October 2008 � Pope Family Newsletter
From Keri and David (Diane)
Hi everyone,
We have sure been enjoying our beautiful fall. Sure wish it would last longer. We too have started a blog for our family so if anyone would like to view it our link is www.davidandkeriwendtfamily.blogspot.com. I decided that would be a great way to keep a journal and keep in touch with all of you that we don't get to see very much. If you want to be updated by email whenever we put a new post on let me know and I will add you to our follower list.
Other than that we are doing really well. David is getting geared up to be the 5th and 6th grade boys basketball coach next month. That will be quite the family activity as the boys and I will be joining David at the gym.
We hope that you all are doing well and that we can get together with some of you soon.
Sending all of our love,
David, Keri, Jake, Seth, Zane and Luke
From Glenn and Pat
Dear Family,
Russell, Chris, Dallin and I went to Richmond last weekend to see what we could do to help Dick and Mom and Dad. Dad seems to be doing the best, having some recovery from his hand surgery, which finally allows him to use his walker and ultimately get some strength back in his fingers. For the past while, Dick has had to labor intently and miss sleep to help Dad get back and forth to the restroom and attend to his many other needs such as eating. But Mom is the biggest worry now with being in the rest home with her feet not healing well at all and having considerable disorientation, pain and trauma. Dick might make a full report on all this, but suffice it to say, we need everyone�s continual prayers that her feet will heal and that she might start walking again and not loose any more tissue(including a whole foot) to amputation. The doctors and even the insurance people need help with solving her physical problems and the associated horrendous costs, much of which is not being covered by insurance at this point. So much thanks goes to Dick, especially for all the time and effort with them. Also to Dianne and Colleen and others of you who have spent time or called or sent flowers etc.
We have finally gotten Pat �over the hill� with her critical health issues and want to thank everyone for flowers cards and any other concerns for her. She was actually able to walk three miles the other day and she has started back to work, although just part time for a while.
I am trying to expand back into full time driving, but am limited in my choices by Teamster restrictions, since I am drawing a pension.
We are so thankful for baby Eliza, who is such a focal point and source of happiness for all of us. She is almost walking now and recently celebrated her 1st birthday. Julie has a Dalmatian dog costume for her on Halloween and we can�t wait to take her around the neighborhood to see all the Halloween sights. We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and that we all survive or better yet avoid the �Greater Depression� that seems to be looming on the horizon.
Love Glenn, Pat and boys
Dear Family,
Russell, Chris, Dallin and I went to Richmond last weekend to see what we could do to help Dick and Mom and Dad. Dad seems to be doing the best, having some recovery from his hand surgery, which finally allows him to use his walker and ultimately get some strength back in his fingers. For the past while, Dick has had to labor intently and miss sleep to help Dad get back and forth to the restroom and attend to his many other needs such as eating. But Mom is the biggest worry now with being in the rest home with her feet not healing well at all and having considerable disorientation, pain and trauma. Dick might make a full report on all this, but suffice it to say, we need everyone�s continual prayers that her feet will heal and that she might start walking again and not loose any more tissue(including a whole foot) to amputation. The doctors and even the insurance people need help with solving her physical problems and the associated horrendous costs, much of which is not being covered by insurance at this point. So much thanks goes to Dick, especially for all the time and effort with them. Also to Dianne and Colleen and others of you who have spent time or called or sent flowers etc.
We have finally gotten Pat �over the hill� with her critical health issues and want to thank everyone for flowers cards and any other concerns for her. She was actually able to walk three miles the other day and she has started back to work, although just part time for a while.
I am trying to expand back into full time driving, but am limited in my choices by Teamster restrictions, since I am drawing a pension.
We are so thankful for baby Eliza, who is such a focal point and source of happiness for all of us. She is almost walking now and recently celebrated her 1st birthday. Julie has a Dalmatian dog costume for her on Halloween and we can�t wait to take her around the neighborhood to see all the Halloween sights. We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and that we all survive or better yet avoid the �Greater Depression� that seems to be looming on the horizon.
Love Glenn, Pat and boys
~ Pumpkin Pancakes from Aunt Colleen ~
Vegetarian Times Issue: October 1, 2004 p.28
These hearty pancakes welcome autumn with a rich pumpkin puree and with cranberries folded into the thick batter. Serve them with maple syrup, honey or a sprinkling of confectioners sugar. Warm apple cider and cinnamon-dusted applesauce complement these pancakes, which are perfect for any meal of the day.
Ingredient List
Serves 4
� 2 large eggs
� 1 cup pumpkin pur�e
� 1/3 cup sweetened dried cranberries
� 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted
� 1 cup all-purpose flour
�1 Tbs. vegetable oil
� 1 Tbs. baking powder
� 2 Tbs. granulated or brown sugar
� Pinch of salt
Directions
1. Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl until foamy. Stir in remaining ingredients.
2. Spray a large nonstick skillet with nonstick cooking spray, and heat over medium heat. When the surface is hot, scoop about one-third cupful of batter onto the skillet, flattening out the cakes with the back of the spatula. When the bottoms start to turn golden, flip cakes over and cook second side. When both sides are golden and the cakes are firm, after about 7 minutes, remove from the heat. Repeat with the remaining batter.
