Haley's a Great Little Clogger!

What fun! Jack and I picked up Dad for the recital. Our only regret was that there was only ONE clogging number and that was our favorite of the whole recital! Haley is a dang good little clogger!

Jace and Jenna's Piano Recital

Jace did such a great job. He reminded me so much of Bryan as he slid his bottom back and forth across the piano bench to hit all the keys.Jenna's piece was flawless! She's a natural!

Email from Sharon - 2:38 PM...

A little set back in birthday party preparations...I had to take Reagan to have her big toe glued back on. She stubbed it and lopped a big flap open. Sean Carver glued it shut. I told Gus, "They just glued her toe back on." Ha! Now, back to making ice cream.

Email from Sharon - 2:54 PM

...And Kendrick just broke his arm. Gus is on his way to the ER. Aahhh!

Kendrick broke two bones in his lower arm - about 2 inches above the wrist. One bone was totally broken and the other was broken 3/4 of the way through. Gus asked for an Orthopedist in the ER and Dr. Hall was on call. He set the arm while Kendrick was under sedation, wrapped it and put it in a sling and sent him home. He'll get a cast in a week.

NAL - Rocky at Wahlquist

London and her NAL team came to Wahlquist November 7th. Jack, Sharon, Reagan and I all went to watch. Here's a picture of London during her presentation on Hunger in the USA.

Election Day

Jack had a visit from the County Clerk/Auditor.
Jack volunteered to be an election judge this year. He ended up at poll manager at the North Ogden Senior Center. He was over three crews of judges from 3 different precincts, including a member of our ward, two former members of our ward and Kathy's cousin, Sharon Muirbrook. Jack appreciated Lisa's help in setting up the voting machines. He said she was setting them up 3 at a time and everyone was pretty amazed at her expertise! Lisa was hired by the county for the day because of her extensive election experience. She was on hand to help with any problems at the North Ogden City Offices and the Senior Center.

Proud Moment!

Jack administered the Oath of the Eagle.Nate pins the mentor pin on Dad.A side shot of Nathan with Des Ta Te

Jack, Dad and I went to Nate's Eagle Court of Honor Wednesday night. What an impressive ceremony! When we drove up to the church at 7 PM - it was dusk. The street and the sidewalks in front of the church were flag-lined. We slipped in the side door of the RS room just before the meeting began. After they passed out a ton of merit badges and advancements, they started the Eagle Ceremony. They asked for all the Eagle Scouts to come up front and sit in "The Eagles' Nest." They talked about each of the boys and passed out their certificates. Their parents pinned their Eagle pins on them, and then the boys pinned each of their parents. The two Eagles had each chosen someone as a recipiant of a mentor pin. Tanner Carver (the other Eagle) chose his dad. Nate chose Dad - his great-grandpa. Dad was very surprised and choked up when Nate first said his name.

Both sets of parents arranged for a live eagle presentation from the Ogden Nature Center. The bird was magnificent and the guy giving the presentation did an excellent job. The whole thing was very impressive.

We are so proud of Nate and all the work he has put into getting this special recognition. Jack and I have both worked in the scouting program and we know what is required. Congratulations, Nathan! We love you!

Annual Visit to the Pumpkin Patch

About 6 years ago, Jack started taking the grandkids to pick out their own pumpkins. He's taken them to fields in Tremonton, Far West and North Ogden. Last year, we took the kids in two groups because everyone was not available at the same time. This year, all but one of the grandkids was there! (Audrey had gone early to Bear Lake with her other grandparents.) We came back to our place for breakfast in the back yard - sausages, hash-browns, chocolate milk, OJ and Grandpa Jack's pancakes - cooked on the Camp Chef! Yum!

Success at Tuacahn! (Last man standing!)

We almost canceled our trip to St. George when we found out both of the shows we wanted to see were sold out for the last week. We wanted to get away anyhow, so we went on down and put our name on the "wait list." (At 5:30 PM, people can come and sign a wait list. At 7:15 PM, they start calling out names and continue until all the extra seats are sold. Since it was the last weekend, they also set up at least 100 folding chairs and sold those seats for $15 each.)

Thursday night was Les Miserables. We had run into traffic on the way to St. George and didn't even arrive at Tuacahn until 6:30! But Jack put his name on the list anyway. Just after the show began, they finally called his name and his was the last one called! Over 20 people were turned away! There was only ONE folding chair seat left, but since there were two of us, they agreed to find another chair. Wahoo! We sat on a wooden riser, right behind the last row of seats on the east side. We could see and hear everything perfectly! And...sitting on the back row has an advantage! I was second in the door to the ladies' room at intermission! Ahhhh!

Friday night we also got in to see Big River - seats in the center of the back row! Both Les Mis and Big River were amazing productions and the beauty of the venue is magnificent! If you've never been to Tuacahn - put it on your "Bucket List!"

Sister Pennerman

We stopped at the Visitor's Center and visited with Sister Tia Pennerman, a friend we met through the Barbers. Tia went on a river trip with us two summers ago and, since she'll be released from her mission in just 6 weeks, she's planning to come with us in the summer of '09! Tia is from the Bahamas where Phil and Sally Barber served their 2nd mission.

Pecans and Pomegranates

Another thing I wanted to do while we were in St. George was to purchase some pecans and pomegranates. We didn't find any pecans, but we drove over through Santa Clara and found some kids selling locally grown pomegranates from a wagon at the side of the road. I've never tasted fresh pomegranates. I think they're lots better than the ones you buy in stores!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Who has a better, cuter, cooler dad than us? Nobody! Almost 2/3 of his posterity met him at His Kitchen for dinner October 14th to wish him a happy 86th birthday. He was happy! He also loved the special edition of the family newsletter that Dena put together in his honor. On the way out to His Kitchen, he said to me, "I guess I have a lot of people who love me." You're right about that, Dad! We all love you!

