FUN WITH GRANDKIDS

Saturday, March 28, 2009 Today Judy and I met Niki, Alexa and Gavin at the Cheesecake Factory at Fashion Place Mall for lunch. From there we went to RC Willey nearby to checkout washers, dryers and refrigerators for Niki, wood flooring for Judy and babysitting for me. Later we drove to their new home in Herriman to see what’s happening with the new carpeting. The carpet layer was there. He said it would be finished by Monday night; most of the pad had been laid. While we were at the Cheesecake Factory I told Alexa, “You’re a good communicator.” She responded with, “You’re not an alligator!” Last week I promised Jayden that today I would take him to Liberty Land to ride the rides and play the games. (See last Saturday’s entry). Today while Judy and I were at Niki’s new home, Jayden called me on my cell phone to remind me of my promise. I said ok, I would be there a little later. I had forgotten. A bit later Corey called and said Jayden was “still sick” and we needed to wait until next weekend. I could hear Jayden in the background madder than a wet hen. Corey mentioned that Jayden had had a bad night and earlier today he had tried to eat a peanut butter sandwich and could only handle a third of it. That is so not Jayden. He is a good eater; ala Corey. Next Saturday Jayden; I promise!

KISS TAG ACT TWO

Tuesday, March 24, 2009 This evening while we were at their house delivering pizza and some other stuff, Stacey mentioned that when she; or was it Corey, picked up Bailey after school, she jumped in the car, yelled out the window to a boy named Kegen and blew him a kiss. He shrieked and ran away and Bailey giggled.

KISS TAG

Monday, March 23, 2009 This morning my son Corey called. His nine year old Jayden was home from school sick and Corey wondered if I would stay with him while he went to some appointments. Of course I said yes. Later I talked to Corey on the phone. He said he was running late and asked if I would pick up eight year old Bailey from school. It was a cold yucky day. When Bailey got in my car she was giggling and said, “We were chasing boys and pretending to kiss them.” Oh boy!

THANKSGIVING POINT

Saturday, March 21, 2009 What a day. Niki called and asked if we wanted to meet her, Alexa and Gavin at Thanksgiving Point. It was a beautiful day. It was supposed to get up to 75 degrees and I believe it probably did. Judy suggested I call Corey and ask if he wanted us to take Jayden and Bailey with us. He did. He had been up until 2:30 in the morning doing homework so we drove out to their home, picked up the kids and drove to Thanksgiving Point. (Stacey was at work at Fedex-Kinkos.) We started out by getting something to eat at the deli. From their, we did the Dinosaur Museum. Unfortunately we started out going through some “reduced light” areas and Alexa did a minor freak-out, but after hurrying to a better lit area, she was ok and was having fun. From the Dinosaur Museum we walked to the farm animal zoo and looked at a lot of the animals. We got distracted before we were half way through when the kids saw the pony ride. There were six ponies attached to poles going round and round under an open sided tent. Jayden, Bailey, Alexa and I got in line and waited for our turn. When it was our turn Jayden insisted on getting on the biggest horse without help. One of the workers grabbed Bailey and put her on hers and I put Alexa on a small pony. I walked around beside her for one rotation but she was having so much fun and not needing any help so after that I waited against the fence next to where Judy, Niki and Gavin were sitting. Every time she got around to where we were, she posed or waved and Niki took her picture. After it was over we all left the ride but a moment later I found Alexa back in the entrance saying “My turn!” Funny! The girls decided to look through the shops. Jayden didn’t want to so he and I drove to Liberty Land in Lehi next. He and I played air hockey then Jayden climbed the rock climbing wall making it all the way to the top and hitting the buzzer button. After that he rode the Jumping Frog. He wanted to do more but we were running out of money. Later this evening we all ate at Café el Lago. Niki got out a bottle of hand sanitizer for Alexa and Bailey’s hands. Niki set in on the table and before long Gavin grabbed it, stuck it in his mouth and sucked some into his mouth. Judy read the label. It said to go to a doctor or call poison control. There is an Intermountain Instacare next door so Niki grabbed Gavin and ran over to talk to them. She was soon back with a relieved smile on her face. They told her that he probably didn’t get enough in him to do any harm and to just watch him. In spite of that it was a fun day!

still losing

Saturday, March 21, 2009 I weighed in this morning at 8:00 a.m. at 219.2 pounds. That is ten pounds less than I weighed at Niki’s wedding and 45 pounds less than my high of 265 a few months ago. Hopefully I can keep it up and lose a few more pounds before the end of our shots. We only have a couple left and have to keep up the strict diet for three days following that because of the residual hormones in our bodies. After that the restrictions lift gradually. Judy and Corey are losing too but not nearly as well as I am. I would like to eventually get down to 180 but I am definitely taking a hiatus from this restrictive diet for a while.

OOPS

Last night Judy and I ran to R.C. Willey in Orem to look at wood flooring. We are tired of the bother and expense of getting our carpet cleaned and having it look bad in short order. After R.C. Willey we drove to Los Hermanos in Downtown Provo to have taco salads. After dinner Judy asked me to drive home…oops. I backed out into a pickup truck that was waiting at the light there at the corner. The damage to the truck’s bumper was minimal and I thought Judy’s car wasn’t that bad either but in the light this morning it looked worse. I took Judy to work this morning then drove to Ken Garff Honda in downtown Salt Lake for the car's 130,000 mile service then went next-door to their auto body repair shop for an estimate…just under $2800.00. Later I got hold of State Auto, our insurance company. They will get in touch with an adjuster and get their take on the damages.