3. To serve, pass with melted butter or margarine and the desired syrup or other topping.
Nutritional Information
Per SERVING: Calories: 360, Protein: 13g, Total fat: 15g, Carbs: 47g, Cholesterol: 105mg, Sodium: 440mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugars: 16g
Copyright � 2008 Cruz Bay Publishing, Inc. an Active Interest Media Company.
From Mike and Kadie (Diane)
Family,
We have been busy lately, but who hasn't. We continue to pray daily for Grandma and her health. The most sincere prayers for her come from Hyrum and he does not have to be reminded to pray for her either. So hopefully the Lord is listening!
Mike continues to be gone into the mountains during the week. We miss him and the Saturday nights and Sundays we have with him is time very much not taken for granted. He is almost done with the fence project he has been working on and possibly will be starting a new one. Although it looks as though winter might be coming and getting the cows out of the mountains will be the new priority.
The kids are doing well, other then missing their dad. They have been troopers and helped a lot when I needed it. Spencer has been great at helping me keep up with the milk cow and doing some of the out side chores, while KwinLee helps me around the house. A blessing they have been to help their mom out, even if it takes a little persuasion . . . and I don't mean beating them! We did just wean and sell our calf off of our milk cow, so our milking chore has stopped until her next calf is born. Our kids were sad to see "Roger" the calf be sold, all 720 lbs. of him, but it is one of those lessons that they learn about when living the ranch life style.
Tonight the kids and I unloaded a horse trailer full of fire wood and stacked it. Even the little boys helped. The saying about it warming you twice kept going through my head as we were hard at work. It was on Mike's to do list, and as you can imagine, his list is not getting any smaller by jobs being done. So we are trying to help him out, even though it probably takes us longer to get things figured out, we still try! The kids are excited to see the look on their dads face when he sees the nicely stacked wood!
So that is how it goes here at the Mike Briggs house. We love hearing from all of you and appreciate what Milt does to keep us all connected. Feel free to check out our blog anytime and you can keep up with more of our ramblings and happenings.
Briggs: Party of 6
Mike, Kadie, KwinLee, Spencer, Hyrum, and Reed
From Colleen and Dave
Hi Family:
I love Fall! It has been great staying here in Richmond and taking a walk once in a while and see the colors changing. Today was a blustery day, so the wind was blowing many leaves off the trees. Snow is expected this weekend, earlier than usual for this part of Utah. It will be a shock to have the temperature suddenly be much colder!
I have been hanging out with Dick here, taking care of Grandpa and taking turns going down to Sunshine Terrace to see Grandma (I will hereto forth refer to them as Mom and Dad). Dad's hand is doing well after the surgery last week. He is able to use his walker again to get around. Mom has several sores on her feet that are not healing. We are hoping the insurance will allow her to have oxygen treatments in a "Hyperbaric Chamber" that will help raise oxygen blood levels, which in turn, should help with the healing. If we get that problem solved, she should be able to come home.
Dave and I took a trip to Cody, WY, last weekend. I wanted to see an art exhibition by Tim Lawson at the Simpson Gallagher Gallery. It was certainly worth the long ride to get there! (8 hours). We had dinner there at the "Chop House" which sounds a little gross, but it was fabulous! I studied the paintings the next morning, then we needed to leave to go to Jackson Hole (5 hours). The next day I took some of my oil paintings to the director of Legacy Gallery there in town (the best gallery anywhere). He was cautiously positive . . . he has about 70 other portfolios to look at before he decides which new artists can come in. There are only a few spots available, so competition is tough. It would be an amazing opportunity to have my paintings there. Thousands of people visit there, most of them with $$ in their wallets and are interested in buying.
The weekend before that, Kim, Jackson, Alex and I went to visit Jennifer in Chicago. We had a great time going to see the aquarium, the natural history museum and the zoo. It was a whirlwind visit, but really nice to get together. I got to read Jackson stories every night, and one night we ordered pizza from around the corner and took it back to the hotel to eat. Much easier than taking the kids out! We had an official "Chicago Bus Experience" with a nasty bus driver, who gave us all sorts of grief for bringing on a stroller, etc., and being rude to many of the passengers.
At the end of our ride, Jennifer asked for her name and employee #. She wouldn't give it to Jennifer . . . which was not a good idea because Jenn took the driver's picture with her cell phone. Then, as Jenn was leaving the bus, the driver CLOSED THE DOOR on her!!! Well, a mother's wrath took over . . . I turned into "Wonder Woman", pried the bus door open to get Jenn's leg out, and yelled at the bus driver! We were all stunned and ranted about it all the way back to the hotel. Since Jenn works for a law firm, you can bet something will be done. More on this later . . .
Hope you are all doing OK, and that you will write letters so we will know of your adventures/trials, fun times.
Love to all, Dave and Colleen
October Birthdays
6 - Glenn Pope 20 - Dave Jones 23-Samuel Allen 25- Heidi Allen 26-Byron Pope
Editor�s Note: We need to update my birthday list. Each family, please send birthdays.
From Bill and DeAnn (Diane)
Dearest Family:
I am quite relieved that our esteemed editor has given us all one last chance to redeem ourselves in submitting a communication for the newsletter. Those of us who reside here in Cokeville have been very busy with dealing with the proverbial wolves of life. The downslide in the economy has certainly taken it�s toll on us. We have also been anxiously watching developments with the election and national financial crisis � DeAnn always has one response to both situations � �read your �Book of Mormon�.
