My Uncle Don

Last Thursday was my Uncle Don's funeral. He died after a long fight with cancer. The service was beautiful. Jenni and Jake did such a wonderful job sharing their thoughts about their dad and all the good things he had done. My dad spoke beautifully and tenderly about Don's life and gave an account of the course his life had taken. I was so touched by the Spirit as stories were shared about my uncle. He was a man that was by no means perfect. He had done a lot of hurtful things and yet he had also done so many wonderful and beautiful things. He loved others. He would give the shirt off his back to anyone and on occasion he did. I loved my uncle Don. I will miss him immensely. It is a bittersweet parting. I know that he has gone on to a place where he can continue to be a servant for the Lord. He managed to put his life in order with the loving help of his family. He is able to stand before the Lord and serve him as he always wanted to serve him; whole heartedly. I can only imagine the fond homecoming he received. I'm sure Grandma and Grandpa Taft, Roger, and so many others were there to embrace and greet him with great rejoicing.

I admire the strength of my cousins. They have shown much compassion and mercy towards their father. I know that at times they were very hurt and felt very abandoned by his actions. They have displayed so much maturity and understanding. I am so very grateful for the healing power of the atonement. When injustices occur the atonement allows us to find the strength, the courage, the mercy, the peace that comes when we forgive others. For by forgiving others comes a lifted weight and burden. Our faults and trespasses towards others are also forgiven of by the Lord. There is great peace and comfort in that. And I see in my cousins a great sense of peace despite the loss of their father. I love them all so very much.

Jaanipäev or Midsummer Day

"Jaanipäev" ("John's Day" in English) was celebrated long before the arrival of Christianity in Estonia, although the day was given its name by the crusaders. The arrival of Christianity, however, did not end pagan beliefs and fertility rituals surrounding this holiday. In 1578, Balthasar Russow wrote in his Livonian Chronicle about Estonians who placed more importance on the festival than going to church. He complained about those who went to church, but did not enter, and instead spent their time lighting bonfires, drinking, dancing, singing and following pagan rituals.

Midsummer marks a change in the farming year, specifically the break between the completion of spring sowing and the hard work of summer hay-making.

Understandably, some of the rituals of Jaanipäev have very strong folkloric roots. The best-known Jaanik, or midsummer, ritual is the lighting of the bonfire and the jumping over it. This is seen as a way of guaranteeing prosperity and avoiding bad luck. Likewise, to not light the fire is to invite the destruction of your house by fire. The fire also frightened away mischievous spirits who avoided it at all costs, thus ensuring a good harvest. So, the bigger the fire, the further the mischievous spirits stayed away.These guys aren't taking any chances of bad spirits ruining their coming year. However, trying to jump over this bonfire could greatly decrease their prospects of having any prosperity.

Estonians celebrate "Jaaniõhtu" ("John's Night" in English) on the eve of the Summer Solstice (June 23) with bonfires. On the islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, old fishing boats may be burnt in the large pyres set ablaze. On Jaaniõhtu, Estonians all around the country will gather with their families, or at larger events to celebrate this important day with singing and dancing, as Estonians have done for centuries. The celebrations that accompany Jaaniõhtu are the largest and most important of the year, and the traditions are similar those of Sweden, Finland and the southern neighbour Latvia.

Since 1934 the June 23 is also national Victory Day of Estonia and both 23 & 24 are holidays.

Rainer, Ryan, and I attended the annual Jaanipäev party for the Salt Lake area last Sunday. Ingrid was so very gracious to open her home to everyone. We had some traditional Estonian dishes like sauerkraut and pork, potato salad, rye bread, cucumber salad, and my favorite kringle which is the desert. It is a beautiful ring of twisted bread with raisins, nuts, chocolate, cinnamon mixed inside.

We had our own little fire going in a fire pit. No big bonfires this year. And no one dared to take a flying leap over it for good luck. But the kids roasted marshmallows and made smores. We had a great time.

Lake Powell Summer Trip

We returned safe and unsunburned from our Lake Powell trip at the beginning of June. (At least everyone but me managed to stay sunburn free. I was lobster legs from day one because I happened to use expired sunblock. Word to the wise check the expiration date of your sunblock.) Weather was wonderful and the water was nice. The bugs were minimal which is always a plus. The water level had probably dropped at least 30 feet since I had last been on a trip to L. Powell. While we were there the water level was rising about 1 foot per day. So we stayed busy (or I should say the menfolk stayed busy) reanchoring the houseboat.

We managed to find a pretty good spot to spend the majority of our trip. We found some sand and slick rock at Hall's Creek. Real estate was at a premium and you had to be an early riser to find a decent spot to camp. The houseboat was quite nice with all the amenities. It even had central air for AC or heat! However, the speed boat the rental place gave us was less than lake worthy. It was all beat up with the rubber siding coming off at the nose. The gas gauge didn't work. It always said 3/4 tank full. Well that's not too helpful when your actually running on 1/4 tank full. Suprizingly we did manage to pull my large body out of the water on one ski. Mind you everyone was sitting in the front of the boat and there were only 3 other people in the boat. I probably drank twice my weight in lake water before I was eventually up. Todd said that the boat would jerk a little whenever I would ski side to side across the wake. (But I think it did that with everyone else who was pulled by the boat.) Rainer, Todd, Johnny, and Drew all made some waves water skiing and wake boarding. To say the least the speed boat was a crap boat. And so for two full days we had to endure the very cheap seats with the speed boat. Then we went to Bullfrog to pick up Drew. As we are about to leave the marina the boat totally dies on us. Kapoot! We manage to get tied up at the marina. Just as the rental place is closing Drew is banging on the glass doors (kind of like Dustin Hoffman did at the church in The Graduate). After some banging they finally respond to him. One of the guys comes out to see what the problem is. He takes one look at our crappy boat and doesn't even ask another question. He says "Let's get you folks a new boat." I'm sure he also wanted to end the work day. But he politely grabs a brand new boat (not even 20 hours worth of drive time on the boat).
Drew attributes the new boat to his timely arrival, charm, and good looks.
So now we are off feeling like superheros because we gained not only Drew but also a spankin' new boat. All was well for the rest of our trip.Ryan and Jayda were the best of buddies at Lake Powell. The two red heads both in their life jackets loved all of the discoveries to be made on the beach. They were pretty cute together. They even let Anna and I trick them into going for a tube ride. At first they were clinging to us for dear life. Then when I told Ryan to pretend it was like riding a horsey then it was loads of fun.
To summarize, we all had a wonderful time. Good scenery. Good company. Good food. Good weather. And accident free. Dad did a fabulous job as captain of the houseboat. We did miss not having the Nelson clan and Zac, Tracy, and Devon there with us. Hopefully the future will present another opportunity for a Pekrul family adventure at Lake Powell.