OPENING BEAR LAKE FOR 2013

Dear Family,

We traveled up to Bear Lake property for the first time this year.  Here is a picture of the backyard with Bear Lake in the background, east of the property.  The weather was perfect and there were no mosquitos.

Doug brought Douglas, his friend Tracy, Tommy and his friend Andrew and of course little Izzy.  John came up with Grant.  They arrived later in the evening and helped to get the water system working.  The well and the water pump are getting real finicky.  Everything else worked great including the furnace which kept the house toasty warm during the chilly nights.  The next morning, we got the machinery going charging up the batteries and started a busy day of work on Saturday.

Before working, Doug and John went on a long run and here is Doug showing off his fancy running shoes.  John was pretty much limping around after the run

Doug and John were constantly repairing things.  I ran over some barbed wire and got a big flat with the mower but they fixed the flat with a tire plug

After we repaired this I cut down about 2 acres of lawn.  Douglas and Tracy picked up all the fallen Cottonwood sticks and branches.  Cotton wood trees shed sticks and branches like dandruff.

Here is the Dad doing his part.  The place looked great after this.  Douglas and Tracy  also ran the weed whacker over the entire place so it is nicely trimmed.

We of course had the shooting chore after the work was done and everyone got a chance to shoot including little Grant who was helped by John.  There was no one on the Lake so we shot in the backyard.

We had to trim some fallen large branches.  Douglas climbed up in the Cottonwood tree and with a chain saw severed the broken branch. Little nervous about that one.  Reminded me of the time the missionaries wanted to do some service in Michigan on our farm in South Lyon.  One, Elder Thatcher,  had saved for his mission by selling wood that he cut himself.  He was born with a chain saw in his mouth.  He asked me to raise the bucket on the tractor and lift him up to a large dead Apple branch.  I wondered if this would sail with his mission president but he was so anxious to help.  He was a great Elder who worked so hard that Mom went up to him after and said, "Would you please marry one of my daughters?"

Here is Doug taking Grant, Tommy, Izzy and 
Andrew on a 4 wheeler ride.  Little Grant loved the place and said on this Utah farm, there are deer and Mooses!

Saturday night, the gang left and Mom and I had the most peaceful Sabbath day. No radio or TV to disturb the peaceful quiet that one finds in Southern Idaho.  We went to church in the St. Charles ward.  There were about a 1000 there as everyone in Salt Lake comes up for the holidays.  On the 4th and 24th of July, they have two sessions of church with a 1000 in each session.  The lessons were terrific and we had the best day of rest in a very long long time. We closed up again and drove back to Salt Lake.

This week we travel to Michigan for another high school graduation (Sarah) and a baptism, (Michele).  We will stay at the farm for about 10 days and visit Al, Mary and Bryan and their families.

Our sister missionaries in the field  are doing well and their letters indicate they are taking their missions seriously.

We love you all. Mom and Dad

JAKE GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL (WITH A MISSION CALL)

Dear Family,

Here is a picture of Jake graduating from the Mapleton Mountain High School.  Mom and I drove down to the UVU campus where they held it in the huge indoor stadium.  There had to be 400 graduating this year and I thought the gals outnumbered the guys..

Jake graduated with high honors and a member of the National Honor Society.  There were many who graduated with high honors.  I liked that part the best.  I had to remember last year when Natalie (Sister Hickey) was senior class president and led the graduating class to their seats and gave the first commencement address.  This year the girls did everything.  I could not understand much of what the class president said as she was quoting from current pop culture and I did not understand any of it.  Then the Superintendent of Schools got up and gave a long winded talk.

This did not detract from Jake's accomplishments and we congratulate him. This is something new; graduating from high school with a mission call to the Philippines. 

Here is a picture of Caroline at the commencement.  Caroline mentioned at one of our family get togethers, that she had to write a song for extra credit in math.  I told her somehow to  include the expression, "FibonacciSequence", and she was sure to get an "A".  I showed her what it was and she incorporated it into her song composition and did get an"A".  Not only that but she studied this unusual bit of math  further and wrote a paper for biology on Fibonacci sequence and numbers in nature and got another"A"!  Felt pretty good about that one.  She is anther straight "A" student.

Here is a picture of Johnny who had a graduation of his own.  They even give them a special cap and gown when they graduate from pre-school.

We go to Bear Lake with John and Grant, Doug and a few of is family to get the little Bear Lake place started and repair any damage done by the winter.  Then next week we travel to Michigan for another graduation and baptism.

Alles Gute, und alles Liebe, Mom and Dad

DOUGLAS HAS HIS FAREWELL

Dear Family,

We attended the farewell of Douglas who preparing to go to Peru on his mission.  Here he is with Dad, Doug. Douglas looked really fine and ready for the mission action.  He gave a very nice talk in Sacrament meeting and we were all proud of him.