Adrianna has been heavily engaged in her kindergarten experience. School for her is one very big exciting experience. The only daily trauma she experiences is in trying to convince mom or dad to ride the bikes to school instead of driving a vehicle. Life is good for Adrianna.
Bethaney has adapted to life here in Cokeville very well � she has several close friends and they all eat, drink and sleep sports. They are wrapping up the respective Junior High Volleyball careers in Afton tomorrow with an invitational tourney. Bethy is the team�s setter and has earned the attention of her coach and some of the retired volleyball coaches here in town who believe that she has a very bright future in volleyball. She celebrated her birthday with friends on a camping trip last summer.
Roland has been doing fine � all things considered. His football team has been making a quest for the state title and that has them fairly well involved. He has had some very bright moments on the gridiron as well. He is currently making the transition between �hittee and hitter�. He is coming along nicely having laid out a poor kid from Elk Mountain while his buddy Beau Peterson scampered to the end zone.
Roland and I recently had a very nice day on a quest for a buck deer last Saturday. We were highly blessed having a great day together in spite of the fact that it rained on us all day. The only exception was when we got onto some deer and the rain stopped and the fog lifted just long enough for Roland to make a great shot on a 3x3 buck. We were highly blessed and thankful for the divine intervention.
Kallie Kay is making her entry into the big girl world at BYUI. She has some great roommates and reports to us that she is getting adapted to the college environment very well . I reality, we think she was ready for the college classroom environment a year ago.
Logan is working in the oil / gas fields out of Riverton, WY for some family friends. He reports that he is doing well � although very bored with the lack of a social life. He plans to be done with that job at the end of this month and then get serious about the elk hunt.
DeAnn landed a very good job working for the State of Wyoming library system on the internet at home. She is going through a massive data base of old newspaper articles to check for mistakes and ensuring the quality of each article.
We wish you our very best and hope you all have plenty of ice cream in the freezer.
Bill, DeAnn, Logan, Kallie, Roland, Bethaney and Adrianna
I am quite relieved that our esteemed editor has given us all one last chance to redeem ourselves in submitting a communication for the newsletter. Those of us who reside here in Cokeville have been very busy with dealing with the proverbial wolves of life. The downslide in the economy has certainly taken it�s toll on us. We have also been anxiously watching developments with the election and national financial crisis � DeAnn always has one response to both situations � �read your �Book of Mormon�.
Adrianna has been heavily engaged in her kindergarten experience. School for her is one very big exciting experience. The only daily trauma she experiences is in trying to convince mom or dad to ride the bikes to school instead of driving a vehicle. Life is good for Adrianna.
Bethaney has adapted to life here in Cokeville very well � she has several close friends and they all eat, drink and sleep sports. They are wrapping up the respective Junior High Volleyball careers in Afton tomorrow with an invitational tourney. Bethy is the team�s setter and has earned the attention of her coach and some of the retired volleyball coaches here in town who believe that she has a very bright future in volleyball. She celebrated her birthday with friends on a camping trip last summer.
Roland has been doing fine � all things considered. His football team has been making a quest for the state title and that has them fairly well involved. He has had some very bright moments on the gridiron as well. He is currently making the transition between �hittee and hitter�. He is coming along nicely having laid out a poor kid from Elk Mountain while his buddy Beau Peterson scampered to the end zone.
Roland and I recently had a very nice day on a quest for a buck deer last Saturday. We were highly blessed having a great day together in spite of the fact that it rained on us all day. The only exception was when we got onto some deer and the rain stopped and the fog lifted just long enough for Roland to make a great shot on a 3x3 buck. We were highly blessed and thankful for the divine intervention.
Kallie Kay is making her entry into the big girl world at BYUI. She has some great roommates and reports to us that she is getting adapted to the college environment very well . I reality, we think she was ready for the college classroom environment a year ago.
Logan is working in the oil / gas fields out of Riverton, WY for some family friends. He reports that he is doing well � although very bored with the lack of a social life. He plans to be done with that job at the end of this month and then get serious about the elk hunt.
DeAnn landed a very good job working for the State of Wyoming library system on the internet at home. She is going through a massive data base of old newspaper articles to check for mistakes and ensuring the quality of each article.
We wish you our very best and hope you all have plenty of ice cream in the freezer.
Bill, DeAnn, Logan, Kallie, Roland, Bethaney and Adrianna
From Heidi and Trace (Dick)
LaVerkin, UT
Dear Family,
We hope that everyone is happy and well. Our thoughts and prayers are with Grandma and Grandpa as they recover from their health problems. We are grateful to my Dad for all that he has done and is doing for them and hope he is getting some sleep. Thanks to Diane, Colleen and Glenn for coming up when they can so he can get to his office in Park City. We also appreciate those who have been able to go up to Richmond to visit Grandma and Grandpa. We wish we were closer.
I (Heidi) started a part-time job about a month ago It has been 14 years since I stopped working at Megadiamond. I am working as an office assistant at the United Way Dixie office in St. George. There is just one other person in the office and she is full-time (Jeanne � we�re getting along well.). I'm working from 10-2, while the kids are in school. I have to leave at 9:15. Sam gets home before me. If I don't stop to run any errands, I can be home by 3:00. Andrew and Ethan leave at 8:30 and get home at 3:45. I went to a grant writing class last week. I have been working on scheduling campaign presentations (fund raising), updating and creating informational materials, letters, filing and several special projects. It is fun to be working again.
