A Little of This and That

 

This summer Mom, Rachel and I had a little chicken carving in-service.  Mom is the expert at carving up a bird.  Thanks Mom!  It is so much cheaper just to by the bird and cut it up.When ever we had wild game, fish etc. Mom would be there to help us prepare the catch.

 After cutting up the bird we fried up the bird.  I love grandma's fried chicken.  As a kid it seemed as though we had fried chicken once a week.

We took Grandpa fishing at Utah Lake.  The bite was slow but I think he enjoyed himself. 

Casting to the other side of the channel in hopes to catch a big walleye or white bass.  Grandpa has caught so many fish from the Lindon boat harbor.  He consistently caught the biggest walleye and catfish.

 

The days catch....

Four species....

 Grandpa instructs Richie on the proper techniques to assemble a honey bee super.  Supers are the boxes the bees store their honey..... tasty.  Grandpa put many of these boxes together for me.  He has assembled hundreds of frames to go in the boxes.

 One of my first chances to hold Oliver.  What a wonderful little man. 

 We had a big water fight in the backyard this summer.  Derek participated but went and collected some Jacob-berries and tucked them away in his shirt.   Nice belly Derek!

 Richie and Jimmy moved some honey supers.  Our hives did not survive this year.  It was very disappointing but they did make lots of honey.  We still have many frames to extract.  We will be getting some new packages (bees with a queen) this spring.

 Grandpa, Lynne and I went on the pumpkin tour this year. We drove up to Brigham City and had breakfast at a local growers home.  Grandpa was very impressed with his setup and was excited for this gentlemen and his giant pumpkin. 

 We drove south a ways and saw another growers setup.  The pumpkin tour was a great time with Grandpa.  Grandpa was sick during the actual pumpkin weigh off and was not able to come see. We were excited he got to come on the tour. 

 After visiting all the growers Grandpa, Lynne and I had a late lunch at Hee Haw farms.  We took a walk together out into the sunflower fields.  He loved to explore.  We just walked around the farm... in fact we got lost for a little while looking at all the plants, insects and animals. 

 Jimmy an Rachel grew a very big pumpkin this year.  A beautiful white pumpkin.

 The pumpkin got a little hole that started it to rot. We decided to pick and weigh it. 

 Grandpa wanted a trim and Heather and Rachel got the cutters out and trimmed it up nice.  We all had a good time helping grandma and grandpa.

 One of the plants grandpa took care of was the sunflowers right out the front door.  He would fill gallon buckets with diluted fertilizer daily. 

 Grandpa had a great time tending the gourds.  Grandma was very interested in seeing how big the grouds would get.  Grandma talked about how big they would get, I am sure she had a chance to see them from above. 

 When I got home from school grandpa would hop out of bed and say.... get the tape measure, lets see how much the gourds grew. 

 He had a good eye on their growth...... he would look at the gourd....and say about 2 inches.  We always had to estimate before measuring. 

 Jacob enjoyed watching looking at the sunflowers.

 The beginning of one of the biggest we grew this year.

Developing seeds.... I think this variety was called Sunzilla

 My "Mickey Mouse" sunflower...do you see it. 

 Grandpa checking the garden.  Despite his limitations he was an integral part of our gardening team.  I desperately miss our conversations about the garden.

 One of Granpa's big beets.  I still have this beet.  We are going to collect it's seeds and breed it with some plants we are getting from Europe. Grandma helped grandpa water and moved the hose around the yard to make it easier for him to water both the front and back of the yard. 

 We decided to grow a few pumpkins and sunflowers on the side of the house. 

 On July 4th we had a flag in the yard the it was blowing behind one of my sunflowers. 

 Here is my gourd trellis.   The top of the trellis is 10 feet from the ground below.  The vines started to grow into the apple tree on the right and the peach tree on the left.

 Jacob, Derek and Jessica came to the pumpkin weigh off this fall (Sept. 27th).  Jacob is saying something to the pumpkin.  Only the pumpkin knows what words of wisdom he shared. 

 The family checking out  the biggest pumpkins in the state of Utah.

 Here is the Utah State champion..... 1600 pounds. 

 Derek and Jacob enjoying the day.

