Dear Kids,
The big news of the week is that Donna had her ultrasound on Monday, and she’s having (roll of drums) . . . a boy. Is anybody surprised? I knew. That will make nine boys in a row. 11 out of 12, if you start counting after Lucy. Of the 34 grandchildren we’ll have, the score will be 14 to 20, in favor of the boys. We love all these wonderful grandsons, but if anybody is ordering new babies, could you please put in for some girls? Actually, though, we’re thrilled to have so many grandchildren, and if they were all boys, I’d still be thrilled.
Dad and I have had a wonderful and wild week. On Monday we tended Paige, Stuart, Isaac, and Anna. Paige practiced on my accordion, like she always does when she’s here. She’s making good progress. (Nora’s been looking to buy her an accordion, but they’re practically collectors’ items now.) The other kids played on the playground, watched movies, and got out toys. When my piano students came at three, we had eight kids in the house, but they all interacted very nicely with each other.
Tuesday afternoon we drove to Pocatello, because Vanessa’s book club was reviewing Mutiny on the Bounty that night, and I wanted to be there. (I’ve been obsessed with the Bounty books.) We stayed overnight, even though Vanessa and Trent and Sterling were leaving at 4 the next morning for Trek. (Tom and Bentley and Emma were leaving that same morning, too. And Nora was gone to girls’ camp, and James to scout camp. So many of you were off having fun!)
Thursday night Dad and I went to "Annie Get Your Gun" in Midway. Thanks to all of you who went in on the tickets, for Dad’s Fathers Day present. It was a wonderful production! (Last year it was Wizard of Oz.) We always love getting tickets for presents. In a couple of weeks we’ll be going to the 1812 Overture, at Snowbird. You kids keep us entertained!
The family reunion is coming up in less than three weeks. I’m guessing John will be sending out the agenda pretty soon. I’ll ask him about it today.
Life is good. We’ll never run out of fun.
Lots of love, Mom
Sunday, July 9, 2017
Dear Kids,
Our fire pit party for the 4th of July bombed, because practically everybody was going to be someplace else. No matter–we’ve moved it to the 24th, which is a Monday night. If you can come, we’ll have fun. If you can’t, that’s OK too. Actually, our fire pit doesn’t need an official launch. It’s ready any time. I have roasting sticks, and I’m going to start keeping marshmallows on hand (but not the chocolate-spread graham crackers, because we just eat them up), and we can have a flash party on a minute’s notice.
Meanwhile, our actual 4th of July wasn’t a bomb at all. We went to Nora’s. I took all the fireworks, thinking we could shoot them off, and I’d buy more for the 24th. But just as it was getting dark, the wind started blowing furiously. It even blew out the snakes the kids were trying to light. I figured we couldn’t possibly shoot off our expensive fireworks in that wind. I went around to the back of the house to see if the wind was calmer there, and it was. So we moved the action. And as it got darker, people down in the valley started shooting off their fireworks. There were hundreds of aerials going off at the same time, and some big park displays. You could have called it "Valley of Fire." I’ve never seen anything like it. Remember when we used to sit on Tate’s lawn and watch the few paltry fireworks from the West Fest? This was a thousand times more spectacular. There’s a whole new era of fireworks now, since everybody can afford aerials. The 4th of July will never be the same again. Everybody can put on their own show. And I’ve still got my own packages for the 24th.
We’re still gearing up for the eclipse on August 21. Dad and I will definitely be going to Idaho. And Sharon pointed out that August 21st is President Monson’s 90th birthday. Maybe he’ll grab onto the tail of a comet and go out in glory. Oh, wait, it won’t be a comet. I was thinking of Mark Twain, who was born at the appearance of Halley’s comet, and left this earth the next time it came around, 90 years later. We’re not anxious for President Monson to depart, but it will be glorious for him. He’s sure been a great example to us all.
So much fun! What a great summer we’re having!
Lots of love, Mom
Sunday, July 2, 2017
Dear Kids,
Our fire pit is finished, and we tried it out last night, burning up a few pieces of wood. It works fine! So we’re ready for the Fourth of July. We bought fireworks at Costco with John–we went in on a deluxe $100 package, with the aerials that go off one after another, when you light the fuse. So Dad and I will be hosting a hotdog and marshmallow roasting party Tuesday night, probably starting about seven, since it doesn’t get dark enough for fireworks until pretty late. Let us know if you plan to come! You can bring your own fireworks if you have them. You can come way earlier, if you like, and your kids can play on the playground. We fastened down the legs of the swingsets lots better than before, so they can’t shift around when the kids swing high. We’re ready for fun!
