Chris Millard's World

Ramona decided to retire and move to Arizona. Who can blame her on a day like this? I am sad because I will miss her lots. After the years we worked together at the Office of Sponsored Projects, I learned to love and admire her as a good friend.

Ramona and Mike

Without Mike we wouldn't have had a party, so here's to the best boss on the planet!

Office of Sponsored Projects

Next to Ramona is Nancy who is taking Ramona's job at the Office of Sponsored Projects. She is moving from Accounting, where she will really be missed. But, this is a big gain for OSP!

Ramona and Anita

Anita came from Norm's office. Since it looked like snow, Norm went home. I just want to point out that Norm is the only person on campus with the authority to send everyone home in the event of bad weather. Not that he ever actually does this, but on his way out the door he mentioned that the snow was coming down hard! :)

Diana

The gorgeous Diana showed up in the fanciest boots I have ever seen. She is ready for the snow storm.

Ramona and Me

Here we are with the famous purple Christmas Tree (thanks to Spencer). WSU is the only place where you can have a purple Christmas tree and not say it is a little weird.

Ramona and Susan

Accounting

Ramona and Warren

Mike, Ramona, and Me

Ramona and Brad

Ramona and Christian

Ramona and Barry

Here are a couple of shots out the window of the President's Board Room where we had the party. Okay, I get why she is leaving. Still, we are going to miss her lots! Good luck, Ramona, and keep a bedroom open for us to come visit!

Train

Tree

Kids with the Train

Opening Gifts

Reed

Connor

Reed

Max

Grandma and Max

Ellie

Jillian

Sophie

Megan

Sophie Ellie Jill

Sophie, Ellie, and Jillian say thank you to Mike for the necklaces! :)

Reed and Kristin

Clara puts together a puzzle

Abby puts together a puzzle

Emily

Abby

Megan

Rachel

Clara

Michele and Mark

Max and Connor

Dennis and Shamane

I'm trying to think through all this. First of all, 6 weeks ago a Nigerian banker notifies the international community that his son has severed ties with the family and decided to be "radicalized." Then, 2 weeks ago, the distraught father notifies Nigerian authorities that he thinks his son might be about to become a terrorist. Fast forward to Christmas Day, the son buys a ticket to Detroit and pays cash, and doesn't check any bags. No one connected the dots. Hmmmmm.

Here's what really worries me. Do you recall several years ago a certifiable nut case stuffed explosives into his shoe and tried to blow up a plane? What was the result of that? Well, all of us now have to take off our shoes and go through security bare foot.

Now, Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab decides to get on a plane with explosives sewed up in his underwear to try to blow up a plane. Do you see where I am going with this? How are we going to have to pass through security now? Huh?????

Just thinking.

Festivus is for everyone.

Mike had a Christmas Party that was spectacular! We had a cooking demonstation (and lots to eat) at the Artisan Grille in Ogden.

Chef Craig

Barry Gomberg

Party-goers

Dessert

Mike and Betty

Me and Chef Craig

Ok, it looks like I'm about to be sliced and diced!

Craig gives a demo on YouTube

This is citrus dressing. We learned how to make sauces. My favorite was tortellini with cream sauce.

Chef Craig and Mike

My Shoes

At the party everyone loved my Weber State University shoes. Spencer bought these shoes for me and everyone wants some. They are Nikes and note there is a wildcat with my name on each foot. Everywhere I go people love them!

Here is the Christmas Meeting of the Breakfast Club. Brad and Camille (mostly Camille) gave us aprons and Spencer is wearing his. Yes, he is actually wearing an apron. I am wearing my new purple scarf from Spencer. I gave the boys each a book on how to be snarky (as if they need help). If we look goofy, we are satisfied.

This afternoon I delivered some treats to my friends, with help from Sophie, Ellie, and Jillian.

Here is Mike with my little girl elves.

Then we went down the hall to the President's office to wish her a Merry Christmas.

Here are the little Millard Girls with President Millner, in front of the purple Christmas Tree (courtesy of Spencer, of course).

Now that we have 3 little boys, we decided that after many years on the shelf, it is time to get out the train set. This Christmas we will set up the train, but it will be lots of work.

Jeff and Grandpa are cutting plywood to use as a base.

We had to buy some new track, but we have 2 brand new engines and all these little houses from when Dennis and Jeff were little boys.

Grandpa laid out a track that would fit on the plywood base. Now they are going to have to build some scenery to go with it. I predict that the three little Millard boys will demolish it in an hour! We will see.

We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and a spectacular new year in 2010!

Today we went to Farr's Ice Cream Shop to have an ice cream cone with our Precious Jillian

I opened the garage door this morning at 7:00 am and here was the view.

We had about 10 inches of snow yesterday and Grandpa spent about 4 hours digging us out last night.

I think it is safe to say that the mail carrier will not be stopping at our house today.

Here is the view from my car windshield as I headed out. Wonder where the snow plows were?

This morning we went to the Tabernacle Choir Christmas Program. We had 4 tickets so we took Kristin and Ellie this year.

Here is my Amazing Ellie with the Tabernacle Choir in the background. Did I forget to mention how absolutely Amazing my Ellie is? Everything about her is amazing.

We loved the music and dancing. The guest performer was Natalie Cole.

After the program we went to Brunch at Little America.

This is the best buffet on the planet. Notice the ice sculpture in the background. This is one of several.

My favorite is always the crepes.

Guess who we ran into at Little America? The guy with the tickets: Spencer! He has bread pudding with caramel sauce and he is about to get a big blob of ice cream on the top. We wouldn't even be here without Spencer.

Kristin's favorite was the crab legs. She got to eat all the crab legs her little heart desired.

Ellie by the Christmas Tree. Look at how those amazing eyes are lighting up the whole world.

Grandma and Grandpa

Last night we were invited to the Christmas Party at Dennis and Shamane's ward (they are on the activity committee).

Connor and Grandma

Our Connor is special because he is the first Millard Boy. The third Millard boy, Max, stayed home with his other Grandmother which was probably a good move because the little kids ran around the church screaming like hoodlums. There were about one million of them in that ward. We would have never been able to keep up with Max.

Connor and Grandpa

The program was a talent show, so Dennis played the bagpipes. He played Christmas music and Amazing Grace, which everyone loved. We always think this is so cool because so many of our ancestors came from Scotland.

Today was Grandparent's Day for Jillian at her school.

Grandma and Jillian

Jill

Here is Jillian eating her cheese sandwich. We also had chocolate milk and jello.

Here is Jillian in her classroom where she learns lots of fun things.

Click here: Thought you should know

Yes, it is winter in Utah! Here is a photo from the newspaper. Snow, ice, and 6 degrees! Yikes!

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Program has very limited tickets. So, each year when one of my best friends provides tickets for me, I am thrilled!

Notice that 1.2 million tickets were requested, and there were only 84,000 available. They distribute them through a computer lottery system. I am lucky indeed! I will be in the audience next Sunday.

This is me holding Michele who is about 12 months old. We are in Grandma and Grandpa Millard's back yard. Baby Michele liked to take off her clothes and run in the sprinkler. This was back in the days when no one had air conditioning and we had to cool off the best we could.

Baby Jeff

Michele and Dennis

I love this picture of Michele and Dennis because you can see how much Connor looks like Dennis at that age. And, when Rick and I see Connor walk and talk it is just like seeing Dennis at the same age.

This is Jeff's first haircut. It was done at Richard's barber shop in Pittsburgh, where Rick had his first haircut and where Grandpa Millard always had his hair cut. He was pretty little to have his hair cut, but it was so long that people thought he was a girl so I had to get it cut. Dennis had his first hair cut here too. By the way, Jeff screamed bloody murder the entire time.

Grandma and Grandpa Millard

Here are Grandma and Grandpa Millard. This was taken in about 1969.

This video clip is from 1974 when we lived in Cleveland, Ohio. It is taken in Jeff's bedroom. Notice the BYU shirt. Some things never change, although Dennis is now a Ute fan! Where did we go wrong?

We were expecting Baby Jeff, but in those days we could not know if it was a boy or a girl until the baby was born. So, the carpeting is yellow and there is yellow wallpaper on the walls.

We started Thanksgiving Day in our usual way: breakfast at McDonalds.

We must be nuts. And, I didn't take any other pictures. Don't know what I was thinking.

My friend, Spencer, was raised on a turkey ranch in Utah. Back in the day, his father, Deloris, raised 60,000 turkeys every year. Now that Grandpa Stokes is 90 years old, he only raises about 200 turkeys. In 1973 when Grandpa Stokes was a Stake President, he started delivering turkeys to the LDS First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve. Now it is Spencer's job to make the deliveries. It so happened that there was an extra turkey, so we met Spencer in the parking lot of Costco where he delivered this spectacular bird to the Millards.

A couple of days ago this turkey was running around the turkey farm, and now she is ours for our feast. And, what makes it special is to know that our turkey is a sister to the turkeys being eaten by the Monsons, the Uchtdorfs, the Eyrings, and all the others. Spencer says this is a blessed bird. Hee hee hee.

Clara is now 17 years old!

Max is now 2 years old! This is my favorite picture of the day: all 11 of the grandchildren.

Three Millard Girls.

Four of the Hoferitza girls.

Megan Hoferitza

Connor Millard

Here is Reed before cake.

Here is Reed after cake!

Check out this website!

Slide the scale button and see the size of cells in relationship to others! It is amazing.

Today I went to see Mike at his office but he wasn't there, so I talked to Diana. She told me where I could get an H1N1 flu shot, so off I went. I got to NOW Care on 12th Street at 4:40, filled out the form, got the shot, and was out the door at 5:00 pm. I was amazed since on TV I have seen where some people have waited in line for 3 hours and then they ran out of the vaccine! I have also read that about one-half of the people in Utah are hesitating to get the shot for fear of side effects. My niece, Katy, is majoring in Public Health at BYU and she says that getting the shot is a good idea and I trust her. And, I am less concerned about side effects and more worried about picking up the virus and passing it to my grandchildren whose little faces I kiss every chance I get. I got the shot for them.