 Here are our three big pumpkins of the year. The middle one is my Washington, Richie grew the white one on the left and Jimmy grew the orange on the right.  It was nice to have David and his family come and share experience. 

 Two of these gourds are mine along with the beets. You have to attach the gourds to a 2x4 or they can break very easily. 

 I am officially weighing my pumpkins... ok no wise cracks.

 We officially made it on the board but as the day went on there were pumpkins that easily dwarf our big summer fruits.

 I took third place in the state for long gourds.  Next year with some of grandpa's ideas we will come up with a new personal best.  He had some awesome ideas that I do not dare share on the internet. 

 This is another shot of the Utah state record pumpkin.  Check out the size of the stem. Jim or Lynne took this picture for me.  I was mesmerized by this big beautiful fruit. 

 We got some bunnies this summer.  The boys enjoyed petting the little creatures.  Our female bunnies just had their babies a few weeks ago.  I will post a few images of the little guys.

Take care you all.  I will be posting more often.

We are Eternally Greatful

Over the last month or two I have reflected over and over again my relationship with my parents.  I know we are made up of a physical body determined by genetics but I also realize we are a product of the our environment.  My parents gave me so much more than DNA.  My parents had such a momentousness impact on the person I am today.  We lived together most of our lives.  I turned 50 this July and most of that time my mother and father was there to give me encouragement and advise.  I remember many occasions when Mom and Dad took advantage of teaching moments helping me think about my actions. As I got older we had very in-depth discussions.  Those who know my parents realize this occurred almost non stop.  I really enjoyed talking with my parents.  I have tried to do the same thing with my kids but I am not as talkative as my father.  Unfortunately, because of self induced time constraints, I was not able to give my entire talk about Grandpa.  I would like to leave that here to help with my healing and interested parties.  Below is the talk I wanted to give at Grandpa's funeral.  I know the talk below is fragmented and all over the place but we all had a very hard time coming to grips with all the losses.  Grandpa was the third funeral our family experienced over the course of four months.  Life can and will change on a dime. We all signed up for mortality so we could progress to a better existence.  A big thanks to all those who have helped me hold on to the iron rod through my moments of utter despair and weakness.  We love you all,

  
Grandpa Glassford September 5 1929 - October 24, 2011

Father
Friend
Life Coach
Friend
Innovator
Friend
motivator
Friend
Independent
Friend
Fisherman
Friend
opinionated
Friend
thinker
friend
problem solver
Friend
outdoors-man
Friend
fisherman
Friend

You get the idea ..... he was my friend!

Grandpa spoiled me rotten....with love, time, and compassion.  I cannot express the love and respect I have for my Dad.  No matter what my interests, he supported me.  I had great discussions with my father at the dinner table, before bed, driving or working, he was always there to listen and tolerate my strange and bizarre interests and dreams.
 

As a little boy I loved birds, so Grandpa brought me  home  four black Modena pigeons.  He helped me build and raise a flock of over 150 birds. We collected a very unique population from different locations in San Diego.   I developed a keen interest in genetics at this time.  When we built our house in Lindon I wanted to start racing pigeons. Grandpa and I talked about doing this for years so when we had the chance we went for it.  Dad, Mom and Lynne helped me design and build a beautiful loft.  We were all very proud of it. He helped me design work outs for my birds and drove many miles to drop  the birds off for their exercise. We had great talks, fun and success together.


When grandpa and grandma came to Utah and live with us we put him to work.  Besides helping raise the kids we put together an art stone retaining wall.  It took us an entire summer of six hours a day to build it.  I can’t look at that wall without having many found memories.  I enjoyed working on projects with him.... I learned much more then how to build a wall.  He meticulously made sure each brick was laid as perfectly as it could.  He used a dull ax and some other tools to smooth the brick and make them lay evenly.


He worked very hard to protect us from life’s dangers and cruelties.  He encouraged us to make good friends and always be good.... stand for the right, walk away, remember who you are and what you represent.  He would say remember ….. you are a Glassford.  I have tried to live up to my family heritage and hope we can all exemplify the goodness of grandma and grandpa.

