Deja vu

Thursday, July 31, 2008 It happened again last night. Chris and Sierra went to the pool yesterday afternoon. Later Corey and family came over and we all went to the pool again. Jayden and Bailey and I went in ahead of everyone else. Merlin Smith was in charge of checking in, and when he saw me he said something to the effect of: “Your son was here earlier. He sure has a good looking wife!” I explained to him that Sierra is his fourteen year-old daughter. Corey and Stacey came in shortly after that and Chris and Sierra followed. I told them what Merlin had said and we all had a good laugh.

Oui, Oui

Our son Chris who has been divorced for some time and who has dated a number of girls over the years related the following funny story about flying home from his and Sierra’s recent Paris trip. One of his fellow flight attendants; probably the only one on this particular trip who didn’t know that Chris was with his daughter, was working first-class, where Chris and Sierra were sitting. He has Parkinson’s disease and he shakes a little. He was looking at Chris and Sierra while he was making the on-board announcements. Later in the galley he was talking to some of his fellow flight attendants and said, “I really like Chris but I think this time he’s gone too far!” thinking that Sierra was Chris' latest girlfriend. The others explained things to him and everyone including Sierra had a good laugh.

Rain and well needed

Sunday, July 27, 2008 Jepsons in church. Today Judy Jepson played the organ, led the choir and said the opening prayer in sacrament meeting. JD Jeppson, a high councilor was one of the speakers. I gave the benediction in Sacrament meeting, the closing prayer in Sunday school class and said the prayer to consecrate some oil in priesthood meeting. Funny! This afternoon and evening we got/are getting some well needed rain. I went for a drive in it and enjoyed it very much. While I was driving in the Cedar Fort area I got the impression I should call our fourteen year-old grandson Austin. I did and asked him how he was doing. He said he was ill. He has a bad cough and feeling “very, very weak.” I told him to take care of himself and let him know I loved him.

Parenting again at our age

Saturday, July 26, 2008 We had Jayden and Bailey overnight and to my relief all went smoothly. This morning Judy, the kids and I drove to Bennion Jr. High for a fundraiser yard sale for the cheerleaders i.e. Sierra and gang. This was the second week they have done this. Things were slow and as we were driving up they were starting to pack up everything to quit an hour early. Sierra was walking up to the corner of 6400 S and 2700 W to tell the two girls who were holding signs directing people to the event to pack it in and come back. The girls have only made about half of what they need for Cheer camp or whatever it is for. Jayden bought a wakeboard and Bailey a 1996 Disney snow globe. Jayden insisted that it was a snowboard and tried to call Greg to see if he wanted to go boarding with him. Later Corey came over and we all went to the pool; again. Jayden and Bailey and I were already in the pool when Corey got there. He came from getting a haircut.

PATIO FURNITURE AND SWIMMING

Thursday, July 24, 2008 Stacey’s sister Amy’s clothes dryer went out recently, so Stacey and Amy’s parents bought them a new one. Since they spent $300.00 on Amy and family, they offered to buy Stacey and Corey a set of patio furniture or rather put $300.00 towards it. Corey and Stacey found a set at Wal-Mart they liked. Half of it, a dining set was $399.00 marked down to $200.00 at the Wal-Mart in Springville and a matching sitting area set at our Wal-Mart in Lehi/American Fork for the same price; $399.00 down to $200.00. Corey and Stacey picked up the part in Springville but didn’t have enough room in their van for the rest so Corey called me and I met them at our Wal-Mart and I picked up and delivered the rest. They were up into the dark of night putting up the dining room part. It was in two boxes and needed assembling. At that point Judy and I left to go home. It will be interesting to see it all put together and in place. Corey and Stacey charged it and Stacey’s parents will put $300.00 towards their car payment. In the middle of all this they with Jayden and Bailey came over to our place for a taco dinner and a trip to the swimming pool; the third time in four days if I remember correctly. The kids enjoy it.