Nate, Spence and little Tommy all stood up and sang, "I Hope They Call Me on a Mission".  That was really good and reminded me of all the times I took Doug and Bry around with me when I was on the High Council in Boston to do the same when I had a speaking assignment. It was a fine farewell meeting.

Then of course there was the open house at Doug's house.     These are definitely getting more elaborate in the treats offered.  Krisitina's parents were here and helped a great deal with the preparations.

Rebecca was here for a marathon and when finished she came over to cook with Suz.  

Here are our expectant mothers cooking for the open house.  Becca made rice crispy treat and Suz spent hours making a South American cookie Alfajores which is a South American equivalent of an Oreo. You bake these  little cookie wafers and then make a thick carmel sauce to put in the middle of two cookies.  They were yummy.  Becca just finished running a 1/2 marathon in Ogden.  Others helped out with the open house as well and I will only mention the ones I know about.  Mom did two huge fruit  trays, Cathy baked cupcakes, Emily brought a veggie tray and Cheryl bought the chips.  There were sandwiches and other yummy deserts.

These events gather the entire family here in Utah and here is Douglas with all his older cousins.  There is tall Jake in the background going to the Philippines. Hanna is on the right.

We have such a great time together and never seem to tire of the company or simply getting together.

Next event will be going to Bear Lake to open up the house.  Scott, Suz and kids plus Doug and some kids will go up there with Mom and I over the Memorial Day Holiday.  Friday is Mom's birthday and a shower for Gemina.  I have a hard time keeping up with all this but it is great!! We love you all,

Opa and Oma

JAKE GETS HIS CALL

Dear Family,

Another week of missionary related activity.  Emily's son, Jake received his mission call.  No one predicted this one. Jake is called to the Phillippines Laoag Misssion. He reports to the MTC September 25, 2013. He will be prepared to preach the gospel in the Tagalog Language. Here  is Jake pointing to the world map (that is getting a lot of use in Emily's home now) pointing to his mission area in I believe the northern part of the Philippines.  Don't believe anyone from the family has served there.  He will be taller than anyone and really standout.  We are proud of you Jake and good luck with the preparation.

We have also heard from Natalie (his sister) who has arrived in Lisbon, Portugal and was assigned a trainer who has been out three months. Meine Gute but what can you do when the mission received 30 sisters in one group.  She is upbeat and making  early adjustments to the food and change in climate and picking up the language rather well.

Maddie arrived in Aberdeen and is in a threesome (Dritt).  She is also getting used to the colder and damper climate and the change in food.  She is teaching and getting commitments.  They street contact as well and she observed that the sisters talk to more men than women.  Hmmmmm.  

It is exciting to see the work through the eyes of these new young sister missionaries. 

Bless them all, Love,

Dad

DOUGLAS PREPARES TO LEAVE FOR HIS MISSION

Dear Family,

Douglas is getting ready to go on his mission.  He was called to Peru and will be leaving the first part of  June.  I believe he will go straight to the MTC in Peru.

We went with Doug, Kristina, her parents and Douglas to the Jordan River Temple as Douglas prepares to leave.  It was a very fine experience and there was a good spirit there.

Both grandparents were in attendance and here is a picture of Douglas, Oma and Opa Wirthlin in front of the Jordan River temple.  I forgot my recommend but luckily a second cousin, a Wirthlin, is the temple recorder  and vouched for me.

Here is grown up Douglas, now taller than anyone, about to leave.  He used to sit on my lap for  all the family pictures about 13 or more years ago.  Time has just slipped by.  It has been a blessing to see these grandkids grow up.

I told little Jonathan that in 13 years, he will be ready to go on his mission and he immediately asked, "Will you still be my Opa then?"  I told him I certainly hoped so. Douglas will have his Farewell on Sunday and Doug and Kristina plan an open house after church.  Some of these open houses are over the top as the entire ward is usually considered friends and even if we only had our family there, it would be a large group.  We had a nice luncheon with Doug and Kristina's family after the temple visit.

There was a double function as the gals planned a luncheon with Cheryl on the same day as the temple visit as it was Cheryl's birthday.  Kaley, Emily, Suz, Cathy, Mom and I were all there with Cheryl.  They went to a Middle Eastern restaurant where they all had "healthy" food and there was much purring during the lunch.  I had already eaten so just had a little piece of Baklava.  Since I was the only one with a suit, the waitress galantly handed me the tab!

Now that school is over, I hope to get in a few sessions with Douglas on "Preach My Gospel"

Lots going on.  John and Kaley will be moving to Alpine into her Dad's home there.  Saturday, we will take a trip out to the desert where my old fishing buddy, Paul Keil, to hunt Geode formations.  Paul is a "rock hound" of about 60 years and knows where all the cool rocks are in Utah.  Will definitely be a blog post on that. We are getting the picks and shovels together.

