A Giant Among Men!

Robyne's Dad (Bob Hunt) passed away on Tuesday morning after a lifetime of challenges and obstacles. I don't know if I've ever met anyone who has had to endure more than this great man. He always took everything in stride, and worried more about how others were doing than himself.




It has been our privilege for about eighteen years to have Bob either live with us or during the past few years very close to us in assisted living. He has been there to help us raise our daughters, to keep the garbage men in place (many stories about him straightening them out), or help anyone in need. We've loved having him live with us and our lives have been richly blessed by his influence, kidness, concern and his infectious smile.


Robyne has tenderly cared for him during this time, especially these past eight weeks as he has been under Hospice care. It hasn't been easy for her the juggle the demands of being a wife, mother, friend, etc. but she has tenderly cared for him. She has been the perfect example of "Honoring her Father & Mother" as the Ten Commandments instruct us. There have been many trips to the hospital (I'm guess at least five a year...Alta View Emergency knew us well), more doctor appointments than I could count, two a.m. phone calls wondering what time it was, four a.m. phone calls asking when he should be ready for a ten a.m. appointment, unplanned grocery store runs to pick up Ruby Red-Tangerine juice, garlic croutons and rubbing alchol (another story) etc., etc.



Bob loved Christmas and usually called us around 3:00-4:00 on Christmas morning to see if we were ready to start. You should begin seeing a pattern beginning that he generally was up most of the night and slept in the day alot! He was so excited to see the girls open their presents and just as excited opening his. Even while living in Assisted Living we would go get him and bring him over to open Christmas presents. We will greatly miss his physical presenence on Christmas morning, but know his spirit will always be there with us. Sure wish his spirit could clean up the wrapping paper and break down the boxes (another one of the jobs he did).

Bob's life was that of a humble servant who suffered much and complained little. I've always thought that Bob and the Old Testament Prophet Job had a lot in common. They both suffered many trials and obstacles, but they faithfully kept going and have received a great reward. Bob's final moments were while getting his daily bath from a hospice aide (Kim) who so lovingly cared for him. She noticed tears in his eyes and said that she hoped those were tears of joy. They must of have been as he smiled at her and then took his last breath! I'm confident that smile was in response to seeing so many that he loved and who have gone before him.

His obituary is on-line at: http://www.legacy.com/saltlaketribune/Obituaries.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=121512987 or at www.holbrookmortuary.com.

Thanks Bob for being such a vital part of our lives and raising such a great daughter who we call wife and mother. Thanks Robyne for showing us what it means to love unconditionally and serve unselfishly...we all love you (especially me).

Dad

What great kids Shane and I have, and what a blessing and comfort they are to me right now. My Dad is now on Hospice and in the process of dying. It is a very bittersweet time for us. Dad has literally helped raise our kids and been a huge part of our everyday family life, so what will we do without him now? It will be so tough, but it brings us so much joy and happiness to know that he will finally be pain free. Our joy for him and his sweet reunion with his parents and close family who have gone before outweighs our loss. It really has been such a great blessing to have so many family members here to visit and say their goodbyes. Sitting with Dad daily has also been a blessing to feel the sweet spirit that is present when the veil is so close. I truly am grateful for the knowledge that families are eternal, I know that our Heavenly Father loves us and knows what is best for us. My Dad is the most humble, sweet, forgiving, and loving man and I know that now he will be free od the aches and pains of his earthly body and enjoy the peace and love which can only come through our Savior.

Thanks so much for the thoughts and prayers offered in our behalf, it really does make a difference and gives us strength to go on. Hope you can feel our love for each of you also!

Family

Everything is a little crazy, and pretty hard these days at home in Sandy so while I'm here at BYU I thought I would help them out a bit by putting up some kind of blog post so you all know we are still around! I think I speak for my family in this post when I say that we, as a family, are so grateful for family! We have had the opportunity to see so many family members the last two weeks, and we will continue to see many more in the coming weeks. Although the reasons for the visits do not always seem like a happy thing, each visit brings so much joy, and peace. I believe it is one of our Heavenly Fathers greatest blessings that we are sent to earth into families. Families are our cores, our very centers. They shape and mold us into the people we become, and they leave impressions that last generations. It is also one of the Heavenly Fathers greatest blessings that families are eternal. That child and parents, husbands and wives, entire families, can see each other again after this life. Families are truely amazing, and I'm so grateful for mine!

New York Pics

Our "Real" Family Vacation

So it has taken me forever to get to posting about our trip to New York, my excuse is that Nicole had my computer so bogged down with her High School Historian pictures that I couldn't download the New York pics....so now that I resolved that problem, I am back! The first stop on our "real" vacation was the beautiful town of Palmyra New York, where we toured all the church history sites and did baptisms for the dead at the Palmyra Temple. The best part for me was the time we spent in the Sacred Grove, individually with our scriptures. The weather was beautiful, with a few sprinklings of rain...this is such a beautiful part of New York! We even got to go to a parade in Palmyra....the Fireman's Parade, it was quite an event!