What else? Ellie stayed with us from Wednesday night until yesterday, and we had a good time with her. We ate vegetarian, and we liked it. We dragged her along with us to the senior center on Thursday, and to the temple on Friday. She sewed and wrote in her various notebooks and watched "Once Upon a Time." I asked her if it wasn’t pretty boring here, and she said no, it was relaxing.
I’m still digging up rocks in our back yard. I spray them off with the hose, and then Dad hauls them out to the side of the road, where he piles them up. People still come by to get them. One of them is our stake president, Mark Durham. He likes to chat. I told him that a ton of "Jordan cobble" (the name for our rocks) costs $100 at Staker Parsons. He wondered how many rocks were in a ton, and I told him it was about the size of the pile he was looking at. He’s an investment banker, so he’s interested in things like that. I figure we’ve given away thousands of dollars worth of rocks in the last three years. And I still have thousands more to dig. Good thing I like it so much!
We hope to see a lot of you here Tuesday night, to try out the fire pit and shoot off fireworks. If anybody has time earlier in the day, do you want to do the "top of the world" hike? The wildflowers should be beautiful up there! Let me know!
Lots of love, Mom
Our fire pit is finished, and we tried it out last night, burning up a few pieces of wood. It works fine! So we’re ready for the Fourth of July. We bought fireworks at Costco with John–we went in on a deluxe $100 package, with the aerials that go off one after another, when you light the fuse. So Dad and I will be hosting a hotdog and marshmallow roasting party Tuesday night, probably starting about seven, since it doesn’t get dark enough for fireworks until pretty late. Let us know if you plan to come! You can bring your own fireworks if you have them. You can come way earlier, if you like, and your kids can play on the playground. We fastened down the legs of the swingsets lots better than before, so they can’t shift around when the kids swing high. We’re ready for fun!
What else? Ellie stayed with us from Wednesday night until yesterday, and we had a good time with her. We ate vegetarian, and we liked it. We dragged her along with us to the senior center on Thursday, and to the temple on Friday. She sewed and wrote in her various notebooks and watched "Once Upon a Time." I asked her if it wasn’t pretty boring here, and she said no, it was relaxing.
I’m still digging up rocks in our back yard. I spray them off with the hose, and then Dad hauls them out to the side of the road, where he piles them up. People still come by to get them. One of them is our stake president, Mark Durham. He likes to chat. I told him that a ton of "Jordan cobble" (the name for our rocks) costs $100 at Staker Parsons. He wondered how many rocks were in a ton, and I told him it was about the size of the pile he was looking at. He’s an investment banker, so he’s interested in things like that. I figure we’ve given away thousands of dollars worth of rocks in the last three years. And I still have thousands more to dig. Good thing I like it so much!
We hope to see a lot of you here Tuesday night, to try out the fire pit and shoot off fireworks. If anybody has time earlier in the day, do you want to do the "top of the world" hike? The wildflowers should be beautiful up there! Let me know!
Lots of love, Mom
Sunday, June 25, 2017
Dear Kids,
The party for Blake’s baby blessing started last night, here at our house, with the arrival of Paul’s family from North Salt Lake, and Vanessa’s family from Pocatello. We had fun out on the playground, while the sun set. Our rubber bark is doing great. There was a furious windstorm three or four days ago, the strongest one we’ve ever had here. (It was like a hurricane--the trees bent almost double in one direction, then about half an hour of calm, and then the wind came from the other direction, just as hard.) Bottom line: our rubber bark didn’t blow away--not a piece of it. Our pergolas were shaking back and forth, and our trees nearly snapped, but the bark stayed put.
Oh, yes, back to the baby blessing: 9 am, Tom’s church, just east of Smiths and JR Smith elementary, on 5th north. The after party is at noon, at Tom’s house. We’re looking forward to seeing all of you who will be coming, and we’ll miss those of you who can’t be there.
