BOSTON MARATHON DAUGHTERS

Dear Family,

As most of you who are on Facebook, you know that three of our gals went to the Boston Marathon and two ran.

Mary and Cheryl qualified for the Boston Marathon and trained vigorously.  I saw Cheryl run in the Moab half marathon and she was fit, sassy, and chipper and was the "trainer" for Doug who ran with her, cheering him on and advising to draw energy from the mountains and red rocks.  Pretty organic advice.

Cheryl began to have pain in her left leg without much swelling and she finally went in for an MRI and was found to have a stress fracture of what I think was the fibula.  She was put in a boot and grounded from running.

So she called Becca and had her run in her place.  Becca was also fit and had been running marathons.  Here is booted Cheryl with her sisters, Becca and Mary at the start.  Cheryl is in her training gear for support and Mary has all the running paraphernalia strapped on.

You will have to check out their blogs for the details.  It was a record heat wave and people were dropping like flies.  Both finished in good time even powered up "Heart Break Hill in Newton"  When Mary ran past the Newton Welsley Hospital, she shouted to those around her, "This is where I was born!"  The runners were not impressed.

Proud that these gals are fit enough for this activity considering they have 15 children among them.  Loads of fun for this Sister Mini Reunion in Boston where they got their start in life

They completed the race in bad conditions and her is Mary and Becca at the finish line with flowers and completion medals.  Next year for Cheryl.

Lot of Love, Dad

VISIT TO SPOKANE

Dear Family,  

I went up to Spokane for a few days by myself to visit the families there and to get my eye treated at Rob's Eye Clinic. 

Jeff and Julius picked me up at the airport and took me to their home where there was another surprise birthday party!  Jeff had lobsters shipped in from Maine (Lobsterguy.com) and Tammy was ready to steam them.  Eva and her kids were there and she brought a delicious birthday cake.  Tammy made her corn casserole that I mentioned in the previous post.  It was so great and such a special treat.  

The next day, Jeff and I did some serious hobby stuff with a trip to Cabelas and other stores.  He took me over to Rob's clinic and I had those expensive eye injections again which has really helped my vision. I get the royal treatment there as well.

There are always these dinner wars in Spokane.  Rob and Eva had these steaks with mushrooms cooked perfectly on the grill.  I believe that one can do better by cooking at home than going out as the food is always better at home. While Rob cooked the steaks, Jeff and I watched this rather unusual show on National Geographic called "Doomsday Prepars".  It is preparedness carried to the nth degree and totally weird.  The meal was perfect again.  Here are all the kids at Rob and Eva's with the grilling result as well.

As my vision returned the next day, we went to the range that Rob belongs to on the banks of the Spokane River.  It was gorgeous and here is Rob shooting at 200 yards.  Anna is the smiling assistant.  Jeff came with Julius as we tried to zero in a few rifles.  It is the most beautiful sight there.  Then it was quickly off to the airport after a rather action packed Blitzbesuch in Spokane,

While this was going on, several daughters gathered in Boston for the Boston Marathon.  Cheryl, Mary and Becca were there for the race on Monday.  Cheryl and Mary had qualified for the marathon. It turned out that Cheryl had injured her ankle in Florida and had a stress fracture (when she finally went in for evaluation) and was wearing a boot.  She invited Becca to come and run in her place. They spent Sunday going to the old Weston Ward and visiting old sites in Boston and it will be interesting to hear what happens.

Thanks to Jeff, Tammy, Rob and Eva for a great short but action packed visit.

Love, Dad

TAMMY'S CORN CASSEROLE RECiPE

I was up in Spokane the last few days, (more about that later) and had something that was so good I had to put it into the Blog.  Tammy made this corn casserole that was scrumptous.

Here is her recipe that is similar to Paula's on the Food Network  (check the video).

One stick of Butter or margarine melted
2 Eggs beaten
8 ounces sour cream (one cup)
One can Kernel corn drained (15 ounces)
One can creamed corn (15 ounces)
One box of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
Cheddar Cheese (optional)
Pre Heat Oven to 350 degrees.

1. Beat 2 eggs first.  Mix together with the Eggs: 1/2 cup butter (one stick melted), one cup Sour Cream, one can corn, 1 can creamed corn and the Jiffy mix.  Combine well

2. Spray or grease  a  baking dish or bowl,  Pour mixture into the dish and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. (Could put cheese on at the end.. see video linked above)

3. Serve warm

This is yummy, Love Dad

EASTER, SPRING TIME IN THE ROCKIES

DEAR FAMILY,

It has been a beautiful weekend here in Salt Lake.  We have had so little snow in the valley compared to last year.  The fruit trees are in bloom and here is a shot from our doorstep.

It did not feel exactly like Easter As General Conference preceded it this year. The weather was wonderful and Spring is in the air.  General Conference was great as well.

T.  

Rebecca and her family came to stay on Thursday night.  On Friday, there was this gathering of many grandchildren for an Easter Egg coloring session.  Dozens of egs were colored and here they are taking a lunch break.

Saturday, we all gathered at Mike and Rayanne's house for their yearly Easter Egg hunt celebration.  They put a great effort into this event preparing a large brunch that is always so yummy.  Rayanne baked 48 New York style Bagels for the occasion and all had a great time.

