Dear Kids,
Dad and I had fun helping Nora and James move yesterday. We didn’t actually haul anything, but we cleaned windows. I was remembering our nightmare of a move from the house on Stillwater Way, and I was afraid they couldn’t get all their stuff out, but they were much more prepared than we had been. Nora’s secret? Hundreds of boxes. Absolutely everything but the furniture was boxed up. They’ve rented a storage unit in Woods Cross, and on Friday they had taken an entire moving truck full of these boxes to the storage place. Yesterday they were taking everything else to the house they’re renting. It’s a house owned by Dave Michelson’s brother, who has moved his family to Arizona for his job. It’s funny that people don’t seem to sell their houses any more–they just rent them out, and move to another house that’s being rented out. I asked Nora if they might ever move back to the house in West Jordan, and she said that’s always a possibility.
Cabin Wildlife Report: Dad just saw two sandhill cranes circling over our cabin. They’re enormous. I wish they’d carry Oreo off and teach him a lesson. Last week there was a terrible smell in the greenhouse, and I searched around until I found a decomposing rodent in the bark by the window. I removed it with a large spoon. It was like a large mouse with a furry tail. Some kind of a prairie dog? Who knows. A generic rodent, that was all. Oreo and Xena looked on. A couple of days ago, some small birds were building a nest in the hole that the woodpeckers made in the side of the bunkhouse. I drove them off and put new duct tape over the hole.
Last week I wrote that Dad and I are starting a chess club at the senior center in Heber. We’ve eaten lunch there a couple of times already, and we’ve been guests of honor at the front table. There’s a homeless, toothless man with a bushy beard who plays jazz on the piano sometimes, while people eat. The director said he was looking for other lunchtime entertainment besides the jazz, and I mentioned that I like to play background music. So I wasn’t surprised when he called and asked if I could play on Thursday. I didn’t know that I was supposed to play a concert, after people had eaten. What’s more, he called John and had him invite all his Heber siblings to come have lunch and listen to me play. So, just before the meal started, here came John, and then Donna and Tom and Kim. Heather came in later. I wasn’t expecting that much attention, so naturally I made a lot of mistakes, but it was fun to visit with everybody. Our chess club didn’t get off to a rousing start–there was just one guy there besides the two of us, but we had fun. Meanwhile, the kids’ chess club at the library across the hall had great attendance! Aaron and Jacob were there. Why is it that kids love chess, but when they get older, they’re scared to play? It’s one of life’s deepest mysteries.
Lots of love, Mom
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Dear Kids,
The world is absolutely beautiful this morning. Dad and I just drove the whole length of the valley to the stake center. Pine trees, blue sky, green hills . . . I can’t imagine living anywhere but here.
There’s an early-morning priesthood meeting for the guys, so I’m hanging out in the Relief Society room till it’s over. Then we’ll drive over to our church for our block. It isn’t like West Valley, where it was a 3-minute walk to the church and a 5-minute walk to the stake center. We have to plan our Sunday transportation now. I have more empathy for Sharon and Seth, and their Sunday trips to church.
At the cabin, summer has brought new wildlife. Oreo killed a rat and left it for me in the greenhouse, by the computer table. He sat on the ledge above it, waiting for me. When I saw it I shrieked, without even thinking. He was pleased. We’ve had a skunk in the greenhouse, and a raccoon. Our moose keeps watch in the front yard. Most people are probably used to it by now, but a few days ago, a car stopped on the road, and the passenger window went down. A white dog stuck his head out the window and stared at the moose, maybe for a minute. Then he pulled his head in, the window went up, and the car drove on. At least the dog was on the passenger side, so I’m pretty sure he wasn’t driving.
Dad and I are starting a chess club in Heber, at the senior center. (There’s a chess club for kids in the Library, but it only runs six weeks or so, in the summer.) We’re planning to do this for the long haul. We’ll be there on Thursday afternoons, so if you kids in Heber Valley need us to do anything for you on Thursdays, let us know. The best part of the senior center is lunch, because they have a real kitchen (no food service deliveries) and the cooks are the former owners of the Wagon Wheel café. Each meal is a masterpiece. I definitely won’t be bringing my own lunch, like I do at the Harman Center.
