SAYING GOOD BYE; RICHARD WIRTHLIN PASSES AWAY

Dear Family,

My first Cousin, Richard Wirthlin , passed away last week after a lingering illness. I have included a link to a New York Times article about his life that was good but did not cover all that he had accomplished in life.

I looked up to him as I was growing up as he was outstanding in his youth as well. My Dad had given him his Patriarchal Blessing when he was 16. Dad was always telling me what Richard was up to.

Richard had done many things and will be remembered by many for being in President Regan's inner circle of advisors. Richard had been his pollster when Regan was Governor of California and continued with him through his campaign for the Presidency of the United States. Richard was probably the pioneer of political polling and made few mistakes.

When the Republicans had their convention in Detroit and gave Regan the party's nomination to run, Richard invited us and we were there. After all the Hoopla was over, we were standing there talking to Richard when George Bush Senior walks in. They had decided to put him on the ticket as the VP the night before. As he approached us, Richard introduced us to him, I shook his hand, and then Richard takes out a thick note book, shoves it toward Bush and says, "This is the campaign strategy, Study it!" It was one of those great moments in life.

Richard became a General Authority in the second Quorum of Seventy and served until he was 70 years old. He was a missionary in the Swiss Austrian Mission and served in many callings.

We went to the viewing. My cousin Gwen (whose name Al has as a middle name), David and other members of the extended family were there. We ran into Elder Perry who was our Area President when we served in Germany. It was neat to chat with him.

The funeral was very moving. There was a great tribute by his son, Richard. He also read a note sent from Nancy Regan expressing their families appreciation of the work Richard had done for them. Elder Ballard spoke about Richard's contribution to the Church. President Packer spoke to the young members of his family. President Monson spoke of Richard and Joseph, of his and my cousin David's parents and how all the members of the Wirthlin family that he knew had honored their family name. It was such a fitting tribute to a great person who had accomplished so much. Richard was a great example to us all and will be missed.

Love, Dad

DOUG'S FAMILY DOES MUSIC MAN

Dear Family,

Doug's Stake, the Butler Stake, has a tradition of putting on a significant musical periodically. This time they chose Music Man.

Doug and the kids decided to be a part of it and tryouts and practices began in November of last year. Nate and Spence had to give up their fall wrestling at school for the musical practices. Douglas had one of the leading roles as the bad boy Tommy. Doug himself was one of the head stage managers.

Well he bought us tickets to this on Friday night and that was our "Date Night". We went to Sigfrieds for a quick Scnitzel mit Kartofelsalat und Strudel and then off to the theater with a supply of Rittersport Chokolade for intermission. The Stake put this Musical on in the theater located in the Church's Conference center. There were four nights and some matinees and the place looked like it was sold out. We went with Doug and Kristina; there were at least a 100 in the production and we all hooted a little as we spotted Spence, Nate, Douglas, Catherine and Becky in their costumes prancing and dancing on stage.

It was a very professional performance. The leads, Marion the Librarian and Professor Hill had been Young Ambassadors at BYU in their younger days but had trained voices and stage presence. The High Council of the Stake were the traveling salesman in the opening scene.

Douglas did a great job and looked so cool in his Drum Major outfit. It was totally delightful and successful. Spence was pretty intense in his dancing. Becky and Catherine looked so cute with their long curls. We were proud of them all. We have so many potential actors and actresses in our family. (They seem to be acting and emoting all the time anyway).

We go Spokane this weekend to see Zander's Baptism.

Alles Gute, Oma u. Opa

VISITS FROM CALIFORNIA AND BOSTON

Dear Family,

People sometimes ask me what we do all week and it never seems like enough or anything too significant but we seem to keep busy with our church assignments and ongoing family activity.

Last week we had a wonderful time with visits and family events. Rick and Gemina came up from California for a few days visit. We picked them up at the airport on Thursday and drove to Provo. Gemina wanted to see the Karl Bloch art exhibit. BYU has this great exhibit of several Bloch's large paintings of the Savior. Mike, a tenured professor at BYU, could not get tickets on short notice but Gemina was able to get four tickets and we traveled down to the exhibit. It was great and very moving and all should see this if they can.