Lucky doesn�t like me being gone during the day. I haven�t been able to take him for a walk every day. He has been jumping/climbing the fence. After about two weeks, he started coming around to the front door right after I put him out and tried to leave for work. I took him to Trace�s office two days in a row, then I put him in the garage for a few days. I didn�t do it sooner because I was worried about him scratching up the door frame. Over the weekend we put together a dog run. It was only supposed to take 45 minutes, but it took us 4 hours and it was a cold, windy day.
Tracey has been on a crazy schedule with school and has pulled a few all-nighters lately. She pulled a muscle or something and couldn�t run much for a few weeks. She is doing better now. Region finals for cross country are on Tuesday up in Cedar City. She has been going to St. George every other week for AP Biology Labs at different high schools. A few weeks ago she had a car full of girls and got rear ended while stopped at a light out on Highway 9. Luckily, the lady swerved and just caught her on the corner and no one was hurt. At least this time when Tracey called us from the scene she was calm. The other driver�s insurance has claimed full responsibility for the accident Tracey has also finished the Personal Progress Program.
The boys have their final flag football game tomorrow (Monday). They are all on the same team, thank goodness. They won their first playoff game on Friday, lost their second, but they will still play one more time. Sam is quarterback most of the time because he is one of the older kids and can throw. Sam and Andrew have both made a touchdown. They are both good at running fast and pulling people�s flags. This is Ethan�s first year, so he is just trying to figure out what's going on. He seems to be having fun; he has at least 3 friends on the team. Sam is turning 12 in a few weeks and will be ordained a deacon. That also means he won�t be in Trace�s Scout group anymore.
We took a load of old bikes to the dump a few months ago and we were going to take Trace's old Yamaha bike with shocks, too. Trace had always wanted to fix it up for the boys, but never did. Andrew saw it and begged for it. He and Trace have been working on it - cleaning, repainting and replacing parts. It is done now and looks pretty good. Andrew is happy with it. He is kind of sentimental about things. Trace has also been working with Sam to build a skateboard jump/ramp. That is now done and ready to be painted.
I had my bathroom faucet blow up in my face the other day. The gooseneck faucet had come loose and the water pressure blew it off. It had happened to the boys on Trace�s sink a few times, but we put off replacing them. Of course, once it happened to me it became an urgent problem! I really wanted the Venetian bronze fixtures, but they were incredibly expensive, so I settled for brushed nickel. The problem is that all my existing fixtures, handles, lights and towel bars are brass, so they�ll have to be replaced a little at a time. I did find some spray paint in a matte nickel that I�m going to try first on the towel racks. If those look good, I�ll do the cabinet and drawer handles next. It was really difficult to get the 10 year old fixtures out. We had to use a hack saw for one part and pull the drain cap apart piece by piece.
We had our ward youth conference at the end of September. It was fun, but we didn�t have a very good turnout. We had a Mystery Menu Dinner, went tubing and played in the river, watched �Passage to Zarahemla� out on the church lawn on the side of a trailer, did service projects and had a yummy taco dinner and fireside/testimony meeting. I was also part of the group in charge of a stake Laurel/Priest Activity last Tuesday. We played a fun get-to-know-you game and then human foosball. We did have a good turnout for that. I�ve had to call a new counselor and now we have Young Women in Excellence coming up. I used to get all my YW stuff done during the day, but now I have to snatch moments, mostly at night, to get things done. I�m starting to better understand working people better.
It�s getting late, so I�d better sign off. Sorry if anything is disjointed in my letter. I just heard about the heavy snow up north. Trace said some placed got a foot � wow! We had some rain, it even tried to hail on Saturday afternoon, but I�ll be happy with our weather down here. Take care.
Love,
Trace, Heidi, Tracey, Sam, Andrew and Ethan
From Diane and Boyd
Dear Family,
It seems like a long time since I wrote last but I guess that's because we have been so many places since then. We started out going down to Utah the first part of September. We went to Provo first to take Boyd to stay with his Dad while his sister Robin and her husband Danny were gone for two weeks. His Dad is doing pretty well but it isn't a good idea for him to be alone for that long. I had to leave the next morning to go to Richmond to help take care of Mom & Dad so I didn't see much of Milt, Stacey and family until I went back to pick up Boyd. I was able to see Colleen while I was there and it was good to have some time to see her and Dick. We spent a lot of time going to the hospital to see Mom. Dad went along too so they were able to see each other every day. Mom has been having a hard time since her stroke and still is as you all know. She seemed to be back in time in her mind and had been seeing a lot of memories of her childhood during the first few weeks, especially Wallsburg. The cafeteria at the hospital has good food so we could eat there some of the time which helped a lot.
