Witches on thier broom sticks
Flying very fast!
Oooww, Oooww
Halloween at last!
Boo!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Bells and her Sisters
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We are celebrating the 17th birthday of our youngest daughter. She is a wonderful and talanted girl and adds a spark to our family. She fits right in with all her sisters and we all want to wish her a Happy Birthday.
Monday, October 29, 2007
The Hafen's had a fabulous Halloween party which we attended and loved. We also went to another party, a "How to host a murder" party which was a blast. So obviously Rick and I were pirates, Lex and Kelsey were Fred and Wilma, and Heidi and Kyle? Well I hope you can figure it out..go ahead laugh out loud.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Sick Days
Two of my children are feeling under the weather today. It's totally thrown off our scheduled plan of events for the day, but (sigh) I guess thats ok. I think their both going to be ready for a nap by 10 or 11 this morning. Thankfully I'm feeling fine. I hate it when any of them are sick, it makes me sad to see them lay and mope when their usually so chipper and hyper. Hopefully its just a 24 hour bug.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
The Mighty Hunters
Everyone got a deer this year. This is Kevin's that he and Nick shot at. Everyone else in the picture had already got one. This was the 5th deer hanging up. What is the allure of the hunt? All the men I know are hunters. It seems to be a right of passage for a boy to a man; something about the power of a gun and tromping around in the hills. I'm not sure I'll ever understand it for sure. I guess it is a guy thing.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Sisters -Sandra, Debbie, Carma
My sister brought me a fridge magnet that said "I know I'm in my own world. It's okay, they know me here." She said she thought of me when she saw it. Another sister brought me a plaque that says "Not all who wander are lost." You know, it's nice to be so understood.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Tribute to Grandpa
Written by Seth Topham to his family on their family website onAug 15, 2007:
Well we made it to the other side of the funeral ok. It was sad but mixed with many laughs, as you cannot talk about Clark Houston without a few chuckles. I wanted to share some of the neat things about Mandi’s grandpa that were said over the last 3 days. One thing that was often repeated by so many people was that Clark gave then their start in their life’s work. He was a very smart businessman and helped many get their businesses off the ground. Another thing often repeated was that Clark had a nickname for everyone in the world, mine was “Setharias”, Mandi’s was “Maben”, Kaylie’s was “Kaylie bug”, Addie’s was “Adder Pat”, Tom’s was “Mode”, and the list goes on. It was touching when Tom asked everyone who had a nickname to raise their hand and the packed chapel and overflow all raised their hand. He then said, “Go home and write it down because you won’t ever hear it again.” The Bishop of Clark’s ward is Polynesian and he got up at the end and said he even had a nickname, “Bishop Hula Man.” Another funny one was Kevin Ence’s. He was “Kelvinator the refrigerator.” The Bishop told a story that touched Mandi deeply. He told of Clark in a church meeting asking how much money it would take to provide Christmas to everyone who needed it in the ward. The Bishop said, Clark that is a substantial number. Clark said just give me a number Bishop, so the Bishop gave him a number and Clark pulled his check book out and wrote a check to the Bishop for twice the amount. It turns out Clark secretly gave much to those in need because many helped him when he had a young family to feed and got so sick he couldn’t work. I also loved something Kevin Ence said, it was no secret that Clark did very well financially and Kevin said, “Clark gave financial assistance to many but more importantly he knew when not to give financial assistance in those instances when it would only do more harm than good. He knew when you needed to just work through it and learn from the hard times.” I thought this was so fitting and true. Clark was one of a kind and we will all miss his terrible, very loud singing, his nicknames, his shock you sense of humor, and his big very strong hand shakes and hugs. He loved Mandi deeply and was not at all slow to tell her. He constantly told her how much he loved her and how beautiful she was. Whenever I saw him he said, “Hi Setharias, good to see me. How’s my pretty Maben doing.” He also loved out girls and little Dylan. The girls were a little timid around such volume but he could always get a kiss out of them. He even called one day and asked Mandi if she could bring Dylan up because he just wanted to see him. This was one of the last times we saw Grandpa Clark. At this time he had also just bought a huge tackle box at a garage sale and he let me pick whatever I wanted out of it. I got to spend many hunting, 4 wheeling, post cutting and deer looking trips with Clark and they were all very very fun. He is just crazy that’s the only way to explain it. One particular time I saw a deer and was looking at it with my binoculars and Cark pulled out his monocular (he was blind in one eye). I started laughing because I had never seen a monocular before and he said, “Setharias, what are you laughing at, I got this for half price!” Finally my Clark story that touched me the most was one time when Mandi and I were dating we were at his ranch having a dinner together. At this point I still thought I wanted to be a hippie, longer hair, you remember that phase. Well if you know Clark he is a real cowboy all the way to the core so you can see kind of a conflict in styles. One of the Shamo’s (Clark’s good friends) was teasing me not mean or anything just having fun and Clark who didn’t know me hardly at all said, “Don’t you let Setharias fool you he comes from very good stock over to that Bear Valley country.” (Clark grew up in Panguitch). No one could have paid me a greater compliment that touched me so deeply and now when I am faced with decisions in life I often think back to what Clark said and try to live up to my heritage. Mandi and I will definitely miss her grandpa. He always made sure we knew he loved us by telling Mandi, kissing the girls, and making me the brunt of a joke. I will end by saying it again because it is so true he was one of a kind. He used to always say, “Well he up and died and we haven’t heard from him since.” That’s how Tom ended his talk and it seemed so fitting.
