CHRISTMAS IN A BIG FAMILY

Dear Family,

We had a great family celebration on Christmas Eve. That is our big family get together with a festive meal, Nativity reenactment, and a visit from Santa Claus. Not everyone came but we did have eight of our sixteen kids with their spouses and 32 Grandchildren; 50 all told which is just short of half the family. Mary was back from Michigan, Suz from Arizona before they move to Mexico, John from Florida, Bina from California; Al, Doug, Mike and Emily from Utah. And oh yes, Cookiedough the pet rat, and Tallula the red parrot.

It was a gala event! We had a meal and that gang went through a 15 pound rib eye roast, mounds of mashed potatoes, salads of all kinds and pies everywhere. It was pretty festive.

We had a mammoth Family Home Evening and sang carols. There were comments from Opa, Al and Paul's kids enacted the Book of Mormon predictions of the coming of Christ with Samuel the Lamanite up on the wall calling everyone to repentance. James memorized big blocks of scripture so we did not have to read; William and Peter were the Lamanites and William had his Nerf cross bow and they threw balled up paper rocks. Last year, William nailed Samuel the Lamanite right between the eyes. We told him he was suppose to miss. "I practiced missing Opa". He missed Samuel but managed to shoot several things off the piano.

We have always tried to act out the Nativity in our family as the children grew up which is now getting to be quite a production. I had Doug act as stage manager organizing the rather large flock of sheep with many Shepards. He gave them their cues and I read from Luke 2. It is just a wonderful happy time.

Santa then made his appearance and passes out gifts to all who will not be there Xmas morning. That was wild as well and luckily Mary picked up some things for the grand kids while we were in China. The guys got ties.

When we lived in Michigan, Christmas morning was a big thing. It was the only time of the year we bought boxed cereal in the store and each one got their own big individual box of Fruit Loops or Cocoa Pops. We are not doing that now as most have Christmas with their families but we do a little Christmas gift giving with those who are staying in our home for the Holiday. It is a great time of the year and there is wall to wall joy.

Speaking of joy, here is my 15 year old Grandaughter's reaction (Natalie, Emily's daughter) to getting her new cell phone for Christmas.

It was grand, it was fun and it was family wall to wall. Einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr wuenschen wir Allen. Always wanted to say that.

Love, Opa

THE BEST CHRISTMAS GIFT

Dear Family,

I just received the best Christmas Gift... a normal heart rhythm!

Ever since my open heart surgery almost eight years ago, I have been plagued by an abnormal heart rhythm, Atrial Fibrillation. This is where the heart beats irregularly, the effect of which interferes with normal heart chamber filling. The symptoms include a total sense of weakness and being washed out. It is like having one giant case of the flu with little strength, energy, or ambition.

Cardioversion is one treatment. That is where they put on the conductive pads on your chest, knock you out, connect you to an electrical voltage supply and turn on the juice and most of the time you can convert to a normal sinus rhythm which is a regular steady heart beat.

At first this did not work at all for me. Finally after a while it did work but did not last very long. It was the reason I was released from my first mission call. Finally I had a stable year and was sent to Germany for three years. The longest period or regular rhythm I experienced was while we were serving in Germany.

What I found sets it off was great joy or mild aggravation and after returning home, there was a bit of both and I would go in for electroshock cardioversion and it would last a few months and have to be repeated. Oral antirhythmatics did not work.

I was ok going to China in October but on the way home, I could feel it kick back to Atrial Fibrillation. I tried to live with this as many do but was totally drained and finally after being unable to bowl in Jon and Karen H. new bowling facility decided to go in for another cardioversion.

This was going on during the deaths in our family and extended family. I was successfully cardioverted but the rhythm was not entirely normal with many premature atrial beats. You feel much better but not entirely normal. They wanted to keep me and try a new medication but with two funerals and a wedding in the single's ward, I waited two weeks.

I did not know that Cardiologist were so specialized. Now there is a specialty of Cardiac Electrophysiology. The only cardiologists allowed to prescribe this new medication, TIKOSYN, had to be certified and licensed cardiac electrophysiologists. It has to be given in a hospital, in a monitored cardiac step down unit where your EKG is continuosly monitored for three days and renal function is closely watched as well. One has to do this for three entire days so the dose can be determined by changes on the EKG.

So last week I went in and they hooked me up to the cardiac telemetry and I received the first dose. After 20 minutes, I stood up and feeling quite good wondered what I was doing there. I went over to the EKG monitor and to my amazement, I had a normal sinus rhythm without any premature atrial beats for the first time in eight years and I felt great!

They did 12 lead electrocardiograms two hours after each dose twice a day. The medication prolongs the QT interval on the EKG and if allowed to get too long, you can get a ventricular arrhythmia and of course die so the level is important. They got the dose right and I was rock stable and could not believe I could walk around the step down unit without problems. I pushed it and there were no changes!

I have been home for a few days and have been able to do our work in the missionary department and in the Temple without dragging myself around. It is such great blessing and I am so thankful for such an advance.

I am now prepared for the gathering of families on Christmas Eve night. Bring on the Nativity Players, I am prepared and ready and can handle all chaos!

Alles Gute, Dad

P.S. I am grateful for this great Christmas Gift

SUNDAYS MAY NOT BE SO BUSY

My three year stint on the University Single Student Stake High Council has come to an end and I was released on Sunday. I will miss the ward I was assigned to. The Bishop was my son in law, Paul H. It was great because I also got to see Cheryl and her 8 children each Sunday.

It is amazing how these young people grow on you. This ward was very active. There were a great number of returned missionaries, Elders and Sisters and they were wonderful. The activity was impressive. They would run 89% attendance at sacrament meeting. 90% of those who been through the Temple qualified for an active recommend and I would see them there. That would also tell you something about the percentage of full tithe payers.

Their Relief Society meetings were the best. (I got to sneak in there to see what was going on). The Sisters had a great spirit and were so well prepared.

We went to a temple marriage of one of the couples on Friday and to their reception last night. I would on occasion fill in for Cheryl teaching the Marriage Prep and Temple Prep class. I will sorely miss these young, vibrant and faithful members.

I went to our home ward with Mom and sat there with Al's kids which is also a treat. I went to our own Priesthood group and I am one of the younger members. Reality is sometimes just not fair.

Nice to be home

Alles Gute, Dad

EARLY XMAS FESTIVITIES

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Cheryl and Paul and their eight kids are going to Hawaii for Christmas so we began some family activities early. Madeline and Annabelle take ballet and qualified this year again for the Nutcracker ballet. Cheryl had to organize her driving to get them to the Capital Theater for practices for several weeks.



We were to meet at Siegfried's (that used to be a German restaurant) for a dinner before the start of the ballet. We ordered and then looked around for German Christmas treats which included Kindereier, Marzipan figures and of course Lebkuchen

I do not believe the people there are from Germany. I ordered a Schweinehaxen which was always a treat for new missionaries arriving in Germany. When they brought it out, it looked like a five pound pork roast. In Germany, the Schweinehaxen are smoked and small, but here it was roasted and huge. I could only manage a few slices and took this huge hunk of meat home. The kids all had Nuerenber Wuertzli and Spaetzeli.