Grandpa taught me to work at a very early age.  I remember he would give mom a list of chores and Dad would check to make sure our work was done.  He loved to work and fix all things broken... cars, washing machines, sprinkler systems, doors, walls, toilets, you name it... he fixed it.  He also fixed us many times.  We have all had talks with grandpa when we felt beaten and broken,his words of encouragement were priceless.   


Grandpa had the desire and ability to help build character in young men.   He spent countless hours coaching, young people from softball, baseball and basketball.  Coaching is what he did, it did not matter the activity: bowling, fishing gardening, or barbecue.  He was there to help you do your best.  He spent a significant amount time coaching each one of his kids.  I trusted Grandpa and new he always had my best interest at heart.


My parents never sought for material riches. Instead they  invested an abnormal amount of time and effort in creating eternal friendship.  My parents were not perfect but I always new they had an unfathomable amount of love for us.  Their ability to  encourage us and help us feel successful and productive was unmatched.  Oh how I miss them!  Dad’s childhood and teenage years are somewhat of a  mystery. No matter how hard I tried to have him open up about the past I was only given glimpses into this corridor of his life experience. Regardless of what happened during this time period it helped him become the great father and friend he is today.   I am so grateful he made the decision to put family and people first.



He taught us the gospel the best he could through example and activity.  As a young family we were immersed in our ward culture. He was actively involved in the young mens and sporting programs of the church. He worked hard to help the young men of the ward.  He fought for girls athletics when there was there was reluctance to let girls participate.


Some of my earliest Memories with grandpa involve fishing. I remember Uncle Toozie and Dad coming home with many big fish. The two of them took me to Parris lake and I caught my first fish on a cane pool.  We fished many waters over the years. From Southern California to Alaska and all over Utah.  Here are some of grandpa’s favorite fishing holes (no particular order just as they came to me) Flaming Gorge, Gulf of Alaska, Bait Barge, Lake Moreno, Ocean Beach Pier, Pine Valley, Provo River, Schofield, Strawberry,  Lincoln  Beach Utah Lake (60+ white bass) San Diego Bay, Tom Hans Light House etc.   All of these locations  bring back wonderful times with Grandpa. When young he fished the Mississippi and Missouri rivers to mention a few.


When I was about eight years old grandpa coached me though my first big catch.  We were along the banks of the Colorado river near a dam.  I begged grandpa to take the pole but he would not.  I slid down the embankment and only feet away was the massive rushing water.  Grandpa had a hold of me as to not let me slide into the torrential flow.  I was really frightened but he helped me land my first big fish.  


The last few years were hard  for grandpa to fish.... it took lots of his energy but he still wanted to go. This summer we went catfishing at Utah Lake and went camping and fishing at Payson Lakes.  Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed Payson lakes and have caught many fish along the dam. One of his favorite places to fish and camp was Pine Valley in Southern Utah.  We have been to this location more than any other other fishing spot.  Grandpa ruled Pine Valley.  His techniques and secret bait had people all over the little reservoir coming to him for help.  He would gladly give bait, hooks and advise to whomever asked.  



Besides fishing here are some of the some of the activities I will always remember doing  grandpa:

* breeding Daylilies: we pollinated many daylilies.  We have grown thousands of his seedlings and have introduced a few of these.  One of his favorite introductions was Lisa Inez.

*Gardening

*watering... he loved to water the garden and took care of my plants up to the day he left for Vegas.  He would also watch me water the pumpkins and gourds when I got home from work.  He would sit on his chair and talk with me and rest while I watered the plants.  

*bees:   he built many hives and frames for me. We spent many days manipulating hives.



When he prayed I always new he would bless the bishops, prophets and apostles, stake presidents and the leaders of this great nation.  He had a love for God and Country.  He served in the United States Air Force and has always been a big supporter of the young women and men who defend our country.   


The day to day interactions with grandpa and grandma has been a blessing for our entire family.   We have truly had a unique experience and have been taught how to love and support one another. Grandma and Grandpa ate breakfast every day together.  After Moms passing  we ate together before we started the days activities.  It was a special moment to share goals, read the paper and just chat. When leaving for work Grandpa would walk out to the drive way and wave and give me the thumbs up. 