Well we made it to the other side of the funeral ok. It was sad but mixed with many laughs, as you cannot talk about Clark Houston without a few chuckles. I wanted to share some of the neat things about Mandi’s grandpa that were said over the last 3 days. One thing that was often repeated by so many people was that Clark gave then their start in their life’s work. He was a very smart businessman and helped many get their businesses off the ground. Another thing often repeated was that Clark had a nickname for everyone in the world, mine was “Setharias”, Mandi’s was “Maben”, Kaylie’s was “Kaylie bug”, Addie’s was “Adder Pat”, Tom’s was “Mode”, and the list goes on. It was touching when Tom asked everyone who had a nickname to raise their hand and the packed chapel and overflow all raised their hand. He then said, “Go home and write it down because you won’t ever hear it again.” The Bishop of Clark’s ward is Polynesian and he got up at the end and said he even had a nickname, “Bishop Hula Man.” Another funny one was Kevin Ence’s. He was “Kelvinator the refrigerator.” The Bishop told a story that touched Mandi deeply. He told of Clark in a church meeting asking how much money it would take to provide Christmas to everyone who needed it in the ward. The Bishop said, Clark that is a substantial number. Clark said just give me a number Bishop, so the Bishop gave him a number and Clark pulled his check book out and wrote a check to the Bishop for twice the amount. It turns out Clark secretly gave much to those in need because many helped him when he had a young family to feed and got so sick he couldn’t work. I also loved something Kevin Ence said, it was no secret that Clark did very well financially and Kevin said, “Clark gave financial assistance to many but more importantly he knew when not to give financial assistance in those instances when it would only do more harm than good. He knew when you needed to just work through it and learn from the hard times.” I thought this was so fitting and true. Clark was one of a kind and we will all miss his terrible, very loud singing, his nicknames, his shock you sense of humor, and his big very strong hand shakes and hugs. He loved Mandi deeply and was not at all slow to tell her. He constantly told her how much he loved her and how beautiful she was. Whenever I saw him he said, “Hi Setharias, good to see me. How’s my pretty Maben doing.” He also loved out girls and little Dylan. The girls were a little timid around such volume but he could always get a kiss out of them. He even called one day and asked Mandi if she could bring Dylan up because he just wanted to see him. This was one of the last times we saw Grandpa Clark. At this time he had also just bought a huge tackle box at a garage sale and he let me pick whatever I wanted out of it. I got to spend many hunting, 4 wheeling, post cutting and deer looking trips with Clark and they were all very very fun. He is just crazy that’s the only way to explain it. One particular time I saw a deer and was looking at it with my binoculars and Cark pulled out his monocular (he was blind in one eye). I started laughing because I had never seen a monocular before and he said, “Setharias, what are you laughing at, I got this for half price!” Finally my Clark story that touched me the most was one time when Mandi and I were dating we were at his ranch having a dinner together. At this point I still thought I wanted to be a hippie, longer hair, you remember that phase. Well if you know Clark he is a real cowboy all the way to the core so you can see kind of a conflict in styles. One of the Shamo’s (Clark’s good friends) was teasing me not mean or anything just having fun and Clark who didn’t know me hardly at all said, “Don’t you let Setharias fool you he comes from very good stock over to that Bear Valley country.” (Clark grew up in Panguitch). No one could have paid me a greater compliment that touched me so deeply and now when I am faced with decisions in life I often think back to what Clark said and try to live up to my heritage. Mandi and I will definitely miss her grandpa. He always made sure we knew he loved us by telling Mandi, kissing the girls, and making me the brunt of a joke. I will end by saying it again because it is so true he was one of a kind. He used to always say, “Well he up and died and we haven’t heard from him since.” That’s how Tom ended his talk and it seemed so fitting.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Nick, Rick and Kyle just finished their 1st marathon. We are so proud of those boys. They all finished within just a few minutes of each other and ran a great race. We were all there to chear them on as they crossed the finish line. It is always inspiring to see people you love rise to the challenge and overcome. Who knows, we could have some more marathon runners still to come in our family.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Sept 2007
I ran the The Trail’s half marathon on Sept. 1st. It started at the bridge at Gunlock and ended at the park in Ivins. It just about killed me. It was a hard course. I picked up my ribbon and came home. Kevin and the boys got home from Alaska that day. He told me congratulations on winning second place, I said “I didn’t win second place, I was 7th in my division.” He told me I had the Second Place Men’s Ribbon. I didn’t have my glasses on and just picked one up off the table. They were the ribbons for the winners and I didn’t know it.
