Dear Kids,
Big news! Paul and Stefanie are engaged! More later! Now to the letter I wrote earlier:
We’re getting psyched up for Christmas here at the cabin! I’m sure all of you (and all of your children) are plenty wound up too. Dad and I are looking forward to the family Christmas party next Saturday afternoon. We’re supposed to meet at the Kearns Oval at 3:30 pm for ice skating. I remember how much fun we all had there last year. After the skating we’ll get together at Nora and James’s house for the rest of the party. If you have any questions about which kids give to which kids, or what the adult exchange is, call Nora. She sent me the lists as a facebook message, but I never got it. I’m sure we’ll all have plenty of food and plenty of fun.
As for the rest of Christmas, we’ll have our Christmas Eve hike at Memorial Hill in Midway, probably about 7:00 pm. Call me if you have a better suggestion, or if there’s a better time for you. Christmas morning Dad and I will swing around Heber Valley to see what Santa brought the various grandchildren. Then we’ll head down to Nora’s for a Christmas brunch, at 11 am. She says anyone is welcome to come. She’s inviting Bill Mair and his new wife Audrey. I’m anxious to meet Audrey. She must be quite a woman to take on Bill.
Christmas night Dad and I will be back at the cabin, getting ready for our sledding party the next day. Any of you who want to come to the cabin Christmas night and sleep over are more than welcome! We’ll even warm up the bunkhouse if we need to. Food for the sledding party is sloppy jo’s with chips and veggies. Why don’t you all bring your leftover Christmas treats–things like the plates of goodies your neighbors brought you, or any other leftovers that you want to have eaten. The sledding hill should be in good shape. We haven’t had as much snow as they had in Salt Lake and Provo, but we’re expecting more. Anyway, if people can sled on mud and ice and grass, like they did here at Thanksgiving, we’ll have all kinds of fun on real snow.
Other news . . . is there anything else going on besides Christmas? I keep negotiating with the people at Fieldstone Homes about whether or not we’re going to have them build a house for us, but we still haven’t come to an agreement. When I said we definitely wanted the furnace in the basement, not on the second floor, that was a big hurdle for them. And all their houses come with black appliances, unless you want to pay more money for stainless steel. I wonder if they’ve ever heard of white? Generations of women have been happy with white appliances. I am, too. We’ll see if we can iron out our differences.
Oreo and Tomcat are still squabbling, but Oreo has learned the schedule of the catfood feeder, and he’s always there to get the food first. Then, when Tomcat sees that he’s been shut out of the food, he leaves big poopers in the litter box, just for spite. So much fun!
I hope you’re all doin’ great and lovin’ it! Mom
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Dear Kids,
Our lighted Christmas tree is shining away in the corner by the front door, where the fake green pine trees usually sit. Yep, it’s artificial! $35 from Walmart. You can’t beat that. It’s white, with white lights. I’ll be bringing ornaments from our house to decorate it, and hopefully I’ll soon be putting presents under it. We won’t have a Christmas tree at our house in West Valley at all, since we’ll be here at the cabin here the whole time. And an artificial tree is so easy! You just pull it out of the box and put it up. While Dad was assembling it, I was talking to Sharon on the phone, and they were putting up their first real Christmas tree ever. How things change!
Yesterday Dad and I helped move Tom and Kim to their new house. They had quite a crew assembled there! Of course the elders were moving fast, hauling out the big things. John was among them. Donna was cleaning, and I helped for a while, and tended Anna for a while. Grandma and Grandpa Bentley were tending Tom’s littler kids. That’s the best job for us decrepit grandparents! Moving the actual stuff went really fast, but of course the putting away is the biggest job. Over at the new house, Bentley showed me his bedroom, with lots of room for all his stuff. The girls’ room is right next to it. It’s a wonderful house. I wish Dad and I could find something like that in Kamas Valley to buy. We’ve been talking to "Fieldstone Homes," a mass-market builder that puts up cracker-box houses in places like Lehi. But there’s a development by Hilltop Road where they have built a couple of houses, and maybe they can build a house for us there, too. I don’t know. It’s hard to get any straight information out of them.
