For Now...

I can't say goodbye. It doesn't seem possible. But I know I won't be seeing her for a while. I won't be getting a phone call from her first thing in the morning saying "are you up?" Nor will I get calls from her while we are out, saying, "when will you be home to read Tyler's email?"

There are a lot of things we won't be doing for a while. And new things we will be doing. We'll be missing her. And we'll remember to check on her family more often. And hopefully, we'll follow her example of continued service.

I can't say more. Just...I love her.

All That I Am....

A couple of weeks ago we went to the Wrights Sacrament Mtg. to hear them report on their mission to Sweden. One of the speakers quoted Abraham Lincoln, "all that I am, or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother." I looked at Matthew and thought, not true.

Since that day, I have thought about Lincoln's statement a lot. I can't say that it's true for any of our family. What is true, is that what I am, whatever that is, I owe to you and Dad. Dad and I have often said that we think the Lord entrusted us with you, hoping we wouldn't get in your way. I'm sure there have been times that I have gotten in your way, but you overcame those times.

On the other hand, I have learned and continue to learn from all of you and your families.

So this is my Valentine gift to all of you. A sincere THANK YOU for the kind of people you have become and for teaching me and helping me along the way.

Love to all of you!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010

I made myself hold off on this post until I had all of the Christmas decor down. I have it down. Maybe today we will get it put in the basement. Dad has it all in the boxes...so we're making progress.

As the New Year began, I asked Dad what we were thinking about the year to come this time last year. Neither of us could remember much. We knew we looked forward to more growth in the business. That has happened. We've been blessed that way. (Jed has encouraged us to set a goal of tripling our revenue this year. That's very ambitious, but doable, we think.) We knew we were going to experience a change in political administration. And that has happened.

But here is a list of other events that have taken place this year.

• The new shower in our bathroom: fabulous and a gift from all.
• Samantha flew out to go skiing. Matthew, Josh, Dad, Luke, Hebe and Carley and Tyler went.
• Hebe and Carley's wedding: a great event that brought family together and many friends.
• Josie was born to Alex and Sarah: thirteenth grandchild and a beauty.
• Hebe and Carley bought their new town home: it's wonderful and beautiful.
• Rach, Jeff, Chase, Maggie and Noah came to visit: we had a wonderful time with them. Went to the Open House of the Oquirrh Mtn. Temple with all of them.
• Emma's baptism: happened on the weekend of July 4th. Alternator went out in our car. A great time was had by all. Matthew gave Emma an incredible blessing.
• Luke and Dad went to Alex's for Josie's blessing. Had a great time. Samantha's family, too.
• Luke moved into his own apt: it's a great place for him and provides a room for his office.
• Justin started school: I wonder what they will teach him.
• Tyler entered the MTC: Dad and I took him. Brought back too many memories of trips there with our own boys. Grateful to have the first missionary of the next generation.
• The trip to NYC: the most priceless gift from all our kids and the most wonderful time.
• Jed and Heather moved to San Francisco: it's good to have them closer.

I know there were other things. Add them if you like.

Soccer Mom

I have become a Soccer Mom. Actually, we have become Soccer Parents. Luke plays indoor soccer on Wednesday nights and on Saturdays, and he is the goalie. The Wed. games are close, so we usually attend those. Some of his games are at 11:30pm. He says we are not allowed to stay up that late, but sometimes we go anyway. We know nothing about the rules, but we are learning. His teams are co-ed. We know that when a girl scores it's two points. (That's the first thing we learned.) It is fun to watch and it gives us a minute or two with Luke.

Matthew is the only one of the boys who played soccer as a kid. It hadn't taken over the country, then, the way it has now. When Matthew played, Dave Simons was his coach. At the end of the season Matthew got the mumps, so he missed the final game.

Luke and Hebe played some soccer when they were at the Y and we watched a game or two, then. But Luke's teammates call us the Number 1 fans, now. We have a good time watching and he usually has a good time playing....especially when they win, which is most of the time.

This summer Luke coached a team of kids. He enjoyed that, but I don't think they won any games. Doesn't matter much when you're six.

Extravagrant

We made a purchase Saturday. We replaced something that we have had in this house, I think since we built it. I hated to spend the money, but Dad was certain it was justified.

I hope the next time you visit, you won't miss the old one.

