Goings on.

No pictures today. Just words and updates.
Updates on the posterity!
The Washington kids are busy with sports and school. Cody has been playing football. At first he was not sure he liked it, but now loves the sport. He loves baseball and rodeo also, and soon he will be back to wrestling. Good well rounded sports. It is hard to believe that Austin is a senior this year, and will be an official adult on his next birthday. It does not seem that long ago that he was born, then a toddler with a rope and stick horse. He started out as a cowboy REALLY young. He was mutton busting at 3 and now is a champion on rough stock. He finished 2nd in bulls and bareback broncs for the 2009 season of Jr Rodeo. He has participated in bulls only at High School Rodeo this fall. (3 rodeos, 1 bull covered). The girls are young ladies. They are beautiful girls, and busy with music and school. Melissa did some barrel racing this year in the Jr Rodeo. She seemed to really like it.
Jennie and Jeff's big news is a new (to them) house. The end of September they sold the townhouse and moved into a single family dwelling. It is only a couple of blocks from the townhouse, in the same ward, and it has a big back yard. They are still trying to get unpacked and settled. With both of them working full time and other activities they don't have a lot of time to get the boxes emptied. Jeff also spent a week in Denver for school. He has to go over to the campus for a week out of every semester for practicals. The rest he is doing on-line. Hayden is growing like a weed. He weighs about 20 lbs, and is crawling and pulling himself up to furniture and in his crib. He is a happy baby, but is still not too sure about those rowdy boy cousins. The 2 & 3-year-olds are a bit much for him. They are pretty gentle with him, but want him to play with them.
Dora and Paul are as busy as ever. With the kids and all their activities, and running races, we don't get to see them much. Kelsey is performing in the Ballet West's "Nutcracker Suite" in Nov & Dec. She is VERY excited about that. Dora and Paul did a Relay Marathon a couple of weeks ago. It was a 24 hour race, and Dora said they had the worst terrain.
Evan and Jaime are on the go constantly. With their regular jobs, the horses and their Xango business, they have very little down time. Marian and I will be going to convention with them this weekend.
Marian and the boys are doing fine. Marian is still the night manager at Hart's and that keeps her busy. With her gone at night, we have the boys to feed and get to bed. They are getting better most days. Yesterday we got a new refrigerator, so they have had to explore and see what they can get into. BUSY, BUSY!! They are both talking a lot. Ryan is finally using complete sentences, and most of the time we can understand most of what he is saying. He trills his Rs and Ls, so it is funny trying to figure out what he is saying then. Jackson uses 2-3 words together. Ryan has learned all of the letters and numbers to 9, so Jackson is learning them too. He recognizes a lot of them, but sometimes I think it is mimick.
The year is almost over, which means only about 6 weeks until I retire from the hospital. That will be a BIG adjustment, but I have LOTS of projects waiting to be done.
Well, got to get ready for a meeting, so better sign off.
Until next time.......

Trips and kids and grandkids

The end of September, Marie, Dorine, and I planned a trip to Nauvoo, to take our Mom. When we got the dates decided, it was the same time 2 of Marie's daughters and families were going too. Virgil asked if he could go too, and so we said he could and invited Paul also. Then Dorine got married, and so we invited Gary to go along. What was planned for 4 of us turned into 19. We had such a good time.

We flew into Kansas City, Missouri and went to Independence and Liberty Jail. Dorine and Gary drove, and we met them at the Visitors Center in Independence.

Sorry some of the pictures are turned sideways. I have not figured out how to rotate them so they look correct.

Liberty Jail

We went to Far West, just at dusk. It was too late to go on to Adam-ondi-ohman. Kristen and Phil went there instead of Far West.
Monument at Far West

We spent the night somewhere in the middle of MO. We drove on to Nauvoo on Thurs. morning. We had a condo that was big enough for the 7 of us, and the kids stayed in a house in old Nauvoo. This condo complex is owned by members of the church, and we had access to KBYU, so we could watch conference as if we were home. The condos are 2 miles east of Nauvoo.
Gary, Virgil, and Paul at the Villa

Thursday evening we went to the presentation "Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo" It is a presentation put on by the missionaries. A couple from Bluebell and some other people Mom knew from the temple were in the production. Another couple and his sister-in-law from out home were there also, but not in the production that night. We saw the sister-in-law on Sunday, but Mom called the couple on the phone to tell them Hi.
Parley P Pratt home, store, and tithing office
The building is owned by the Catholic Church right now (thus the cross on the top of the west end), but it is the original structure.

