A place of Nirvana

A couple weeks ago, we traveled down the freeway which is, by the way, getting closer and closer to completion, each day. Hallelujah!  

The object of our adventure was to take Julie to lunch at the Brick Oven.  We met her in the parking lot, by the Hinckley building.  We were all smiles!  

Grandma & Julie in the Brick Oven

Grandpa & Julie

Julie's 1st visit to this place

"Fall colors at the end of summer?  No way!"

Grandma reviews a budget book, but Julie still knows where the camera is!

I guess now that Julie has been to the Brick Oven, she is officially a real college student, at least in my eyes.

In the mid-sixties, I discovered this place, but back then, it was called Heaps-a-Pizza. The inside was as bare as an empty warehouse, except for a bunch of tables, covered with red and white checkered Italian tablecloths. Wall decorations did not exist, nor did variety of food, but the pizza and root beer were great, as was the price.  

The oven sat in the middle of the room toward the back, and believe me it felt really good on a cold winter night when temps outside were freezing. 

Today, the layout is totally different, with extra rooms and decorations.  The food is still excellent, and college students, wanting a little extra money, serve it with both smiles and cheerful greetings.  

It does seem to me that the present day crowd is a little more diverse in age, as I see both families and also older folks as patrons, both groups probably with similar memories as myself.  Obviously going to this restaurant has become traditional for a lot of people.

One thing for sure it that irregardless of whether Julie ever goes again to the Brick Oven, she has found a place of Nirvana at BYU.  She will undoubtedly make both her own memories and traditions.

The attack

September 11, 2001 was a day none will forget.  I was at sitting at a computer console, running change of address labels, on that dreadful day.  Like most postal clerks, I was listening to the radio through a headset.  The program  was interrupted by a special news bulletin.  An airplane had hit one of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City.  I pulled my headset off, turned to the lady working behind me, and told her the news.  At first she didn't believe me, but I insisted and asked her to tune to KSL.  She did, and both of us sat ridged the next few minutes listening to the news commentary as events, one by one, unfolded.

Soon thereafter, morning break came.  While watching the TV in the break room, I with my fellow workers, watched with horrified eyes, as the second airplane crashed into the other twin tower.  We did finish the work day, but in astonished silence, headsets on.

This year's healing field, was moved from the Sandy mall area, to the lawn in front of City Hall.

"Field of Honor observances began in Sandy City, Utah, in 2002 on the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks."

"The concept was simple, yet profound. Thousands of American flags, each with a tag bearing the name of a 9/11 victim, were planted in a field there."

"Since then, the idea has expanded to other communities across the country and includes honor or remembrance for active duty or veteran military personnel, first responders or any other loved ones."

Field of Honor in Sandy, Utah

American flags stand proudly in front of City Hall 

Tribute to brave New York firemen

Although 11 years and two wars have passed since the attack, I still am aware of the feelings I had at the time.  May God always bless this land, and protect it from such evil.  Let freedom ring.

Jenna



Jenna

Even though Matt got all the attention Sunday, I just have to post this pic of Jenna.

Fortunate to again meet!

As the decade of the 1960's drew to a close, our paths pointed in different directions.  Now all retired, we were fortunate to again meet, visit, and remember old times.  

Dennis Moore, John (Jack) Thomas, John McKea & Donn Love

We since have found other companions and have passed on our heritage to our offspring - 48 grandchildren, I believe the count was.  Proud we are of our descendants!   

Dennis, Donna, Sue, John (Jack), Beverly, John, Judy & Donn

Another interesting occasion!  A reception at the Conference Center was held for "Mac," in honor of his retirement as President of the Tab Choir.  "Mac" Christensen (born 1934) is the founder of the Salt Lake City based clothing retailer "Mr. Mac".  We were honored to have our picture taken with him.

Beverly, Mac, John

Mac replaced Wendell Smoot, and he retired after 12 years of service.  We will always remember and cherish our choir association with both men.

Sammy gets buff!

Sammy

Sammy has been working out, they say!  I really do think he is more buff than he used to be.  Anyone who is willing to run around without a shirt, has got to proud of his six-pack.

Sharon, Andy & Joey

Joe & Andy had arranged a river trip earlier in the day.  Grandma Zucc & I declined the invitation.  Actually I went fishing at Vivian Park pond, but only got a few bites.  Good thing we were not having a fish fry.

Katie & Sherry

                                                 Food is never problem at any of our gatherings.


This picnic was kind of special in that all of our family was together, all 18 of us, plus a couple of real close friends, who are almost family.  

