Day family newsletter - November 2011

Dec. 1, 2011

NEWS FROM THE DAYS:

It’s that time of the year again. Winter coming. Leaf raking, garden clean up, mowing the grass for the last time. Changing the clocks back one hour. Hate to see it this year as the summer got such a late start. And now Thanksgiving has come and gone.

Debbie hosted the Thanksgiving dinner this year – a group of 24! But everybody chipped in to help and it turned out great as usual. Debbie invited a guy from her work at Zion’s Bank, and he brought a few Florida dishes (his native state) which was a nice addition to our usual menu. And he brought some oranges as big as grapefruits he had shipped in from Florida. And Debbie invited another guy here on a work visa at American Express from India. It was interesting talking to him and finding his politics in India mirror our State vs. Federal power debates here in Utah’s legislature.

Linda and the girls who weren’t working went shopping on black Friday at 5 AM, a tradition for our family. I took Friday off from work and watched four of the grandchildren. In fact, they all stayed over Thanksgiving night so they would already be here and not have to get up so early.

I’ve kept busy reading the past couple of month – finished Oliver Twist, then read a memoir of Arthur Ashe, the great tennis player. Then I read a couple of great books called Killing Lincoln and The Poisonwood Bible. These last two I really enjoyed as the Lincoln book involved history, and the other, although fiction, traced African history over about 30 years starting in 1960. History is becoming my favorite reading subject it seems. Oh, and I also read The Last of the Mohicans.

Stephanie’s work took her to St. George for a couple of days, and she was able to use our condo while there. Steph had a great little birthday party for Jessica who turned nine this past month. She organized a fashion show, and invited me to emcee the event. Jessica and her friends are little diva’s, let me tell you! It was a lot of fun as the adults sat in a row applauding the fashion contestants as they walked down the aisle, changed into new outfits, and did it over and over again. It was an absolute riot!

While all together for Thanksgiving, we celebrated Bill’s birthday as well as Taylor’s 4th (Taylor is Steph’s youngest). And speaking of the younger grandkids, Bill and Katie’s little Sofie is 9 months old already, and ready to walk. She is sooo alert and cute. And her big brother Jack charms the pants off everybody. Kaylee ended up spending two days here over Thanksgiving giving Debbie time to work and get some shopping done. Debbie is enjoying her new position at Zion’s Bank.

Linda and I had a nice dinner at our favorite restaurant to celebrate my 66th birthday, and we all went to a buffet restaurant for Jessica’s 9th birthday. We were invited for dinner at Cole and Jessica’s recently. It was great to see them as well as be able to play with our great granddaughter, Emry. She will be 3 in April, and is a fireball. Never stops! And so cute and smart! Cole and Jessica did a great job landscaping their yard this past summer. Jackie & Wiggins came over one night to bake cupcakes for Thanksgiving & fix us dinner. What a treat! They look forward to buying a house soon &moving out of the motor home.

And that’s the news from the Days for November, 2011. Love, Tom & Linda

Day Family newsletter Oct. 2011

Oct. 30, 2011
NEWS FROM THE DAYS:

Chest colds have ruled the month of October….first me, then Steph, and finally Linda. I’m over it, Steph’s getting better, but Linda, after going to the Dr. and getting meds, and 2 weeks later getting more meds, one week later went in to the doctor again and found she had pneumonia in one lung. More meds, a lot of bed rest, and hopefully recovery soon.

Despite the illnesses, we were treated to another great performance of Thriller by Odyssey Dance at Kingsbury Hall. We had been the last two years, and weren’t going to go, but Jessica (Steph’s 8 yr. old) begged to take her again. What could we do? Linda and I joined the girls and grandkids one Saturday at This is the Place Park where they had a special Halloween theme – it was really nice. I convinced the conductor of the train that transports you around from spot to spot that my girls were my wives – this after passing Brigham’s winter home where he kept several of his wives. Another night, Stephanie and I went on a daddy/daughter date to a play at the U. Pioneer Theatre – The Tempest. It was absolutely magical!

