Thinking about my parents this week

Last Saturday I received an email from Nan asking me if I could do the last edit of our father's autobiography.  She informed me that if we wanted it by Christmas, I would have to read it by November 1st.  She brought a printed copy by for me to edit.  It was 277 pages.  I figured, okay, 30 pages a day and I'll have it read in 10 days.  I can do that.  Nan sent me another email the next day, which I failed to see until the day after that, which informed me that the publisher wanted the final copy by October 27.  That meant I had to at least double the amount of pages I read each day, so I geared up to put my focus on this book for this past week.  It was a wonderful week, I enjoyed every minute of this assignment.  The book was easy to read, fully of interest to me, the reader, and I learned so much about my dad.  I had heard many of his stories before, of course, but there were some trials and events in his life that he didn't talk much about, and the book clarified these parts of his life for me.  I felt very close to my dad.  While I was reading, I could feel the spirit of his testimony emanate from every page.  My dad closes his portion of the book with his patriarchal blessing and his testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Following this, there is a short history of my mother, and memories of her, written by each of her children.  She was an elect lady and, though I've read her history in the past, this reading renewed my love of her and reminded me of so many things I hadn't thought of in a while.

Ila and Vernon Cook

The publisher called me yesterday to see if I would be ready for him by tomorrow, the 26th.  I said I would be, but note that this date is one day earlier than the 2nd deadline I was given. :)

While reading this book, life went on, thankfully.  Monday was Doyeon's birthday.  I wished her happy birthday last week, but I'll say it again.  "Happy birthday, Doyeon."  We were invited to stop by the Kangaroo Zoo for cake, cookies, and fruit.  I'm happy to brag that I only had fruit.  I wasn't that disciplined the rest of the week, though.

Happy Birthday Doyeon

Kangaroo Zoo

Finn and Roy

                                                                                                                                                          Wednesday night Roy and I went to a 3-high school Orchestra concert.  Bountiful, Viewmont, and Woodscross Orchestras put on a fun concert.  They each payed 2 numbers and then one all together.  That one was Chaconne,(I don't know who wrote it, but it's usually performed by Cold Play), it was pretty powerful with all those instruments. It's great that I could listen to the concert and read my dad's book at the same time.  But I listened, Caitlyn, I promise.

By the weekend I had a pretty good handle on the book and Roy and I were able to play a little bit.  I had a Water Aerobics workshop in the afternoon.  We are partnering with Silver Sneakers at the Rec Center and our boss wanted us all to learn the "Splash" part of that program.  It was fun and a pretty vigorous workout.  We all thought it would replace our arthritis classes, but it was way too intense for that particular demographic.  It was a good workout for all of us and we do it regularly.  I may have been tired because I had ice skated for 80 minutes earlier in the day, and that's 20 minutes longer than normal.
As soon as I completed my class, I walked over to the skating rink to get Caitlyn.  We hurried home to change and then headed directly to Logan to spend the evening with some of the family.  Crista had invited all of us to her home for "The Great Pumpkin Walk" and dinner.  We all brought stuff to eat and Crista provided us with delicious pork roast sandwiches.  The pumpkin walk was fun, though crowded.  I didn't know what to expect, but the community in Logan had painted, carved, and displayed pumpkins in various scenes and they were very creative in their presentations.  There is one example below.  The heads are painted pumpkins.  The scenes included everything from Looney Tunes, to Dumb and Dumber, environmental messages, literacy messages, etc.

Ruby has learned to growl like a lion.  She mimics her parents when they growl at her.  

The consensus was that the ski lady looked like Nan.  Luckily, the guy
with his tongue stuck doesn't resemble Bruce at all.  Nan--you're looking
so thin!

Hyeji, Doyeon, Sara, Ori

Logan Pumpkin Walk; Cait, Doyeon, Jennie, Hyeji

 

Saturday morning we meant to get a lot done, but as usual, it didn't really turn out that way.  Roy helped Nick on some chores, and then we went to visit Uncle Noel at the care center.  Boy, is he in poor shape.  He had a positive attitude and said he wasn't too uncomfortable, except for the big chest cast that he is wrapped in.  Someone is picking up Lori everyday to bring her to be with Noel.  I worry about her, too, as she would be completely lost without Noel.  (Note for those of you who don't know Noel--he is Verl Rasband's youngest brother and is handicapped and legally blind.  His wife is more seriously handicapped than he is and is completely blind).  Before we got to the care center, we stopped at the new Tractor Supply Store down on Redwood Rd.  We had Nick, Sara, Ori, Dan, Jieun, Hyeji, Doyeon, and Yuna with us for both activities.  

