Reunion with the Glenn Cook Family

Poor Max.  While having his diaper changed on Tuesday, he did his "flip to get away move" and flipped right off the bed and broke his clavicle.  Then, Saturday night, to add insult to injury, he got a stomach bug.  I guess Max is learning that when it rains, it pours!  He doesn't look terribly happy, does he?

Max wasn't the only one under the weather this week.  Gunnar got pink eye, which then traveled to his brothers, and then turned into strep.  Ori was also sick with a fever, and Sara must have gotten it from her, as she missed church, and our family get together yesterday from being ill.

Until the weekend, other than Max's accident, this was a busy but uneventful week.  On Saturday, Caitlyn, Roy and I made our final drive for the season up to Flaming Gorge to winterize the trailer.

We had plans to take Adrienne's boys with us because they had a Ray, Quinney, Nebukker (spelling--sorry AJ) get away up to deer valley, but with their strep and pinkeye, Adrienne didn't think camping was a good option, so we went without them. (Grandma Green got the privilege of taking care of them).  I guess  Dad loves to entertain family because he kept saying things like, "If we had Nick and Sara here..." or, "It would be fun if Dan and his family were here," or, "We could have brought Dan's girls since we couldn't bring the boys..."  Caitlyn and I kept telling him what a good time we were having--even without the rest of the family!

The pinecones were opening up this trip.
We ate several, but some were dried out, so it would have been
a little late for harvesting.

Look at the water--perfectly smooth!  We opted for
rafting instead of boating, but this made us question
our decision.

Caitlyn still likes to be with her parents, but her friends
are starting to take precedence!

Selfie!  I don't think Roy's ever taken one before

On the raft

Rafting was fun, but we had to get our rhythm.  Roy, not having the use of his left arm, wasn't much use in rowing, but he was great at "yelling" instructions.  He said he wasn't angry, but he fooled Caitlyn and I.  We know it was just hard for him to have zero control.  The water was really high and the rapids were pretty inconsequential, but he was still worried he wouldn't make it out alive :)

Sara sent me these pics of the girls at the zoo on Wednesday.

Sunday night we had a wonderful time with Glenn and his family. Josh and his family weren't there, but we had Jed and Emily and their families and it was a great reunion.  Isla, Emily's daugther, loved being with all the cousins...she's finding out it's fun to live in Utah.  Taylor may have been a little overwhelmed by all the kinetic energy :)  Of course, Serah and Riley love cousins, too.  They have had a few opportunities to play with my grandkids.

Everyone but Riley and Serah,  They must have been busy playing!

We love all of you.  If you didn't see any pictures of your children (Crista), that means I didn't get any from you.  Videos don't count because they're too hard for me to include.  

State Fair and other things

Upcoming:  The Yearly Cook O Rama.  No, it's not really appropriate for children, but I would love all of you to try and come this year.  It's on Thursday, Oct. 1.  Dinner is served at 5:30 (you could bring your kids for the dinner). Roy's making his famous Sloppy Joes.  The speaker this year is Bryson Cook.  He is a relative that served as a mission president in Zimbabwe and has only recently returned.  He is big into doing genealogy, much of it on the Cook line.  He will share experiences from his mission, etc.  I think he will be an excellent and interesting speaker and it will be well worth the time and effort it will take to be there.

This week I was rereading the Saturday Morning session of April's General Conference, and I came upon Dallin H. Oaks' talk called, The Parable of the Sower.  There is so much that we can work on to improve ourselves, and in the first four talks of that conference session, I found several things that I, particularly need to work on. This talk stood out because it seemed to be timely for all of us.

Dallin H. Oaks retells the parable of the sower:

I. Stony Ground, No Root

Some seed “fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: but when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away” (Mark 4:5–6).

Jesus explained that this describes those “who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness,” but because they “have no root in themselves, … when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended” (Mark 4:16–17).

What causes hearers to “have no root in themselves”? This is the circumstance of new members who are merely converted to the missionaries or to the many attractive characteristics of the Church or to the many great fruits of Church membership. Not being rooted in the word, they can be scorched and wither away when opposition arises. But even those raised in the Church—long-term members—can slip into a condition where they have no root in themselves. I have known some of these—members without firm and lasting conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ. If we are not rooted in the teachings of the gospel and regular in its practices, any one of us can develop a stony heart, which is stony ground for spiritual seeds.

