SPRING

Dear Family,

Spring has finally come even though it snowed briefly on Sunday. Temple Square is beautiful with thousands of Tulips in bloom and many other early flowers. The birds are chirping and it is wonderful.

We did not do anything spectacular this last week but we did have ten grandkids over on Saturday.

Becca and her four kids slept over Friday night. Saturday monring, the kids were up but Becca was gone. She and Al had planned one of their early morning garage sale expiditions.

I guess the garage sale curiosity runs deep in the family. Maybe there is a Garage Sale Gene. Mom did it in Bloomfield Hills, MI and I used to wonder about Mom's activity and observe the stuff that came into our house. I stopped complaining when she bought me a Browning 12 guage over and under shotgun at a garage sale.

Here in Utah it is a big time activity. The daughters all check the newspapers and internet sidtes to see where the garage sales are being held, get out a map and make a plan of attack. All in the effort to make a dollar stretch. It is interesting what they bring home. Al is always looking for material from which she sews great clothes for her children, Cathy is always picking up stuff for their Xmas front yard computerized light show and recently found some Reindeer. Becca is on the lookout for great kitchen gadgets. Saturday she found a Pasta Machine for $3.00.

We fed Al and Beccas kids pancakes all morning and then decided to try out the pasta machine. We made the egg noodle dough and got out the gizmo. This is a great Kid's project! Here is Becca feeding in the thinned out dough with Peter turning the handle. The other kids are staightening out the noodles and putting them on drying racks. It was actually fun.

Well when lunchtime arrived, we decided to cook up all the noodles. Becca picked up some meatballs and sauce and we cooked a pile of freshly made noodles. It was great and tasted yummy.

Here are all the kids devouring the freshly made egg noodles, meatballs and sauce. It was a sucessful project.

Not much to blog about this week but that was a great Saturday Morning.

Alles Gute, Dad

BUSY WEEKEND

It is possible that s;ring has come to Salt Lake. We had snow last week but we have had two warm days. The trees are flowering, the birds are chirping and snow is beginning to melt in the mountains. Here is a view from our front yard.

Sunday was busy again. Paul H. was released as Bishop of the student ward and we all went. There were a lot of dignitaries there and it was a fine meeting. Cheryl gave the first talk and I was proud of her. Paul did a nice job and he will be missed. We then motored up to our church which meets from 1 to 4 PM. We then drove up to Cathy and Pete in Bountiful. I had been invited to give a fireside in Cathy's ward. We met Pete's parents and had a great meal.


Here are little Philip and Lilly. Cathy taught Lilly how to sign. She can sign for "More" and "Please" . Cathy read somewhere that these little kids can sign and understand the concept before they can articulate them and sure enough she can indicate 'more" and "please enthusiastically. She walked at 10 months and has been signing for a while. They have a few more chickens in their yard and are the Bountiful Hillbilly's. Neighbors buy the eggs!

I took William to the fireside on the surgery for Joseph Smith. William is 7 years old and I wanted to show proportions. That is William on the table as I point to his shin and discuss the operation that Joseph Smith had as a seven year old boy back in 1813.

Monday was busy again with Temple in the morning and Missionary Department in the afternoon. Monday was April 20th and I am usually in a funk on that particular day but was too busy. Julie died nine years ago and it is a rare day that I do not think about her.

Here is Sarah, Nicky, and Scotty planting flowers on Julie's grave in Bloomfield Hills, MI.

We had contributed some funds that were matched by Jon H. and we started a scholarship fund at Andover High Shool in Julie's memory. This is awarded to the outstanding scholar athlete of the Senior class. This scholarship is still going on and awarded in the spring to a graduating senior.

Yesterday Cheryl and I went to a meeting of the Huntsman Educational Awards committee. Jon and Karen set up this award in 1993. Ten awards are given out each year to outstanding teachers and administrators of public schools in Utah. The award is a check for $10,000.00. Cheryl and I serve with others as judges. It is a difficult task as there are so many outstanding teachers and principals. They will be given out at an awards banquet in May. This is such an unusuall generosity and a very good thing.

Lots of birthdays in April. Mom's comes up in May.

Alles Gute, Dad

TEMPLE WEEK

Dear Family,

Mom and I were busy in the temple this last week. I took this picture with my Blackberry waiting for Mom and the car. This is my view of the temple each night I finish working there.

We have started the Monday morning shift which is something President Monson asked the Temple to do. It is a great shift and we see people from all over there and it is quite busy for a morning shift. I got an email from our friends, the Wondras, in Vienna that they saw me on the first Monday.

