WHOOPS AND OH DEAR!

Dear Family,

Well this is one of the adventures of last week. Mom said it was OK to post the insurance pictures and write about this.

We had been tending Paul and Cheryl's kids for a couple of days as they went back to NYC to be at Jon H's announcement of his presidential run. Things went pretty well; I g0t up one morning and cooked Crepes non stop. Mom had just come home from driving the kids all over the map. I heard a thunk from my office, Mom rang the doorbell and announced that she drove the Van into the garage smashing the door. I asked"Why?". Well she hit the accelerator instead of the brake and pounded pretty hard on the brake sending the van through the garage door. Damage to the front of the van and she could not open the driver's door. Here is a picture before the door people came to take off the entire door, motor and track.

Here is what we found when we took off the garage door.. my FJ Cruiser was pinned in the corner and we had to get a wrecker in to lift it up so we could drive it out. Van is in the garage and the Toyota is next. Notice that the refrigerator got totally banged up as well.

Mom was pretty shook up but she is ok and the airbag did not deploy. Hopefully the insurance will help with all the repairs. This is the western equivalent of the Wirthlin Demolition Driveway that we knew so well in Michigan. Our several cars were always in the driveway as the garage had food storage and motorcycles. My little Porsche was backed into several times. There was not a car we owned that did not get whacked in that driveway. One time the Insurance adjuster came to check out some car damage and one of Mike's friends who was over backed into the insurance adjuster cars denting it. Oh well, we are happy no one was injured.

Mom and I spoke is a Young Single Adult ward in Riverton today. Mom spoke on gratitude and a lot of kids came up and thanked her for her talk. I spoke on what I call "Spiritual Navigational Aids" See if you can come up with a list. Patriarchal Blessings was on the list and I spoke of that.

I banged my knee falling in the back hall so have been limping around here. We go to Bear Lake next week during our two week Temple holiday. We will be up there for the 4th of July celebration. Roy and some boys, Doug and several of his boys will be there and use it as a staging center for a backpacking trip in Wyoming.

We love you all, Mom and Dad

FATHER'S DAY

Dear Family,

On Father's Day we remember and honor our Fathers and I thought of mine. It is not a question of remembering Fathers because mine is in front of my eyes always and it seems I think of him daily.

I tried to scan this old photo of my Father, your grandfather and it did not turn out so well but you can see him pretty well. He had graduated from Harvard Medical School and finished his surgical training at the Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. There he is with his first car, an old Model T sedan with his Doctor's bag ready to make a house call. He was a surgeon but als made house calls to those who cold not make it to his office in New York of to his office in our home. We used to ride with him on his house calls and waited in the car. However the car I remember was a 1939 Dodge seven passenger and after that year they did not make so many cars.

Most of you never met my father.. some of the older boys met him and remember him. He was a great man and had an interesting and productive life. As a college student at the U of U, he was a track star as a sprinter and played varsity football for a couple of seasons. He was on the first U of U football team that ever won a conference championship. I saw this on an old football in the union building; it had on it "Roy Wirthlin, End". He went to med school at the U and then transferred to Harvard med school and graduated in class of 1928. Some of my teachers at the Massachusetts General Hospital were his classmates. He trained in surgery under a German surgical tradition at the Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City where he remained on the staff until we moved to Utah. He was a great surgeon. He married Mom when they were both a little older and had four children.

He was above all, a stalwart in the church and had a vibrant testimony of our beliefs. He was the first Patriarch of the New York Stake and served in that calling in Utah as well. He did a lot of volunteer work for the Church and was simply a good man through and through. His integrity, ethics and honesty in his profession set a great example to me. I think of him every day.

We had a great father's day celebration in our home. Doug, Emily, Mike, Cheryl, Cathy and their kids were there. It was so much fun. Everyone brought food and I smoked several slabs of ribs slowly and did a beef roast. I thought it was a more appropriate menu for Father's Day as opposed to a Vegan approach. It was great to be together; I got hugs from the grandkids and all away called.

The various age groups hung out in all parts of the house. Here are four of our great grand daughters from four families, Madeline, Rachel, Madeline and Natalie. We had family night during which Rachel played a medley of Primary songs about Fathers. We had a member of each family get up and and say something nice about their Dad. The Dad got to choose who would speak to keep it safe. I said a few words about fathers, we knelt and had our family prayer and it was a sweet moment. We simply are having joy in our posterity.