Grandpa served his family valiantly and will be sorely missed. Dad let us all help him through mom’s passing knowing this would be a comfort to us all.  This has been a life altering experience that I will cherish forever.   I am so happy he is reunited with mom and I hope I can finish my life as courageously as my Dad.  I love you Dad

Mothers are Forever

This summer Grandma G. and Grandma H. passed away.  These two wonderful ladies were such a big part of our lives.  We have all felt such a heavy loss to our families.  Before I can continue to post I must share some of our words about our mothers.  Below are the talks Lynne and I gave at our mothers funerals. 

  

LaRae Hawkins passed away on June 26, 2011

 Lynne's talk at her mothers funeral

“What Can I do to Help”    

 Six little words that my mom would always say. When ever mom would come over, the first thing she would say would be “What can I do to help?”  This is how my mom lived her life, not only did she always ask us how she could help, she showed us to help others in her actions.  I Want to share some of those moments that have influenced my life.  In my talk I will refer to her as mom and grandma--she magnified both of these callings with such great honor!

When I think of my Mom, I think of a loving and accepting woman who wanted to make people happy.

I have always thought of my mother as larger than life, super hero, indestructible.  As a child I watched my Mom spend her free time making crafts. I would often find her making candles o

ut my crayons, decorating cakes and giving me graham crackers covered with frosting, or drying flowers from the sand at the great Salt Lake.

I remember riding my bike to the BYU Marriott Center to spend time with her in the office.  This was my second home.  She always had a bowl of candy at her desk, and more candy hidden in drawers. She had a way with people, her laugh was contagious and friendly and she was so genuine.  She befriended all who dropped by to say Hi. I have always been so proud that I am one of LaRae’s daughters.

When I was 15 years old, I broke my leg very servery and she did everything she could to make me as comfortable as possible.  She moved my up room next to her, bought me a wheel chair, got me a TV in my room with an Atari game machine on it so I could play pong, and even rented a hospital bed for me.  I was in a cast for over 6 months, and she was always there for my every need.  I felt like a princess!

Mom’s job came with quite a few perks.  I remember going to many concerts at the Marriott center, where she would walk me down to the floor and introduce me to many of the artists, or being able to sit on the front rows of most of the concerts and ball games.  Her enthusiasm was contagious and as a result We were all huge fans of the BYU, and we got to go on quite a few trips with the teams.  My two favorite vacations were the Holiday Bowl trips and our trip to Hawaii with the basketball team.

I was also fortunate to work with her in the ticket office for a short period of time.   I was able to watch her first hand, work her magic.  It was so much more that just a job to her--she truly cared about everyone she served :  athletes, the coaches, the customers even the refs.  She wanted everyone to be happy and enjoy their experience and she would do everything she could to help.

Once again, her moto:  “what can I do to help?”

I think my mom loved working with the athletes the most.  In fact, I fondly remember as a teenager, she was so close with the many of the basketball players, that we would have at least 4 to 5 really tall young men over every Sunday for dinner.  Boy could they eat a lot of tacos and BBQ hamburgers.

Some of you do not know where she got the fascination with rubber ducks.  A few years before she retired, my mom got a cute rubber duck with three little ducks as a set.  She really liked this little set because she said that it reminded her of us three girls.  Well she started putting them in different places throughout the house, and every time I would come by, they would be either in the bedroom, or kitchen, or even outside to get some fresh air...some where new every day.  Well one day my daughter and I thought that we would play a little joke on her, so we kidnapped her little toy ducks and left the first of many ransom notes demanding a silly ransom, if she ever wanted to see her little duckies again she would have to pay up.  Every day we would leave notes, clues and pictures indicating the where abouts of her little ducks.  Quickly LaRae was on a mission to save her little ducks.  She was investigating everyone at work, and all family members and friends trying to find out who was holding her little ducks hostage. Her little ducks went on quite an adventure...almost being run over, hanging of bridges, almost be turned into duck-la-range... After a week or two, we had her go on a scavenger hunt all throughout Orem and Provo until she meet all the requirements  to have her little ducks safely returned.  The final ransom was 100 nickles, no more no less. She always enjoyed mystery and problem solving and she was true detective on this case.  So this  was the beginning of a Duck collection that continued for many years to come.