Sophie was a Genie.

Ellie was Amelia Earhart. Her costume was amazingly simple: the hat and goggles!

Jill was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Can't see it, but she was wearing sparkley red shoes.

Reed had a wonderful costume as a train engineer, but somehow it got very wet. So, he is going as a Steeler fan. This will be very popular with many of the Haddow family!

Here is Abby carving a pumpkin. She went trick-or-treating, but maybe it is her last year. We didn't see Rachel and Clara who were at a band competition.

Here is Megan in a darling flamingo costume. She later ditched it in favor of a vampire. Go figure.

Here is the sleeping penguin, Max. Notice the cast on the right leg! Poor baby has a fracture that will take about 6 weeks to completely heal. This cast comes off in 2 weeks and a smaller version will make it easier for him to get around.

Connor was a fireman.

While we were at Dennis and Shamane's house, along came Emily and some guy.

We went to a Friday night Jazz game at Energy Solutions Arena in SLC. The Jazz played the LA Clippers (and beat them).

The highlight for me was the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing the National Anthem. It was amazing

Friend and colleague, Diane Pugmire, got sick on Monday, went to the hospital, then passed away Wednesday morning due to complications from H1N1. Here she is teaching about the power of one.

She will be remembered as a fantastic teacher and a wonderful friend to everyone. "Can you imagine the number of lives that can be touched?" We can't count the number of lives Diane touched.

I swiped this picture from Facebook. I love it!

We are Mormons and this is what we believe. The power of the atonement will make us pure and perfect. It requires an effort on our part. Go to church, take the sacrament, submit to the Father, and feel the peace of his love. There is no mistake for which you cannot be forgiven. Turn away from the mistakes, look forward, and do better. All will be well. This is what our family believes.

ATK had a layoff today. Grandpa escaped! Wahoo! Gotta love that paycheck every two weeks, not to mention the health insurance.

It was faculty day at the bookstore and I won a prize in the drawing. It is a gift card for the bookstore so I'll go shopping! Little do they know that I am working on a literature course that uses no textbooks at all! Everything will come from the internet. I think I can do this and save a bunch of money. :) The students will love me.

I don't want buns of steel. I want buns of cinnamon.

Ruben Navarrette, Jr. of CNN, on the murder of Darrion Albert in Chicago:

This crime is outrageous and heartbreaking. Obviously, if convicted, the four teenagers deserve to spend the rest of their lives behind bars. But what is broken here can't be fixed by harsh punishment alone. We've raised a generation of predators, one that is willing to kill for a good time. Too many parents have dropped the ball, too many communities are overly permissive, and too many young people don't think about how random acts of brutality can destroy people's lives.

I don't know the answer here. What do you do with children who are willing to murder other children? What kind of evil is at work in the world? I don't know who is to blame (there's lots to go around) nor how to fix it. It is all so complicated.

Can't stop myself.

Love that little "pop" when it seals. My house is bulging with jars!

A friend of mine is in Edinburgh, Scotland and he took this photo.

I don't even need to comment, except to say that one of these will probably appear on 3100 North soon.

Today was Grandparent's Day at Wasatch Elementary and so I got to have lunch with my Amazing Ellie. We had mashed potatoes with gravy and tiny bits of turkey. There were vegetables and chocolate pudding.

Ellie at her desk

I saw Ellie's classroom and her desk where she learns everything they have to teach in second grade.

Ellie on the playground

Then we went to the playground where Ellie has lots of friends. The teacher who was the playground monitor told me that Ellie was his favorite!

Connor

Reed

Just want to point out that my little Reed is a Weber Wildcat! Makes me proud!

Jillian and Connor

Connor and Jill

Max

The Dinosaur Park has cut outs where the kids like to stand with their faces through the holes. They look very funny.

Sophie and Ellie

Family

In the morning the Millard Boys all had scrambled eggs.

Max

Connor

Grandpa

Here's my boss and my assistant (who was caught by surprise). So, he thinks I'm a meanie, huh? We shall see.

Where I work they frown on blowing things up. However, at ATK where Grandpa works it is considered sport. See the big plume of smoke? Hear that roar? That is the sound of Grandpa's paycheck. Sweet.

I am going to quit being annoyed that I cannot take my Diet Coke through the security gate at the airport. It all seemed so silly to me until I saw this video!

Take a good look. It is horrifying. And, there are people out there who want to do this to aircraft where it is entirely possible that I will be sitting in seat 28C!

Click here to read the text of the President's message.

My favorite line:

So today, I want to ask you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?

This is reminiscent of President Kennedy and President Bush who both challenged students to think about what they could do for their country. I hope my grandchildren are thinking about how they can do something for the United States of America. Emily, like her father, has chosen to serve in the military, making me proud (and a little frightened).

Mark, Michele, and girls

Ellie Millard and Megan Hoferitza

Connor in the pool with Rachel and Abby

Max in the pool with Emily

Reed

Michele has chickens because when the big emergency comes she intends to have fresh eggs.

Max in the playhouse

Ellie and Megan

Notice that both of these 7-year-olds are missing teeth.

Emily

Emily is 19 years old.

She loved her presents.

Mark

Mark is 49 years old!

Mark baked 2 cakes. This is the chocolate one, but he made a spectacular Angel Food (not from the box either!) which I cut into little pieces so there would be lots left which I promptly hid!

Reed

Ellie Millard (second daughter of Jeff and Kristin) is amazing. I call her my Amazing Ellie!

Jillian

Precious Jill (third daughter of Jeff and Kristin) is the last little girl in our family. After Jill, there are three boys. Jillian is the last little Millard girl.

This is Max Millard. In all probability he is the last grandchild. He is the caboose! Being the baby has some advantages. He is pampered and carried about by the granddaughters who all adore him. Being the littlest has some disadvantages. You have to fight to get what you want, but it makes you tough! Max knows how to fight! And, he is creative. His legs are too short to climb the ladder to the slide, so he just climbs up the slide to go back down.

This is an update for some friends whom we do not see often. These are the three Millard boys. Reed (Jeff and Kristin's youngest--age 2 1/2), Max (Dennis and Shamane's youngest--be 2 in Nov.) and Connor (Dennis and Shamane's oldest--almost 5). After 8 girls in a row, we wondered if we would have any boys. Then, all of a sudden, here are 3! You can't tell but they are fighting to see who gets to go down the slide first. I was afraid one was going to knock another off the top of the slide!

Protein

Here is my project for tonight since I have absolutely nothing else to do. I went to Costco to get protein to add to my storage in preparation for the big emergency (whatever it turns out to be). Tuna fish and peanut butter were the main additions for the food storage cupboard.

Yummy Protein

Then, of course, I had to add something good, so here are yummy chocolate covered raisins! The vacuum sealing lady on the video says chocolate covered raisins can last 5 years if properly sealed (POP!). I'm getting really good at this.

Grandpa called me on the phone tonight and said I'm getting to be a fanatic! Can you imagine???? Well, he can't interfere in what I am doing when he is in Australia and I'm in Utah, so he can say all he wants. Wait until you see what I do tomorrow night. Fanatic, my foot! I"m just gonna say, when the big emergency comes Mr. Frowny Face doesn't get any chocolate covered raisins. They are for my babies. There.

I'm taking this Swine Flu thing seriously. I'm ready for a quarantine with all my candy bars and other stuff. Yes, I have the food that's good for me too. And, I have 4 big bottles of NyQuil, and 4 containers of anti-bacterial wipes. Hope I don't have to use all this stuff.

Click here for IHC's info on Swine Flu.

This is the menu at the Mulwayla Hotel where Grandpa had dinner last night. It isn't the luxury that he enjoyed in Sydney! :) He said the food was pretty good. What is "Grilled Barramundi?" Just wondering. And, they are letting him come home on Friday! Wahoo! There's lots of stuff around the house that needs fixing and I just haven't been able to do it. Guess we need a big, strong man!

I moved into the Hurst Building, which is the newest building on campus and it is beautiful.

Hurst Building

I haven't had time to put up any pictures or fix things up, but I will eventually. I have to make it like my home away from home. I do have the photo of my 11 babies on the file cabinet and I look at that every day.

One wall is a huge window with a beautiful view looking toward the Alumni Center.

Take a closer look -----

Really! Doesn't it look like the Garden of Eden? Wouldn't you love coming to work here? This is totally amazing and I love it! Somehow, thanks to the Provost, I ended up in the most perfect spot at Weber State University. I have to start being nicer to him!

He just found a laundromat with dryers. Typically, in Australia, homes do not have clothes dryers, but instead the people hang things outside to dry. Grandpa has been suffering all these weeks with this issue. He says it reminded him of 43 years ago when we were first married and didn't have a clothes dryer. We hung everything on clothes lines. Dryers are much better!

This is only one adjustment. Driving on the wrong side of the road has been another interesting challenge.

Grandma and Emily

Today Emily got home from Air Force Tech Training for Public Relations, held in Maryland for the past 3 months. Tomorrow her parents will help her get moved into her apartment in Logan so she can start school (albeit a week late). She told me that she contacted all her professors and they will help her catch up. I am always very accommodating when it comes to my students who are in the military, so I know she will be fine. While Michele, Mark, and Grandma Green were in the airport waiting for Emily to get off the plane, they ran into cousin Katy on her way back to BYU! Small world.

Can I just say right off the bat how glad I am to be back at the University? This morning I couldn't wait to get to work, and as I was driving in I just kept thinking that I am the luckiest person on the planet.

