Trip to Philadelphia

Be sure to read Sara's Blog. She did an excellent job of telling everything we did while we were there. But I want to show some of the pictures that Dad and I both took. When you look at the pictures you will have no idea that Sara was running a fever, could hardly swallow, and felt like she had been run over by a truck! When it comes to sightseeing, we just keep going!

On Saturday we went into Philly for the Italian Street Festival. It was great fun!



They were selling all kinds of things!



These were the strangest looking cakes---a wedding cake, no less. They looked like they were melting!


Sara didn't like the taste of the coconut milk--but it looked like a fun thing to try!



On Monday, we went to Longwood Gardens, which were part of the DuPont estate. It was incredibly beautiful and huge. Dad insisted that I have a cart to ride in, and I was so glad. It was really quite cold.


John and Jackie as we're starting our day at Longwood Gardens. The flowers were beautiful. They were in the process of digging up the tulip gardens, because the leaves turn brown after they are done blooming. They dig them up and mulch them, and replant new bulbs each year. One of the workers said they spend about five 10 hour days in the fall planting bulbs!



We had lots of fun taking pictures as each area had different flowers.




They even had a beautiful topiary garden.




They had a conservatory was I think they said was the largest in the United States, or some such thing. In one corner was a children's garden.



Some of the flowers inside other parts of the conservatory





The next day we drove around Valley Forge---in the pouring rain!
This was Washington's headquarters.



Wednesday we spent driving to Plymouth, which took about 6 1/2 hours. We stayed in a really nice B & B that Sara has pictures of on her Blog. Thurs. was spent walking around Boston. We discovered that many school groups were having field trips that week, and some of the things we had planned on seeing up close didn't happen because a couple of bus loads got there before we did!


We stopped at Quincy Market for lunch, and it was SWARMING with kids!
We only got to see the outside of Paul Revere's house.



We walked the Freedom Trail from Quincy Market, past Paul Revere's home,
and up to the Old North Church.



From there we went to see Old Iron Sides, the oldest commissioned ship in the US Navy. It was in the War of 1812. It was amazing!



The cannons were kept on the floor under the top deck, and the sailors slept on the floor under that, in hammocks, which they had to find in the dark, since there were no port holes down there. That level was also used for the sick-bay. They had about 400 sailors on that ship. When the cannons fired, they would kick back 6 to 8 feet. You can imagine that most of them had hearing loss.


That incredible looking thing in the middle is a bridge there in Boston.



Here we are at the end of our day in Boston, waiting for the subway to take us back to Plymouth.



Here is the replica of the Mayflower. They aren't positive about the dimensions, and there isn't anything authentic from the original Mayflower because it was dismantled and the wood used for other things. But it's beautiful to look at!



This is all we could see of Plymouth Rock. I'm sure it's in there somewhere! Long time ago they used to have a hammer by the rock so people could break off a piece to take with them!



Friday we drove down the coast to Cape Cod, and then on to New York City to say at the Ritz Hotel with Isaac's brother. Saturday we spent walking around New York. We had to go into Tiffany's to see all the diamonds!



There was a mime putting on a great show.



They were going to have a swimming race in the harbor, and these were the people there to help, but they called it off because the swells were too rough.



At the end of the day we finally took a taxi back to the hotel. Actually, we tried to take the subway, but partway back they announced they were going to stop at the next station, and we'd have to get off. That's when we took the taxi, and wondered why we didn't take it sooner!




We got back to Philly on Saturday night, and put Sara to bed. She always managed to have a good smile for the pictures, but she was really sick, and stayed in bed until we left of Tuesday afternoon. And then the next day Isaac started getting sick! Even so, it was wonderful to be with Sara and Isaac again!

