Maintaining Old Friendships

July 3-5, 2010.

We traveled to Jackson, Wyoming to visit Dave and Nancy Wanner. Dave was a childhood friend of Dad's. Dave's dad leased the creek bottom land on the Indian Creek farm from Dad's mom for many years after his father passed away and Dad's mom and Dave's mom were good friends. Dave and Nancy pastured horses on the Indian Creek property for many years after that until just a couple years ago. Dave built the deck railing on our new home and more recently helped Dad add two coach batteries to our motor home. They have a home in Preston, Idaho but Dave is working part time in Jackson where they stay with their daughter, Lydia. Lydia is employed there full time in both the motel and newspaper businesses. On the way up we stopped to visit one of my childhood home sites in the small town of Irwin, just below the Palisades Dam. We lived there for a time while my Dad worked building the powerhouse below the dam. We also stopped just this side of Alpine, Wyoming for a visit with old neighbors with whom we have kept in touch from the Westcrest Trailer Court where we lived in Granger on the west side of the Salt Lake Valley in the early 70's. Dorothy and Keith Bowcut were wonderful neighbors. Dorothy served as a second Mom for me with our small family and Keith took us for an airplane ride where I got a bad case of motion sickness. Sadly, Keith has been experiencing kidney failure, is off dialysis and is not expected to live long. In spite of this he seemed quite cheerful and good natured although totally bedridden. We also stopped for a second visit on the return trip home on Monday. While in Jackson we walked around town, visited an amazing art gallery, visited nearby Teton Village where we saw antique cars for auction and rode the Bridger Gondola to over 9000 feet elevation to view the valley below, ate a delicious dinner we cooked in a park and watched the most amazing fireworks display we had ever seen being launched from two sites simultaneously (at the foot of and part way up Snow King Mountain which is right at the edge of town). On Monday morning we had a good breakfast at the Virginian Restaurant and took off for home. It was a great opportunity to become better acquainted with old friends and the beauty and variety of the Jackson area. We appreciate Lydia for putting us up for our stay.

Time at Home With the Hartsocks

June 17 - 28, 2010
These past days we have enjoyed Lindsy, Carter and the twins, Avery and Emelia, with us at home in Inkom. Ben had flown back to Chicago to work until his brother, Jeremiah's, wedding on June 29th when we came home from Utah with Lindsy and kids. Ben flew back out again on Friday, June 25th to join us until the family left for Utah on the morning of the 28th to prepare for the wedding. Lance, Aubri and Taylor were able to come out to visit a couple of times during the period Lindsy was here. On Saturday, June 19th we went to the zoo at Ross Park in Pocatello. Our planned picnic got rained out so we came home for a picnic on the deck with Lance, Aubri and Taylor. Lindsy got to renew friendships with local friends and they had family pictures taken after Ben came. Dad started a project to build a tree house during Lindsy's stay in the "swing tree" in the back yard utilizing the slide and other materials from the play set that Laurie and Evan tore down. Carter helped with the project as much as a two-year old can help. We hope he can come back to play in it after it is finished. The twins were so much fun. They laugh and giggle easily and are growing and developing quickly. We don't know how Lindsy manages alone though because they can also really squeal when they are not getting the attention they want. Carter had a lot of fun playing games, swinging with Uncle Lance and playing in the creek with Taylor. We all just enjoyed the twins and Carter and we hope they had a wonderful time.

