FUN IN SPOKANE

We had a great visit in Spokane, WA. We went up there to see Rob and Eva and Jeff and Tammy and their kids. I should title this blog"Shooting, Shopping and Eating in Spokane".

I went up there to have Rob's opthamology group check out my eyes as I had a cataract removed there. Rob is a rock star retinal surgeon in his clinic and I was treated royally. They spent two and a half hours checking out the eyes, refracting for new glasses and checking out the retinas. Jeff picked us up at the airport and took us to the clinic. We stopped for lunch and I could not pass up some fresh oysters from Seattle at this Sushi place. The results were the same as in Florida and I guess I am finally done with raw oysters.

I also visited Jeff's office as noted in the sign above. He is developing a practice in pediatric psychiatry which is also a practice in parental psychiatry and it is getting off the ground

Here is Jeff in his office dealing with parents on the phone. He is using my old medical school desk in his office and it is good to see our furniture all over the map being used.

Jeff an Tammy put on one of their feasts with lobster, crab, shrimp and smoked ribs.
I was still recovering so did not eat much. It was so great to see Jeff, Tammy and their cute kids.

The next morning we took everyone to the IHOP for a major invasion. That was good too. Then we went over to Cabals in Idaho for some serious shopping. I think we made three or four trips to Cabala's while we were there. We put a new rifle scope on Rob's Winchester 30-06 and bought some other gear. The kids went to the shooting gallery and Jeff checked out the skiffs and boats.

Here is Rob taking it easy in the over stuffed camo easy chair at Cabala's. He is sporting a Renaissance period beard at the moment.

That night Eva put on an Austrian supper. Her mother is Austrian so there is some genetic tendency to good Austrian cuisine. She made Spaetzele and a meat dish that was great.

She then served up a home made Sachertorte (mit Schlag) which is quite a feat. There must be 20 different steps and it was delicious.

I talked about the history of the Sachertorte designed by a Chef from the Sacher Hotel in Vienna for Metternich. I talked about having Sachertorte at the Mozart Cafe there. I remebered that I had Viennese music on my blackberry so we listened to Anton Karas playing the zither at the Mozasrt Cafe while we enjoyed this treat in Spokane. It was quite a moment.

Saturday, we went to Rob's shooting range and sighted in a couple of rifles and did some pistol shooting. Julius came along and shot the 22. It was almost four hours of fun.

Sunday, we visited Jeff's ward where many seemed to know Eva. I helped teach Jeff's Sunday School lesson and Mom helped Tammy teach her Young Womens Class. Another great combined meal on Sunday and we watched the Winter Olympics.

It was a great time and we hated to leave. Good work Spokane gang.

Love, Opa

OMA'S VALENTINE PARTY

Dear Family,

Well we had a great Valentines party. Mom prepares for this way in advance getting out all the decorations which are almost as many as Xmas decor.

Everyone here in Utah came and there were over 50 present.

We had a big feed first of course. I won't go over the menu only to say it included about four main course including smoked ribs. Cheryl brought pizzas, others brought salads and desserts including the designer cookies by Becca and Cathy seen in the picture.

It was so fun. We welcomed everyone, sang happy birthday to all the birthday people and had a prayer. The rule to have the adults go through the line first and then the birthday people works pretty good and everyone filled their plates.

Here is a picture of the lineup and feeding frenzy.
People broke up in groups; the Dad's discussing business and politics, the Mom's hung out in the kitchen, the 16 year old grand daughters found a quiet place and talked about driving and the first date and school dances. The boys found a game to watch, the girls made valentines with cutouts and stickers, the little kids got together and with squeals of delight just played all over the house. The babies were rocked to sleep.

We had a mega Family home Evening. With Rachel at the piano we sang our favorite, "Love at Home". Mom talked about the Saviours admonition to love one another and had a prize for all the kids who memorized the scripture. I talked about what it means to have love at home. Mom got a Kathi Wohlfart German music box that played "It's a Small World After All". I talked about our first visit to Disney world in Orlando when we took advantage of Delta's special Easter break special: Father pays full fare, Mom pays half fare and the kids went for $25 dollars. Mom had to take birth certificates to the Delta Airlines counter as we had 14 kids at home at the time and they did not believe her. Everyone remembered that trip. On a later trip, I remembered going through the Small World attraction with Julie sitting next to me; she broke out in the biggest smile as they played the song and the figures danced and frolicked. I felt Julie close by.

We closed with singing or other favorite, "As I have Loved You"

Anyway the feeling of love and appreciation for one another filled our home and it was great.

Good job Oma.

Love, Opa

CHERYL'S SUPER SUPER-BOWL FAMILY GATHERING

Dear Family,

This was another spontaneous family gathering. I did not call it a party because it was on Sunday. I am not sure about seeing this on Sunday but it was a good excuse to get together.