Amber told me of 40% off sale at Roberts Crafts, so I went up and scoped it out in the afternoon and got a couple of cute things.
Kevin said everyone else’s family was at the airport to meet them. He was the only one with no one there. I felt bad. Carma hugged him though. He never told us when he was coming in.
The boys had a wonderful trip and Natalie put all the pictures on a DVD for us. John and Sandra and I tried to do it one night, but didn’t succeed. I did get a nice picture of all of us that the funeral home that I made into an 8x10 and gave to mom. She was tickled to get it.
Alaska gave all the boys a lot of fish. They limited out every day and had excellent weather. Grandpa Clark was watching over them.
They said it was a hard trip though as they were up early every morning and in bed late at night.
Kevin kept the gun by him and worried about the bears. He had one bad day when they went deep sea fishing and he was sea sick all day.
Tim Isit was there guide and Thayne, John, Kevin, Tom, Billy, and Mark all went. Tim said he wanted to be in their family.
We had the Jay Ence Reunion on Labor Day up at Pine Valley at the cabin. Emily won the money for the biggest fish. Amber and Heidi had helped Janice with the reunion. Amber had taken care of the food and games and Heidi made t-shirts in different colors for each family.
Nick also blessed Wyatt that week end. He gave him one of the most beautiful blessings I have ever heard. I wished I had written it down. He and Rachel both bore their testimonies and expressed their gratitude for this new little boy.
Heidi had the Hafen Reunion at Pinto that week end too. It is a three day affair. Her sister in law, Cory Esplin, had her baby that week end.
We spent the next week end at Lake Powel on the Hafen’s new house boat. We had a wonderful time. Macy and Ty both skied (4 years old) and Cade tried. We had the Hafen and Guerisoli kids with us and Wyatt with Nick and Rachel. Kevin and I slept up on top and enjoyed the nights under the starry sky. The first night we got a little cold though and rounded up more bedding for the second night.
We took Cade on a boat ride to the Cookie Jar and let him drive the boat most of the way. He drove the houseboat most of the way in too.
Kyle is really good on the air chair. Nick got it down a little and Rick tried it. It is so funny to see them learning. They are so out of control. We laughed our guts out.
Nick and I celebrated out birthdays out there. Rachel had tried to surprise Nick with a round of golf with her for his birthday. But he was upset about not being able to golf the day before, that she had to tell him he was going the next morning. They had a good time. I watched the kids for them. We went over and visited at Amber’s and Heidi’s.
Kevin and I made it home from Lake Powel for the Houston Reunion at the water park in Washington. It was well attended. Sherri and Mark even came up for it. Anna had Homecoming that night, so I left the reunion to go get her off and take her picture. I had to go back for Natalie’s pies though. We had it on Dad’s 72 birthday. Natalie’s birthday was on the 7th.
Rick, Nick, and Kyle have been coaching little league football for the last few months. So they have been gone a lot in the evenings. The girls are anxious for it to be over and have their husbands back. They boys have absolutely loved it and have been pretty successful.
Kyle coaches the 7th graders and then stays for Nick’s game with the 8th graders. Nick wrote a nice letter to Heidi telling her how much he appreciated her letting Kyle stay and what a difference it made. She appreciated that.
The boys were running 18 miles one morning for their marathon training. The started at the cabin and hit the Veyo hill at about 16 miles. Rick tried to eat some gue and started throwing up, Nick had new shoes on that had made his knees and hips hurt so they had to abort the run at that point. Rick did something to his foot while he was throwing up and hasn’t been able to run on it since. He’s been riding the bike though and is still going to run. Kyle’s foot has been hurt too, but is doing better now. Nick has tendonitis in his hamstring and is running injured too. It’s going to be some race for them, but they have put a lot of time and effort into it and we are rooting for them.