The Peach Orchard

A few weeks back, our lesson in Priesthood meeting was how to prune peach trees, which may seem like a strange thing to teach a group of High Priests and Elders. But our stake has this peach orchard which produces some 200,000 to 300,000 lbs. of peaches every year, and the harvest depends on how we prune the trees in the spring, and then how we thin the peaches in the summer. The better job we do, the bigger the yield, and that means more needy families can have the best in canned peaches. All of this effort, all of it, is designed to help others. The peaches are trucked to the cannery, downtown Ogden, and volunteers clean, pit, and can the fruit, and there it waits to be taken home and enjoyed. Our tithing and fast offerings and volunteer service make this impressive enterprise work.

Last year I helped at the cannery with canning beef stew. I noticed the potatoes being washed and cut came from boxes labeled "Idaho Falls Welfare Farm," and it took me back to my boyhood. We Aaronic Priesthood boys would go work on the Church Farm picking potatoes and, if we were big enough, "bucking" them onto the trucks and trailers to be hauled to the "spud" cellar. Bucking meant lifting a full sack, some 75-80 lbs, onto a truck bed, a hard and tiring job. I remember my father taking a full sack in each hand and lifting both of them onto the bed with one swing. Big, strong man, that Rex Price.

Anyway, seeing those boxes of "spuds" at the cannery showed me where those potatoes probably ended up that I picked when a boy. I saw them go into the cellar, but I didn't know what happened to them after that. Now, 50 years later, I know. I have seen the end of the line. And all of these operations, farms and canneries and volunteers by the hundreds, are all designed to help the needy. This is how Christ's Church should operate, and so it does. Do you remember those raspberries we picked in Madison? I wonder what happened to them? Jams and Jellies I guess. I was very proud of you for helping with that harvest, and I hope your children will have the opportunity to work on Church welfare projects. And you, too, of course.

I thought of the day we helped Michael and Michelle move into their new home. That was hard work, and again, I was very proud that you showed up to help and that you stuck with it until it was done. That was a fine day of unselfish service. You are a great bunch of kids.

I think of Isaac and Sara and the great work they are doing to get their young people to EFY this summer. It's a big, complicated project, but one that will surely produce, and be a wonderful blessing in the lives of those inner city kids, who have a tough time in life, and a tough time remaining true to the faith. Thanks, you two, for your unselfish dedication to the gospel of Christ. Surely, the Lord loves you for this.

I see Barbara hard at work searching out her ancestors and making sure the temple work is done for them. When we go to the Temple, which we try to do weekly, she always has a name for me to take. It is an example of true service, one I stand in awe of.

I'm sure each of you does service for the Lord whenever you can. I think Matt's work is service of the highest order, taking care of the sick, and in prison no less. Of course you Moms do such great things for your families. And you Dads too. Anyway, I'm proud to be associated with you, and with this great Church we belong to. Just thought you ought to know.

Love, Dad

dad's turn

I've been thinking about young Jackson this Sunday. In December, he gave a talk and told of the time they got locked out of their car at Mammoth, home of the ornamental lawn elk, and that he offered a prayer that his Dad would be able to get the key without breaking the window, and that Heavenly Father answered his prayer. Our Father in Heaven does answer prayers, and thereby our faith in Him is increased. These are not inconsequential matters. To learn something of the spirit world, the one we do not see, the one we came from, and to have contact with that world, makes a deeper impression on our minds and hearts than just about anything else can. The great seer, Joseph Smith, wrote, "Could you gaze into heaven five minutes, you would know more than you would by reading all that ever was written on the subject." And believe it, Joseph knew what he was talking about. Answered prayers, it seems to me, are a way of gazing into heaven. They are miracles, and not small ones. Thanks for teaching these sweet children to have faith. I hope I can have the faith of a child.

Barbara and I were in a temple session a few weeks back, and I started to get that familiar tickle in the throat and began coughing, and it wouldn't go away, and I figured I would have to leave. I offered a silent prayer that the cough might be taken from me so I could finish the session. It didn't stop, however, and I thought, well, that prayer wasn't answered. I started to leave, but I noticed the brother sitting next to me fidgeting around in his pocket. He pulled out a Hall's cough drop, nicely wrapped, honey-lemon, and handed it to me. I whispered a thank you, and it took care of my problem, and it tasted pretty good too.