Thanks for all the calls and well wishes,

Love, Dad

WIDE OPEN SPACES OF WYOMING

Dear Family,

Well guys have to have fun too! This last Friday I was invited by the leadership of one of our Single Adult Wards to go on a level playing field maintenance expedition in Wyoming.

One of the group had interest in a large ranch in Wyoming, east of Fort Bridger. They have about 600 acres under hay and get about 2000 tons of hay each year. There are lots of groundhogs there and they can ruin a field so we tried to ease the problem. You remember how the woodchucks in Michigan used to dig up our hay field and once I lost a tire from the baler when it jammed onto a woodchuck hole.

We had this Discovery Land Rover like the one I had but this one is built! As you can see, there is a platform on top and a shooting bench attached securely. This is the Wyoming equivalent to the Florida Swamp Buggy hunting vehicles. One guy sat up there and we drove around the edges of the field and he would have us stop and then there was a lot of action. These men had vision and the eyes of eagles and could spot the little critters with naked eyes in the grass. I had a hard time seeing some of them but if they were fat and sitting on top of their mounds, I could see them. I did my shooting from a stick as it would have taken a crane to get me up there.

These were the wide open spaces of Wyoming. And as the song goes, "Where the deer and the antelope play".. There were deer everywhere and there were antelope all around. There were a lot of small antelope that could hide in 3 inches of grass. It was great to see all that wildlife.

After a successful varmit control effort, we made it back in time so I could take Mom to a dinner and Theater with our old missionary friends as a Friday night date.

The activity in the Single Adult Stake and wards is picking up. We gave our first talk last week. The Stake Presidency had made 129 new callings to get the stake off the ground. We spoke at a Riverton ward that was packed. I have been busy this month with Patriarchal Blessing to this group. It is wonderful.

Big Father's Day dinner Sunday and all are coming that live close. Ribs and roast which I
though would be appropriate for Father's Day. Love you all

Dad

PHOENIX AZ AND ALEXANDRA'S BAPTISEM

June 8, 2911

Dear Family,

The third back to back trip was to Phoenix or more properly, Glendale AZ to visit Suz and Scott and the kids and be there for Alexandra's baptism.

We had a nice flight down there and Suz and the kids picked us up. It was a little late at night and we stopped at a Mc Donalds near the airport and that was some experience. No one was sick.

We went to Suz's house and you can see this in the picture below. It is a very nice place with this big pineapple palm tree in the front.

I thought it was hot but she said it was a cool wave but it was plenty warm. Her house is great and spacious and they gave us the great room.
All the homes seem the same for miles. If one got disoriented at night, I am not sure how you would find your way home. We drove past the other house they rent out that has fruit trees in the back and Mom got a fresh lemon. We had a good time and the next day we drove over to the local Cabela's to take the kids there and do the laser shooting gallery.

Here are the kids on the hammock in the store. There is Matilda, Alexandra, Julieanna and the little guy Timmy. They were into everything in this store but we had fun and they liked seeing all the animals.

We spent the evening watching Mr. Bean videos through Netflix on my Ipad with all the kids gathered around my shoulders.

It was Alexandra's 8th birthday. She got this dress for h er birthday which matched the dress on her American Girl doll.

Her baptism was on Saturday, part of a stake baptism and you see the picutre of family just before the baptism. Matilda is clasping onto my Ipad on which I had my notes for the talk on the Holy Ghost.

We celebrated at a frozen yogurt shop and ate outside and it was hot. Suz kept saying that it was cooler weather but i learned on Sunday it was 105F. We saw Laura Nuttal there and it was great to see old friends from Michigan. Suz did a roast on Sunday and the kids acted like they never saw such a thing before. They are truly kids of the Southwest and Mexico. They spent so much time in Mexico that they are more comfortable with Mexican cuisine. We went to a Mexican market on the way to the airport and that was a cultural experience. I bought a bunch of special Tahine seasoning which goes well with watermelon.

Then there was this little Timmy who dashed around the house as spider man. the kids are all growing up and it is such a joy to watch them develop. We had a great time with Suz and Scott and they were great hosts.