Our garden produced 5 pumpkins this year, and Steph came over one night with the girls and they carved them all up for us. This happened to be on one of the weekends where we have been watching Steph’s kids while she concentrates on her school classes, but we had a wedding reception, and she took a break to watch the kids while we went to the wedding. Bruce Baird’s daughter Marcie was getting married.

We all getting together at Debbie’s house out in Herriman for Halloween this year. And while doing that, we’ll celebrate two birthdays as well. Jessica turns the big 9, and I turn sixty something. The kids always enjoy Debbie’s street where they do Halloween up big!

Jackie and Wiggins have kept busy helping out with Wiggin’s mom who underwent brain surgery for her brain cancer – she’s doing better than expected.

Debbie brought Kaylee over one Saturday night while she went out, and Kaylee enjoyed staying at Grandma and Grandpa’s house overnight. The next morning, Debbie took Kaylee as well as Steph’s kids to Wheeler Farm and got their faces all painted – check it out on facebook.

Linda and I went to a dinner/play called Witcharama (or something like that) at Gardner Village. It was a group of 5 with a band that sang, danced and put on a witch themed comedy skit throughout and after the dinner that was just top notch and very entertaining. We met up with a couple from my work and enjoyed the Halloween themed evening.

And now, a question….is there life after death?.........or death after life?

I look forward to see who will be the Republican front runner for president for the month of November. And December. I think there are still enough candidates announced to date to take their turns each month.

Here in Utah, our legislators did their 10 year redistricting after the census and made sure each of our 4 congressional districts were made up of at least 62% republicans so that the one lone wolf (or democrat) would be replaced by a republican for sure. And our gun toting state legislator, Carl Whimmer, has already been declared the nominee and winner of our newest 4th district. I’m sure Washington D.C. will love it when he brings his colt 45 holstered to his waist during national legislative sessions. No, not for Halloween, as I’m sure you were thinking…..this is the real west we’re talking about. Yahoo! Gideup, ride um, shoot um, show um who’s headin up this posse.

And that’s the news from the Wild West out here in Zion. Yesiree.

Love, Tom & Linda (although she doesn’t’ take credit)

Day Family newsletter - Sept. 2011

October 1, 2011

NEWS FROM THE DAYS:

I know the paragraph below was sent out earlier, but I felt it needed to be preserved in the annals of the family newsletter.

An eventful month and one where a word of caution ought to be noted. Let’s say a heated rivalry game is played between two competing schools, and instead of a typical close outcome, there is a, well, should we say, an absolute slaughter of one team by the other. Should the winning team boast of their superiority? Or of their outright domination of the inferior team? Or make jokes, or laugh at the downtrodden? A word of caution, as the winning team’s fans need to be humble, and comfort their suffering neighbors down south, or wherever they may live. And tell them that it would have been a close game except for a few turnovers. And that the game could have easily turned the other direction when BYU led midway through the 2nd quarter. And that this temporary setback will motivate and propel the team to a successful season, even though they lost the most important game of the season. So what? Life isn’t about football and winning, is it? So the winning side needs to say, “Good game – we were lucky to win this one. We just happened to catch you on an off day… OK, a way, way, way off day.” And life goes on, at least for the Utes.

And, now that BYU has won two games since, I guess this proves there is life after death…… after all.

Birthdays celebrated during the month included Wiggins, Stephanie and Kaylee. For Stephanie’s birthday, most of us were able to dine at The Training Table and have cake and ice cream. For Kaylee’s 6th birthday, most of us were able to join her at Boondocks, a fun center in the Draper area where they have eats, go carts and games of all types. We also had a nice get-together at our home while Christopher was home for a week off from army duty in North Carolina. Cole, Jessica and Emry joined us that night, and it is amazing to see how much Emry looks like her mom. She is really growing up!

Linda and I attended a play at the U of U Pioneer Theatre – saw Next to Normal, an excellent musical. We also saw a couple of movies, How Does She Do It, and one with the kids, a Smurf movie.