Friday morning we took in a session at the temple. It is beautiful. The teenagers did baptisms for the dead. We then took the rest of the day to see what we could of the homes and businesses in old Nauvoo. The missionaries have presentations that tell about the building and some have demonstrations of the crafts. We all got a brick and a "prairie diamond ring" (a horseshoe nail bent to make a ring). Friday evening we went to a lecture about Joseph Smith and how George Albert Smith was able to obtain the Palmyra/Manchester property in New York. Very interesting material. The lady doing the lecture was Susan Black. She is a very learned historian of Church History.
Paul & I by a Sunstone

Paul and I in front of the Nauvoo Temple

The mighty Mississippi River!

Saturday morning we drove to Carthage and went through the jail. Most of the original jail is intact. Even the door to the room where the Prophet Joseph and Hyrum Smith were shot.

Carthage Jail.

Virgil, Marie, Mom, Paul, Me, Gary, & Dorine

Mom, Me, Marie, Dorine

We went back into Nauvoo in the afternoon, and saw some more sights. We went to the Land and Records office and found our ancestors who had been there. We found where the property they owned was located, and took a tour to find the spots. We signed our names in the log of desecendant to the 70's in the 70's Hall.

The stories are incredible. I am glad I live in this time. I am not sure I would be able to deal with the challenges they had then.

Marie's kids did not have TV, so the guys went in to the visitor's center to watch the Priesthood session with the rest of the guys. The opening song was "Praise To The Man" and since we had been at Carthage that morning, it was really touching to them.

Sunday we went in to the visitor's center for the morning session of conference, to be with the kids again. Paul, Dorine, and Gary stayed at the condo and watched it there.

We had a wonderful time, but did not get to see everything we would have liked to see. I guess that means we will have to go back again. Longer in Missouri would have given us a chance to spend more time in Independence and go to Adam-ondi-ohman. We did not get to see much of the Joseph Smith properties, as they are owned by the Community of Christ church (RLDS) and have different visiting hours.

We left early Monday morning and drove to St Louis. Here is a side-ways picture of the arch, taken from inside the car. They were working on the freeway and we had to re-route our pathway to the airport. Phil and Kristen took a wrong turn and crossed over the river into Illinois. They barely made it to catch the flight. We were glad we were on Delta, so their seats were saved. We flew into Kansas City on Southwest.
The arch at St Louis

Home Again

Dora and Paul ran a 24 hour relay marathon in St George this weekend, so have not talked to them since we got back.

Jennie and Jeff sold their townhouse and bought a single family home. They got moved in on Thursday. They have a fenced in back yard, so that will be really nice next summer, when Hayden is old enough to play outside.

Hayden is 7 months old now. He has learned to crawl and pull himself up in his crib this past week. He wants to be big, like the other boys.
Maclay wants him to wrestle, but he does not get that concept yet.

The boys birthdays this week. Jackson turned 2 on Wednesday and Ryan is 3 today. They got bikes for their birthdays. They were so cute and happy!!

Time Marches On

My how time flies. So much has happened since I last posted. Summer is over and the kids are back in school. The days are getting shorter, and the nights are cooler. Can't say the same for the days, though. We have been above average all month long.
I have started the process for my retirement. There is a lot to do, and it takes a while to get it all done. I found out that I have about 6 months of long term sick leave built up and can cash it in or roll it over to a 401K account. Taxes would take 1/2 of it if I cashed it in, so by putting it into the retirement account, I only pay the tax on what I withdraw. That made me happy to know that.
I will be eligible for Social Security on Dec. 1, so will probably have my retirement around the middle of December.
The Washington kids have Rodeo Finals this weekend, and we sure wish we could be there. It is hard having them so far away. We have missed all of the rodeos this year. They are growing up so fast. We are glad we got to spend time with them in April.

Last week Paul Skeen, Sr passed away and his funeral was last Friday. It was a nice funeral and all 4 of their children spoke. It is a blessing, as he has been in poor health for a long time, and had a stroke in January. He has been a nursing home since being released from the hospital. Jackson and Maclay at the cemetary.
The Skeen kids at the cemetary.
Also, last Friday, my sister Dorine was married. She spent 3 nights at our house the week before that, here to meet her new family. She was welcomed with open arms. Gary's wife had Lou Gehrigs disease and had a pretty tough few months. They are happy to see their dad be happy again.