My Friends from the English Department

Jan and Brad

Jan is the VP for Student Affairs, and of course Brad is the VP of Univ. Advancement. Note that he has tucked in his tacky tie so that it doesn't get syrup on it. He's very careful with his tacky ties!

Humming right along with my preparing for a great event, I decided that tonight I should do some canning. Yes, I'm getting ready for the earthquake/quarantine/job loss/economic crash that is surely coming. As you know, I wanna be ready.

I go through the grocery store and say to myself: "Self, what will you miss when you can't come here with your debit card?" That's how I figure out what to put in my jars! Hey, it works for me!

You can see that I am wearing Grandma Green's real pearls. She bought them in Hong Kong many years ago when she traveled there with Aunt Esther. I wonder if anyone really can tell the difference or do they think they are plastic?

Grandma Green and Abby

Norma, Sandy Terri, Tina, Me, Trish

Grandma Green

Monkey see monkey do

Monkey Reed

Jill is very tall!

Reed and Max

Ricky, Kris, and their girls

Cousin Ricky, Kris, and their daughters came to visit.

Yesterday I went with Grandma Green and Michele to Willard to buy fruit to preserve. Michele is going to dehydrate apricots and vacuum seal them for the big earthquake. She wants to be prepared.

Grandma Green and Michele

I want to be prepared too. This is more of what I like to vacuum seal.

Sugarbabies

Yes, you are seeing this right: Sugarbabies. I just want to point out they are carmel apple Sugarbabies. I think apple makes them healthy. This is health food. Anyone can see that.

Butterscotch Chips

This is more like it!

Pop! Pop! Pop!

Grandpa is off to Australia. He left last night when there was a big wind storm that delayed his flight. He sent a text saying that he was worried that he might miss his connection in LA, but I didn't hear from him so I guess he made the plane to Sydney.

Let the partying begin.

Today it was little Tootsie Rolls. I won't even tell you what Grandpa said.

This morning the Breakfast Club met at our usual place to mock our enemies and plot our next moves. Since Spencer came back from Italy yesterday, it was only appropriate that he come dressed as a gondolier.

Spencer has set a new standard and apparently, the Breakfast Club will now be in costume. I have to start thinking about this. I shall not be outdone!

Me, Spencer the Gondolier, Brad

There are only 3 members of the Breakfast Club, and normally we do not host guests. Today we did have a very small visitor who was so generous as to take our picture. Notice that I am wearing very fine glass beads and earrings that Spencer brought to me from Italy. The women in his family obviously played a role here! I love the beads. Brad brought a gift that is a refrigerator magnet from Alcatraz (he went there a few weeks ago) with this pithy statement:

Regulation #5 - You are entitled to food, clothing, shelter and medical attention. Anything else you get is a privilege.

This should be posted at every house where there are teenagers.

As I have noted on this blog previously, the earthquake is coming and I am getting prepared. Seriously. This is my new hobby. My vacuum sealer has an attachment that I ordered online to vacuum seal canning jars. So, here are some of the things I am putting in jars.

Pecans

Chocolate Chips

Hot Tamales, Peanuts, White Chocolate Chips

Candy Bars

Peanut Butter Cups

Under the Beds

The boxes of jars slide under the beds. I hope the earthquake doesn't hit right at my house and make the beds fall down on the jars.

The conversation at our house goes something like this:

Rick: What are you doing now?
Me: Vacuum sealing food storage. The Prophet said to be prepared.
Rick: Why does it look more like junk food?
Me: The Prophet said to store what you like to eat.
Rick: Have you lost your mind?
Me: Hear that little sound? It is "pop." It is so sweet. It is the sound of the lid when it pops shut and then you know you have a good vacuum seal! Listen to the pop!
Rick: Exactly how many jars of candy do you have under the beds?
Me: I can't wait until you go back to Australia because I am going to spend every night listening to the little pops!
Rick: Does anyone really need to store candy for the earthquake?
Me: pop, pop, pop, pop, pop

Never mind the earthquake. You have to admit that it is more likely that we will be quarantined due to Swine Flu. Then, when everyone has been eating their food storage for a month, can you imagine how many cans of Tuna fish they will trade for one jar of candy bars? Not so dumb after all!!!!

Now if I could just figure out a way to store Diet Coke.

Connor

Dennis, Shamane, and Connor came to spend the night on Friday. Of course, we got up early to take Connor to his favorite place.

Reed

Reed

Connor and Jill

Ellie, Jill, Sophie

Reed and Grandpa

Jeff and Dennis

Kristin and the little girls

Sophie on skis

You have to look really hard to see this: between the trees you can see the boat and the little, tiny skier behind the boat is our Perfect Sophie! At 10 years old she has mastered water skiing!

Grandma and Chocolate Face Boy

Our air conditioning broke down so we had to hold the July birthdays at Dennis's house. Our house was like an oven and we couldn't get anyone to fix it until Monday.

Megan is 7 years old now. Note the little dress that Sophie is wearing. I bought that dress for Abby the day that Megan was born. I love the little cousin clothes-sharing.

Jeff is 36

Michele is 42

Grandma is 62 (yikes)

This is a badly done self portrait of me in my purple cowboy hat which I wore to the WSU picnic today. Can I just stop and say how much I love my job? I have to pinch myself to know that this is real and I'm getting up thrilled to come to work every day! Go Wildcats!

Grandpa took the Hoferitza girls boating. Here are Meg and Abby in the water.

This is a pain in the neck! It started a couple of weeks ago. As pains go, this was pretty bad. On a scale of one to ten, I was hitting an eight, so off to the doctor. An MRI showed damage in C3 and C4, with resulting bone growth pressing on the spinal column and causing swelling, hence the pain. Now I am on Prednisone, which has its own challenges. It is a wicked drug!!!! I have until Wednesday and then if it isn't better, I will have to see a neurosurgeon. Yikes! I'm operating on a wing and a prayer!

This little picture shows inflamation at C3 so this is sort of what it looks like.

Rick showed his Corvette at the Logan Cruise In Car Show over July 3rd and 4th. He had lots of fun.

It was 17 1/2 years ago that my friend, John Caine, came to my house to get me to type something for him since his computer was down. As I was typing I realized it was a relinquishment of parental rights for a newborn. John had a client who was placing a baby for adoption, and it happened that I had a friend, Mike Lewis, who needed a grandchild. John had a very long list of people who wanted this special baby. Mike and Claudia's son Tom and Eileen wanted to adopt a baby. John, being my best friend, could not deny me. John's wife, Sally, and I went to the hospital and kissed every little finger and toe of the new baby boy, dressed him, put him in a car seat, and promptly went to Wendy's for dinner. We brought him to my house where Tom and Eileen picked him up. What a happy day.

Rick, Ryan, Chris

We have watched him grow up and now that he is a senior in high school we are very proud. He is planning to go to college and serve an LDS mission. It was fun to see him yesterday. We haven't seen him for at least a year and he has really grown up in the last little while.

Eileen, Grandpa Mike, Ryan

Ryan knows how much he is loved. I am lucky to have played a part in his life. I can't wait to see what he does in life. You can see he is a babe-magnet! But, best of all, he is a great young man. He has connected us to the Lewis's forever.

"I believe that everything happens for a reason. Things go wrong so that you can appreciate them when they're right. And sometimes good things fall apart so that better things can fall together." (author unknown)

I am in Washington DC on business, but with Spencer that always turns out to be a party.

I am staying at the Hotel George, but my flight was late and they gave away my room, so they put me at the Hotel Rouge. I wish I would have taken pictures, but I didn't. Let's just say it isn't my style. There was red carpeting and orange wallpaper in the room. The hallway carpeting was leopard. Get the picture? There was a huge mural in my room of a guy playing a piano. There are statues of naked people at the front door. There was something just not right there. No matter. Now I am at the Hotel George that I picked for the very cheap government rate, and for the excellent location.

You can see the Hotel Rouge website by clicking here, but the photos do not show the real picture.

Friday night Spencer and I went to the Marine Barracks built in 1806, to see the "Evening Parade."

There was a downpour and the bleachers were very wet. Spencer slid across the seat on his bum so that I could have a dry seat. Then he did the same for all the other old ladies who came along. By the the time it started he was soaking wet.

Meanwhile, I moved to the Hotel George. When I got back to my room, look what I found.

Here was a nice gift and a letter from the manager apologizing for sending me to the Hotel Rouge (hope to never go there again). Very nice indeed.

We are doing business, which on Saturday consisted of a boat ride down the Potomac River. Spencer went very fast and hit some underwater land mass and trashed the prop. We decided that the thing we learned most was that we should never really own the boat. The boat club owns the boat with the chopped up prop. Tomorrow we are getting a better boat.

This has to make you wonder, doesn't it? I am boating down the Potomac, but I won't even go boating with Grandpa and the darling grandchildren at Pineview. Well, there is a reason that I am doing this!

Captain Spencer at the helm. There were life jackets somewhere but I didn't see them. Captain Spencer had a very fancy inflatable life vest with a little yellow tab at the bottom which he was supposed to pull if he found himself in the water. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do to resist yanking on that yellow tab and watching him blow up! If we do much more boating (and we plan to) I might lose control and have to pull the yellow tab to see what happens. Sometimes I just can't help myself and I do stuff.

Spencer loved going under the planes taking off from National Airport. Made me think of Captain Sully. This picture was taken just about where he put that plane down.

There are many important dudes in Washington DC, and there are also the ones who make things happen. Here are some of them.

Tonight Grandpa (with Jeff and Kristin) took Sophie, her sisters, and her friends boating on Willard Bay for Sophie's tenth birthday party (this is the birthday that goes on and on). He just emailed a photo of them on the water weenie! Awesome!

Our Sophie is now 10 years old!