We had he best seats in the house for the ballet; middle section of the balcony, front row. I was tickled with Annabelle and Madeline. Both came on in the first act. Annabelle was the girl in the blue dress and danced across the stage with the other children dancers for a very long time.

Then came Madeline who was the lead toy soldier and assuming a proper stance, was the soldier who shot the rat.

She is a very graceful dancer. Her movements were as the toy puppet soldier, angular and sharp. After the first act, they came up to the seats and received their bouquet of flowers. The second act was also very professional if you could get past the sprayed on tights of the male dancers. It was great.

The next morning, it was Xmas Breakfast with Santa Klaus at the Grand American Hotel. You have to sign up for this in October and cheryl and Paul invited us to go with their family. It was a spread on the order of the Laschinskyhof in Salzburg. What a spread and what a fun tradition. I am gradually warming up to the Spirit of Christmas and now to get our Xmas card out.

Alles guteDad

MY BROTHER RALPH'S FUNERAL

We had another funeral in the family. My brother, Ralph, who lived in Virginia, became ill there and his son drove back and brought him and his mother Laura back to Spanish, Utah. He was placed immediately into a hospital where studies showed he had suffered a large stroke from which he did not recover. This came on the same day that Elder Wirthlin died.

His kids came into town and we had the funeral last Tuesday. His two sons spoke and gave tender tributes to their father.

Ralph had served as a missionary in the Cook Islands years ago. He learned to speak Mauri and developed a love for the people and their traditions. He kept his language up and also contact with members from the Islands.

A Samoan chorus was there and sang several songs and it was touching. I spoke and talked about his missionary work and about his stint as an ordinance worker in the Washington Temple. I also told some tales from our childhood.

As they were wheeling the casket out of the chapel, a member of he Samoan chorus broke out a Ukulele and the group sang "Goodbye Dear Friend" which is a song they used to sing to missionaries going home. That pretty well emptied the lachrymal glands of the family.

He had spent many years on the army Reserve and apparently, that qualified him for a military burial as well and there was a military ceremony at the grave site including a four gun salute.

It is tough to see a younger brother go but in his case, it was a release. I recited this little poem:

After the clouds, the sunshine,

after the winter, the spring,

after the shower, the rainbow,

for life is a changeable thing.

After the night, the morning,

bidding all darkness cease,

after life's cares and sorrows,

the comfort and sweetness of peace.

I will remember him as a missionary and as a faithful temple worker and all the good times our families had together.

Alles Gute, Dad

ELDER WIRTHLIN'S FUNERAL

Dear Family,

We just got back from Elder Wirthlin's funeral at the Tabernacle on Temple Square.(http://www.lds.org/move/index.html?type=conference&event=178&lang=english&articleid=091)

It was one of the finest funerals I have ever been to. When an Apostle of the Church passes away, there are very special arrangements made. First of all, it is held in the Tabernacle and the Tabernacle Choir is in full voice. It is planned by a committee of the 12 and we were invited to participate with the family.

There was a viewing yesterday, one a 4 PM for family, one at 5:00Pm for the General Authorities and then one at 6 PM for the public. We went at four and it was moving. There was Elder Wirthlin in his casket when only last week we paid him a visit.

On the day of that visit, he had gone to the cemetery to see the graves of all the family. We caught him late in the evening and had the best visit that I described in my last post. I was surprised when we received the call that he had passed away.

He went to bed and simply died in his sleep. He died with a smile on his face that was there as he lay in the casket. There were at least 100 family members there and they all looked alike. Some of his grandchildren looked like some of my children....Cathy and John have doubles among Elder Wirthlin's grandchildren. I was moved and realized that my old dear friend and Cousin had passed.

Today, we were invited to the Family Prayer gathering. There were more of his family there and the families of his brothers and sisters. There must have been over a hundred in that room. More greetings from old friends. President Monson and some of the 12 came in and President Monson conducted and Dave Wirthlin gave a sweet family prayer.

We were part of the courtage and we made our way to our car and proceeded with the long line of cars to the Tabernacle. We all drove through the gates at Temple Square and parked right outside of the Tabernacle on Temple Square grounds. Aunt Barbara, Uncle Gordon and my Uncle Meeks were with us in the car.

The casket was brought in and we followed the family into the Tabernacle. There was a gauntlet of General Authorities on each side paying respect as the casket came by. Members of the Twelve flanked both sides and the First Presidency was there as well. I nodded to those whom I knew, shook hands with a few and then as I walked past President Monson, he reached out his hand and shook mine and as I walked past, he jabbed me on the shoulder. So many emotions walking past that group.

The meeting was conducted by President Monson who had been a good friend of Elder Wirthlin for years and they had worked together on many projects in many places. He was moved at this passing.

The Tabernacle Choir sang, Joe Jr. gave a wonderful talk and there were talks from Elder Nelson who had also worked closely with Cousin Joe for years. There was a talk by Elder Packard and then President Monson gave closing remarks. All touched on his humility, example and Christlike life. It was the best funeral ever.

We followed the casket out and again walked passed this gauntlet of the Twelve and I shook hands with a few others. President Uchtdorf whispered, "Alles Gute". I was pretty tender at that moment, shook hands with Elder Perry and I walked passed President Monson without seeing him when I heard this voice, "Hey Doc!" I turned and President Monson grabbed my hand and said, "Thanks for all you have done for us over the years!" I melted and I was caught on TV dabbing my eyes.

We then went in the caravan to the grave site. President Monson conducted again and Joe Jr. dedicated the grave. It was wonderful and moving and we were so grateful to be part of it. Elder Wirthlin was my Cousin but he was also my dear friend and Confident for the last 40 years and I will sorely miss him.

I wondered if our Great Grandfather and Grandmother were permitted to look down and see something they started 150 years ago as they gave up their country, traditions and joined the church and came to the west with other pioneers. Elder Wirthlin leaves a great legacy and will never be forgotten.

Alles Gute, Dad

ELDER WIRTHLIN PASSES AWAY, OUR LAST VISIT

We received a call about midnight that Elder Wirthlin quietly passed away as he went to bed.

I was surprised because we had just visited him before Thanksgiving. He was well without any acute illness.

Mom and I had had finished our temple assignment at 8 PM (they call that 'Early Release'). We called his home and said we had a fresh loaf of sourdough bread and could we come by and drop it off. We have tried to visit him every week or two since his wife passed away and those visits were dear.

When we arrived, he got up out of his chair himself and took steps across the room without any support. He hugged Mom and gave her a kiss on the cheek and warmly shook my hand.

I was impressed as to how well he looked. He was so alive. His eyes sparkled and we had the best visit ever. I told him he looked great and that was a clinical, not a social opinion. "Thanks Doctor, that was the best Christmas gift I could receive!"

