David and I flew in to Utah on Thursday afternoon. We went to dinner with an old friend of his, Kathy Zirker Hawkins. She graciously offered to let us stay at their condo at The Kimball which is located right across from Temple Square. It is an awesome location. Our family stayed at that same place for Kacey and Jon's wedding and being there again brought back happy memories.
We took Kathy to dinner at The Red Iguana. David's favorite new thing is to search for places to eat on a website called chowhound.com. It is a site where food aficionados share their favorite places. Apparently, my husband is now a "foodie." He has always loved food but how he has a support group and people to egg him on. Heaven help us!
On Friday David golfed while I stayed in and did some dance work I had to do on the computer. I know... ridiculous, huh? I have spent hours and hours working on the fall schedule and I still have issues with it. Anybody want my job? Lots of hours for little pay? Please...
Anyway, David golfed again on Saturday with Brad and Jamie and Thomas Lund and a few other Olympus grads at Mountain Dell. Sounds like they had fun. The reunion was that evening at George Washington Park by the golf course. It was very casual which was nice.
Here is a self portrait taken just before the reunion. We never take pictures together so we are trying to do better but I hate pictures. In my mind, I'm so much younger and thinner and cooler. And then those dang mirrors and cameras come along and tell the real story. Argggh.
Let me just say that I don't know if it was just my class or all classes, but people change a lot from the 20 year reunion to the 30 year reunion. There were very few people that I could recognize without looking at their picture name tag. I'm not saying that everyone looked bad - not at all (okay, well a few) - most people just looked different. It was crazy. Even some people who looked really good still looked different, not a plastic surgery kind of different - just different. (Maybe it's really good plastic surgery.)
I only took a few pictures. This is one of my friends who looks the same. I recognized her easily without looking at her nametag. This is Lisa Turpin Redford. She and her husband looked great and it was fun visiting with them. Their daughter is marrying BYU basketball player Jonathan Tavernari in September. It was fun to visit with them.
Me and Lisa:
One of the best surprises of the night was that my best friend, Connie Cline, came! She has lived out of Utah for many years now and she didn't come to the 10th or the 20th. Even though we have corresponded over the years, it just hadn't crossed my mind that she would even be there. I was so excited when she came walking over to me. It took me a second to recognize her and I'm not sure why because she looks so much the same. It just took my by surprise but I was so excited. It has been over 25 years since I've seen her. She lives in South Carolina now and her last name is Sivillo. Connie and I had a great time talking about the old days. She was always a lot of fun and we laughed remembering all the times she was grounded. She always got in trouble for sneaking out at night and taking the car without permission. It made me laugh to remember it all. She was a lot of fun. We spent the summer in California together after our senior year. We lived with my dad and worked at a theater. Then we were roommates at BYU our freshman year. We had a lot of good times together and it was really fun to see her. It made my whole night.
Connie, me and David:
Our good friends Jamie and Amy Lund were also there. Jamie was one of the organizers and he did a great job. Jamie and Amy were high school sweethearts. Amy was a year younger than us. We always enjoy catching up with them and have been able to see them quite often throughout the years.
Jamie and Amy Lund
Another one of my friends, Jill Barnes Young, was one of the organizers. I took a picture with her but it was so awful of both of us that she would hate me if I posted it. I think we were both caught talking mid sentence. Amy, Jill and I somehow ended up in Sophomore health class as Seniors (well, Amy was a Junior) but it was still torture. We reminisced about skipping class and going boating. Suffice it to say, we bonded in health class.
David and I won for the most kids + grandkids which is 9. I still can't believe that is a winning number in Salt Lake City? Surely there is someone in my graduating class with an impressive number like 10 or 12! Maybe there is but they just aren't coming to the reunion. I know there was at least one other classmate there with 7 kids (Lynn Pace) but looks like we beat them to the grandkids. By the way, thanks for that Kacey and Jon - the winning prize of a sleeve of golf balls was totally worth it!
It still freaks me out that we are that old. It's weird for me to talk to Connie about her 28 year old son and my 25 year old daughter. Weren't we in high school like 15 minutes ago? Life is crazy.
There were alot more people that I would have liked to visit with that weren't there, but it was fun visiting with the ones that were. Can I just say I'm glad I'm not in high school anymore. Always worrying about what other people think of you. Even when you told yourself you didn't really care, you really did. It was especially hard for me being the new kid and feeling like I had to prove myself all over again (which I never really did.) It's too bad that when you switch schools you can't just take your social status with you like you do your transcripts. Now, I don't want to mislead anyone into thinking that I was ever popular. I wouldn't go that far! But I was generally one of the smart kids and I was a cheerleader (back when cheerleaders were good.) At least people knew who I was. Transferring into a class of 700 kids and gaining instant anonymity is not very fun. But Olympus was a great school and there were some great kids there. I'm glad that at least I got to be anonymous among such amazing students. Thank goodness for my sister, Lori, who was just a year behind me. I at least had one friend at the school!
Jamie Lund really stands out to me as someone who was kind and wise beyond his years in high school. He always went out of his way to be nice to people when he didn't have to. I saw him do it all the time even when he thought no one was watching. That is truly an admirable trait. There were lots of great kids at Olympus and I enjoyed the time that I spent there. I'm proud to be a Titan. I guess I finally made my mark by being the most prolific graduate. Why that's just about as good as Homecoming Queen, wouldn't you say? Ha Ha. By the way, she (HQ - Ruth Fryer) looked fabulous and very much the same. Congratulations class of '79!
6 comments:
oh big shout out for the popularity plummet. the same thing happened to me when we moved to Bellevue. they really should have ID cards or something so you can just "transfer" your status from one school to the next.
That is absolutely shocking you won for most kids/grandkids! Those 79 Utahns really need to step it up. Oh and you are welcome for the winning grandkids. You can drop by half the prize whenever you get a chance. No hurry :)
May we all pray we got those genes and look as good as you and dad in 30 years!
Winning with 9? What kind of Utahns are these people? My question is did you see David Archuleta's dad?
Sadly, my seminary husband (Jeff Archuletta) was not there and apparently just recently he happened to be in a massage parlor that was busted for alleged prostitution. We will assume he is innocent until proven otherwise. One thing we have learned over the years is don't believe what you read in the paper!
Hey I just watched "diners, drive-ins, and dives" the other day on the food network and they had the Red Iguana on there. It looked so good! That is so funny that you ate there...I was just telling Jared I want to go there. It sounds like you guys had a lot of fun!
As a former Titan from the class of '73 who faithfully did wear a toga every year on homecoming day...thanks for sharing what I missed. We were moving to Butte the week of my 25th reunion. You guys don't look a day over 18. Ok, maybe a little, but I'm sure you should have also won the prize for "the couple who still looks the youngest."
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