It started out small. Cheryl and Paul invited Mom and I to come over after church. Then she thought it would be good to invite Doug and Christina and their kids. And as she thought about it, she also invited Mike and Rayanne, Emily and John, Becca and Paul, and from the far reaches of Bountiful, Cathy and Pete and all their kids and if I have my totals straight, 47 altogether.

I was worried that so many people would destroy that brand new home but I was proud of the family. there were just a few chips on the floor and all behaved including the little kids.

Cheryl and Paul put on a Mexican spread complete with those large deep dishes you get at Cafe Rio. That may have been a mistake because soon most of the food was gone and more salads, Tortias and beans were produced. There is something to be said about small plates at a family gathering.

Here are two photos; one of the TV set with the game and one of the gang glued to the screen. Cheryl has the best house for "blarbing". This is a verb invented by either Suz or Al from the days we had our TV room with the large screen where the daughters would sit, slouched forward, watching "Ann of Green Gables" or "Pride and Prejudice". I was there with them as well.

Mom had trouble seeing this on Sunday but wanted to see the "Pro Life" add which was terrific. Paul was pretty relaxed with this Wirthlin invasion and we all enjoyed the game and the time together. The gals hung out in the kitchen. I rarely saw the teenage grand daughters.

Here is Christina, little Izzie, Becca, Mom, Cheryl, Emily and Cathy. Cheryl was the perfect hostess.

When everyone left, Mom and I did scripture reading with Paul and Cheryl and the kids and I was impressed how well the little kids read.

It was such a happy time! Oma's Valentine get together next Sunday.

Alles Gute, Opa

BACK IN THE SWING OF THINGS

Dear Family,

Well we are back from Florida, recovered from the raw oyster attack and are back in the saddle.

Here is a picture of Oma's valentine party preparations. That is the next big family get together on this coming Sunday here at our home. There are valentine baskets all over, flowers and hearts everywhere and even I am getting into the spirit of things. We look forward to you all coming on Sunday.

Well last week was busy. Sunday, Mom and I spoke in a single adult ward; Mom on gratitude and I spoke on Patriarchal Blessings. Sunday evening we did a fireside in the home of President Hinckley's daughter to a large combined family group.

Monday, I did my rotation in the Missionary department answering the phone on medical calls from the world's mission field. Monday night I gave a Patriarchal blessing.

Tuesday, we went back to our temple assignment as the Salt Lake Temple was closed for two weeks for renovation. They have made some beautiful changes in capet's and doors. They have added additional lighting.

Wednesday, we were back in the Temple and it was packed with all the missionarys from the Utah, Salt Lake City Mission and all facilities were running full steam. It was packed and so great to see all those missionaries. The Utah missionas are the most productive in all of North America and Canada.

Thursday, we did a fireside in Spencer Daines ward in South Jordan. They have moved here from Wisconsin. During the dinner we discussed our missionary, Bret Miller, whom they knew in Wisconsin. I hope his ears were burning.

Sunday I had to give the lesson in our Quorum in our ward. This is always so challeging as the group is so filled with Temple workers, returned mission presidents, ex Stake Presidents and the Patriarch to the Church Emeritus, Eldred G. Smith. By the way, he is 103, still works and drives his cadilac from home to church and back. We sang him happy birthday last week. The lesson was on repenting and healing so I used my old trick I did when teaching the 18 year olds in Michigan; I started by telling surgical stories and then about wounds and their healing.

I began by telling them about the African man I met in the hospital in Blantyre, Malawi about 45 years ago. He tried to chase a hippopotamus out of his corn patch and that great animal which appeared in his garden from Lake Nyassa, chased him down and finally bit off both buttocks. So we cared for him with these large open wounds where both prominent buttocks used to be getting him ready for skin grafts.

We talked about wounds to the soul and the gift of healing through repentance. After the lesson, the group leader summed it up by saying, "I will never turn my back to a hippopotamus". Well hopefully they will remember something.

The next big things coming up are Oma's Valentine Party next Wunday and the week after that, we will travel to Spokane to see Rob, Eva, Jeff, Tammy and their kids. I will have Rob or his group check out my eyes.

We love you all, Dad

HUNTING ON THE CHURCH RANCH IN FLORIDA

Dear Family,

We traveled to Florida to visit John and Kaley and their new baby, grandchild # 70 who arrived on Christmas Day. The trip was to attend the blessing of the baby in church but we had some other fun things planned. Mom wanted to spend time helping Kaley with th new little guy.

Kaley's uncle Randy is an avid hunter and belongs to a hunting club that leases 20,00 acres to hunt on our church ranch in Florida. Here is a photo of John and Randy on the ranch looking for game.

They don't talk about this much but the church owns a huge chunk of central Florida from Orlando to Coco beach and I am not sure how far north and south. I think it is about 300,000 acres and I can remember when they bought it. My uncle Joesph L. and Elder Henry D. M. bought it about 1947 because they stopped off in New York to visit us before they went down there. Once purchased they sent in the engineering crews and drained swamps and started a cattle ranch on some of it.