Our conversations were always about the same things. We would talk about Austria where we both had served as missionaries. We would speak of our Pioneer Great grandfather and great grandmother and their resolute faith. We would speak of football and he would always say how he used to go up to the U as a young man and watch my Father run track and play varsity football. We would talk about the strength of our young members of the Church. It was always so great to visit him.

When we left he got up out of his chair again and took a few steps and invited us back soon. I had never seen him look so well in two years and this visit was the best.

We will have more to say about him. I will miss him. I had adopted him as an older brother years ago and he has been so close to our family. He was the kindest and most Christlike man I had ever known.. he will be missed by the entire church. Sorry to bear this news..

Love, Dad

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND

There are always great things happening around Thanksgiving. It is the offical time to start preparing for Xmas. Cheryl already has her tree up and has the home beautifully decorate with all her Xmas decorations.

Things start happening on Temple Square. The Square is lit up and the Xmas music starts. It is very hard to get tickets to these events unless you know someone. Saturday night, Dave and Ann Wirthlin invited us to go to the Tabernacle where they had the Symphony Choir perform. Temple Square was packed. It has been at least fifty years since I have been in the Tabernacle and I hd forgotten how exquisite the sound was. You could hear the plucking of each harp string. They sang one of my favorite hymns that I know only in German.."Komm du Quelle jedes Segen" and it was beautiful. On the way out a Temple Square Sister Missionary recognized me and came up. She was German from the Augsburg ward and we had a great chat.

Jon and Karen H. put in a bowling alley in their basement. This is a regular four lanes with automatic pin setters. It is quite a deal. We went up there and we had not bowled in 50 years. Mom did pretty good. This will be the highlight of the neighborhood.

We were invited to give a presentation in the Federal Heights ward on Dr. Nathan Smith. There was an interesting group there. Several people knew us from Boston. Several had gone to the U with Mom. Elder Dellenbach was there. He had been a Mission President in Munich and we had a good chat about that. We then went to Paul's ward and little Emilie Eva sat on my lap up front. We had turkey at Cheryl's and Family Home Evening. It was another great Sunday.

Love, Dad

THANKSGIVING FUN

Thanksgiving was always a great treat in our family. We have always had a large group over for Thanksgiving even when we lived in Boston or Michigan and it has always been a time of friendship and joy.

This year we had about 30 come; a smaller group than two years ago when we had 54 over for Thanksgiving. Last year we had a turkey cooking competition among the guys with regular turkey, deep friend turkey and brined and smoked turkey. The smoked turkey won the contest.

This year we had two turkeys, one roasted and the other brinded and smoked. the latter takes two days with a 20 hour brine and a 10 hour roast in the smoker. The larger Turkey was injected with a lemon butter marinade and was the best.

We would always take a day or two in preparing Thanksgiving. Making some things in advance like Indian pudding and the oyster dressing. One time we all sat around the table in Michigan and Rick took out his digital chronograph watch and timed how long it took to devour the goodies and it was about 23 minutes usually.

We had four daughters over with their families, Emily, Cheryl, Al and Cathy. I did the turkeys and the oyster dressing and the girls brought everything else... scrumptious salads. mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, buns, pies and desserts and it was another feast. It took about the same time for total consumption before everyone headed for a couch, floor or bed for the traditional Thanksgiving nap.

We had a great family night as everyone came back in two hours for the dessert and program. We all sat around and mentioned one thing that we were thankful for. I started with being Thankful for your Mom and then everyone said, "I am thanksful what what has been said plus....".

Al's family put on a skit of Pilgrims and Indians with costumes and a Tepee. James did an explanation of the first Thanksgiving and pointed out that the Indians came and saw that there was not enough food, went out and brought in about five deer and they also had venison.

I was tempted to serve some venison but that is against family tradition.

Then they all had dessert.

This is little Joseph with his plate piled high with pies and whipped cream.

We were all thankfull for many things; The Gospel, our Church and activity and the bounteous blessings of Heaven. It was another great Thanksgiving.

Love, Dad

UTAH 48, BYU 24

Well it was a great game if you are a Utah fan. BYU has always managed to beat Utah in the last few minutes of the game but not on Saturday.

Our family is split. Mom and Dad are Utah graduates but 15 of the 16 kids who attended college all graduated from the "Y". In fact I believe we have 18 or 19 degrees from the "Y" among that group so the feelings are intense. I guess we should cheer them on as well but I just can't.

We were invited guest in the box next to the President's box on the 50 yard line. Seats were going for outrageous sums and scalpers were all over. There were some interesting people there again. Elder Wirthlin was there... the GA's all wore blue blazers and a red tie .. a down the middle approach. Pres. Uchtdorf and his wife were there.. there were two senators from Utah in the President's box. Elder Ballard and his wife were in our box and the Governor showed up as well. Jon H. and his wife were there right after he received a medal of honor from the American Cancer Society for his support of cancer research and treatment. It was an interesting group. Cheryl and Paul have seats in the stadium but they always come up to the box which was fun.

The game was pretty even in the first half with Utah demonstrating the most momentum. In the second half, something happened to the "Y" quarterback who began to throw interceptions.

There were five interceptions and one BYU fumble that added 28 points as the U capitalized on those turnovers. One pass was intercepted by a U player from Orem who looked like he would run it into the endzone but from up high, it looked like he tripped on the 10 yard chalk line. Paul Jr and his friend joined the storm on the field. Paul asked this player how it felt to almost score a touchdown on an interception and he said it was good except he tripped over his feet.

I began to feel a little bad for the Quarterback but not enough to stop jumping for joy as the Utes finally trounced BYU.

Becca had a Y party going on at her house with Emily, Doug, some of Al's kids, some of Cheryl's girls and it was quiet there at the end. I rubbed it in a little with Doug but finally stopped as the pain was palpable over the phone.

Utah received a whole pile of money for the win. There were also these big guys dressed in orange blazers who were up there... scouts from the Orange Bowl.

Well I found that whole thing pretty exciting and what a Saturday.

Alles Gute, Opa

ANOTHER BUSY SUNDAY

Our Sundays are very full. Yesterday was no exception.

I had to visit the 47th Student ward which is in the Taylorsville Institute building at the same time as Paul's ward. I had to carry out some Stake business and after a moment into the second talk in Sacrament meeting, the counselor turned to me and said, "Would you mind speaking a few minutes at the end?" So unprepared, I talked about missionary work which was the theme. I told them about Ke Yang and her conversion and how we visited her in Beijing and how we are so connected through the Gospel.

Then I went to two meetings in Paul's ward and they had the best "mingle" afterwards. The ward clerk had smoked about ten turkeys and they had turkey sandwiches and Tang for the treat. 100% attendance and they actually mingled.

Then I drove home and Mom and I drove to Provo. My brother Ralph is here from Virginia and is suffering from the effects of strokes and is in a beautiful hospital where they try to help chronic patients. It was so sad to see him like this. Laura and their son Alvin with his kids were there.