After a few days in Palmyra we flew on to NYC, we had the best time, we even decided to stay an extra day and go to another show! We saw "The Little Mermaid", "Mary Poppins", and "Legally Blonde", we went purse shopping on Canal Street and that was so hilarious...to go into these little tiny shops,through a secret door, and into the basement to see their knockoff purses, and then to haggle over the price with them was an adventure too! We took a great bus tour of the city, a day tour and a night tour and it was beautiful at night and we learned alot of fun stuff. We went to "The Metropolitian Museum of Art" and "The American History Museum", we went to the Manhattan Temple, Ground Zero, St. Paul's Cathedral, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Ellis Island, and The Statue of Liberty. We went to bed late and got up early every day and we had so much fun together!

We also enjoyed walking through Central Park several times and going to Magnolia Bakery for their delish cupcakes, and frozen Hot Chocolate at Serendipity, our dinner at Serendipity was also one of the best meals we had in the Big Apple, although we did find the best pizza ever, in a little hole in the wall pizza joint near our hotel, and their pasta was amazing! We went to Rockefeller Center, where there were some great views of the city. It was a once in a lifetime trip as a family....meaning the next time our kids go their own husbands will have to take them and pay for them, but I am sure Shane and I will go again at some point. Ha,ha :)

We were riding the subway back to our hotel one evening, as the doors closed there was this booming voice behind us saying, "Alright, EVERYBODY LISTEN UP! I lost my job and haven't been able to find a new one. I used the last of my $ for the subway ride home,and I haven't eaten since breakfast!" I thought for sure we were all going to be mugged, I was afraid to look back to see if he had a gun cuz he was standing right behind us....then he continued..."So if there is anyone who has any food that they could share with me I would really appreciate it" I looked at him and I could tell he wasn't a homeless man....just someone who was about at his breaking point and was looking for help. We happened to have a box of cupcakes that we were taking back to our hotel, so Nicole and I both decided to give him one, he was very grateful and when we appoligized for it being kind of messy...He just smiled and said, "It is food, God bless you!" I have thought alot about this incident, and about how sometimes our fear can hold us back...when he first started talking to everyone we were all nervous and scared, some people wouldn't look at him, some were trying to figure out what was going on....but as he continued, if you listened you could tell that he was sincere and just wanted some kind of kindness. We all want a little kindness, some tender mercy, but how often do we allow ourselves to be someone elses tender mercy. We often become so busy in our own lives, so wrapped up in our own thoughts,and sometimes our fear holds us back, I just hope I can use this experience to remind me to be more aware of others, to be more kind. Sorry to ramble on, and on...just thinking outloud I guess.

Robyne's Hasn't Got Time...Trek Catch-up!

OUR FAMILY VACATION?

Family on Independence Rock!

My great wife never has time to catch up the blog so I thought I would help her out with August's activities...maybe then she can keep things up to date. She's been very busy lately moving her Dad, keeping up with the girls, and getting back to handling all the library duties at Silver Mesa.

Our Stake had Pioneer Trek and the entire family was able to go. It was great to be there together, and had some great experiences. It was fun to have all of us there even though the girls were in separate "Pioneer Families" while we just floated...some called us the "grandma & grandpa" of the ward (I didn't like that label).

We all came away with a different experience that impacted us and we certainly learned to appreciate the sacrifice of those who did this "for real." I'm pretty confident that if I was a pioneer I would have probably died somewhere near the eastern border of Wyoming. The thoughts of having to walk through the entire state of Wyoming and it's dreary, desolate, and depressing landscape (not to mention windy all of the time) would have done me in quickly. The only redeeming quality about walking through Wyoming is it's much more beautiful than flying over it (even uglier) as we experienced a few weeks later.

CLIFF NOTE HIGHLIGHTS:

Day 1: Left on Wednesday morning (4:45 am...no, that's not a typo), arrived at Martin's Cove, walked five miles around the cove, re-enacted the Sweet Water River Crossing (great experience), then went to our camp ground for dinner, square dancing (okay, I didn't square dance...remember I'm the grandpa), and sleep. By the time we had arrived the wind had destroyed one of our wards huge canopies we use at girls camp and didn't seem to quit blowing the entire time we were there! During the night Nicole had severe stomach pain which appeared to be her gal bladder; medical staff gave some powerful medication (helped her sleep) seemed better in the morning. Coyote's howled most of the night...they were right next to camp. Did have one of our young women leaders wake up on Thursday morning and ask if she heard the "Antelope that were mating during the night." TRUE STORY!