The big action here at the cabin is an ongoing fight between Oreo and Tomcat, the wild orange fellow that has hung around here for years. Things were fine when we had the old feeder, and he could sneak in and help himself to a meal any time, with no loss of food for Oreo. But now the food is carefully metered from the new machine, and there isn’t enough for two. On Friday I noticed that the feeder had been pulled away from the wall, as far as the cord would allow, and there was orange cat hair all over it. So I made a stand of 2x6's and 2x4's that’s really heavy. I screwed the feeder to the stand, and we’ll see now if it will go anywhere. (On the "Super-Feeder" website they show all kinds of ingenious things people have done.) Sometimes Tomcat hangs out in the kitty house all night, so he can have first dibbs at the food when it rolls out. Oreo hides under the sleds and hisses at him. Yesterday morning they had a big fight under the cabin, and it sounded like they were both killing each other. Lots of thumping and screeching. We’ll see how things finally work out .
Lots of excitement! Lots of fun! Lots of love, Mom
Our lighted Christmas tree is shining away in the corner by the front door, where the fake green pine trees usually sit. Yep, it’s artificial! $35 from Walmart. You can’t beat that. It’s white, with white lights. I’ll be bringing ornaments from our house to decorate it, and hopefully I’ll soon be putting presents under it. We won’t have a Christmas tree at our house in West Valley at all, since we’ll be here at the cabin here the whole time. And an artificial tree is so easy! You just pull it out of the box and put it up. While Dad was assembling it, I was talking to Sharon on the phone, and they were putting up their first real Christmas tree ever. How things change!
Yesterday Dad and I helped move Tom and Kim to their new house. They had quite a crew assembled there! Of course the elders were moving fast, hauling out the big things. John was among them. Donna was cleaning, and I helped for a while, and tended Anna for a while. Grandma and Grandpa Bentley were tending Tom’s littler kids. That’s the best job for us decrepit grandparents! Moving the actual stuff went really fast, but of course the putting away is the biggest job. Over at the new house, Bentley showed me his bedroom, with lots of room for all his stuff. The girls’ room is right next to it. It’s a wonderful house. I wish Dad and I could find something like that in Kamas Valley to buy. We’ve been talking to "Fieldstone Homes," a mass-market builder that puts up cracker-box houses in places like Lehi. But there’s a development by Hilltop Road where they have built a couple of houses, and maybe they can build a house for us there, too. I don’t know. It’s hard to get any straight information out of them.
The big action here at the cabin is an ongoing fight between Oreo and Tomcat, the wild orange fellow that has hung around here for years. Things were fine when we had the old feeder, and he could sneak in and help himself to a meal any time, with no loss of food for Oreo. But now the food is carefully metered from the new machine, and there isn’t enough for two. On Friday I noticed that the feeder had been pulled away from the wall, as far as the cord would allow, and there was orange cat hair all over it. So I made a stand of 2x6's and 2x4's that’s really heavy. I screwed the feeder to the stand, and we’ll see now if it will go anywhere. (On the "Super-Feeder" website they show all kinds of ingenious things people have done.) Sometimes Tomcat hangs out in the kitty house all night, so he can have first dibbs at the food when it rolls out. Oreo hides under the sleds and hisses at him. Yesterday morning they had a big fight under the cabin, and it sounded like they were both killing each other. Lots of thumping and screeching. We’ll see how things finally work out .
Lots of excitement! Lots of fun! Lots of love, Mom
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Dear Kids,
Our big excitement this week was the arrival of Oreo’s cat food feeder. (Originally it was going to be Xena’s feeder, but it arrived here at the cabin, and she’s in West Valley.) Anyway, I had lots of fun assembling it. It must have been designed by Germans, because they thought of everything. There’s a big hopper on the top for the kibble, and a chute it comes down, and a roller that dispenses the food. You use it with a timer. The motor makes a grinding sound when it turns on, and the first time I activated it, Oreo was terrified and ran away. Now he comes running when he hears it. I have it set to go off every four hours, with pretty small portions each time. Oreo says it isn’t enough to keep a large hunting cat going. Exactly. Maybe he’ll start eating some of his kill. And maybe he’ll quit inviting the big orange cat to come in and eat with him. I figure what we’ll save on cat food will easily pay for the feeder.
