. Sometimes there isn’t an issue
but just a need to be heard and understood.
I wish I had all this wisdom when I was 19. Unfortunately it takes time, learning, trial
& error, educating yourself and just plain experience; looking back –
evaluating – and learning what to do next time because this time I did it
wrong.
I’m excited to visit with Brad, Sheri and the gang next
week. I will try connecting for sure!
Have a wonderful week everyone. I love you all very much.
Love Mom, Grandma, Great Grandma, Sister and Aunt Suzanne
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