Day 2: Got on bus, went to Independence Rock for a devotional (each ward separate), then traveled to Six Crossing station to begin walking on the trail (and last flush toilet until you get to the Little America rest stop on the way home). This day on the trail is around fourteen miles, with about a mile along the river. Pretty hard day on the trail and we did have a few causalities along the way...one of them being Nicole. She ended up with a re-occurance of the pain from the night before and Robyne & I ended up going with her along with the Stake President to Lander to the hospital. That was one of the hardest things we had to do in our life was to drive by our other two daughters who were struggling with the last couple of miles on the trail, and seeing their faces as they new something was wrong. Hospital took a long time and we decided that since I still had two daughters and a ward to watch over that the Stake President & I would go back, not yet knowing what was wrong with Nicole. I have a niece who lives in Lander and would come and get the "women folk" (pioneer talk) when they determined something. Very hard for me to leave them there and not knowing for the next 18 hours what was going on.

Day 3: Best day of trek! Walked up Rocky Ridge (most elevation gain on the entire trek) and "Women's Pull." When I walked I generally was at the rear..two reasons. 1) didn't want to leave anyone behind, 2) I was generally going slower than the rest for a number of reasons. Before reaching the summit they pulled off the men and made them leave the women by themselves to pull the wagon over a very difficult part of Rocky Ridge. We had several young women with different problems, and some just broke down. My counselor's and I gave some of them a blessing, and then had to leave them. I will admit that my eyes were leaking when I looked back and saw their condition, and to see my two remaining daughters with their arms around each other and their faces filled with concern. This combined with Nicole & Robyne being gone and not knowing her condition was ripping us apart. I waited with the young men who lined both sides of the trail in respect waited for the young women to arrive. I sat watching the crest of the hill they were to come over and was so happy to see the orange flags of our ward finally come into view. It was so amazing to see these young women pull up those hand carts up the hill and see the courage and determination of our young women and their leaders. Again, eyes were leaking most of the time during this also.

Day 3 (continued): After Rocky Ridge I was able to meet up with Nicole (she was released and okay..turned out to be a virus) and Robyne and we walked back a couple of miles from the end (Rock Creek Hollow) with our young women's president to meet up with our ward. It was so neat to see Nicole and her sisters run to each other with hugs and also her "trek family" do the same. Then together we walked the final few miles together (after yet another Bishop's teaching moment...sure appreciate putting up with me during those discussions..my youth are great). Rock Creek is my most favorite part of trek because it has some beauty, there's no wind, and the creek runs through it. We all went down to the creek to cool/clean off and then finished the night with a great testimony meeting.

Day 4: Final devotional with the Stake which was great and then boarded the buses for home. WE did stop at Little America for a bathroom break and ice cream.

Trek is a lot of work, costs a lot of money, and may not seem worth it. However, I learned so many great lessons on this trek and so many lives change. I personally learned how difficult it is to have your family separated and having to decide who needed you the most. I learned how hard it is as a parent to let your children go through struggles so they can grow and develop. I also learned that the spirit has an amazing way of touching lives and teaching some powerful lessons. Among the lessons I saw taught were leaders learn that we can only do so much and then the youth have to decide. How you can accomplish anything if you put your mind to it. How beautiful the end of a journey can be after you've sacrificed so much to get there.

Glad we went, but sure was glad to see the shower, air conditioning and to replace my sleeping bag and thin ground mat for a mattress.

SUMMER......PART 2

Okay so here we go again...trying to catch up the blog with the actual life we live! A few days after Megan and I returned from VA it was time to go again....this time on our annual camping trip to Moon Lake. Moon Lake is a beautiful place in the Uintah Mountains, a beautiful blue lake surrounded by trees, mountains and along one side...a sandy beach and maybe 20 something cabins. These cabins are nothing fancy.....they were built in the 1930's I think, and the bathrooms fit a toilet, small sink, and very small shower. The walls and the floors are slanted and there is usually a bed in the dining area. There is usually no counter space in the kitchen and the ovens are to small to actually cook anything in them, but we love going up there every year with a couple of families from our ward....no phones (or cell service), no traffic (unless you count the deer, and sometimes cows that wander through the camp sites) We have been horseback riding, hiking, swimming, rented paddle boats and even a motor boat. Some people fish, or just sit on the beach and visit and it is just very relaxing! It is "Tradition" for us now! Nicole and I drove Big Red up there a day earlier than the rest of the family, and it was great to spend some one on one with her. I even let her drive the truck from Duchane to Moon Lake! The next evening Shane, Megan, and Abbie arrived in time for dinner, and the next few days were spent relaxing, enjoying friends and family, card games, smores at the fire every night, and watching the wildlife!

Utah Michigan Football Game

Robyne & I had the opportunity to go with the football team to their game at Michigan. We were able to travel with the team on their airplane, stay at the same hotel, and travel in their escort to and from the stadium.

We had a great dinner on Friday night with some other guests and University of Utah PR staff. Robyne was able to meet one of her favorite former basketball players (Jimmy Soto) and his wife.