Here’s some big news: Paul landed a new job, and it’s something he’ll really enjoy–transportation. He’ll be working for Forsgren Engineering, and their office is right in downtown Salt Lake. He starts tomorrow morning. Go, Paul! He actually had two job offers at the same time, and they were both so good that he and Stefanie had to talk over the pros and cons of each one, and lay out all the details. I’m sure they’ve made the best decision!
Remember the good old days, when smoke detectors went off with a nice beeping that annoyed the heck out of you, but that was all? We didn’t realize we had the new kind until Wednesday night. We were sound asleep when a voice started shrieking "Fire! Fire! Get out! Get out!" The alarm itself was shrieking, too. It was all over our house, since all seven smoke detectors were going off. (They’re interconnected.) We raced around the house looking for a fire, which we didn’t find. The alarms finally stopped, but I called 911 for the fire department anyway, since you hear stories of people who went back to bed and were burned up by a real fire. The nice fire department guys showed up about half an hour later. (Summit County, after all.) They went through the house and checked out everything, even testing for carbon monixide. Nothing. We finally went back to bed, but we didn’t sleep, because adrenalin was racing through us. We never found anything wrong with the smoke detectors, not even low batteries. I hope that never happens to us again.
Otherwise, everything is great here. I love you all! Mom
The party for Blake’s baby blessing started last night, here at our house, with the arrival of Paul’s family from North Salt Lake, and Vanessa’s family from Pocatello. We had fun out on the playground, while the sun set. Our rubber bark is doing great. There was a furious windstorm three or four days ago, the strongest one we’ve ever had here. (It was like a hurricane--the trees bent almost double in one direction, then about half an hour of calm, and then the wind came from the other direction, just as hard.) Bottom line: our rubber bark didn’t blow away--not a piece of it. Our pergolas were shaking back and forth, and our trees nearly snapped, but the bark stayed put.
Oh, yes, back to the baby blessing: 9 am, Tom’s church, just east of Smiths and JR Smith elementary, on 5th north. The after party is at noon, at Tom’s house. We’re looking forward to seeing all of you who will be coming, and we’ll miss those of you who can’t be there.
Here’s some big news: Paul landed a new job, and it’s something he’ll really enjoy–transportation. He’ll be working for Forsgren Engineering, and their office is right in downtown Salt Lake. He starts tomorrow morning. Go, Paul! He actually had two job offers at the same time, and they were both so good that he and Stefanie had to talk over the pros and cons of each one, and lay out all the details. I’m sure they’ve made the best decision!
Remember the good old days, when smoke detectors went off with a nice beeping that annoyed the heck out of you, but that was all? We didn’t realize we had the new kind until Wednesday night. We were sound asleep when a voice started shrieking "Fire! Fire! Get out! Get out!" The alarm itself was shrieking, too. It was all over our house, since all seven smoke detectors were going off. (They’re interconnected.) We raced around the house looking for a fire, which we didn’t find. The alarms finally stopped, but I called 911 for the fire department anyway, since you hear stories of people who went back to bed and were burned up by a real fire. The nice fire department guys showed up about half an hour later. (Summit County, after all.) They went through the house and checked out everything, even testing for carbon monixide. Nothing. We finally went back to bed, but we didn’t sleep, because adrenalin was racing through us. We never found anything wrong with the smoke detectors, not even low batteries. I hope that never happens to us again.
Otherwise, everything is great here. I love you all! Mom
Sunday, June 18, 2017
Dear Kids,
First things first: Blake’s baby blessing will be next Sunday morning at Tom’s church, which is just east of J.R. Smith Elementary, which is just past Smiths, on 5th North in Heber. Sacrament meeting is at 9 am. The after-party will be after the block, at noon, at Tom’s house, but if you want to ditch the other meetings, you can go to Tom’s house early. For food assignments, call Kim.
