MORE HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION

Dear Family,

We had three more graduations last week making the total of five high school graduations among the grand kids.  Here is a picture of the Wirthlin 2012 graduating class. there are Madeline, Douglas, Natalie, Rachel and Madeline.  Madeline on the left is going to the Sorbonne, and Madeline on the right is going to the University of Utah.

First we went to the graduation of Douglas held at an Arena where they usually do the rodeo.  This was a huge graduation with about 600 graduating, the men in orange robes.  Am not sure they had a Merit Scholar in the group but ten also graduated from a junior college with advanced placement classes taken  through the summer.

Here is also  a picture of Kristina Douglas and Doug the Dad. All during this graduations, the class managed to keep about a  dozen beach balls in the air during the graduation. We celebrated with a dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and it was good!

A few days later we attended two more graduations held in the Hunstman Center on the university of Utah campus.

 First was Madeline's graduation from West High School. There were about 300 graduates there.  Gemina's sisters from New York, and California came for the event and we all sat together.  The class president was a large Tongan Guy who will play football for University of Michigan this fall.

Here  is a shot the way some of the Tongans came to the graduation.  They had these beautiful wreaths wrapped around them so you could hardly see their faces with interwoven cash bills.  Couldn't resist taking their picture.  Not sure this would have floated at an Andover graduation.

The parking was terrible at the U so I waited there for Madeline's graduation.  Mom took Rick and Gemina home and Rick sent a subway sandwich and drink for resuscitation.

Then there was Madeline's graduation from Highland High School.  
I  had to hurriedly take this photo of Maddie before she rushed off to her seat.  Paul, Cheryl, Johnny, Lauren  Mary Claire and Mom joined me at the  top of the Huntsman Center.  Little Johnny played with my iPhone the entire time.  Maddie will go to the U and start this summer.  I am getting to be a connoisseur of High School graduations having sat through 16 of our own and now five more here in Utah.

I reflected that we did not do so much celebrating after the graduations in Michigan; they were always on Sunday so there were no big resteraunt get togethers afterward.  They all went to the senior all night party which was pretty well chaperoned and the kids had a great time.

This time, Rick and Gemina threw a big party at the Porcupine  when all the graduations was over celebrating all graduates. And here is the gang: Rick, Paul, Cheryl, Emily, Gemina, Madeline, Douglas. Natalie, Rachel , Madeline, John, Rayanne, Mike and the Mom.  It was really fun and so good to sit and visit with the graduates sitting at the end writing in each others yearbook.  Kinda heart warming!

Well this is all a preview of the Family Reunion coming up the fourth of July on which there have been innumerable phone calls, emails and constant discussion and planning.  We look so forward to seeing everyone then.

We are proud of our High School graduates and proud of all you are doing.

Bis Dann, Mom and Dad

MINI VACATION IN SPOKANE

Dear Family ,

We went up to Spokane again.  Rob gave me another treatment for my left eye which has remarkably improved the vision.  He injected an anti-angiogensis drug that cuts down on macular edema. My associate at the Mass. General Hospital, Judah Volkman, discovered the process while he was in the Navy as a resident and then did much research on this phenomenon.  I thought he might get a Nobel Prize for this but he passed away.

Anyway, Rob and Jeff and their families worked out a stay at a resort on Priest Lake in Northern Idaho close to Canada.  Here is a picture of the lake on a rainy morning.  The area reminded me so much of our family vacations camping out in a large tent on lake Sabaeo in upper Maine.  We all stayed in an apartment complex.

They were full of surprises: we got up at 5:30 AM and got ready for a fishing trip on the lake.  They reserved a boat and a captain who really knew the lake and we fished for lake trout.

We caught a lot of fish!!!!  Here is Julius with his Dad's lucky fishing hat and one of the fish he caught.

There were a lot of fish marked on the monitor.  We were the only ones on this lake which was 30 miles long complete with islands and bald eagles.

Here is Zander, Anna and Julius with a few of the eighteen fish we caught ranging from three to eight pounds.

We got back and immediately had a fish fry and it was great.

More surprises as Jeff had some Maine Lobsters flown in fed express and then I really felt like I was back in Maine.

We used to have these great vacations in Maine.  First thing I bought when I got on the staff at the Mass. General was buy a 12' x 14' tent and an Old Town canoe and we would take ten or eleven kids up there camping in the wilds.  Cheryl was up there as a baby even.. We fished, swam, picked tons of wild blueberries and one morning, back then, I cooked 110 blueberry pancakes.

