A MOMENT IN TIME

Suzie and I were in Dallas last week for an HCCA meeting. The day we arrived it was cold and rainy but we were starving and did not want to stay in the hotel. We asked the concierge for something lite, like sandwiches or salads. She recommended the 'Foundry Grill' which was only a five minute walk from the hotel. We took the tunnel from the lower level of the Hyatt under the train tracks and came back up to street level in the Union Station. We stepped out onto Houston Street and headed north a block to the restaurant which was just across the street. As we looked north down the street at the mix of architecture, Suzie recognized the Texas School Book Depository, the building from which Lee Harvey Oswald fired the shot that killed John F. Kennedy. I did not even realize where we were or the significance of the location. One block further north and we would be on the corner of Main and Houston and walking the very path that the Kennedy motorcade took that morning.

Friday, November 22, 1963 at 12:30 in the afternoon.

John F. Kennedy was in Dallas to speak to the Dallas Citizens Council at the Dallas Trade Mart. Kennedy was set on gaining Texas's support for the 1964 election. His approval rating in Texas had slipped from 76% in 1962 to 50% in 1963 and he wanted to reclaim the support of the state.

As his motorcade made the right turn from Main Street on to Houston and then the first left on to Elm Street they were directly in front of the Dallas School Book Depository. The plan was to continue down Elm and under the railroad tracks to the freeway (the same tracks we had just come under from the hotel). As they passed between the DSBD on his right and Dealey Plaza on his left the shots were fired and President Kennedy was killed.

I was only four years old when Kennedy was assassinated so I don't have any recollection of the actual day and after visiting the site I realized how little I knew. Some of what I have learned came from our waiter at the Foundry, some from the souvenir newspaper (historical journal) I bought from the veterans and some from the internet. There is so much information and so much 'conspiracy theory' involved in the death of President Kennedy that after all this time it is hard to sort out what is real and what is speculation. I do know that one moment in time and the course of history
was changed and visiting a site like this in person gives you a chance to ponder
and to contemplate what might have been...

I took this picture from the top of the Reunion Tower at the Hyatt Regency on April 20th. The small square red building in the top left is the seven story Texas School Book Depository.

I am pointing at the sixth floor window where Lee Harvey Oswald was hiding waiting for the motorcade to approach. The veterans selling papers took this picture for me. They said it was a "must have shot" for tourists visiting Dealey Plaza....


"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any prices, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty. -JFK

By the way, at the Foundry I had a grilled salmon and bacon sandwich with the BEST french fries I have had in ages. Nice and crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Great food!

DO I KNOW YOU?

So, every day I walk past the Trade Secret store in Foothill Village and I look at this poster for the new O.P.I. nail polish collection, 'HONG KONG'. Beautiful model, nice graphics, great product. The girl just looked so familiar to me, like I know her from somewhere. Maybe it was in a past life? I racked my brain; well, not really racked, but I did wonder for a moment who she was. I just could not figure out why she looked so familiar. Then it hit me....





Bette Midler as Winnie Sanderson in the 1993 movie, 'Hocus Pocus'!!
It is amazing the things and stuff that pop into my brain when I least expect it. I don't know if the people from O.P.I would be very happy with the comparison, or if they even realize the resemblance. But honestly, I may be the only person on earth who noticed. Maybe I should point it out to them.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUZANNE ! !

Not often do you find friends when you are very young and, after you go through all the things and stuff that life throws at you, they, amazingly, are still friends when you are very old! The Keetches are friends like that! We met Brent and Suzanne when we lived in our first apartment in Orem after we were married and while I was still in school. We invited them for Chinese New Year and the rest is history!

This year Suzanne (right) was the last of us to hit the big "50" so Suzie wanted to do something special to celebrate the mile stone. As part of her "photo organizing project" Suzie sorted through 25 years worth of pictures to find the best our history as friends had to offer. From dinners, holidays, vacations, and parties she published a photo book from mypublisher.com that was truly a treasure! Of course a special gift deserves special wrapping.....