I had a birthday yesterday and woke up feeling grateful for life and for the last 11 years since the open heart surgery.  We are sow blessed and grateful.

We had a visit from Kelsey L. and her husband from Indiana.  Kelsey was another one of our great sister missionaries and we had the most pleasant birthday lunch.

That evening, Madeline H and Paul Jr.  picked me up for a birthday dinner at the East West Restaurant down the street.  It was a feeding frenzy as the  kids came off sports and dancing practices.  The food was great and I love being around the kids.

Warlier in the week, we had a visit from Bequis C.  who was visiting from Boston and she brought her friend, Tom F.  It turned out that was her birthday so we had a little birthday dinner complete with Mom's famous cake as the birthday cake. We had a mini FHE and it was great to see her again and meet Tom.

There are about 23 birthdays in April so it is a busy month.  I leave for Spokane this afternoon for another eye injection up at Rob's clinic in Spokane,  It will be fun to see Rob and Eva, Jeff and Tammy and all the kids again.

We love  you all,

Dad

MUNICH GERMANY AUSTRIA MISSION REUNION

Dear Family,

Our Mission Reunion occurs on the Friday Evening before  Spring Conference as great untold number of missionary reunions all over the valley are being simultaneously held. We have been having them at our home the last few years as the numbers are dwindling with time and it such a pain to clean up the cultural hall of a Chapel.  Here is the gang after dinner with my former Counselor, Lutz Herber and his wife, Mom and Me (in my Bavarian leather vest).  Lutz said, "The only one there that looked like a Bavarian was an American!"

We  usually start by announcing the event on Facebook and send out invitations through Evite but we are never quite sure of the numbers coming. We thought there would be 40 but I believe there was more and little kids were invited as well.  They were enthralled with the Lion, Leopard, Crocodile and all the toys in the basement.

Brett Lameroux and others did the invitations and he organized many to bring dishes.  He thought that "pulled pork" sandwiches with sides would be a great meal.  I bought four "Boston Butts', brined two and smoked all four.  The flavor was great! Here is Brett and Michael C. pulling the smoked "butts".  Thanks to Brett and his team for all the help.

We had s short meeting, sang a hymn in German, (Oh Du Quelle Jedes Segens) and had everyone say what they are doing and giving a little update.  Lutz Herber, visiting Bishop of the Augsberg Gemeinde, mentioned current missionary work there which is different than when we were there.  Because of the drop in missionary complement, only two missionaries serve in any Ward.  Augsburg, a center of the Reformation and always an open minded city, was very productive and we had many missionaries there.  I spoke a little about missionary work in the Salt Lake Valley.

Sister Herber made some great Bavarian Sauerkraut mit Butter, Speck und Zwiebel. She came back from Conference on Saturday and had worn her Dirndl to conference.  She went into an automatic helping mode and was so kind to keep the food moving along and helped so much with the cleanup. We had such a great time.

I hoped no one notice too much but I was getting over a big dose of the flu and was a little like a Zombie but enjoyed the time.  

We took a picture of the group before too many had left.  Great time reliving a wonderful period of all our lives. Here are two who were companions, Heidi P. and Liza E., now college graduates and Moms.  Heidi has a agree in landscape architecture and chases an energetic two year old.  Liza received her degree in Bio Engineering and teaches early morning seminary while looking after a couple of rambunctious boys.  Both are runners by the way.

There were many others and it was so great to see so many.  So many are married and away from Utah pursuing jobs and supporting young families as time marches on.

Alles Gute

Mom and Dad

GUESTS FOR CONFERENCE

Dear Family,

It has been a busy and exciting week!!!

We had some great friends staying with us for conference and other meetings.

Here  is a picture of the group; on the left is Madeline Manwaring standing behind Larry Manwaring, on the couch is Mattt Herber, Gertrude Herber (his mother), The Mom and Lutz Herber.


I have written about the Manwarings before;  Larry was Mission President in Frankfurt while we were in Munich.  We went out together and visited often on the phone and in Mission President Training Seminars each of the three years we were out. After the missions, he has visited us and we have visited them on there farm in Virginia where we had great time hunting birds. Larry is an ENT surgeon and just about good at everything.

Lutz Herber and his wife live in Augsburg, Germany.  When we were there, he was the Bishop of the Munich 2nd ward.  He has been a Bishop three times and is currently the Bishop of the Augsburg ward.  He has also been a Stake President of the Munich Stake when they had Innsbruck and Salzburg as well.  He has been a Mission counselor three times and was my counselor as well.  They are a great and steadfast family.  Matt contacted me on Facebook and wondered if they could stay over conference and we were tickled to have them.  They stayed downstairs and the Manwarings stayed upstairs.

Everyone went to the LDS medical meeting on Wednesday evening for diner and listen to Elder Holland speak in detail on a Karl Bloch painting of the Savior at the pools of Bethesda and emphasize the healing mission of the Savior. Everyone had tickets to Conference (except for us) and all had a great time.  Larry took us to they great little Chinese Restaurant, "Little World" a couple of times where we had a great time as well.  We loved having our friends over and I had a chance to speak a lot of German for a few days.

We love you all,

Mom and Dad