My Mom was always willing to try anything we were doing.  Early in our marriage, Rich wanted to go fishing and wanted to go worm hunting in her yard, mom jumped right in and said she knew just how to catch worms! She told us that you had to be really quiet and use a red flashlight or you could not catch them.  She was in charge of the light and Rich was on the ground ready to grab the big worms.  Rich knelt down on what he thought was a rock to snatch a large earthworm.  After he caught it, Mom finally cried out in some pain telling him that he was kneeling on her toe.....not a rock.  He broke mom's toe that night and her toe has been crooked ever since that worm hunting adventure.

When ever we were sick or ran out of groceries..... she showed up with bags of food or Kentucky Fried chicken... Out of no where Mom would show up with a hug, smile or something to brighten your day. Her example of compassionate service is paid forward to our children as we follow grandma Hawkins’ example. 

We loved going to the nursery with grandma.  She loved having beautiful baskets all over her yard, and in her later years she enjoyed our daylilies in her garden.  When she came over during the summer months she would go off on little walks with Rich around the yard looking at all the new and different lilies and asking all kinds of questions.  I think Rich reminded her of her Dad, a farmer. a photographer, and teacher.  

Mom was a naturalist at heart....she loved plants and animals.

She loved spending time at the Cabin sharing experiences with family and guests.  We spent hours watching the humming birds jostle for position around her many feeders surrounding the cabin. No one could attract as many hummers as mom.  This is the reason I have such a fascination for humming birds.

When the kids were young we all went to the cabin as a family. We had wonderful conversations on the porch, cooking over the outside griddle or just going for long walks. We spend hours walking and looking at the flowers.   

Grandma supported her grandkid’s in many ways.  We enjoyed having her come to Heather, Rachel and Angie’s volleyball games and Richie’s soccer games.  She might not have been able to keep track of where Richie was running around on the field but she was one of his biggest fans.

I few years ago, Angie and Rachel were playing Volleyball in Reno, Nevada and she and I decided to just take off on a road trip with Jessica.  It was spontaneous and fun to just get away, we laughed so much and just got to relax with her.  She did have to pull a few slots while in Reno.  I don’t think she ever lost money when she played the slots.  She had a touch that I definitely don’t!  She loved watching all my girls play volleyball!

One summer, Richie had a soccer tournament in Southern Calif.  Grandma , Kim, Greg and the kids joined us on the Journey.   We had many wonderful conversations as we drove through the hot desolate desert.  Family, faith, adventure, plants and animals were at the top of her conversation list.  We look back on this trip fondly.  Grandma even came deep sea fishing with us.  She definitely had a sense of adventure.

Mom had our back.... she was one of my biggest supporters and she helped give us confidence so that we could be successful.  She always wanted us each to know that we were loved and thought of.  She is a very big part of all our families success.  

The quick little phone calls:  “ just thinking about you” or “is there any thing I can do to help you?

* *what made grandma happy was having her family around her.  

**I feel that the best memory and gift that we could all give my mother would be to pay if forward.  At home, in the workplace and everywhere in-between.  Do what ever we can to make others happy.  Be there for our children the way she has always been there for us.  Make this world a happier, friendlier, brighter place to be.

~ What can we do to help? ~

I Love you Mom, and I miss you,  Thank you being such a wonderful example to me.

Luanne Glassford passed away on July 9, 2011

Rich's talk at his mothers funeral 

My earliest memories of my mother are from about the age of 4........ she was rocking me in her chair as she was preparing me for a nap or bed time.  I remember feeling loved, and safe.  A gentle touch and soft melody was comforting to me, and the many children blessed enough to have this experience.   Very early in life I knew my mother was on my side.  Not only did she provide for me physically and mentally, but spiritually as well.  I never once questioned her faith and her firm belief in the Gospel of Christ.  She backed up her words with action.  Throughout all my life she encouraged me to actively live the gospel.  She motivated me to do good with not only her words.....but facial expressions, tone of voice, and most importantly her actions.  I wanted to be good because of her goodness. I never wanted to let her down.

She was my friend and continually taught me about the wonders of life.  She is the sole reason I love creepy crawly things.  As a young impressionable kid she helped me catch spiders and bugs and place them in jars.... we put them in the window seal of my room.  We watched them feed, grow and interact.  She was not afraid to get dirty or chase down a little bug for her son.  As a young boy I wanted all kinds of animals.... Mom helped me get chickens, pigeons, turkeys, ducks, dogs, rabbits, rats, hamsters, Camen (allogator-like), turtles etc...... She cultivated my interested in living things.  Thank you Mom for sharing with me God’s handy work.