Cade had Grandparents Day with the 1st grades at his school. The Guerisoli’s and I attended. They sang some cute songs and gave us some things they had made. It was fun to go see his class and he was so pleased about having us there.
Lex and Kelsey didn’t get to come to Lake Powel. They are going to come to San Diego next month with us for the whole week and couldn’t swing them both. There new furniture came while we were gone. It makes their apartment look so nice. Lex had a big job putting it all together. They got living room and bed room furniture and a table and chairs. They just need a washer and dryer now. We got some new end tables with that order and it took Kevin several mornings to get them put together. The girls helped me put the times in. They look nice in the new room.
Lex and Kevin went around and looked at all his landscape jobs to see what he needed to do. He’s in charge of all of that now. Kelsey works at a branch of the Village Bank. She got laser eye surgery and still has red eyes from it.
They have stayed at our house while we were gone on the house boat and on the cruise so Anna isn’t here alone. That’s a big help to us.
Lex worked all day in the heat without eating or drinking and came home real sick with dehydration. I thought we were going to have to take him to the hospital. He was in excruciating pain. But it calmed down after he got something down and slept a bit.
Camie and Drew both had birthdays. Camie’s is on the 19th (the same day as Weston’s.) and Drew’s is on the 20th. So those two girls celebrate together. Camie wrote a nice tribute to Drew on her blog. All the girls’ blog. They have set one up for me too, but I don’t know how to do anything on it yet. It is jkefamily.blogspot.com. When I am home for a while I will figure it out. I like reading all the nieces too.
Camie is expecting a new baby in March and has been sick. She has some medicine that helps, but it is very expensive. She and Drew get to fly to San Diego next month and stay a week with us. We are looking forward to that.
Jed’s still down in Texas. He broke his bike chain and lost his helmet, so he had a big financial month. He bought a pair of Oakley sunglasses too that he said he would pay us back when he got home. He got a new companion, but stayed in Midland. He is in our prayers daily and we are proud of him and the work he is doing. Robby is having a great mission too.
Anna has been busy with soccer all month. They are the region champs. So they have had a good season. They had a powder puff football game with the boys and got creamed.
Kimberly came over and helped her with her hair for Homecoming. That was a big help as we were gone. She wore one of Kelsey’s dresses and looked beautiful.
The bishop asked us what’s happened to her. She hasn’t been to our ward for 2 months. She’s attended other places though. But our ward really needs her. She is one of 4 girls in the Young Women Program.
She and I both had to take our cars in to be serviced. She is a big help to me with errands and things like that.
They have been doing a little ‘caving” lately out at Snow Canyon. She was here alone half the month while we were on a cruise. She really missed us. It’s hard to be alone especially for her.
Kevin’s girls moved him into his new office while were gone. He came home to an upheaval.
We received a lot of comments on the talk he gave in a Stake Priesthood meeting this month. He puts a lot into them.
He had the dedication of the new State Bank here in St. George. Pres. Rogers dedicated it for them.
Kevin’s been in a battle with the algae in the fountain in the back yard. He put “Shock” in it and I think has it under control now.
His mom has had some serious problems with kidney stones this month and had them dissolved with a laser. She’s been in a lot of pain and through a lot. The girls kept tabs on her as were gone. She wanted them to go Pauline Olds birthday party and I think a couple of them made it.
Amber and Heidi also took the kids to the Rodeo and had a great evening. Heidi gave me a message for my birthday but ended up having it herself as we gone.
I taught several lessons on Paul this month, and then missed three in a row. We were gone 3 Sundays. Lesson preparation and an e-mail to Jed are regular weekly activities. I have started juicing every morning now too. It’s kind of a big ordeal, but a lot of my problems go away when I will do it.
Thayne had a meeting for my family down at his house and we went through the Clark Houston Family financial situation. Sherri was on the speaker phone. I appreciate the nice job Thayne and John do with that.
I missed my Sunday with mom for dinner, so she and I went lunch the next day at the Painted Pony. We both decided we don’t need to go there again. A Jimmy John’s sandwich works just as well.
She came with me to Kohl’s because she had never been there before. I tried to get her come to lunch at Red Lobster. Kevin and Nick were there for lunch, but she declined. She has lost over 30 lbs and is back into her clothes before her mission. She is doing really well.
She went up to the ranch with Lex and Nick for the mussel load. Nick got a nice four point. The boys said they had a good time playing cards that night with her. She forgot her phone though and had to go back up the next day with Carma and Tom.
I started a new institute class over at Coral Cliffs. It is excellent. I have three of them now, Tues, Wed, and Thurs. It‘s nice because if I miss one I pick up one of the others. They all teach about Paul but are at different places in the New Testament. All three are wonderful teachers.