Spiritual food is necessary for spiritual survival, especially in a world that is moving away from belief in God and the absolutes of right and wrong. In an age dominated by the Internet, which magnifies messages that menace faith, we must increase our exposure to spiritual truth in order to strengthen our faith and stay rooted in the gospel.

Young people, if that teaching seems too general, here is a specific example. If the emblems of the sacrament are being passed and you are texting or whispering or playing video games or doing anything else to deny yourself essential spiritual food, you are severing your spiritual roots and moving yourself toward stony ground. You are making yourself vulnerable to withering away when you encounter tribulation like isolation, intimidation, or ridicule. And that applies to adults also.

I would encourage you to read the entire talk, but this is one section that stood out to me.  I noticed when we attended Dan's ward that the leadership there were making a concentrated effort to keep Sacrament Meeting technology free.  "But, my scriptures are on my Ipad" or "I'll put it in airplane mode..."   I am not pointing fingers, believe me, I am tempted to look at my phone, too.  I have used it during the sacrament to read scriptures because I felt like it helped keep my mind focused on the Savior, but one of the general authorities said we shouldn't be scrolling at all during the sacrament.  That includes reading the scriptures on our device.  I also notice in many wards that phones and Ipads, etc. are used to entertain the little ones.  I am guilty here, as well.  I think it would be good to bring them other quiet activities,  I'm in favor of letting them draw or color, because I think they will at least pick up on some of what is being said, whereas with an electronic device, their entire attention is held.

Well, enough preaching.  It's just something to think about and an area where we can all probably improve.

This week has been a little less busy because everyone's back into their routine.  I started a quilting class Monday night.  I thought I was experienced enough with embroidery and quilting that it would just be good to do it with other women.  I was wrong.  I'm overwhelmed with the project. Thankfully, I have Jieun's artistic eye to help me with the colors.

Wednesday night we managed to get away from responsibilities and go to the Utah State Fair.  We had two goals.  Dad wanted to see the chickens, and I wanted to see the Nuttall's booth and get their coupons.  I achieved my goal, but the chickens had already gone home.  There was a small cage of cute little baby chicks, though.  We saw a lot of the farm animals and it was fun to watch the kids interact with them.  Since it was raining, it wasn't terribly crowded and the girls got to pet goats, calves, and a dove among other animals.  Hyeji and Doyeon were able to do something I've never done--they both got to try milking a goat!  We missed having Adrienne and AJ and the boys.  I think they were getting ready to head to Sun Valley for their bi (tri?) yearly trip with the Green's.   Check out instagram for a great video of Ollie golfing!  Of course, Crista and Matt and Elise and Andy are just a little too far away to join us for every family activity.  You can see from one of the pictures below that Jennie came, too! (she's the taller one with the black hair facing away from the camera).

Friday night we had a family pizza party, put on by Sara and Nick at our house (we just have more room, that's all there is to it).  Sara and Dan (or Jieun) made the pizza dough and everyone brought favorite toppings.  Dan's combo with pineapple, bacon and jalapenos was surprisingly tasty as were all the others.  Nick and Sara had invited a friend who had worked with Nick on a game while they were in school.  He works for Disney, now.  While everyone was visiting, I had a good time teaching my granddaughters how to take selfies.

Saturday we caught up on chores.  It's hard to find a weekend to work, we've been so busy playing this summer, so it felt good to get a few things done.

Adrienne and her family stopped by for a visit on Sunday evening.  They were tired of driving because they'd just arrived home from Sun Valley, but Gunnar knew that the rockets grandpa ordered were here and he doesn't understand "wait till later."  AJ built the rocket with a little bit of help from grandpa.  Now Gunnar has to wait for it to dry, and then they have to paint it.  I don't know how he'll handle the long wait until we all get together to shoot everyone's rocket off.  Finn was a sweetheart.

                                       Have a good week!

Surgery, yard work and beet soup, etc.