Tom and Kim finally own a house! The problem is, they can’t move in yet, because the former owner is still there. She can’t move until she closes on her new place. Still, Tom and Dad and Bevan were able to move boxes into the basement. That’s a start. I don’t know if Tom and Kim will really believe it when they’re finally in the house.
Charlie was baptized yesterday, and I wish we could have been there. Most of the Thackers came. I’m jealous! It will be nice if Sharon and Seth and their kids are able to move west and be closer to us all, but on the other hand, we’ve had such great vacations visiting them! It’s a toss-up!
Does anybody take a newspaper these days? Last year Donna and Bevan supplied me with paper to start my fires, but they aren’t taking the paper any more. If you’re getting a paper, could you save them for me? I’ll come and pick them up! It’s a sad day for print journalism when the best thing about a newspaper is having something to start a fire with.
Our stake Christmas program is next Sunday night, the 9th, at 7:00 pm in our stake center. You can hear Dad and me sing the Hallelujah chorus. We’ll have treats here at the cabin afterwards. Let me know if you can come!
Lots of love, Mom
Our big excitement this week was the arrival of Oreo’s cat food feeder. (Originally it was going to be Xena’s feeder, but it arrived here at the cabin, and she’s in West Valley.) Anyway, I had lots of fun assembling it. It must have been designed by Germans, because they thought of everything. There’s a big hopper on the top for the kibble, and a chute it comes down, and a roller that dispenses the food. You use it with a timer. The motor makes a grinding sound when it turns on, and the first time I activated it, Oreo was terrified and ran away. Now he comes running when he hears it. I have it set to go off every four hours, with pretty small portions each time. Oreo says it isn’t enough to keep a large hunting cat going. Exactly. Maybe he’ll start eating some of his kill. And maybe he’ll quit inviting the big orange cat to come in and eat with him. I figure what we’ll save on cat food will easily pay for the feeder.
Tom and Kim finally own a house! The problem is, they can’t move in yet, because the former owner is still there. She can’t move until she closes on her new place. Still, Tom and Dad and Bevan were able to move boxes into the basement. That’s a start. I don’t know if Tom and Kim will really believe it when they’re finally in the house.
Charlie was baptized yesterday, and I wish we could have been there. Most of the Thackers came. I’m jealous! It will be nice if Sharon and Seth and their kids are able to move west and be closer to us all, but on the other hand, we’ve had such great vacations visiting them! It’s a toss-up!
Does anybody take a newspaper these days? Last year Donna and Bevan supplied me with paper to start my fires, but they aren’t taking the paper any more. If you’re getting a paper, could you save them for me? I’ll come and pick them up! It’s a sad day for print journalism when the best thing about a newspaper is having something to start a fire with.
Our stake Christmas program is next Sunday night, the 9th, at 7:00 pm in our stake center. You can hear Dad and me sing the Hallelujah chorus. We’ll have treats here at the cabin afterwards. Let me know if you can come!
Lots of love, Mom
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Dear Kids,
Thanksgiving was a blast, even with only three families of kids here. There were only ten children, but it seemed like enough. They went sledding on the hill, even though it’s only half covered with snow . The other half is mud, ice, and grass. There were injuries, but everyone had fun. Wednesday night, there were nine people sleeping in the bunkhouse, and all the bunks were filled. We stayed plenty warm with the heater going. Our dinner on Thursday was fantastic, and most of us ate too much. We hiked the little loop three or four times, but we never did the big one. Some of the people who couldn’t have Thanksgiving dinner with us came by later. John dropped in Thursday night, to get away from the noisy kids at his house, but he only exchanged one group for another. On Friday, Donna and Bevan brought Anna, and we had a little birthday party for her. On Saturday Allen’s family came. Remember, on Conference weekend, when Allen was talking about the weight-loss competition in his department? Well, he won the $400.00. You don’t want to know how, but he did it. He’s only gained back a few pounds since then.
Nora says that the cousins’ Christmas party will be Saturday, December 22, at her house. We’re going ice skating at the Kearns Oval again. I’m very excited about that, because I love skating. Dad and I had plans to keep doing it last winter, but then I moved to the cabin. Anyway, you can all mark your calendars for December 22. I’m sure Nora will give us more details later on.
I can’t think of any other news. This week went by so fast, and it was all Thanksgiving!