A cynic might say that this was a happy coincidence, that the man who happened to sit next to me, happened to have a cough drop, and would have given it to me, prayer or no prayer. I'm one to believe however that the man carried a cough drop that day, and sat where he sat, because God knew that another man would need it, and would offer a prayer, and that simple prayer would need an answer, and the man with the cough would have a spiritual experience that day in the Temple, and, more importantly, a brother in the spirit world would have his endowment completed.

I remember losing my glasses at our reunion in Idaho, and my brother, Clark, suggesting that we pray, and when he finished the prayer, the glasses were found within minutes. Clark is a man of great faith, I hope you know, and he teaches me spiritual lessons. Over the years, I have had many such experiences. These are the kinds of things, seemingly small things, that stay with us, that build our faith.

Now on the lighter side. We were blessed to hear Bishop Edgeley of the Presiding Bishopric speak in our conference yesterday and today. He told of a man, a C.E.O. and a Stake President on the east coast, a very busy and important man, who consented to accompany his wife to a small town in Idaho to her 30th high school reunion. He was, after all, interested in seeing some of the folks she was friends with in school, especially one male friend of hers, an old boy friend. He was secretly delighted to discover that this fellow was bald and pudgy and had never left this small town where he now owned an ice cream parlor.

On the flight home, he asked his wife if she was happy that she had married a C.E.O. and Stake president, rather than the small-town, ice cream guy. She looked him in the eye, and said that he just didn't get it. If she had married that fellow, he would have, no doubt, turned out to be a C.E.O. and a Stake President, and that the guy sitting next to her on the plane would probably have not amounted to much. We all had a good laugh at this story, but we priesthood brethren in the audience knew there was truth in it.

So, ladies, thanks for making us all that we can be. We'd be lost without you, and likely wouldn't have become the fine fellows we are today. What do you say to that, Sisters? And by the way, if any of you, men or women or children, have had spiritual experiences you would like to share, I would like to read them.

May the Lord bless you and keep you. Love, Dad a.k.a. Grandpa.

SNOW - AGAIN - AND AGAIN.....

Man alive, I thought we had a lot of snow the last time I posted pictures! A week ago we had 8 inches, then the middle of the week we had 10 inches, and then Sunday we had almost 20 inches! That's all in ONE WEEK! So here are a bunch more pictures.

Here's Dad, Sunday morning, starting once again to clear the front walk. By the way, they canceled Church! It snowed all day. We were really blessed---We had 3 different neighbors at 3 different times, clear off our driveway! So Dad only had a couple of inches to finish off this morning!



Sunday night I took this out the dining room window. It's a little blurry because it's a timed exposure, and I was holding the camera. But you can see the mounds of snow--everywhere. Dan's car has about 16 inches of snow on it.



This is our mailbox, looking at it from the street.



Front door--somewhere.



This is the sidewalk on the driveway side of the house. I put the sled up there to try to give you an idea of how high the snow really is.



Dad just cleared off Dan's car, and is snow-blowing it away. Look how deep it is where it's landing.


Here's the roof that we're worried about. Look how thick the ice is. We pray every day for the safety of our home.



The sun finally came out today!!!!



We weren't sure the mailman would deliver our mail today, but he did. Tomorrow, Dad will take the snow blower and try to get it dug out so the mailman can drive up to it, like we're suppose to do.



Dad's working on the front walk again!



My friend Karen's house. She's 2 blocks higher up the bench than we are, and she gets a few more inches every snowfall.



At the bottom of our driveway.



Can you believe this!!!!



I feel like I'm living at a ski resort or something! I've never seen so much snow in Utah. We're suppose to get some more snow on Wednesday, and then it's suppose to warm up to 40 on Friday and Saturday. Just so it doesn't melt too fast!



