WATERING THE LAWN IN ST. CHARLES, ID

The neighbors on Bear Lake are a bit far apart. We decided to have an innovative way of watering some dry spots on the back lawn. This technique does not work in Salt Lake. I guess you could just use a sprinkler but this is more fun. The kids love Bear Lake!

Alles Gute, Dad

BABYSITTING

We seem to be doing a little babysitting lately. Our kids go on vacation and they often leave the littlest one with us. This time Alison had to go back to Michigan to look at property and Paul had to work so Mom did the honors.

They always leave detailed instructions as to what to do with little children, what to wear, what to eat and not eat and when to sleep. I chuckle... didn't we have a little experience raising children. Maybe they forgot but then again maybe they remembered and thus the detailed instructions.

When Cheryl left Jonathan, I found he ate whatever I was eating and was the best little guy.

This time we had the six kids and Mom picked me up at the Church headquarters following my stint in the medical part of the missionary office. We had to go to Sam's Club to pick up eyeglasses. While walking around there, a random lady come up to me and asked if my name was Wirthlin. I said, "Yes, how did you know?" "We saw you on television doing the Joseph Smith surgery presentation!" They showed that segment quite a few times.

Well anyway, as I was leaving, I noticed that there was a hot dog and a soft drink combo for $1.50 so I called Mom and she brought in the six kids. They all got a big Italian sausage and drink and when finished, they had that imploring puppy dog look in their eyes. "Does anyone want another hot dog?" All hands went up so we had a second round of huge hot dogs and we forgot whether that was on some sort of Verboten list.

They were full and tired so Mary put them all in a cart and wheeled them to the car. In the top part, there was little Henry, Clara and Mary Mu Mu. Crawling into the bottom shelf was Peter and William with James keeping it all stable.

So after doing this for years we find ourselves still pushing little kids in shopping carts.

>Alles Gute, love, Dad

NINE LIVES

Dear Family,

The girls have always said I had nine lives but I think I have well exceeded than number. They used to joke about it. Once Mary Elizabeth, Paul and Cheryl and I took a short trip to Switzerland and we had two cars. Paul and Cheryl lagged behind on the Autobahn and Mary asked why they kept back. Cheryl said because they did not have as many "autobahn nine lives" as we did. Having been under the weather this past week made me think of this again.

Sometimes we go through life thinking we dodge bullets, getting past those unforeseen things not under our control that come at us. This last week was such an occasion.

It started out as a bad summer flu or cold. I was grounded and then on Thursday night something happened that was different and serious. I called Doug who called ahead and made arrangements in the Emergency room at 2 in the morning. We were met there and went through some complicated diagnostic tests. There was an "intervention team" there just in case. At the end of the tests it was felt that the intervention might be too dangerous and we would wait and see if things did not get better "by themselves".

There was steady improvement. There were more tests, consultations, blood draws at 4 AM (I hate hospitals) and things got better. (Swine Flu negative). After two days I was 95% improved and that without a single treatment or medication to change the course. We went on some medication to hopefully prevent a future occurrence but it was remarkable how much better I became. Some of the grand kids did not like seeing me in the hospital... you really do not look your best in one of those hospital gowns.

When I was discharged after two days, I felt I had dodged another bullet. As I thought about this, I decided that was not quite accurate. I had taken a direct bullseye hit and walked away with scratches. I have long since given up ascribing turns of good fortune as random acts of nature. I felt thankful again for what I felt was Heavenly intervention. I was grateful for Doug, the staff at the hospital, and all those who helped. I was grateful again for the Blessings of Heaven.

I am taking it easy for two weeks. When I got home, Alison made the best pot of Matzoh Ball soup using a recipe that Karen Koenig's mother used. It was good to be home. I went to church on Sunday.

Alles Gute, love, Dad

FUN IN SPOKANE

Dear Family,

We had a great time in Spokane. We had great family get togethers. We had a dinner at Jeff and Tammy's where Jeff went all out. I showed Tammy how to smoke ribs in Jeff's new Father's Day present, a Smokintex smoker. Jeff went out and found a 3lb lobster with two smaller ones and that was a treat. We had several family home evenings there, went to Church with Rob and his daughters. Rob and I did a tour of some "hobby" stores and it was a great time. I showed Tammy how to use their Pasta making machine and we made yummy egg noodles and fettuccine.

Two days after the cataract surgery, We decided we would go fishing on Lake Ponderay which is in the panhandle of Idaho and not far from Spokane. This is a lake about 60 miles long and 1000 feet deep. The Navy carries out unmanned submarine and torpedo testing here.

Here is a picture of Rob and Jeff checking out the charter boat. We ran nine poles and fished at various depths. The fish wrist watch (a watch that you give the GPS location and it predicts the best fishing time) predicted 10:30 AM and sure enough we began catching a few Lake Trout.

Here is a pretty good "Bull Trout" that we brought in and had to release because Bull Trout are endangered and there was a huge fine if you keep them. I thought that was "bull" as well but we complied. We caught five Lake Trout, put them on ice and drove back home where Rob cooked them to perfection.

I had a great time with the boys.

Love, Dad

EYE SURGERY IN SPOKANE

Dear Family.

We have two weeks off from our Temple assignment. They close the Temple twice a year for cleaning and repairs and when called, we were asked to take our vacations when the Temple is closed in January and July. That cramped our travel a bit but keeps us out of trouble.

This time we went to Spokane to see Jeff and Tammy, Rob and Eva and their children. Eva left for France to attend a family wedding in Paris, (how cool is that?) and Mom watched Anna and Julie and spent a lot of time with Tammy and her kids.

