SUNDAY DINNER, A HEMI-REUNION

Dear Family,

Since Bryan and Kristina were in town (from Michigan), Mom thought it would be nice to have a Sunday dinner and invite the family.  Everyone around here was invited and all came which is unusual.  The house was packed with so many little kids running around.  Nine of our sixteen Children were there with spouses and children.  there must have been 40 - 50 that came for dinner. It was like a spontaneous Thanksgiving dinner.

Here is a picture of some of the teenagers with Cheryl on the left (still looking like a teenager), then there was Caroline, Annabelle, Catherine, Sarah and Madeline (who is back from Paris studying at the U).

Rayanne brought a yummy jello salad, there was lasagna, chicken nuggets for the kids, rice etc with vegetables.  I cooked four large slabs of Salmon on the grill. (Salmon covered with a plank salmon rub with lemon dill butter over the top surface, wrapped in tinfoil and cooked 5 minutes/side over a flame adjusted so that you can hold your hand 1" above the grate and that equals perfect, moist salmon every time) .  The food dissapeared rapidly.

Here is Cathy leading everyone in a happy birthday song for Anthony. The tummy on the left belongs to Rebecca who will deliver in October.

It was almost total chaos with the kids running all over.  The parents were so busy visiting that the kids all took advantage of limited supervision.

Here is an example of the blessing of being a grandpa.  You just have the cutest grandaughters that you can imaging.  Here is Madeline, back from Paris, and Sarah, freshman at BYU and of course the  Opa.

We had planned to do a family night but it was impossible to get all together.  We were able to organize everyone to kneel in prayer and we thanked Heaven for all our blessings and especially for the blessing of family and the gratitude we felt for the love and respect they all had for one another.

It has been a busy weekend.  We look forward to General Conference next weekend

Love, Dad

WOMEN'S CONFERENCE, GALS NIGHT OUT WITH SUPRISE BABY SHOWER FOR REBECCA

Dear Family,

Saturday was also the Church's Women's Conference.  Mom had organized tickets for all the gals to attend.  She found a parking spot on the street just opposite the Conference Center.  They reported the meeting was wonderful.  They did not tell me what was up later but I was suspicious there was going to be a celebratory dinner get together.  I called them after the meeting and they would not exlain but I found out they planned to go to East West Restaurant near our home.

Then Sarah Wirthlin called as it was planned that she stay here overnight when her parents, Bryan and Kristina arrived from Denver.  So I still could not get any information.  I decided to take Sarah down to the restaurant , "Do you want to go on a dinner date with Opa". When we got there, the reason everyone was so mum about the event was that this was a surprise baby shower for Rebecca and they could not talk about it.  So here they all are with Rebecca, Suz, Emily,Cathy, Cheryl and Kaley in the front; Sarah, Mom and Kristina in the back. It was a fun time even though I crashed the baby shower.

I guess the Gals are trying to make up for our post Priesthood Meeting barbecues that we have done for years for all the guys and older sons to encourage attendance. Conference is a special time and I love it. Bryan and Kristina came and stayed at our home along with Sarah.  So much fun!

Love, Dad

PHILLIP AND MATILDA GET BAPTIZED

Dear Family,

We had another busy Saturday.  All the grandkids, who were born when we got back from our mission in Germany, are turning 8 and getting baptized into the Church. We try to plan family baptisms across wards so this time, Matilda went to Cathy's ward to be baptized with her cousin, Phillip. Here they are right before.  Phillip was so excited he could not even fake a smile.

The Grandpas offered the prayers; the Grandmas gave the talks, Pete's Mom on Baptism and Mom on the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  Pete baptized and confirmed Phillip and Scott baptized and confirmed Matilda. It was a sweet baptismal service.

Here are the cousins who came: front are Phillip (he is such a little man!) Matilda, back is Alexander, Zandy, Andrew, Anthony, Julianna and Abigail.