I love you all! Mom
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Dear Kids,
I scheduled the Golden Corral on 35th South for Dad’s retirement party, on January 4th, at 6:30 pm. When the guy asked me "One tab or separate tabs," I said, "One tab!" Dad’s retirement bonus will pay for everything. We’re hoping most of our family and best friends will come. (Sharon and Conrad are even planning to come for the event.) If you’re reading this post, you’re invited! We hope you’ll be willing to share your memories of "Dad driving his bus."
We’re looking forward to Thanksgiving this week, and to having lots of fun with those of you who come. And, of course, Christmas is breathing down our necks. Sunday, Dec. 9, at 7:00 pm, is the Kamas Community Christmas program, at our stake center in Marion. Dad and I are in the choir, and we’ll be singing the Hallelujah Chorus, among other things. If you want to come, we’ll have treats at the cabin afterwards. Then, I’m pretty sure Nora will be hosting the cousins’ Christmas party for the kids again, but I haven’t heard of a date yet. As for Christmas itself, Dad and I will be here at the cabin. I’m going to buy a fake Christmas tree and set it up in the corner. Christmas Eve is a Monday night, and we’re planning to do the hike up Memorial Hill in Midway again, or Ensign Peak, whichever you guys prefer. Christmas Day Dad and I will drive around and visit some of you. We’ll probably mooch Christmas dinner somewhere. Wednesday, the day after, will be our sledding party here at the cabin. Be there or be square!
Yesterday Dad and I went to a session in the Provo Temple. It was very busy. Lots of 19 and 20-year-old girls are getting endowed so they can leave on missions. There were four of them in our session! Later, Dad and I drove to Orem to visit Grandpa Allen. He seems to be doing about the same. He always seems to know who we are, which is nice, and he always asks Dad several times if he’s still driving a bus. Now we can say he’s retiring, so that’s something different. Bonnie came by and filled us in on the latest news. Adrien Webb is expecting twins. Jamie and Andrea are moving back to their house in Provo, and Katie Brooke and Kevin are moving in to take care of Grandpa. Katie has her CNA and does home health care, so they figure they’re up to it. My hat’s off to them! While we were visiting, we got to see Jamie and Andrea’s new baby boy, Jack. He’s long and lanky, with gigantic hands. His hair and eyes are dark, and his forehead is always creased with a worried look.
Xena has been shipped back to our West Valley house because she was pooping in all the wrong places. She seems to be glad she’s home, although she’ll be alone a lot. Oreo is glad she’s gone. I ordered a super expensive automated cat feeder to try out. Xena has the bad habit of eating all her food in one day and starving the rest of the week. I’m eager to see how the cat feeder works.
Life is good! I love you all! Mom
I scheduled the Golden Corral on 35th South for Dad’s retirement party, on January 4th, at 6:30 pm. When the guy asked me "One tab or separate tabs," I said, "One tab!" Dad’s retirement bonus will pay for everything. We’re hoping most of our family and best friends will come. (Sharon and Conrad are even planning to come for the event.) If you’re reading this post, you’re invited! We hope you’ll be willing to share your memories of "Dad driving his bus."
We’re looking forward to Thanksgiving this week, and to having lots of fun with those of you who come. And, of course, Christmas is breathing down our necks. Sunday, Dec. 9, at 7:00 pm, is the Kamas Community Christmas program, at our stake center in Marion. Dad and I are in the choir, and we’ll be singing the Hallelujah Chorus, among other things. If you want to come, we’ll have treats at the cabin afterwards. Then, I’m pretty sure Nora will be hosting the cousins’ Christmas party for the kids again, but I haven’t heard of a date yet. As for Christmas itself, Dad and I will be here at the cabin. I’m going to buy a fake Christmas tree and set it up in the corner. Christmas Eve is a Monday night, and we’re planning to do the hike up Memorial Hill in Midway again, or Ensign Peak, whichever you guys prefer. Christmas Day Dad and I will drive around and visit some of you. We’ll probably mooch Christmas dinner somewhere. Wednesday, the day after, will be our sledding party here at the cabin. Be there or be square!