Rob is in a very nice opthamology practice and is one of the retinal specialists. He had arranged with one of his partners to take care of a cataract in my good eye.

I did n0t realize how much of my vision I had lost; I could not read, could not drive at night, and all sorts of corrective glasses did not work. So it was up to Spokane and to Rob's practice where I had a cataract removed from my left eye, (the right one had been previously removed).

It was very slick. You sit in this comfortable chair, they put in a little IV and then gave the Versed and I was out. They did an orbital block that I was unaware of. It did not take long and I could hear them say, "Don't move!"

The patch came off the next day and wonder of wonders, I could see at very long distances. I could see street signs, store signs, individual trees and all of a sudden I could see to infinity without glasses. It is most wonderful! The plastic lens they inserted is to focus at infinity so close up I need correction and we are fiddling with that. I need 3 diopters to read my Blackberry and 2 Diopters for intermediate.

I thought of what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians ( I Cor 13:12) in his treatise on Faith. "For now we see through a glass , darkly". This statement describes walking through life with Faith because we do not always see the distant so clearly. This describes my vision before the cataract surgery. Clearness of vision is such a wonderful gift.

We seek clarity in out lives. We try to see direction in the future, clarity in our decision making.and to see clearly is so wonderful in all applications. To see clearly and discern good from evil, right from wrong gets easier with time. To see clearly the difference between good, better and best requires requires very sharp vision.

I am so grateful to be able to see anything clearly again.

Love, Dad

FOURTH OF JULY

Dear Family,

Another big family celebration is the Fourth pf July. We try to gather to our little place in St. Charles, Idaho for a family bash.

This time we had about 50 there with most of the Utah families in attendance. Bryan, Scotty and Heidi came from Michigan.. Emily and here family stayed with us in the farm house in addition to Cheryl's six kids. The others rented the log cabins next to the church.

Thing were pretty well organized with each family to prepare one meal and others assigned clean up. The yard was a hayfield and after that was cut, we had a large playing field.

>Mom and I did the first breakfast. On our large outdoor griddle, we did pancakes, hash browns, eggs, and bacon from the wild hog shot last month. . They went through four pounds of bacon in one meal. In addition we threw on some pork chops so it was a Cracker Barrel breakfast.

The girls prepared a lunch and it was off to the lake and beach. We got the Ski boat going and Paul H spent two days giving kids rides on the boat and pulling them on tubes.

>Late in the evening, we gathered and watched movies. We were watching Napoleon Dynamite. I mentioned that they filmed it in Preston, Idaho which was just over the mountains from where we were. The next day, two carloads wanted to go on a Napoleon Dynamite tour of Preston. Bryan did a Google search and got the GPS points for the sites.

This was not quite like the Sound of Music tour in Salzburg but was fun nevertheless. I was surprised that the grand kids knew this movie so well. They knew every scene and every line. Why can't they memorize scripture as well

So we went to Pedro's house, to the steps of Preston High School, visited Kings and the DI. We went to Napoleon's home and to the BJ Malt Shop (where time travel and relationships were discussed). We went to the Cuttin Coral where Pedro bought the wig. I could not believe I was doing this but the kids had such a good time and it was the high light of the trip to Bear Lake,

Here is the group in front of Napoleon's house and a picture of Catherine with her sideways pony in front of BJ's malt shop. We came home and watched the movie again and everyone hooted that they had been to that exact spot.

On the night of the Fourth, we had a huge fireworks display. We went to the St. Charles ward on Sunday. There must have been at least a thousand people there.

Then it was back home. What a great time we had with everyone. Emily and Rebecca helped so much with the food and the guys got all the equipment and toys started.

We will be in Spokane this next week visiting Rob and Eva and Jeff and Tammy.

Love, Opa

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A GATHERING PLACE

Our home on Sherwood Drive has become a little Mecca for family and friends. It is a gathering place and there is action alsmost every week. This was Sunday Dinner with Douglas and his family. It was specai because Bry, Scotty and Heidi were here for the Big Guys camping trip to the Unitah mountais. And it was Heidi's 11th birthday that we were celebrating.

But others began to arrive. Cheryl and Paul arrived with seven of their children (We were baby-sitting Jonathan) from their trip to the Lake Powell and at the exact moment when dessert was served, Al and Paul with their six kids arrived from their trip to the Arches in the same moment. It was like old times and their were kids everywhere. It was family fun again!


Our home is also visited by former young Missionaries and friends from Europe/ Here is a picture of a small gathering to celebrate the visit of our Swiss Missionary, Michael Schluchter who was in town for business. Here are the former mission pals, Jake Gertsen, Tom Miller, Brett Martingale, Jordan Backman, their former President, and Michale Schluchter.

All are doing well; Michael is married with two kids and Brett is married and on his way to med School at Ohio State. I never tire of seeing these men and hearing of their exploits. We were awash with memories.

Here is another great visit from Vienna. Ernst Husz and his wife and daughter and friends came from Vienna. (Wien V Gemeinde) They dropped by one night and I asked if they had had some good old western food like barbecued steak. They had not so they came up to the house after a visit to the Temple and I put on some special New York Sirloin steaks. The deal was we would provide the steaks and they would bring the homemde Apfelstrudel. It was a great trade.

Sister Husz has made a miraculous come back from surgery for carcinoma that was spread. It was wonderful to see our old friends and my former counselor here again.

Well the Fourth of July is coming and we will go to a second gathering place, our little farm at Bear Lake, where more families will visit and get together for the Fourth.

See you there, love, Opa