Here we are singing Happy Birthday to Sophie. Cousin Emily joins us by cell phone from Maryland.

Sophie is the first Millard baby born in her generation, making her a special girl, indeed. We think she is perfect.

Reed screamed until we let him wear the birthday hat. Never mind that it is the princess hat. He just didn't care. He was going to wear that hat or else!

Reed also seems to have a permanent chocolate cookie face. His favorite word of the day was, "Cake????" He asked and I gave.

Reed and Max, the two littlest Millard boys, were lounging on the Thomas the Train blanket. Cute or what?

Jill, Megan, and Ellie

Here are the backward girls. Their ponytails are on the front of their heads and their clothes are on backwards. I cannot explain this.

Last night we had 4 grandchildren. Whew! The challenge was getting everyone to church in the morning. Here is Reed on the floor during Sunday School.

The little girls went right into Primary, but Reed wanted nothing to do with Nursery.

Kristin was running with a team doing the Wasatch Back Relay (click here and here) which goes from Logan to Park City. Take a look at that on a map!

All this running mystifies me. Why kill yourself running when God helped us invent perfectly good cars to get wherever we want to go? And, running around the block is one thing. This Wasatch Back is quite another.

Megan came to spend the night. You know where we had to go first.

This morning I awoke with a stomach ache. I was absolutely convinced that I have the Swine Flu. I got the paper from the front porch, and found that 8 people have died from the Swine Flu in Utah at this point.

I've become a little paranoid. Turns out I only have the Whine Flu!

Usually outdoor sculptures leave me wondering. However, this magnificent work of art truly speaks to me. It is musical!

We went to a party at Brad and Linda's house. They have several pets. We took Connor.

This is the best picture, but there was one with the dog, the bunny, and the chicken!

Connor had a wonderful time in the hot tub. We loved seeing the Stringer's house, which was gorgeous.

I've been in Savannah for a couple of days teaching a seminar for faculty at Armstrong Atlantic State University, and visiting my friends, Shelley and Rich Conroy. The seminar went very well and we were all happy with what was accomplished. I made lots of new friends, which was fun.

We are going out on the river on a boat ride today. I'll head home tonmorrow.

Here I am in front of Paula Deen's restaurant. We never had dinner there because the wait was too long, and Shelly says the food isn't that great anyway.

Shelley took me to dinner at the Chart House, which was absolutely amazing. The food was spectacular.

I had coconut shrimp and rice.

Shelley's friends, Helen and Tom took us out on their boat.

We went down the intercoastal waterway.

We went on a trolley tour of downtown Savannah and stopped at this famous cathedral, the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.

Connor came to visit today. It is our favorite thing when one of the grandchildren come to our house. It is only better if two grandchildren come to the house! It's only better than that if 3 come to our house. It gets pretty wild when 11 come to our house!

We decided to do our Saturday chores, but that becomes difficult with a 4 year old who sees every McDonalds in town.

We decided that we needed a table and chairs for the back porch. After shopping and discovering how dang expensive these things are, we decided to be really cheap and go to Shopko. We let Connor pick his favorite and we brought it home.

Sophie and Ellie are playing softball this year.

Here is Sophie on the pitcher's mound. She was awesome!

Here is Ellie playing center field. She looks amazing!

Jeff and Ellie

Reed

Grandpa took Jeff, Kristin, and the kids out for the first boat trip of the year.

We have a new water weenie and it will hold 5.

Reed is only 2, but we are getting him used to the water.

Kristin is driving the boat and Reed got tired. When a guy is tired he just goes to sleep wherever he can crash.

Today the Hurst Center for Lifelong Learning was officially opened at Weber State University.

Brad and Camille

I sat at a table with Brad and Camille, which was fun. Lunch was delicious. Campus catering has come a long way.

Alan and Me

Alan Hall was at our table as well.

To my left was Laird Hartman, Dean of Continuing Education, also housed in the new building.

The cheerleaders were there. They are the national champions this year.

In the parking lot I met up with Dale Ostlie, Dean of Science.

President Millner made a speech.

Brad made a speech.

We are lodged in the lower left corner like the three musketeers.

Little plaques are for little donors! :)

My friend, Rebecca, provided a recommendation for a website to understand the whirling dervishes. Click here to read what it has to say. It is very informative. I wish I would have read this before I went to Istanbul. In fact, I have found lots of stuff this week that I wish I would have read before I saw things. Just like me to put the cart before the horse.

So you know, my next adventure will be New Zealand. Anyone have recommendations on what I should study?

Esther Montgomery Buchanan, M.D.
Dr. Esther, Es
July 15, 1914 ~ May 19, 2009

Esther M. Buchanan M.D. passed away on May 19, 2009 at the age of 94. She was born July 15, 1914 in Claysville, Pennsylvania to parents John Nelson Montgomery and Grace McClain Clarke. Esther graduated from Claysville High School in 1931 at age 16. During her high school and college years Esther worked as a postal clerk, gas station attendant and in the library. She earned a B.S. at Muskingum College (New Concord, OH) in 1935, at age 20. She was also the grateful recipient of a Senatorial Scholarship which permitted her attendance at Temple University Medical School in Philadelphia, PA, Class of 1939, at the age of 24. Esther first established a practice in Souderton, PA. On Dec. 23, 1945, she married G.A. Buchanan, Jr. (Later divorced.) She received her postdoctoral diploma in Anesthesiology from New York University and completed an anesthesia residency at Bellevue Medical Center, NY in 1949 while residing in Lake Success, Long Island. She inspired her husband to attend medical school, which brought the Buchanan family to Utah and the University of Utah Medical School. Esther practiced medicine at LDS Hospital (1950-1955), Richfield and surrounding communities (1956-1960) and Holy Cross Hospital (1960-1984). She retired while serving as Holy Cross Hospital Anesthesiology Department Chair. Dr. Esther maintained lifetime membership in the American Medical Association and American Society of Anesthesiologists.

Dr. Esther valued education and those that enabled others to attain it. Although independent, she was always generous to others with her time and money. She was an avid traveler, visiting nearly every State in the U.S. and over a dozen foreign countries. Esther enjoyed cruise ships, crossing the Atlantic on the QE II, through the Panama Canal, to Alaska and the Mediterranean. She loved the arts and was a Utah Symphony season ticket holder for years. Dr. Esther was often found in the desert looking for rocks & fossils or antique stores collecting early American glassware & antiques. Yellowstone National Park was a particularly favorite retreat. She loved reading and surrounded herself with good books and periodicals. Unfortunately, wet macular degeneration closed her view of the world and rheumatoid arthritis limited her mobility in later years. Dr. Esther exemplified doing and seeing what you can while you are able.

Esther was preceded in death by parents, a brother, John N. Montgomery III, sons H. Merrill and Grant M. Buchanan, and granddaughter Elizabeth Buchanan.

She is survived by daughter Dana A. Buchanan, Sandy; sons G. A. “Buck” Buchanan III, Heber and Alan M. Buchanan (Cynthia) Sandy, UT; sister Flora Green, AZ and a special niece, Christina (Rick) Millard, Ogden; grandchildren Sharon, Scott, Karen, and Becky Buchanan, Collin, Josh, Zach, and Tim Perschon, and Katy Leigh Buchanan, and two great grandchildren, Howie and Brendan John, sister-in-law Mabel Montgomery and many nieces and nephews.

The family wishes to thank the employees of Sunrise of Sandy and CareSource for their care and understanding during Esther’s last years. In lieu of flowers please donate to the National Park Foundation, the Utah Symphony or your favorite institute of higher learning.

An informal open-house in honor of Dr. Esther will be held on May 31, 2009 from 5:30 to 7:30 PM at Sunrise of Sandy, 2130 East 9400 South, Sandy, Utah. Interment at Larkin Sunset Gardens, Sandy. Online condolences to the family at www.larkinmortuary.com/cond.php

Here is our breakfast every morning along with the majordomo. We got used to having veggies and yogurt.

Me at Breakfast

Aunt Joan at Breakfast

Since our car didn't leave for the airport until 10:00 am, we headed out to the Grand Bazaar for one last purchase. We bought silk scarves.

We arrived at the airport, exhausted and exhilarated by the wonderful things we have seen. We don't know if we will ever get back to Istanbul, but we know that while we were here we had a ball.

Looking back at Istanbul from the air.

This morning we decided to go to church. Aunt Joan has a friend who has a son who lives here and he said that church starts at noon. We found the address on the internet, but when we got there, it was just an office building and it was closed. We couldn't figure out where meetings were held, so we gave up and tried to walk to Taksim Square, but we immediately got lost. After walking in circles, we finally got a Taxi to take us back to Sultanahmet, where we kind of know where we are going. We had lunch and bought more silver jewelry.

Aunt Joan and the jewelry salesman

Street north of Blue Mosque

Breadmakers

We read in a book about their "elastic ice cream" so we had to try some. We didn't like it so we threw it away. It tasted like cold chewing gum.

Everywhere you look there are corn vendors. We decided that we should try that too, and we ended up throwing it away. It was dry and starchy, just like something you would feed to horses. However, everyone here eats it!

This morning we went to the Spice Market and then on a cruise down the Bosphorus.

Street leading to the Mosque

Street leading to Mosque

Here are some pictures of another famous mosque.

Pictures in the spice bazaar.

Here is Aunt Joan buying another rug.

Here are some pictures of the cruise down the Bosphorus.

After the cruise we decided to go back to the Grand Bazaar. The minute we hit the street, you know what happened.

Of course a man wanted to sell Aunt Joan a rug.

Here is the entrance to the Grand Bazaar.

Here is our lunch. For some reason, I got really sick and barely made it to the WC.

Back at the hotel, we spent some time on the terrace and you can see the spectacular view from the Ibrahim Pasha Hotel.

Later it was off to Sultana's Restaurant for dinner and the belly dancing show.