We also have kept our regular Tuesday and Wednesday evening shifts. But Mom made a trade so we also did a Friday evening shift last night. In the morning we were there as well to witness the marriage of one of our Missionaries. It is such an honor to be invited to those special moments and to meet the parents, grandparents of one of our missionaries. It seemed like I was there all day yesterday and it was just great.

There was great emphasis last Conference on going to the temple. Elder Scott mentioned that with his busy weekly travel schedule, he still has set goals to do his temple work. I know he does because I have met him several times in the temple simply going through. President Monson also asked that we step up our temple work. As I look at our family I notice that there is a temple close to everyone now even for Suz in Mexico City. We are going to try to attend once a month even with our other schedule and hope you will all find time to regularly attend. Some of you have built in baby-sitters.

Lots of birthdays this month and we have been tryng to call as many as possible. We go to Bountiful on Sunday evening to give our Fireside in Cathy's ward. Doug and I will go up to Bear Lake this next weekend for a two day trip to deliver equipment and open the place up.

See you all in the Temple

Love, Dad

EASTER DINNER

Dear Family,

We had celebrations on Friday and Saturday that I wrote about but failed to mention Sunday.

Sunday was Easter Dinner in our home for all who could come. I borrowed this picture from Al who is an outstanding homemaker (as all my daughters are!). But Al graduated in fashion design from BYU and is a genius with the sewing machine. Here is a picture of Marryanna,3, and Clara,2, in their new Easter dresses. They were so proud of those dresses with their fluffy slips. When I saw them at church they just beamed, turned, fluffed up their skirts and demurely smiled. They are such a pair and Al's new dresses were a hit.

Maryanna likes to sit on my lap at church. We usually provide babysitting and moral support to Al with all her cute kids.

Our church ends at 4 PM so we rushed home, turned on the oven and put in two lamb roasts. Mom had performed magic straightening up the house after major celebrations. We left the tables up from the reunion to accommodate all the kids for dinner. Doug came with his six kids, Emily with her five kids, Al brought the boys while the others slept at home. The other families were off somewhere else

We did a Family Night. Doug and his family got up and sang "Families Can Be Together Forever" something they did in a sacrament meeting in their church and they all sang well. Mom had a lesson where she had ten plastic Easter Eggs which contained little items that she related to the last few days of the Savior's mission on Earth. The kids would open one and tell the story of the item.. like the thorns, or robe. One was empty which reminded them that the tomb was empty on Resurrection morning. It was good.

We then had another dinner Mom prepared, some brought desserts and it was another fun family get together. At the end Cheryl and Paul arrived with their eight kids and it was always such fun to see the cousins interact.

It was a joyous Easter and now back to the regular routine (oh, do we have one?)

Love, Dad

BIRTHDAY PARTY/EASTER EGG PARTY

Dear Family,

Saturday, we drove down to Mapleton for a yearly Easter Egg hunt that is organized y Rayanne and Mike. Cathy and Pete and kids, Doug and his family, We rode down with Alison and her family. Emily and her crew all converged on Mike's home.

Rayanne has a huge box with about 400 plastic eggs that you can take apart and put other candy and things in them. The placed them all over their yard and in trees. It was good that they were plastic because it was raining.

Here is a picture of kids stampeding out of the house to fill up their baskets with Easter Eggs.

. Clara filled up a basket and little Joseph filled a sack. The rain cut this activity short but there were no eggs left on the lawn or in the garden. Abd it was a sugar high for the kids.

We had a great lunch, Rayanne baked great bagels and there was so many good treats. Since this was my birthday, Emily and Caroline teamed up and made a great birthday cake.

The cake had a cartoon of a lion on it and it was well done and tasty. A great "Happy Birthday" anthem was sung and it was another great time. The missionaries serenaded me in German the night before and it did feel like a birthday. I received phone calls, emails and text messages from many.

Mom's birthday coming up in May.

Next it will be Easter Dinner at our house on Sunday. The celebrations never stop and it is wonderful.

Alles Gute, Opa

MISSION REUNION

Dear Family,

We had our Germany Munich-Austrian Missionary reunion this last Friday. All wanted it apart from conference weekend and we decided to have it at our home. The numbers who come are smaller as many leave the state after marrying or graduating but 70 signed up and I believe we had a few more as well.