Then we drove up to Cheryl's. We were invited to dinner and Cheryl did a great job with salmon, chicken and a Pomegranate salad. Little Annabelle was in charge of family night and did a great job on the subject, "Gratitude". Three members of Paul's s student ward were there as well.

Then there was a special fireside for all the University of Utah Stakes.. two married and three single stakes at the University of Utah. Elder Ballard and Huntsman were the speakers and it was held in the Huntsman Center which is the huge basketball arena. This was Jon and his family's contribution to the school. It holds thousands.

We went through the front door and down about 100 steps to where there were reserved seats for family and Paul got us a couple of seats in the third row. Jon gave a great talk. He has accomplished so much. He mentioned his first year at college and the students broke down to the A, B and C students. The A students got to be doctors, the B students engineers and leaders. The C students got buildings named after them. Funny.

Elder Ballard gave a great fireside address. There must have been 10,000 there filling the seats in front of the podium. He admonished the students to give equal time to spiritual matters.

We left through the tunnel.. we got a chance to greet the speakers.. then home.

I slept ten hours that night.

Love, Opa

FARM DAY WESTERN STYLE

We do not have a real farm out here in the west as we did in Michigan, but we do have a place in St. Charles Idaho that is farmed. We have, as you know, eleven acres on Rt. 89 on the edge of Bear Lake.

The acreage is farmed and the hay is cut and bailed and cows graze the fields after the hay harvest so it seems like a farm.

We used to have farm days in Michigan and it seems that the patterns are are deep still ongoing but shifted in space and time, down a generation.

Here is a picture of Opa giving the kids a ride around the place as we pick up fallen branches and timber.


Doug and Mike came to help close the place for the winter. They each brought five of their kids so we had 10 kids including teenagers in addition to four adults. It was a blast.

We drove up Friday night, started a fire in the potbelly stove and of course settled in for a little DVD watching. Mr Bean is always a favorite but they watched something else. I can't say when they went to bed as the Moms might object but even going to bed, there was conversation past midnight. Here are the kids watching a DVD/
In the morning, Opa cooked a huge breakfast for everyone and 3 1/2 dozen scrambled eggs, many pancakes, toast, juice and bacon laid the foundation of another work day at the farm.

Doug and Mike were full of energy and started on the projects. Take the rack and tire off the roof of the Rock climber (the Induna) and fit it into the garage. Start up all the motors and bring the equipment to the yard.
We then picked up many trailer loads of branches and sticks everywhere. Cottonwood trees shed branches. Then we had a huge fire.

Here is Nate tending the fire. Doug found a huge pile of buried fencing and we pulled that out of the brush. Everyone went around and picked up loose scrap metal and we filled the trailer for a dump run.

No farm day was ever complete, even in Michigan, without the dump run. The dump is in Montpelier and has a nice view. It is so great to get rid of junk fouling up the place.


Here are the guys at the dump.. almost a ritual for farm days.












Then it was to winterize the place, clean it up and load the gear. Mom did a huge job of cleaning and as it got close to leaving, getting the kids out of the house for the final clean. They found places high in the Cottonwood trees to climb.

The equipment is loaded and off to Salt Lake. Doug and Mike did a great job and the kids all helped on a memorable farm day in Idaho.











While we were at the farm, Bryan was hunting in Michigan and was in my Taj Mahal blind on my favorite spot and bagged this monster Michigan buck.

Ah well ......it was fun at the farm.

Love, OPA

UTAH WINS FOOTBALL GAME

We are guests in a box at University of Utah football games and it is always a blast. You go there early and they serve food which is pretty good. You meet all sorts of friends and church leaders who come to the President's Box next door. We ran into Elder Nelson, Scott, Ballard and Zwick last evening. We chatted about old times in Germany with Elder Zwick. Relatives are there and it is just a great event.

And oh yes, there is a game too! This time they played TCU. This game was advertised as a Blackout. I think Underarmour company supplied new uniforms to the team and they were black with red stripes. Everyone wore black of course except for me who had not heard about the "blackout". It was cold so I came with my Austrian jacket, hat and Loden cape (Wetterflecke) that German hunters wear. Well at least I was different but did not blend in.

When you looked at the crowd from the box, it was like watching a huge nest of black ants. Even the cheerleaders wore black. Usually the crowd is red which has been the traditional color of Utah's teams since the days my Dad played football for the U (82 years ago). By the way, my Dad, your grandfather, was the first member of the family to play college football and was on the UofU team that won their first conference championship. There used to be a football in the Union building on display with my Dad's name on it. Dad always wore his red letter sweater when working on the farm in the cold. Dad was a tight end and a very fast sprinter.

Well the game was closely fought with the score TCU 10 and Utah 6 right up to the last two minutes of the game.

We did what we always do and decided to leave two minutes early to beat the huge traffic jam (Stau) As we left, there was a roar as TCU missed a field goal. We turned on the car radio to hear Utah win the game in the last two minutes. Paul F. thinks it is sacrilegious to leave a football game early and we learned our lesson.

Now on for BYU.

Alles Liebe, Opa

HALLOWEEN

Halloween is here again tonight. They even closed the Salt Lake Temple so everyone could get home early.

Here you see a picture of Mom and Pete's Mom at Cathy's wild psychedelic Halloween party. We have had a ton of kids come by our Sherwood Drive home and empty all our candy supplies. I wanted to put the full mount male lion on the front lawn but was worried that someone might paint ball shoot it. It used to be pretty menacing when we placed it on our front lawn in Michigan.



Our kids, when growing up, were great halloweeners. We had so many children at home that it was a real event. I started to chart and plot their production; we first counted the number of pieces of candy they would bring in. Then we went to weighing the booty and the largest combined haul one year was 96 pounds of candy. No wonder they were so nuts.

They were quite brilliant and organized in their Halloweening approach in Bloomfield Hills. The homes were not so concentrated as here in Salt Lake so they made plans. A drawing of the neighborhood was mapped and strategies were organized. Al and Mary were the most efficient and had the greatest production.

They took two Halloween outfits; one they wore down the street and one they wore on the way back! At the end of the block, they put on Ghost sheets with holes cut out for the eyes and worked the same street backwards posing of course as new kids. They would get 13 pounds each and since we did not buy candy, they tried to make it last until Easter..I now find out.


Here we see a picture of Al's kids following in their mother's footsteps as they visited our home. It is a happy time for all.

Love, Dad

Back To Reality

Here is a picture of Emilie Eva but she was not carrying a pumpkin on Sunday

It is hard to write about an adventure every minute. We have our fair share of them but we will not be able to top the trip to Beijing for a long time.

We are getting back to normal and adjusting to the time zone changes. But last Sunday it was a challenge. I had a lot of meetings starting at 7 AM with Stake PEC. You know it is fall when you leave in the morning and it is pitch black. Then there was the Ward PEC at 8:30 with Paul. Then there were two more meetings so by the time our Sacrament meeting rolled around at 11:40 it was getting tough.