The best part was being at Michigan's stadium ("The Big House") and watching the game which the Utes won 25-23. There were around 109,000 people at the game and we were packed in their like Sardines. Poor Robyne had to find a less confining seat for the last half of the game and ended up on a seat next to an usher. She probably had the most comfortable seat in the house.

The funniest part of the trip was getting on our Jet Blue plane whose name was "100% Blue." The Utes (Red & White) getting on a plane saying that to go play a team called "Big Blue" and BYU being Blue & White. Okay, I thought it was funny!

It was all worth it.....GO UTES!

Crazy July!

Happy 4th of July!

I was a little worried about July going into it, but living it was something else...in a good way! The girls started out with celebrating the 4th in Provo at Stadium of fire...they had a great time.A little guy in our ward, who had just been baptized called and invited Shane and I to come and do fireworks in their driveway with his family, we had a great time! Thanks Nicholas!!

The next Monday was Girl's Camp. We went to Heber Valley Girls Camp for the first time and it was awesome. There was a challenge course with a swing on it..It was a blast, that is me on the swing! On Bishopric Night, Shane and Nicole joined us for dinner, and testimony meeting!

We had never been to a Girls Camp with cabins before, so that was really nice, and the Stake did all the meals, it was great! As a camp director I didn't have to worry about all the equipment and all of the meals, so camp was alot easier for me this year. There is a lake up there and we were able to go canoeing, our stake property does not have a body of water, or a river so we had a great time at the lake. The challenge course was the best though, the girls learned so much as they learned to work as a team...I loved it!

We returned home from Camp on Friday and the following day Megan and I left for Virginia. She was going to EFY there and I was going to visit a few people from my mission, my only regret is that I didn't take many pictures... I was to busy visiting! On our drive down to Buena Vista I took Megan to Monticello, (the home of Thomas Jefferson) it was really interesting. Megan had a great time at EFY, she was in Buena Vista at SVU. SVU is a private college which is owned by members of the church. It has the same standards as BYU and all the professors are LDS. It is the members in the east coasts answer to BYU, although it is not owned by the church.

Megs at Monticello

Spud & Janice Butterworth

I drove to Roanoke and visited with some of the greatest people I have ever known! The Butterworths! Sitting in their home visiting, the years just melted away and I felt like it had been no time at all since I had seen them instead of the 25 years that it actually was! They took me to dinner and I just didn't want to leave them, but I had to drive on to West Virginia!

My missionary trainer and one of my bestest friends, Janice Louise Kay Wilkinson Rymer, lives in West Virginia now. Janice and her great family welcomed me into their home for the rest of my stay and it was great! Janice has three great teenage boys, and two adorable little girls, and I had alot of fun with these kids! It was great of Janice and Greg to let me stay there and hang out with all of them! I didn't get to see much of Greg as he was off to Scout Camp, however the boys had to come home to go to Youth Conference, so I saw a little of them and they were so fun!

The Rymer Boys! Anna

Elizabeth At the Washington DC Temple

After picking Megan up to head back to the Airport in DC, we swung by the DC Temple for a stop in the Visitors Center and to take a few pics! It was a great trip and we both had a blast! Wow! I will have to blog the rest of July later...sorry this is so long!

Flordia trip

I decided to try and figure out this whole blogging thing before I get my own when i head off to Provo in a few months. So, I'm going to tell you all about the fun vacation I got to go on with my dad last week. My dad has buisness meetings in Ft. Lauderdale Flordia and invited me to come with him as sort of a post graduation/need relaxation vacaction and it was so much fun. We flew out on Sunday and arrived in Orlando late that night. Monday and Tuesday we spent the days traveling Everest in the Animal Kingdom, watching fireworks and going on our favorite classic rides in the Magic Kingdom and riding on our favorite haunted elevator at Disney Studios. It was such a blast and so much fun to go to Disney World again. Its one of my favorite places and i always feel like such a kid when I'm there. We had a blast! Tuesday night we made the three hour drive from Orlando to Ft. Lauderdale. Although the drive was long it was very eventful. After a long stretch of nothing but Flordia swamps we finally saw an exit and decided to stop to use the bathroom and get some food. The small town we stopped at turned out to be Yeehaw... the name says it all. It was the most disgusting place I have ever been but a rest stop I will never forget, even if I try. We were pleased to find that the hotel where my dads conference was is quiet the opposite of Yeehaw when we arrived though. Its called the Westin Diplomat and it was extremely fancy. It was right on the beach with private access to the beach from the two huge pools. Our room was on the thirty fifth floor, the very top, and looked right out onto the ocean, it was so beautiful. Wedensday, Thursday and Friday my dad had meetings all day and I spent my time laying by the beach, getting a pedicure, shopping, napping, taking bubble baths and just relaxing. I loved it! When my dad wasn't in meetings we had fun going out to eat, doing some shopping, drive by the coast, watching movies and just spending time together. Saturday we packed up our bags and came home. It was so nice to spend this time with just my dad. I'm so glad that I have such an awesome dad who would let me come! Thanks dad, I love you!