Fun Family Get-Together

June 9 - June 16, 2010
This has been a busy, varied and fun week of family-related activities. On the morning of June 9th we packed up the motor home with Little Blue tagging along and headed for Draper, Utah. There we met Lindsy and Ben and kids in the early afternoon high on the East bench at the Draper temple where Ben's brother Noah was getting married. We looked after the little ones until after the ceremony and pictures and then headed down into the valley to a country club parking lot to again tend little ones through the reception at the club house. We then headed to Springville to the Ockey campground to set up camp in their driveway for the week.
For the next two and one-half days Dad worked with Jordon between rain storms to install two pole lamps on either side of the sidewalk leading to the lower entrance patio of Laurie and Evan's home in preparation for the August 14th wedding reception for Kristina and Jared. How power was obtained is a long story for another time. In addition a new light fixture was installed on the lower patio and three more existing outdoor deck and patio light fixtures were replaced. On Friday evening we went to Payson to spend the evening with Leon, Chrissy and Brendon.
On Saturday afternoon the McKnights, Lance and family, Leon's family and the O'Donnals had joined us from far and wide to go to a photo studio in Provo (because the weather had forced a change of plans for an outdoor setting in a nearby canyon) for every combination of family pictures imaginable. Following this the adults in the family went to a restaurant in Springville for dinner. This was all a lot of fun but was also planned as a pretext to a surprise 25th wedding anniversary party that Breanne had been planning with considerable help for Laurie and Evan for the last six months. It was fun trying to bake and decorate cupcakes and make many last-minute preparations right under their noses in their driveway and still maintain the surprise factor. Immediately following dinner Laurie and Evan were instructed to put on blindfolds in the back seat of Lance and Aubri's car to head for the church (which was also a backup to the Ockey's back yard due to inclement weather) for the big surprise. Many family on both sides and friends from near and far were there assembled with lights out to yell, "Surprise!" as the blindfolds came off and the lights came on. They were indeed surprised and a little emotional to see everyone there and all the decorations and goodies for the party. A brief slide show of family history over the past 25 years was shown and Laurie and Evan were invited to dance to "their song," You Are the Inspiration, by the group Chicago. Evan's sister, Penny, gave a short account of how the relationship started after Evan returned from the mission field and saw a picture of Laurie on Penny's mirror and asked who that was. When Penny told him he said, "You mean Laurie Lewis from our ward? Boy has she grown up!" There was lots of fun, goodies, visiting and renewing family ties and friendships.
We did church on Sunday and then were back to work on Monday with back yard enhancements including weeding, planting flowers, repairing a leaking drinking fountain and fixing a large dragging back yard gate. In the evening we went to a "flag retirement" ceremony in the Macy's parking lot in Provo where a local marine who had served in both Iraq and Afghanistan gave a speech and a local boy scout troop burned a couple of hundred flags that had seen better days with a salute to each as it was draped over the flames. We then helped fix a broken sprinkler head in Trevor and LaRinda's front yard and called it a night.
On Tuesday we kind of hung out with Lindsy and her three kids and had a long talk with Laurie that morning. Lindsy is staying for the next two weeks for another Hartsock wedding while Ben flew back to Chicago Sunday. She will go home to Inkom with us until Jeremiah's wedding later this month when Ben will again fly out. In the afternoon we went for a very pleasant picnic in a park up Hobble Creek Canyon to the East of Springville.
On Wednesday we tried a ride with Mckinsie, Mariah and Carter up Hobble Creek Canyon but the road was closed so we drove up highway 6 to Diamond Fork Road and past Three Forks where the hike begins to Fifth Water Hot Springs where we have hiked with Leon in the past. We drove up to the junction with the Hobble Creek Canyon road and then turned around and returned. It was very pretty and green in the hills due to all the moisture in the past few weeks and it was raining today! In the afternoon when Kristina got off work we headed for home with Lindsy and her kids and Kristina. Thursday morning Jared will drive down from Rexburg to pick up Kristina. All in all it has been quite a week and we are looking forward to spending time with Lindsy, Carter, Avery and Emilia.

Taylor

We love all our grandchildren dearly. We have had the opportunity to tend little Taylor Lewis (when we have been home) a couple of days per week through her first year. We had a close relationship with Carter, Emelia and Avery Hartsock for a couple of months last winter. We have also had the opportunity to see Brandyn, Travis and Dillan McKnight frequently this past year. Laurie was a similar blessing to her Grandma and Grandpa Carson as we finished our last year of school before moving to Utah after our marriage. We plan to share similar future experiences. Anyway we just wanted to point out this important part-time retirement activity we have enjoyed this past year. Our prayers continue for Lance, Aubri and all our children and their spouses as they make homes for these precious little angels from heaven.