I sat on the front row but off to the side and I did not think many people noticed. I could not see Cheryl and her kids except for Jonathan as he crawled in the isle and had a ball. The talks were inspirational; young singles who were getting married. But in the last talk about 12:15 PM, I thought I would close my eyes for a second and give them a rest.

After a minute or two, I opened my eyes and there was Emilie Eva standing in front of me staring and although she did not say it, she was thinking, "Opa you should not nod or go to sleep in church." I think Cheryl sent her up to the stand. I put her on my lap and noticed some of the kids were chuckling and caught the rest of the meeting.

Pretty bad when that was the adventure of the week. By the way. I had another meeting in the afternoon, a quick trip to Cheryl's for some yummy roast beef and then a fireside in the Cottonwood stake.

Love, Dad

WE VISIT KE YANG AND HER FAMILY

In a previous post, I mentioned Ke Yang and our meeting in Vienna, Austria. We have kept in contact through the Internet and through Doug's visits to Beijing. It was a real thrill to see her again and spend time with her and her husband and little guy. Her son is 2 1/2 years old.

They have special parenting laws in China and one can only have one child. When she was pregnant she went in for ultrasound and the rule is that you do not get told the sex of the child, only that the fetus is healthy so she did not know she would have a boy until the delivery. This is to prevent family "engineering" or only having sons for children. She had prayed for a son and he is quite a little guy. She speaks to him in Chinese and English and he can count to ten in English. These kids are bright.

We spent three days with Doug and Dr. Jhang and his associates and when they left fo Xian, we had two days with Ke Yang and what a treat it was. She took us to the Temple to Heaven (see below), to the markets, to traditional resturants and explained much about Beijing. She took us to church.


Church was in this building in a entire floor. Three branches meet here. Two English branches for "Westerners" and one branch for Chinese Nationals. They meet in the afternoon at 3 PM. There are strict rules as to who can go to the Chinese branch and those who do not have Chinese pasports cannot attend this meeting. This is strictly observed. I asked a member of the English branch what was going on in the Chinese branch and got a lecture on how they do not know. But I do know that there were about 10 members three years ago and maybe 100 now attend as Chinese students from all over the world, join the church in many missions and return home.


It was great to go to church there. It is such a small world in the church. The branch president is an Austrian from Klagenfurt. "Na was denn von Klagenfurt?" "Ja klar". They set apart a coucilor in the Elder's Quorum who recognized me. He was a German from Erlangen, Germany and he knew me on our mission. The church is so great!

Here is Mom and Ke Yang out side the church. She took us around and showed us many things and spoke of their Chinese culture. We visited her and her husband in their fine apartment (after she was side swiped by a touring bus). The little guy like all children the world over rule the roost! It was such a thrill and blessing to visit Ke Yang and her family and visiting Beijing could very well be habit forming.

Love, Dad

WE VISIT THE TEMPLE TO HEAVEN IN BEIJING

Ke Yang toook us to the Temple to Heaven as you can see in the picture with its three levels of roof. It is directly in the center of the city in a straight line to the Forbidden City.

This was a temple built for the offering of sacrifice to Heaven. From 2600 BC to 1901. An Ox was slaughtered and offered as a burnt offering or sacrifice to the God of Heaven. The Emporer offered a prayer twice a year with this sacrifice. He had to fast and prepare himself for the prayer. There was a special washing and he put on special clothing and offered a prayer to Heaven for the welfare of the people, their safety and well being. the the sucess of the harvest and the good of the nation. Everything was proscribed in detail.

This is straight out of the Old Testment and it was interesting to see this Chinese twist to something that is as old as man.

This is a happy place. People gather there to feel the peace, play badmitton, do Tai Chi, and sing at a wall. What a thrill to see it.

SURGICAL CONSULTATION IN CHINA

We went with Doug and his two kids, Douglas and Rebecca, to Beijing China. Doug has been there six times and knew his way around pretty well.

He has been there for surgical training reasons. He followed the path set up by Elder Nelson and Don Doty in there efforts to train in cardiac surgery. Doug has taught carotid endarterectomy or cleaning out the carotid artery to prevent strokes. They have a huge number of strokes in China each year and many may be preventable. Doug has been showing them how to do the operation carefully and has done this for several years. He is a local surgical hero.

We went to the hospital and saw two patients. One with an occluded carotid artery and one with bilateral disease. We looked at the x-rays. Doug and I mumbled a few things together. I told him what I would do and we discussed that. We examined the patients and then sat down and had a major conference for these two cases.

The operation had not been done safely in the past but they are doing well now. Dr. Jhang, our host, said these patients were lucky because Doug would do the surgeries. One needed a Subclavian artery to carotid artery bypass and the other a simple endarterectomy. Doug emailed me that both surgeries went well and both patients are OK.

We lined up for the picture, me in a white gown ten sizes too small. I believe more people understand English. As we lined up I said, "Let's get some of these pretty girls in the picture" and there were lots of giggles.

A TRIP TO THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA

WE just had the best trip to Beijing China. We stayed for six days and it was action packed. Here you see Mom wearing her new gardening hat purchased at the great wall of China. We took the Seilbahn up to the top. Doug, Douglas and Rebecca walked to the top amidst a throng of Chinese sight seer's. What a marvel and thrill to see this great wonder!

We had the best time in Beijing. I was impressed with the city, very huge, most modern and spotlessly clean. Everyone was friendly and extremely helpful. We rode on the most modern subway, even beats the German one in Munich, and an older man offered me his seat. He must have thought I was older. People were friendly everywhere.

There were great complexes of high rise apartments. There are 15 million permanent residents of Beijing with a few million more transients.

I could not believe the traffic. There was Stau everywhere. I did not see a single stop sign and there were red lights at the major crossings. Yet there seemed to be a harmonics of flow. Everyone seemed to understand the rules, pedestrians walking in front of cars, weird bicycles calmly crossing from the right to left in front of cars, cars making a right turn from the left lane in a four lane road. I held on for "dear life" and thought we would kill at least fifty pedestrians but it never happened.

I watched the flow of traffic from our hotel room and it was like watching the flow of blood in a capillary. The red cells lining up, white cells and macrophages slipping in there and it just seemed to work. Until our friend got side swiped by a large tour bus and that was a real scene.

All in all we were very impressed by this great city and its people. Watch your back USA.

WE GET READY FOR BEIJING, CHINA

WE are going to Beijing on Tuesday. This is something we decided to do this year as Doug is going over there again. He has been to China several times and follows in the path of Elder Nelson and Don Doty who went over there and taught cardiac surgery. Doug goes over there to teach vascular surgery and indeed how to do carotid endarterectomy safely. They treat him like a local hero. He operated in Xian but we will spend a few days in Beijing with Doug and his son Douglas and daughter Rebecca.