TRI-TIP ROAST

Wednesday, July 23, 2008 Jim was in town yesterday so we invited them over for dinner. Corey and his family came over too. I cooked two tri-tips in the rotisserie grill and boiled potatoes and eggs for potato salad. After dinner, Austin, Molly, Corey and his family and I went to the pool for an hour. Jim needed to be at the airport at six this morning and wanted to leave our place no later than ten. I got Austin and Molly out of the pool at ten but as it turned out Diane and Jim visited with us until at least ten thirty. Jim and Diane did not swim, and since they had been swimming the last two days and several times last week Corey and Stacey didn’t really want to either I think, but they did for the kid’s sake. I was glad I didn’t have to try to keep my eye on both Jayden and Bailey at the same time especially with all the attention Molly demands of me. I am glad she does of course. As it turned out Austin and Molly slept over so Jim and Diane could have gone home earlier. Oh well! Judy took the kids home on her way to work this morning. On another note, recently Molly did a telephone interview with a Christian radio station from back east. Later they e-mailed Jim and told him how impressed they were with her. It was about her roll in her movie, The Last Sin Eater.

TEARS & JOY

Tuesday, July 22, 2008 Yesterday my barely nine-year-old grandson Jayden decided he wanted to go swimming at Grandma and Grandpa’s so he thought he would sway his mother by cleaning the house while she was at work. He did a very good job and spent a lot of time at it. I got there a little before Stacey did and Jayden was still working. He was a little fearful that his mom might still say no since they swam just the day before but he was hopeful. When Stacey got home, Corey told her what Jayden had done and of course she was very pleased. When she talked to Jayden about it though, she said something that he mistook for a “No”. He welled up in tears. He and his mother were wiping away his tears and I was wiping away mine. Of course they came and swam. On a lighter side; while Jayden and Corey were in our bathroom putting on their suits, Jayden noticed my suit in there also. He exclaimed, “Is that Grandpa’s suit?” and fearing I might walk in and change while they were still in there, he said, “I don’t want to see an old man’s private parts!” I guess Corey said something humorous for Jayden then said something to the effect of, “Why would a young kid want to see an old man’s private parts?” They have been here swimming a lot in the last couple of weeks and both Jayden and Bailey have gotten to be good swimmers even swimming down ten feet to the bottom of the deep end, to retrieve diving sticks. Bailey finally realized just last night that she can really swim, and took off like a fish. Before that she would dive off the board but head right for the stairs nearby. Now she is totally carefree. The four of them got snorkel gear a week or two ago and have been practicing for when they are on Disney’s Island on our cruise at the end of September and first of October.

Much ado about nothing

Wednesday, July 16, 2008 Not a lot to report. Corey and I have worn a path between Corey's and Lowes in American Fork. We and the employees there are nearly on a first-name basis. We're still getting more pea-gravel for a paver base and getting edging so the pea-gravel doesn't spill out from under the pavers at the edges causing them not to stay in place. I am still getting worn out watching Corey work. It is going a little slow because Corey is doing all this after a full day at the office but I/we are getting excited that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Stacey took pictures of the next-door neighbor's (which is identical to theirs before they started on it) and how there place looks like now and I will instruct them/or I will take updated pictures including the finished product. I also gave Corey instructions to forward the pictures to Niki who is a little out of sorts over being the only one still living out of town.

MY ACHING BACK

Monday, July 14, 2008 I got up bright and early this morning and got the last eighteen pavers at our Lowes, delivered them then got the last twenty at the Lowes on University Parkway in Orem. Later Wayne, Ginnie and I got forty at Lowes in Riverton, near Greg’s parent’s house. We each took twenty, twenty in Wayne and Ginnie’s Blazer and twenty in my Town and Country. The employees at Lowes did most of the work at their end and Wayne and Corey did most at the other. I mostly watched and I am still dirty, stinky and beat. I can really work up a sweat watching others work. Whew! Later Judy and I shared fajitas and a side of ribs at Chili’s.