Dad was always glad to go see Mom but it tired him out to go each day. He would always stand up and give her a kiss before he left which took all the strength he had. This made me think that we should be grateful that we are able to give our mates a kiss without having to go through so much effort. While she was in the hospital our cousin Louie Pope (Uncle Max's son) and his wife Chris from Montpellier, Idaho came to see Dad at the house. It was so good to see them and we had a really nice visit. They told us that his brother Howard lives in the Bear Lake area too and is a Bishop there. When we went to the hospital the next day, they were there to see Mom and she recognized them. Louie said that he goes to Cokeville every Sunday and that he was anxious to meet Bill, DeAnn and family. Mom seem to keep having mini strokes so that has kept her from being able to make better progress. She also acquired several sores on her feet while in the hospital so that has kept her from being able to walk so she could come home. After the allotted time was up in the hospital she was transferred to the Sunshine Terrace facility to have physical therapy to keep her strength up. Some days she can participate and some days she can't. They don't have enough staff there to see to her needs as they are short handed so it is necessary to have someone go each day to make sure that she is getting enough to drink and help her with her meals, especially when she needs to eat in bed. She seemed to enjoy the flowers that came from family and friends and the phone messages from everyone. I was able to stay for a little over 2 weeks and then it was necessary to go home to pay bills and all that good stuff.
Boyd and his Dad had a great time while he was there. They got to see Milt most every morning at breakfast time so they really enjoyed that. They did a lot of traveling as they decided to go to Tooele to learn more about their ancestor, Esias Edwards, that settled there when the pioneers came to Utah. They went to Wyoming to see the area around McKinnon where the Briggs' had lived before moving to Montana. They stayed with some of their friends overnight and had a great time. They also went to S.L. to see his cousin Dean Benson, his wife Pat and son Brian perform at the Gallivan Center in the downtown area. Brian plays the guitar and Dean & Pat accompany him. They are very good. Glenn needs to get together with them. Boyd and his Dad went to see Glenn, Pat and family but I was up in Richmond. We are very glad that Pat is doing better. We hope she stays that way!! What an ordeal they have been through. I didn't get to see them but talked to them on the phone several times.
Boyd was also able to see Mariah's volleyball game and said what a great player that she is. I'm sorry that I had to miss seeing her and her team - maybe when we go down again. Milt and Stacey took them on a tour of Provo High School where Stacey is Vice Principle. They showed them the area where Milton had helped do a lot of work. They had turned a old run down area into a beautiful outdoor auditorium. It was Stacey's idea. She has done a lot to improve both the academics and the looks of the school since she has been there. When I went back to Orem we were able to spend Wednesday evening with Stacey, Mariah and Alyssa and have a delicious meal with them. We saw Milton and Reese the next morning as they were working the night before. That worked out great as it is hard to catch all of them with their busy schedules. We caught up on all the latest happenings with them. Reese said that he had been to buy all of his clothes for his mission the day before so he sounded pretty happy. We are excited for him and his mission call to Argentina. We will hopefully be down in November to see him again before he leaves. It was good to see Alyssa so happy. She really likes working at Provo High and she has a new boyfriend so that makes her double happy.
We decided to go home by way of Cokeville to see Bill, DeAnn and family. The weather was beautiful and it was a pretty drive through the canyon. It was great to see them and we had a great time seeing all the festivities since it was their homecoming weekend. The next day (Friday) Boyd took Adrianna to school to get ready to be with her class for the parade. We watched the parade in the morning and then went on to see Roland's team win their game 42 to 0 in the afternoon. The beautiful weather continued and we had a great day. Bethaney and Adrianna dressed up for homecoming. It was fun to be part of the action. Logan surprised everyone and came home in time for the game. We were glad to see him and get to visit with him. He looks good and is getting lots of muscles from the work that he is doing down at the oil fields. We had to leave for home the next morning but went by Bear Lake so we could see Bethaney's volleyball game in Lake Town. It is at the Southern end of the lake and we were impressed with the neatness of the town and the beautiful spot where it is located. We thought that it would be a great place to live until we found out that they get 6 - 8 feet of snow in the winter time. Bethaney's team played a good game and even played a few extra games for practice. I took some pictures of her serving the ball but they turned out blurry. We hated to leave but need to get on our way. It was so good to spend some time with all of them. We were hoping to catch up with Louie and Howard as we went through but they must not have been home. We drove by Ovid on our way to Montpellier and thought of Mike and Kadie as we went by as they used to live there. We planned on stopping in Rexburg to see Kallie Kay and cousin Dennis Pope but didn't have time this trip. We will go down later and go through the Rexburg Temple. We arrived home about 8:30 P.M. and that was late enough as we had produce to unload that we picked up in Brigham City. Sandy and Cy had done a great job of taking care of the yard and house.
After spending a few days here catching up we decided to go to see Keri, David and the boys as we had window of opportunity before leaving to go back to Richmond. It was good to see them and do a little touring around. There are so many pretty places to go there as White Sulphur Springs is in the middle of the valley and you can go several directions from there and it is all beautiful country. I was hoping to have time to take pictures to paint and to send to Colleen but that would have taken another day. We were hoping to see Mike, Kadie and family on the way back but they were gone the only day that we could see them so we will go back there later. Mike has been gone every day in the mountains so we haven't been able to talk to him much lately.
I talked to our cousin Chrystine Reynolds yesterday and she said that she and Jim are leaving this Saturday for a trip through the Holy Land. It sounds like the areas that they are going to see are not visited very often. I'm sure that they will have a lot to tell when they get back. Our thoughts and prayers are with David Shields too and hope by the time that this newsletter is out that he has good news about his health. He has a growth on the bone that they did biopsies on and something going on in his lungs. They won't have any results until next week.
