March 1, 2010
NEWS FROM THE DAYS:
Valentine’s weekend we received the best Valentine’s gift grandparents can receive. Friday night, we got to watch Kaylee (4 yrs.) for the evening while Debbie worked. She is such a darling! And smart. I showed her how to do Word on the computer, and in one session she picked up how to erase and correct, print and exit out. Because she is so good with letters, she wanted to practice writing her name, her Mom’s and Dad’s, and her brother Christopher. She has also grown an inch since last measuring and marking her height on our kitchen wall. Saturday, while Jackie and all the women (and some men) in the family went to a bridal planning lunch, I watched Sarah and Taylor (Jessica is now old enough to go to the women’s stuff). They entertained me, and we colored, played dolls – or in the case of Taylor – bears, and went thru all the rituals of taking a nap (counting things in the light fixture, listening to each other’s heart, drawing pictures on our backs, telling stories). All the rituals done, they didn’t want to take a nap after all. Saturday night, we got little Jack – now 11 months old. He is all over the place crawling, stands and balances himself, but not quite ready to take that first step yet. What dimples he has! And a smile! He’ll simply melt the girl’s hearts. Linda got to see Cole at the lunch, as well as our little Emry (11 months). Linda reports she is quite vocal, like Jack, stands and gets around easily, and is quite a character. So between Linda and me, we got to see, visit with, or babysit every grandchild except Christopher. And Christopher called us from Bahrain yesterday while we were grocery shopping and we missed his call. But it was good to hear his voice and he said he’d be here on March 11th for his leave. We went to our favorite restaurant for breakfast Valentine’s morning, and saw Valentine’s Day, the movie, that afternoon.
Linda had cataract surgery in her right eye, and all went well. Her left eye is going to be done March 2nd. She can’t wait to see well! Linda had lazy eye in her right eye, and perhaps that is why the doctor said it was the hardest surgery he had ever done – we’ll have to ask more questions. Her vision in the right eye has already improved a lot. Linda put together a baby quilt for her boss’s son who works part time in her office. Now she’s crocheting a throw, and always has a project going for something or someone.
Linda’s eye wasn’t’ quite ready, so I took Katie to our U of U play “12 Angry Men”, a great play about jury duty. I enjoyed our daddy/daughter date. I had bought Linda tickets to the Billy Joel/Elton John Face2Face concert last March for her birthday. The concert was canceled in November due to illness, and rescheduled this past month. It was a GREAT concert, lasting about 3 ½ hours. Wow. I, of course, loved the piano playing by both, as did Linda. It was worth the wait. And we had great seats.
Stephanie sold her condo! She has to move out by the end of March, and has already started looking at trailer homes with three bedrooms that would suit her family. She hopes to pay cash with the equity she is getting out of her condo. She may move back in with us and put her stuff in storage for a short while, depending on the closing and the move in date of the place she hopes to buy. Stephanie also hosted a nice birthday party at McDonalds for her 4 yr. old Sarah.
Wiggins shaved his head, and has a new undercover look. Jackie is working hard and getting ready for the wedding on May 20th. She has picked out a very nice reception place in Midway (in the Heber valley) on old Main Street. Most of our family is going to stay over the night of the wedding at Homestead nearby. Linda and I are hosting a family wedding dinner for them the night before their wedding at a local Olive Garden restaurant.
I am coordinating with Kimball Boone in Oahu for a weeklong trip for Danny in early April. He will then have another week off for the reunion in August, and his yearly visit with us on Thanksgiving. Anyone want to volunteer for Christmas this year? Attached is the travel history I put together for Danny after the sibling reunion last year.
I finally finished reading David Copperfield (now I know why it’s a classic), and also read a great book Stephanie gave me for Christmas, The Johnstown Flood. What was interesting about this reservoir that broke was that the dam was originally built to hold water for a canal system (like the C & A) in the Pennsylvania area. Then the railroads came, and the reservoir was used by area rich people for their cabin, boating and fishing retreat. When the dam broke in May 1889, over 2,000 people lost their lives. A great book with tons of history about that time in America. I’ve now started reading Little Women.
The local legislators in Utah are spending a lot of time trying to put thru anti-federal/pro state bills/resolutions that State attorneys predict will cost the state 100’s of thousands of dollars to fight in court, with a small chance of being successful. Apparently, the sovereignty of the federal government over the states, a battle fought long ago, hasn’t registered with a certain fragment of the legislative body on capital hill. Ironically, the one bill I thought for sure would sail thru the hurdles is the tax increase on cigarettes. But there’s still two weeks or so left on that one. Another idea floating around is one to eliminate the 12th grade to save money in the education budget. A recent letter to the editor pointed out that eliminating the 12th grade may increase the chance of electing future idiot senators like the one who proposed this idea, Sen. Chris Buttars. But enough of local politics.
I find myself listening to Garrison Keiler on PBS with his Prairie Home Companion radio broadcasts each week more and more. And I stay up late watching a TV program each Saturday night on a cable station called Woodsongs, an hour long music program out of Kentucky featuring artists in blue grass, blues, country, folk and rock and roll. The artists on this program don’t have to be famous, just very, very good. Last night, they had a piano guy on that tours with Mick Jagger among others, and specializes in boogie woogie. Oh my! Is this what awaits in heaven?