Here is an interesting link to Mike (Professor Michael Wirthlin of the Electrical engineering department at BYU).

Well we are here to stay for the summer. The Single Adult stake is getting organized and I have 3 Patriarchal Blessings lined up. During the Temple Break, we plan to spend a couple of weeks at Bear Lake. We give talks in Church in a Single Adult Ward on Sunday.

Love, Dad and Mom

CALIFORNIA, RICK AND GEMINA AND SCOTT GRADUATES FROM DENTAL SCHOOL

Dear Family,

We got off the plane from Michigan only to get back on it the next day to visit Rick and Gemina in California and to visit Bina and Scott as he graduates from Dental school.

We had a couple of days with Rick and Gemina. We had a good time first visiting the Baby Blue Barbecue for a great lunch. It was spectacular. We managed to go there a second time as well. We went to Rick's and we split up. Mom went shopping with Gemina and Rick and I visited a couple of stores. Everyone loves to shop with Gemina especially Cheryl's girls. Gemina was a fashion consultant to Hollywood stars and would travel with them to New York to outfit them. She used to get some of them ready for the Oscars and fashion there is a very big deal.

Mom bought a new purse. Rick and I went to Harbor Freight where he picked up some tools for his farm. We did successful shopping at another one of my favorite places.

We visited Geminina's parents on Memorial day. Here is a picture of Gemina's Mom and Mom. They were almost kindred spirits and just chatted away.

Gemina's Dad was there also and it was interesting talking to him. He has part of a huge family business in the Philippines which operates 20% of the electrical power there. The family was originally Basque and moved to the Philippines from Spain. and started a large shipping industry. He was in the resistance during the second world war and has been through a lot. It was great to talk to them.

We had breakfast on the beach around the corner from Rick and Gemina's home. That was interesting watching all the people going by on various kinds of bikes, skate boards, roller skates and of course zu Fuss strutting there stuff and fashion. It was a gorgeous morning and here is a shot of Mom with her Mom hat.

On Sunday we went to Church in a ward close to Rick's. Rick then drove us up to Loma Linda to see Bina, Scott and the little ones. It was about an hours drive.

Rick has a Honda pickup that he usually drives but this time he took the Prius, the Toyota hybrid and at times we were getting 69 miles to the gallon going 70 mph. However when I tried to run my Ipad navigation program when hooked up to his battery, the program crashed as the main battery that starts the engine is about the size of a motorcycle battery.

We got to Loma Linda which is a Seventh Day Adventist city. They have a great dental school, noted hospital and training programs. It is a hard dental school to get into and Scott graduated in the top five of his class. Here is a picture of Scott in his gown with the little Bina clone, Alison and Bina new baby Ashley.

We went to In and Out Hamburger, visited with Scott and Bina and left for the graduation. Notice Scott's Beanie which is an unusual graduation motif. The graduation was outdoors and it was really cold. We did not get there in time to sit under the tents. It took 45 minutes for the faculty and graduating class to march and take their seats. That was 45 minutes of Guadeamus Igator. There was an interesting opening prayer. I said to Bina, "They pray like we do". She said, "Yes because that Professor was LDS". Well I had to bale during the firs talk... I felt a little like that scene from Mr. Bean going to church.

Scott graduated with high honors and several awards. He is looking at a position in California.

Bina and the kids were great and it was good to see them in their student house. We are proud of Scott and his accomplishments at one of the top Dental Schools int he country.

Rick took us to the airport the next day. It was a great short trip to California

Alles Gute und Alles Liebe, Dad and Mom

MORE MICHIGAN FARM PICTURES

Dear Family,

I thought I would add a few more pictures of the farm it was so stunningly pretty. It was so green and lush and just beautiful.

Here is a shot of the house. We stayed there and it was great. The farm has new status in the stake. I was sitting in a church meeting in Bloomfield Hills and one of the young men got up and announced an Eagle Project at the Wirthlin farm. I was sitting next To Br. Mayo and he mentioned the farm was popular in the stake. I guess Bryan lined p the scouts for a major fix up party. I sat there and thought, "Why didn't I ever think of that scheme?" This is a fund raiser and Bryan pays the scouts to come out and do labor. Then they get to do paint ball wars in the woods.