Our new house is moving along, but it’s been a nightmare. Every evening when the workmen go home, Dad and I walk through it, and we nearly always find something that’s wrong. I call the supervisor, he makes excuses, and then agrees to meet us there early the next morning. We show him the problem, and he finally agrees to have it fixed. So far there have been problems with the outside grading, the framing (twice), the heat ducts, and the wiring. The electrician is being called back for the third time. I write notes on the floor and the wall studs. He obviously can’t read. Now I try to anticipate what the subcontractors will do wrong, but you can’t figure these guys out. Every day is a new adventure.
Meanwhile, life is good. We love you all! Mom
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Dear Kids,
Nothing can top the birthday party we had for Dad last Monday! Of course the food was good, and it was a beautiful day, but when Donna started seriously into labor, we knew Dad was going to get the best birthday present of all. Donna held out until we had cut the birthday cake, but then she knew it was time to head for the hospital. The rest of us sat around texting Bevan to see how it was going. It went fast. Baby Dallin was born at 7:34 pm, weighing 8 lbs 5 oz. The timing was so perfect that Donna was all composed and ready for visitors so that people could drop in on their way home from the barbecue. I could see Grandma Allen’s hand in all this. After all, it was her birthday, too!
Dad and I helped watch Anna until Thursday morning. (Donna had to stay in the hospital an extra night because she had an infection and needed antibiotics.) Anna kept us on our toes. When the weather was nice, it was easy to tend her outside. I could do all my digging and planting and she just toodled along. She even used her own little trowel to dig in the dirt. You can tell she’s helped Donna a lot outside. The last morning, it had rained, and it was freezing cold, and her sandals were covered with mud, and she had no socks left. She’d had all the fun she could have at the cabin, so we took her home.
Dad enjoyed using the new barbecue, but he didn’t clean off the grease, and an elk attacked it during the night. We found it tipped over in the mud, the tank pulled away, its brand new cover on the ground, and pieces scattered all around. Dad put it all back together and washed it down on the gravel. We didn’t know who the attacker had been until the next morning, when we saw a doe elk licking the gravel. She went over every stone thoroughly. It don’t know if this is a fluke, or if all elk have a thing for barbecue grease. We need to find out more.
Dad and I have been married 41 years today. I don’t know where the time has gone. We aren’t doing anything spectacular to celebrate, because 41 isn’t one of those landmark numbers, and because we’ve already had so much excitement lately. Life is good!
Love, Mom
Nothing can top the birthday party we had for Dad last Monday! Of course the food was good, and it was a beautiful day, but when Donna started seriously into labor, we knew Dad was going to get the best birthday present of all. Donna held out until we had cut the birthday cake, but then she knew it was time to head for the hospital. The rest of us sat around texting Bevan to see how it was going. It went fast. Baby Dallin was born at 7:34 pm, weighing 8 lbs 5 oz. The timing was so perfect that Donna was all composed and ready for visitors so that people could drop in on their way home from the barbecue. I could see Grandma Allen’s hand in all this. After all, it was her birthday, too!
Dad and I helped watch Anna until Thursday morning. (Donna had to stay in the hospital an extra night because she had an infection and needed antibiotics.) Anna kept us on our toes. When the weather was nice, it was easy to tend her outside. I could do all my digging and planting and she just toodled along. She even used her own little trowel to dig in the dirt. You can tell she’s helped Donna a lot outside. The last morning, it had rained, and it was freezing cold, and her sandals were covered with mud, and she had no socks left. She’d had all the fun she could have at the cabin, so we took her home.
Dad enjoyed using the new barbecue, but he didn’t clean off the grease, and an elk attacked it during the night. We found it tipped over in the mud, the tank pulled away, its brand new cover on the ground, and pieces scattered all around. Dad put it all back together and washed it down on the gravel. We didn’t know who the attacker had been until the next morning, when we saw a doe elk licking the gravel. She went over every stone thoroughly. It don’t know if this is a fluke, or if all elk have a thing for barbecue grease. We need to find out more.
Dad and I have been married 41 years today. I don’t know where the time has gone. We aren’t doing anything spectacular to celebrate, because 41 isn’t one of those landmark numbers, and because we’ve already had so much excitement lately. Life is good!