Rick went off a little to see Mike in his office. We went to a little noodle restaurant. They stayed over and on Friday Rick had business and Gemina went shopping with Cheryl's kids. They always love to go with Gemina who had been a clothing advisor to the Hollywood stars. Saturday, Rick went cross country skiing with Doug.

On Saturday we drove back down to Provo to attend the Provo Temple as Josh went through prior to his Mission to Houston TX. That was great and it so good to be in the Temple with Emily, John , Johnny and Josh. We had Josh's birthday celebration at JF Chang. We had to get a fire extinguisher to cool down Johnny as he chewed on one of those little dried red peppers.

Here is a picture of the gang at the Provo Temple.

That night we had a visit from Becca Christensen who was one of our great sister missionaries in Graz and Vienna.

She has a degree from Simmons in Social Work and is now a social worker in Boston helping immigrant children from all over, especially from Asia. She was a super missionary and we were tickled to see her again. She stayed overnight and went to church with us on Sunday. Here is a picture of Becca and Mom. I gave the lesson in our distinguished quorum.

After Church. Rick, Gemina and Madeline came over for a quick lunch. They had been hanging out at Cheryl's. On Friday night, Rick and Gemina babysat all of Cheryl's kids so they could have a moment of peace. Rick took them all out to Hires where we all had burgers and shakes. It was quite a scene. I kept the little kids busy with games on my Ipad until the food came, which they did not eat completely. Kinda reminded me of the reasons we rarely took the kids out to eat.

It was a great weekend and we love spending time with family and friends. I guess we kept busy.

Alles Gute, Oma u. Opa

BINA HAS A BABY GIRL!

"I'm here" cries the newborn

Here is the message I got from Scott:

"Ashley Marie Arceneaux was born at 9:46 a.m. (Pacific time). Bina only pushed about 5 minutes before she was done and Ashley was born! She was 8 lbs 2 oz, 19 inches long. She has passed all of her clinical exams with flying colors—she is a happy and healthy Baby! Bina is up and walking around—she couldn’t be better, except that she could use some sleep!"

Here is Scott, Bina and the new little Ashley. She is really cute. Is this another one that looks like Bina?

I think this is grandchild # 73 and we are tickled pink.

Good luck Scott and Bina!

Love, Mom and Dad

MICHAELS BAPTISM AND LOTS OF SNOW

Dear Family,

While we were on our mission in Germany from 2002 - 2005, we had 22 new grandchildren and 2003 was a great year for grandchildren. I believe we had eight or nine.

Now eight years later, they are ready for baptism and we are planning to attend as many as we can. We will go to Spokane in the end of the month for Zander's baptism and in May we go to Michigan for David and Nikko's baptism. Olivia's comes up in April, Adam's in Colorado in June and also Alexandra's in Phoenix plus others that we have not yet put on the calender yet.

But Saturday was Michael's baptism in Mapleton. Paul and Cheryl and part of their gang came; Becca drove over the mountain from Heber, Emily was right there with her family and many from Rayanne's family were there as well.

Here is a picture of the group at Mikes for the post Baptism brunch. This was a stake baptism which is the way they do it in Utah Valley; multiple wards with lots of kids who take turns at the baptismal font. I spoke at Natalie's baptism in Mapleton eight years ago and it was like a stake conference with huge attendance. 9 Now Natalie is 16, drives a car and drives the boys crazy)

Each ward takes turns and goes to the Font. There is a picture of Mike and Michael. All the little kids gathered up close to see what it will be like. It was a sweet meeting. Mike did a good job with the confirmation and Joseph gave a great talk on the Holy Ghost. There was a great Spirit there.

Here it is the middle of March and we got dumped on with snow. We had about eight to twelve inches of new snow and it was heavy and thick. It is beautiful but a pain to clear off the walks.

I got out the 800cc Polaris with the plow and made quick work of the driveway. It melted quickly and it is wonderful to get so much rain and snow in such a dry area. We do not ski but most of the family has enjoyed all the great snow in the Utah mountains this season.

Have been busy with my calling as well and that has been a rich experience. Mom is doing family genealogy and record extraction and that has been interesting. Our Mission reunion comes up the first week in April as does General Conference. Rick and Gemina come in for a quick visit this weekend.. non stop fun and activity.

Love, Dad

Dear Family,

No big get togethers this week; there was a secret unscheduled one mentioned below but there is great news! Eva had her baby girl and Rob and Eva are now the parents of three girls and one boy. Eva had the C section a bit early and the Baby weighed just under 7 1/2 Ponds.