We lost Montrue Larkin, Sis Hodges and Ray Schmutz this month. We weren’t her for any of the funerals, but sent our condolences. They were all great people and great contributors.
The cruise took half the month. We left on Sept 14 and got home Oct 1. We flew to Athens, Greece and boarded a cruise ship. We each just took one suit case, but mine weighed 70 lbs so we had to pay $50 extra for it. We bought a duffle bag so we didn’t have that problem on the way home.
It took us almost 30 hours of flying and airports to get there. Everyone else was first class except us. James and Craig Sullivan and their wives came and Ed and Joe Burgess and wives. They are a very enjoyable group to be with. One couple from Salt Lake came too. She is Russell M. Nelson’s oldest daughter. So there were 12 of us off on a wild adventure.
We called the missionaries in Greece as we have an Elder from our stake serving there. They came and met us at our motel. There are about 700 members in all of Greece and about 100 active members. The Greek language is really hard. It is similar to Russian. Three missionaries came and it was fun to talk to them and hear their stories.
The Elder from our stake was able to meet his real father for the first time over there as he is a Greek. And it all came about serendipitously.
I read a book on Paul on the way over called “From Persecutor to Apostle” that was excellent. We went most the of the places Paul preached.
I took the lap top and e-mail homed about every day. We saw the Plaka and acropolis in Greece. There are a lot of old ruins there. We saw Mars Hill where Paul preached. The missionaries say they go there for a testimony meeting. We had a nice dinner and evening down on the Warf sitting right by the water. The presidential elections were going in Greece which added excitement to the air; the fireworks went off at Constitution Square when the election winner was announced. We had a bomb threat in one of the museums that shut our street down for a while. It was just the kind of thing Kevin was worried about.
On board the ship there is the buffet, formal dinning, 24 hour room service, and pizza, hot dog, and ice cream bars open all day. So eating is a main activity. Kevin and did go to the gym a few times, but not enough. We did get our share of messages though and enjoyed the evening shows.
Istanbul was the first muslin country we have been in. We saw the Blue Mosque and learned about the Islamic religion. They are called to prayer publicly 5 times a day and kneel and bow towards Mecca. They have to wash their hands, feet and heads before entering the mosques and they have mosques everywhere. A mosque has to have a dome and an minuet. (A tall skinny tower to call our prayer from)
The sultan’s harem was probably one of the more interesting things we saw. Turkish rugs are the big thing over there. They are hand made and a work of art. James bought one for his office and had it shipped home.
The only time it rained on us was in Bulgaria. Its small country that I think was part of Russia. It’s up in the Black Sea. The places we stopped in up there were colder than the ones in the Mediterranean Sea. We stopped at Varna, and Styvestoval in the Ukraine. The are still pretty pro Soviet and have a big military presence still there.
Kevin and I tried to order something in a McDonalds there and ended up with a kid’s meal. We ate it and were glad for it.
We had a church service on Sun evening with a few other LDS members on the cruise. It was a testimony meeting and was a good experience. I enjoyed hearing Craig and James testimonies.
We told one of our guides in the Ukraine that were LDS and he said “When I say him (James) and talked to him I knew he was a man of Jesus Christ.”
The kids told us they had had some hard rains at home. Wendy and Craig’s new house up at Central got flooded.
We had a Home Evening with the 12 of us and had a discussion on Paul as we were going to Ephesus the next day where Paul preached for 3 years. We practiced being missionaries too to each other. Kevin told his masseuse the 8 things we learned.
We had our 31st wedding anniversary on the boat. It was great way to celebrate. We didn’t even remember until one of the other couples mentioned it at dinner that night.
We liked Ephesus best of anywhere we went. It is the best preserved ancient ruin in the world. We also say the place Mary and John came and lived after Christ’s death and a church where they said John was buried. But we know he is still alive with the 3 Nephites.
Kevin was in charge of the wash on the trip (you did it in a central laundry room) and the post cards. He bought some at each place we went to.
Rhodes and Cyprus were both interesting. Kevin brought a piece of the rock of Aphrodite’s home. He wants me to put it by my bed.
We were having breakfast at a street café in Cyprus when a little girl came darting across two busy streets to look at a shop that had some pretty umbrellas next to us. She was there a long time and shop owner tried to talk her, but the little girl spoke a language no one understood. The shop owner grew more and more concerned. The owner of the café where we were at took an ice cream over to her. In about 20 minutes a young man pushing a 1year old in a stroller can franticly looking. They had been in a castle and she had slipped away from them. She was Norwegian. I think that is every parent’s worst nightmare come true. They were awfully glad to find each other. The one year old got an ice cream too.