Ryan is working on and off with potty training. He mostly likes to flush the toilet and fill it with toilet paper. Jackson is not interested at all. But then he is not quite 2 yet. Can't expect much from him at this point. He is starting to talk a lot. He and Ryan have their own language, though.

Hayden is 6 months old now. They are starting him on solid food, and he is not so sure about it.
He is such a happy baby. Hardly cries, and just smiles and laughs a lot.
He weighs nearly 19 pounds, so is definitely growing fast. He has been sitting alone for a couple of weeks now, and thinks he is so big. He still is not very happy when the other boys try to play with him. I think he is overwhelmed.

Over Labor Day, Jennie and Jeff went to Las Vegas to see friends. Here are Hayden and Jennie in the pool. He liked the water.

Hayden, sitting alone. The boys left him alone only long enough for the picture.

The Goings On in Pleasant Grove

No more injuries for a while. Everyone seems to be healing and doing well.

Hayden's teeth

Kambree in her cast.

Maclay and Ryan in the toy box, playing with cars.

Before Stephanie went back home, we all got together for dinner and then the kids painted T-Shirts (for nightshirts) for themselves and each other.
They had such a good time.

Stephanie went back home on Aug 21, on Vonda's birthday.

Kelsey's Shirt

Jennie and Ryan working on a shirt.

Here are Ryan and Jackson in their nightshirts

Keep On Going

On Monday, Dora sent this picture. Kambree was in the hospital with a broken arm. She and Maclay fell off the coffee table and she lost. She is doing fine, though.

Paul is doing better. His range of motion is getting better and the pain is pretty well gone. His scrapes are healed, too.

Hayden is growing like a weed. He is 5 months old and has 2 teeth. He is a happy baby.


Hayden is helping me with this, and is not happy about it, so I will close and tend to him.

Anniversaries, Birthdays, and Guardian Angels

Today is our 41st anniversary. Hard to believe that it has been that long. We spent last evening with Dora and her family. We celebrated Maclay's birthday (a week late), Paul's dad's birthday was on Friday, and today our anniversary. Both families together. Paul (Skeen) grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. Salads, chips, etc., then birthday cake and ice cream. The kids had a great time together. Especially Jackson and Paul's youngest brother's 2-year-old daughter flooded the bathroom. They somehow got the basin plugged and turned on the water. They had such a good time, but had about an inch of water on the floor when they were discovered. Everyone thought they were outside with the other kids. They were both totally soaked.

Maclay had a great time, but none of my pictures turned out well enough to post.

Hayden will be 5 months tomorrow, and has 2 teeth now. He is growing up so fast. He does not like it when the other boys come up on him fast. He seems to be really afraid.

Another hard to believe is the fact that our oldest will be 40 and our youngest will be 30 within the next 2 weeks. How time flies!!!

While we were traveling to Dora's, Vonda called to update us on the results of yesterday's rodeo. Austin was bucked off both his horse and bull, with no time. Also no time on chute dogging. Melissa knocked over a barrel and had a 5 second penalty. Cody was in 5th place in barrels in his division.
(He finished in 8th place at the end of today, and also 8th in goat tail tying.)

They were on the way to an "Extreme Bull Ride" and Austin was riding.

Part way through dinner, Stephanie came in crying. She had just talked to her mom and found out that Austin had been bucked of the bull and got his head stepped on. His guardian angel was working overtime last night. He had his helmet on and his head is okay.

The helmet was completely destroyed!

Thank goodnes for the the helmet, as it could have been his head.

A bruise on the face and a little shook up for a bit!

After everyone calmed down, we got a better report. He covered his first bull and got pretty high points. The second ride was the disastrous one. But he took overall 2nd place and got a check for $1500.00. We know what part of it will go for - a new helmet.

I think the guardian angels for all by grandsons are working overtime. From midnight walks to climbing, to rodeo. Even Hayden and his problems the first few days of his life.

Going Private

I am going private with this blog. If I have not contacted you, and you want to be invited to view and give comments, send me your e-mail address and I will add you to the list
Thanks, Ann