Randy hunts on a section called K6 which has cattle. This is 20,000 acres and is the biggest of the 30 hunting leases on the rest of the ranch. There are lots of deer, wild hogs and there are alligators in little puddles of water. The bush is thick and as we drove around the roads, it reminded me of parts of Africa we hunted in the past.

There are 30 hunters in this group who pay $300,000 total a year to lease this hunting property. We drove around the main roads with a 4 wheel drive truck as it had rained heavily and everything was soaked and of course there was no movement of animals. We saw a small buck that was too small to bag. The other way they hunt is with stands and Randy has 30 stands of his own.. these are like the German Hochsitz.

The other way to hunt is on these "Swamp Buggies. These are built on truck chassis, lifted and are about two stories high. The tires are from huge front loaders. We met some of the other hunters in their camp and although they sounded like that guy in the movie, Water Boy, these are successful business men and lawyers who love hunting from these tree stands on wheels. This church ranch is really something!

John and I found a real old fashion raw oyster bar in Orland, the kind my Dad used to take me to in Baltimore. We ate a bucket of oysters and a dozen steamed clams and it was so good. The next day we found another site in Ocala and that one may have been a mistake. In the evening, we went with Kaley's parents to a really nice restaurant and I had fish. Well by 1 AM all the seafood tried exit my body quickly every hour and I was really down. Could not go to church the next day so they decided not to bless the baby this time and I have spent the last four days getting over this seafood binge. We were able to travel home on the plane. Rob and I discussed the antibiotics and he called in a prescription.

Mom visited with Kaley's parents who put on a huge dinner of smoked meats. I can't believe I am well enough to write about all this. We had a great time apart from the above. I had a lot of fun with little Grant. We will probably go down in May for John's graduation from law school. I will probably not eat so much sea food.

Love, Dad and Mom

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST

Dear Family,

We have season tickets to the Hale Center Theater which is a theater in the round. There is a small central stage and the seats are arranged around this circular stage.

They do marvelous things with the stage settings. They do great plays and musicals and are thoroughly delightful. They do "Guys and Dolls', 'Fiddler on the Roof', and 'Phantom of the Opera' and they are all well done.

Friday Mom and I, along with Dave and Ann W., VL and Marilyn K. went to see and Oscar Wilde play, "The Importance of Being Earnest" which is a classic.

This little group are friends from our old missions 54 years ago. It is a dinner date with wives and then to the theater. We try out different places. VL brings chocolates for the intermission.

The play is about mistaken identity and even unsure identity. It was so well done. The old movie about this play followed the lines perfectly and is worth watching on Tuner Classic Movies.

After the closing curtain, the actors and actresses are lined up in the lobby where all can chat with them. The costumes are great and can even be rented. We had a fabulous time.

big family news:

Al of course was waiting to have her 7th baby. She called me late last night and reported she was making waffles for the family in case she had to go in. She made 64 waffles and a bunch of beans. That in itself was a sign that birth was near. She went into my old hospital, Providence on nine mile in the middle of the morning and delivered a 9 pound baby boy. This was an easier delivery than the last one. She sounded so great and happy and what a blessing it is in every case.

That was grandchild # 70. Way to go Al!!!!!

We are off the Temple for two weeks as they carry out refurbishing. We are going to Florida to visit John and Kaley and participate in the blessing of # 69.

Plans for our big family reunion on our 50th wedding anniversary are moving along. Am also keeping busy with my new church calling.

Love, Dad and Mom

NEW YEAR AND CATHY'S LIGHT SHOW

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Dear Family,

We have ushered in the New Year and I can't believe it is 2010. It will be a big year for us. We will celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary with I hope a total family reunion that Mom and several of you are diligently planning. It will be great.

New Years Eve was spent at Cathy and Pete's. Cathy went all out and prepared a German dinner with Wienerschnitzel, Spaetzeli, Sauerkraut and Rotkohl and it was delicious. It was fun being with her kids and just blarbing the time away.

Cathy and Pete go all out on Christmas with decorations. They decorate their whole front yard with colored lights. There is a Charlie Brown Snoopy Creche (Krippe) and the whole thing is computer linked to a FM radio station that plays Christmas music. Cathy is using my mission laptop to coordinate music and lights. The video tells it all.

It is winter now and it is cold as it is around the entire country.

We have had snow and the deer have moved into the backyard again. Little Maryanne once asked, "Opa are those your deer?" I suppose they are for a while and they do not realize how dangerous it might be. These are Mule deer with their huge floppy ears.

We had our former sister missionary now Liza Egburt, her husband, Jared, and little guy Caleb over for another German dinner and with the Austrian and German holiday music in the background we were back in another place and time. She is tutoring college level organic chemistry and keeping track of their little "scooter" of a boy. Jared, works for Wels Fargo bank. It is such a thrill to observe the lives of our former missionaries unfolding.

We wish you all the best in the New. May Heaven watch over you all. Oh, I have begun to give the grandkids their Blessings and it has been such a sweet experience.

Love, Opa and Oma