Chris and Sierra's new Home

Chris and Sierra have moved into their new home today. Well, Sierra went to school so she didn’t do any of the moving in. The back two rows of seats are out of our mini-van and last night we loaded it and Chris’ Jeep up with the stuff they have had here at our home. Since they have lived with us for the last year when Chris’ has been in town there was quite the accumulation. This morning Chris took the van and after dropping Sierra off at Bennion Jr., he unloaded the van into their new place. Later, I drove the Jeep, and at 9:00 a.m. met Chris at his storage unit on 5400 S. just east of Kearns High A short time later two movers with a large van showed up and we (mostly the two young Mexican gentlemen) emptied the storage unit, drove to the new house and unloaded the van into it. Boy was it a relief to have to two strong young men to do the heavy lifting. The new home is really nice. Chris put a lot of extras into it including hardwood flooring throughout, a fridge that is rated second best on the market if I understand correctly. He has a super nice gas range and an exotic brand oven that I can’t remember the name of. There is a lot more on the extras and upgrades list but you’ll have to get the details from him.

DELTA OLDTIMERS LUNCHEON - RAGSDALE CHILDREN

Today I went to my first Delta Old-timers Luncheon at the Golden Corral Restaurant at 3399 W. 3500 S. in West Valley City. I don’t know why, but when I walked into “our” designated room there were snickers and laughter. I wonder. All I did was walk in. Oh well! They do this once a month (not the snickering part), though since November’s date is so near Thanksgiving, we are skipping it and doing it again in December. I wrote the following e-mail to Phil Greener, one of the big-wigs of the shin dig. (Hey, that sort of rhymes.) "Hey Phil, It was fun to see all the old faces at the luncheon today. Boy it was interesting. I am the only one who hasn't aged. I thought I recognized a lot of people but wasn't sure. And it has only been two and half years since I say some of them. Scott Holje was only a year ago or so ago. Wow! Then again like they say there have only been two of us born perfect on this earth." ******************************************** On another note, this morning I went to see my chiropractor in AF (American Fork). I had hardly walked in the door when an older lady and two little boys came in. The last one to walk in, Carter, had the heavy door shut on his hand. Luckily it shut slowly and didn’t slam on it, and he was OK. I was the one to jump to his rescue and open the door. I picked him up and before the half hour or so was over he was in my arms regularly and calling my Grandpa. Dr. Campbell, the chiropractor informed me that they were the children of Kristy Ragsdale, the lady who was shot and killed in their church parking lot here in Lehi, by her husband. The older woman with them was her mother and the grandmother of the kids. Dr. Campbell told me that Grandma was standing nearby and witnessed the shooting. Grandma happened to be here from the state of Washington where she lives. She has been here taking care of the children in their home ever since. She has just recently been given total custody of the children and will be taking them home to Washington to live with her and her husband. Carter is now three years old. His older brother is named Brandon. He must be five years old or so. Cute kids!

LIFE IS GOOD

Sunday, October 19, 2008 Today our son Jim who is staying with us for a while went to church with us and I introduced him in Priesthood Meeting. Later we had spaghetti and meatbulbs (meatballs), salad and Asparagus. Knowing that Chris would be in town today, Corey invited Jim to spend the night at his house. Jim and Chris were using the same bed here. Jim will leave for Tennessee tomorrow afternoon. I’m not sure how long he will be out of town. Chris’ house should be ready to close on in a few days and he and Sierra will move in after that. There are still a couple of touchup things that need to be done in the meantime. I haven’t felt too well for several days though not bad enough that I couldn’t spend time over three days winterizing the yard and planting a few tulips. In spite of everything, life is good. Let's see, I've mentioned all my children except Niki who lives in Phoenix. Hi Niki, I love you! Dad

More Disney Pictures - Boat Island etc

Jepson Disney Slideshow

A few Disney Pix

Disneyworld and the Bahamas

(I am goofy tired so please excuse my mistakes.) Well folks, we are back from our whirl wind Disney vacation with the whole family; our children and their families including Chris’ girl friend Lynn and her two darling boys Wyatt and Cade. Unfortunately they had to get back to Houston after we only had the chance to be with them for two days. Fortunately for them, they got to the Magic Kingdom a couple of days before we did and were able to have a good time, just the five of them; Lynn, Wyatt, Cade Chris and Sierra. I am afraid it is all a blur, so don’t ask me which ride we went on when; besides often we split up, different groups going their own way and meeting up only for meals though even when we did split up we were continually running into someone in the group somewhere in our travels. After three or four days in the Disney parks, we hopped on a mini-bus and drove to Port Canaveral where we boarded the Disney Wonder cruise ship for a three nighter in the Bahamas. The first full day we were in Nassau. After an hour or two in and out of shops on Main Street (or whatever it is called) Judy and I and Corey and his family took a cab to the Atlantis Hotel, a luxury complex and looked around the lobby and in and out of the shops as well as looking at the part of the hugemungous aquarium that you can see for free. The kids of course were mesmerized by the ship. (For Niki’s viewpoint of this and the trip in general including a slide show, see her blog @ http://gregandniki.blogspot.com/ ) The second full day we spent on Disney’s private island, Castaway Cay where some of us including nine-year-old Jayden went snorkeling in the bay. There was a variety of activities to do or one can just lay out, which Judy and I did a lot of the time in beach chairs in the shade of palm trees. A barbeque lunch is included on the island so no one has to go back to the boat to eat. It is included free of charge. It started to pour rain around 3:00 if I remember correctly but we had been on the island for five or six hours and were ready to leave anyway. It rained so hard that I was completely cleaned of all sand and salt water. I’m sure I was a sight, parading along in nothing but my orange swim suit. The food and the shows on the boat were wonderful though by the last night I had to force myself to go to the show. I was dead tired. Our dinner seating was at 5:45 so our show time was at 8:30. I know it doesn’t sound late but after a long day… After three nights on the boat it was off to the Pop Century Disney Hotel for two more nights and two more days in the park. I though I was doing well, keeping up with the gang but later on, on the last day I became extremely tired and ached badly from my knees down. Judy wasn’t doing too well that way either. We had a wonderful time but it sure is good to be home to my own tub/shower and bed etc. As a note of interest, I turned sixty-five on the boat (3 Oct) and was sung to at dinner as well as being given a shiny paper crown, a pair of glitzy sun-glasses etc… it seems like there was something else. Oh yes, Judy bought a set of party lights that read “Happy Birthday” and strung it up in our state room.