  To celebrate Nan's birthday this week, Nan and Christine and I went to lunch. It was fun to get together.  Now that we live close we can do this, but we definitely don't do it often enough.  I never thought I would turn into my mom, but I really am a lot like her.  I don't think Nan and Christine and I compete, though, like my mother did with her sisters.  I remember a lot of fun Christmas dinners when I was young.  My mom, my Aunt Carol, and my Aunt Louise would take turns hosting, and each year the favor for each family to take home would get better and better.  The first party I remember we went home with a bag full of carameled popcorn from Aunt Louise, the next year my Aunt Carol had topped that with something (I actually don't remember what), and one year my mother made ceramic snowmen music boxes for each family.  That must have taken her many hours. I am grateful for my sisters!  Happy birthday Nan!

Wednesday I took Roy in to get his torn rotator cuff fixed.  We arrived at the hospital as directed at 8:30.  About 11:15 they finally took him to go to surgery and I was sent to the waiting room.   Apparently, he waited in the hall for at least an hour before they took him into the operating room.  Sometime around 1:30 I was told he was done and I was taken into another room to wait for the doctor.  I waited there maybe 15 minutes.  The doctor told me that Roy should feel a lot better after his arm mends, because the muscle was really shredded.  After talking with the doctor, I went back to the waiting room until Roy was taken to the final room before checkout.  I was there another hour, then I joined Roy and had another hour or so to wait while they watched his vital signs, etc.  Finally, about 5:00, we headed home.  We had terrible rush hour traffic, especially since Victory Road and the parallel street were both closed.   Thankfully, Jieun had prepared some sushi.  It was waiting for us when we got home.  I was starving (not literally, of course), and even Roy was hungry enough to eat his share.  Adrienne contributed some meatballs to the next day's dinner.  Thanks, you two.  And thanks to Sara for driving Caitlyn around for me.  

Wednesday night, I went to book club (Roy insisted he'd be fine), and Caitlyn went on a hike with the young men, young women of the stake.  Sara and Nick and Ori went too.  There were some cute pictures on Facebook of Ori hiking "all by herself".  Nick sent me a cute picture, too.  

Caitlyn had upwards of 25,000 steps the day of the hike.  She is seriously competing with Nick, Sara, Dan and Jieun,  Nan, Rachel, and David, and John and Sierra--all with their fitbits.  I think she is doing quite well!

At book club we talked about the book "Wonder" about a little boy who was born with a disease that caused him facial deformities.  Somehow we got on the subject of God and agency.  My LDS friends said that they had a hard time with the idea of God knowing each of us personally because of the "bazillion" people who have lived on the earth.  I said that I believe that He truly does know us individually as we are literally His spirit offspring.  I think of my father with his 7 children, 45 grandchildren, 81 great grandchildren...Of course, he knew them all by name.  Can our heavenly father possibly have that kind of a relationship with everyone who has ever come to this earth.  I believe He can. His omniscience is something that our finite minds cannot understand.  

Saturday I weeded the garden, while Roy tried to be a compliant patient (he hasn't been very good at this.  He went to work Thursday and Friday and has tried to be independent when he should be asking me to help him).  After lunch we cleaned up and watched Ollie run around at his first soccer game.

Ollie is #6

We also went by Jieun's art booth that she had on main street.  She said she did quite well with her sales.  Her art is really beautiful.  

I believe dad is going to buy the original of the rooster.

                                                                             Elise sent me this picture of a race car (below)-- a painting she did for Max:

I didn't realize it was a painting when she first sent it to me.  I thought it was a toy car.  Then I looked closer.  She is very artistic also.  Something she didn't inherit from me.  I understand she and Andy have been a little under the weather this week.  Hopefully they are both feeling better.

Yesterday I cooked Beet Soup.  I would have never thought this would be something I would try, but while we hosted the Lithuanians, the girls that were with another host family made beet soup.  They told their host it was their comfort food.  They brought it to a group dinner one night and it was gone within just a few minutes.  I just got a little juice from the bottom.  It made me want to try it, so I bought beets at the Farmer's market and made a big pot.  I cooked it like a beef roast but with water to cover.  It had potatoes, carrots, onions, and beef with the beets.  I spiced it up with apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, and dill.  I invited everyone to come over and try it, and so we basically had a Beet Soup Party Saturday night.  It turned out pretty well if I may say so myself- AJ even tried a beet.