Stephanie decided to go back to school to try and finish her degree online, and found she couldn’t get her Univ. of Phoenix degree as she waited too long to start it up again, but is taking two semesters at SLCC to get an Associate’s Degree. Linda and I agreed to watch her kids Friday afternoon until Sunday afternoon every other weekend to help give Steph the time necessary to study and successfully complete this project. So we have kids over a lot more than normal. One night, Kaylee also joined us for a sleepover the same weekend we had Steph’s kids. And on another weekend, we had Jack and Sofie for an evening (not a sleepover) while Steph’s kids were here. We’ve reverted back to when we raised our girls, and take the grandkids for a 7-11 visit while here, and down to the elementary school playground to ride bikes or play on the playground equipment. Linda gives them all baths, and we split up the kids so each one sleeps with one of us, except Jessica, of course, as she is more grown up and has her own bedroom downstairs which she loves!

Shelley and I hosted the Janssen cousin reunion on Sept. 10th at the Olive Garden, and were quite surprised with all the positive comments and praise. Thanks again for everyone chipping some $$, Deon for her superb invitations (hard copy as well as evites), and Shelley for all her preparations and work.

Debbie, after getting news about being laid off at American Express, landed a great job in the same area with Zions Bank. She started there this past week. Jackie and Wiggins received disheartening news this past week about Wiggin’s mom. She was diagnosed with a brain tumor and given one month to live. Wiggin’s father likewise was diagnosed with terminal cancer in just the past year and died. Wiggin’s family is from the Blanding area, and they are down there this week making family plans.

On a brighter note, it was a nice surprise to get a check in the mail from the sale of D & A’s condo. I took Danny’s check down to him to put into his Wells Fargo account, and will withhold sending him his normal monthly allotment for living expenses until he depletes his inheritance. I’ll put the money I normally send him in savings to earn some interest during this time. In the event I hadn’t mentioned it earlier, Deon is having Danny to their home for Thanksgiving, and Derek Farnes has invited Danny to their home for Christmas this year.

Linda and I are looking forward to retiring in April, 2013, if we can last that long. Only 1½ yrs. left!

And that’s the news from the Days. Love,

Tom & Linda

DAY FAMILY NEWSLETTER - AUGUST 2011

NEWS FROM THE DAYS:
Linda, Steph and Katie had a garage sale from our front yard early in the month, and we got rid of most things as we priced everything low. What was left I took to the DI, and we now have much more room in our home. We even got rid of our old hi-fi stereo with turn table and 8 track tape! It helped pay for the new front sidewalk we had installed to replace about 50 ft. of crumbling sidewalk. The city chipped in for 50% of the cost.

I attended Mr. Wilkes funeral and viewing earlier in the month. It was good to see Brent and Karin, who we keep in touch with, as well as Julie and Hans. And to hear stories about their dad and the old neighborhood. We also attended Jenna and Eric’s wedding reception (Kirk and Carolyn’s daughter) and got to see and visit with everyone.

Linda and I went to see Josh Groben in concert. A great show! Later in the month, we took off for vacation in St. George and loved every minute. We decided to join a bus tour of historic sites one day and ended up meeting Lorenzo Snow, Jacob Hamblin (he was sent to work with the Indians), Orson Pratt, one of the early women pioneers, and Brigham Young. Instead of the lady who conducted the tour explaining everything at each stop, the key character would come out, introduce themselves, and tell about their history and what they had done for the area. We then drove to Enterprise (not from Star Wars) and attended a corn festival – old car show, arts and crafts, food and of course, corn. We also stopped on the way to visit the Meadow Mountain Massacre site. We got spoiled with two free days at the Casablanca (a Mesquite casino similar to nice Vegas casinos). And we discovered a neat little store in St. George called Judd’s, and bought some “old” candy (like the little wax bottles – about 2 inches high where you bite the top off and drink the punch inside), candy cigarettes, an original Dr. Pepper bottle with the 10 – 2 – 4 as part of the label, and a package of Neccos (the round thin flavored candy about the size of a quarter). Anyway, memory lane.