We will also try to look up someone we met in Vienna.

At the end of our mission in Germany and Austria, The Elders down there, Elder Marcheski, called and said he had a problem. They had met a young chinese lady who was interested in finding a church and after study wanted to join ours. "What is the problem?"... "She leaves for Beijing the end of the week." Her Husband was there studying in a University in Vienna and he had completed his studies.

"Well, see that she is ready and I will come down and be there as well!" So it was and when I met her, she was absolutley wonderful and was baptized and confirmed a member of the church. She had to go back to China the next day and we have tried to keep contact with her. Doug has visited her and her husband in Beijing on previous trips. Her husband is quite a scholar and also a very good ping-pong player. She is working on her Phd.


So we look forward to meeting them and spend some time with them in Beijing.

I can hardly contain my excitement.

Alles Gute und mit Liebe, Dad

BUSY SUNDAY

Sundays are particularly busy. I start out with meetings at 7:30 AM and then attend Paul H.'s ward where he serves as the Bishop. It is great to go there; Cheryl shows up for Sacrament meeting with the kids and it is always a little family reunion.

Today we had one of those spontaneously planned dinners and get togethers. Suz and Scott came up before leaving for Mexico city where Scott has a position with American Express. They were down there finding an apartment and schools for the kids. So we had a family dinner.



Doug and his family, Al and her family, Suz and her family and Cheryl and her whole gang came over for dinner and Cheryl brought the dessert. There were 28 kids there as a few neighbors came as well. It was a joyous time. Cheryl brought a Pinyata to celebrate Loren's birthday and there was birthday cake all around.

We seem to have more kids come than we have in the Primary of our ward. Al gave the Relief Society lesson in our ward and Mom said it was great. These are such happy times.

Love Dad

LAST OF THE FOOTBALL

It was a blustery weekend. We went to two of the grandson's football games. Doug, who is a busy surgeon, was Douglas's defensive football coach. We went yesterday to watch Douglas play and Doug coach. It was a blustery day and we sat in the cold and hail and managed to see them both in action. I don't think they like the Grandpa to come because I go a little nuts on the sidelines as we did in Michigan. Here we see coach Doug and Douglas and I was proud of them both.

After a quick lunch in from the cold (of peanut butter and marshmallow sandwiches) we went to Nate's game. His team does better and just walked over the competition. They are the nine year old team. It was cold and snowy but Nate's team seemed to understand the game and they did well. Here is a picture of Nate and his team and if you look closely you will see the girl that plays on the team as well.



I always thought it was good for our kids to participate in school sports and everyone did and had a sport in the fall, winter and spring. They learned sportsmanship and how to get along with team players and to work as a team. Great lessons for life.

We wish all our grand kid future athletes good luck and now a little break from practice.

Alles Gute, Dad

VISIT FROM EAST GERMANY

Sunday was very quiet. Suz went down to Mexico City to meet her husband as they are getting ready to move there. Her daughter Julianna gave me a big hug and she looks so much like Suz did at her age. She is an exact copy. Mary and Mark were on their way to California and the house was empty again for a short time.

It is hard to maintain a balance between absolute bedlam and eerie quietness here.

After the afternoon session of Conference the Kosacks came over for a visit. They are from Werda in Saxony and attend the Ehrfurt branch. It was great to meet the parents of one of our missionaries and tell them how well they did in raising their son. The Moms always seem as young as my daughters but age is relative.

The time I felt the absolute oldest was when a family came to pick up their son in Munich. They brought their grandfather who seemed pretty old to me. He came up to me and said, "You served with my father on your first mission!". They must have been a senior couple. I turned to Elder Jones and said, "Hey Elder, I served with your Great Grandfather on my first mission!" Something must have happened with time!

We had a great visit, they took pictures of the lions and leopard. They are all so talented. The Dad played on our baby grand piano.. he is the organist for their branch. They were surprised that I knew about their football team, Energiecottbus.



Here we see the Mom and Dad, der Alte Praesident, Sister and Christof. He is over here studying and interning in a construction company. When he returns to Germany, he will study towards his engineering diploma. We have a good time together.

Mom whipped up a Swiss fondue and had some pumpkin pie.
Our world is so very small in the church,, it was a great pleasure to meet this great family.

Then Al and her family came over an it is always fun. Mom whipped up another batch of Swiss fondue and as it was consumed, the fondue pot exploded on the little warmer. Remembering Elder Wirthlin's talk, we all laughed (mine was forced because there went a good $50.00 fondue pot!"

It was another great Sunday...love Dad

SATURDAY GENERAL CONFERENCE

We had family over for the first day of General conference of our Church. It is a great time; there are all sorts of reunions, family, church groups, and missionary groups. I did not go to my own missionary group that has been meeting for 50 years each conference. I went last time and saw my first missionary companion, Albert Perschon, whom I had not seen for 50 years. We did not go this time because Suz was coming in from Arizona and there would be another mini-family reunion.

Mary and Mark and their children also came from Michigan and stayed with us. The house rocked! one of the things that happens when the gals get together is a great clothing exchange. This is often fueled by Cheryl who likes to clean out her closets often.

This usually occurs in our front hall with clothes for little kids spread all over. into "outfits". I don't remember an emphasis on outfits when we had all our little kids. We were glad to have them covered. Here we see a picture of Mary and Suz exchanging clothing and recounting the history of each piece.



Becca was there with her four children so we had about 18 kids, seven and under watching conference. They were mostly five and under and we had little kids holding babies. It was a great family time. It was hard to pay attention with everyone jumping around like crazy but I finally got them settled down into individual seats for the last speaker. Conference was truly great and inspiring.

After conference, the gals wanted to make crepes and there was a bee line to the kitchen. Suz bonked her head on an open cabinet door and remembering Elder Wirthlin's talk.. we all had a hearty laugh.

I had always gone with my Father to General Priesthood meeting since I was little. When we had our family, I always took my sons and we drove to a stake center to listen to the audio version as they did not have video streams in Boston or Michigan. We have kept up this tradition. We usually went for a treat afterward and that got a little complicated here in Salt Lake as all the resturants are full with other Fathers with similar ideas.

So now, those that can, come up to our chapel down the street and we fill an entire row in the chapel. I was proud of everyone sitting there..four son-in-laws and two sons with their boys.. all in white shirts and ties..it was great. We review what they learn afterward and each remarked on something that impressed them.

Priesthood meeting was great again as well. Elder Scott talked from the heart about men being kinder in the home and more considerate to their wife. I asked my daughters whether at the Women's conference, they advised the sisters to give their husbands a little slack. "No, they say we are good!" The talks were approporiate and inspiring. Our daughters had their own program.. see Al's Blog.

Afterward we had our dinner for the men and boys who attended General Priesthood meeting. This has developed into a great barbecue and all the grandsons look forward to coming to Opa's for ribs and steaks.



One of My AP's from our German mission, Christoff K., was there from East Germany as well.