Yuna always comes to grandma--that made Ori want
to come to grandma, too.  

Pictures at the hardware store  They were giving away free mustache stickers, and cookies, too.

Yuna and Jieun

Following our visit with Noel, we ate Korean at Ejo, Jieun's Aunt's, sister-in-law's restaurant.  Jennie--their potstickers were super yummy.  You'll have to go there sometime.

Dan's family had invited us to the zoo, so that was our next stop.  Nick and Sara went home to accomplish something.  Luckily, when we arrived, "Boo at the Zoo" was just ending and people were going home.  It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed spending the time there.

At the Zoo; Hyeji, Doyeon

Saturday night, Caitlyn performed at the Spooktacular at the South Davis Rec Center.  Because of a time mix-up, I missed her performance, but Roy was able to get over there and get a couple of pictures. 

Unfortunately, we didn't get to see Max this week, but we saw some cute pictures: 

He has now learned to climb up on the counters.
This means a new chapter of difficulties for his mother.

And Max all ready for church.

Sunday evening we had the family over (well, those that live close).  We enjoyed a delicious Salmon dinner with broiled potatoes, made by Roy, salad, made from a salad kit, and Dan's luscious homemade bread.  Philip and Charlotte and Cameron stopped by to deliver an invitation to Charlotte's annual Witches Tea (Wednesday at 12:00--Crista do you want to come down?--you're invited, too), and they came in for a short visit.

Waiting for dinner--probably the quietest they were the whole evening.
One ipad, one movie.

Finn and Adrienne

Playing together

It was great to have the Cook's stop and visit.

                                    

Short and Sweet this week

Here are a few pictures of our UEA weekend in Cedar City and St George.

 We went to 4 plays, two in Cedar City and two in St. George: Two Gentleman of Verona; Dracula (very gory); When you wish (more of a musical review); and Beauty and the Beast.

Getting Caitlyn familiar with Shakespeare 

Our view from Cliff Side Restaurant

While looking at Instagram, Caitlyn saw that the Seljias' were in St. George, so we gave them a call and met up with them for a fun, short hike.  As you can see from the pictures, it was warm enough for a swim.

We heard from Grandpa Rasband that Uncle Noel was hit by a bus and broke his femur.  I'm sure he would appreciate your prayers. There is a short video clip on KSL news about it.   Here is the link: http://www.ksl.com/?sid=36945606&nid=148

The article reported:

"He has a morning routine.  He goes across the street, up to the 7-Eleven and back," said South Salt Lake police detective Gary Keller.  "The man was walking back from the 7-Eleven and crossing 2700 South in a crosswalk when a Granite School District bus made a left turn to go east on 2700 South.  The front of the bus misses him.  The back wheels sweep across and hit him," Keller said.  "The bus driver stopped immediately.  The man was taken to a local hospital in serious to critical condition," Keller said.  "The man was reportedly sight impaired.  The bus was on its way to Cottonwood HIgh School with 20 -25 students on board."

I'm sure you've all been following Becky and Jesse Hawks on Instagram, but I wanted to mention that Jude is through with his heart surgery and is recovering.  It seems they are seeing lots of miracles with this sweet little boy.

Ori helping in the garden

Elise promises he does have a bed and sometimes sleeps there.

Adrienne on a field trip with the boys.  Looks like fun

Happy Birthday AJ, Dan, Doyeon...

October is a big birthday month for our family.  Last week was Ollie's, and today is AJ's.  Dan's is this coming Thursday, and Doyeon will be celebrating birthday number 4 on Monday of next week.  So, Happy Birthday to all of you! 

Last Sunday night I stayed up until 11:30 working on my weekly letter because I knew that Monday would be a busy day.  When I finally got to bed,  I couldn't sleep because, of course, my mind was still active (that and all the screen time).  I fidgeted and tossed and turned trying to get comfortable.  I must have dozed off because all of a sudden, I could hear this rhythmic pounding and I absurdly thought the bed was causing it.  Then I realized it was my heart going crazy.  My chest hurt and I wondered if I should wake Roy up.  I didn't want to, but I only deliberated a few seconds because I was scared.  I sat up while telling him I thought I was having a heart attack.  He woke up slowly and it took him a few seconds to process what I was saying.  I felt horrible and faint, and according to Roy, I was as white as a sheet and my eyes were bloodshot.  We made the decision to go into the emergency room.  Of course, by the time I got there, the episode was long over, but I was extremely shaky for the next 30 minutes or so.  Hooked to the monitors, my pulse was great (low 60's), my blood pressure was great, and I slowly started to feel better.  The Dr.'s diagnosis: Sudden onset supre ventricular tachycardia.  Sounds pretty serious, but I guess not really.  If it happens again, I may have to have medicine to keep it from happening, but so far there has been no recurrence.  I wasn't too happy that Roy texted all of you (my kids) to tell you of the incident because I wanted to put it in the newsletter (journal), and he stole my thunder (I'm full of clichés today).  Plus, I had determined it was nothing serious and I was a little embarrassed that we went to the emergency room.  Sweet Jennie was very concerned about me, so she posted it on Facebook, but quickly (and rightly) decided I wouldn't like that so she took it off--but not before Cynthia and Tiffany had informed my brother, David that something was wrong with me.  

