Family Visit

We spent a wonderful weekend with Alex, Cynthia, little Alex, and Erin, Weston and Kate. Alex and Cynthia arrived Friday evening from Denver. Saturday morning we visited in the kitchen for about two hours and then I mowed the lawns for an hour. When I came inside everyone was still in the living room visiting so we went over to my favorite place, Burger King, and had some lunch. The fries were hot and awesome! Pam had an appointment with Doctor Smith and he said everything was healing nicely and the stitches didn't need to be taken out unless they were causing a problem. Anyway she was given the "green light" to walk on it normally. In the evening we met Erin and Weston at Pizza Hut for dinner and then spent an enjoyable evening at home visiting. Sunday was spent in church until noon and then we continued visiting and eating until the day was done.



Wednesday after a morning in the yard [weeds], we cleaned up and drove to Bryce Canyon to see the sites. Cynthia had never been there before so it was all new to her. I was amazed at how many people were in the park and especially the different languages we heard. But it was a good day, maybe a bit cool, but we had fun.

I finally Graduated??

Well today was graduation day for the school year 2007-2008. Pam and I just returned from the celebration held at the Sevier Events Center and it was a nice affair. Today the reality of this day came into focus when I arrived at school. My room is all ready for the summer and a new teacher. I have tried the past week to anticipate what my relief would need to know in order to use the technology in my room and for the concurrent enrollment and EdNet facilitators to continue the program this fall. Hopefully I did enough!


In the awards assembly I was very surprised to receive the plaque shown above. I think it was my payoff for leaving.

So what's in store for us now? It's hard to say. Right now it just feels like school is out and summer vacation is here. We hope to get our yard into shape, do some projects I have been putting off for years, harvest a good garden, and maybe take a trip or two. With the price of gas, however, we are not sure how far from home we will venture.

Pam's toe is doing very well. She is out of the walking boot full time now and has been wearing sandals and even got on some sketcher shoes yesterday. Tomorrow she will see her doctor again and hopefully he will finally get all the stitches out and give her freedom to do whatever she wants.

18 May 2008: We drove to Denver to attend the baptism of Andrew Wood and the blessing of Reynolds Cottle. This event began about 2:00 pm in the Highlands Ranch Stake Center. One family and friends had arrived a counselor in Tom and Johanna's ward, Bropther Hanagame, welcomed everyone and conducted a wonderful service. I was so impressed with the talks given by Cynthia [baptism] and Spencer [Holy Ghost]. They taught wonderful principles and bore strong testimonies. Tom baptized and confirmed Andrew and did a wonderful job. I was particularly impressed with the beautiful blessing he pronounced and I felt the spirit bear witness to me that Andrew is going to be all right and he has a father and mother who will raise him with patience and love. Bishop Moats then welcomed Andrew into the church and also as the newest member of the church. He had a unique way of impressing on Andrew the importance of his baptism with candy bars, and I don't think he or anyone else will forget his message.

After the baptism Travis came forward as a bishopric representative of the Roxborough Ward and presided at the blessing of Andrew and Sarah's youngest son, Reynolds. Andrew was voice in the blessing and his brothers and and Willard Hill and I joined in along with a good neighborhood friend. Nothing is quite as rewarding as listening to your sons bless their children. Andrew gave such a wonderful blessing and Reynolds has a good future ahead of him.

Following the blessing we all adjourned to Tom and Johanna's home and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening at their home eating, visiting, playing, taking pictures and just enjoying each other. A perfect conclusion to a perfect day.

As the days go by we quickly approach the next phase of our lives. This week was my last full week at school and next week we teachers enter maintenance phase [e.g show movies, keep them entertained, try to minimize damage]. Fortunately I have not second guessed my decision to retire and am looking forward to phase II. Pam's operation and recovery has gone very well and each day she becomes more mobile. We are still looking forward to the 25th of May when the doctor will try to get out the remaining stitches. He was unsuccessful two weeks ago. He felt as the swelling reduced he would be able to pull the remaining threads.

Yesterday, the 16th of May, Pam, Erin, Kate and I left Monroe early and had a great trip to Denver to witness the baptism of Andrew and the blessing of Reynolds. Weston was on a field trip with his school class in Southern Utah. We hoped he had a great time. The day began for us at 8:00 am and the drive flawless, except for the high cost of gas [$3.69]. Kate slept about half the way and then had a couple of bouts of frustration with the seat belts, but other than that she was an angel. We arrived in Denver about 3:30 pm and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening doing what we could to help prepare for tomorrow's activities. It was wonderful to see family members here in Denver. Alex, Cynthia and little Alex were at Tom and Johanna's home with their children and Tom and Johanna would return from a vacation at midnight. We went to dinner at the Texas Roadhouse and while there saw a family from Travis and Andrew's ward and learned that Andrew, Sarah and Sarah's parents were also there eating, so we got to see them all there and later at their home. Jane and Reynold's are as cute as ever. We dropped Erin off at Travis and Jennifer's for the night [Travis and Drew were at a ward father and son's outing] and Pam and I went to a low-class hotel by Park Meadow Mall call the Hyatt and suffered with a heavenly soft king-sized bed and 42 inch plaza television. Hopefully we'll have some pictures and continue this entry tomorrow.