Family Vacation January 2011

We were invited to go to California with some of our children; along with Sharon's sister and brother-in-law Carl & Pat Clark and their daughter and son-in-law Sam & Carrie. Here are some of the photos that we took along the way. We drove down I-15 through Utah, Arizona and Nevada, staying the first night in Las Vegas. No gambling involved, except for trying to get service at Claim Jumper in the Towne Square area. Not good and I certainly won't recommend it!

A good night sleep at the Residence Inn, and then off to Los Angeles, California. That little drive is long, but thanks to Jed running nose guard, we were able to make pretty good time. All the way from Las Vegas to Barstow there were signs to eat at Peggy Sue's Diner. We stopped in to eat and what a hoot! This one I will really recommend! A bit of a dive, but great food, service and prices. Too much fun, and lots of entertainment for children.

We pulled into the Residence Inn at Anaheim that afternoon and Sharon begged and pleaded with the desk staff and got rooms there for all 22 of us! They were great and the whole theme of the hotel was centered around the Disney experience.

Three days at Disneyland, then off to San Diego. Sea World and then a day at the beach. We all agreed that Sea World was not our favorite place to stop. Not so clean, two main attractions closed and very short shows. Constant advertising for you to contribute to their cause! I don't like paying $70 to endure their advertisements.

Carl, Pat, Sharon and I went to Old San Diego to see the LDS Mormon Battalion Center. We loved it! It is so unique and provides some great history of what those men and women did for San Diego. The media is incredible and I would recommend this light and entertaining show to anyone, LDS or not.

The beach just off the cliffs at Torrey Pines is incredible. The weather was fabulous and the children (and adults) had a great time. That afternoon Carl, Pat, Sharon and I drove back to Las Vegas and stayed with Carl's brother Fred Clark. Fred is the most wonderful, gracious host. We spent the next two days with him as our escort, taking us to brunch at the Green Valley Ranch Casino, then to the Las Vegas LDS Temple grounds, an hour or two to relax at Fred's home and then out to Hoover Dam to see the new bridge that has been built there. That is an incredible point of interest, and should be labeled as one of the wonders of the world.

Then back to Fred's for a wonderful steak dinner, followed by a quick trip to the strip to see the Billagio (Chihuli's glass ceiling) and then to Old Town Las Vegas to see the light show.

We drove home yesterday and have basically died since then! A vacation is a time for the tired to become exhausted.

How is Living in Orem, Utah Different From Living in Redmond, WA?

It has been three months since we moved to Utah and we have noticed some differences between Orem, Utah and Redmond, Washington. Here are a few.

1. You better be nice to your neighbors because you WILL see them at church.

2. People from Utah do not understand, nor can they appreciate the term "Sunbreaks" when listening to the weather forecast.

3. People in Utah go for Halloween in a big, big way. It is the only time you can visit the dark side and get away with it!

4. We had to learn the name of the bright light coming over the mountains each morning. People here call it the "Sun!"

5. Say only kind things about people. The one you are talking to is probably related to the one you are talking about.

6. You are not with the in crowd unless you have a utility trailer parked on your property.

7. DO NOT--I REPEAT--DO NOT try to go anywhere on the opening day of deer hunt. It is a state holiday and 70,000 people are headed for the mountains.

8. It is mandatory to carry a four--wheeler in the back of your pickup.

9. You can walk to church, to do visiting teaching, to do home teaching, or anything else connected to your ward. It is only 3 square blocks!!

10. Get to church at least 15 minutes early. If you don't you will be in the very back row of the cultural hall trying to hear the speaker over the cries of at least 250 children under two years of age. (Remember the 250 children come from 3 square blocks!)

11. The average size of a family in Washington is 2.5 and shrinking. In Utah the average family size is 7.5 and growing.

12. You must buy at least six Costco sized bags of candy for Halloween.

13. The standard Utah family has two vehicles. The first is either a minivan or a 13 passenger van. The second is a 4-wheel drive, crew cab, diesel truck with a 10-inch lift kit and 22-inch chrome wheels.