Egypt was our last stop. We ported at Alexandria and took a 3 hour bus ride into Cairo where we saw the pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. We also saw the findings from King Tut’s tomb.
We came home with Ed and Lori. The Sullivan boys went to Paris and stayed a few more days. Joe and Bev picked up their son in London from his mission and stayed another week. We were glad to get home to this beautiful little city where everyone speaks our language.
Amber told me of 40% off sale at Roberts Crafts, so I went up and scoped it out in the afternoon and got a couple of cute things.
Kevin said everyone else’s family was at the airport to meet them. He was the only one with no one there. I felt bad. Carma hugged him though. He never told us when he was coming in.
The boys had a wonderful trip and Natalie put all the pictures on a DVD for us. John and Sandra and I tried to do it one night, but didn’t succeed. I did get a nice picture of all of us that the funeral home that I made into an 8x10 and gave to mom. She was tickled to get it.
Alaska gave all the boys a lot of fish. They limited out every day and had excellent weather. Grandpa Clark was watching over them.
They said it was a hard trip though as they were up early every morning and in bed late at night.
Kevin kept the gun by him and worried about the bears. He had one bad day when they went deep sea fishing and he was sea sick all day.
Tim Isit was there guide and Thayne, John, Kevin, Tom, Billy, and Mark all went. Tim said he wanted to be in their family.
We had the Jay Ence Reunion on Labor Day up at Pine Valley at the cabin. Emily won the money for the biggest fish. Amber and Heidi had helped Janice with the reunion. Amber had taken care of the food and games and Heidi made t-shirts in different colors for each family.
Nick also blessed Wyatt that week end. He gave him one of the most beautiful blessings I have ever heard. I wished I had written it down. He and Rachel both bore their testimonies and expressed their gratitude for this new little boy.
Heidi had the Hafen Reunion at Pinto that week end too. It is a three day affair. Her sister in law, Cory Esplin, had her baby that week end.
We spent the next week end at Lake Powel on the Hafen’s new house boat. We had a wonderful time. Macy and Ty both skied (4 years old) and Cade tried. We had the Hafen and Guerisoli kids with us and Wyatt with Nick and Rachel. Kevin and I slept up on top and enjoyed the nights under the starry sky. The first night we got a little cold though and rounded up more bedding for the second night.
We took Cade on a boat ride to the Cookie Jar and let him drive the boat most of the way. He drove the houseboat most of the way in too.
Kyle is really good on the air chair. Nick got it down a little and Rick tried it. It is so funny to see them learning. They are so out of control. We laughed our guts out.
Nick and I celebrated out birthdays out there. Rachel had tried to surprise Nick with a round of golf with her for his birthday. But he was upset about not being able to golf the day before, that she had to tell him he was going the next morning. They had a good time. I watched the kids for them. We went over and visited at Amber’s and Heidi’s.
Kevin and I made it home from Lake Powel for the Houston Reunion at the water park in Washington. It was well attended. Sherri and Mark even came up for it. Anna had Homecoming that night, so I left the reunion to go get her off and take her picture. I had to go back for Natalie’s pies though. We had it on Dad’s 72 birthday. Natalie’s birthday was on the 7th.
Rick, Nick, and Kyle have been coaching little league football for the last few months. So they have been gone a lot in the evenings. The girls are anxious for it to be over and have their husbands back. They boys have absolutely loved it and have been pretty successful.
Kyle coaches the 7th graders and then stays for Nick’s game with the 8th graders. Nick wrote a nice letter to Heidi telling her how much he appreciated her letting Kyle stay and what a difference it made. She appreciated that.
The boys were running 18 miles one morning for their marathon training. The started at the cabin and hit the Veyo hill at about 16 miles. Rick tried to eat some gue and started throwing up, Nick had new shoes on that had made his knees and hips hurt so they had to abort the run at that point. Rick did something to his foot while he was throwing up and hasn’t been able to run on it since. He’s been riding the bike though and is still going to run. Kyle’s foot has been hurt too, but is doing better now. Nick has tendonitis in his hamstring and is running injured too. It’s going to be some race for them, but they have put a lot of time and effort into it and we are rooting for them.
Cade had Grandparents Day with the 1st grades at his school. The Guerisoli’s and I attended. They sang some cute songs and gave us some things they had made. It was fun to go see his class and he was so pleased about having us there.
Lex and Kelsey didn’t get to come to Lake Powel. They are going to come to San Diego next month with us for the whole week and couldn’t swing them both. There new furniture came while we were gone. It makes their apartment look so nice. Lex had a big job putting it all together. They got living room and bed room furniture and a table and chairs. They just need a washer and dryer now. We got some new end tables with that order and it took Kevin several mornings to get them put together. The girls helped me put the times in. They look nice in the new room.