When we left, little Alex (three) was really honked that he did not get baptized . The Olsen and Wirthlin families then went over to Cathy's for treats.  I spent the entire time trying to entertain baby Henri.  The spread was yummy.

We are proud of these grandkids.  Actually, Pete put a license plate holder on my FJ Cruiser that says, "My Grandkids are Cuter Than yours"..well you can barely see it but does reflect a bit of grandparent pride. This was a memorable event.

Love, Opa and Oma

ONCE MORE IN SPOKANE

Dear Family,

A week ago, Mom and I traveled up to Spokane to visit Jeff, Tammy, Rob, Eva and all the kids.  They roll out the red carpet and there is excitement.  The kids get excited too and here is Anna on Jeff's trampoline.

Jeff picked us up at the airport and drove me to Rob's clinic, the Spokane Eye Clinic, where I had my left eye injected and the vision improves immediately.  He had lobsters flown in and we had a feast of that in the evening with Rob, Eva and their four children  coming over.  It is great that these two families get along so well and the kids are like brothers and sisters.

On Friday, Jeff and I spent some hobby time checking out various stores.  We drove up to Cor de' Lane in Idaho which is not far away. We went to Black Sheep which is one of these great outdoor supply stores and here is Jeff checking out things at the gun counter.  They had a lot of reloading supplies that we cannot get in Utah so he stocked up.

Later that day, I went back and had the right eye injected.  Unfortunately, I saw the needle coming and flinched which is not good and I had to wear a patch for a night.  Julius and I did a little reloading while Jeff and Rob played their advanced squad leader game.

Saturday was another big day.  We went to Rob and Jeff's gourmet shooting range to sight in a few rifles.  The 450 Alaskan proved to be quite a kicker!  As we did this, Mary, Tammy, Eva and all the kids went to the State Fair.  When we found out it was hot, long lines etc. we opted for a nice little Bistro.

That evening, we watched Michigan struggle with their win and then watched the U of U lose their football game during overtime.  Jeff and Rob stayed up until about 2 AM playing squad.

On Sunday we all went to Jeff's ward and had a nice meeting.  Tammy put on another great meal.  We had Family Home Evening and the kids and Eva put on Mom's little play about the ten Lepers from the Bible.  All loved getting bandaged and reporting what their leperous leisons consisted of. Here are all the players including Eva who made up the tenth Leper

We  then spoke about gratitude and all reported on what they were grateful for and all were grateful for their parents,  Little Elena, age 2, said she was grateful for Oma and Opa and scored big points.

We love going to Spokane and thank them for their great hospitality.

Love to you all,  Mom and Dad

SNEAK TRIP TO BEAR LAKE

Dear Family,

So much of what we do is spontaneous and planned on short notice in addition to a rather full calendar.

When we closed the Bear Lake home this fall, I could not put the "Induna" vehicle away as it would not start even with new double expensive batteries.  So we had to call Dee'S auto service in Laketown to come and pick up the vehicle.  They remembered the little truck, "Oh yeah that is the white one with a Corvette engine" So they drove up and hauled it off 30 miles for the repair.

We built that little vehicle in Michigan as a rock climber, something we never got around to do.  I believe the only thing original after the build was the accelerator pedal.  We put in an overbore Chevy 380 enginge with a stroker crankshaft, a Hummer transmission with a very low first gear, new transfer case, special heavy duty radiator, computer controlled fuel injection carburetor, four wheel disc brakes with hydraulic assist, four large off road tires, lockers fron and rear, an extra gas tank in the rear, custom welding roll bars and bumpers and other things I have forgotten,  This is a tank!!!! (gets 6 miles to the gallon of high octane gas)

Well Doug had been on call over the weekend and had Monday off.  (He operated on Jeanne Pfeifer on Sunday).  He wondered if we could just shoot up to Bear Lake and pick up the repaired Induna.  Turns out both fuel lines were damaged. So just he and I had a pleasant drive and picked up the car which he drove to the farm.  He was scooting along; (when you shift into 5th gear, you go > 75 MPH)

We took it  up on the dirt roads on the west hills and the view was spectacular.  The vehicle went great and it is ready for another year.