And that’s the news from the Days. Love, Tom & Linda
NEWS FROM THE DAYS:
Valentine’s weekend we received the best Valentine’s gift grandparents can receive. Friday night, we got to watch Kaylee (4 yrs.) for the evening while Debbie worked. She is such a darling! And smart. I showed her how to do Word on the computer, and in one session she picked up how to erase and correct, print and exit out. Because she is so good with letters, she wanted to practice writing her name, her Mom’s and Dad’s, and her brother Christopher. She has also grown an inch since last measuring and marking her height on our kitchen wall. Saturday, while Jackie and all the women (and some men) in the family went to a bridal planning lunch, I watched Sarah and Taylor (Jessica is now old enough to go to the women’s stuff). They entertained me, and we colored, played dolls – or in the case of Taylor – bears, and went thru all the rituals of taking a nap (counting things in the light fixture, listening to each other’s heart, drawing pictures on our backs, telling stories). All the rituals done, they didn’t want to take a nap after all. Saturday night, we got little Jack – now 11 months old. He is all over the place crawling, stands and balances himself, but not quite ready to take that first step yet. What dimples he has! And a smile! He’ll simply melt the girl’s hearts. Linda got to see Cole at the lunch, as well as our little Emry (11 months). Linda reports she is quite vocal, like Jack, stands and gets around easily, and is quite a character. So between Linda and me, we got to see, visit with, or babysit every grandchild except Christopher. And Christopher called us from Bahrain yesterday while we were grocery shopping and we missed his call. But it was good to hear his voice and he said he’d be here on March 11th for his leave. We went to our favorite restaurant for breakfast Valentine’s morning, and saw Valentine’s Day, the movie, that afternoon.
Linda had cataract surgery in her right eye, and all went well. Her left eye is going to be done March 2nd. She can’t wait to see well! Linda had lazy eye in her right eye, and perhaps that is why the doctor said it was the hardest surgery he had ever done – we’ll have to ask more questions. Her vision in the right eye has already improved a lot. Linda put together a baby quilt for her boss’s son who works part time in her office. Now she’s crocheting a throw, and always has a project going for something or someone.
Linda’s eye wasn’t’ quite ready, so I took Katie to our U of U play “12 Angry Men”, a great play about jury duty. I enjoyed our daddy/daughter date. I had bought Linda tickets to the Billy Joel/Elton John Face2Face concert last March for her birthday. The concert was canceled in November due to illness, and rescheduled this past month. It was a GREAT concert, lasting about 3 ½ hours. Wow. I, of course, loved the piano playing by both, as did Linda. It was worth the wait. And we had great seats.
Stephanie sold her condo! She has to move out by the end of March, and has already started looking at trailer homes with three bedrooms that would suit her family. She hopes to pay cash with the equity she is getting out of her condo. She may move back in with us and put her stuff in storage for a short while, depending on the closing and the move in date of the place she hopes to buy. Stephanie also hosted a nice birthday party at McDonalds for her 4 yr. old Sarah.
Wiggins shaved his head, and has a new undercover look. Jackie is working hard and getting ready for the wedding on May 20th. She has picked out a very nice reception place in Midway (in the Heber valley) on old Main Street. Most of our family is going to stay over the night of the wedding at Homestead nearby. Linda and I are hosting a family wedding dinner for them the night before their wedding at a local Olive Garden restaurant.
I am coordinating with Kimball Boone in Oahu for a weeklong trip for Danny in early April. He will then have another week off for the reunion in August, and his yearly visit with us on Thanksgiving. Anyone want to volunteer for Christmas this year? Attached is the travel history I put together for Danny after the sibling reunion last year.
I finally finished reading David Copperfield (now I know why it’s a classic), and also read a great book Stephanie gave me for Christmas, The Johnstown Flood. What was interesting about this reservoir that broke was that the dam was originally built to hold water for a canal system (like the C & A) in the Pennsylvania area. Then the railroads came, and the reservoir was used by area rich people for their cabin, boating and fishing retreat. When the dam broke in May 1889, over 2,000 people lost their lives. A great book with tons of history about that time in America. I’ve now started reading Little Women.
The local legislators in Utah are spending a lot of time trying to put thru anti-federal/pro state bills/resolutions that State attorneys predict will cost the state 100’s of thousands of dollars to fight in court, with a small chance of being successful. Apparently, the sovereignty of the federal government over the states, a battle fought long ago, hasn’t registered with a certain fragment of the legislative body on capital hill. Ironically, the one bill I thought for sure would sail thru the hurdles is the tax increase on cigarettes. But there’s still two weeks or so left on that one. Another idea floating around is one to eliminate the 12th grade to save money in the education budget. A recent letter to the editor pointed out that eliminating the 12th grade may increase the chance of electing future idiot senators like the one who proposed this idea, Sen. Chris Buttars. But enough of local politics.
I find myself listening to Garrison Keiler on PBS with his Prairie Home Companion radio broadcasts each week more and more. And I stay up late watching a TV program each Saturday night on a cable station called Woodsongs, an hour long music program out of Kentucky featuring artists in blue grass, blues, country, folk and rock and roll. The artists on this program don’t have to be famous, just very, very good. Last night, they had a piano guy on that tours with Mick Jagger among others, and specializes in boogie woogie. Oh my! Is this what awaits in heaven?
And that’s the news from the Days. Love, Tom & Linda