Yesterday Dad and I went to a session in the Provo Temple. It was very busy. Lots of 19 and 20-year-old girls are getting endowed so they can leave on missions. There were four of them in our session! Later, Dad and I drove to Orem to visit Grandpa Allen. He seems to be doing about the same. He always seems to know who we are, which is nice, and he always asks Dad several times if he’s still driving a bus. Now we can say he’s retiring, so that’s something different. Bonnie came by and filled us in on the latest news. Adrien Webb is expecting twins. Jamie and Andrea are moving back to their house in Provo, and Katie Brooke and Kevin are moving in to take care of Grandpa. Katie has her CNA and does home health care, so they figure they’re up to it. My hat’s off to them! While we were visiting, we got to see Jamie and Andrea’s new baby boy, Jack. He’s long and lanky, with gigantic hands. His hair and eyes are dark, and his forehead is always creased with a worried look.
Xena has been shipped back to our West Valley house because she was pooping in all the wrong places. She seems to be glad she’s home, although she’ll be alone a lot. Oreo is glad she’s gone. I ordered a super expensive automated cat feeder to try out. Xena has the bad habit of eating all her food in one day and starving the rest of the week. I’m eager to see how the cat feeder works.
Life is good! I love you all! Mom
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Dear Kids,
Big news! Dad and I are expecting again! (No, not that!!) We’re expecting grandchild #29! Little baby Hawkins is due June 2nd. Dad noted that it will be the tiebreaker. (14 boys and 14 girls so far.) Congratulations to Donna and Bevan!
As of Thursday afternoon, we were still having delightful fall weather. Donna came by to borrow the air compressor and the staple gun, but she had to wait while I did the finishing touches on my deck project. She pruned the top of the tall pine tree while she waited, and Anna watched in wonder. We knew it was our last good day of fall! By Friday morning it was raining, and by Friday afternoon, I was already shoveling snow off the brand new deck. It’s weird to finish a deck one day, and shovel snow off it the next.
Since then, we’ve had a ton of snow! There were 16 inches by yesterday noon, and we’ve had more since then. Yesterday afternoon Donna and Bevan brought us lunch, and then Donna tromped out the sledding hill with snowshoes. We all (including Anna) took a few runs. Then John arrived with his kids, and they all went sledding, too. Besides that, the kids had a lot of fun running around the yard and throwing themselves into the snow. I had forgotten, that for kids, snow is something you PLAY in. It’s not just something you have to shovel.
11 more days till Thanksgiving! Please call me for a food assignment if you’re going to eat with us. It looks like we might not be hiking the big loop, but we’ll have a lot of fun sledding and playing games and eating. (And there will be midnight shopping at the outlet stores, too, I’m sure.)
Lots of love, Mom
Big news! Dad and I are expecting again! (No, not that!!) We’re expecting grandchild #29! Little baby Hawkins is due June 2nd. Dad noted that it will be the tiebreaker. (14 boys and 14 girls so far.) Congratulations to Donna and Bevan!
As of Thursday afternoon, we were still having delightful fall weather. Donna came by to borrow the air compressor and the staple gun, but she had to wait while I did the finishing touches on my deck project. She pruned the top of the tall pine tree while she waited, and Anna watched in wonder. We knew it was our last good day of fall! By Friday morning it was raining, and by Friday afternoon, I was already shoveling snow off the brand new deck. It’s weird to finish a deck one day, and shovel snow off it the next.
Since then, we’ve had a ton of snow! There were 16 inches by yesterday noon, and we’ve had more since then. Yesterday afternoon Donna and Bevan brought us lunch, and then Donna tromped out the sledding hill with snowshoes. We all (including Anna) took a few runs. Then John arrived with his kids, and they all went sledding, too. Besides that, the kids had a lot of fun running around the yard and throwing themselves into the snow. I had forgotten, that for kids, snow is something you PLAY in. It’s not just something you have to shovel.
11 more days till Thanksgiving! Please call me for a food assignment if you’re going to eat with us. It looks like we might not be hiking the big loop, but we’ll have a lot of fun sledding and playing games and eating. (And there will be midnight shopping at the outlet stores, too, I’m sure.)