Lex and Kevin went around and looked at all his landscape jobs to see what he needed to do. He’s in charge of all of that now. Kelsey works at a branch of the Village Bank. She got laser eye surgery and still has red eyes from it.
They have stayed at our house while we were gone on the house boat and on the cruise so Anna isn’t here alone. That’s a big help to us.
Lex worked all day in the heat without eating or drinking and came home real sick with dehydration. I thought we were going to have to take him to the hospital. He was in excruciating pain. But it calmed down after he got something down and slept a bit.
Camie and Drew both had birthdays. Camie’s is on the 19th (the same day as Weston’s.) and Drew’s is on the 20th. So those two girls celebrate together. Camie wrote a nice tribute to Drew on her blog. All the girls’ blog. They have set one up for me too, but I don’t know how to do anything on it yet. It is jkefamily.blogspot.com. When I am home for a while I will figure it out. I like reading all the nieces too.
Camie is expecting a new baby in March and has been sick. She has some medicine that helps, but it is very expensive. She and Drew get to fly to San Diego next month and stay a week with us. We are looking forward to that.
Jed’s still down in Texas. He broke his bike chain and lost his helmet, so he had a big financial month. He bought a pair of Oakley sunglasses too that he said he would pay us back when he got home. He got a new companion, but stayed in Midland. He is in our prayers daily and we are proud of him and the work he is doing. Robby is having a great mission too.
Anna has been busy with soccer all month. They are the region champs. So they have had a good season. They had a powder puff football game with the boys and got creamed.
Kimberly came over and helped her with her hair for Homecoming. That was a big help as we were gone. She wore one of Kelsey’s dresses and looked beautiful.
The bishop asked us what’s happened to her. She hasn’t been to our ward for 2 months. She’s attended other places though. But our ward really needs her. She is one of 4 girls in the Young Women Program.
She and I both had to take our cars in to be serviced. She is a big help to me with errands and things like that.
They have been doing a little ‘caving” lately out at Snow Canyon. She was here alone half the month while we were on a cruise. She really missed us. It’s hard to be alone especially for her.
Kevin’s girls moved him into his new office while were gone. He came home to an upheaval.
We received a lot of comments on the talk he gave in a Stake Priesthood meeting this month. He puts a lot into them.
He had the dedication of the new State Bank here in St. George. Pres. Rogers dedicated it for them.
Kevin’s been in a battle with the algae in the fountain in the back yard. He put “Shock” in it and I think has it under control now.
His mom has had some serious problems with kidney stones this month and had them dissolved with a laser. She’s been in a lot of pain and through a lot. The girls kept tabs on her as were gone. She wanted them to go Pauline Olds birthday party and I think a couple of them made it.
Amber and Heidi also took the kids to the Rodeo and had a great evening. Heidi gave me a message for my birthday but ended up having it herself as we gone.
I taught several lessons on Paul this month, and then missed three in a row. We were gone 3 Sundays. Lesson preparation and an e-mail to Jed are regular weekly activities. I have started juicing every morning now too. It’s kind of a big ordeal, but a lot of my problems go away when I will do it.
Thayne had a meeting for my family down at his house and we went through the Clark Houston Family financial situation. Sherri was on the speaker phone. I appreciate the nice job Thayne and John do with that.
I missed my Sunday with mom for dinner, so she and I went lunch the next day at the Painted Pony. We both decided we don’t need to go there again. A Jimmy John’s sandwich works just as well.
She came with me to Kohl’s because she had never been there before. I tried to get her come to lunch at Red Lobster. Kevin and Nick were there for lunch, but she declined. She has lost over 30 lbs and is back into her clothes before her mission. She is doing really well.
She went up to the ranch with Lex and Nick for the mussel load. Nick got a nice four point. The boys said they had a good time playing cards that night with her. She forgot her phone though and had to go back up the next day with Carma and Tom.
I started a new institute class over at Coral Cliffs. It is excellent. I have three of them now, Tues, Wed, and Thurs. It‘s nice because if I miss one I pick up one of the others. They all teach about Paul but are at different places in the New Testament. All three are wonderful teachers.
We lost Montrue Larkin, Sis Hodges and Ray Schmutz this month. We weren’t her for any of the funerals, but sent our condolences. They were all great people and great contributors.
The cruise took half the month. We left on Sept 14 and got home Oct 1. We flew to Athens, Greece and boarded a cruise ship. We each just took one suit case, but mine weighed 70 lbs so we had to pay $50 extra for it. We bought a duffle bag so we didn’t have that problem on the way home.
