July 27th through August 2nd

July 27th through August 2nd:  Monday we were able to 

get some more shopping done and I made a trip to Farmington to the DMV to get a temporary tag for the Xterra.  I didn’t know that I needed proof of insurance.  So I will have to make the trip again tomorrow.  Monday evening we, meaning all of our family, went to the Belnap’s home in Kaysville for a BBQ.  Paul and Liz are old high school friends of mine.  Our children are the same ages and we have taken family vacations together.  All of our kids and grandkids made it.  We were missing 1 son in law who had to fly to Mexico City that morning.  All of Paul and Liz’s kids and grandkids made it except Heidi who is a nurse and couldn’t get off work.  It was great fun to see all of them again and catch up on their lives.  Paul saddled up one of his horses and gave rides to all the grandkids.

Mostly the Normans waiting their turn for the horse ride.

  

Kimball and Jake 

Abby and Stan and of course Paul.

Willa and Xela 

James and Emme.  Emme cried to get on the horse and then cried and didn't want to be on the horse.

Rigby after Emme got off.

We ate them out of house and home. 

Sitting around talking after a great meal.

We had a great game of Mexican Frisbee.  We can’t wait another 20 years to get together; it was way too much fun.  

The game of Mexican Frisbee can be a little dangerous.

More Mexican Frisbee

This is not a game of tag you're out.  It is an all out war of get all the Frisbees on the other teams side.

Mexican Frisbee not a game for the weak of heart.

Tuesday, we went back to the DMV and got the temp tag for the Xterra and also mom and I went to the Drivers License Division and got our driver licenses renewed.  Both of ours were going to expire during the next 3 years and we had to make sure they would not expire until after we get home from Guatemala.  In the afternoon, I went with Jill, John’s wife, to Home Depot and bought a lot of the things we are going to need for the remodel of their bathroom.  Wednesday, we went to lunch with my brother Van and his wife Maude.  They know so many great restaurants.  They love living in downtown Salt Lake and are so much fun to spend time with.  I then had a doctor’s appointment to try and see if I can get off the blood thinner I have been taking for about 9 years now.  There is hope.  We then headed down to Utah County.  We first went to James’ home to try and get the Xterra running.  It has not been driven for a year and had 2 flat tires.  Well, with a jump, it started right up and with my air compressor I got the tires inflated.   I drove it to a tire store and had them check the 2 tires for leaks.  They fixed them and said I was good to go.  We then went to Provo for dinner with Mark and Linda, Chirs’ brother and sister in law.  They were at a Genealogy Conference at the Y.  We got all caught up on their kids and it was a very pleasant evening.  Thursday, I did the demo on the bathroom at John’s house.  The old tile floor with the mesh in the concrete was the worst.  I had to get a big hammer drill and use it like a jack hammer to get the tile out.  It was a very physically demanding job and I about killed myself.  I was so tired by the time I got it all up.  I did not have the energy to finish the cleanup.  

Before Demo

Before Demo

Before Demo

One and one half hour after demo started.  Everything is out but the tile floor.

Three hours later half the tile floor is out.

A few hours later the floor is out.

I did however get the Xterra inspected and the emissions checked.  It passed except it needs a new windshield.  The guy at the place gave me a card of a company that will come to your home and replace it.  I called them and for 138 dollars I made an appointment for the next day to get it replaced.  Friday, I got cement board down on the floor and remembered how much my knees don’t like doing tile work on the floor.  

Day 2 the concrete board installed on the floor. It is installed with thin set below the board.

The wind shield got replaced. In the evening we went to dinner with Wally and Martha, old friends from our time when we lived on Capitol Hill in Salt Lake.  They are great friends and have promised to visit us in Guatemala.  Saturday, I got more cement board installed in the tub enclosure and some thin set mortar on the back wall of the tub.  That wall is concrete block and I could not screw the cement board to it.  

Day 3 concrete board on the wall and thin set on the exterior wall.

We took Ginny and Sam to lunch and said goodbye to them.  They are headed back to California.  I made some plans for the fireplace that John and Jill want remodeled and will get that project going when I have down time on the bathroom.  My body is telling me that I have used muscles that haven’t been used for some time and they are revolting and giving me a lot of grief.  I hurt all over.  Sunday, we had nice meetings and a restful afternoon.  Mom worked on genealogy and I tried to get some of the things the church needs from us filled out and sent into the temple department.  We are still wondering when we are going to get the call from the temple department telling us that they made a mistake and that there is another John Norman and they got us mixed up and that we will not be going to Guatemala.  We had a nice exchange of emails with the Hurst’s and I think they are going to ask to come to Guatemala on another mission.  I haven’t heard from the rest of you.  We will be in touch.

July 20th through July 26th

  July 20th through July 26th:  Monday we got picked up by 

Alan Meza and delivered to the airport at 6:30 am.  

All our bags are packed.

We are ready to go.

Cause, We'er leaving on a jet plane.

Don't know when we'll be back again.

We had a short flight to Houston where we were met by Chris’ brother, Scott.  We spent the night with him.  Went to lunch and dinner and had a very nice visit.  He dropped us off at the airport about noon on Tuesday for our final flight home.  

Chris and her brother Scott.

Saying goodbye at the airport in Houston.

We were picked up at the airport by Kirstin, James’ wife and their two adorable kids.  We drove to Orem and had dinner with James at his work.  Wednesday we got up and I went with James to work and he sold us a car.  

This is what I found in the morning.  

We got all the paper work done and insurance bought and we were on our way to Charlotte’s by 10:00am.  We unpacked and then went to the Stake Presidents to be released.  It was a nice visit and we feel very blessed to have such great leaders.  