She is one of their smaller babies at birth; Luke who is a chunk weighed 10 pounds. I heard the little girl over the phone when Rob called and she has very husky lungs. Baby and Mom are doing fine. Eva had to spend quite a bit of time on bed rest before the delivery. We are grateful that all are OK. Eva comes out of the Hospital tomorrow. Eva's Mom is there and helping out in the home. We are so blessed with these wonderful grand Kids. Mary who keeps the Family Stats reports that little Elena Louise is # 72. (I thought we had 72 but maybe that was thinking ahead). She certainly looks like a member of the Wirthlin family.

Bina is due in March. Kristina is due in August, so the family continues to grow and we are so grateful for all these great Kids.

Mom and I spoke in a Singles Ward last Sunday. It was packed with about 500 Young Adults. I love speaking in these Wards; they are so alive and full of energy. They do not fall asleep during your talk either.

I brought and showed the six inch knife I surgically removed from the right chest of a young man in Boston some 40 years ago. He was of their same age and somehow lost his way in life, getting on hallucinogenic drugs while in College in the 60's. The Singles paid a lot of attention when I described how the knife was buried in the chest up to the hilt and moving back and forth with each heart beat.

Talked about getting lost, losing ones direction in general and we talked about navigational devices. I then talked about Spiritual Navigational Devices and listed a few; you can make your own list but then I discussed Patriarchal Blessings which was the subject. They did not fall asleep!

We had Becca and Paul and their kids here over President's Holiday. The kitchen was turned into the Iron Chef Stadium again. Becca showed us how to make our own Tortillas with the Mom's Valentine present and they were yummy. And then I noticed how cheap they are in the super marke. Then Becca brought a turkey that she had brined and we smoked it in the smoker and had Doug and his kids over for dinner, giving Kristina a rest. So much fun! (Notice in the picture that Mom is not too impressed with her Valentines present)

Back in our schedule again. We love you all and pray for you daily.

Mit Liebe, Opa u. Oma

OMA'S VALENTINE PARTY

Dear Family,

Mom had her yearly Valentines party. I was reminded that we did not do much on Valentines with the older boy s but when the girls came, we always had a little valentine party. Now it is a big party and I think there were about 50 present. Everyone in Utah came. Mom prepared for this for a long time making valentines, decorating the house, arranging gifts for the little kids and turning our house into one great heart. Here is a picture of the gang after dinner and after our FHE.

We had a dinner for everyone. All brought wonderful side dishes and desserts. Opa did the roast which was a 12 pounder perfectly cooked. Here is Opa at a speciall carving station. That roast was almost completely eaten. That large carving fork I bought at a street sale in Vienna near our apartment.

It was special that everyone came on schedule. We had such a good time, We settled everyone down and had a family night. Mike gave a lesson on "Love One Another" and I spoke on doing that in the home which is the laboratory where we develop our personal skills. I commented on The Savior's admonition to "love one another even as I have loved you" and tired to point out how that added to all previous commandments to love one another.

We also had a special birthday celebration for Madeleine B. birthday which falls on the day before Valentines. Here is

Madeleinee with her cousins. There is Natalie H. , Madeleine B., Madeline H., Rachel W., Catherine W., and Victoria W. .(Victoria is my brother Ralph's granddaughter and is staying with us this semester as she attends the UofU). Victoria played the flute.

I am not so good at Valentines presents; roses wilt, chocolates get eaten, so I bought Mom a Tortilla press so she can make tortillas . Also got her a large fruit steamer - juicer for grape juice.

OTHER NEWS: Rick and Gemina were in New York for business and after went out to Flushing and visited the house where I grew up on 33-01 159th Street, I was tickled to see pictures of this house again. The neighborhood was like Birmingham but Flushing has become very Asian. Rick said they had an outstanding Chinese dinner there.

And the deer are back. It has not snowed that much this year but the does do come back to snooze under our great Spruce tree in the backyard. We got to Michigan in May for two baptisms and to California for Scott's graduation. There will be a trip to Spokane in between for another baptism. Hard to keep u p with all the events but it is wonderful.

We love you all and are grateful for what you are doing in your families. Oma u. Opa