Here are the appetizers.

Here is the main course.

On every table they put the Turkish Flag and the flag of the guest's country, which was very cool. Next to us there was a couple from Iran.

Here is the entertainment.

This morning we got up and left the hotel and got lost in 5 minutes. As usual, Aunt Joan found a boyfriend who walked for a couple of blocks to make sure we were on our way.

Then, he tried to sell her a rug!

Our first stop was the traditional turkish bath. This is not for the faint of heart. We went to the Cemberlitas Haman. First, you strip down and then lie on a big marble slab where a lady (without clothes herself) dumps water on you and then scrubs you with a goat hair cloth. Then, she washes you with lots of soap suds and then dumps more water. At the end, you sit in a hot tub. No one told us that you get dehydrated really fast and Aunt Joan and I got dizzy and practically fainted, but the other lady brought us orange juice so we survived.

We found a place for pizza for lunch. After lunch we took the tram and went to the Dolmabahce Palace.

This palace was completed in 1856 under Sultan Abdul Mecit. It became a museum when Turkey was made a republic in 1923.

Here is one of several reasons that Grandpa did not accompany us on this trip. Dinner tonight was (again at the Pudding Shop) spinach and eggs, eggplant with some kind of ground up meat (maybe) with mashed potatoes on top, with Turkish rice on the side. We knew he would never survive this!

For dessert we split a chocolate cake that weighted about one pound.

After dinner we went to the Whirling Dervish show. They are a special brotherhood of Islam, that we totally don't understand.

There is a law irrevocably decreed in heaven that no matter where I sit at any event, the biggest man in America (or Turkey) will sit in front of me. See the picture? I rest my case.

They wear a black cape and a long felt hat that kind of makes me think of the cone heads on Saturday Night Live. They remove the capes and they are wearing long white dresses, and they spin and move in a circle. The spinning is supposed to represent being one with God. This is a religious thing.

Since we are Mormons, who are we to think that someone's religious ceremonies are strange? That said, we are totally baffled by this demonstration of religion where about 400 people paid $25 USD apiece to see, so someone is going to the bank.

I can get up on a given day and say I don't really feel like getting on my knees and saying a prayer. But, it would be quite a different thing to get up in the morning and say, well, I just don't feel like putting on a white dress and spinning around for half an hour.

Anyway, we were fascinated and we were really glad we saw it. Tomorrow night is the belly dancing so stay tuned.

We got up early in the morning and a driver picked us up to go to the airport to catch a flight to Ephesus. We like it when a driver comes because we have no chance of getting lost or ripped off by a Taxi.

Ephesus was breathtaking.

This is believed to be the house that Mary lived in after Jesus was crucified. We are told that the house was where John cared for her in her last years.

This is our guide, Ilker. There were 7 in our group, which was much better than the other groups we could see where there were 50 or 60 who had just gotten off the cruise ships. We loved Ilker who got all our tickets and took us to the front of the lines. We recommend him to anyone who travels to Ephesus: ilker/eti@yahoo.com.

The Romans made going to the bathroom a social activity. Connor would like this! There were rows of potty places with a great view of the ocean.

Aunt Joan demonstrates. I have to say it felt really weird to sit there.

This is the theater where Paul preached to the Ephesians just before he was thrown in prison.

Stopping at another museum. In America this stuff would be behind 6 inches of glass, but here I get to actually touch it.

Okay, there was one little incident when we we getting on the plane to come back to Istanbul. As we were boarding, 6 fat Turkish men who were thinking that women should be at home cleaning as opposed to flying about on airplanes, decided to crowd ahead of me in line. Aunt Joan got ahead of them, but I didn't quite make it and 2 managed to shove me aside. I was too quick for the other 4, and squeezed back in place, and just to show them what happens when they mess with a Millard girl, I decided to take my good old time strolling down the isle looking for seat 17F. I just had to stop and look at my ticket and then the seat numbers and be all confused. I don't think I'm allowed back on Atlas Airlines again. In my defense, I was tired and cranky.

Today we went to a museum first. I have lots of pictures which I will post later. Then, we went to Taksim Square and walked down the promenade when disaster struck--I ended up with the dreaded migraine--walking down the street in Istanbul!!!! Yikes! It was one of those ones where I can't see and don't know where I am (or even who I am) and I have to deal with the flashing lights. Aunt Joan was a little troubled. And, I wasn't carrying the migraine meds because I am an idiot. I'm better now. We went into a restaurant and sat until I could function. Poor Aunt Joan. How would you like to be walking down the street in Istanbul with someone who suddenly starts acting like they are having a stroke?

Bad news. My Aunt Esther died. I'm too far away to do anything and she was imnmediately creamated according to her wishes and there will be a celebration of her life (no funeral for her!) on the 28th. That's what she wanted. And, she wouldn't want me to stop my trip. Still, I'm sad.

Tomorrow we go to Ephesus. We will be picked up at the hotel at 5:30 am. This vacation will get better. I promise.

On the bright side, the men here really like Aunt Joan. They really flirt with her and look at me like I am chopped liver. I think it has something to do with that glare and the way I am holding on to my purse. Anyway, today she was called Honey, Sweetheart, and Darling. Honestly, if she just liked Arab men she could pick up a boyfriend in nothing flat!

Here are the pictures.

This museum is the Pasha Museum, which is right next door to our hotel. The museum is split into several parts. After the first part, we went out on a terrace and had a beautiful view of the Blue Mosque.

We took the metro and got off at the Karakoy stop to walk up the hill to Taksim Square. We didn't really know where we were going and the maps are more like suggestions rather than specific streets. Can you tell? This started to look like Cairo to me.

I thought this was an interesting street.

Here is Aunt Joan at Taksim Square. This was 15 minutes before the dreaded migraine struck.

This is the street we took to go down the hill to the metro. We got lost again. We pretty much get lost every day within 5 minutes of leaving the hotel.

One note: Our hotel is quite nice, but it is right smack downtown in the Sultanhmet District, which appears pretty much safe. Still, we are careful. So this morning we were a little troubled when we couldn't find the key to the room and we always put it on the table where we come in. We searched and searched and gave up. We had no choice but to leave. We opened the door and found the key. It was in the door all night. I don't want any of you to worry about us. For the most part, we sort of know what we are doing.

Here we are on the terrace of our hotel. This is the Blue Mosque in the background.

Yes, we bought rugs. This is mine. We were told that we got really great deals! Good, huh? Yep. We are really smart shoppers.

We found lots of boyfriends in the market. They really liked us because we are such beautiful American ladies. I think they were just smitten!

Aunt Joan's new friend liked her so much that he gave her a really special price on jewelry, so I bought some too. This price was just for us--no one else.

Aunt Joan and I are in Instanbul! We are at the Ibrahim Pasha Hotel, which is very interesting. The electricity goes out once an hour. We can see the Blue Mosque from our room, which is awesome! From the time I left North Ogden, until we got to the hotel was 26 hours of traveling with layovers, so we were pretty tired last night. Our guide, Ali, will pick us up shortly. We are super excited.

Breakfast was tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, bread, and some oat cereal that was delicious. We had orange juice that was freshly squeezed. We will see what lunch brings. We are always worried about what we are going to eat next!

Here we are with our guide, Ali. He took us to the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Cistern, Hippodrome, Topkapi Palace, and more. We had lunch at the restaurant called the Pudding Shop made famous by the movie, "Midnight Express."

This is a photo of the oblesque taken from the Temple of Karnak in Egypt. We saw its twin when we went to Karnak a couple of years ago.

The Turks made their own base where the oblesque sits.

Here is the entrance to the Blue Mosque. Below are some pictures of the Blue Mosque.

Below are some pictures of the Topkapi Palace.

Here are some pictures of the Hagia Sophia.

Jillian

Jillian is five years old.

(By the way, from this angle there is a huge light fixture hanging right in front of my face. It is always Mark's job to hold the light fixture to the side so we can see all the little faces in the picture. Next time we will get a photo of Mark holding the light.)

Dennis

Dennis is 40 years old. This is hard for me to believe!

He has help blowing out the candles. This is how it works at our house.

Kristin

Kristin is 35 years old.

She had some help blowing out the candles. Notice Reed's face in this photo!

Ellie Millard

Ellie lost a front tooth.

Megan Hoferitza

Megan gives us her typical camera smile.

Sophie and Abby

Sophie and Abby played a duet (Heart and Soul) that was wonderful! They are both musically talented.

Last night we went to the Eagles concert and guess who was sitting three rows in front of us! Uncle Art and Aunt Debbie!

Uncle Art (I linked his name to his new moving web site where he is doing lots of business and making oodles of money) has lost 80 pounds on Atkins! He looks positively skinny! Well, as skinny as a Haddow can look. We are genetically programmed to carry lots of weight. In fact, to take a family picture you would definitely need a wide angle lens.

Art and Me

It was freezing. Luckily, I wore my winter coat and took a blanket.

They introduced themselves as "The Eagles Assisted Living Tour." Yes, they are old. So was the audience.

The Breakfast Club has a new venue: Pleasant Valley Golf Grill. There is an item on the menu to die for: Dee's Cooked Cereal. It is delicious. We decided that this will be the semi-permanent site for our meetings where we meet for food and discussion of our common enemies.

Me, Brad, Spencer

Brad and Spencer are very dapper. In fact, they are very sharp dressers. Which, is the reason that I think it is hilarious to give them tacky, very cheap, twinners ties that they are obligated to wear.

Not wanting to offend me, they show up in the purple ties frequently. This shows they bleed purple on so many levels! Notice that it looks like Spencer has a pointy little head. What's up with that?

Shamane went to a Bunko game with her girlfriends and so we went to dinner with the Millard boys: Dennis, Connor, and Max.