14. The friendliest people in the world live in Utah. It is standard to wave at every passing vehicle. You are odd if you don't. You can also expect a fresh loaf of hot homemade bread to appear on your doorstep sometime during the first week. That is followed by homemade chocolate chip cookies and little children that love to visit and call you "Grandpa and Grandma." What's more they are convinced you are! It's great!!

15. It doesn't take long to learn how wonderful it is to live by children, grandchildren, and family, and to enjoy a "Cousin's Dinner" once a month.

The following are some of our favorite photos since moving here.



These two cute girls from our ward rang the doorbell today and asked if they could rake our leaves for free. They were bored and just wanted something to do.

Ou Lov Sac is still a favorite gathering place of all children. This day it happend to be Layla from downstairs, little Hayli who didn't particularly want her face shown that day, (we have a little Hayli and a big Hayli now among our grandchildren) and cute little Maddie. Little Hayli and Maddie belong to Cody and Meridith.

I am so appreciative to my friends in Washington for helping me learn a new hobby--crocheting. My Mom would be so darn proud. Below is my first project.

Little Cash (Nalani and Jed's) thinks the world revolves around Uncle Cody. When he is grumpy and won't go to anybody else he will always, always snuggle with Cody.

It has been fun to see some of the projects Jason has done with his new talent. He makes the most incredible leather projects. Below are some miniature roses he has made from leather. They look so real you want to smell them. He also makes big roses, wallets, purses, pocket knife holders and my favorite--gorgeous scripture covers that he designs specifically for each person he makes them for.

We are looking forward to a white Christmas with family this year. We are so excited for Kami and Ben. It looks like he will actually be back in Hawaii in time for Christmas. We are so grateful he has been protected and watched over while in Iraq. We are grateful to have family close by and for the opportunity to make new friends. We truly miss our good friends in Redmond and would welcome a visit from any of them.

From now on we will make a gallant attempt to be better at updating this blog.

A Happy Mother's Day

Okay I will admit it. I cried when I got this Mother's Day gift. Jason and a friend made this cover for my scriptures. He sent Dad one a few weeks ago and I was so jealous. And then I got this one the week of Mother's Day. Jason said it was the hardest thing he has ever done. All those little teeny bumps on the cover were put there by a tiny tool about the size of a pin head. The photo doesn't do it justice but it is gorgeous. The Relief Society symbol and the CTR symbol were enlarged freehand from the Ensign Jason gets.

We went to Maile's a couple of weeks ago and took Quinn to his swimming lessons while Maile ran some errands. I don't know who was more entertaining; Quinn jumping off the diving board and yelling "Cow-a-bun-ga" (because Grandpa dared him to) or Cannon measuring the entire swimming pool with a tape measure I gave him to keep busy.
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I love having the twins come to visit. We have discovered one thing for sure. If they are getting crabby just put on "Yo-Gabba-Gabba!" And we thought Mr. Rogers was dumb!

I have to tell Nalani, Maile, Meridith, and Kami 'THANK YOU" from the bottom of my heart for another favorite gift. At Christmas time I went in to Gymboree and they had little cowboy vests and shirts on sale. They had enough to get one for each of our grandsons so I did. When Maile was down they took the boys and had their pictures taken. That photo is just about my all time favorite photo. I can't stop looking at it. They even managed to get one with all the boys smiling--well let's just say Cash wasn't frowning anyway. It doesn't matter what he does--he is still cute. When I get an electronic copy of the photo I will post it.

Grandma & Grandpa Are Kids Again

We went down to Quinn's birthday party in Portland and had a blast. We went down the big blow up slide and all the parents thought we were pretty alright to join in the fun.

I Stink at Blogging!

We all know I am not a good blogger. We all know I only update once in a blue moon. We all know that lots of the photos I post my kids have already posted something similar.

But I'm turning over a new blog leaf. I have decided (that phrase strikes fear in the heart of my other half) I am going to be so much better this year. Richard just showed me how to download the photos from our camera to my own personal laptop (which really is Richard's thanks to Grange--it is one thing for which I can thank them!)

You will find my photos are mostly family. Strange isn't that. During Christmas when I was so sick with influenza, like a lot of the family, I looked at all our grandkids playing one day and I couldn't help but think in spite of everything that has happened to us this year we are truly blessed.