It is a great tradition and it is so wonderful to come together at conference time.

Alles Gute, Dad

Family Enterprise

Check out Al's blog. She writes about their kids business called "Happy Homemade Bagels"


A couple of years ago, the gals in our family started baking New York Bagels. Even I got good at it and there is not a better Bagel in Salt Lake City. I had to give it up because of weight considerations; but they are really good plain and covered with all sorts of goodies.

Camile, Emilie's daughter. learned how to do it and had a little business going. Becca also bakes a pile of bagels and now Al and her kids.

James,9, the principle salesman of Happy Homemade Bagels, does the weighing of the ingredients, others help with the baking. He made a little flyer and went door to door in the neighborhood and developed several steady customers. He calls them each week and asks, "Are you going to reorder Bagels this week? Can we improve our service?" They end up baking 8 to 9 dozen Bagels which is a lot of work.

IT is cool that the kids do some work. We tried to have our kids, as you all well remember, do some productive work and each did something that earned income and was worthwhile. Of all the projects, Doug and Bry did a asphalt driveway sealing project called "Designer Driveways" when they were in High School and made a ton of money and even sold the business at the end. All had jobs, some did "Designer Babysitting" and I am glad to see that the grand kids are doing the same.

Natalie, Rachele and Douglas all earned some money as movie extras this summer in the filming of "High School Musical" which was done at East High.

Good luck.."Happy Homemade Bagels" .. Love, Dad



These are Becca's Bagels

Contrasts

We had another great weekend! On Friday night, Roy and his son Samuel showed up from Colorado. Doug bought a used Ford 12 passenger van in Colorado, Roy checked it out, bought it and drove in to Salt Lake. He slept over on Friday. Saturday we split for the morning. He went down to BYU to have a "Daddy Daughter Date" with Lexie who is at the "Y".

Mom and I drove up to the Ogden Temple and went to a wedding of one of our Sister Missionaries. It was very sweet and moving and I was surprised as to the depths of my feelings. As Mission President and wife, you sometimes, somehow adopt these young missionaries and look after them during a critical time in their life. This was one I looked after. We had not seen her for four years but the reunion was joyful and very moving. We were so proud of her and shared the happiness of the family. It was a wonderful wedding.

Then to the more arcane, we motored back to Salt Lake, Roy came back and of course it was off to the shooting range where we experimented with various rifles and handloads. That is always fun. Roy brought his special Blaser sniper rifle. Little Sam did some shooting. He hit a "charging milk container" full of water with the 410 shotgun. It is just plain fun. I agree with what President Teddy Roosevelt advised, "Every young boy should learn how to ride and shoot!"

Afterward it was again contrasts. Mom and Al went to the church Women's Conference. I took Roy to the U of U football game and we sat in the box. One goes there to watch football but mainly to see friends from all over and just chat and have fun.

Sunday, Roy returned, I went to Paul's ward and taught Cheryl's marriage preparation class. I gave one couple a private session as how the suitor talks to the future Father in Law. Ahhh the memories.

Love, Dad











Here is Sam taking a bead on a target 100 yards away with Roy's Gourmet sniper rifle

Sundays Are Busy

We seem to stack up a lot of activity on Sunday. It is a busy day almost as busy as in the mission field in Germany and Austria.

It started out at 7:30 AM with a Stake PEC. Then from 9:30 to 12:30 I attend Paul's ward and that is always interesting. Cheryl gave the marriage prep class on the importance of families eating together. Bunch of kids are engaged to get married in that class.

Then I took Paul F. with me to speak in another singles ward from 1:00 to 2:10. He does a nice job telling how he joined the church.. we like to emphasize missionary work.

Then back home only to drive back again at 4:30 for a stake missionary meeting. Then back home and at 7:00 PM a missionary fireside in which David and Ann W. spoke on their experience as president of the Nauvoo temple. We belong to two missionary groups: one when I was a younger missionary 53 years ago and a second group of missionaries who came as I was leaving but many of whom I picked up at the Basel Bahnhof as they arrived on their missions.

It is interesting when they come up to you (and I have not seen them for 50 years) and say, "Hey do you remember the time when you took us tracting in Linz, Austria?" "Ahhh seems to have slipped my mind" and then there are bone numbing details that proved I got through to them at the time. It is amazing how these men remember the details of their missions and talk about them like it was yesterday. "Remember the great meal we had in Salzburg after zone conference? Gemischtes Fleisch mit Pomme Frittes fuer zwei for a dollar?" I well remembered that one and the meal for two was eaten by single missionary. It was a mixed grill with all sorts of grilled meats in the center with piles of French Fries on each end. We had to fast for zone conferences in those days.

"Remember our Hausfrau... Frau....? She used to cook our meals, shine our shoes, draw our bath water and even offered to come in and scrub our backs but we said no to that one!" Those were the days.

Many of these men went on to do interesting things in life and several returned as Mission Presidents. One is serving as Mission President for the second time and is currently Temple Square Mission President. This is a mission with all Sister Missionaries and only sisters. They come from all over the world and are great. He told me they had one there from mainland China. They had about 20 - 30,000 visitors from mainland China last year. They had about 20,000 from Germany and there are German, Austrian and Swiss Sister missionaries. They send out 30,000 referrals each year.

These Sister Missionaries wear the flag of their country on their name tag. Once James F (age 6 at the time). went up to one and asked what it was like to live in Zambia. "How did you know I come from Zambia?" "I memorized the flags of all the countries on CIA.com".

Forgot to mention that on Saturday night, we drove to North Ogden and gave a stake fireside on Joseph Smith's surgery...

It was a busy weekend

Alles Gute, Dad

THIS ONE DID NOT GET SENT

This is the family exactly 20 years ago. The occasion was a family Christmas photo. To keep all together, I allowed a funny face shot.

The only ones who could not make a funny face were Cheryl and Mom.

Mary is there with a shiner and facial scrapes from a spill on her bike. This picture was not sent as the official family photo and I found it in a pile of old pictures. I believe it shows how they all truly felt at the moment.

They are all married now with children of their own. What a joy.

Alles Gute, Dad

BALANCING CHURCH MEETINGS, DRIVING AND EVERYTHING ELSE

The pace seems to be brisk. There have been many church meetings the last two days as we have had regional conferences, stake conferences and leadership training meetings.

Yesterday, Saturday morning, there was a regional leadership meeting at the Conference Center for 73 stakes. Chris, one of the members of Paul's ward took me down through all the traffic and we attended a great meeting. Elder Hinckley, Ballard and President Monson spoke and I took so many notes that I ran out of ink. I saw many people I knew.

That afternoon, another family event was planned in the last minute. Following the BYU, UCLA football game (BYU shellacked UCLA 59 - 0), we heard Mike and Emily and their families were having a barbecue at his home in Mapelton. Doug has two Doctors from China visiting him and he thought they might like to go to a barbecue and he invited us as well. More food was purchased and we all drove down in Doug's van. The kids were hollering, there was a fast and spirited conversation going on in Chinese and it reminded me of old times.