BIRTHDAYS AND PATIOS

Sunday, July 13, 2008 I showed up at Corey and Stacey’s around 9:30 yesterday morning to help him with their back yard. They have approximately a 16X26 foot area; just enough for a patio. We did some digging down and leveling so we could lay pavers. Then we went to Lowe’s and bought nine sixteen inch pavers and some pea gravel as well as a few smaller pavers and some weed barrier cloth to get started. I took over my leftover 2X4s, my miter saw a rake, a mallet and a few other odds and ends. We got far enough along to lay the nine pavers. They look nice. Corey figured out a nice plan as to how to lay them. By five or so in the afternoon we were beat but had accomplished a lot though mostly preliminary. Today Wayne and Ginnie, Stacey’s parents went over and helped. They made several trips to Lowe’s, and in total laid an additional nineteen pavers if I remember correctly. Now, it is really looking nice. We are approaching the halfway mark in pavers and much of the initial prep work is done for the rest. Looking nice guys. Last night we had a second birthday party for Jayden at our house. Diane, Austin and Molly were there. We ate hotdogs and hamburgers then went to the pool and swam. After going back to our place we ate cake. Among other things, Jayden got a tool kit. I knew he was into such things. It was rather all inclusive. As of this evening he was still pounding nails and drilling holes. Bailey is jealous and keeps getting mad when he doesn’t hand over the tool he is using right now! His birthday was Thursday the tenth. He had a party at their place for Stacey’s side of the family. They then came to our place to use the pool.

POOR SIERRA

Friday, July 11, 2008 This evening Sierra came up to me and said, “Grandpa, I have a dilemma. I’m going to Paris tomorrow for five days and I only have two pair of pants, one long black pair and a pair of jeans.” Of course she has a wardrobe here and another at her mother’s. Later I asked if she wanted to go to Wal-Mart but she had gotten hold of her dad, Chris and he said they would get something in the morning before their flight. Their plane leaves at 10:00 with a layover in Houston. I should have such a problem. Just kidding. Sierra is barely fourteen and she has been to Paris how many times plus other exotic places in the world. Oh well. Maybe she’ll bring me back a T-shirt that reads, “My son and granddaughter went to Paris and all I got was this stupid T-shirt!”

Beautiful Sierra

Yesterday Judy and I were commenting on how beautiful our fourteen year-old granddaughter Sierra has become. She is also most expert at applying makeup and doing her hair etc. I said something to her about how I could see boys fighting over her and she said, “Oh they did that in the sixth grade. One of them got suspended (from school).” Oh boy!

Shopping with Alexa

Sunday, July 06, 2008 We were in Phoenix Thursday, Friday and Saturday. After seeing WALL-E at the theater, we went to the Disney Store nearby; seemingly for hours. While we were in the Disney Store our granddaughter Alexa grabbed two outfits off a rack, holding them by the hangers she stuck one and then the other out towards me and asked, “This one or this one Grandpa?” Gee, I wonder where she learned that line. She’s only two years old.

A day at Cub Scout Camp

Yesterday Corey took Jayden to Cub Scout day camp up Springville Canyon with Jayden’s new friend Artemis. Artemis’ dad drove. Jayden came home with a big grin on his face and enough dirt on his face to match. He couldn’t stop talking about the fun he had. He got nine beads, one for boat racing, one for tying knots, one for another kind of boat race, one for picking up two piles of trash ten pieces each, one for learning about Marco Polo; he chronicled the spice route to China, one for bow and arrow and one for B.B. gun shooting, one for “art scratching”, (rubbing). Actually for one of the boat racings he got a camouflage wrist band. His cub leader gave him an extra bead just because. His dad bought him a pocket knife that has a blade, a fingernail file, tooth pick and tweezers. “Then we went to prayer and that is all that really happened.” He looked so cute in his blue shirt and shorts with beads and badges etc.