First morning at Charlotte's home I made Swedish pancakes.

Thursday  Our family tradition has been to go to Lagoon, an amusement park, for July 24^th, Pioneer Day.  We decided to take James and his family to Lagoon on the 23^rd, because he had to work on the 24^th.  Well, Ginny had driven up from California to be with us and so she decided just to go both days.  Lagoon has a deal where you can bounce back within 10 days of when you first go for a greatly reduced price.  So Charlotte decided to take her kids also and then Jill decided to come for part of the day.  So we had everyone, but Kate and her family and two dads.  We arrived at 11:00am when it opened and left about 7:00pm. 

I didn't know standing in line for a ride at Lagoon could be so fun.

Rigby and Emme having fun at Lagoon.

Badger, our oldest grandson, really wanted to go on the new roller-coaster ride, Cannibal.   I walked over with him and stood in line for about an hour.  The idea was that James would come over and take my place and ride with him.  James backed out, so I stayed and rode with him.  We were on the front row of the ride and it was intense.  The first drop is an inverted 110 degree drop.  I survived, just barely.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG99hRkkn-Q

The Cannibal Ride at Lagoon click video link above.

Friday everyone was supposed to meet at 7:00 am to climb Ensign Peak, where the Pioneers first surveyed the Salt Lake Valley.  Well, a few couldn’t get up that early and so we only had about half of the tribe.  

Not everyone made the hike up to Ensign Peak at 7:00am.

Beautiful morning and beautiful view.

We then all met, except James’ family, at Lagoon for another day of fun and games.  We stayed until 10:00pm.  Eleven hours of fun is too much for old people like mom and me.   We crashed in bed.  

The 24th at Lagoon.

Ferris Wheel fun.

More Lagoon fun.

Poppa and Abby loved the lazy river.

But Abby needed a nap after so much fun with Poppa.

Kimball, the one on the left, won the biggest prize.

Pizza for dinner, thanks to John.


Trot Trot to Boston

On Saturday, I got mom up at 5:00am and we made our way into Salt Lake to go to the temple.  The Bountiful temple is closed for maintenance.  We had a very nice morning in the temple.  We then drove to Highland to see our old mission president, Louis Latimer.  He is 89.  He was one of the temple presidents in Guatemala City about 15 years ago.  It was fun to see him and his son Kyle and his wife, Mary, who we had met while we were in China.  

A great visit with our old Mission President, Louis Latimer.

Then it was a little shopping and trying to get settled in a bit more.  Sunday we went to church with Charlotte’s family and Ginny’s.  We then all met at Kate’s home for the monthly dinner of all the siblings and grandkids.  We are so thrilled to be with them all and so glad they continue this tradition.  

Sunday dinner at Kate's home.

The kids sure do enjoy playing together.

Emme and Nana enjoying homemade Cafe Rio salads.

I can’t say it was a very relaxing reentry, but still very fun and now I get to start the remodeling projects that are on my list of things to get done before we leave.

July 13th through July 19th

 July 13th through July 19th:  Monday we went to the 
grand opening of Luis and Laura Perez’s new location for their school.  Maybe you remember it is called the Hinckley Institute.  Pres. Atkinson gave a speech about Benito Juarez and also cut the ribbon.  All the different grades danced and it was amazing.  

President Atkinson cutting the ribbon.

Sister Pena and Sister Atkinson waiting for the program to start.

The first graders waiting their turn to dance.

Some of the older girls.

We came home and had a Spanish Lesson from the MTC.  You would think we would not need Spanish lessons, but the more we learn the more we realize how much we don’t know.  Tuesday after presidency meeting we all went to lunch.  President Atkinson took us to one of his favorite restaurants.  It was on the roof of one of the old homes downtown.  The view was unbelievable and the food delicious.  There was a light breeze and we could have spent the whole day there.  

Here we all are for lunch.  L to R mom, me. P. Atkinson, S. Atkinson, P. Serrano, S. Serrano, S. Pena, and P. Pena

President and Sister Atkinson on the roof for lunch.

View of Santo Domingo church.

The Serrano's with the Guelaguetza stadium on the hill in the distance.

Wednesday the Roesberrys had us over for lunch.  We are going to miss them and the Rays so much.  Thursday we set a record (ten) for the number of buses on a Thursday. Four of the buses were all youth from one stake and President Atkinson taught them while we attended to another group in the temple.  It was a very busy day, but everything turned out perfect.  We had the Roesberrys over for lunch to help us finish off some of the food we still have.  Friday we had 7 buses and it was another busy day.  In the evening President Atkinson took us to dinner.  We went to an Argentine steak house.  Can you guess what I had?  He gave us a letter to give to President Lake when we meet with him to be released.  He was very kind and made us feel so loved and appreciated.  I have been mentored by some of the best men in the church.  He is one of a kind.  I have learned so much from him.  I will always be grateful for having had the opportunity to serve under him.  Saturday we started at 5:00am for the third day in a row of early starts.  We only had 6 buses but the day was busy and we came home very tired.  We took a 2 hour nap and then tried to pack.  We realized we didn’t have enough room.  So we went to Walmart and bought a backpack to be Chris’ second carry on.  We hope everything will fit now.  Sunday we went over to the temple to help put things away for the start of the closure.  Then we went to church at the Dainzu Ward.  We already said our good-byes last week.  We came home and finished packing.  I am posting this early Monday morning before we leave for the airport.  We will be staying one night in Houston to see Chris’ brother Scott and then we will be home Tuesday afternoon. 

The house got a white coat of paint.