Monday morning I was fine, but wiped out and I was not comfortable going to my skating lesson (mostly because we hadn't gotten into bed until 4:00 AM). I also got a sub for my Tuesday morning Water Aerobics class for the same reason.  However, Tuesday I did go skating, and about 45 minutes into it, the Dr. finally called and gave me the okay to exercise and do whatever I wanted, so I finished out the hour without any concern.  

I am still taking the quilting class on Monday nights.  I am still unsure of it, but the blocks are looking good.  The part I'm unsure of is how we're treating each block as a separate element and my colors seem to be all over the place, but the teacher assures me that it will all come together.  Here are a couple of pictures of a few of the pieces. 

Do you like the 3D effect on these flowers?  I made a mistake on the first one,
which is why they are 3D, I kind of liked it,
 so I repeated the mistake on the next 3 flowers to make the block.

Thursday evening dad and I drove to Provo and took grandpa and grandma Rasband out to dinner.  Poor grandpa, nothing is helping with his the pain in his lower back (it's really nerve pain that bothers him as it travels down his leg).

I was only going to use the bottom picture, but Roy said it would
be good to prove that I was actually there.

Roy has been finishing up his "tickets" for Wood Badge.  As I understand it, the tickets are goals he made at Wood Badge.  In order to complete everything to earn his badge, he must finish his goals.  He stayed up late Friday night preparing to do a training session on Saturday morning.  After his training session, he got on a conference call with me for the Web Committee of the Cook Family Organization.  I desperately needed him because, until he got on, the whole call was defining what the need was and how various web sites and possibilities had been researched to take our Cook Family Web site to the next level, etc.  A lot of talk and no action.  Well, dad gets on the call and offers some expertise, and then almost immediately says, "I'll take an action item," which he then defined.  He is such a great leader and so willing to give of his time.  When the call ended, we had some breakfast, and then he left to take his scouts go carting to complete another of those "tickets."  This was a diversity activity that he did with another troop--not of our faith.  The leader of this troop had done wood badge with dad and they had made this goal together.  I heard they had a great time, that Sam Richards was the fastest driver, then Riley Bain, with Joseph Hansen taking the cake for craziest driver.

When dad got home, we got ready for Caitlyn's violin recital.  She's getting really good.  I was her accompanist.  The worry there is that I'll make a mistake big enough to throw her off, but all went well.  I did make mistakes, but they were small and only Caitlyn noticed.  

Following the recital we headed to the home show.  On the way I thought to myself, I wonder if there'll be any possibility we'll run into John and Dale Evans.  I dismissed the thought because it was ridiculous.  John and Dale (Dale is female) were our very close friends when we lived in Kearns, from just a year or so after we were married.  We have seen them maybe 5 times in the past 30 years.  Once was at Adrienne's reception, once at their only son's reception (who they adopted), and the other times we had run into them accidentally--Once at a chocolate expo, once at the Jordan Commons Theaters, and once at some other expo.  I think we visited them at their home once, too.  Anyway, as we were working our way down the aisles of the Home Show, there they were.  We had a short visit and then decided to meet for dinner when we were all done at the show.  We ate at a restaurant called Del Mar Al Lago Cebichiera Peruana.  It was wonderful to see John and Dale again.  They were our friends when Nick was born, and we were there when they adopted their son.  What's amazing, is that after all we've been through, and after all they've been through, and all the time we've lived apart, we can maintain a connection and sit down and visit and have it feel perfectly normal.  They still look the same as they did in 1985 when we moved to Atlanta (except that Dale's gone blond).

 Roy and I ordered a seafood sampler and it was fabulous.  I am definitely going back there sometime.  