We left St. George and saw two plays in Cedar City at the Shakespeare event, Music Man and The Glass Menagerie. Both excellent, especially The Music Man. We left there and drove the back roads up the Nevada/Utah border to Wendover, Utah. There we caught Engelbert Humperdinck in concert, and celebrated our 44th anniversary. He put on one heck of a show in their new concert hall. On the way to Wendover, I told Linda we didn’t have to fill up at Ely, Nevada – it wasn’t necessary. About 25 miles out in the desert from Wendover, the gas light went on. But luck prevailed, and we made it without running out of gas. Can you imagine the headline in the newspaper? A local elderly couple perished in the hot desert terrain trying to hike into Wendover, Nevada, probably to waste away their just received social security checks. They had apparently run out of gas, and died tragically with outstretched arms no doubt trying to reach the slot machine arms awaiting them in town.

And that’s the news from Salt Lake, St. George, Mesquite, Cedar City, Ely and Wendover. Love,
Tom & Linda

Newsletter from the Days - July 2011

July 31,2011

NEWS FROM THE DAYS:

I write this in hopes that our politicians will pull their heads out and do the right thing. Economic power determines who the world power will be, and we have held that position my entire lifetime. I don’t know about everyone else, but I would hate to see the life and freedoms we cherish flushed down the toilet because of politicians who would rather push their agenda than do what’s best for the country. If the US defaults on their debt, the “you know what” will hit the fan, believe you me.

On the bright side, Linda and I contributed to the economy by going to see a movie, Larry Crowne, a pretty good movie. Then we went with Stephanie and her kids to see CARS 2, another good movie.

I attended the annual Cabin Classic with 8 friends, now in its 37th year. Golf weather was great – we had to go without hot water at Phil Hansen’s cabin due to his water heater burning out, and learned how to sponge bath with micro waved water. So I’ve done my pioneer hardship activity now. While I was gone, Linda, Stephanie and kids saw the latest Harry Potter movie. Linda and Debbie went school shopping for Kaylee, and Linda is looking forward to shopping for Stephanie’s kids before school starts. Sarah and Kaylee start Kindergarten this fall! Ye gads, the grandkids are all growing up.

One evening a sharp skinned hawk flew into our dining room window screen going after out cat, Pumpkin, who was sitting inside the screen on the window ledge with the glass window open. Needless to say, there was a pretty good bang as the hawk hit the window with one wing and the screen with his other wing and claws. The cat never moved so fast and didn’t reappear for over an hour from the bedroom. The hawk bounced back and slowly flew away over the back fence, his striped horizontal black (or brown) and white tail behind him. There are two new screen tears where he hit the screen, but other than that, no lasting damage.

Linda and I spent two nights in Wendover and enjoyed the getaway. The kids came over on July 4th for fireworks in our front yard and a barbeque. Same for the 24th of July holiday. I read The Trail to Tranquility, a great book about obtaining peace and spirituality in your life. Written by a Rabbi. I’ve finally decided after reading this book that there is a creator. Then I read another good book, a biography about Woody Allen’s life. I used to love him when he appeared on Johnny Carson in the old days. I stained the 20 ft. of cedar fence that was replaced in our back yard to match the rest of the fence. Our garden is going crazy! I think it’s because of the sign I mounted on the fence, THE GARDEN OF EAT’N. And that’s the news from the Days. Love,
Tom & Linda

Day family newsletter - June 2011

July 1, 2011

DAY FAMILY NEWS – JUNE 2011

Twelve baby quail showed up one morning in our backyard. About a week later, there were only four left . I decided to officially sign our garden – had actually named it years ago, but decided to make a sign and hang it on the fence. GARDEN OF EAT’N is now displayed in yellow block letters on a beige background board. The garden, although planted rather late due to weather, is starting to grow. The carrots, onions and radishes did not survive due to the quail who love to eat them as they sprout through the ground.

Attended Dorothy Wardrup’s funeral and was reminded by a cousin that it is our turn to host the Janssen cousin reunion. The funeral was very nice – the news of hosting not. But Shelley and I met and planned out the event to be held Sept. 10th from 1 PM to 3 PM at the Olive Garden (not of Eden) by Fashion Place mall. Deon will put together a digital e-vite as well as a normal mailed one. Shelley will plan and conduct activities – and I’ll pick someone to say the prayer and emcee. Danny will attend – either Virginia will pick him up, or I will. We’re planning on taking Dad’s CDs to play in the background. We have a room reserved just for our party, so we can do things privately.