I'm Back

Today was great.....I got my stitches out and now I am able to type again. I have decided to go private due to some jerk out there who thinks that they can leave disgusting comments on my blog, so to any of you who know and love us send me your e-mail address and I will invite you to view and comment on our blog. I hated to do this, cuz it is an extra step for you, but it is a cruel world with some disgusting people out there. Nothing this person could say could hurt me, but I won't have my daughters subjected to this kind of garbage! So "I'mbetterlookingthan you" eat your heart out. Just so you know......a beautiful person is beautiful inside and out and you need to examine your heart and mind!

Shane's Update While Robyne is Recooperating!

Nicole Prior to Graduation
Nicole with Diploma...she did it!
Girl's after Graduation!
Megan at singing at Spring Concert.
Abbie's last soccer game

This is really Shane and he has never created a blog post in his entire life! Sorry the pictures are first, I will attempt to figure that out next time I post. Robyne had surgery last Friday and isn't supposed to use her arm (it's in a cast). Of course, we shouldn't be to surprised that Robyne is pushing the limit on "acceptable activities". Good thing she still has some pain meds! She be out of her splint next week and will also have the stiches removed. She is really doing pretty good.

Now on to our update...hope you don't fall asleep with boredom:

ROBYNE & SHANE: Celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary on May 27th..can't believe she's put up with me that long. We went to dinner at Ruth's Chris that night and then took a drive and ended up driving through the Salt Lake City Cemetery. It was right after Memorial Day so it was beautiful. Okay, it wasn't exactly the most romantic night but I did take her with me to Florida the month before!

NICOLE: She graduated from high school last week...seems like yesterday that she was heading off for her first day of Kindergarten. She's been busy very busy this year, especially this past month. Between being an SBO, in the schools Vocal Ensemble, and finishing the Historian's scrap book she hasn't had a lot of spare time. Robyne & I were chaperone's at her Grad Night Party which was an exciting way to spend the hours of 11:00 pm until 6:00 am! Nothing like staying up all night with 250 of your favorite 18 year olds. We survived and even managed to have a little fun. We attended a lot of concerts and other activities for her during the past month...we sure are proud of her! To show you how I would do anything for her I even stayed up with her until 2:00 am last Friday morning to help her register for BYU (oh the pain). I never though the day would come when I would be sending money, let alone my daughter, to BYU but that happened on Saturday also. Oh, the things we do for our kids...jk.

MEGAN: Finished her Sophomore year and was selected to be in Hillcrest's "Chorale" singing group during her Junior year. She is pretty psyched about that! I think she's been the most upset about Nicole graduating than any of us...she's loved having Nicole around this year. However, she is going to have a fun time next year being the only London girl at Hillcrest. She has a busy summer with girls camp, trek, and efy. She is going to Virgina (Southern Virgina University) for efy in July. Robyne is taking her out and will go and visit an old friend/missionary companion while Megan's at efy. Her number one assignment from her Dad this summer is to get her "Learner's Permit" so we don't have to drive her to all of her activities.

ABBIE: Finished eighth grade this year and is looking forward to summer. She's off to efy next week at Utah State with several of her friends. It should be a pretty wild time for them all. She scored the wining goal in her last soccer game on her Sandy Recreation team. This was her last year that she can play in Rec Soccer...she's now to old! What a way to finish. She has been so understanding this past month with all of the events Nicole & Megan have been involved with. We sure are glad we have her...she makes life so fun!

We've got a full summer of activities between girls camp, trek, business trips, and a family vacation. We are heading to New York in August for a last hurrah prior to the kids getting back to school. We've always wanted to go to New York and do everything that is there...should be interesting!

Good news is that Robyne should be back soon with an update. Who knows, maybe I'll even chime in from time to time.

The Rest of the Story...