Doug is going to China and taking Douglas and Becca with him on about the 12th of October.

He will also be taking Mom and me as we have decided to visit Beijing for a week and tickets and hotels have been ordered. More about that later.

This Sunday, it was split and divide again. Mom got up to take Mike to the Airport (he is going to Johns Hopkins for a meeting) and then she came back and picked up Doug's kids, took them to church in their ward and back home (Doug went to Minneapolis to a training meeting).

I went to a stake conference in Taylorsville where Jon H. was on assignment and he took Elder Wirthlin with him and I wanted to hear them both speak. When I got there, it was a full meeting and local leaders and youth took up the first hour. Then Karen H. spoke, followed by Jon H., Elder Wirthlin's son in law and daughter, then he asked me to speak as well and then Elder Wirthlin. It was a surprise and I did not have a prepared talk but all did well and there was a good spirit there. A bunch of Armenian members came up afterward to greet Jon H; one that I had met a few years ago in Armenia had moved to Utah.

Then I went to the broadcast of the regional conference in our home ward and that was terrific with Elder Hinckley again, Elder Ballard and President Monson. It was just a wonderful Sunday.

When I got home, Doug's kids were watching Mom who passed out for a bit. We had a great Sunday dinner; Doug's kids, Lexie came up from the "Y" with her roommate and then Cheryl and Paul came with their family and it was an old fashion Sunday feed.

It is wonderful to have things going on and this weekend was another corker. Church was absolutely wonderful... we feel blessed

Alles Gute, Dad

SOCCER MOMS, BALLET MOMS AND FOOTBALL DADS

With the start of school, the frenetic driving has started for all our families. There are those that drive for soccer. Now however we have a Ballet Mom! Madeline and Annabelle won spots in this years Nutcracker ballet. Cheryl has to drive to the Capital Theater everyday for practices. That is in addition to all the other driving for the other events. Emily's kids are still in soccer and Rachel as well in Mapleton.

Paul Jr. plays little league football. I watched his team win 51 to 0 on Saturday and he ran one in for a touchdown. Doug in addition to his busy surgical practice has decided to be an assistant football coach for Douglas's junior high school football team. There he has a chance to teach life's lessons couched in football perspective: teamwork, focus, giving it your best, take a hit and get up, and accomplishment. Douglas is a scrappy player and his Dad has checked out of life until the end of the football season.

Mom and I went to the U of U football game on Saturday. We were in the box right next to the University of Utah big wigs box. It is such a pleasant way to watch a football game. They serve food at the beginning of the game. We sat at a table and then were joined by Elder Wirthlin, his son and my cousin Gwen. So much fun and Elder Wirthlin is still a great football fan.

As we were sitting there, we were joined by President Uchtdorf and his wife. He is quite a man, very social, greeting everyone and just having a good time with this American pastime. I was surprised that he knew me and spoke to me in German. I do not believe I had met him before.

We talked about Germany for about 20 minutes. They had lived in Augsburg and we talked about the missionary work there. I told them the story of John and the Chinese fireside we had in Augsburg. He has a grandson in the Taiwan Taipei mission. We talked about the Chinese and just had a great time.


During the game, Mom had this get together with the other gals there and it was like a mini Relief Society meeting. I had fun watching them as well as the game. Here she is with Bonnie P., Gayle P. and Karen H. all decked out in University of Utah crimson.

Here is to Sport and Ballet Moms, and Football Dads supporting their kids in school!

Love Dad

BACK TO SCHOOL...HIGH ANXIETY

The kids are back in school and it is interesting to observe all the concerns. Mary put David into Conant Elementary in Bloomfield Hills where she had gone. The Kindergarten teachers do not sound the same. Paul Jr. is in a different private school, "because I want an education" that he did not think he would get in the public school... which is admirable. Madeline is in public Junior High and seems so much happier. Jeff sent a bunch of pictures of Tammy seeing Julius and Zander off on the school bus looking wistfully on. I passed Doug's kids all walking to school the other day and they waved and hollered as a group

Mom of course was a great battler with the schools and she was well known at the PTA and all the schools and did it in such a way that she was loved and appreciated by all. I went to one high school evaluation night after I retired and the teachers said, "Oh Dr. Wirthlin.. so nice to finally meet you!". I was known by the people who dealt with sports as I went to all the sports activities and worked as the Doc for the football team but did not do battle with the teachers.

It is hard not to think back to when I was a kid going to public school in Flushing, New York. My Dad was busy with his surgical practice and Mom did not drive (or have an extra car) so we walked from 159Th Street to 171st street to PS 132. That was of course all the time, rain, shine sleet or snow. People hate hearing this but it does not seem like so long ago and there were not a lot of choices then. We just went and did what the teachers asked without evaluating their performance or whether they liked us or not. You just went and tried to do your best...my mother never went to a PTA meeting or student review...I do not think they had them.

We all survived and thrived. There may be too many choices in life now days and the variety of choices in all aspects of life makes it harder to move forward. Like trying to walk past a 12 foot smorgasbord table with tons of goodies to choose from.

Here is to mothers and the opening of school!

Never Ending Summer

The grand kids are back in school. Doug is an assistant Junior High School football coach and has checked out of life until the end of November. And with the Labor Day holiday over maybe this great summer season is over.

It has been one of constant family activity all over the map.

For the Labor Day holiday, Al and her family went up to visit Jeff and Rob and their families in Spokane, Washington. Paul, Rob and Jeff watched the Univeristy of Utah versus the University of Michigan football game on Rob's plasma TV screen.

After the U of M loss, little James wondered if Rob's living room was cursed as that was the second time the Fredenbergs watched the U of M lose a football game while watching it in Rob's living room. Rob said they had 13 little kids all the same age running around. They had a riotous weekend.

We went to Bear Lake with Mike and Rayanne and their kids. It was so much fun! Rayanne brought food she put together from her bounteous garden. We drove the kids around the fields on ATV's and the Induna safari car. Mike did some electrical work. We of course watched Mr. Bean clips and Mr. Beans Holiday.

We went to church in the St. Charles ward where there were 1000 gathered. The Bishop approached me at the beginning and said that their main speaker had not arrived and would I be prepared to speak if he did not show up. Love that ward and luckilly the High Councilman showed up.

We came back via Deer Valley where Cheryl hosted another feast and family get together. Doug, Cathy, Rebecca and their kids were there as well as Cheryl and Paul and all their gang. I think there were 21 kids there. Paul was at the barbecue and had flank steak, planked salmon, hamburgers and hot dogs. Dips, salads, grilled corn on the cob and it was a most excellent feast. Cheryl reported that her baby, Jonathan, has the Wirthlin eating gene yet another family gene but generally shared by all around.

When we said goodbye, it was like the never ending summer of family activities had actually come to an end... what a great summer it has been and how richly blessed we are as a family.

Love Dad