Mmmmmm Sunday General Conference!

 

Lisa started a tradition a while back. On Sunday morning of General Conference,she cooks breakfast! She's made crepes, fruit pizza and now...Belgian Waffles with raspberry/peach syrup and whipped cream. Yum! Thanks, Lis! (Today, her friends, Lisa, Mary and Amber joined us for breakfast and conference.)

An answer to my prayer...

I don't usually post stuff like this, but I thought I would share something that happened to me today. Between conference sessions, I showered and was busy doing things around the house. The TV was on channel 5, and I knew that there was a documentary about the new Panama Temple today, but I didn't know what was on after that. Shortly after it started, I heard a bit of a story that caught my interest and I ended up going into the family room and watching the documentary on the life of President Monson. I learned a lot about the prophet that I had never known before and I gained a greater appreciation for him and closeness to him. About 45 minutes into the presentation, I remembered something I had prayed for a few weeks ago - that I would be able to get to know President Monson better - that I would grow to love him as much as I had loved President Hinckley. I realized then that I was prompted to watch the documentary and that this was a direct answer to my request in prayer.

A special Sunday!

We were lucky enough to be able to go to two Primary Presentations last Sunday. We saw Amberly, Dean and Duncan in the Plain City 2nd Ward. Boy can those kids sing! All three of them had their parts memorized, which I love, because you can actually see their beautiful faces when they speak. We also went to the Huckleberry Ward in Syracuse and saw little Marianne in her first Presentation. She too had her part memorized and she was right on the front row, singing her guts out the whole time. She knew every word to every song.

After Sacrament Meeting, Marianne got a special recognition for memorizing all 13 Articles of Faith. She's been working toward this goal for over six months. For reaching it, Marianne got to cut off her Bishop's tie. It took a few minutes because the scissors were dull and the tie was thick,(Yes, Danny, it was a slow and painful death.) but she got the job done. She and Bishop Watson posed for a photo in the hallway following the little "ceremony."

He lives for football!

This has to be Jack's favorite season of the year! Football season. He loves the game. He loves to watch and he loves to officiate. He's been officiating football for over 43 years but he's not ready to hang it up yet!

Quirks

The Rules:
Link the person who tagged you.
Mention rules on your blog.
Tell about 6 quirks of yours.
Tag 6 fellow bloggers to do the same.
Leave a comment to let them know.

1. I always have to have the toilet paper coming out from UNDER the roll. I have even changed the toilet paper in the bathrooms in other people’s houses!

2. I keep my rolling pin in my underwear drawer. This started when my kids were at home. I have a heavy, marble rolling pin and I think I worried that if I left it in the kitchen – easily accessible – my children would have used it as a weapon against each other. (Yes! My kids used to fight!)

3. I always put “chap stick” on before I go to bed. The only kind I like is Natural Ice (esp.Cherry).

4. I have an aversion to throwing out good food. We eat a lot of leftovers, but I put a lot of food in the fridge and leave it there until it rots - then I toss it.

5. I am a mother hen. I like to have my family around me. My brother Alan told me once that it seemed I wanted to nail one of each of my children’s feet to the state of Utah. With Danny living away from home, I like to hear from him often – otherwise I feel a sense of detachment.

6. I spend WAY too much time putting together a family newsletter each month and it amazes me that some people don’t take time to read it through when it comes out. I am constantly telling my family, “It was in the newsletter!” They said they are going to include that phrase in my epitaph.

I am tagging April, Jill, Shauna, Becky, Netell and Julie.

Sunday Night

When the family came over tonight, Rachel was smiling a lot! Of course, I had to grab the camera! What a little sweetheart!

Mike and Amy's dog Penny made a find tonight. Amy saw her chewing on something and discovered half a decorated cookie from last December's Gingerbread Party! I have no idea where Penny found that!

Going, going gone!

We pulled out all the overgrown bushes in our front yard a couple of weeks ago. We plan to move the roses over to line the driveway and then lay sod in front of the porch. Look way in the background of this picture and you can see our 30-year-old peach tree - on its last leg! 3/4 of the tree had already died. We had hoped to get one more small crop of peaches off it this year, but I don't think that's going to happen now!
Our old peach tree - after the wind of August 31st! Kind of sad looking!

Finally! The kid trip!

The kids have been waiting all summer for this trip! Thirteen of them rafted this year and four of them got to paddle! We ran into Gary and Caroline Lynch. They are a couple from Texas who were rangers assigned to West Table (the put-in). They retired two years ago, but were back on special assignment this year. They asked about our group - "The Mad Hatters," Caroline said, "That's what we called you!" [Come back for some rafting pictures - I have to go begging for those.]

The Junior Mad Hatters - trip one.

Junior Mad Hatters - trip two.

Junior Mad Hatters - trip three.

We ate. Jackson makes himself a sandwich at lunchtime.

We explored. The kids pose in front of a tepee that was used in Dances With Wolves!

We played games. Sharon and Amy stayed back with the kids.
Here they are, playing musical chairs.

A game of Rock, Paper, Scissors

Alexis and Nate try the "Belly Buster."
They try to wrap the ball around the pole.

We played in the secret hideout - under a pine tree in camp.

We giggled.

We roasted marshmallows.

We sang songs around the campfire.

We had a wonderful trip! It is something the kids look forward to every year. They have the chance to get out, have fun, bond with aunts, uncles and cousins and, of course, camp and raft!