Lots of love, Mom
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Dear Kids,
Thanksgiving is only 2 1/2 weeks away! We’ll be having dinner here about 1:00 pm, so people can get to other places afterwards, if they want to. We’ll have pie sometime in the early evening, after some of us have hiked the big loop (if there isn’t too much snow.) If you’re reading this letter, you’re invited. I’ll be cooking turkey, dressing, gravy, and pies, at least. If any of you want to volunteer for rolls, mashed potatoes, yams, veggies, or anything else, let me know.
John and his family spent last night here, and they just left so they could get home for church. Since today is the day we "fall" back an hour, we all thought we’d be well-rested. Now I can hardly keep my eyes open. I’ll have to drink a pepsi on our way to church. I always have a problem staying awake while I’m playing the piano in Primary. Once, back in 5th Ward, I fell asleep playing "Book of Mormon Stories." I woke up a few seconds later, and I was still playing, at the right spot. So it’s no joke that I can play some of the songs in my sleep. But I don’t want to do that every week.
Tuesday morning I was outside loading up the car for my trip home, about 4:00 am, when a herd of elk came stampeding through our field. You hear about "a thundering herd," and you think it’s a figure of speech, but they shook the ground. The cats were huddled inside the greenhouse. There’s a little pine tree they destroyed about 5 years ago, (they go berserk during mating season) and I had replanted it and kept a cage around it ever since. This year it was busting out of the cage, so I took it off. So guess what tree the elk destroyed. Next year I’ll have to get another tree and a bigger cage.
Last Tuesday afternoon, when I was home in West Valley, I decided to ride my bike to the library, probably for the very last time. The temperature was 70, the sky was blue, a light breeze was blowing, and it was absolutely beautiful. I was thinking, "so why exactly do we have to move?" But during my ride I got several lungfuls of bad emissions from cars and trucks that passed me, and I remembered why I don’t live there anymore.
My phone is broken after being dropped too many times. I can still dial calls, and I can still read the outside screen, sometimes. But the inside screen is always black. So if you call me and I don’t pick up, I can’t see that you called. I check my messages several times a day, though, so leave a message, if you can. I guess I have to get a new phone.
So many big changes! But I’m still doin’ great and lovin’ it, and I hope you all are, too.
Love, Mom
Thanksgiving is only 2 1/2 weeks away! We’ll be having dinner here about 1:00 pm, so people can get to other places afterwards, if they want to. We’ll have pie sometime in the early evening, after some of us have hiked the big loop (if there isn’t too much snow.) If you’re reading this letter, you’re invited. I’ll be cooking turkey, dressing, gravy, and pies, at least. If any of you want to volunteer for rolls, mashed potatoes, yams, veggies, or anything else, let me know.
John and his family spent last night here, and they just left so they could get home for church. Since today is the day we "fall" back an hour, we all thought we’d be well-rested. Now I can hardly keep my eyes open. I’ll have to drink a pepsi on our way to church. I always have a problem staying awake while I’m playing the piano in Primary. Once, back in 5th Ward, I fell asleep playing "Book of Mormon Stories." I woke up a few seconds later, and I was still playing, at the right spot. So it’s no joke that I can play some of the songs in my sleep. But I don’t want to do that every week.
Tuesday morning I was outside loading up the car for my trip home, about 4:00 am, when a herd of elk came stampeding through our field. You hear about "a thundering herd," and you think it’s a figure of speech, but they shook the ground. The cats were huddled inside the greenhouse. There’s a little pine tree they destroyed about 5 years ago, (they go berserk during mating season) and I had replanted it and kept a cage around it ever since. This year it was busting out of the cage, so I took it off. So guess what tree the elk destroyed. Next year I’ll have to get another tree and a bigger cage.
Last Tuesday afternoon, when I was home in West Valley, I decided to ride my bike to the library, probably for the very last time. The temperature was 70, the sky was blue, a light breeze was blowing, and it was absolutely beautiful. I was thinking, "so why exactly do we have to move?" But during my ride I got several lungfuls of bad emissions from cars and trucks that passed me, and I remembered why I don’t live there anymore.
My phone is broken after being dropped too many times. I can still dial calls, and I can still read the outside screen, sometimes. But the inside screen is always black. So if you call me and I don’t pick up, I can’t see that you called. I check my messages several times a day, though, so leave a message, if you can. I guess I have to get a new phone.
So many big changes! But I’m still doin’ great and lovin’ it, and I hope you all are, too.
Love, Mom
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