Christmas blog

Well, here we are. Another year has come up and smacked us in the face.

I guess I will recap the last few months to get everyone up to date:

(Picture)

Elaine, Skip, Chris, Michele, Nia, Jesse, Andrew, Amy, Melissa & Tanner

In October we loaded up in the Cherokee 6 with Kara, Nate and Michelle and flew over to Seattle to attend Isabella Bigelow's blessing. It was a near perfect trip-good weather, etc.- and Darrel did a great job with the blessing. On Saturday we drove up the canyon aways and hiked up to Big 4 ice caves. Really cool. There is this big glacier back up against a huge rock wall. In the summer the bottom melts and forms a cave and the warm wind blowing up the canyon makes it bigger. It's a huge hole-20 feet high-that you could walk into, except for the fact that it has been known to collapse and crush people now and then. We stayed out.

Darrel and Latassa and the girls came here for Thanksgiving. John came up from Provo. Nate and Michele and Kara and Brandon attended also, along with John's old buddy Cory and his wife Melanie, and their baby, Bella. Elaine deligated all of the supporting dishes out to the kids and preceded to create a masterpiece of a turkey. We ate till we passed out.

Today we got back from spending the weekend with Jesse and Michele up in Moscow. We had Christmas with all the Cederquist kids here in Idaho. Amy and Melissa came down from Bonners. Carla, Jimmy, Shania, Chris and Adrianna came down from Post Falls. And of course, Keri and her guy CJ from right there in Moscow. We had just a fine time. Andrew and Tanner were a little on the sick side (croup, it turns out) but they soldiered on. I'm sure having Puck there helped keep their minds off things. We played Whacky 6 until the casualty count got out of hand and we had to quit. We enjoyed an amazing display of nativity sets at the Stake Center in Moscow. There must have been 500 nativities on display. They had one room set up for children with child friendly nativities and activities. It was very cozy with a fireplace, piano, puppet stage, and a lot of ambiance. Another room was set up as a "Live Nativity" with the manger scene and costumes. A photographer was on hand to snap a picture of each family group. Jesse was on duty, but we twisted his arm a little and he joined us for a photo session. The little boys were adorable little lambs.

We are so very thankful for each one of our children and grandchildren. Each one is so dear to us. Skip is now the Family History Consultant and is teaching the class in our ward. We are finally making some progress finding some of Skip's family. We are planning to go to a Family Reunion in Michigan at his sister's house this summer. Skip has contacted some of his cousins for family history information and has received some great information already.

Here's hoping everyone has a Merry Very Christmas and a Preposterous New Year

Hiya, Watha

It's been so long since I posted a blog I forgot how to log on. Had to reset my password. What a hassle.
Last weekend we finally got to ride the Hiawatha Trail. Google it to see details and what/where. Needles to say, a great time was had by all. Amy, Keri, Charlie, Melissa and Michele all came with, along with Jimmy, Jesse and the boys, and Adrianna. Ten of us in all. It was overcast and cool, but we never actually got rained on. Took about three hours to ride down, what with stopping to read all the markers, eat snacks, etc. Fantastic scenery, high scairy trestles and long scairier tunnels. They ain't kiddin' when they say bring a light. Those tunnels are blacker than the inside of a cow. And cold. And damp. The longest was 1.7 miles, which we had to go through twice. It was our high adventure for the year.
The first picture is Andrew and Tanner at the end of the ride. They'd had enough.
How about those legs, huh? Hey, I'm pale and I'm proud.

Graduation Squared

Last Saturday Elaine and the rest of us observed (from very good seats) the graduation from BSU of not one but two of her kids. Nate and Kara walked the walk, he with honors and she for the second time. It was a great event. Tom flew out from Cincinnati on Thursday and Latassa got here on Friday. John came up from Provo also, with his dad. Elaine got to see all here kids together and get some nice pictures. So where are they, you might ask. Floating around somewhere on a CD, I guess. I thought they were on my laptop hard drive but, evidently, not.
I also got the chance, finally, to fly my RC airplane. I figured out that it had been 35 years since last I'd thumbed the stick of a transmitter to fly an airplane. I was a little wired about doing it, hoping I wouldn't crash, but still fully expecting to auger. I even brought a crash bucket with me, to bring all the pieces home. No one was more surprised than me, when I managed to pull it off; not once, but twice! It was a perfect day, on a perfect field (a sod farm-RC heaven). I have to thank Elaine again for giving me such a great Christmas present. It was just what I wanted.
I'm in Montgomery, Alabama this week. I hope to get down to see Kevin, Amy and Chloe on Thursday. Looking forward to that, and hearing about Kevin's experiences finally getting to fly a whoptychopter. I will return and report.