We love you all,

Dad

SISTER MISSIONARIES

 Dear Family,

Maddie got off to her mission to Scotland and Ireland.  Here she is leaving the Salt Lake Airport (taken with iPhone).  It reminded me of a similar picture but in reverse.  We never saw any of our 8 sons off when they went on their missions.  The nine daughters did not go because of the age requirement and at that time it was felt that they should do other things.

We saw this scene in revers when Mom and I served in the German-Munich Austrian Mission.  We accompanied all the missionaries leaving for home at the completion of their missions and the pictures were similar.  We thought so much of our missionaries that sometimes there was a lump in our throat as they held their passports and turned and waved goodbye. Maddie is in the MTC in Preston and will leave soon for her assignment.

Here she is with her companion in the Preston MTC against the plaque, "Where Ere Thou Art, Act Well Thy Part"  which Maddie's great grandfather, Elder Haight, found for President McKay.

In the meantime, Natalie, Sister Hickey now, is adjusting to the packed MTC in Provo.  It is an interesting time in the church.  The missionary work has shifted to a higher gear and there are new adjustments everywhere.  Here is Natalie in her room in the MTC which she shares with five other sisters!  The dining hall is packed.

There will be 55 new missionaries arriving at once in Natalie's mission in Lisbon, Portugal.  I can't even imaging that!  43 are coming from the states with 30 of those sisters; there will be a dozen locals called as well.  The mission has been preparing for this for a while although I am not sure if they ever realized the exact number.  The church has created 58 new missions in the world with 58 new mission homes and offices.  Quite an unbelievable feat.

Here is a doodle that Natalie sent from some gathering. (I must admit, I did the same in some meetings.)

This is a sketch of her district and you can see what is going on pretty well. There are only a few elder with all those pretty sisters glancing over.

It is going to be interesting out there!

Well that is the update of events.  We go to Bear Lake over Mom's birthday to open it.

Love to all, Dad and Mom

ELISE IS BAPTIZED AND WE VISIT SPOKANE

Dear Family,

We travelled to Spokane again and did a few things on the trip.

The most important was attending Elise's baptism.  Tammy's mother traveled from Michigan to join the event as well.  Rob was away for the weekend attending a CME  medical conference in Seattle but Eva and the kids joined the group.

This was a ward baptism but the chapel was jammed packed with five kids getting baptized.  There was a nice program with what they call a "spotlight" where the Mom gets up and tells about the child being baptized.

Jeff did a nice job with the baptism and confirmation.
It is a treat to attend these events in the family.

Here is the group, a combination off Jeff's and Rob's families: front row: Luke, Leo, Elena, Julia, Mellisa with Julius on the left.  Middle row:  Elise, Anna, Tammy and Zander.  Back row: Eva, Ellen Fisher (Tammy's Mom), Oma, Jeff and Opa.  We all ent to church together and it was nice.

Rob returned on Sunday night in time to start an advaanced squad leader board game.  They played until five in the morning and I got a little worried because Rob was to inject my eye that afternoon.

We then made our obligatory four trips to Cabelas over the state line in Idaho to stock up on some gear.  We put three rifles scopes on three different rifles and then went to the gourmet rifle range on the banks of the Spokane river and got all properly sighted in.  Then Rob did his work on my eye and it was such a great day.  Love going to Spokane!

We came back on Tuesday.  This is a great time of our life!  Oma's Mother day dinner this Sunday

We love you all,

Dad

PRE-SCHOOL MUSICAL PROGRAM

Dear Family,

We have three grandchildren in the same pre-school class; Johnny, Grant and Timmy.  I asked Timmy once what he learned in class and he replied, "The teacher said not to look at Johnny".  Those three are really funny when they get together.

Here are Grant, Timmy and Johnny being their usual selves

There was a musical his little class put on.  The room was packed with parents and grandparents.  They even asked the grandparents to stand and had the nerve to ask who had the most grandkids.  Mom almost stopped the program when she announced our total of 77 with 3 on the way.

Above is a little video of one of their numbers.  You can spot Johnny on the left and Grant and Timmy standing together on the right. I was surprised as how disciplined they all were. but afterwards, they went back to their normal selves.

Little Garret was dying to get into the action and kept crawling up on the floor to be a part of the gang.  He is a little character as well.  The other day, he stated he wanted to walk to Opa's house and started down the street alone.  Grant turned him in quickly and he was rescued back.  Kinda reminds me a little of Jeff as a young lad.

It is so great to have all these grandkids around us of all ages and it is a blessing to watch them grow , develop and blossom.

Love, Dad and Mom