Love, Mom
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Dear Kids,
Dad and I had a moose-moving party on Friday. It was only the two of us, but we managed to move Mr. Moose out to the front of the cabin, onto the rock island that I built. He looked so gigantic, standing up on that hill, that I wondered if he was maybe too big. He was supposed to be a yard decoration, but he’s a landmark, instead. People can say, "I live two houses down from the moose," or, "If you see the moose, you’ve gone too far." For us, it will be easy now, letting people know where we live. "Just look for the moose." Anyway, he’s big. To soften the effect, I’ve been planting trees and shrubs around him, as per the design Donna made me. Two of the aspens came from Tom’s front yard, along with a pine tree (that may or may not survive.) Dad and I have spent a couple of days working with Donna on Tom’s sprinkler system, so we’ve had a lot of fun digging and hauling rocks. (Donna is hauling her own load right now, so we’ve tried to do as much of the lifting as possible.) Tom has been a total fireball, getting off work early, digging like a demon, and gluing pipe like a maniac. Bevan has been there helping, too. Hey, everybody, about a year from now, I want the same work party happening in our yard on Scenic Heights Road. Only we’ll have even more rocks than Tom, if that’s possible.
Besides lots of rocks, our new house now has a complete roof and heat ducts. Dad and I walk through it every evening after the workmen have left. While they were framing, I noticed that an important doorway had been left out, and there was just a wall instead. Naturally I called the supervisor right away. It was easy for them to change it the next day, but it would have been more complicated later. So we check everything every day.
Dad and I are looking forward to his birthday party tomorrow. The barbecue is all ready to be fired up! I have lots of hamburgers and hot dogs ready to cook. The weather is supposed to be great. Life is good!
Lots of love, Mom
Dad and I had a moose-moving party on Friday. It was only the two of us, but we managed to move Mr. Moose out to the front of the cabin, onto the rock island that I built. He looked so gigantic, standing up on that hill, that I wondered if he was maybe too big. He was supposed to be a yard decoration, but he’s a landmark, instead. People can say, "I live two houses down from the moose," or, "If you see the moose, you’ve gone too far." For us, it will be easy now, letting people know where we live. "Just look for the moose." Anyway, he’s big. To soften the effect, I’ve been planting trees and shrubs around him, as per the design Donna made me. Two of the aspens came from Tom’s front yard, along with a pine tree (that may or may not survive.) Dad and I have spent a couple of days working with Donna on Tom’s sprinkler system, so we’ve had a lot of fun digging and hauling rocks. (Donna is hauling her own load right now, so we’ve tried to do as much of the lifting as possible.) Tom has been a total fireball, getting off work early, digging like a demon, and gluing pipe like a maniac. Bevan has been there helping, too. Hey, everybody, about a year from now, I want the same work party happening in our yard on Scenic Heights Road. Only we’ll have even more rocks than Tom, if that’s possible.
Besides lots of rocks, our new house now has a complete roof and heat ducts. Dad and I walk through it every evening after the workmen have left. While they were framing, I noticed that an important doorway had been left out, and there was just a wall instead. Naturally I called the supervisor right away. It was easy for them to change it the next day, but it would have been more complicated later. So we check everything every day.
Dad and I are looking forward to his birthday party tomorrow. The barbecue is all ready to be fired up! I have lots of hamburgers and hot dogs ready to cook. The weather is supposed to be great. Life is good!
Lots of love, Mom
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Dear Kids,
Dad and I are hanging out in Heber today. Dad is at Tom’s house, helping trench the front yard for sprinklers. Tom and Donna and Bevan are all working on it, too. I thought I was going to be helping, but the trencher was putting out a lot of exhaust, so I had to leave. I went to Walmart, and then to John’s office, and now I’m at his house. Heather is down the street helping clean up their Young Women’s garage sale, which we donated lots of stuff to. In fact, Dad and I went by the garage sale early this morning, to see how things were going. It was weird to see my clothes hanging up. I saw my dress from John’s wedding, along with my dress from Vanessa’s wedding, along with lots of other stuff from our house, which we didn’t need. Everything that wasn’t sold is being donated to the thrift store by John’s office, and I hope it all gets sold and used eventually.
In the same vein, I have to mention driving by our West Valley house last week. Actually, we were out on 4100 South, driving past. I looked over towards our backyard, and I saw lots of chairs on the deck and a picnic table on the grass. It felt indescribably good, knowing other people were really enjoying our house. We certainly hadn’t been using it for picnics and barbecues.