Come see us---and our snow!

DASH

Here's Dan's cute puppy. He really has been a lot of fun to have around. But then Dan has to do all the work, so that's been really nice!



Poor little puppy had to get neutered, and, without going into details, had to have 2 incisions. Here's the contraption he had to wear for 2 weeks!



At first, he would just stand there with his head down--it was so sad! But Dan got him another collar which was a little smaller, and clear blue plastic so he could see through it, and that worked much better.



However, the incision got infected, which required some extra care. We're glad he's better now! He got the collar off last Friday, and he came home and just ran and ran!

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS

Happy Birthday Isaac!
Happy Birthday Michael!
Happy Birthday Kati!
Happy Birthday Haleigh on Wednesday!
Happy Birthday Jackson on Saturday!

I love you all so much! Each on of you has added many wonderful things to my life, and my life is much richer because of you. You are always in my prayers, and always in my heart. With much, much love, Mom

dad's turn

I am enjoying your blogs, ladies, and Daniel and Spencer's as well, although I haven't figured out Spencer's stuff yet. I look at them every day, and in Kati's case, I listen to them every day. Those are some fine tunes, Kati dear. I enjoy finding out what's going on in your lives, I love the photos, and the creative art work, and learning more about those grandkiddies and those kids in far off Philadelphia. Somehow, I don't see a blog for Keri and Shane, hint, hint. And I'm thinking that we men, meaning me, and Michael and Matt and Shane and Isaac, ought to make maybe a weekly contribution. So that's a challenge for us.

So, to lead out, a few thoughts this week from your old Dad.
1. Please stop praying for snow. We seem to have plenty right now, and, by the way, thank heaven for the old snowblower. We have some three feet on the level and it's piled higher than my head in many places. We hope the roof holds and we hope for no sudden melts, unless it's ham and swiss.

2. We have all felt bad for Sara and Isaac, but we have all admired their courage and determination to have a child. It seems to me the principle of atonement is operative here, that is, we do all we can do, then the Savior of mankind steps in to make up the difference. It looks like they have done all they can do, so it will be interesting to see what happens now.

3. Matt and Kati, I feel your General Motors pain. I put two engines into a G.M. van out there in Madison, the first time by an outfit that installed an engine with two bad cylinders, then the outfit went broke and I was holding the bag. Very expensive, frustrating stuff. I hate to say it, but American made autos are trouble. Maybe they're getting better, but I wouldn't bet the farm on it, if I had a farm.

4. I have been reminded that it is scary business sometimes, this child-raising business. We pray that Aaron is alright, that these seizures will be temporary events, and that this sweet little boy will be A-O.K. Your Mom and I pray daily for all the grandkids, and for all of you, kids, too, just so you know.

5. I, like many of you, loved President Hinckley for his wit and wisdom and humility and kindness, and the entire Church will greatly miss him. I remember the night I saw him at L.D.S. Hospital where he was visiting his dying Marjorie, and the feeling that came into my soul, "There goes the man of God." He has served the Church and the Redeemer his entire life. Surely I ought to do the same, in whatever capacity I can. One day I shall part the veil and return home. I believe it would be best to be prepared for that day.

6. One more thought. This retirement deal is something I'm still sorting through. I have need to repent of some things, namely, my daily scripture study is not what it once was; I get to bed later than I should and so does your mother, shame on her, and I get up later than I should, shame on me, and I think I need more to do. Your Mom and Daniel and I do read the Book of Mormon pretty regularly, so that's good. I am writing, working on a book, with some 450 pages finished, and I do exercise fairly regularly, not that I like it much, and you'll find me in Church on Sunday, which I do like, and I pay my tithes and offerings, and I love my wife and family, and I do my home teaching, and I teach Gospel Doctrine, and I still go fishing . . . but still, I could do better. I could go fishing more often.

So that's a public confession. Anyway, I love you all. May our Father in Heaven smile down upon you and yours.