Some great friends moved from our neighborhood to Seattle, WA. We missed their great sense of humor,funny stories,and even the Mr.'s teasing. So Sid, Sue and I decided to go visit them, and we probably had way toooo much fun! Here is a briefing on my latest west coast adventure!
We flew out on May 1st and were greeted by the smiling face of our own "Wandering Nana", of course it was great to see her again! She had picked a few places to take us so we headed out, but not until we stopped for lunch at a great little place, (where I tried to steal a cane for our hostess.) We headed out to the Seattle Temple,and it was beautiful! We also went to Picnic Point, and Edmonds Beach. We were able to collect sea shells and pretty rocks, now if I were only creative enough to figure out a way to display them! We went to dinner at a great little restaurant at the beach where the Clam Chowder was to die for! The Mr. was with us, a very patient man with 4 chattering women, so when the server asked where we were from he said "Texas". I was just dying!
The next day after Mr. went to work, we set off for a full day of fun and adventure! We went to a beautiful valley where they grow tulips and daffodils, at first we thought that we had missed the blooms...but we came across a beautiful place with multiple colors in full bloom, it was so pretty! We continued driving to a place called Deception Pass...WOW you can see from the pics in the slide show that the bridge is amazing, we stood on the walkway taking pictures of the ocean on one side and the fresh waters on the other side then we hiked down a trail to a beach below, it was a beautiful place. We then drove on and took the Mukilteo-Whidbey Ferry, and went on home! Our great Hostess made us this wonderful Shrimp Dinner, with rice and green salad, it was awesome. After eating we all loaded in the car and went to see Seattle by Night, by the time it got dark it was late and we were getting pretty goofy. Mr was driving us around and when he saw something he thought we would want to take a picture of he would stop...sometimes in the street. We couldn't take pics that fast, so he was kinda frusterated with us. He took the Pikes market at night picture. When we got near the Space Needle, we couldn't get a pic from the angle we were at in the back and one of the camera's was on the blink, so he pulled over and took his camera and stood in the middle of the street to get a picture...there were cars coming and the Mrs. was calling to him to get back in the car, meanwhile we were trying to get a picture of him standing in the middle of the street, and we were laughing so hard that I almost couldn't breathe, finally he gets back in the car and we look at the picture...we couldn't even see it and we started laughing again when Sid said, "Well,was that worth risking your life over?" Poor Mr. had to put up with our crazy laughting fits.
The next day it actually rained, but it wasn't to bad! We went to the Locks, it is like a little Panama Canal, it was really neat to watch the boats enter and the water level drop way down, the gate opens on the other side and out they go! We had lunch at Pikes Market, then went and rode The Duck. The Duck is an amphibious vehicle that drives on land and is a boat in the water. We had a great tour and saw all the famous sites of Seattle, it was alot of fun. While we were waiting to load the Duck we saw some interesting activity going on in the parking lot next to us...there was a truck parked with a camper on it, people were standing outside and they were wearing animal tails, noses, and some had full animal costumes on. They would use the camper to go in and change clothes, we thought it might be some activists or something, so I asked a guy? okay he was 1/2 guy and 1/2 squirrel, and he handed me a flyer!!! No they weren't dressed up like this for some worthy cause, like PETA or Save the Squirrels.....they were a social group. Yes people who have normal lives in the daytime, and evenings and weekends they dress up in animal costumes and go out in public places, this is how they get to meet new people...I guess with the same interests????? as they have. Anyway it was sooo strange, I think they called themselves the Seattle Furrys...it was nutty.
All to soon it was time to head to the airport,it was sad to say goodbye to Mr & Mrs, although Mr was probably relieved to get back to living with just 1 woman. They were the BEST Host and Hostess! This trip was rejuvinating for me, we kept busy, and laughed so much...I really needed that! Thank You Mr & Mrs, I sure do miss you guys!
Remember...don't feed the "animals."

Coast to Coast part 2

Coast to Coast Part 1

April was a busy month for me. First Shane had a conference in Orlando, so I went with him for a week...it was so relaxing, just what I needed (for some reason).
Have you ever had a premonition? Well while waiting for our flight out to Orlando, we were sitting at the gate waiting, there was a family sitting behind us with 6 kids, but the kids were running around wild...the mom was sitting there putting on her make-up while the baby screamed, and the other little ones just ran around. There was one teenage daughter and the other 5 kids were probably 9 and under. The dad was standing clear over by another gate, probably pretending he didn't know the family. Anyway...this family...we referred to them as the "Bumpus" family, were out of control. Shane turns to me and says..."Just watch they will be sitting right behind me." I just laughed. I figured maybe they were on some other flight as there were other gates close by. But they were on our flight and they boarded shortly before we did, as we were walking down the aisle, we were getting closer and closer to them and Shane was actually right, but they were not only behind him they were also right next to him. I had the aisle seat across from him. The mom, who was rather large (the seatbelt didn't go around her) was right by Shane in the middle and her teenage daughter was by the window, behind them were 2 boys about 9 and 7, behind them were dad holding baby,and a little girl about 3 and then in the middle seat behind him was the other little girl about 5 (yes in the middle of 2 complete strangers). When we got down by our seats they had the aisle blocked as they tried to figure out where there seats were, the jerky husband starts yelling and swearing at his wife...finally they all sit down, but musical chairs were played many times throughout the flight...except of course dad bumpus stayed right where he was the whole time. So every time a kid needed to go to the bathroom mom would get up and have to take them...which meant Shane had to get up also. He put on his noise reduction headphones and tried to watch the movie, but mom kept poking him to ask questions like if she had to pay for the sodas? is there any free snacks? She did bring snacks from home..it was beef sticks and pepper-jack cheese sticks which the whole plane could smell.The baby was screaming so Dad yelled at the baby to "Shut Up" finally he passed the baby up to mom (over the seats) this happened several times as each trip to the bathroom she gave the baby back to Dad Bumpus, finally the baby fell asleep on moms tummy there was probably 3 inches between his head and the seat in front of her. When the baby awoke, she stood him on her lap and he started pulling the hair of the man in front of her. At some point she poked Shane and explained that this was the first family vacation they had ever taken, (surprise), she and her teenage daughter were terrified to fly, the 2 boys behind them were both ADHD, and she has a psycho ex husband living in Missouri. Shane wanted to say that everyone on the plane had already figured out the little boys problems,WHY NO MEDS???. I was so proud of him, he was so patient with all of it. Everyone behind and about 5 rows in front of us kept snickering and giving him sympathetic looks. I was having a hard time controling my laughter, and the funny expressions Shane kept making! As we landed one of the boys asked if they could go swimming tonight, Mom Bumpus replied that they would have to see, cuz mommy and daddy had to go to a presentation for a few hours that evening...YES they were the guests of some lucky timeshare group! Mom told Shane that they were flying home the next Wednesday....guess what? So were we!

