Thanks for the Memories!

This past weekend Steve and I got to go up to Flagstaff for a few days. My great Aunt Ruth and Uncle Gus both turned 90 recently and it's their 70th wedding anniversary! They have lived in Flagstaff for the whole 70 years and they have always been my favorite Great Aunt and Uncle. Their four children put on a big anniversary party for them at a stake center in Flagstaff. It was unbelievable! We stood in line for nearly an hour to say hello there were so many people there.

Ruth and Gus were a big part of my childhood memories because my family spent one month every Summer in Flagstaff.

My dad was director of the music department at Cal Poly in Pomona California and spent Summers teaching at the music camp at NAU. Since it was a whole month long, he would bring all of our family along, and we'd stay in the family dorms at NAU and we'd get to attend music camp for free. The times I spent here were full of some of my fondest memories. Since my aunt Ruth lived in Flagstaff, and my mom was close to her, we spent a lot of time at her house, visiting she and Gus. They already had many grandchildren by then, but always treated us as if we were as important to them as any of their own grandchildren. They are the kindest and warmest people and genuinely love people and people love them. It was wonderful to see them again and to see what amazing shape they're in. They still work in the Snowflake temple!

This is a picture of Aunt Ruth (in the chair) with me and my sisters and my mom.

There were lots of opportunities to go out to eat with my siblings. We had a lot of fun laughing.

Here we(me and my sisters Ann, Linda & Ruth) are with my brother, Mark. My brother Paul wasn't able to come. It is rare to get a shot with this many of us.

I haven't been up to Flag in the Summertime for some time and so it was so fun for me to reminisce about the sights, sounds and smells I remember from my childhood. To make it even more special, 4 of my 5 siblings were able to be there. My sister Ann and her husband, Art came from California and my sister Ruth drove from Utah. My brother Mark, his wife Pam and Steve and I came up from the valley and my sister Linda lives in Flag. We had fun spending time together and it was relaxing for Steve and I to spend time without kids and work and phones for a few short days. We stayed at Little America, which I call our "cabin" since we don't have one, but this hotel is nestled in the woods and has been our home away from home for years.

On Friday, when we first arrived, it had just finished raining and there is NOTHING like the smell of Flagstaff right after the rain. It completely takes me back to being a kid again, running around Taylor Hall at NAU. It was here that I made friends with all the other kids whose parents came to teach at music camp. We'd play "spoons" for hours on end and held tostada parties in the laundry room. We would stay out late and make Dairy Queen runs after dark and roll down the hill at the edge of campus. It was here that I first fell in love and where I had my first kiss. So many good memories!

This is the top of the steps at "Old Main" at NAU, it's where I had my first kiss:)

This is the same D.Q. that has been here for more that 35 years, that we would walk to.

And the hill that we would roll down.

Does it get any prettier than this?

THE END