Julie, Dayle & Nick\

It was kind of a special day for Julie, as she had been dropped off the day before at her college dorm, and now this was the last time she would be with us, at least for this year.

Belana & Michelle

Afterwards we went to the creamery, and I told Belana that we needed to dump her off too.  She was not to sure about that.  Ha ha.

We are the hugging bears

At 18 years old, I believe Julie looks more like Tammy than she did only a couple years ago.  I sure have beautiful granddaughters.

"The best part about being friends with your parents is that no matter what you do, they have to keep loving you."  I believe that parents get to keep loving their kids, no matter how old they become.

Tammy, Dayle & Julie

A tired group

Another great pose

Before leaving the mall, the kids insisted we the Disney store.  I was halfway disinterested at the prospects of  even entering, but soon discovered that this store was adorned with creative displays, designed to delight everyone, and again Rachel stole the show.  Which one is cuter, Rachel or Minni?  

Soon we crossed the street and entered Temple Square, and Brendan wanted to have his picture taken in front of the church office building.  This pic turned out to be one of the better ones of the day.

As you may know, many weddings are performed in the temple, and couples can be seen posing for photographers, at various locations around the square.  Matty thought it would be cool if he got his pic taken with one of them.  You can tell that Matty has been hanging out with Dayle, Jr. for several days.  Notice the forced smile and raised eyebrows on Matt's face.  Ha ha.

As we passed the temple, I was able to point out some of the symbolism, to one of the kids, that adorns the building.  Notice the representation of both sun and moon.  The stars are not in the pic, but are represented on the temple, below the moon.  The religious explination of these symbols are found in Doctrine & Covenants, section 76.  Any LDS missionary will be glad to share this with you.  

We ended up in the North Visitors Center, and were delighted to find the little room, betwixt all the wonderful displays in the bottom level.  One of the displays is of Isaiah.  Jenna was especially interested in this one, so I willingly got her pic.  

 

We then moved upstairs to visit the statue of the Savior.  I like to think He loves all of us, and wants us all to be with him in the world to come.  It makes sense to me that families can be together, forever.

Being a little slower than my offspring, when I arrived at the lounge downstairs, I found a tired group, for sure! 

 

But soon we were on our way back City Creek Center parking.  On the way we posed at the Seagull monument.

This is a favorite place for visitors to make a wish.  What you do is sit on the concrete edge with a coin in hand, close your eyes and picture the thing you desire.  Then you toss the coin over your shoulder into the waiting water.  The fountain bottom is loaded with coins, and it appears that some of the kids are trying to retrieve them.  Ha ha.  

Next posting will be of the family gathering up Provo Canyon.  

The new City Creek Center

Belana & Erin

After getting home from the cabin, we all gathered on our front lawn, anxiously awaiting for the arrival of Tammy and her group.  Finally they rolled in - all the way from Olympia.  They had stopped at "In-and-out" Burger, just before arriving.  One thing this family does is eat well, and later on in the week, we all ventured  to the new City Creek Center, just to window shop and eat at the food court.  Ha ha.

After posing with a skier, it was time to hit the stores.  The following photos will truly instill within your soul, a desire to shop, shop, shop!  So, enjoy!

Erin studies the mall map, while we try to decide where to go first!

The best thing about this table is the $3.95 sale sign, but the girls like trying all the stuff.  How come the $10.00 sign is upside down?  Did Jr. do it?

Mother & Daughter

Even the boys got involved!  Brendan is so macho!  You would never know that he is the designated home-run hitter for his baseball team.

Brendan got into the "hat" scene!  He has a great sense of humor.









             Notice how he can pose with the best of the mannequins?  Such dignity and class!  Wow!

                                              My favorite 7 year old hangs gracefully with the other jackets.

                                               Who needs a dressing room just to try on shirt?  Not Jr.!


          Okay!  After we window shopped, we crossed over the ski bridge to the east side of the mall.

Rachel again steals the show with another great pose.  I wish I were as photogenic as she, but hey!  Some of      us just have it and others don't!

                                                        Good for you, Rachel!


Finally we arrived at the food court.  Everyone got to choose their favorite food from a variety of restaurants.  I choose a taco meal deal.  It was good, but not as good as I had anticipated.
   

We are happy while eating!

                                       
After lunch, we moved back to the west side of the mall, and then to Temple Square.  My next posting will feature pics featuring this adventure, so bookmark this page, and I'll be posting again in a few days!  Good-by for now.