On the way home, Doug wanted to cross the Monte Cristo pass into Huntsville .  He is going to run the Marathon which goes from the crest to Huntsville on Saturday.  This is at 9000 feet at the top.  I  had him bring a tank of O2 because I know what my O2 saturation does at 8000 feet.  So we had this great drive up there and here is one view from the crest.  Doug had on his Garming runners watch which records the entire run which he can then place on a map.  (I thought you just ran but now there is so much gear, training, diet, shoe gear stuff etc. making it complicated).  It will be a gorgeous run!

This was a great spontaneous trip.  Good luck Doug

Love, Opa

JAKES MISSION FAREWELL

Dear Family,

We had a lot of family events this past weekend with a baptism on Saturday and a missionary farewell on Sunday.  Birthdays everywhere as well.

Jake Hickey, Emily's son, had his missionary farewell on Sunday in Mapelton.  So many of the Utah family attended as well as our ever growing BYU contingent.  Rachel, Hannah and now Sarah from Michigan all were there in addition to uncles, aunts and cousins.

Jake is going to the Philippines and leaves today.  He did a nice job with his farewell talk. He will be a focused and dedicated missionary.  He joins our other grand children who are serving, Madeline, Natalie,  and Douglas all serving out of the US.  We are proud of their efforts and devotion.

Emily put on a great gathering afterward for the Wirthlin and Hickey families.

Here are the cousins chowing down.

We wish Jake farewell and good luck on his mission.  Emily will have two missionaries out at the same time and she is a trooper.

More family things coming with a dinner for Bryan who will be visiting this weekend.

May Heaven bless you all,

Opa und Oma

EMILY EVA'S BAPTISM

Dear Family.

Lot of activity this last two weeks.  Yesterday, we had a baptism with Cheryl and Paul's youngest daughter, Emily Eva, getting baptized in her ward chapel.  It was hard to schedule to get everyone in town at the same time but finally parents, grandparents were all there together.

Little Emil looked like an angel and was so happy smiling constantly.  We had a private session with many as possible from the extended families present. I think Emily Eva has > 130 cousins and there were plenty there.

There was a simple program.  Mom said the opening prayer and the two grandfathers gave short talks and testimonies. I talked on how baptism follows the commandment and was a sign of the covenant with Heaven to always choose the right course.  I talked about my baptism in New York City where at the time ('40's) there were no chapels and not even a font so we were baptized in the YMCA [pool somewhere in Manhattan.  I had never had my head underwater and the immersion was a new experience.

Here is a picture of the two grandpas, Opa W. on the left and Jon H. on the right. Jon also talked about baptism and his baptism which was unusual.  He was in Pensacola, FL as his father was in active duty in the Navy.  The parents were not active at the time so the base Chaplain (Catholic) gathered all the "unbaptized Children"on the base in  the base auditorium, lined them up and then sprinkled each one.  He was later baptized by a member of the Church and the story was interesting.

Paul did the baptism and confirmed Eva a member of the Church with grandpas and uncles standing in the circle.  It was very moving and Eva was radiant and happy.  Afterwards, we  repaired to Cheryl's and she put on a great afternoon feed.  It was so fun to see everyone.

Later we stayed with Paul and watched the Utah, BYU football game held down in Provo.  The stands were very quiet as Utah beat BYU for the fourth consecutive time.  I am a Ute fan as my Dad played for Utah when he went to college in the '20's.  Mom roots for booth and all our kids and their kids root for the their Alma Mater, BYU. All the cousins had sleep overs all over the map and we all got to bed late.  It was a great Saturday but I liked the baptism the best.

Love, to all,
Mom and Dad

A LOT OF SATURDAY COLLEGE FOOTBALL AND MORE

Dear Family,

I never talked much about college football and in fact had a rule not to discuss it at Sunday meals when we lived in Michigan but I have softened that position.