So all week long we joked about the Bumpus family with some of Shane's co-workers. They laughed, but they weren't on our plane going out so they really didn't get it, however they were on the same plane coming home so we told them that the Bumpus family was also going home that day and maybe they could see for themselves.

We sat at the Orlando airport waiting for our flight,visiting with Shane's co-workers and wouldn't you know it along came the Bumpus family, yep, they were all there noone had gotten lost in Disney World. We were just dying...Shane turned to me and said, "If the flight is oversold, I'm staying and going on the next one!" As everyone was waiting, the kids started running around and 2 of them were screaming, Dad Bumpus was his usual unhelpful self, and mom bumpus looked like a tornado had hit her, she just sat there. Everyone at the gate just kept looking at them probably wondering if either one would do anything about their children. Shane's coworkers now were getting nervous. The Delta employee stood up to the microphone and announced that the flight was oversold and they needed 2 people to stay overnight and go on tomorrows flight, I jumped up immediately and started for the counter, but 2 other people ran and beat me to it. I told the girls with us that I thought they would be the lucky ones this time to sit among the Bumpus family, and low and behold....I was right! Shane and I had a good trip home, away from the Bumpus family, but laughing at our friends who sat among them!

The trip was a great one, we spent time at Sea World, and the "Happy Place" of Disney World. I spent time reading and relaxing. Life is good! And to anyone reading this...Yes, I do know what it is like to travel with little children and have them act up...I guess I just wouldn't take my family on a 4 1/2 hour flight, with nothing to do to keep them occupied, for our 1st family vacation.....it would have been the last vacation they ever took!

Stay tuned for part 2 of Coast to Coast

More Spring Break Pics

Spring Break with 180 of my closest teenage friends!!!!!

Nicole's birthday lunch with a bunch of friends...this is me talking to her future roommate and friend Rachelle. We are on the pier at Seal's Beach, CA.

Abbie & Megan @ Disneyland!
VE Performing at Disneyland....Nicole is the beauty in the middle!
Oh so seriousssssss......
Jeff, Nicole, & Pascal.

So Spring Break a time for fun, family, relaxation......NOT!! Seriously though it was a great experience. I chaperoned the Performing Arts Tour for Nicole's High School. I only had 6 girls that I was in charge of so it was really a breeze and I did have a blast. This year Shane, Meg, and Abbie flew down so we could all be together for Nicole's 18th b-day, and to see her perform at Disneyland, so it really was great! The buses left the school at about 7:15 pm on Tuesday March 18th and we arrived at Seal Beach at about 7 am on Wed the 19th (Nicole's b-day). The bus ride was long and not very comfortable, but I survived.....it was being at the beach so early that was kinda weird for me.....anyway after Shane, Meg and Ab had a good nights rest in their hotel they came and met us at the beach and we all shopped and had lunch together (with several of Nicole's friends and choir kids). We left the beach and the buses went to a grocery store....it was hilarious.....180 teenagers, 30 chaperones and 4 bus drivers, all going into the Food For Less at one time....the checkers were freakin out! The kids had been given $5 each for breakfast food for 4 days...there were 6 to a room so if they put their $ together they would have $30. It was so fun to see them in their groups figuring out what they wanted and would need. Our hotel rooms had microwaves and small fridges. It was so funny to see the boys getting all the big breakfast items....eggs, sausage, frozen waffles ect. and the girls getting cold cereal, fruit, jucie, and granola bars. After leaving the store we went to the Hotel to check it. I cannot believe how organized it was. The Choir Director's wife went a day early to make sure everything was in place and along with the Choir Mom (Head Chaperone) everything went smoothly.

After a few hours rest we dressed, had Pizza and went to " WICKED", we saw this same show last year, but it was awesome to see it again. It is such a fun show to see and I was glad we had extra tickets so Shane, Megan, and Abbie could come too! You can bet we all slept good that night.