We’re still having odd weather. It snowed on Monday, but it didn’t stick. Since then, the wind has been blowing furiously. Dad and I have been furiously spreading our very expensive rock over the little bit of bark that is left in our yard. It’s very satisfying to rake it into place, and know it won’t go anywhere. We’re also moving ahead with the fire pit. I put down all the pavers for the patio, and now I’m ready to put the polymer sand into the joints. When you spray it with water, it hardens up and keeps the bricks in place. Hopefully they won’t go anywhere, either. And thirdly, we got some rubber mulch for our playground. It looks like bark, but it’s made of ground up tires, dyed brown. It’s not supposed to blow away, either, but I have my doubts. We had a great adventure, getting that mulch. We were able to save $150 on delivery if we picked it up ourselves in Ogden, so we borrowed the family truck and drove up there. The mulch (50 bags of it) was packed on a giant pallet, designed to be put onto flatbeds. We unpacked it and stacked the bags in the back of the truck, and put the cargo net over it all. It weighed a ton, which is exactly the load limit of the truck. We got it all home OK. Donna’s kids helped us spread it, and Bevan, too. Thanks to all of you!
On Monday morning, August 21 there will be a "To-tal E-clipse of the Sun" (the song from Little Shop of Horrors is running through my mind), and the center of the blackout strip runs right through Rexburg. (You can google it and find a map of the eclipse path.) Dad and I are going to be there. When else, in your life, are you going to see a total eclipse? We’ll drive up to Pocatello Sunday night and stay over at Vanessa and Trent’s, if they can accommodate us, and then drive to Rexburg Monday morning. Shall we make a big party of it? It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
So much going on! So much fun!
Love, Mom
First things first: Blake’s baby blessing will be next Sunday morning at Tom’s church, which is just east of J.R. Smith Elementary, which is just past Smiths, on 5th North in Heber. Sacrament meeting is at 9 am. The after-party will be after the block, at noon, at Tom’s house, but if you want to ditch the other meetings, you can go to Tom’s house early. For food assignments, call Kim.
We’re still having odd weather. It snowed on Monday, but it didn’t stick. Since then, the wind has been blowing furiously. Dad and I have been furiously spreading our very expensive rock over the little bit of bark that is left in our yard. It’s very satisfying to rake it into place, and know it won’t go anywhere. We’re also moving ahead with the fire pit. I put down all the pavers for the patio, and now I’m ready to put the polymer sand into the joints. When you spray it with water, it hardens up and keeps the bricks in place. Hopefully they won’t go anywhere, either. And thirdly, we got some rubber mulch for our playground. It looks like bark, but it’s made of ground up tires, dyed brown. It’s not supposed to blow away, either, but I have my doubts. We had a great adventure, getting that mulch. We were able to save $150 on delivery if we picked it up ourselves in Ogden, so we borrowed the family truck and drove up there. The mulch (50 bags of it) was packed on a giant pallet, designed to be put onto flatbeds. We unpacked it and stacked the bags in the back of the truck, and put the cargo net over it all. It weighed a ton, which is exactly the load limit of the truck. We got it all home OK. Donna’s kids helped us spread it, and Bevan, too. Thanks to all of you!
On Monday morning, August 21 there will be a "To-tal E-clipse of the Sun" (the song from Little Shop of Horrors is running through my mind), and the center of the blackout strip runs right through Rexburg. (You can google it and find a map of the eclipse path.) Dad and I are going to be there. When else, in your life, are you going to see a total eclipse? We’ll drive up to Pocatello Sunday night and stay over at Vanessa and Trent’s, if they can accommodate us, and then drive to Rexburg Monday morning. Shall we make a big party of it? It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
So much going on! So much fun!
Love, Mom
Sunday, June 11, 2017
Dear Kids,
Thanks to Allen and Tom for the churro party last Sunday night at the cabin! It was a blast. Thanks to Tom’s new churro maker for cranking out miles of dough! Thanks to the camp chef for keeping all that oil hot! Thanks to all of you who came. There’s nothing more wonderful than romping around outside the cabin on a pleasant summer evening.
The wind has blown away practically all the bark I’ve spread around our trees and shrubs (not to mention the 34 tons of playground sand from two years ago) so I started looking for something more permanent–rock! When we stayed over at Nora’s last week, we looked at all the beautiful colors of rock at the Staker Parsons pit in North Salt Lake. It costs a fortune, but it doesn’t blow away. With Donna’s help, we ordered 27 tons of "purple passion." It came in a giant dump truck with a trailer (a pup), which blocked off our road while the rock was dumped. Now Dad and I are spreading it, using two wheelbarrows and every ounce of energy we have. Dad’s fitbit is going crazy. It told him he walked 17,800 feet yesterday, but it couldn’t possibly measure the workout to his arms and shoulders. Should people who are 70 do such crazy things?