Grandma would have us out in the garden at a very early age.  We did more harm then good but she recognized the value of  teaching cooperation and hard work.  She taught us how to plant, weed and harvest the crops.  I have continued to follow in her foot steps and have had a garden ever sense.  At least once a day I will talk to Mom about how the garden is doing.  During the winter we had conversations over the phone  about what seeds we are going to buy and new garden strategies for the following year.  I will greatly miss coming in from the garden and showing her a mutant tomato or telling her what treatment we gave her squash and pumpkin plants.  Since her passing I have wanted to share garden experiences with her.  In my heart I will continue to do this my entire life.  I hope to pass her love of plants to my children.  It is part of my heritage that seems as much spiritual as it is a physical..... even more so now.

Grandma loved our daylilies.  For a few years we competed in the Utah Daylily Show and Mom always came to support me.  She fondly talked about these daylily competitions many times. Grandpa and I will be introducing a line of daylillies in her name soon. She always made me feel good about myself.  Even if I did not do as good as I expected.  

Last summer we had a hugely successful garden. Grandma and Grandpa were active participants in the entire process. From planting seeds to harvesting and canning our crops, she has not afraid of doing the hard and dirty work.  We have great memories gathering and cooking the abundant fruits and vegetables. Last year we preserved a lot of the harvest and grandma taught us how to make spaghetti sauce, tomato paste, salsa, peach and plum jam, apple sauce, peach and apple pie filling. Every step of the way Grandma was there teaching and helping.  I would get home from school and Grandma and Grandpa would have the fruits and vegetables picked and ready for processing.  She had a passion and loved to share her knowledge with all of us.

Family get togethers were very important to Grandma.  Just a few weeks ago she taught Rachel and I how to cut a whole chicken and prepare it for the family barbecue.  We could never have enough family get togethers for grandma.  We have had many friendly cooking competitions among family members.  One I will always remember was called the fall festival.  Grandma made awesome chili and a wonderful dessert and was so happy to have everyone over.   After our meals, mom loved playing games.  It did not matter what the game was as long as we were together.  As a kid my favorite family game with grandma was blinds man bluff.

Grandpa and I have gone on many early morning fishing trips.  Grandma would wake us up…. Fix breakfast…. Pack us a lunch…..wish us luck….. tell me grandpa is going to catch the biggest fish….. give us a kiss good bye….. stand on the porch and send us off with a wave.  When we arrived home she would help us clean the fish. She masterfully cooked the fish and serve them with her famous cubed fried potatoes.

When my wife and I moved to Lindon we had four children.  We talked about having one more child but worried about how that would affect Lynne.  Pregnancy was getting difficult for her and the doctors did not recommend her having anymore children.  If we were to get pregnant with our 5th child, Lynne would be essentially bed ridden during the pregnancy.  I talked with my Mom and Dad and they agreed to come up from San Diego and take care of Lynne and the rest of the family while Lynne was assembling little Richie’s physical body. Grandma did everything for us: cooked, cleaned, fixed boo boos, counseled and broke up arguments…..she is the peace maker.  She never complained once.  We could not have had Richie without Grandma. Grandma has blessed my family in so many ways, and has taught us what it truly means to give of yourself.

Having Mom and Dad live with us has blessed me with some very tender moments that I will never forget.  Before falling asleep at night grandma and grandpa would take each other’s hands and verbalize their love for one another.

Our entire family is forever thankful to Grandma for her tireless service. May we all follow her example and have our actions speak louder than words.  This is not the end..... just a new beginning..... I love you Mom

Oliver Called Grandpa G

Soon after Oliver was born, He got to talk with Grandpa Glassford. As Grandpa was talking to him over the phone, Oliver started trying to grab the phone and making cute little baby noises. I am so glad that Rich got to at least hear this darling little boy's voice.


The Blaser Family are all doing well!

Oliver Eric Blaser Is Here!

Wow! One more little miracle is here.
Time 9:08 am on June 27,2011 Little Oliver arrived happy and healthy.