This is the final result, but it was a project getting to this point. I thought it would be awesome (well, 'neat' since I don't really use the word 'awesome') to make custom wrapping paper! Think of the possibilities! Monograms, special events, holiday's. We have this amazing machine called the CRICUT from Provo Craft. It is designed to cut all kinds of paper, vinyl and fabric projects with patterns that are generated from computer cartridges. Every time I cut a project with our CRICUT machine, I think that there is so much more that can be done...

So, using the 'CELEBRATIONS' cartridge, rather than cutting gift tags like the ones you see below, I modified the design to create a stencil. With plain paper and a little spray paint I created a custom wrapping paper. I won't tell you how many test runs I had to do to get a good sheet of paper but I think the effort was worth it.

Next was the challenge of selecting the proper ribbon to go with the new paper. So many options! So many patterns! Such a selection! (By the way, that 'selection' can be a topic for an entire blog entry in the future!)
With so much effort and planning on the outside, it was important that the inside be color coordinated as well. Did you know that tissue paper comes in an almost unlimited amount of colors and patterns and they are easy to find on the internet. Let your fingers do the shopping....

Obviously all of the effort was worth it. The package was smashing, but the book inside was the real hit! What a great history we have shared as friends and to have it documented, collated, captioned and bound was great. Suzie did such an amazing job and it was so much fun watching her put it together. Seriously, the book could be a best seller!

And what birthday celebration would be complete with out great food. We had dinner at the 'BLUE LEMON' in Alpine. Delicious food, freshly prepared and always with a twist of lemon. I had the Cusabi Shrimp Salad. It was iron-seared sugarcane shrimp skewers served on tossed house greens, with jicama, fennel, cucumbers and a grilled lemon. It was topped with nice creamy cucumber-wasabi dressing. Excellent! However, I must admit that the sugar cookies for desert were really the high light of the meal. I am such a sucker for a good sugar cookie and these really are excellent!

This is the new 'fifty-something' gang! Brent and Suzanne Keetch and the Draper's. You know, life is all about things and stuff, but the BEST things in life really are not things. The best things in life are great friends who have shared the good and the bad and still love you for who you are.

Happy Birthday Suzanne! And many more to all of us! The best is yet to come!

IT'S A (daddy-daughter) DATE!

Life is all about doing 'things and stuff' with the people you love. Tonight I went on a date with my daughter Samantha. We started off with dinner at SetteBello Pizzeria (260 South 200 West) in Salt Lake City. Excellent! They are VPN (Vera Pizza Napoletana) certified, which simply means that the owner studied pizza making in Italy and it is pretty authentic! I had the Margherita pizza with pine nuts and a nice 'insalata'. Tasty! The service was great, the waiters informative and they kept my diet coke full! That is a very good thing.

After dinner we walked next door to Capo Gelateria for a little cup of dessert. I had a combination of raspberry and mango sorbet. Samantha of course had chocolate! It wasn't as good as the sorbet at the Bellagio in Vegas, but it was a good follow-up the the pizza. And reasonably priced!

Our tickets for the ballet were on row 'B' just slightly off center in the Capitol Theater. We must have had good ticket karma because we have never been lucky enough to get great seats like that for the Ballet. Sami felt like she was in heaven! We could see into the pit and we were close enough to see the dancers sweat! They were dancing 'Balanchine's America'. Serenade (Tchaikovsky) has been one of Samantha's favorite ballet's since she learned the choreography in summer intensive a couple of years ago. Kate Crews is one of Sami's favorite's and she was dancing the lead. They finished off the program with Stars and Stripes to the music of John Philip Sousa. It really was impressive! The final 'campaign', to Stars and Stripes Forever, was a very inspiring moment as a giant American flag rose behind the dancers. According to Samantha, this was the best program of the year. I would have to agree.

The point of all of this? Life is crazy. There is always something demanding our time and usually the 'THINGS' that get the attention is the 'STUFF' that is really not important in the long run. Taking some time to just hang out with family is the most important thing we can do. The older I get, the more I realize the importance of that concept.