Richard and I have wanted so badly to move to Utah by Pat and Carl and all the kids and grandkids. We have tried everything we could think of to make it happen. It just hasn't worked. Jobs that we thought Richard had have fallen through. Our home has not sold as hard as we have tried. Richard has worked on this house until he was exhausted. He is so good at that. He works so hard and never complains. But as "up to date" as we tried to be, as much as we have dropped the price, it just hasn't happened.

On the way home from Oregon this past week I started thinking about it and something told me it just wasn't the right time and we needed to take the house off the market. In talking to Richard he felt the same way. So---we came home and reluctantly took the "For Sale" signs down. We have come to the conclusion we would have to give the house away to sale it. We think it is best to wait two or three years and see if things get a little better. Hopefully it will. We also don't know where we would go if we sold it. We will wait and see where Richard gets a job and then decide what to do.

Sunday Richard had to give a talk in church on trials and tribulations. He did such a good job. He told everybody it wasn't his farewell talk. Maybe we were moving and maybe we werren't. We just didn't know. He said despite all we had been through this year we had had so many blessings. Three of our children became parents this year. We have five new beautiful grandchildren. We had got to spend so much more time together this year and spent three weeks in Hawaii having a ball. I wish you all could have been there to hear him.

I want to thank each of you who have told us you remember us in your prayers every day. It means a lot to us. I know we are going to be all right. My children have lifted my spirits time and time again and there is nothing that makes me thank God more than when I hold one of those sweet grandchildren in my arms and snuggle with them. I look at the new ones and I know they met Dad and Mom before they came down. I just wish they could talk and tell me any advice Dad and Mom would have for me. I wish I knew what to do about a son in prison and if there is any way in the world to change and soften his heart. It really breaks my heart when his children ask me how "Joe" is doing. But on the other hand I am so grateful they have another Dad that loves them and plays with them and tries to guide them.

We will be okay I am sure of it. We have never failed to pay a full tithing and it has been a little hard this year when I draw $10,000 out of our 401K and write a check for tithing for $1,000. But it isn't hard when I realize it is his to begin with and he has given me more blessings than trials this past year.

Sorry for the sermon. I love you all. My heart and my prayers are always with Phil and my heart aches for what he is going through. Phil I love you a lot even if Mom used to tell me I was so mean to you!!! Hopefully I have grown up.

Take care you all and keep the faith. A lot of us are in the same situation and we will make it:)

One of my favorite view from Nalani's deck. Awesome!

Cash will not give up until he has rolled over enough times to eat a pear off the tree. After doing this over a dozen times he still hasn't gotten the idea the thing is carboard! They better put him in pre-school fast!

My favorite gift this year to give the kids. Four bowls that said "You Scream" "I Scream" "We all Scream" "For Ice Cream." Ask any of them about Kessler's grocery store in Blackfoot.

They don't get much cuter than this. I mean Cash! You can see from this photo his favorite his favorite thing is rearranging my hair and stealing my earrings.

I may be the Mom but I think this is one cute family. The best thing is Jed calls me "Mom" so he can't hate me too much. Jed you are the bomb!

You have all heard about the mellow climate in Seattle. Not true! This gear about says it all!

Smiles run in the family. You can't have a bad day with these grins.

Check out these eyelashes. They obviously skipped my generation in this family tree. Not fair!

His beautiful blue eyes match sweet potatoes beautifully!

Chubby cheeks also run in the family.

Somehow this bag of Nalani's brings back bad memories of early morning in the barnyard.

One of the sweetest things is seeing Kai's face when he sees his Dad on the web cam first thing in the morning. Life is surely different than it was for wives and families during the Viet Nam War when they waited weeks for a letter. Kai will know his Dad when he comes home from Iraq. Cool huh.Thanks to Meridith we now have two "Haileys" in the family. There isn't any doubt this one loves Grandpa. In fact what grandkid doesn't! I could get jealous but I am just glad they do love him.

Bath time. He looks petrified but that was only because he knew Cash was already in the tub.

See Kai--he's not so bad after all!