UP SIDE OF DIETING

Yesterday Corey needed me to be at his house when Jayden and Bailey got home from school since he had an appointment downtown at 2:00. I gave them something to eat and then they asked me to take them to the school so they could play tetherball. I called Corey and told him where we were going. He said he wasn’t far from home and would meet us there. Bailey decided to swing instead so I went back and forth from playing tetherball with Jayden and pushing Bailey on the swing. Corey soon joined us and he and Jayden played tetherball and I mostly pushed Bailey. At one point I realized that I was running. I haven’t run for years and caught myself by surprise…pleasantly surprised that I could do that and with ease. I guess dieting and loosing forty pounds does have its up side.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOB DEAN

Today is Judy's brother Bob's birthday. Hope all is well back in Minnesota and you have a green beer on me. Salute big boy!

QUICK TRIP TO PHOENIX

Tuesday, March 17, 2009 Greg and Niki and their kids have been in town a few days picking out carpet etc for the house they are buying in Herriman. Saturday or was it Friday, Niki called and asked if I would drive to their house in Queen Creek with Greg on Sunday, fill up our van with their big TV, her computer and other potentially breakable stuff and some of her clothes and bring it back to Salt Lake leaving Greg there to pack up the rest of the house for their move. I took the seats out of the van Saturday night and Sunday I picked up Greg at his folks house at just after 7:00 in the morning and off we went. We had a nice visit talking at least half the way there. I drove to Beaver and Greg drove the rest of the way which was nice making me less fatigued for the return trip the next day. Going down we ate lunch at Nedra’s too in Kanab. The “too” is part of their name. In Phoenix off the 60 we stopped at Fuddruckers were I ate the patty off a small burger. We got to their house just as it was getting dark. We put the large TV in the van first. It is so big that we had to tip it slightly sideways to get it through the opening but were able to set it upright once inside the van. We then put in the larger pictures and the large metal clock that hung on the wall on their staircase. At that point Greg sent me off to bed via the shower and he bagged up a bunch of Niki’s clothes and loaded them and other odds and ends then backed the van into their garage. At about 6:20 Sunday morning I was off. By leaving that early I saved at least a half hour in rush-hour traffic delays. As it was, the Valley of the Sun is so spread out that it took around an hour and a half to get to Anthem, the extreme north end of greater Phoenix. In Flagstaff I took the business district route which cost me perhaps ten minutes but I wanted to see it. I bought gas and a bottle of apple juice and a bottle of water downtown rather than on 89 at the north end of town like I usually do. I stopped at Jacob Lake and stretched my legs and got a beef stick and some grapefruit juice. I fueled up again in Beaver. When we got on the freeway in Salt Lake I noticed there was a shimmy at around 75 miles an hour. Farther into the trip it was doing it at around 70 mph. By the time I got to Beaver on the return trip, it was getting worse. I thought it was probably the front end but “Wheels”; the guy who cleaned my windshield in Beaver looked at my tires a said they were in bad shape. He was right; all four of them. By providence I had pulled into a gas station with a tire shop attached. I had them put on four new tires then asked them to check the oil level. It was low and they topped it off for free. They also added some coolant and didn’t charge me though the tires were $599.96 after all the taxes and fees. I couldn’t believe how much smoother and nicer the van runs with new tires. Wow! I was home at around 7:30 ; twelve hours on the road for two days in a row…good thing I love driving.

TEMPLE EXCURSION

Sunday, March 01, 2009 Yesterday morning early, Judy and I headed out for Las Vegas via St. George. Our friend Julie Bird along with family and friends did a four p.m. endowment session in the Las Vegas Temple. By the time we reached St. George we were way early so we shopped for quite a while at the mall. Judy bought herself a new purse at a deeply discounted price at Dillard’s. I mostly walked around Dillard’s and the rest of the mall. I have been really weak from this diet Judy, Corey and I have been on the last three weeks, so I did my share of sitting as well as the walking. I have lost twenty-five or more pounds in three weeks so I am not complaining. Three more weeks of shots then three more days of strict dieting then I don’t remember how long of a modified diet. I have yet to see the light at the end of the tunnel. After the mall, we went to Deseret Book on Bluff where we bought a plaque with a saying inscribed over an etching of the Savior for Julie. We got her a card also. In addition to that, we got a card for our granddaughter Bailey’s baptism next Saturday and I got a book by Robert L. Millet entitled “What Happened to the Cross? Distinctive LDS Teachings”. Brother Millet is my favorite LDS scholar now that Hugh Nibley has died. I see Brother Millet on BYUTV often, especially in a scriptural roundtable series. What a mind! From Deseret Book we checked into the Wingate Hotel just off the mile marker four exit and took our suitcase, my CPAP machine etc up to the room then got a cutup chicken breast at a Hawaiian restaurant next-door to the hotel to share. Oh that diet. We then headed out for Las Vegas. Thanks to my Tom Tom GPS device finding were we were going was a breeze and we zoomed right to the temple with all the twists and turns it takes to get there. We got to the temple two hours before the session so we walked around the public areas and enjoyed the ambiance there. Then we sat in the car and I at least took an hour or so nap. My eyes especially were tired from six hours or so of driving. I really like the Las Vegas Temple. I think it is prettier than the Mount Timpanogos Temple, the one we usually go to, though I prefer some features of the Timpanogos Temple better. After the session we went to Julie’s daughter Angie’s house to visit and have an informal bite to eat. Angie gave us her address at the temple so, again, thanks to Tom Tom; we were able to drive right to her house. After maybe an hour we excused ourselves and drove back to St. George where we spent the night. This morning early I sat in the hotel’s hot tub for ten minutes or so then we packed up and drove back home to Saratoga Springs in plenty of time before going to church.