The rest of our days were filled with workshops at Disney, and performances at Disneyland. It is so fun to go with these kids, they are such great kids and they are really supportive of eachother, it is as much fun to watch the kids watch eachother perform as it is to watch the performances.

Sunday was great we slept in then went on a 2 hour Harbor Cruise, where they fed us an incredible lunch! Following the cruise, we went to St. Pious V Catholic Church where our Choir and Orchestra performed Easter Mass. This is the 10th year that our HS Choir has done this and it is an incredible performance. It is standing room only every year, and this year there was a write up in the newspaper about it, and a local TV Station filmed it for a rebroadcast! Our kids were amazing!

Monday found us all day at the park until closing when we met by the California letters and walked to our buses to come home......this was the longest ride in my life...I couldn't sleep, there were kids all over on the floor of the bus, and the air conditioning wasn't working...I was getting claustophobia (not a pretty sight) Finally we stopped, were able to get off the bus, eat, the air got turned on and I was ready to roll. Pulling into the school at about 4:30 pm on Tuesday the 25th.

Would I do it all again.....YEP! Good thing because Megan and Abbie have both told me I have to go with them too! I think I even convinced Shane to chaperone with me next year...Double the Fun!

Missing Dad

It is amazing how much can happen in one week! Just a week ago we were sitting by the fire visiting with Shane's sister and her family and Delbert & Barbara (Shane's parents) and today Delbert's obituary is in the paper. He had a couple of falls on Wednesday night and by Thursday morning he was in severe pain and was very weak, so Debbie called an ambulance to transport him to the ER. Shane met Debbie at the hospital and I went to stay with Barbara. Finally by 4 p.m. they had him in a room and he was finally comfortable enough to sleep. They had run several tests and we were just waiting to see the Dr Friday morning to hear what they had found. Our phone rang a little before 6 a.m. and Jim (Debbie's husband) said the hospital called and he had taken a turn for the worse...we needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible. We told our kids what was going on and we left for the hospital, just as we were pulling into the parking lot we got another call that he had passed away. He passed away Friday morning around 6 am, very peacefully, he was sound asleep and just quit snoring, a nurse who was sitting with him took his pulse and there was none. Boy, what a way to go! I have always thought that it would be great, that when my time came, I could just go in my sleep!

The last few days have been very tender and emotional for all of us. Delbert was 92, but he was very vibrant, healthy, and optimistic until the past few years, when he was in alot of pain from arthritis, had trouble with asthma, and lost alot of his vision due to macular degeneration. I like to remember him how he was before all that stuff. I have known him and loved him for 20 years. when Shane & I married, Delbert and Barbara were "Snowbirds" heading south to St. George for the winters, and living up here in the Spring, Summer, and Fall. When they were home Delbert worked part time in the refrigeration business (yes...Shane's Dad was a refrigeration repair man....just like the Smothers Brothers talked about : ) ) Delbert didn't retire until he was about 75. Dell and Barbara were very social, they had lots of friends and the neighbors on the street were almost like extended family they had all lived there for so long and raised their children. Dell was the ward clerk for 30 years, and he knew everyone! That carried over to every part of his life, he was so friendly,he would strike up a conversation with anyone, and he always had a smile. Dell liked to sing, mostly around home, in the shower, and in the car, to his children, grandchildren, and his wife. Dell and Barbara knew eachother their whole lives and they were so loving and kind to eachother. He always showed her great respect and love!

We will miss him so very much! We are so greatful for the plan of salvation, and the knowledge that families can be an eternal unit. We are greatful that Dad is out of pain, and having a great reunion with his son, Larry, his 8 siblings, his parents, and other loved ones who have already moved on. The funeral is Tuesday March 11th and if you are interested you can read Dell's obituary online at: www.legacy.com/DeseretNews/Obituaries.asp, or you can go to deseretnews.com and click on obituaries.

Until later....Enjoy every moment...Live life to it's fullest and remember what is really important!

Renanisance Feast

This was amazing the whole auditorium was transformed into a castle of Medival Times. We were served by Wenchs, and we ate with our hands, we participated in a royal toast, and enjoyed great entertainment by the Vocal Ensemble group. You can tell from these pictures that an incredible amount of time and work goes into the decorations, set-up, food prep and costumes. The costumes are beautiful and the kids have to account for their costume, and every piece of jewlery that they wear, and every prop that is used. It runs for 3 nights, it is an amazing experience! I helped with food on the first night, then on Valentines Night Shane & I went together, and on the last night we took Megan, & Abbie. We sat with some Alumni and the Kunzler Girls.....more pics to come of that night!

The London Times!

How can one family have so much fun? I just don't know but we do, we love our London/Child Family and we always have such a great time with them! Here is a shout out to all the London/Child Family!