Life IS all about things and stuff.... but things and stuff include people and that is the 'stuff' we really need to know.

Oh, local 'CELEB" spotting! Remember the Oxygen show "Dance Your Ass Off" from last year? You know, the show that mixed 'Dancing with the Stars' with 'The Biggest Loser'. Miles, the contestant from Salt Lake who has lost 90 pounds and looks great, was having dinner at SetteBello while we were there.

GRANDPA DRAPER'S BIG EASTER HUNT

Let me introduce you to my parents. Grant and Evelyn Draper. This is the man who taught me everything there is to know about about being the Easter Bunny. You think our adventures on Saturday were big... you should see how Grandpa Draper puts on the Sunday event! You have to remember that there are only four grandchildren!
Ever heard of someone shoveling snow off of the lawn so they could hide eggs? Well you can't exactly hide 400 eggs inside so you have to clear a space somewhere. It was a little cold and muddy but it was great fun.
There are always lots of 'things and stuff' for everyone! Toys, bubbles, bats and balls, eggs filled with candy and money (guess where I learned it). Often times there is more money than candy. There are special eggs with each persons name on the outside and a special treat ($$$) inside. If you find someone else's egg, you have to leave it hidden for them to find. It is a fun tradition.
Grandma Rogers used to make bunny cakes every year for Easter. Round cakes cut in half and frosted, then decorated with paper ears and licorice whiskers. She used to cover the white bunny with coconut to make it look like fur. Erin makes the traditional bunny cakes now but this year the only coconut was the green tinted grass. Interesting... this was the first year that both cakes were devoured! I guess traditional coconut bunnies have always been really cute to look at but never really fun to eat. :)
Whiffle ball anyone? Usually we have a big ball game after lunch but this year it was too cold and muddy. Weird Easter weather. We will have to make up for it next year. Holiday traditions are made up of all kinds of 'things and stuff', however, sometimes you have to skip the things and just do the stuff!

The GREAT EASTER EGG HUNT!!

Saturday, April 3rd was our traditional Rogers family Easter egg hunt. It is a favorite get together for the cousins. Suzie's brother Mark, and his wife Gainell always host. Suzie and I do the eggs for the hunt. The eggs were filled with all kinds of treats! Balloons, ring pops, chocolate and gummie eggs, pixie sticks, bubble tape, money..... lots of 'things and stuff'. When we were finished filling eggs we had 600 plus items to hide! We are lucky it turned out to be a nice day and we had a lot of yard to work with!
The HUNTERS!! There were a lot of eggs for not very many hunters! Someone asked if there was a reason we were using trick or treat bags instead of Easter baskets. Uh yeah... The bags hold a lot more treats than baskets and they don't spill! Actually, they almost hold too much! Some of the little kids couldn't even lift their bag when they were finished with the hunt.
Not Grandma and Grandpa (yet) but we are Mr. and Mrs. EASTER BUNNY. Next year we need hats! While we were watching the kids hunt eggs we were already making plans for next year to make the hunt even bigger and better!
My favorite Easter girls! Erin, Deni and Sami. The Easter egg hunt is as much a family tradition as Thanksgiving and Christmas. Everyone makes every effort to be there if they can. The only one missing from our picture is Scott. But one more Easter and then he will be back in our picture!
Oh YEAH, oh yeah!! Eggs, eggs, eggs! Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate! Money, money, money!

SNOW BUNNIES!??

I wasn't going to write any more about flying bunnies this year, so imagine my surprise this morning when I woke up to find flying 'SNOW' bunnies on my front porch. It was a bad April Fools joke from Mother Nature! April 1st..... the 13th day of Spring and we have ten inches of snow!
There is just something really wrong about a blizzard this time of year when we were just getting excited thinking that spring was finally here.
Crazy! This is Easter weekend! We have 'things and stuff' to do so let's hope that the sun comes out and the snow goes away before we have to hide the Easter eggs on Saturday. The traditions go on whether there is snow or not.... we just may have to hunt eggs in the basement. It wouldn't be the first time and I am sure it won't be the last.

Check back on Monday to see what happens!