I guess that I have rattled on long enough so I will close for now. Thanks to Milton for being our editor.
Our Love to Everyone, Boyd & Diane
From Milton and Stacy (Diane)
Hello Everyone,
We are hanging in there just like everyone else in these challenging times. It is difficult knowing the Grandma is suffering. We hope that something can change for the better soon. It was hard to get used to her not working me over a little like she used to do when I would see her. I am always surprised at how she can conjure up something I had long since forgotten about to tease me with. What a comfort to know that Uncle Dick is taking such good care of her and Grandpa. Mom, Glenn, and Colleen have made great efforts to help out as well in spite of the distance they have to travel. I know that many of her relatives have journeyed to Richmond lately to try to cheer her up as well.
Stacey is staying busy with her work at Provo High School and working on her doctoral degree. I have never in my life seen a boot-camp like she is facing with her classes for her degree. The college literally thrashes the daylights out of her group every week. They all cling together like shipmates in a tropical storm. Stacey is about as tough as they come, but I wonder if she can survive this one. Her parents came and stayed with us for a few days on their way to Arizona for the winter. They are rock-hounds and do their own stone jewelry work. It is pretty impressive.
Mariah is doing very well balancing her schoolwork and athletics. She is often at the school well before it starts in the morning catching up. She has had a first class go-round with doctor visits the past few months and endured a lot of treatments. She tore a tendon in her right wrist last spring and that is not the best injury to deal with for a volleyball player. It looks like she has run the gambit on avoiding surgery and will have to have that done soon. She still has her faithful dog Oscar looking after her.
Reese will enter the MTC for his mission to Argentina on November 12. He is working hard and playing hard getting his last licks in before he leaves. He has been getting a good dose of bureaucracy trying to get his visa documents. Things are not like the old days in that respect. I think he is starting to wonder if he even knows if he is himself. He was born in Montana so that is an added complication. One funny thing happened about his second hepatitis shot. He called the doctor to see when he was supposed to get the next shot and the nurse said, �You should have had that three weeks ago.� There was this silence for a minute and then I hear Reese say to her, �Geez, does that mean that I have it (hepatitis) now!�
Have a great autumn everyone and thanks a lot for the letters.
Milt, Stacey, and Family
Dear Family,
We hope that everyone is happy and well. Our thoughts and prayers are with Grandma and Grandpa as they recover from their health problems. We are grateful to my Dad for all that he has done and is doing for them and hope he is getting some sleep. Thanks to Diane, Colleen and Glenn for coming up when they can so he can get to his office in Park City. We also appreciate those who have been able to go up to Richmond to visit Grandma and Grandpa. We wish we were closer.
I (Heidi) started a part-time job about a month ago It has been 14 years since I stopped working at Megadiamond. I am working as an office assistant at the United Way Dixie office in St. George. There is just one other person in the office and she is full-time (Jeanne � we�re getting along well.). I'm working from 10-2, while the kids are in school. I have to leave at 9:15. Sam gets home before me. If I don't stop to run any errands, I can be home by 3:00. Andrew and Ethan leave at 8:30 and get home at 3:45. I went to a grant writing class last week. I have been working on scheduling campaign presentations (fund raising), updating and creating informational materials, letters, filing and several special projects. It is fun to be working again.
Lucky doesn�t like me being gone during the day. I haven�t been able to take him for a walk every day. He has been jumping/climbing the fence. After about two weeks, he started coming around to the front door right after I put him out and tried to leave for work. I took him to Trace�s office two days in a row, then I put him in the garage for a few days. I didn�t do it sooner because I was worried about him scratching up the door frame. Over the weekend we put together a dog run. It was only supposed to take 45 minutes, but it took us 4 hours and it was a cold, windy day.
Tracey has been on a crazy schedule with school and has pulled a few all-nighters lately. She pulled a muscle or something and couldn�t run much for a few weeks. She is doing better now. Region finals for cross country are on Tuesday up in Cedar City. She has been going to St. George every other week for AP Biology Labs at different high schools. A few weeks ago she had a car full of girls and got rear ended while stopped at a light out on Highway 9. Luckily, the lady swerved and just caught her on the corner and no one was hurt. At least this time when Tracey called us from the scene she was calm. The other driver�s insurance has claimed full responsibility for the accident Tracey has also finished the Personal Progress Program.
The boys have their final flag football game tomorrow (Monday). They are all on the same team, thank goodness. They won their first playoff game on Friday, lost their second, but they will still play one more time. Sam is quarterback most of the time because he is one of the older kids and can throw. Sam and Andrew have both made a touchdown. They are both good at running fast and pulling people�s flags. This is Ethan�s first year, so he is just trying to figure out what's going on. He seems to be having fun; he has at least 3 friends on the team. Sam is turning 12 in a few weeks and will be ordained a deacon. That also means he won�t be in Trace�s Scout group anymore.
We took a load of old bikes to the dump a few months ago and we were going to take Trace's old Yamaha bike with shocks, too. Trace had always wanted to fix it up for the boys, but never did. Andrew saw it and begged for it. He and Trace have been working on it - cleaning, repainting and replacing parts. It is done now and looks pretty good. Andrew is happy with it. He is kind of sentimental about things. Trace has also been working with Sam to build a skateboard jump/ramp. That is now done and ready to be painted.
