Homecoming

The biggest event(s) of the week were associated with the University Homecoming Celebrations. Friday was the opening of the new science building, and since Poppy (as Dean of the College of Sciences) was instrumental in the design and execution--and was conducting the ceremonies--we went. Dan spent most of his free time this past week trying to get things ready for the opening ceremony.

They had a much larger crowd than anticipated--probably because they advertised a drawing for an iPad (for students only). Poppy did a great job conducting, and if a few of the speakers didn't do as good a job keeping their remarks short (Jake said afterward that the prayer was one of the longest he'd ever heard), most of the program went smoothly. The best parts were the flash mob (Poppy even danced for it a little bit) and the ribbon cutting. This was Dan's job--figuring out a flashy way to "cut" the ribbon without scissors. They came up with a method that involved treating cotton with some sort of chemical compound that ignited when water hit it. Dan ran several tests on the cotton before fine-tuning it to his satisfaction.

The only problem, though, is that it was sprinkling just before they were supposed to do the ribbon cutting. Since it was designed to ignite with water, this posed something of a problem. Dan and the other chemistry faculty member (Ty Redd) held the banner closed until just before the cutting so that it wouldn't accidentally light on fire. In any case, it worked perfectly--and Dan, Poppy, and J. Ty ended up with their pictures on the front page of the local paper.

Poppy was out late that night with various homecoming activities--the rest of us had dinner at the Pizza Factory and then the kids (including Sarah's kids, who came down for the festivities) played at our house while Bubby and Sarah got a quick tour of the new building, with Dan acting as tour guide.

Saturday was more hanging out with cousins and getting ready for the Homecoming parade. Dan went up the canyon with the Elder's Quorum to cut wood that morning, but the rest of us spent the morning at Bubby and Poppy's. That afternoon, Dan and the kids lined up with Poppy for the parade while Sarah, Bubby and I found a good vantage point to watch the parade.

I discovered that it's hard to take good pictures of moving targets. All the local grandkids (except Maggi) got to hand out candy with Poppy. I'm not sure what it was out their relatively simple "float" (a red wheelbarrow with a pendant) that so appealed to the parade judges--maybe it was the matching cheerleader outfits the girls wore--but they wound up with 3rd place.

Andrew really got into it. Even when he reached us (about 2/3 of the way through the parade route), he was still bouncing too and from the wheelbarrow throwing candy. I think he even got resigned to not getting his own candy (sort of).


This picture cracks me up--it's hard to see, but if you look in front of the white car, you can see Lydia running for all she's worth to catch up with the rest of the group.


This was Evelyn this morning (pre hair-combing) with the latest in hand and footwear.


There's not much to say about the rest of the week. I met with a maternal specialist on Monday who ran through a list of possibilities as to why we might be miscarrying. Now I have some tests to take and we'll see what happens. I do know, now, that I don't have lupus. That's good, right? (It was actually a little funny. I didn't think, when the doctor ordered the test, that it was much of a possibility or worry--until I talked to my mom and found out that my aunt has lupus, and they think my grandmother might have had it . . . It's funny how medical history has a way of coming out of the closet at unexpected times).

Evelyn gave me her cold at the beginning of the week, so the middle of the week is still a bit blurry for me. At least the weekend more than compensated for a somewhat miserable mid-week!