Saturday was a big football day with games at the University of Utah, BYU in Provo and Michigan at the big house.

Mom and I went to the afternoon game at the U of Utah and sat in the box.  They have a new caterer and the food provided was very good.  Here is a picture of Opa, Jon Huntsman and our little grand daughter, Mary Clare, who just returned from tryouts for the Nutcracker ballet. Cheryl had all the other girls  down at the theater for tryouts.

The U game was with Weber State and the final score was 70 - 7 for Utah.  Mom thought this was sad but I was glad they could score so much as that is usally not one of their strong points. Paul and I were the last to leave the box and the stadium had emptied out when the score was > 50.

When we got home, there was Becca, who came up with her family from St. George to go to the BYU game but being "great with child" and feeling sluggish, stayed at home to come to our kitchen and cook with Suz. I babysat their kids while they went on a shopping spree,  Becca and Suz decided to make Habenero - apricot jelly.  Mom thought the Habenearos were little oranges and popped one in her mouth from which she has not yet recovered.

I stirred the pot and also went back to watch BYU and Michigan. BYU laid a big hit on the 25th ranked Texas Longhorns with a 40 - 21 victory.  BYU has this sophmore quarterback, Tysom Hill who rushed for 250 yards.  His passing was not so hot but he made up for it with the running game.  The Scruggs in our ward presided over the New Zealand Mission and Hill was one of their missionaries.  He had a spot at Stanford if he would leave his mission early which he did not do so he is playing for the Y.  They said if he was a good quarterback, he was a greater missionary. Doug reminded me that I should be a better BYU fan since we spent so much sending 15 of our 17 children there for college and advanced degrees.

Michigan did well against Notre Dame in the big house at Ann Arbor.  Nice to see them win.

Sunday was busy as well. After church we went to Cheryl and Paul's for a great lunch made from the garden harvest.  We hustled over to Doug's ward and I stood int he circle as Doug ordained Spencer a Deacon.

We then went back to Cheryl and Paul's. They have nice Family Home Evenings, the kids are well behaved and pay attention to Paul's pertinent lessons.

 Here is Mom, Cheryl, Olivia, and Mary Clare.

After Family Night, we saw Mary Clare limbering up for her tryout for the role of Clara in the Nutcracker Ballet. There is Pappa Paul as well.  I thought she would break in two with that maneuver.  All the younger girls will be in the coming ballet including Emily who turned 8. Olivia is the buffoon and Lauren is the soldier and since she is tallest will be the one shooting the rat.

Lots going on.  We travel to Spokane next week for a visit and eye treatment.

We love you all,

Mom & Dad

SUZ AND SCOTT BLESS THEIR BABY

Dear Family,

Last Sunday Suz and Scott had their new baby blessed and named Elisabeth Mary Paylor.  We went to Fast Meeting in Suz's ward, the Bonnevile 2nd ward which is a short distance from our house.

A lot of the family came and occupied three full rows in the chapel.  The Bishop mentioned that he was happy to have so many "Wirthlins" in the meeting.  This was Elder Wirthlin's ward and he was prominently displayed in the case in the hall.

Here is proud papa, Scott, with little Elisabeth whom they call "Queen Elisabeth" as she rules the home at the present time. In the circle was Opa, Pappa, John, Pete, Mike, and Doug.  Scott did a nice job.

Afterward, we came to our home for a little get together.

Here is the gang which held still for a moment for the photo.  Suz made some yummy chicken-salad and Cathy and Kristina brought some yummy pies.  It was really fun to get together for this special event. Notice  all those little guys in the front.

Here is Suz with her Mini-me, Juju. John and Scott in the background. The baby is cute and growing and certainly rules the roost.  The girls love taking care of their baby sister.

Congratulations Suz and Scott and welcome Queen Elisabeth (Elisabeth Mary Paylor) grandchild #79!

Love, Dad and Mom