Our birthday party for Dad is just a week from Monday, on Memorial Day. I hope lots of you can come! We’ll probably eat around 2:00 in the afternoon, or later, if some of you can’t come till later. Dad and I will provide hamburgers and hot dogs, and a drink. If any of you can bring chips or salads or desserts, let me know. We’ll have fun breaking in the new barbecue. I’m sure it will enjoy many fine parties.
While you’re at the cabin for the barbecue, if anybody wants to drive over to our new house and walk through it, this is the perfect time. Most of the framing will be done by then. Since they started framing last Tuesday, Dad and I have gone there every day at 6:00, after the framers have gone home. We have lots of fun walking around inside. Out the back windows, you can see a cool horse farm. Out the side, you can see our church steeple. Out the other side is a picture perfect view of the mountains and the river bottom and Victory Ranch. I’m very excited to live there!
Heather and Julie just came home from the garage sale. Julie is wearing one of my old sweaters, and it looks really good on her. Aubrey showed me that she got a ceramic cat, which used to be in our house. It’s all good!
Lots of love, Mom
Dad and I are hanging out in Heber today. Dad is at Tom’s house, helping trench the front yard for sprinklers. Tom and Donna and Bevan are all working on it, too. I thought I was going to be helping, but the trencher was putting out a lot of exhaust, so I had to leave. I went to Walmart, and then to John’s office, and now I’m at his house. Heather is down the street helping clean up their Young Women’s garage sale, which we donated lots of stuff to. In fact, Dad and I went by the garage sale early this morning, to see how things were going. It was weird to see my clothes hanging up. I saw my dress from John’s wedding, along with my dress from Vanessa’s wedding, along with lots of other stuff from our house, which we didn’t need. Everything that wasn’t sold is being donated to the thrift store by John’s office, and I hope it all gets sold and used eventually.
In the same vein, I have to mention driving by our West Valley house last week. Actually, we were out on 4100 South, driving past. I looked over towards our backyard, and I saw lots of chairs on the deck and a picnic table on the grass. It felt indescribably good, knowing other people were really enjoying our house. We certainly hadn’t been using it for picnics and barbecues.
Our birthday party for Dad is just a week from Monday, on Memorial Day. I hope lots of you can come! We’ll probably eat around 2:00 in the afternoon, or later, if some of you can’t come till later. Dad and I will provide hamburgers and hot dogs, and a drink. If any of you can bring chips or salads or desserts, let me know. We’ll have fun breaking in the new barbecue. I’m sure it will enjoy many fine parties.
While you’re at the cabin for the barbecue, if anybody wants to drive over to our new house and walk through it, this is the perfect time. Most of the framing will be done by then. Since they started framing last Tuesday, Dad and I have gone there every day at 6:00, after the framers have gone home. We have lots of fun walking around inside. Out the back windows, you can see a cool horse farm. Out the side, you can see our church steeple. Out the other side is a picture perfect view of the mountains and the river bottom and Victory Ranch. I’m very excited to live there!
Heather and Julie just came home from the garage sale. Julie is wearing one of my old sweaters, and it looks really good on her. Aubrey showed me that she got a ceramic cat, which used to be in our house. It’s all good!
Lots of love, Mom
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Dear Kids,
You know it’s spring here at the cabin because the magpies are swooping around looking for good nesting spots. Two very silly ones decided to build in the pine tree by the back door. I don’t think they’re the same ones who tried it last year–if so, they don’t have the intelligence that Tom claims they have. Anyway, in just a couple of days, their nest was nearly done. Then I climbed up a ladder with a crow bar and destroyed it. It wasn’t easy, because they use thick twigs and weave them together, plastering everything with mud. They mix in a few rocks, too, so it’s really heavy duty. But I brought it all down with the crow bar, and Dad burned their twigs in the stove. Then they came back to the tree and hopped around among the branches for a while. Finally they flew off. It’s OK with me if they build someplace else. I’m not as hostile towards magpies as I used to be. They didn’t choose to be born magpies.
Two weeks from tomorrow is Memorial Day AND Dad’s birthday! We’ll have a barbecue at the cabin, and we’ll probably eat about 2:00 in the afternoon. We have to try out the new barbecue you all gave us for Christmas! Dad put it together several weeks ago, but we haven’t really cooked on it yet. I’ll probably make hamburger patties, or you can bring your own meat if you want something fancier.