HALLOWEEN

We had decided we could do without Halloween this year. Just turn off the lights and go to the bedroom and watch the World Series. Sounds simple enough. But when it came right down to it, we couldn't ignore all of the neighborhood kids. So we got a small bag of candy and decided we would turn off the lights when it was gone.

You may remember that Dad traditionally does fancy pumpkins with carving kits and stencils. Well, since we were close to breaking tradition, he didn't do the pumpkins. We didn't even buy pumpkins, can you believe it? Instead, Dad put his creative abilities to work and created a mummy. The ground rules were that he couldn't spend any money on it. (Are you proud, Jed?) I think he came through pretty well.

We Love NYC

What a fabulous time we had.

Some years ago Dad had a client in Chicago and he traveled there a lot. Alex and Sarah were living in Chicago at the time. So on one of Dad's business trips I went with him. We had the chance to spend a day with Alex and Sarah and saw some of Chicago through their eyes. We saw Navy Pier, museums, had dinner at a great place, and had our first taste of Godiva chocolates. I loved Chicago after that.

So that's what seeing NYC with the help of Jed and Heather did for us. We loved it.

We arrived at La Guardia Tues. afternoon. (I should say right here that every flight was either on time or early!) Jed took us to his place, with a stop at a little bakery for cupcakes. It's alway nice to see where your family lives. We had a great dinner prepared by Heather. We then had our first experience with the Subway. Got our week passes and rode to pick up the rental car and then checked into our hotel. Picked up Heather and they drove us into the city for a driving tour at night. Jed said, "and Heather will be your tour guide for this evening." We saw everything. It was fabulous. I grew up in a big city, but this was something completely new for me.

The next morning Jed met us at our stop and we went into the city on the train. Got off at Grand Central Station. We went up to the Market and saw all of the grandeur in the station. Then to PWC for a minute then to Bryant Park and the NY Public Library. We walked up to St. Patrick's Cathedral, then to Rockefeller Center. Went to the Top of the Rock. Lunch at Del Frisco's with Heather and Jed was next. I haven't stopped dreaming about the mashed potatoes, yet.

After lunch Jed went to the office and Heather walked us to the Gershwin Theater for Wicked. So amazing. When it was over I just sat there. In High School I had wanted to be a Broadway star. Didn't quite make that, but I had finally come to Broadway! Then off to Yankee Stadium for the game with the Royals. What a place. My favorite thing, I'm afraid, was the elevator. It was wild and Yankee fans are true blue. It was fun to be in that atmosphere again. Very cold, though. Jeter hit a homerun in the 1st inning over the left field wall. Exciting.

Thursday morning we were on our own to get to the river to take the "3 hour tour" around the island. Cold again, but so wonderful. We went under 19 bridges and saw everything. Great views of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. After the cruise we met Jed and took the train over to Brooklyn. Walked around and saw wonderful neighborhoods. Then pizza at Grimaldi's. Oh my! I want to make pizza like that but Matthew says my oven won't get hot enough. I'm still dreaming of that pizza, too. Then the walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. Scared me to death. Held on to Dad until I was afraid his arm would fall off. He and Jed took pictures every minute. Finally made it. Walked to the Trinity Church, saw Alexander Hamilton's grave, and then Wall St. Then Battery Park and Castle Clinton, where our ancestors arrived in this country. I kept wondering how they felt. Then met Heather and dinner at Carmine's. Family style Italian. Garlic bread beyond compare, salad and pasta. Jed wanted to top it off with banana pudding at Magnolia's, but just couldn't hold another bite.

Friday morning we checked out of the hotel and took our bags to Jed's. Went into the city and had the tour of Central Park. What a beautiful oasis in the middle of a crowded and busy city. Loved every minute of it. You don't hear the city at all. Then Levain Bakery with 1 pound cookies. They had to be a pound. So huge. And so good. Then the Temple. Jed said, "you see it." I didn't know what, then he pointed to the Temple. Then home to Jed's and take out lunch from a Thai place around the corner. Then we took a taxi to the airport and that was that.

We find ourselves longing to return and aren't quite sure why. Lots of possible reasons. Needless to say, we loved every minute. The most probable reason that comes to mind is that you did it for us. All of you were so generous. We will never be able to thank you enough. And special thanks to Kim, for suggesting it in the first place. I know I have gone on with more than you wanted, but I wanted a permanent record of some of the things we saw and did. To see a rather large sample of our photos, click here.

Thanks to you all.