Helping Leslie and Matt Pack and Move

May 26-28, 2010
We spent most of these three days in Idaho Falls helping Leslie and Matt finalize packing, moving to a storage unit, cleaning their apartment and performing necessary yard work as they move to Cornish, Utah to stay with Matt's grandmother McKnight temporarily until they can find housing in the southeastern corner of Idaho. Matt quit his jobs in Idaho Falls with the school district and helping special needs children and has taken a job to work with special needs students with the school district in Dayton, Idaho which begins this fall. We were reminded what a huge job it is to clean a house and yard and move from an established home where you have lived for several years although it hasn't been that long since we did the same thing for Lindsy and Ben. But there is still a big difference between and relatively small apartment with a family of three (that had just barely become five) and a two-level home with older children in a family of five (soon to be six). It did help that they weren't moving in January:) Even though we did a lot it was after Matt and Les had done most of the job before we arrived. While in Idaho Falls we took Thursday evening to go to the temple with Leslie and perform all the temple ordinances for Bonnie's Aunt Helen and Uncle Emilio DeCarlo, two of their children and her Aunt Ethel. The two aunts were her father's sisters.

Utah Vacation Concluded (Canyonlands)

NOTE: It was difficult to narrow down pictures to post as there were so many we loved.

Fri May 7
We packed up and headed back toward home today. On the way we stopped for a visit to Utah’s Canyonlands National Park. We traveled the thirty-some miles into the south entrance to the Park on Utah highway 211. On the way we stopped at Newspaper Rock where there is an impressive display of ancient petroglyphs. Once into the Park we found the campground full and little other place to camp. Dave and Laurene were heading home early next morning so they retreated to Moab for the night and we and the Liljenquists stayed in a tight campsite just off the highway on the Lockhart Basin Road about 5 miles outside the Park for the night. We then went back into the Park to drive all the improved roads, stopped at lookouts and took a couple of short hikes. This area of Canyonlands is known as the Needles District and the many-spired rock formations tell why. Back at camp we played Liljenquist's Sequence game prior to bedtime.
Sat May 8
This morning we drove back into the Park, stopped at the visitor’s center and then drove out to Elephant Hill. There is an improved gravel road for 3 miles and that’s where the weak at heart stop at Elephant Hill. This is an extremely challenging 4-wheel drive, rocky and very steep climb of several hundred feet in about a quarter of a mile that leads to a number of 4-wheel drive roads at the top of the mesa. One switchback is so tight that one must pull onto a small flat spot at the corner, back up and turn around to start the ascent up the next grade. Lynn stated emphatically that neither she nor their dune buggy was going up so Gene got in with Dad after they had scouted the first half of the grade and they took Little Red Dune Buggy slowly and carefully bouncing, chugging and picking their way to the top while Lynn and I waited (and prayed) at the bottom. Dad admitted that is was a little nerve-racking but they made it and then came slowly sliding and bouncing back down. Dad said this was definitely near the top of the most challenging places we have ever taken Little Red. We then returned to camp and drove about 5 miles on down the Lockhart Basin Road. At a stream crossing about two miles in we stopped for lunch and viewed a waterfall just below the crossing. Upon returning we packed up and headed for home. Prior to reaching Moab we stopped to view Wilson Arch right along the highway. Then to make life interesting we detoured up Scenic Highway 128 just north of Moab to follow the Colorado River up it’s canyon along a narrow winding road northeast toward Interstate 70. The canyon was beautiful in spite of shadows from the late afternoon hour. After that it was hightailing it for the Provo area where we planned to spend Mother’s Day. We arrived at Laurie and Evan’s home at 10 PM tired after a long but fun day. We then waited up to meet Kristina Ockey’s just-announced finance, Jared James, but gave it up at 11:30 at went to bed.
Sun May 9
This morning we met Jared and were very impressed. He and Kristina seem to be a match made in heaven and they have set an August 14th wedding date. We then attended meetings with the Ockeys where sacrament meeting had both song and talks that were spiritually touching in honor of mothers.

Utah Vacation Continued (Mesa Verde)...

Thu May 6
We went into Cortez and bought and had installed a complete set of new tires on the motor home. Perhaps we can get back home without further problem now. After that we toured Mesa Verde National Park for the remainder of the day. The Wetherill Mesa Road is not yet open for the season but we did visit the Museum, the Spruce Tree House Ruins, took a guided tour of the Cliff Palace Ruins and stopped at a few overlooks and minor ruins on the return to camp. The extent of ancient Native American populations, what they built and how they evolved and survived from what is left of their existence is both amazing and mysterious. Laurene did not feel up to hiking any more due to problems with her knee so she stayed at camp and fixed a good Shepard pie for all. Also Dave, Gene and Lynn had gone on before due to our delay so we toured alone today. After dinner we watched slide shows of our trip pictures.