Author: Ann Laemmlen Lewis

On our way home from Bacharach, we stopped in Bingen, but only visited this old church.

For me, the most interesting part was seeing these crates in the courtyard filled with slate tiles for a new roof.

The charming town of Bacharach, in the Rhine River Valley.

I’ve spent many hours this week with my humanitarian friends, making plans for the future.  It’s time to make some changes in what we’ve done in the past.  These women in Springville/Mapleton are amazing.  They are blessing the lives of so many young women all over the world.

Many of the humanitarian groups I’ve helped to start and that I’ve worked with in the past are moving out from under the umbrella of a larger organization that we’ve worked with in the past.  Our goals are no longer the same but our vision has not changed.  I’m so happy these women are making the shift so they can be more effective in getting feminine hygiene kids to more girls who desperately need them.  I’m so glad I was here to meet with these women and cheer them on.

It was another huge surprise for these dear friends when I walked into the room today.  This is my Orem weekly quilt group with some of my favorite friends.  My chair was waiting and our conversations picked up where they left off 9 months ago.  It was heavenly.  I miss these friends, but time is flying and soon I’ll be back with them.  It’s strange to be here, knowing this is not my place right now.

This is some of my favorite comfort food from Costco.  I’m staying alone in a house with an empty fridge.  I went to heaven, I mean Costo.  I bought meatloaf with mashed potatoes and a rotisserie chicken.  At a grocery store I bought Ovaltine and skim milk.  I also bought a few things on my list of things to take back with me.  These are things I miss and will be happy to have when I get back to Frankfurt:

Yep, I’m taking 6 lbs of corn tortillas back with me!  YUM.

I finished my doctors’ visits this morning, so I was able to make a surprise visit to my Midway quilt group this afternoon.  What a treat.  And what a surprise, when I walked in the door!

Pauline Kacher had gathered several of the baptism quilts she’d made for her grandchildren (who are scattered far and wide) to show them at a trunk show in Midway later this week.  It was a special treat for us to see her quilts in person.  She makes amazing art quilts as you will see below.

Each grandchild tells her their favorite scripture story, and Pauline designs a quilt with them in it.  These are priceless.

Pauline works from photos and pictures to design the quilts.  She layers fabrics (raw edge) with a fabric adhesive, then she stitches over the fabrics.

Here are some of the other quilts friends brought to show:

Caryl had several quilts just back from the quilter to show.

I popped in to say hello to Mark, who has just been accepted into a Ph.D. program at the U.  He’s studying history after retiring as an ER doctor.

This is Caryl’s beautiful quilt room:

I felt So Happy today–to be in a beautiful place with friends I love to be with.  Provo Canyon was spectacular–it snowed here last night!  Everything is green and lush.  Deer Creek Reservoir is full to the brim, fuller than I’ve ever seen it.  The air is crisp and clear and clean.  Our mountains rival those in Switzerland.  I feel so happy to live in such a wonderful place with so many good friends.

This evening I joined the Kachers to go see the new movie, “Escape From Germany,” the story of the evacuation of LDS Missionaries just before Hitler closed the borders in 1939.  It was an interesting piece of history.