Washington Photos

Well, our stay in Washington is coming to an end, so let me preempt Jen with some of my favorite photos from the trip! I'll begin with our first week in Pacific Beach with Tiff, Mia, and our nieces.

Brynley, Kylee, Jen, and Kennedy

Matt and Brynley

champions of the 'Founder's Day' games

Mark (Jen's dad) loves model planes

Jen covets a friend's mini cooper

nieces on the beach

Jen and Mark at Kevin's (Jen's brother) birthday party

Brent marries our new in-law, Nicole

Matt and Brynley (our six-year old niece)

Off to Washington!

Well, Brent (Jen's youngest brother) is getting married in a week so we're off to Washington State to join him. It will be fun to see family again. We saw most of Jen's family when we were in Provo (they came out to for her cousin's mission home-coming) but I didn't get to see Jeremiah (Jen's sister's husband). So we'll spend a few days with Jeremiah and Tiffany at their home in Seabrook, a fancy smancy resort community he is building on the Washington coast. Hopefully Kevin (Jen's other little brother), Brent, Jeremiah and I can get in an evening of our classic spade's rivalry. Kevin and I pair up against Brent and Mia.

My research trip to Utah went well. I was a little frustrated by the LDS Church archive restrictions, but the archivists there tried very hard to provide me the materials I requested. My research centers on 20th century Native American (maybe just Navajo) relations with different churches. The problem is threefold; first, in the LDS Church there is a need to maintain a united presentation. The church stands on a foundation of inspired revelation and authority, so it is hesitant to release the correspondence of members of the Indian committee because it may reveal disagreements and conflicting ideas about how to work with Indians. Second, the topic of Native American is a controversial one, and the Church would rather not release sensitive materials that may come back to bite it. I noticed that almost everything referencing George P. Lee, excommunicated Navajo general authority, was restricted. And third, the topic is so recent that many of the people in the files I want are still alive, and so some personal information remains sensitive. Even still, the archivists were wonderful about helping me to get to most those materials. I really appreciate their help. BYU's archives were the most fruitful. I found plenty of documents that clearly spell out the Church's Indian policy. Now I've got to do the same thing with the Catholic Church, and then a Protestant church or two. Then I'll hit the Navajo archives, and hopefully my advisers will be able to get me more access than I'd normally enjoy.

Today is our last day at home for a bit. The governor is coming to visit, and it is too bad we'll miss her by a few minutes. We just closed on our home (last Friday) and used a special program that has caught the governor's attention. She'll wanted to stop by our house and meet us but her schedule dictates that her visit must be at 3pm, and our flight out of here is at 3:45, so we'll just miss her. Instead she'll look at the house next door which is still for sale under the same program we used. Oh well.

So I better finish my laundry and get packed. I hope these entries let you feel like you know us a little better.

We are in Utah!

Matt and I drove up to Utah on Tuesday to do research at BYU and the Church archives in Salt Lake. I was unsure where to even begin with the research, but I have found interesting information on one of the early Mormon Tabernacle Choir directors, George Careless. I have a lot of reading to do now! Hopefully the research will turn in to a published article or maybe even the topic for my final paper.

It is a little strange to be back in Provo once again. I lived here for 9 years and it feels somewhat like coming home. But things are different and many people have moved away. We went by our old house and it's still so cute! My family arrives this week to celebrate the return of one of my cousins, Heath from a mission in Brazil. It will be a great fourth of July! I cannot wait to see my three beautiful nieces: Brynley, Kylee and Kennedy. I wish my little nephew, Noah was coming too. I am the luckiest Aunt in the world. Below are my nieces and nephew in photos we took at Disneyland.


Our house is finally painted! It is quite colorful and everyone really likes it. There is a lot of touch up to do, but we will deal with that after we get back from our travels. I especially like the red wall in the kitchen. It adds some spice! Our house truly feels like a home.
Well, I want to include pictures of the house and my nieces and nephew, so I will sign off for now. Have a wonderful day!

Visiting Utah

So this week we are in Utah doing a little research. It is very glamorous. We sit in very quiet rooms requesting and reading manuscripts all day. Delightful! Jen is researching George Careless, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Director in the mid-late 1800s. I am looking at religious influences on Southwestern tribes, and here in Provo looking at some old records on the American Indians Studies and Research program, as well as the Indian student placement program. Hopefully our research will make it into publications.

While we are here we will also going to spend a little time with family. Jen's cousin is coming home from a mission this week. He was in Brazil. I'm excited to see Jen's brother, Brent (or as I call him, Brentilda). It is nice to be back in Provo for a little bit, and it is funny how some things change and others remain the same. We attended our old married student ward today, but there was only one couple there from the days when we lived here.

Summer has been productive. We worked on the house a bit, but Jen wants to write about that. I worked for the university for the first half of the summer. I maintained a list serve and web page, and now I'm feeling a little more competent about managing a web page of my own. Maybe I'll open one up soon.

So that is it for me, today. I hope you find these entries give you a bit more insight about our personalities.