Max

Max

Because he now knows how to sip through a straw, Max gulped down an entire glass of apple juice and demanded more.

Connor

Connor and Grandma

Fire

On the way home we saw a fireman's drill. They were apparently burning down a house and practicing how to put out fires. We had a little discussion about why we don't play with matches.

Here is Caroline Grace Taylor.

Caroline is Uncle Mac and Aunt Alice's granddaughter, born to Jami and Jon Taylor. Welcome to our family, little one!

I like to go to the pedicure shop. The lady there is from Vietnam and I love to talk with her. Here she is doing her thing.

She has the cutest little 2 year old (will be 2 in 6 weeks) who comes to work with her. The funniest thing is that now the baby insists on being a pedicure lady too. It is hilarious.

If we thought about this long enough we would have to say there is something against the law here.

Here are the 5 Hoferitza girls: Rachel, Clara, Megan, Emily and Abby.

Abby

Rachel

The 4 Millard Children: This is the best we could do with Reed. He decided that this was a screaming day.

Max and Connor Millard

Did you know that in infected root canal can kill you? I learned this in 2001 during one week in the hospital, where I had some gruesome surgery where I lost some jaw bone and teeth, and suffered an infection that spread into my head and came to understand that it would have killed me except for Dr. Todd L. See why I like him so much? Nine dental implants later, he and I are BFF. At his house he has a huge garage full of every tool imaginable. He loves tools. So, when I decided to put Grandpa's radial arm saw up for adoption, Dr. Todd really wanted the thing. Go figure. It's part of my crusade to dejunk the house (Grandpa isn't even fighting this anymore). We hauled it to his house and he was tickled to have it. Somewhere we heard that he goes to Mexico and builds houses for poor people and takes tools and leaves them there. I don't know what he is thinking. Frankly, I think someone with such talented hands should not go around saws--ever. If he cuts off a finger, that's fine for him, but what about me? I'm ready for dental implant number 10 and how can an oral surgeon missing fingers do the job? Here he is being goofy.

Notice the missing fingers. Very funny, Todd! Eight years later he is still doing implants and bone grafts for me. In about 5 more years I'll be all fixed up! Unless, of course, he chops off his hands.

The Daily Universe.

I constantly remind my students not to rely on the spell check function or grammar check as the final word. Here would be a good reason. The article says that the Daily Universe sees no humor here, but I think it is hilarious.

Here are the cousins around the cake. We are missing Emily who is at basic training.

Had to have a little help blowing out the candle.

Jillian and Reed

Jeff and Sophie

We now have to keep our eye on Max who wants to open the door and get away! He would be down the street in one minute.

1. Rick (preferably having him in America).
2. My Nikon camera.
3. Taking pictures with my Nikon camera, the Sony Cybershot, or in a pinch, my cell phone).
4. Blogging.
5. Breakfast Club (they know who they are).
6. Going to work in the morning.
7. Seeing the grandchildren.
8. Amended: my beautiful, spectacular, 3 children who gave me the 11 grandchildren (there--how's that?}.
9. Getting on a plane.
10. The first day of the semester.
11. The last day of the semester.
12. Cemeteries.
13. Reading a good book.
14. Nieces and nephews and their babies.
15. Going on a cruise (haven’t done this in a long time).
16. Rice pudding.
17. M.V.
18. Shoes.
19. Traveling with Joan.
20. All things purple.
21. John Milton.
22. Scrubbed floors.
23. Taking junk to the dump (this is very cathartic).
24. Everything Chinese (love China, love my adopted Chinese daughters).
25. Dr. Todd Liston for saving my life (I owe every day with my grandbabies to him).
26. My jewelry (good stuff and the junk).
27. Time with my few good friends.
28. Cleaning out closets.
29. New babies (anybody’s babies).
30. Movies in the theater room at John or Mac’s house.
31. Diet Dr. Pepper with Krispy Krème donuts (I know—something is inconsistent here).
32. When someone says something absurdly foolish in Church.
33. Coconut Pineapple ice cream in Maui (at a particular ice cream shop).
34. Lean Cuisines.
35. All my sisters-in-law.
36. Desperate Housewives.
37. My Toyota 4-Runner (ok, I hated to get rid of the van but the Toyota has grown on me).
38. Pedicures.
39. Anything with little buttons and lights (i.e. my iPhone, iPod, and iTouch—yes, it is greedy to have all 3 but I don’t care).
40. KSL Classifieds (I have gotten rid of lots of junk and furniture here).
41. Clean sheets.
42. Coldwater Creek.
43. Scrapbooking (I might go back to it someday).
44. Warm weather (75 degrees).
45. Fresh tomatoes—right off the vine.
46. Crocheting.
47. Getting up at quarter to 6 in the morning (instead of 4:30 am).
48. Miguel who does everything for me that Rick won’t do.
49. Frozen custard.
50. The size of my family room—it is huge (Rick built this for me with his own two hands).

Amber and Cami from Senator Bennett's office came to visit Weber State University and see what we are doing in the College of Health Professions.

Cami and Amber

Senator Bennett has done so much for Weber, especially the College of Health Professions and the nursing program. We visited the SIM lab and saw students training to take care of a computerized baby. It was awesome.

Then we saw the lab where all the SIM people were in hospital beds. There is a device to move people who are unable to move themselves. It is sort of like a sling that goes under the person on the bed and hooks to a bar and track system in the ceiling. The sling can move down the hall to different therapy rooms. A generous donor (with a daughter who is a Weber grad) made this system possible for us.

Spencer demonstrated how it works.

It is sort of like a ride at Lagoon. Notice Brad and I did not volunteer for this demonstration. Now I'm sorry!

We just can't seem to get spring in Utah. Yesterday was a record-breaking low temperature for April 15th. I'm weary of this.

Click Here: Susan Boyle Rocks!

Apparently, she spent the last 10 years caring for an aged mother, who had encouraged her to try out for the talent show. The mother passed away before seeing Susan make her dream come true. She never got up the courage until now.

When she comes out on stage, she looks like a little, frumpy, old lady. Then, she begins to sing and it is magnificent. Click on the link and listen to this amazing talent. I'm in line to buy her first CD!

She says she's never been kissed. Bet that's about to change in the future.

I snagged this from Kristin's Facebook page.

Jillian, Sophie, Reed, Ellie

I don't know about Kristin's side, but on Rick's ancestry there are many from Norway and I'm wondering if that light coloring comes from those genes. I don't see a lot of blondies in my genealogy. As a baby, Jeff always had that white-blond hair. When we lived in Africa, the Africans begged me to let them touch it. :)

We had dinner at the Country Club tonight. Kathy and I have given up cooking under any circumstances. It is just one of the things we have given up. There are more. Anyway, it was an opportunity for me to meet Colleen's very cute new boyfriend, Nick.

And here is the thing I noticed the most: how incredibly happy our little Colleen seemed! This is the old Colleen that we haven't seen for a few years. She is fairly bubbling and I'm thrilled to see her so happy now.

They have a lot in common since they are both lawyers. They talk lots about lawyer stuff like plaintiffs and defendants and we just agree and act like we get it. There was another lawyer at the next table who heard us, and just couldn't help himself, and he had to come tell us that 4 hours ago he got a judgment of $3.2 million, and lawyers just feast on that stuff. He introduced himself and I forget his first name because I liked his last name so much: Wiener. That would be Mr. Wiener, Esq., who got a huge award when he didn't settle for a paltry offer. He invited Nick and Colleen to some lawyer bash on Friday where there would be a beer truck in the parking lot. This means that there will be, oh I don't know, hundreds of drunken lawyers. Kathy is going to show up and take a picture of the little BYU girl in this scene. It should be good. Kathy and I were fascinated with the idea of a beer truck. He said it was a big truck like a keg with a spigot on the side. We have never seen this. Apparently we haven't been going to the right parties, and maybe that's because we aren't invited since we go to bed at 9:00 now. Never mind all of that.

Nick is President of "Young Lawyers" (I hope I have this straight). I think that means he is going places. As long as he makes Colleen happy, I'm happy.

On the way out the door John gave the newly rich Mr. Wiener Esq. one of his business cards in case they can do business someday. You gotta love it.

John found an old picture of our father. He is holding me and I look to be about 7 months old. This is one of the very few photos of him that exist.

He was born on Nov. 9, 1913, and this would have been taken in late 1947, making him 34 years old.

I have the original and I'm taking it to Inkley's to get some copies made. If any members of our extended family would like a copy, just let me know.

In 1998 I published a short list of hints for proposal writing at Utah State University as I worked with professors who were writing for federal grants (in my former life at USU). This was part of a big workshop that I repeated endlessly. To my surprise, this still lives on their website! Check it out here. Cruising through the text, I am amazed at how much of this is still relevant! The important thing is to follow the instructions. I think I will point out some of this to my English 2010 students who are struggling with their research papers now that it is the end of the semester. They find it difficult to follow the rules and that is half the battle. If the MLA Nazis say it has to look like this, then it has to look like this. If the federal government says you can only write 20 pages, then it is only 20 pages. No matter what you are doing, you have to follow the rules. But I digress.

Meanwhile, I am in Washington DC writing stuff of my own, which is basically making up junk and throwing it at the federal government program officers, then having endless discussions. I am representing Weber State University in this effort. The conversation goes something like this:

Me: Give us some of that Obama money for stimulus.
Program Officer: Yeah, we have lots of it, but we don't know how we are going to deal with it.
Me: What are the rules?
Program Officer: Someone is making up some rules as we speak.
Me: If you tell me the rules I will play by them whatever they are.
Program Officer: Are you from a red state or a blue state?
Me: We bleed purple.
Program Office: Huh?
Me: Just give me the money.
Program Officer: I think we are supposed to give money to people who already have some of our money. We are just going to give them more.
Me: So, none for the ones who don't already have some?
Program Officer: I didn't really say that.
Me: What exactly did you say?
Program Officer: Someone is going to put out some guidelines on grants.gov next week.
Me: Have any idea what those guidelines might be?
Program Officer: Someone is making up some guidelines as we speak.
Me: I'm not going away quietly. I'll be back.