This trip to upper Idaho was very nostalgic.  Well the next day, Mom and Eva drove down to Spokane so Anna and Julia could participate in they ballet dress rehearsal.  We spent the time pushing another hobby and it was total fun.

Here was a great place for target shooting and plinking and a safe place to do a job on some tannerite, not as dramatic as this video but a two pounder sent up a plume about 20 feet and the reaction is universal.  Jeff got one with open iron sights also spectacular.

Well it was a truly great time.  I am trying to find a medical excuse to go up there regularly.. maybe they should try the right eye!

Thanks to Rob, Eva, Jeff, Tammy and all the cute kids for a truly great mini vacation!!

Alles Gute, Dad and Mom

MOM'S BIRTHDAY

Dear Family,

Mom had a birthday this month and it was celebrated quietly.  She did not want a big party so we had a lunch at the Red Butte Cafe.  Here is  a picture of little Emily, Cheryl, Emily, Mom and Cathy.  I crashed this "girls luncheon" and it was fun.

It is hard to find Mom a birthday present:  when I buy her a piece of jewelry, she says I am turning her into a "Fourth Generation Nephite"!  The one piece of jewelry she likes is the silver necklace I bought her on Mikanos Island that has the Greek glyph for eternity.

So this year she wanted a little playhouse for the backyard and finally the several hundred parts were put together, a base landscaped and the house was erected in the corner of the garden.  This is truly a Kindergarten now.  It even has a doorbell and carpet.  Little Emily wanted to sleep over to play in the little house.  This may also be preparation for the gigantic family reunion this fourth of July.

The backyard is pretty cool now with the roses in bloom and the little fruit tress growing.  The grapevines are doing well and it should be a god year.  The tomatoes and other plants are in; I just miss the farm.

We go to Spokane this weekend for a visit and another eye treatment and will be spending time with Rob, Eva, Jeff, Tammy and  kids at a lake.

We love you all,

Dad and Mom

HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION STARTS

Dear Family,

May is busy enough but this year we have 5 high school graduations.  Rachel, Natalie, Douglas, Madeline H. and Madeline B. graduate from High School!

Here is a picture of the first round of graduates, Rachel and Natalie at their graduation ceremony in Orem, UT. As a Grandpa, I am as proud of them as if as I was for our kids.  All 17 of our children graduated from Andover High School in Bloomfield Hills, MI.  Deep roots there.  Mary presented  the Julie Wirthlin scholarship award this year at their Honors Night. Check out the Facebook link to Mary's post!

Rachel and Natalie graduated from the Mapleton Mountain High School which has students from Mapelton and Spanish Fork.  There were about 400 graduates and there was Natalie at their head.  As senior class president, she walked the graduates into the arena, stood up and greeted all, gave instructions and gave a very nice graduation message.  Both Rachel and Natalie graduated with high honors.

I did not bring a huge telephoto lens but here is a shot of Natalie at the podium with her picture blown up  on the televised screen.  I was struck that there were not many National Merit Scholars in this group as opposed to the High School in Michigan.

We are proud of these two and wish them the best at BYU which they will begin this summer.

We went over to Mikes after and he and Rayanne put on a great barbecue.  Rayanne's parents came down from Oregon for Rachel's graduation. More graduations to come this month We love you all.

Maybe next year all the Andover graduates in our family  should gather at Andover High School for their last Honors Night as they will merge the high school.  Wouldn't that be a spectacle and lots of fun?

Love, Dad and Mom

WE OPEN BEAR LAKE FARMHOUSE

Dear Family,

With all the activity, we found time to go to St. Charles, ID to open the house on Bear Lake.  Doug brought Spence, Izzy and Tom Tom.  Mom and I drove up with them on a Thursday night. We loaded up the trailer with an ATV, chain saws, battery chargers, food for an army and headed up I80.  We got a late start and arrived about 1 AM.

Roy drove over from Colorado and brought Adam.  He came over in his new BMW rental and traveled well over the speed limit as must German vehicles do.  We arrived about the same time and met him at the farm.
We got in, turned on the furnace, finally got the water pump to work, started a fires in the stove and went to bed thoroughly pooped.  We woke up to a  rainy day.  I have never seen it rain there in the 12 years we have owned the property.  I brought the grill and griddle outside and cooked a mammoth Bear Lake Breakfast and it was fun.  It continued to rain all day so we could not do much outdoors.  Luckily all the equipment started right up.