Baby Oliver is here, safe and sound...
Happy Birthday Oliver and Chad!


He weighs 8 lbs 4 oz.
He is 20 inches long, and has 10 toes and fingers!
His head is 15 inches diameter. Normal heads are only 10 inches. Big headed baby!

Just a little bit of hair (more like fuzz), but if he is any thing like his Dad, he will have a full head of hair and beard in no time at all!

He does have good lungs and knows that if he cries, Dad and Mom will come running.

Mom is doing very well and felt no pain! She is trying to be patient with the nurses, but she wants to hold her baby but the nurses want to take care of her first.


Once she was able to hold her sweet little gift, the Doctor came back in and played the guitar and sang to the happy new family. This is a new tradition, really made it a special, relaxing time with mother and child.

Congratulations Angie and Chad, We love you!

Angie is Headed to the Operating Room

The baby is coming!!!

Chad and Angie got to the hospital at 5:45. Got all hooked up and ready for the arrival of baby Oliver when set back #1 came. Other patients needing emergency C-sections. They got put on hold. They starting prepping them again when set back #2 came, The Doctor's assistant was unable to make it to the hospital--possibly delaying surgery til they could find new assistant--lunch time or after hours. Luckily the Doctor found another Doctor leaving for the day and she offered to assist in the operation...

They quickly finished prepped her,

Got Chad dressed...

and off they went to the operating room.

Heather and I are now along in her room, with an empty bed....waiting to meet our newest family member!

First Fishing Trip

We headed to Strawberry Lake to experience our first fishing trip. We planned ahead and checked with the weatherman, but he was wrong... go figure. It was FREEZING! The fish bit a little bit, but I am sad to say, we didn't bring any fish home to eat.

Mom was Derek's best buddy on this trip, she entertained him with Cheetos and donuts. (Not the healthiest but very effective)


Jacob is a little camera shy... so when he finally looked at me, his facial expression was sure interesting!


Jacob kept his pole very tight and had the pole at a good angle!


Grandma and Grandpa tried to stay warm with blankets.



Daddy still has a great cast!!!


The fishing trip was lots of fun, I cant wait until it gets warmer and we might actually catch a fish!!

Summer Begins...

We made it through another year of school! Rich did an amazing job teaching the kids, the students did an amazing job learning, and I just kept on cooking in the kitchen.
All in all, it was all good.
Now is time for summer. We are knee deep in preparing the gardens and planting all our vegetables for this year. We have a good head start on our tomatoes with the green house. Our peas, onions, Brussel sprouts and beets are coming along well, and are looking forward to some fresh vegetables soon. We just planted our beans, cucumbers and peppers.
Now it is time to weed, and water...
The boys are having fun with their pumpkins and gourds. We will be posting images soon so you can see their great growth!
We hope you are all enjoying the first taste of summer as well.

Happy Easter

We are still hiding the kids Easter Baskets. Ever since they were little, we would hide their basket and they would have to search the house (or outside) to find their treats. Before the rooster cock- a - doodle do's, little Easter feet scurried around the house searching for treats. If they could not find their baskets.....no candy. The kids really looked forward to this Easter tradition. Each year they always say "Daddy, next year hide it hard, don't hide it so easy!!", but when they can not find it the must resort to the "hot or cold" technique. This can be a humiliating part of the hunt... as a parent I enjoy watching the Hot or Cold.

About 5 minutes later, Heather actually found her basket...I guess you can imagine what her bedroom looked like, since it took her that long inside her little bedroom to find her basket!

Luckily, all baskets were eventually found, and Rich and I were actually surprised by the kids with our own Easter baskets hidden.

Later that day we had Jessica and Dan's family, and Kim and Greg's family over for dinner and an Easter Candy hunt. We did have one little alteration to our afternoon Easter hunt. There was a little resistance but after a little persuasion the all bought into it. The new change was for for kids over the age of 3. They had to partner up, one partner was blind folded, the other had to direct but not touch any candy. Oh my goodness, this was the funniest candy hunt I have seen! We had wrestling, running into trees, walls, crawling on the ground, crawling over each other, and even a little cheating by those who could see because they were getting frustrated by their partner.

We had a great Easter with all our family.