Yes, and more. We’re also working on the fire pit, to have it ready for the Fourth of July. I excavated for the patio around it, 8 inches down, and we mostly filled it with road base, which is a lot cheaper than "purple passion." We rented a compactor from Diamond Rental and Dad ran it around and around, tamping it down. Now we’re ready to put down the sand and pavers for the patio, and then put the fire pit on top. We won’t run out of work any time soon–only energy. Tina supervises us. She doesn’t use any energy at all.
Allen finally heard from the Summit County Sherrif’s office, and they didn’t offer him job. It was my dream for him to work here! But I know how much the officers in Centerville value their sergeant, and it’s probably better for Allen to stay there. Allen said he’s at peace with it.
Don’t forget the baby blessing in two weeks! More info next week!
Love, Mom
Sunday, June 4, 2017
Dear Kids,
Allen and Carson showed up on our porch last night, with two goats. The four of them were on a cross-country run. The goats hadn’t been invited; they joined up when Al and Carson passed the Bushell’s home, where you turn in to go to the cabin. The goats were bleating and jumping around on our porch, and trying to butt their way into our house. Allen said they all needed water, so he and Carson got drinks inside, and we put out a bowl of water for the goats, which they guzzled. Then the four of them took off again.
The gouge on my hand (from Tina) is slowly healing. It’s infected, in spite of all I could do. Lana Price, a lady in my piano class, told me how to trim Tina’s back claws. She said you put a pillowcase over the cat’s head, wrap it totally around the cat, and hold it secure. Another person (Dad) pulls out the legs, one at a time, and trims the claws. I’m happy to say it worked–better than we expected. I thought Tina would be mad at us forever, but she’s proud of her well-groomed toes.
Dad and I went to Allen’s piano recital Tuesday night in Bountiful. He played very well! It was a treat to hear him. The rest of the students were less than stellar, probably because they don’t practice. His teacher seems really competent, and she plays really well, so it isn’t her fault, except for keeping such deadbeats on her roster. We enjoyed the program anyway, and then we stayed overnight at Nora’s. In the morning I hiked up the switchbacks. Thanks, Nora, for your hospitality!
Dad is really enjoying the fitbit we gave him for his birthday. He’s always consulting it. On Sunday, during church, it sent him a message: get moving!
Don’t forget Blake’s baby blessing on the 25th! Tom and Kim’s sacrament meeting is at 9 am, and I’ll write more information in a week or two.
Lots of love, Mom
Allen and Carson showed up on our porch last night, with two goats. The four of them were on a cross-country run. The goats hadn’t been invited; they joined up when Al and Carson passed the Bushell’s home, where you turn in to go to the cabin. The goats were bleating and jumping around on our porch, and trying to butt their way into our house. Allen said they all needed water, so he and Carson got drinks inside, and we put out a bowl of water for the goats, which they guzzled. Then the four of them took off again.
The gouge on my hand (from Tina) is slowly healing. It’s infected, in spite of all I could do. Lana Price, a lady in my piano class, told me how to trim Tina’s back claws. She said you put a pillowcase over the cat’s head, wrap it totally around the cat, and hold it secure. Another person (Dad) pulls out the legs, one at a time, and trims the claws. I’m happy to say it worked–better than we expected. I thought Tina would be mad at us forever, but she’s proud of her well-groomed toes.
Dad and I went to Allen’s piano recital Tuesday night in Bountiful. He played very well! It was a treat to hear him. The rest of the students were less than stellar, probably because they don’t practice. His teacher seems really competent, and she plays really well, so it isn’t her fault, except for keeping such deadbeats on her roster. We enjoyed the program anyway, and then we stayed overnight at Nora’s. In the morning I hiked up the switchbacks. Thanks, Nora, for your hospitality!
Dad is really enjoying the fitbit we gave him for his birthday. He’s always consulting it. On Sunday, during church, it sent him a message: get moving!
Don’t forget Blake’s baby blessing on the 25th! Tom and Kim’s sacrament meeting is at 9 am, and I’ll write more information in a week or two.
Lots of love, Mom
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