Our house on Scenic Heights Road now has a foundation! I wish the grandkids could have been there last Tuesday when the cement trucks and the pump truck were working there. The chute arches way up in the air, and they move it to where they’re pumping next. The next day, they took the forms off the foundation, and now they’ve already done the sub-plumbing, water line, and electrical. They’re supposed to start framing this Thursday. That’s the best part of all.
On Friday, Dad and I went to Heber for Grandparents’ day at JR Smith Elementary. Both Emma and Aaron invited us! We got to hang out with the Bentleys, eat school lunch, do a little school work, walk around the playground, and watch a program. I wish we were closer to all of you, but it sure is nice having three families in Heber Valley! Life is good!
Love, Monm
You know it’s spring here at the cabin because the magpies are swooping around looking for good nesting spots. Two very silly ones decided to build in the pine tree by the back door. I don’t think they’re the same ones who tried it last year–if so, they don’t have the intelligence that Tom claims they have. Anyway, in just a couple of days, their nest was nearly done. Then I climbed up a ladder with a crow bar and destroyed it. It wasn’t easy, because they use thick twigs and weave them together, plastering everything with mud. They mix in a few rocks, too, so it’s really heavy duty. But I brought it all down with the crow bar, and Dad burned their twigs in the stove. Then they came back to the tree and hopped around among the branches for a while. Finally they flew off. It’s OK with me if they build someplace else. I’m not as hostile towards magpies as I used to be. They didn’t choose to be born magpies.
Two weeks from tomorrow is Memorial Day AND Dad’s birthday! We’ll have a barbecue at the cabin, and we’ll probably eat about 2:00 in the afternoon. We have to try out the new barbecue you all gave us for Christmas! Dad put it together several weeks ago, but we haven’t really cooked on it yet. I’ll probably make hamburger patties, or you can bring your own meat if you want something fancier.
Our house on Scenic Heights Road now has a foundation! I wish the grandkids could have been there last Tuesday when the cement trucks and the pump truck were working there. The chute arches way up in the air, and they move it to where they’re pumping next. The next day, they took the forms off the foundation, and now they’ve already done the sub-plumbing, water line, and electrical. They’re supposed to start framing this Thursday. That’s the best part of all.
On Friday, Dad and I went to Heber for Grandparents’ day at JR Smith Elementary. Both Emma and Aaron invited us! We got to hang out with the Bentleys, eat school lunch, do a little school work, walk around the playground, and watch a program. I wish we were closer to all of you, but it sure is nice having three families in Heber Valley! Life is good!
Love, Monm
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Dear Kids,
We had a lot of fun at Paul’s graduation Friday. Dad and I drove to Logan with Donna, Bevan, Anna, and Paige (to entertain Anna). The most fun was standing outside the Spectrum and watching the graduates walk down the sidewalk. Paul stood out, of course. If the graduates were really smart, they would peel off before they got inside, and go to their various parties, because the ceremony was very dull. When the masters degrees were done, we thought we were home free, but then they started the PhD’s, and they were taking half a minute per person! I decided that Anna needed to run around outside, so she and Paige and I made our exit. Outside, Anna decided that the cemetery was the best place to play, and she went in through a break in the fence. In a few minutes she was crying, so we went in and found her with blood on her face. I took her back inside to the first aid station, where they cleaned it off and showed us she had a puncture wound that needed stitches. (She probably fell against one of those sharp headstones.) All six of us gladly left to find the instacare. It took more than an hour for the stitches, but Dad and Paige and I watched the movie "Up" in the waiting room. It was definitely more interesting than watching PhD’s get hooded.
Later we had a picnic at Merlin Olsen Park with Stefanie’s family, and the little girls played. That was probably the best part of the day.
Back here at the cabin, things are always fun. We had a raccoon in the greenhouse (he probably came in through the kitty door) and he ripped open a cardboard box with dried beans and macaroni in it. He made a total mess of the greenhouse. I think he’s the one who destroyed Oreo’s cat feeder, not Oreo and Tomcat. The wrong people always get the blame!
Over on Scenic Heights Road, our hole in the ground now has footings! The big dirt hills around the hole are still the biggest excitement, however. When we tended Nora’s kids on Tuesday, the highlight of their day was climbing all four hills. (Even Isaac.)
Hopefully some of you will want to come to a Memorial Day picnic here. It’s a double holiday, because it’s also Dad’s birthday! We’ll have to have an extra big party!
Lots of love, Mom
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