Roy had trouble sleeping because he hears some live action in the wall making a noise all night long.  He took off a panel on the wall upstairs and found a birds nest with three little birds making a fuss.  Those darn Barn swallows found a way to peck their way into the wall and set up house.  The kids removed the nest and transplanted it in a tree.  Doug and Roy sealed up the hole.  Otherwise the house was vermin free.

When the weather cleared we cut the grass and noticed that there were cows in the immediate field behind and next to the house.  There were about fifty or more Angus cows in what is normally the hay field.  This disrupted our choosing lane towards the lake and we could not shoot off the back porch.

Three year old Izzy managed to step in a fresh "Cow Pie" and Doug took care of that.  The kids could not play in the field behind the house because of the bulls and cows that were right up to the fence..

It is early Spring time there and the apple tree at the side of the house is in bloom.  Saturday, the weather cleared and we found a great shooting range in Montpelier and had a blast there literally.  Roy brought some of his gourmet long distance rifles; we sighted in several rifles and the kids shot their 22's.

We did not get the boat out as it was chilly.  We need to go back again and spend more time there. I love it up there; it is as if the rest of the world with all the hassles is totally irrelevant to life in St. Charles.  Mom was cleaning constantly and the place really looks good and everything works!  The triumph of opening Bear Lake.  We headed back Saturday night so we could go to church here and Roy made it back safely.

See you all soon.  Discussion abut the reunion is heating up and we look forward to that.  We visit Rob and Jeff soon for another eye treatment.


Love, Mom and Dad

ANDREWS BAPTISM IN ST. GEORGE, UTAH

Dear Family,

We had a chance to go to St. George to visit Rebecca and Paul  and attend the baptism of their oldest, Andrew.

Paul is the master of barter.  Sky West owed him and he converted some of that for two tickets to fly to St. George.  We could have driven but our long distance driving days are getting harder.  It was a 45 minute flight on this small airplane but was pleasant and easy.

We went down on Saturday and got there just an hour or two before the baptism.  The baptism was sweet. All participated.  I gave the baptism talk, Mom led the singing, Paul baptized and confirmed Andrew, his dad gave the talk on the Holy Ghost and His Mom gave the closing prayer.  We were proud of Andrew.

Becca baked these cookies for the occasion.  There is a way to down load a photo on some icing layer and come up with these great Andrew cookies.  I felt funny biting a chunk of his head.

We had an ice cream sunday for a treat.

Later, Paul, Becca, Mom and I went to a movie and we saw "The Incredibles".  I was unaware of the characters of this super hero movie except for Captain America who was around the comic books when I was growing up.  Luckily, I sat next to Rebecca who explained the various characters.  There is no character development in these movies; you are supposed to know who everyone is.  I downloaded Captain America and Thor games for the Ipad and the kids loved playing that.  We had a barbecue after church and all in all, it was a great visit to send time with Becca, Paul and their kids.  The boys played with me constantly.. it was so much fun!  Congratulations Andrew and be good!

Love, Oma and Opa

JOHNNY AND JENNA GET MARRRIED

Dear Family,

Most  of you know that Johnny and Jenna were married in the Salt Lake Temple.  Johnny was the first of the grandchildren to make the move.  Here they are with family on the steps of the temple after the ceremony.

It was a great celebration.  It is also interesting to watch the next generation going through the drama of organizing a wedding and receptions.

Emily did a great job.  She and John hosted a dinner for the immediate families the night before. Sisters came up as well.  Suz and her daughters came up from Phoenix and Rebecca and her family drove up from St. George.

The ceremony was performed by my cousin David and was sweet.  That is always the highlight but all the other matters, although important, seem to distract from the sacredness of the moment.

There were all kinds of preparation.  Here are Rebecca and Suz getting Lauren, Abigail, Juliana and Alexandra ready for the wedding.  We had Cheryl's kids over as they were out of town.  I love all the activity in the house.

Emily did a great job and I was particularly happy that sisters and sister in laws were so very helpful. Rebecca and Suz did the wedding cake.   Suz made about 300 little flowers for the cake and drove them up from Phoenix.  Rebeca and Suz baked the cake and did the frosting and carefully took it to the reception.  Cberyl helped with the flowers while Kristina and Rayanne worked in the kitchen and helped with the food at the reception.  Cathy prepared a great video for the wedding reception.  It was a great event.

Congratulations Johnny and Jenna and congratulations Emily and John.  You all did a great job and we are proud of this first marriage among the grandchildren.  Johnny and Jenna are off to Texas where Johnny is doing a summer job for a bog oil company.  A great event and beginning in the family.

Alles Gute, Oma und Opa