It was more like a giant family get together. It was so much fun and joy to see our group again. We even had a little nursery going as all the one years olds came and played on the floor. Here is a picture of great sister missionaries, Shalayne, Rachel, (little Caleb) and Becca. It was wonderful to see how they all are moving along with their lives. Some are married; all are pursuing college and some sort of graduate training.

Here are some of the men. It was a great get together and we rehearsed old stories, tracting tales, zone conference adventures, mission tours and every activity which is remembered in the minutest detail.

I even heard some stories that I was not aware of at the time. It is so in a family. At every family get together, I hear stories that were thankfully kept from me at the time.

I was so busy visiting I forgot to eat. Mom worked hard and arranged all the furniture so most could sit down and eat. She put on a huge spread and some brought additional goodies. The plates were piled high as after a zone conference.

Erin Swenson Hatch brought her violin and treated us to a couple of hymns. We sang "Auserwhaelt zu Dienen" and "Komm Du Quelle Jedes Segens". Mom and I had brief remarks and the rest of the evening was spent visiting, eating and rehashing the experiences. I do not believe I have smiled so much in a long time.

Here Maughn and Johnson who worked together. Johnson demonstrated how he carried Maughn on his back up five flights of stairs when he had a procedure on his foot. These were all great missionaries who gave it their all.

I still meet with my original missionary group that served 50 years ago and it is still great.

What a wonderful time we had and how great it was to see everyone again.

Alles Gute, Opa

CONFERENCE TIME IN SALT LAKE CITY

Dear Family,


The first week of April is always an exciting time here in Salt Lake. The General Conference of the Church is like a great reunion. Leaders from all over the world come into town for training. The auxiliary leaders come in, the General Authorities who are stationed all over the world, all the Area Seventies come in for instruction.

We saw Johann Wondra and his wife who came with another member from Vienna. They are so great and it was great to hear that Viennese dialect again.

There are missionary reunions all over the valley. My first mission has had a reunion for the last 51 years. All the churches are full of various missionary reunions. The numbers are lower so we will have ours in our home this coming Friday. It is hard to find an empty chapel on conference weekend..

Mom and I substituted in the Salt Lake Temple on Thursday and it was packed with visitors. You could hear English accents and accents from other lands. There was this young man from Peru who looked like one of those men in a painting of Aztecs. He brought some family names with a lot of "x's", "l's", "c's", "t's" and other letters in strange combinations that could only be spelled out loud. People were joyous in visiting this temple and there was such a good spirit there.

Speaking of the temple, the Salt Lake Temple will now open on Monday morning for sessions fro, 7 AM to 11 AM. Mom and I volunteered and were accepted so we will go now Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Hope we can do it. We start tomorrow. This session will accommodate conference visitors and other visitors who are here for a brief time and also the General Authorities who have Monday off. When I am done there in the morning, I walk over to the church office building and do my medical stint in the afternoon.

Conference was great and can be viewed on the Internet, The link is http://lds.org/conference/languages/0,6353,310-1,00.html and can be heard and seen in many languages.

I always love conference and when it was over, you sigh and think, "I really needed that"! I loved President Monson's opening greeting where he honored the full time missionaries of the Church and in the next breath thanked the volunteers who work behind the scenes to ensure that everything works.

We were thrilled of course with the calling of Neil Anderson to the Quorum of the Twelve. He is Kaley's uncle but we knew him before we knew Kaley. He is most appropriately suited for the calling and will fill the vacancy left by the passing of Elder Wirthlin. The church is growing throughout the world and there is a lot of Action in Mexico, Central and South America.

The talks were great and the counsel on provident living were on the mark. Great counsel and teaching on missionary and temple work and well as strengthening the youth of the church. I loved them all.

Priesthood Meeting on Saturday night has always been a Father Son event. I always went with my Father when we lived in New York and when we lived here. We did this as our family was growing up and the treat after is getting bigger. We had a bunch over Saturday night, Mike brought up his and Emily's boys, Doug and his boys came over as did Paul and his boys. Larry Manwaring from Virginia was in town and came over for a feast of London Broil, funeral potatoes, sourdough bread, Dutch Oven chicken and potatoes. We went around the table and asked each person what their favorite talk was and what they learned. It was fun.

April is packed with activities. I think there are 23 birthdays. Next Friday we have our Munich-Austrian Mission reunion in our home. Saturday is Mike and Rayanne's Easter Egg party along with my birthday party. So much going on. Get to the Temple this month if you can. May Heaven bless you all.

Love, Dad