Junior Missing

Time to catch up on the blog. This will be a brief report on the weekend at Bonners Ferry. We flew up on Saturday to attend the Junior Miss pagant. Amy J was one of the contestants, and a wonderful one she was too. The whole event was very well done, in my opinion. The level of preperation was evident in the musical numbers and I now fully appreciate the amount of time and effort the girls put in getting ready for that thing. I was enormously proud watching my littlest girl up there in the bright lights, comporting herself with grace and style.

We had a great time seeing all the kids and grandkids. And they were all there. Tanner is now the same size as Andrew, and the way he is growing he will soon be bigger than me. Kevin has all the pictures of the pagent and the get together. he is going to put them on a CD for distribution.

I am in Memphis this week. Here is me with the Peabody ducks. They are still here. Just like in the book.

The Birthday Extravaganza

The weekend of birthdays is finally over. And what a time it was.
The festivities started last Tuesday, when Kevin, Amy, Chloe and Keri arrived from Alabama. We got a chance to see that the little cutie pie has gotten even cuter, if that is possible. She got cuddled and smooched mercilessly by a platoon of grandparents and aunties. And speaking of grandparents, Carl and Joyce (Elaine's parents) arrived on Wednesday to help out with the cuddling and smooching.
On Thursday, Keri, Carl and I helped decorate the cultural hall for the Prom. Then, on Friday, I took the day off so we could spend some time with everyone, and get some yard projects finished up. We all went to the Prom that night, along with Kevin and Amy. Everybody danced. Some more than once. It was a great way to celebrate a birthday (mine). A good time, as they say, was had by all.
Saturday was planned as a relaxing day with no major projects, other than a barbecue in the evening. Elaine even let Kevin and I go to the airport. We had a kitchen pass until 5:00. So about three, Kev gets a text from Amy saying she needs him back at the house.
We get back to the house and I observe there are quite a few cars parked along the side curb. Funny. Must be a party somewhere. Well, guess where.
I walked in and there are about forty people standing in the family room singing and taking my picture. Now, I can count the number of surprise birthday parties I have had on one finger, but still, this had to be the best one anybody could ever have. It was a luau. Tiki torches, grass skirts, lai's, the whole nine yards. Elaine, Keri and Amy went all out. Great food and great company. My sister Carolyn came all the way out from Michigan to attend. Plus several of the couples from our empty nesters FHE group, and several of the couples from the singles group we get together with occasionally. And all our kids that are around locally. I am amazed that my wife would put together such a party for me and have it on HER BIRTHDAY! It's just one more confirmation that I married up-way up.
Check the next post for party pictures.

"Ha! Har yall dune?"

This post comes to you from a hotel room in Manchester, Tennessee. It's about an hour south of Nashville. I have a job here that started on Thursday. I was supposed to finish on Saturday and go home but I had some parts problems that can't be resolved until I get a FedEx delivery tomorrow. So I got to spend the weekend here.
It hasn't been too bad, except for the tornado. One touched down north of here and took out some houses, but all we got was horrific rain and wind. I was working in the hangar. The chief pilot came over from their little house next door and allowed as how they were evacuating the base, and suggested I do the same. I concurred. I got in my car and drove to Wal-Mart, which is one of the preferred places of refuge. By the time I got there the worst was over, so I went and had dinner instead.
We are enjoying reading the blogs some of you are posting. As for the rest of y'all, get on the blog wagon! We can't always get a hold of you on the phone to catch up on what you are doing, and besides, this is free. Our computer is standing by.

The News Drought Is Over

Well, it was quiet here until this morning. Yesterday was a typical Saturday for us: workout at the gym, work in the yard, dance in the evening. When we got home Elaine said her knee was bothering her, but she took a hot soak in the tub and went to bed. About 3:30 Puck started whining to go out. She got up to let him out but when she got to the kitchen her knee was really paining her. Now, we have learned that sometimes when Elaine experiences severe pain she gets sick and light headed. She felt that coming on so she sat down and went to put her head between her knees. The next thing she knew she was laying flat on the floor and Puck was licking her face. She was moaning and hollering loud enough to wake me up. I rushed in to the kitchen and found her laying there holding her head and saying her knee hurt something terrible.
I said "Honey, I can't see anything wrong with your knee but you have a HUGH cut over your right eye!"
She went "What?" and then kind of passed out.
In a few seconds she came back around and I told her,"I'm calling 911". She started to argue with me about that, but I had visions of Natasha Richardson in my head (she died, you know), so I called them. They got here right quick (it's nice to live a block from the fire station), took her vitals, noted with alarm her low BP and heart rate (which we assured them is quite normal for her), immobilized her head and neck, and packed her off to the ER, with me in hot pursuit.
The ER staff all tsk-tsked about her BP and slow pulse, which we again explained, and decided to do a CT scan, just in case. When that came back clear, the doc stitched up her head and we came home.
The knee is fine.
So now I guess we must acknowledge that we ARE getting all stove up and give out. At least a little. Hate to, though. We are having so much fun.
Elaine wanted to mention that we made a rubarb pie today and had Kara, Nate and Michelle over for dinner. The show, after all, must go on.