crazy lazy hazy daz of summer

Last night Corey, Stacey, Jayden and Bailey came over to eat and swim. Judy bought barbeque on her way home from work. Jayden and Bailey are really getting to be good swimmers jumping and diving off the diving board etc. Jayden is even diving down and touching the bottom in the deepest part of the pool. And just a short time ago Corey and especially Stacey was nervous about letting them take their life vests off. While we were in Las Vegas last week, Stacey and the kids went to Pineview Reservoir for five days and four nights. The kids got to do a lot of things they don’t normally get to do including fishing and cooking and eating over a camp fire. They slept in their other grandparent’s camper and Stacey’s sister Amy and her husband Dirk and their two boys Damian and Hunter were there too. Jayden and Bailey are very close to Damian and Hunter. This morning I went for a two mile walk in lieu of my hour jogging in the pool. I caught up with Raleigh Huntsman and visited with him the last two thirds of the way or so. I may yet do my pool jogging. As we speak, Corey, Jayden and Bailey are here at the house. Corey had to do some work stuff and school work here because his phone and Internet aren’t working at his house, plus he needed to use our scanner.

Moving In to Eagle Mountain

Wednesday, May 07, 2008 At six Sunday morning Niki drove me from her place in Queen Creek, AZ to the airport for a Southwest flight to Albuquerque. Corey picked me up after church and took me back to his place. They, especially Stacey had been packing stuff up for weeks and their whole downstairs was lined with boxes. At eight or so the next morning Corey and I got the Budget rent-a-truck and he and I and four missionaries, loaded it up. At 10:15 we were finished so we took the missionaries to McDonald’s for breakfast after which Corey and Stacey and I went back to their place, I got in the truck and was off. Bailey’s kindergarten class had a going-away party planed for her but because we were ready to go so early, they picked her up early. Stacey brought cupcakes. Bailey told me over and over again about the group hug she got from her classmates. Jayden not only said goodbye to his class but also had to go see Miss Zunigga his kindergarten teacher from two years ago. They are still close friends. She had kept a paper he had drawn and written on back then and had it laminated. She gave it back to him as they were saying their goodbyes. On it was typed…”At 2 o’clock I” … and Jayden filled in the blank …“met a dragon”. Below that, he drew a picture of a dragon. She thought it was special and had kept it. On their drive towards Salt Lake, Jayden got sick and had a fever of 103. They stopped at Wal-Mart in Farmington, New Mexico and got him some Tylenol which helped for a couple of hours but he is still not feeling well and still taking the Tylenol. Knowing where they were and knowing Jayden’s condition, as I was approaching Moab I decided to get two rooms. It was only 7:30 but they were two-two and a half hours behind be. I got two rooms at the Sleep Inn, took at net etc. I called Corey later. They were in Monticello and he thought they would be in Moab in about forty-five minutes. As a side note, one of their two cats was sick and threw up several times along the way. Between that and Jayden they lost a lot of time. Tuesday morning we ate the continental breakfast at the hotel and off we went. Actually I left a few minutes before they did but I expected them to overtake me any minute. They never did. They told me later that Stacey left her cell phone in their room and had to go back to the hotel and get it. That afternoon at 1:00 they met with the general contractor to do a final inspection. I tagged along. I think Stacey was in shock. Bailey was bouncing off the walls literally. They spent the night at Stacey’s parent’s place. Thursday, May 08, 2008 This morning Corey had to go back to the title company and sign some last paperwork. At 1:00 there were able to get their keys and start moving in. Jim showed up as well as Stacey’s parents, Wayne and Ginnie Bingham. I understand that a couple of men from the neighborhood helped as well. They unloaded the first two thirds of the truck in record time and would have done the rest except Dirk, Stacey’s twin sister Amy’s husband had arranged to take Friday off work and they felt guilty not having something for him too do especially after driving all the way from Grantsville. Jim brought all his fancy tools. With them along with his know-how the installing of the blinds, curved shower curtain rods and a wire shelve above the washer and dryer was done in no time. I was amazed. Jayden is still sick. Diane, Austin and Molly came out a little later. Bailey was thrilled to see the kids and after a little while I took Bailey and Molly to two playgrounds nearby. Austin ran and met us at the second one. Friday, May 09, 2008 Dirk and Amy and their two boys Damien and Hunter came in their truck loaded with the washer and dryer which has been stored at Stacey and Amy’s parent’s house for years. Side notes: On the way home Corey mentioned that Stacey told him: “Your Mother!” paused then said “I really love her.” And went on about how nice and how generous she is. Saturday, May 10, 2008 This morning I drove to Corey’s and picked up the Budget rent-a-truck, filled up the tank at the Mobile station on American Fork’s fifth east then turned the truck across the street at the Budget dealership.

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Kids are fun

At about 5:20 the doorbell rang and when I answered it, Samantha Stott, Morgan Davies and Josh Erickson were standing there. They are kids in our ward. Sam is age 12, Morgan is 13 and Josh is 14. I invited them in and we sat and shot the breeze for ten or fifteen minutes and then they left. They didn’t have any particular agenda. I guess they just thought to stop in on the spur-of-the-moment. They are all good kids. Sam looked at a picture of Nik and Greg and Alexa and commented: “Your son-in-law looks like John Travolta!” I make it a point to befriend all the youth in church wherever I see them.

Life in Minneapolis 37 1/2 years ago

19 January 1970 Monday Did I ever tell you that Judy is cute? Yep, she sure is. Right now she is in a dither because she just won a dinner for two at Burch’s, and had her name mentioned on the radio. They asked “Who was the man first to sing ‘Wild is love’”. Of course ”I” knew it was Nat King Cole and she was the first to call in with the correct answer. Today was a very lovely day at -1110 with the air outside frozen solid. But I stayed in where it is warm and gagged, pucked, spit and heaved and generally made the best of the flue; which I enjoyed immensely of course. What a way to loose weight. You know, we didn’t get the car started yet, though we found out that the fan belt is broken. After five or six phone calls in two days the Shell station finally sent over a truck. Jumping the battery didn’t help so we decided to give it a push. The car was so frozen up that one of the rear wheels wouldn’t even turn. We ended up pushing it to the station where it is still sitting. Tomorrow, I hope, they are going to get it started, give it a tune up and put the air filter back together. Judy has a stomach ache from the excitement of winning the dinners.