I had my bathroom faucet blow up in my face the other day. The gooseneck faucet had come loose and the water pressure blew it off. It had happened to the boys on Trace�s sink a few times, but we put off replacing them. Of course, once it happened to me it became an urgent problem! I really wanted the Venetian bronze fixtures, but they were incredibly expensive, so I settled for brushed nickel. The problem is that all my existing fixtures, handles, lights and towel bars are brass, so they�ll have to be replaced a little at a time. I did find some spray paint in a matte nickel that I�m going to try first on the towel racks. If those look good, I�ll do the cabinet and drawer handles next. It was really difficult to get the 10 year old fixtures out. We had to use a hack saw for one part and pull the drain cap apart piece by piece.
We had our ward youth conference at the end of September. It was fun, but we didn�t have a very good turnout. We had a Mystery Menu Dinner, went tubing and played in the river, watched �Passage to Zarahemla� out on the church lawn on the side of a trailer, did service projects and had a yummy taco dinner and fireside/testimony meeting. I was also part of the group in charge of a stake Laurel/Priest Activity last Tuesday. We played a fun get-to-know-you game and then human foosball. We did have a good turnout for that. I�ve had to call a new counselor and now we have Young Women in Excellence coming up. I used to get all my YW stuff done during the day, but now I have to snatch moments, mostly at night, to get things done. I�m starting to better understand working people better.
It�s getting late, so I�d better sign off. Sorry if anything is disjointed in my letter. I just heard about the heavy snow up north. Trace said some placed got a foot � wow! We had some rain, it even tried to hail on Saturday afternoon, but I�ll be happy with our weather down here. Take care.
Love,
Trace, Heidi, Tracey, Sam, Andrew and Ethan
From Diane and Boyd
Dear Family,
It seems like a long time since I wrote last but I guess that's because we have been so many places since then. We started out going down to Utah the first part of September. We went to Provo first to take Boyd to stay with his Dad while his sister Robin and her husband Danny were gone for two weeks. His Dad is doing pretty well but it isn't a good idea for him to be alone for that long. I had to leave the next morning to go to Richmond to help take care of Mom & Dad so I didn't see much of Milt, Stacey and family until I went back to pick up Boyd. I was able to see Colleen while I was there and it was good to have some time to see her and Dick. We spent a lot of time going to the hospital to see Mom. Dad went along too so they were able to see each other every day. Mom has been having a hard time since her stroke and still is as you all know. She seemed to be back in time in her mind and had been seeing a lot of memories of her childhood during the first few weeks, especially Wallsburg. The cafeteria at the hospital has good food so we could eat there some of the time which helped a lot.
Dad was always glad to go see Mom but it tired him out to go each day. He would always stand up and give her a kiss before he left which took all the strength he had. This made me think that we should be grateful that we are able to give our mates a kiss without having to go through so much effort. While she was in the hospital our cousin Louie Pope (Uncle Max's son) and his wife Chris from Montpellier, Idaho came to see Dad at the house. It was so good to see them and we had a really nice visit. They told us that his brother Howard lives in the Bear Lake area too and is a Bishop there. When we went to the hospital the next day, they were there to see Mom and she recognized them. Louie said that he goes to Cokeville every Sunday and that he was anxious to meet Bill, DeAnn and family. Mom seem to keep having mini strokes so that has kept her from being able to make better progress. She also acquired several sores on her feet while in the hospital so that has kept her from being able to walk so she could come home. After the allotted time was up in the hospital she was transferred to the Sunshine Terrace facility to have physical therapy to keep her strength up. Some days she can participate and some days she can't. They don't have enough staff there to see to her needs as they are short handed so it is necessary to have someone go each day to make sure that she is getting enough to drink and help her with her meals, especially when she needs to eat in bed. She seemed to enjoy the flowers that came from family and friends and the phone messages from everyone. I was able to stay for a little over 2 weeks and then it was necessary to go home to pay bills and all that good stuff.
Boyd and his Dad had a great time while he was there. They got to see Milt most every morning at breakfast time so they really enjoyed that. They did a lot of traveling as they decided to go to Tooele to learn more about their ancestor, Esias Edwards, that settled there when the pioneers came to Utah. They went to Wyoming to see the area around McKinnon where the Briggs' had lived before moving to Montana. They stayed with some of their friends overnight and had a great time. They also went to S.L. to see his cousin Dean Benson, his wife Pat and son Brian perform at the Gallivan Center in the downtown area. Brian plays the guitar and Dean & Pat accompany him. They are very good. Glenn needs to get together with them. Boyd and his Dad went to see Glenn, Pat and family but I was up in Richmond. We are very glad that Pat is doing better. We hope she stays that way!! What an ordeal they have been through. I didn't get to see them but talked to them on the phone several times.
Boyd was also able to see Mariah's volleyball game and said what a great player that she is. I'm sorry that I had to miss seeing her and her team - maybe when we go down again. Milt and Stacey took them on a tour of Provo High School where Stacey is Vice Principle. They showed them the area where Milton had helped do a lot of work. They had turned a old run down area into a beautiful outdoor auditorium. It was Stacey's idea. She has done a lot to improve both the academics and the looks of the school since she has been there. When I went back to Orem we were able to spend Wednesday evening with Stacey, Mariah and Alyssa and have a delicious meal with them. We saw Milton and Reese the next morning as they were working the night before. That worked out great as it is hard to catch all of them with their busy schedules. We caught up on all the latest happenings with them. Reese said that he had been to buy all of his clothes for his mission the day before so he sounded pretty happy. We are excited for him and his mission call to Argentina. We will hopefully be down in November to see him again before he leaves. It was good to see Alyssa so happy. She really likes working at Provo High and she has a new boyfriend so that makes her double happy.
