24th of July

Pam and I have had a wonderful couple of weeks before and after the 24th of July. Since returning from Denver we have spent much time in our yard trying to get it back into shape and harvesting some of the garden as it matures. Thus far the beans are coming on as have the beets. We are looking forward to the corn and hope we have a good crop.

The honor guard of the American Legion began the 24th of July festivities and we enjoyed the parade with Erin and Kate. Jennifer and her children Drew, Kali and Megan were also with us but on this day were enjoying a family reunion with Jennifer's family here in the Monroe area.


We had a few wonderful entries, besides sport teams and cars, that reminded us of the meaning of the 24th of July. Our great heritage of pioneers who came to this country to enjoy religious freedom and at the request of their leaders. They sacrificed and endured beyond anything we could imagine and we are grateful to them for their example.

Pam worked a booth for the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers and Erin and Kate aided her in selling tickets to a beautiful quilt raffle. Kate was so cute and I got to walk around the grounds showing her off to all of my friends.

Following the 24th of July Jennifer and her family left us for home and Tom and Johanna and their family arrived. We spent a lot of time on the golf course, both here at home at the Richfield course and on Tuesday the 29th of July we went up to the Palisades Golf Course in Sterling and enjoyed this beautiful course. Words can't describe how well we played !!!

Kate is sitting in an antique high chair used by many generations. I added a new tray and was able to re-glue and paint this wonderful piece of furniture and hope it provides many more years of use.
Tom and Johanna and their family left for the Wood family campout on Wednesday and Pam and I went north to Springville and brought Aunt Win home. She has been staying with her son Jeff and also niece Jacki for the past couple of weeks.

Denver Trip

Well on Monday the 7th of July, Pam and I got the urge to take a trip to Denver to see our grandchildren and get away from phones and duties. We arranged for Aunt Win and on Tuesday morning we were winging our way along I-70 enjoying the scenes across the San Rafael Swell and enduring Utah east of Green River. Our first plan was to stop in Fruita, Colorado and play some golf at the Adobe Creek layout and we were not disappointed. We got a room at the LaQuinta Inn and it was really, really hot so we planed to play golf the next morning. That we did the next morning, playing the Mesa Course and it was a lot of fun. Unfortunately when we concluded our round the van wouldn't start. You know the routine - "click, click, click." A man from the golf course came to help us but the van wouldn't jump start and he thought our starter was gone. Thankfully USAA came to the rescue for us and a tow truck took us to a local auto repair facility in Fruita. They couldn't get to us that day but a lady in the shop drove us back to the Comfort Inn and we got a room for the night. the next morning we got a call about 9:30 am and they happily reported that the problem was the battery cable and he repaired it and in an hour we were checked out of the hotel and on our way to Denver. We stopped in Silverthorne for an hour and shopped and then continued on to Denver.

For the next five days we enjoyed out family in Denver. Unfortunately it seemed that every time we had a family gathering my camera was somewhere else, so I didn't get many pictures. But the following were shots when we went to a softball game where Andrew's ward team played.

We were able to visit with each of our families in their homes and enjoy their hospitality. We especially enjoyed staying with Andrew and Sarah and we enjoyed Jane and Reynolds very much. Friday evening we had a family get to gether at Tom and Johanna's home [minus Travis and Jennifer and their family who were out of town]. It was a lot of fun watching all the interactions between the adults and the children. Saturday afternoon we had a large golf outing with Pam and me, Travis and Drew, Alex, Andrew, Tom and Spencer. It was a lot of fun. Sunday Pam and I attended sacrament meeting with Alex and Cynthia in their ward and then attended the block with Travis and Jennifer and Andrew and Sarah in their ward. Both meetings were good and we enjoyed watching our children's involvements in their wards. Monday Travis and I played another round of golf and then Monday evening some of the family got together again at Tom and Johanna's for root beer floats.