It took us almost 30 hours of flying and airports to get there. Everyone else was first class except us. James and Craig Sullivan and their wives came and Ed and Joe Burgess and wives. They are a very enjoyable group to be with. One couple from Salt Lake came too. She is Russell M. Nelson’s oldest daughter. So there were 12 of us off on a wild adventure.
We called the missionaries in Greece as we have an Elder from our stake serving there. They came and met us at our motel. There are about 700 members in all of Greece and about 100 active members. The Greek language is really hard. It is similar to Russian. Three missionaries came and it was fun to talk to them and hear their stories.
The Elder from our stake was able to meet his real father for the first time over there as he is a Greek. And it all came about serendipitously.
I read a book on Paul on the way over called “From Persecutor to Apostle” that was excellent. We went most the of the places Paul preached.
I took the lap top and e-mail homed about every day. We saw the Plaka and acropolis in Greece. There are a lot of old ruins there. We saw Mars Hill where Paul preached. The missionaries say they go there for a testimony meeting. We had a nice dinner and evening down on the Warf sitting right by the water. The presidential elections were going in Greece which added excitement to the air; the fireworks went off at Constitution Square when the election winner was announced. We had a bomb threat in one of the museums that shut our street down for a while. It was just the kind of thing Kevin was worried about.
On board the ship there is the buffet, formal dinning, 24 hour room service, and pizza, hot dog, and ice cream bars open all day. So eating is a main activity. Kevin and did go to the gym a few times, but not enough. We did get our share of messages though and enjoyed the evening shows.
Istanbul was the first muslin country we have been in. We saw the Blue Mosque and learned about the Islamic religion. They are called to prayer publicly 5 times a day and kneel and bow towards Mecca. They have to wash their hands, feet and heads before entering the mosques and they have mosques everywhere. A mosque has to have a dome and an minuet. (A tall skinny tower to call our prayer from)
The sultan’s harem was probably one of the more interesting things we saw. Turkish rugs are the big thing over there. They are hand made and a work of art. James bought one for his office and had it shipped home.
The only time it rained on us was in Bulgaria. Its small country that I think was part of Russia. It’s up in the Black Sea. The places we stopped in up there were colder than the ones in the Mediterranean Sea. We stopped at Varna, and Styvestoval in the Ukraine. The are still pretty pro Soviet and have a big military presence still there.
Kevin and I tried to order something in a McDonalds there and ended up with a kid’s meal. We ate it and were glad for it.
We had a church service on Sun evening with a few other LDS members on the cruise. It was a testimony meeting and was a good experience. I enjoyed hearing Craig and James testimonies.
We told one of our guides in the Ukraine that were LDS and he said “When I say him (James) and talked to him I knew he was a man of Jesus Christ.”
The kids told us they had had some hard rains at home. Wendy and Craig’s new house up at Central got flooded.
We had a Home Evening with the 12 of us and had a discussion on Paul as we were going to Ephesus the next day where Paul preached for 3 years. We practiced being missionaries too to each other. Kevin told his masseuse the 8 things we learned.
We had our 31st wedding anniversary on the boat. It was great way to celebrate. We didn’t even remember until one of the other couples mentioned it at dinner that night.
We liked Ephesus best of anywhere we went. It is the best preserved ancient ruin in the world. We also say the place Mary and John came and lived after Christ’s death and a church where they said John was buried. But we know he is still alive with the 3 Nephites.
Kevin was in charge of the wash on the trip (you did it in a central laundry room) and the post cards. He bought some at each place we went to.
Rhodes and Cyprus were both interesting. Kevin brought a piece of the rock of Aphrodite’s home. He wants me to put it by my bed.
We were having breakfast at a street café in Cyprus when a little girl came darting across two busy streets to look at a shop that had some pretty umbrellas next to us. She was there a long time and shop owner tried to talk her, but the little girl spoke a language no one understood. The shop owner grew more and more concerned. The owner of the café where we were at took an ice cream over to her. In about 20 minutes a young man pushing a 1year old in a stroller can franticly looking. They had been in a castle and she had slipped away from them. She was Norwegian. I think that is every parent’s worst nightmare come true. They were awfully glad to find each other. The one year old got an ice cream too.
Egypt was our last stop. We ported at Alexandria and took a 3 hour bus ride into Cairo where we saw the pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. We also saw the findings from King Tut’s tomb.
We came home with Ed and Lori. The Sullivan boys went to Paris and stayed a few more days. Joe and Bev picked up their son in London from his mission and stayed another week. We were glad to get home to this beautiful little city where everyone speaks our language.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
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