The Walled Lake Ward wanted to use the place for a Halloween party and Bryan said OK but first you have to come and pt in a good days work. Bry is pretty smart.

Here is a picture of the big barn. Those were our favorite hammock trees.

We rode on the path to the back woods and it was like going through a tunnel of vegetation. Not sure I could clear some places if I were on horseback.

The path is lined with hickory, cherry and apple trees.

We got around to the pond in the back and it was high. It is still full of goldfish from the seven goldfish that Doug dumped in the pong about 15 tears ago. The deer use this trail.

Then there is the great Oak tree in the back. I call this the haunted tree because it looks so much like the trees in Grimm's fairly tales with its great outstretched arms. Spooky at night.

Al and her kids came over a couple of times and we had great campfires and huge marshmellows sticky all over. James, William and Peter were good at starting fires with we wood. Here we all are on the old swing that is still going strong.

And here is a good shot of a queen of the farm, Bryan's daughter,Sarah, who will be a senior in high school next year.

It was so great to see everyone again and one never tires of Michigan.

Love, Mom and Dad

DAVID'S AND NICHOLAS'S BAPTISM, WE GO TO MICHIGAN

Dear Family,

The main reason for our trip to Michigan was to attend a double baptism of David and Nicko in the Bloomfield Hills ward. Both were born under unusual conditions and both wered born while we were away in Germany. Both are fine young men.

Mark and Mary,(David's parents) and Bryan and Kristina (Nicko's parents) all invited friends sand neighbors. The chapel was packed and there were also many friends from our day in that ward. The Breer's were there and many others. It was one of the bigger ward baptisms that I have attended. Al came over with her kids from Ann Arbor and our row was almost filled again.

The Dads did the baptizing and the granddads did the confirming; I confirmed Nicko. I also gave a. talk. There were treats afterward in the cultural hall. One of Mary's neighbors bought David a red fish to remind him of the day he was baptized by immersion. Here is a picture of Bryan, Nicholas,Opa, David and Mark.

We went to Ann Arbor to meet Al and her family. They are under contract to buy a little farm east of Jackson. It was built in the 1890's and completely refurbished, house barns and all. There is a large barn with stables, goat pens and a huge hay loft. There are several other buildings in good shape and the kitchen was re-done. There is an established vineyard and a fenced in garden with a hydrant. There is a ton of grass to cut. There is a small pond stocked with perch and bass. It is far out but really a cute little farm.. This has been a dream for Al. Get out the work gloves!

We stayed at our old farm in South Lyon. It was lush and green with all the rain and most beautiful. Bryan has done a great job fixing the place up. He has removed much brush, made trails , cleaned up the woods, graded and re built the stables, removed old fences and vines and it looks better than a park.

Here is a view from the field. I cut the field to keep it rich in hay. Rich Williams, Bry's friend from High School, came and mowed much lawn with the Dixie Chopper.

There were all sorts of wildlife; there was a wild turkey running in the field as I cut and we jumped three deer when I took the kids for a ride on the John Deere Green Machine. Bry installed a trail cam in the back woods and there were deer and coyotes walking the trails.

We spent time in the barn opening packing boxes from our move ten years ago. Mom found her jewelry box in a box labelled "kitchen supplies" , it was like Xmas. We shipped seven boxes home.

We celebrated Mom's birthday at Leos. It was ; like old times again. It was so great to see the gang in Michigan and see some old friends.

We also went to the Andover High School Seniors Award Night to give the Julie Wirthlin Memorial Scholarship Award. We organized that award after Julie died and it has been going on for 11 years. It was an impressive graduation with so many National Merit Scholars, Phi Beta Kappas and Summa Cum Laude graduates. I mentioned that the purpose of the scholarship was to remember Julie and the recipient was to be an athlete, scholar, one with grit, resolve and focus. The faculty picked a very nice young lady and Mom gave the certificate and the check for $1000.00. The parents came up and thanked us. I also mentioned that all of our 17 children graduated from that high school.

Here is a great shot of the old home which is looking great. This trip was a major trip down memory lane. More family related trips to report.

Love, Dad and Mom

Ps check out the Dad on the tractor.