It was a wonderful five days and today we are on the road again, back in Fruita where we played another round of golf. Tomorrow we will complete the saga back to Monroe and hope everything is fine there.

p.s. Well tomorrow has happened and I needed to add to this post because it didn't finish like we thought. Wednesday morning we left Fruita and drove to Green River and stopped to play the golf course in the middle of town. When I paid the fee the man said the bugs were pretty bad today. We had repellant and I figured we would be all right, but who would have known the extent of the mosquitoes and knats. It was like playing in a fog at times. On the brighter side, the course was really beautiful and I really want to go back at a time when the bugs are to bed. It was nestled right along the Green River and the fairways and greens were lush and interesting. Oh yeah the cost was good also - $10.00 for nine holes. We played the fastest round of golf in history and when I went to put the clubs in the van I reached for the keys and guess what? They were in the ignition. Not doing well with the van this trip. Anyway the lady in the clubhouse call the local sherrif's office and a man came over and got us unlocked and we were off. Everything was fine at home and I think even Sidney was happy to see us!

Spring has finally Sprung!

With Spring comes the hope of a good garden. We haven't grown one for a couple of years but this year we felt the need to have one and it is growing beautifully and hopefully we will have a good crop of corn and beans. Because of the cool spring we missed the pea season and now it is too hot.
This is a shot down the raspberry patch and iris. Our orchard is also taking shape and the four fruit trees are doing very well. Maybe in five years or so we'll reap the benefit of these trees.
The Columbine's are beautiful right now.
As is our Catalpa tree. It is in full bloom and is always a treat. We also planted another Catalpa tree this year on the other side of the yard. Hopefully it will grow as beautifully as this one.
Another wonderful opportunity we are enjoying is having Kate with us. And I mean with us! Erin and Weston are celebrating their 4th wedding anniversary in Las Vegas and we hope they are having a good time, because we are. This is at 7:00 am Friday morning after a complete night's sleep. What a girl!
Here are some more shots of our beautiful center island. In the early morning light everything is so idillic. The flowers, greenery, and trees.





But finally here's cute little Kate enjoying her grandmother and I think Pam is enjoying Kate also. We close with a shot of the latest full moon rising over Signal Peak to the east. Everything is going well for us in Monroe. I do get a little tired of all the questions about retirement. I believe there will be a life after the "R" word. Aunt Win is doing well and she bought a car last Tuesday. We have discussed this with her for some time and finally we went looking and found a wonderful Taurus at Jorgensen's that would take care of her. It gives her the freedom to go and come as she likes and not feel so dependent on us. We are encouraging her to stay local, but I wouldn't be surprised with a trip north some time. She likes Cafe Rio also!! Pam got the "all clear" on her foot last Monday from Doctor Smith. He said everything looked good and it does. We are amazed at how well it has healed and looks and slowly Pam is getting back to normal. Now if we can get back on the golf course!!

Update!

Well schools out, summer's here and it's time to play! The first thing we did that was unexpected was driving to Provo to have lunch with Alex and Cynthia and realizing we had no phone! So in the dark recesses of my mind I thought "what would it cost us to get two phones?" With Erin's help we ended up finding Alex and Cynthia in the Mall and so I stopped at the Verizon chalet and asked about 2 phone plans and lo and behold we were eligible for new phones (already) and we qualifed for the 65 plan so it didn't take much encouragement to sign up. The best part, however, was that we walked away with two phones right then, so now we are "packin."

Pamela: 435-201-0098
Joe: 435-201-3965

Call us anytime!

While Aunt Win was up north Pam and I decided to play a little bit and on Monday, the 2nd of June we drove north to Palisades State Park and played golf on this neat mountain course. The weather was great and we enjoyed the round and actually played quite well. From there we had lunch at the Malt Shop in Ephraim and then proceeded to Nephi and played golf at the golf course there by the canyon road. It was also a fun course with beautiful greens and nice and flat!!

Yesterday, the 3rd of June we continued our saga by driving over to Fillmore and playing their beautiful river course. It is built in and around a small stream with wonderful trees and foilage - we really enjoyed it. So maybe this will be a trend with the price of gas. I looked up golf courses in Utah and we could spend a whole summer just playing locally...

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.