Birthday of a Father-in-Law

Today is my Father-in-laws birthday. He has lived most of his life in Wyoming, but now spends his days in Utah. He has had a long, eventful life. He has seen many things come and go and many things change in his lifetime. Some good and some not so good. But progress none the less.

And here he is with Zach and Sara. Another grandsons wedding.

Happy Birthday Dad, Grandpa, Dean

Happy Father's Day 2009

First is my dad, Gary. Though he had to work a lot while we were growing up, I do remember him doing things with us. He taught us the value of hard work. I remember all the seemingly countless days spent going to get loads of wood. Some were for us, others to sell. I remember moving and stacking the brush and then carrying the wood to the truck to be stacked. We never left without a full cord of wood. Back then he even let us ride in the back of the truck. I also remember going to Grandpa's ranch to round up and brand cattle. Little did he know then, but these things helped me when I married a dairy farmer. Getting wood in Star Valley was a piece of cake compared to New Mexico!

I also remember him teaching us to play. I remember many Sunday afternoons spent playing Crocinos (?) my favorite, Clue, Sorry, Life....... I also remember bike rides and watching him and mom play tennis. Happy Father's Day Dad.

Dad and Andy at Andy's wedding 11-21-2008

Wynn's dad Dean raised Wynn on the dairy farm. He taught him hard work as well. He always likes to play with the grandkids and would take a minute here and there in the middle of chores to tease them or chase them or.....

Now he lives in the middle of the city in Utah and misses Wyoming's open spaces. So even though we don't live in Wyoming anymore either, he likes to come stay with us occasionally "Because there's less houses." Happy Father's Day Dean!

Grandpa Jenkins and Tanner at Grandpa's Utah house 5-8-2009

And my husband and father of my children, Wynn. He puts up with me being a 'city girl', even though I do know how to work hard when I need to, and help him with whatever project he's doing now. He tolerates me being ditzy with just a shake of the head and a "That would be my wife." He has also taught our kids the value of hard work, first through the dairy, then the cabinet shop and now just in a regular job by chores around the house. He is strict but fair and we all love him. Happy Father's Day Babe!

From all of us. What could it be? The big red one is HEAVY!

YEAH!!! Just what he's been asking for forever!

And I even thought to get him a carry bag for it.

He has not only wanted this for camping, but because of my back, he does the canning in the family. He is sooooo excited to have it for that. We hate cleaning up the mess in the kitchen and this will help tons with that!

They made a point of showing me what it says on the box. They think this means I have to go camping. I don't know. I've never been in my life yet.

Happy Father's Day to the 3 Father's in our life!

Yard Sale-ing In The Rain

It seemed we had just got to bed and asleep when the alarm went off at 6:00AM. I woke Wynn up and rolled back over going instantly back to sleep. I jolted awake with that 'Something isn't right' feeling and looked at my phone. It was after 7:00 and Morgan's Colorguard yard sale was supposed to start at 8:00!!! I rewoke Wynn, got Morgan up and looked outside. It was grey and wet. I was never so glad that Wynn helps her with her yard sale instead of me! They got there, set up, sold some things and didn't stick around for 2:00 to get there. They were wet and cold. Everybody packed up early I guess. I wouldn't know, I was smart enough not to be there.

After they got home, we finished cleaning and packing up Elder Gary's room. It wasn't so hard now we waited a couple of weeks. We got it totally packed up, dusted, vacuumed and the furniture rearranged. Then Wynn told me that one of our friends from our Smithfield ward came over to the yard sale.
He told him, "I just saw Gary."
Wynn, "You mean Andy?"
"No, Gary."
"Gary is in the MTC."
"I know. That's where I saw him. We took Logan down to the MTC Wednesday. Now that families can't go in they have the missionaries come out and get them. Gary was Logan's escort. He's looking really good. He is loving it."
Now how cool is that! Someone who can give me personal feedback on how my Elder Gary is doing!

Drew brought Dean, Wynn's dad, up with her this weekend. He really doesn't like living in the SLC valley at all. He feels there are too many people and too many houses. Elaine decided to come up at the last minute too, so we'll have the both of them until Drew goes back down Monday night. I hope Elaine does ok. She really is a home body these days, but we don't think she would do so good being away from Dean that long either. It'll be fun for them to get away for a while and the kids will keep them entertained I'm sure. This means they'll be here Monday when Elder Gary calls. That will be a surprise for him! I hope they do ok being away from home. We got them all situated in Elder Gary's room. Good thing we got done before they got here!

Aging isn't always fun

We all think we're going to be young forever. We're invincible. We grow up, get married, have kids & think they are going to be little...forever. Then the next thing we know, they are grown up & getting married, having kids of their own, and yet, we still feel that we are young, and the cycle just repeats and repeats for each generation. We look in the mirror and wonder who that old person is staring back at us. So watching friends, family, loved ones age, isn't easy. Of course, we are the ONLY one who isn't aging. We're not like all of our high school and college friends that have seemed to start looking so old.
Wynn's dad, Dean, got sick the end of last week. The way I understand it, he just got sick in the afternoon or evening, started not feeling well and throwing up. Elaine, Wynn's mom, called Wynn's sisters. They live nearby to them and help take care of them daily. She explained what was going on & they said to call the ambulance and get him to the hospital. She did. They did emergency surgery and removed his gall bladder. Wynn, Andy & Gary went down to Ogden to see him in the hospital Saturday. He was back to his regular self, teasing the nurses & feeling pretty good.
Our mortal bodies just don't seem to agree with our heavenly spirits, or mind, that refuses to grow older. The spirit feels like we're still 20, but the mortal parts are letting us know the warranty has expired. Time to get new, or just get rid of, various parts, some still needed and others that we wonder why we ever had them to begin with. We're glad that we have the technology to do such spur of the moment things to save us from further suffering. We are grateful Dean was able to pull through so quickly despite his malfunctioning gall bladder. Looks like he will be around a while still to wonder who the person is staring back at him from the mirror, because in his 80's, he still feels like he should be 20 you know.