Thanksgiving Day!

Thanksgiving Day!  What a day it turned out to be!  Thanks to Erin's help the day before, I was able to easily complete my assignment of making the mashed potatoes.  Erin had come over and helped peel and slice the little fellows.  Grandma helped also, once her piano lessons were finished.  

We covered them with water and stored them on the deck for cooking and mashing in the morning.  Bev got up early and began cooking the turkey and pumpkin pie. 

We then loaded our goods and made our way to Springville, where Sam and his faithful dog Shadow greeted us as we pulled into the driveway.  Shadow, an Australian Sheep Dog, was particularly interested - obviously he could smell the turkey, ha-ha.  Honestly, when I opened the car door to get out, he wanted to smell every part of me, even my breath.  Sam pulled him away, and I was able to exit the car.  I moved quickly to open the trunk and gave the turkey to Sammy with instructions to take it into the house.  Shadow finally left me alone and followed Sammy and the bird to the front door, leaving me alone.

After greeting the boys in the great room, I made my way into the home teaching room (music room) only to find Sherry and Bev visiting.  I was not kicked out, so I sat down.  Soon Mike and his family arrived, so the following pics are of those who had presence in that particular room.  

Sherry

Katie

Matty

Jenna

Sherry

Mike

Julie

Rachel

Rachel & Julie

Erin

Now this concludes the events leading up to and including our Springville Thanksgiving Day arrival.  

Within the next few days I will continue with a brief description of the exciting program, and then in a third posting, I will end up with an account of the actual feasting.  So be sure to check back.

Something to do

This Friday we were looking for something to do, and we ended up risking our lives driving through the I-15 construction zone on the Point of the Mountain.  Nevertheless, we arrived safely in Provo, and the adventure was made enjoyable by Rachel, who suggested that we play 20 questions during our drive. 

We picked up Julie and made our way to the De Jong Concert Hall in the HFAC.  After dropping off Grandma Zucc at the front entrance, I found a great parking spot in the main parking lot. 

Rachel & Julie at the intermission


The occasion was a concert by the American Piano Quartet.  

Julie & myself

 I enjoyed Three Hungarian Dances by Brahms.  I remember playing number 5 on my violin as a teenager.  That was a long time ago, for sure; but I was pretty good, I think!  

Me & Rachel

Rachel's favorite piece was Petite Suite, composed by Debussy, and I know why.  She likes the smooth melodic structure of the whole tone scale.  Debussy also uses a lot of 9th chord structure, which produces a rich feeling to his music.

Me, Julie & Rachel

Julie said she liked them all - she is so diplomatic.  She ought to run for political office, because that is what politicians do - agree with everyone.

Grandma, Julie & Rachel

One thing for sure is that we all liked Hungarian Rhapsody no.2 by Franz Liszt.  The first half of the concerto is serious, but the last section is kind of a musicians "musical joke."  The dissonant runs make one wonder if the pianists have had a little to much cheer before the concert.  Ha.

                                                               

No matter what we thought, all was made well as we enjoyed some ice cream treats at Mickey D's.
  

                                                                               

Some more pics

Wow!  2015 is passing so quickly, and before I take this year's postings to press, I need to add some pics that may be interesting.

In January, Grandma hosted a great recital featuring her piano students.  You can tell by the following photo where it was held.    

Katie, John, Brandon, Rachel, Erin, Naomi, Ben, and Bev.
Henry, Natalie, Matthew, Matt, Luke, Eli, and Jenna.  

Last New Year's Eve was a fun occasion.  We invited my son and his family over for games, and I think we wore them out playing Pit (the stock trading game).  Or maybe it was just after midnight.

Obviously the party is over!

Mike and Katie show some life; but obviously, with blanket in hand, Jenna is ready to call it quits. 

During a summer visit, we took the Anderson family to dinner at one of our favorite Latino restaurants - Los Garcia.  Dayle, a connoisseur of Mexican food seemed to enjoy the feast.   

In a previous posting, Jeff with eyeball glasses was featured in a frontal view.  I couldn't pass up this great side view pic.

Matthew McKea entertained all of us with his first year tackle football tactics.  He played for Jordan Little League, and his team had a successful season, making it to the semi-finals.  You can tell by the following pics how seriously these kids take the game.  

Coach give the team a pep talk

Believe me!  There is no monkey business in this league.  

A favorite thing to do is play games on the master bed.  This is also a good place to play backgammon.

Matty & Jenna