I’ve played some golf this past month, and Linda and I have kept busy reading. Linda and I have started going to the library to get most of our books, and Linda tried an audio book this month. I’m still reading the old fashioned way, page by page. We also got our order of True Blood, the 3rd season, and have watched several of the episodes. This is a vampire HBO series that we fell in love with, though the 3rd season isn’t up to the first two seasons in our opinion. A lady at my work calls it vampire porn. It’s not really porn, but it is pretty edgy.
Stephanie had to travel around southern Utah in her new job, and we took the kids for four nights. They especially enjoyed going over to the elementary school nearby and riding their bikes and playing on the playground equipment.

Katie and Bill just returned from a nice vacation with his parents in Vegas where they used their timeshare. Bill entered a “no limit” poker tournament with 2800 other entrants. He doubled his money halfway thru the first day, and then lost on a lucky last card draw to a straight of an opponent.

Everyone met at a local buffet for Father’s Day, as our planned barbeque got rained out. Linda got me a leaf blower, and I’ve already found several new uses for it – kind of like getting a self propelled lawnmower – I didn’t really know what I was missing!

Debbie let us know she has been given notice of being laid off at American Express. She will be looking to work for someone else in the future. Our legislators vetoed the governor on the state’s 4-day work week, and we’ll be going back to Monday thru Friday hours after Labor Day. I believe this is a precursor to finding out you’re going “down” instead of “up” when you die , as going back to a 5-day work week will be “he__” after enjoying the fruits of “heaven” the past 3 years.

And that’s the news from the Days for June 2011. Love, Tom and Linda

Day family newsletter - May 2011

June 2, 2011
NEWS FROM THE DAYS:
Wiggin’s oldest daughter, Blair, tied the knot on the 8th. She married her long time boyfriend who is currently training to be a navy seal in San Diego. Jackie and Wiggins put together a nice wedding and reception at the West Jordan justice building where they both work. It was Mother’s day as well, and those who could went to dinner after helping put away the decorations from the reception.
Stephanie and Katie also came over the day before to help us plant backyard flowers for Linda for Mother’s Day. The grandkids chipped in and helped as well. We got lucky and had one day without rain that day, as the weather continues in SLC. You would think it’s Seattle here this year – and if it’s not rain, it’s snow. About 3 ft. of snow came down in the ski resorts this past few days on top of record snow packs waiting to come down to flood us when the weather warms up.
Linda and I saw the last play of the season at the U Pioneer Theatre, Sunset Boulevard. I joined in the cancer 5K walk again this year at the Gateway downtown. And the following Saturday, Stephanie, her 5 yr. old Sarah and I did the March of Dimes 3K at This is the Place Monument.
Linda and I checked out the library, and got some things to read. I finished reading A Captain’s Duty about the guy who was kidnapped by pirates and the navy seals shot and killed his captors. A good read! Now I’m reading a book call Real Common Sense, about using our founding values to reclaim our country and stopping the radical right from hijacking our country.
Linda put together a nice birthday package for Christopher and got it mailed off. He will have finished his 4 years of duty and be home for his next birthday.
We all got together for pizza and refreshments at The Pie by the U of U for Katie’s birthday. This one day after the rapture. Since we all showed up, I guess we are in the “sinner” category. If you’re readying this newsletter right now, you are likewise sinners.
We finished up the month spending a weekend over Memorial Day at our condo in St. George. Steph and her kids joined us, as did Debbie and Kaylee, and we really enjoyed some sunny and warm weather for a change! Lots of swimming, a good movie – Kung Fu Panda, and plenty of eating and relaxing! Since Linda and I are apparently sinners, we drove down to Mesquite and sinned some more. And on the home front, I finally got the garden tilled in with fertilizer so it will be ready to plant when the weather finally warms up.
I hired some guys to come visit our front yard with chain saws and give things a haircut. With the bushes trimmed back, you can once again walk down our sidewalk without having to turn sideways to get thru. I’ve lined up someone to also come in and replace some crumbling sidewalk out front that’s needed replacement for several years.
And that’s the news from the Days for May………………………Love, Tom & Linda