Twenty-five years ago we moved to North Ogden. Our friends and neighbors, Jim and Debbie Erickson, raised their children along with us and it was a treat to watch Debbie chase her kids around with a broom. No kidding: she would call me and say, "I'm getting out the broom so come watch!" She was an amazing mother (did a much better job than me) and now that all our kids are grown, the 4 of us are simply grandparents. Their son Isaac and his wife, Sara, adopted a new baby two days ago and they have announced it on a blog that is absolutely beautiful. I wanted to share it with anyone who is interested. I remember Isaac when he was a little snot, but he has grown up to be amazing. And, now he is a dad. I can't wait to see if he gets out the broom.

Hazel Ann Erickson, Born: April 2, 2009, 5:47 am, 9 lbs 12 oz
Adopted: April 6, 2009

Spencer took me to my brother, John's house Friday night. Here we are in the car, Spencer's very cool 1980 (I think) Cadillac. He had to wait for some guy to die so he could steal it from the widow. In Washington DC, this is a very cool ride. Spencer neglected to license the thing, so everywhere we went we got tickets, and one threat to tow. We zoomed away from there really fast. Once, we blocked the intersection and a very nice lady cop told Spencer that the next time it was going to cost him $250.00. We wondered if she was going to recognize us next time, because there would certainly be a next time.

Notice that Spencer has his iPhone in one hand, the Magellan in the other hand, and what you cannot see is his Blackberry between his knees. And, we were doing about 65 mph. I think there is something illegal here, but I'm not sure.

We hit a magnificent milestone on the old Caddy: Check out the odometer. Cool, huh? This happened in Clifton, Virginia. Notice that Spencer slowed down to 35 mph to take this picture without dropping any of his other electronics. We had enough stuff to launch the space shuttle in that car!

Traveling with Spencer involves a lot of dodging cops.

Here I am with Senator Orrin Hatch. He is wearing his Weber tie and proud of it! He says if I bring Weber ties he will make sure that everyone in the office wears a Weber tie. We are standing in front of a giant portrait of the Senator and notice that right above his head we have the Weber pendent. This is awesome! Now I have to go home and dig up a bunch of Weber ties.

We went to the other offices too. Spencer makes sure that Weber is welcome everywhere.

Spencer and I are off to Washington DC to do business. Here we are in the airplane, and Spencer got me bumped up to first class.

Me and Spencer

Of course I do not always ride first class so this was a real treat. However, Spencer explained that we were on the Greyhound version of first class on Delta because this flight goes in to Baltimore, Maryland, because Delta has canceled the evening flight to Dulles (Spencer doesn't like this at all). To prove his point, he noted that the flight attendants do not speak English on this flight. He was right. We couldn't understand the announcements.

Flight Attendant

Here comes the flight attendant who looks perfectly normal to me, until she asked what we would like to eat. Our options were "something I couldn't understand," and "schicken and shringbeenz." We could at least sort of understand the schicken and shringbeenz, so we chose that. She was very cute.

Actually, we agreed that the food tasted pretty good. And, in first class you get dishes and everything! This certainly beats the cattle car where I typically travel.

Spencer likes his first class to be really first class. This just didn't make the grade. Spencer says when you are going to Baltimore, they put the fat flight attendants on duty too. This guy's jacket was so tight that the middle button popped off and he really didn't care.

I thought he was great anyway. He gave me a little wet towel to wash my hands. Spencer was bummed that it wasn't hot like it was supposed to be. Spencer doesn't travel in coach where we have to sit by the rest room and I won't even say how bad that is. As for me, I was in heaven.

I use the truck to judge how much snow fell in North Ogden overnight. It looks like about 3 or 4 additional inches.

It might just be me, but I am feeling like this is the worst March in a very long time. And, the weather man predicts snow for the next couple of days. Yikes!

You can see that the snow plow came along and created a ridge at the bottom of my driveway. Luckily, the 4-Runner just hops over that little hill.

Here is a photo from today's Salt Lake Tribune. Dang this winter!

I went to church today and when I came out, this is how my car looked.

Can I just say that I am completely sick of this!!!! I have had it with snow! Please look below at the picture of Oakland's harbor and tell me what is wrong with this picture????

I have adopted daughters in China. They are darling girls who call me their American Mother. I met them while traveling to China, and they later came to study at Weber State University. One of these daughters, Lavender, now is married and has a baby boy. It is traditional in China, that the Grandmother gets to choose the baby's name. So, Lavender invited me to choose the American name for this little boy. I chose to the name, Sam. Little Sam is now 16 pounds and growing. Someday I will go back to China and see him. Here is his picture.

Sam

Here is sweet little Sam. He doesn't know it, but there are lots of people in American who wish him well.

Brad Stringer and I went to Oakland, California to visit Metal Improvement Company, who has a technology to harden metal with lasers.

Here's how things looked as I pulled out of my driveway.

Looking out the driveway

On the other end of the weather spectrum, the temperature in Oakland was beautiful: 75 degrees. The sun was shining and it was gorgeous.

Brad and Me

Brad and I are here at the car rental counter. Notice that we totally bleed purple! We scored a car with about 800 miles on it, so that's brand new.

Notice that I am wearing my mother's very beautiful pearls. A couple of years ago, the conversation went like this:

Me: Gosh, Mom, your pearls are so beautiful.
Grandma Green: Yes, they are the real deal. I bought them in Hong Kong many years ago. They are Mikimoto pearls.
Me: Can I have them when you die?
Michele: Can I have them now?

(Dang that Michele. She is smarter than me!)

Grandma Green: They should go to my oldest daughter and I think I'll just give them to her now.
Me thinking: (whew--that was close)
Grandma Green; When she dies they should go to you, Michele (oldest and only daugher), and when you die they should go to your oldest daughter, Emily.

That's the story of the pearls. They go to the oldest daughter. Hope Emily has a daughter.

Back to Oakland: Brad and I headed to Jack London Square for dinner.

We ate at Scott's Seafood along the harbor. I have to say that the Seafood Saute, chosen at random from the menu, was the best seafood I have ever had in my life. I highly recommend it to our family who live near that place (you know who you are). It was awesome!

The next day we visited Metal Improvement Company and learned all about laser peening, a process that we think will interest Hill Air Force folks as they work on landing gear parts.

We think this will benefit HAFB, MIC, and Weber State University. More work to be done here. Brad is the brains behind all of this. I'm just along to try to figure out how to exploit everything to everyone's collective benefit.

Because I am not a real employee, I do not have an office at Weber State University. If I did have an office, it would be by squatter's rights only, and quite informal. If I did have informal squatter's rights, it would look like this:

Any squatter's rights space with a window is especially awesome. Albeit temporary (until someone bigger and stronger kicks me out), it is heaven. Did I forget to mention how much I appreciate sunlight after the past year? This little corner is in Building 4, one of the oldest buildings on campus.

Building 4

I would love to know the history of every person who has lived in this corner since 1960. That would be amazing.

I started back to work at Weber and I'm very happy. I am on contract to do special projects for the Provost and I'm going to do my best so he will be inclined to find a real job for me. :)

I decided that I wasn't much for sitting at home, and I rather like having someplace good to go and something important to do every day. This works for me since I bleed purple!

When I opened the garage door this morning this is how Grandpa's truck looked.

What do we expect: it is March in Utah and it will be like summer one day and like winter the next. I'm guessing there was almost 2 inches, but it didn't stick to the roads. Meanwhile, Grandpa is enjoying 80 degrees in Sydney. Hmmmmmmmmm

Lucky for me I rolled my garbage cans--regular and recyclable--to the street last night. When I came home from work they were both tucked safely behind the gate in the back yard. I am clueless as to who was kind to the Widow Millard. :) Someone in the neighborhood did a kind deed, and I don't know whom to thank!

Rachel

Rachel

Connor

Reed

Cousins

Dennis

Dennis got a new wireless router for me and it works really well. He thinks that I wont' have to reboot with this one and I'm excited to see if this works. I hate that reboot thing. This is my little antique desk in the family room. The router lives in the office downstairs and I used to have to hike down and unplug the thing. Those days are gone. Yippeee.

Abby

Abby has started knitting and this is her first project. She is making a scarf.

Megan

Grandma and Emily

Emily goes to basic training on Tuesday in San Antonio, Texas. This is the beginning of the great family changes that are going to happen in the next few years. We will miss her terribly.

Five Hoferitza Girls

We went to Inkley's to have a photo taken of the 11 grandchildren today. You know with a couple of babies, we were bound to have a screamer, and this time it was Reed. He was not going to cooperate. So, the photographer took a picture of the 11 of them, and Reed was screaming bloody murder! We will point this out on the photo for the rest of his life and grin.

I took snapshots of the kids while we were waiting.

Max

Ellie

Reed (he smiles for me!)

Connor

Jillian and Connor

Jillian

Here's one for the Jill Millard fan club. This is the most amazing face on the planet!

Clara

Emily

Rachel

Kristin took these pictures with her camera and I think they are as good as professional ones.

Jeff Kristin and Kids

Again, for Jill's fan club. She's a killer.

The Widow Millard rolled her own garbage can out to the street for pick up. I just want to say that this is the first time in my entire life I have done this, and I'm not liking it. While I am in the mood for complaining, there are a few other things I don't like, so I intend to ignore them for 6 weeks.

Here is my new friend, Sharlene, who owns Accents Decor in North Ogden (I recommend that you check out this shop because Sharlene has the cutest stuff in the world there).