We decided to go home by way of Cokeville to see Bill, DeAnn and family. The weather was beautiful and it was a pretty drive through the canyon. It was great to see them and we had a great time seeing all the festivities since it was their homecoming weekend. The next day (Friday) Boyd took Adrianna to school to get ready to be with her class for the parade. We watched the parade in the morning and then went on to see Roland's team win their game 42 to 0 in the afternoon. The beautiful weather continued and we had a great day. Bethaney and Adrianna dressed up for homecoming. It was fun to be part of the action. Logan surprised everyone and came home in time for the game. We were glad to see him and get to visit with him. He looks good and is getting lots of muscles from the work that he is doing down at the oil fields. We had to leave for home the next morning but went by Bear Lake so we could see Bethaney's volleyball game in Lake Town. It is at the Southern end of the lake and we were impressed with the neatness of the town and the beautiful spot where it is located. We thought that it would be a great place to live until we found out that they get 6 - 8 feet of snow in the winter time. Bethaney's team played a good game and even played a few extra games for practice. I took some pictures of her serving the ball but they turned out blurry. We hated to leave but need to get on our way. It was so good to spend some time with all of them. We were hoping to catch up with Louie and Howard as we went through but they must not have been home. We drove by Ovid on our way to Montpellier and thought of Mike and Kadie as we went by as they used to live there. We planned on stopping in Rexburg to see Kallie Kay and cousin Dennis Pope but didn't have time this trip. We will go down later and go through the Rexburg Temple. We arrived home about 8:30 P.M. and that was late enough as we had produce to unload that we picked up in Brigham City. Sandy and Cy had done a great job of taking care of the yard and house.
After spending a few days here catching up we decided to go to see Keri, David and the boys as we had window of opportunity before leaving to go back to Richmond. It was good to see them and do a little touring around. There are so many pretty places to go there as White Sulphur Springs is in the middle of the valley and you can go several directions from there and it is all beautiful country. I was hoping to have time to take pictures to paint and to send to Colleen but that would have taken another day. We were hoping to see Mike, Kadie and family on the way back but they were gone the only day that we could see them so we will go back there later. Mike has been gone every day in the mountains so we haven't been able to talk to him much lately.
I talked to our cousin Chrystine Reynolds yesterday and she said that she and Jim are leaving this Saturday for a trip through the Holy Land. It sounds like the areas that they are going to see are not visited very often. I'm sure that they will have a lot to tell when they get back. Our thoughts and prayers are with David Shields too and hope by the time that this newsletter is out that he has good news about his health. He has a growth on the bone that they did biopsies on and something going on in his lungs. They won't have any results until next week.
I guess that I have rattled on long enough so I will close for now. Thanks to Milton for being our editor.
Our Love to Everyone, Boyd & Diane
From Milton and Stacy (Diane)
Hello Everyone,
We are hanging in there just like everyone else in these challenging times. It is difficult knowing the Grandma is suffering. We hope that something can change for the better soon. It was hard to get used to her not working me over a little like she used to do when I would see her. I am always surprised at how she can conjure up something I had long since forgotten about to tease me with. What a comfort to know that Uncle Dick is taking such good care of her and Grandpa. Mom, Glenn, and Colleen have made great efforts to help out as well in spite of the distance they have to travel. I know that many of her relatives have journeyed to Richmond lately to try to cheer her up as well.
Stacey is staying busy with her work at Provo High School and working on her doctoral degree. I have never in my life seen a boot-camp like she is facing with her classes for her degree. The college literally thrashes the daylights out of her group every week. They all cling together like shipmates in a tropical storm. Stacey is about as tough as they come, but I wonder if she can survive this one. Her parents came and stayed with us for a few days on their way to Arizona for the winter. They are rock-hounds and do their own stone jewelry work. It is pretty impressive.
Mariah is doing very well balancing her schoolwork and athletics. She is often at the school well before it starts in the morning catching up. She has had a first class go-round with doctor visits the past few months and endured a lot of treatments. She tore a tendon in her right wrist last spring and that is not the best injury to deal with for a volleyball player. It looks like she has run the gambit on avoiding surgery and will have to have that done soon. She still has her faithful dog Oscar looking after her.
Reese will enter the MTC for his mission to Argentina on November 12. He is working hard and playing hard getting his last licks in before he leaves. He has been getting a good dose of bureaucracy trying to get his visa documents. Things are not like the old days in that respect. I think he is starting to wonder if he even knows if he is himself. He was born in Montana so that is an added complication. One funny thing happened about his second hepatitis shot. He called the doctor to see when he was supposed to get the next shot and the nurse said, �You should have had that three weeks ago.� There was this silence for a minute and then I hear Reese say to her, �Geez, does that mean that I have it (hepatitis) now!�
Have a great autumn everyone and thanks a lot for the letters.
Milt, Stacey, and Family
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