Surgery Tomorrow!

Now that Jennie is living with Dan and Jieun, she's obviously decided she wants to fit in--so she's gone dark. Really dark!  Hyeji and Doyeon are thrilled because now she has hair like theirs.

Luckily, she cannot convince Caitlyn to change her hair color. One chameleon in the family is plenty.

We saw Adrienne's boys for a few minutes on Thursday when they got back from their trip to Jackson Hole.  We weren't here on Gunnar's birthday (and neither were they, actually), so we took Gunnar's present up to him.  Happy Birthday, Gunnar!  5 years old!  That's pretty exciting!

Jieun came over one afternoon this week because apparently the girls were begging to see grandma.  This little runt had a tomato from the garden--which I found later--all over the piano, in the little crevices of the piano bench, and various other places around the house.  She is so full of energy.  She would throw that ball down the hill, then go after it, climb the hill and do it again.  She never stops, no wonder she is only in the 1 percentile for her weight.

I couldn't figure out how to post videos from my computer.  I'll have to work on that.  This week there was a fun jumping competition between the families.  I don't think anyone was really competing, but it was funny.  First, a video came in a group text of Yuna, jumping off the table in her home.  Then, Andy sent one of Max, to show that he does it, too.  Then, Caitlyn posted herself doing a double flip on the ice.  Nick followed up with a great big jump down his stairs.  Who won?  I'm not sure, they were all great jumps!

We had another fabulous weekend at Flaming Gorge.  The pictures speak for themselves:

Double rainbow.  This picture doesn't do it justice.

It's interesting how it turns cool as soon as the calendar says September.  It was warm enough, but we definitely had fall weather at the Gorge.

We didn't plan it, but it was a granddaughter's trip.  None of the grandsons were able to make it.  This was taken at the Red Canyon Visitor's Center.

This was pretty funny.  Dan was chopping wood and all the kids were lined up in these chairs watching him, and oohing and ahhing each time he hit the wood.

Caitlyn says it best.  "Mom, I'm so glad you had 8 kids.  I love our family."  Caitlyn, I'm so glad, too.

Roy is having surgery tomorrow.  He is getting a torn tendon repaired in his shoulder.  He is very optimistic and thinks he'll be able to do everything he needs to do with his right arm.  He even asked the doctor of he could lay on it (because he likes to hug me at night).  The doctor said, "Well, you can lay on it--it won't hurt the repair, but you probably won't want to lay on it,  you'll probably be sleeping in a chair for a little while."  So, I imagine it will be a bit painful for at least a couple of weeks.

Elise requested that I tell some stories about my grandparents in some of these newsletters.  I remember all of them except my grandfather Cook who passed away when I was 3.  My dad told me a lot of stories about him, but I will have to do a little research to make sure I tell them correctly.  I was also pretty young when my grandmother Cook passed away (10), but she lived with us for the last few years of her life and I loved her.  She encouraged me in writing poetry (she was a poet), and one time I slept walked into her room, stuffed my snoopy in bed with her and tried to climb in myself, but my mother came in and led me back to bed.  I was sleep walking, but I woke up enough to know and remember what I had done.
I was 16 when I lost my Clyde grandparents.  My memories of them are also of when they were older.  I have lots of memories of their house and yard and playing with Sally Salisbury, my cousin.  As I think of memories, I will share them in this blog.
One thing I do remember is driving up to their house in my parent's new motorhome.  My mother instructed my dad to park at the side of the house and a little bit down the road because she wasn't sure she wanted my grandfather to know they had bought it.   My grandfather was wealthy when I knew him, but he was very frugal.  My older siblings remember him as being quite stern.  My Aunt Clara (his sister) said that he was stern because he had so much responsibility at such a young age.  He was the 4th child of his parents, but the first one to live and he had to do a lot of farm work, etc. when he was just 4 years old.  He also lost his first wife (my maternal grandmother) to breast cancer.  She was 33 years old.  He had a lot of hard things in his life and, .according to Aunt Clara, had a very serious personality because of it..