I found the greatest cabinet for the dining room, but I had to get it home. Grandpa is half way around the world and not here when I need him! Never fear: Grandpa's friends are here!

What was I thinking? What if one of these guys would have had a heart attack? Two of them just had shoulder surgery. Never mind. They toted that thing into the house like it was nothing! Old dudes rock! To be truthful, I should have had patience and waited until my sons could have helped.

Anyhoo--gotta do what I gotta do--the cabinet is in the dining room and I love it and didn't have to wait. You know how short I am on patience!

A 13 year-old kid in Provo accidentally shot his friend and they are charging the kid. This doesn't make sense to me. He is a kid. It was an accident. What about the grandfather who didn't bother to lock up his loaded gun? What about him? I say we put him in jail and throw away the key. Had he responsibly kept his firearms under lock and key, the child never would have gotten his hands on the weapon. Never mind that the 13 year-old kid has had his life ruined here. How do you ever get over accidentally shooting your playmate? Even the mother of the little girl who was shot says she doesn't want the boy punished. But no, we are going to make a miserable situation worse for both families and everyone who watches the news. We should be getting the boy and his mother some therapy because their lives are irrevocably reduced to rubble. I just don't get it.

Thanks to my niece, Jen, for this hilarious video!

Happy St. Patrick's Day (on Tuesday). Aunt Kathy (Kathleen McGinniss Haddow) has the closest ancestral connection to Ireland than any of us, so I always think about her on St. Patrick's Day. Her father and mother both immigrated from Ireland. Today we had the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Salt Lake City. The Irish people from Pittsburgh would fail to appreciate the western version of the event. Let's say we have a lot of pride here. That said, it looked like lots of fun.

Sadly, I must announce the passing of the Chevy Astro Van. A nice man came from Provo and gave us money and drove it away. It was like losing a child. Life goes on. I know, some of you don't care.

Dennis invited me to dinner at the Olive Garden.

Shamane and Connor

The waiter asked what we would like to drink. Dennis and Shamane said they wanted a Diet Coke. I said I wanted a Diet Coke. Connor suddenly, and loudly, spoke up: "I want one wemonade!" We really laughed at this.

Dennis

Dennis always looks so cute when he doesn't shave. NOT!!! :)

Grandma and Max

Max decided to entertain the clientele with very loud babbling. Hey, there's no way to stop him. He's a baby. There is a reason that the Olive Garden people always put us in the back. Since he is the last of the grandchildren, he is adored and petted to death. He will always, for the rest of his life, be known as Baby. He is soooooo cute!

This afternoon I took Grandpa and his friend, Larry, to the airport.

Grandpa and Larry

Off they go to work in Australia. Take a good look at this picture. Notice they are both in blue jeans, blue shirts, black jackets, same height, same hairline, same little belly going on--these are the Bobbsy Twins! It's like they decided on a uniform or something. Oh sure, they are buddies now, but I predict that later tonight when they get somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, and Grandpa starts snoring, Larry is going to pretend he doesn't know him. Some people in this family know exactly what I am talking about. Soon, the entire 747 will know what I am talking about.

Let the partying begin. No, silly, not for them--for me!!!

I just received an email from my old friend, Rich Conroy, who offers this idea for my next career: security on FrontRunner! Well, heaven knows I have experience riding FrontRunner, so I'd be a natural, right? I mean, I was at that Ogden Station at 6:00 am rain or shine since the first day it started running.

How do you think I'd look with one of those reflective vests? Here is the big question: would it make me look fat? If so, the FrontRunner security position is out of the question. Rich, you are awesome!

Keep the suggestions rolling in. I'm open to all ideas. In the meantime, it is supposed to snow in Ogden tomorrow and so I'm troubled. The weather man says it will start at 11:00 am, just as I'm getting up. If this interferes with me going to the mall, I'm gonna be mad.

Straight from the oven! Luckily, he's not hard to please.

Michele and I went shopping at Kohls Department Store. That's what housefraus do. Luckily, Michele is a housefrau too. She, however, has young children and has a perfectly good excuse to be a housefrau. In fact, she absolutely should be a housefrau. We had lunch at a new Italian place in Syracuse, which was delicious--and Michele treated! Megan was with us because she was playing hooky from school. I said a bunch of naughty things to Megan about how going to school was awful anyway, and her mother glared at me. I'm always on the side of the grandchildren. Who cares if she ever learns to read. The world needs hairdressers and tanning salon operators.

Me, Megan, Michele

Notice the lovely waitress.

Emily

Yes, it is our own Emily, earning a little money before she goes to basic training. I gave her a big fat tip. (Grandpa would say, "Here's a tip; get out of the restaurant business!")

Couldn't do this when I worked 12 hours a day!

After stuffing myself with pizza, I waddled home for a nap. It is a rule that housefraus must have naps.

After 25 years of working, I am an unemployed bum! Yes, I am now a housefrau. This was a difficult decision because I don't like to let people down. I hate disappointing others who trust me. Perhaps all of my brains have fallen out, I don't know. Nevertheless, here I am. I just hit the wall. Maybe it's a midlife crisis, I don't know. Fortunately, Rick goes along with whatever bazaar idea I come up with and expresses neither pleasure nor pain, knowing full well that one of those options is bound to be wrong. The man is brilliant. The conversation at home went something like this:

Me: I am going to be an unemployed bum.
Rick: Huh?
Me: You know, a housefrau. Those are women who stay in bed at 4:30 am and that's what I want to do. Housefraus don't go to work.
Rick: Uhhh. Okay.
Me: I will have lots of time to do other important things, like watch Judge Judy and Judge Joe. And, I will have lots of time to be doing lots of shopping, and since I no longer will have a paycheck, and I will need more money, you will have to cut down on the lunches at ATK. (This got his attention--mention food and he is right there. In fact, at his age what he thinks about the most is what he is going to have to eat next.)
Rick: Okay, so when I come home from work, and you have so much time now, will I find on the table a fine home-cooked meal?
Me: What's that?
Rick: Are you ever going to get another job?
Me: I was thinking about being a ski lift operator.
Rick: The ski season is almost over.
Me: I'm considering my options. I have never been a waitress. Most of my friends were waitresses when they were young and I missed that. Maybe I'll do that now that I'm old.
Rick: You'll eat all the food and get fat.
Me: Okay, then maybe I'll be a brain surgeon. I hear it pays really well.
Rick: Huh?
Me: And, I'm going all around the house and making a list of the things that have to be repaired and fixed up. You have to get rocking on my big list.
Rick: Did I forget to mention that I'm moving to Australia?
Me: Frankly my dear, I don't give a dang where you go as long as the paycheck hits the bank every 2 weeks. I will discuss my list with my boyfriend, Miguel.
Rick: So, what did you do today?
Me: I stood in line at the bank, I stood in line at the DMV, I stood in line at the doctor's office, and I stood in line at the dentist's office. I have no idea how I found the time to work before.
Rick: Ummmmm. What are you doing tomorrow?
Me: Dillard's is having a sale and I know you wouldn't want me to miss it.

See why after 43 years I am still madly in love with this guy??!!

Rick is headed for the land down under and will be gone for 6 months to Australia. Well, 6 weeks to start with and if the contract goes well, it will end up the whole 6 months. He's going to hang out with some kangaroos, I guess. Oh, he comes home to visit a couple of times, but for 6 months (if all goes well) he will be working for ATK at a plant they are building near Sydney. He will be traveling around Australia and perhaps going to New Zealand as well. He has all sorts of big plans. Hope he has a good time: I will just be here at home. You all know what this means. Rick, the pack rat, is in trouble. He leaves on Wednesday of next week and on Thursday there will be a dumpster in front of my house. You know all that junk he has hoarded in the garage? Well, it's goodbye to that. The shed out back? It's history. You are aware that he has 2--yes 2--storage units full of junk (building materials, tools, junk!!!) and I'm attacking them as well. We won't even talk about the basement. Who is going to stop me? Obviously not him. When he gets home the whole house will be redecorated. In fact, he will be lucky if we haven't moved! Perhaps he should ring the doorbell when he gets home just to be sure there aren't any strangers living here then. More to follow.

Connor is now 4 years old. He is the first boy and we adore him.

Connor

Ellie

Our Amazing Ellie is now 7 years old. Everything about her is spectacular!

Ellie

Ellie

Shamane

Shamane is 40 years young. She is the best thing that ever happened to Dennis.

Shamane

Emily and Clara

Jeff

Jeff decided to make use of my credit card to order toys for the summer. Apparently we are getting a new water wienie and some child-sized water skis. You gotta plan.

Jillian

Megan

Abby

Ellie

Max having a temper tantrum

Sophie

Long Line

This is Chuck-E-Cheese. Years ago we swore we would never go to this place again. It was when Jeff was about in 4th grade. Today we recalled the reason. Yikes! First, we waited one hour outside in the cold. Apparently every kid in Ogden and Layton thinks that Chuck-E-Cheese is the place to go.

Shamane and Max

Max

Connor

Connor

Connor

Connor

Connor and Chuck

Did I forget to mention that it was about 42 degrees in there with a wind blowing down on me from some big vent?

Shamane's brother Randy and his wife Lori sent their boys (on the left). They were smart enough to stay at home. Now I know why. Connor loved having his cousins there!

Connor and his Birthday Cake

Blowing out his candles

Connor

Max

Max

Brothers

I invited Michele to come. She said she would only come if she could drop off the kids and wait in the car. I said no. She had to come in. She warned me but I totally blew off the experience. Michele had it right. Okay, if the kids had fun I guess it was worth it. At the end I had a headache! The noise level is something like ATK testing a rocket. The pizza was pretty much cardboard. But, for a four-year-old boy, this was heaven. Okay. I am always amazed at what we are willing to do for the grandchildren.