Spanish Fork High School

I took a walk down memory lane today at my alma mater, Spanish Fork High School.  It's being torn down in just a few short days. The community had the opportunity to come tour through the school today and say goodbye. It was so fun to walk through my old classrooms and dance rooms.  I told Molly about stories and memories from my years spent there.  The countless hours spent in the dance room and the countless games spent cheering on the football and basketball gym bleachers....

This was a place of so many firsts for me. 

First dates.  First dances.  Driving.  Sluffing.  Boyfriends. 

I loved the friendships made.  I loved the dances.  I loved all the sporting events.  Some of my favorite and most fond memories.  Some of my lasting friendships were forged there.

I love the picture of the open lockers, especially because it shows the original blue color that they were my sophomore year before being repainted to red and grey. I will miss the smell of the gym. There is just a certain smell to that building that brings back a flood of memories every single time I walk through the doors. I wish I could bottle it up and save a piece of that with me. It won't feel like the new school will be my alma mater. It will just simply be a school. Not MY school though.   It'll be a new school waiting to have new memories made there. Not my memories though.  My mom was the first graduating class from this school back in 1964.  My brothers, brothers and sisters in law along with nieces and nephews all graduated from THIS Spanish Fork High School.  We were all mighty Dons, and proud of it!  We can all reminisce together.  So I guess it's ok that it's being torn down, replaced by a shiny, new one. My memories will always stay.

The south side of the school and even the south parking lot have some crazy memories.  It's where I got my FIRST and ONLY parking ticket to date!

It's also where Gena Bahr crashed her car into the broad side of a school bus, haha!  I always thought that was so funny.

It had a MASSIVE sized pot hole in it.  It was probably 2X3 feet in diameter and at least 6 inches deep.  I knew exactly where it was and could navigate around it in my sleep.

I also looked at those Venetian blinds for 30+ years and wondered if they were ever updated....

Goodbye Spanish Fork High School.  Thank you for helping to forge my identity, for building pride and unity in me and for giving me some of the best memories in those short 3 years that have stuck with me for a lifetime.

Jensy's Graduation 👨🏼‍🎓

 Jensy graduated from MTech today and I am one proud momma!  He went to 4 full years of trade school for his journeyman's degree. He's become a really skilled electrician. His ceremony was held at UVU.  It was a packed house!  Afterwards, we went to dinner at Sizzler to celebrate.

Venice, Italy 🇮🇹

Jeff had a work convention with Rain in Venice so Molly and I tagged along and extended it for several extra days. We flew out April 30, 2024 and didn't fly back home until May 9th.  We had so much fun!  I was so excited for Molly to see one of my favorite countries!  And she got to celebrate her 17th birthday there!

Venice is made up of 118 little islands that are all connected by rivers, canals, and bridges.

We stayed on Lido in Hotel Excelsior.  We would take the water taxi over to San Marco most days to play.

Our hotel was situated right on the beach and had a pool! This is the first time I've ever been to a hotel in Europe that had a pool.

Saint Mark's Basilica

We went to a Masquerade party one night and had fun dressing up.

I loved taking Molly on gondola rides and letting her see the buildings in the canals. 

The Grand Canal and Rialto Bridge

We went to see the Doge's Palace.  "Doge" means Prince. It was beautiful!  It sits right in the bustling St Marks Square.  Once you get inside, the chaos and noise of St Marks disappears and there is a calm beauty to it.

There were several rooms filled with armory.

Every stairwell, every room, every corner was beautifully adorned with gold trim and huge, incredible paintings.  It was incredible.

Then we toured through the old prison before leaving the Doge's Palace.

 PADOVA (PADAU)

We took the water taxi down the Grand Canal to the train station to catch a train to take us to Padova or as it's called outside of Italy, Padau.

It's a bigger city with lots of shopping and dining.  We went to see the Cappella degli Scrovegni Basicilla first.  Then did some shopping before stopping to dine for dinner just outside the Palazzo della Raglone.  I loved seeing a new city!