Today, Caitlyn fulfilled her new calling for the first time--leading the music in Sacrament meeting.  She did fabulously.  Jennie sent me a compliment by text, leaving only a scripture reference: Alma 56:48, It says, "We do not doubt our mothers knew it."  I laughed because I thought she was finally admitting that I knew something, so I responded, "Ha ha ha"  She said, "What?  I'm saying that you taught me the gospel and I know that your testimony is true."  That made me feel really good.  I hope all of you know that I have a testimony of the true and living gospel of Jesus Christ that we are privileged to be a part of. 

 Here are some pictures sent to me during the week.

Max

Ruby

 We had a wonderful "Cafe Rio" homemade dinner at Adrienne's tonight in celebration of AJ's birthday.  

Adrienne and Finn

Yuna

Finn was grabbed from his bed just in time for this picture.  He was awake, luckily or unluckily,
because he had just blown out his diaper--which is why he is being held in such a way.

Ori can't work the child lock door knob.  She wanted to go outside.

Posing for grandma

Last thing:  Aubrey Guynn made Roy and I walking sticks.  Laura Guynn had a car accident a few months ago.  She is still recovering from the head injury she sustained.  I have taken up soup or leftovers a few times.  I wanted to and certainly didn't expect him to do this.  Anyway, I wanted you all to see a little of the intricate work he puts into these sticks.

Cook O Rama and General Conference

Happy Birthday to Ollie!!!  3 years old this week.

The two highlights of this week were, # 1) the Cook O Rama.  Nick and Sara came for the dinner, but no one else could make it.  I was really hoping to see Nan and Christine, but Nan went out of town at the last minute and Christine somehow didn't get the newsletter with the date, or the reminder. Laurel Jorgensen (1st cousin) and her husband, (David) came and we had a good time catching up.  She is Grant Cook's daughter.  You all should know Debbie Bori.  Laurel is her sister.  The Grant Cook Family have had many challenges.  Apparently, Debbie has been taking care of her daughter Jennifer, who has been very ill.  It has been a blessing in disguise as Jennifer and her husband (at her husband's instigation) left the church and have had little contact with Albert and Debbie. Sheri, Debbie's sister, also left the church, years ago, and joined with a very strange cult.  Laurel said that she has given all her money to the leader of the cult, and he has felt it his right to come and use the condo that belonged to Sheri's mother, where Margaret (another sister) is still living.  They have tried changing locks, getting restraining orders, and other things to protect Margaret (she's quite backward and is very dependent on others).  Sheri is very ill also.  She has a feeding tube and cares for herself.  Of course, no one in her cult has offered to help her out.

Last year, at the Cook O Rama, my Aunt Lois and her daughter-in-law, Kay Canning, came.  The speaker was much better this year. It was Bryson Cook and his wife Janis, recently returned from their mission in Zimbabwe, where he served as mission president for the past three years. Janis told of how they received their call.  They lived back east and they got a phone call where they were told that Elder Bednar wanted to speak with them.  They went into Boston where they were connected to him on a large TV monitor to be interviewed.  He asked them a lot of questions then said, "We might call you on a mission, we might not...don't call us, we'll call you."  Later they got a phone call from President Eyring.  They got a list of English speaking missions that needed mission presidents.  The joke in their family was that they would be called to the last place on the list--Zimbabwe.  Of course, it didn't turn out to be a joke. Bryson spoke on his mission experiences.  I wish I had taken notes, but I didn't.  I think it was recorded on someone's cell phone, and I saw Janet Porter (family genealogist) taking notes, so I will try and add some more information on his talk later.  He talked about the faithful missionaries, the spiritual receptiveness of the African people, their poverty, and the joy they found as missionaries, sharing the gospel there. He read us a letter from one of his missionaries.  He praised the young man (African) and his writing ability.  He said he wrote far better than the American missionaries because they all write like they text--no caps, no punctuation.  The young man wrote that he knew that the Lord was in charge and was always watching over them.  He told of an experience one day that they had while waiting for a bus (a van really, that is made for 10 people but usually transports many more than that at a time).  They got on the bus and, the young missionary said, "the people were fighting.  And guess what they were fighting over, President,--they were fighting over where the spirit goes when it leaves the body.  I said, 'Everyone, be quiet!  We have the answer to that question!'"  The missionary then proceeded to teach everyone in the van the Plan of Salvation.  He said that everyone was completely silent.  While the one missionary taught, the other quickly wrote contact information on all the the pamphlets they had.  All of the people on the van made the missionaries promise that they would come and teach them more.

The 2nd highlight of the week was General Conference.  I have some more thinking to do before I can tell you which talks stood out the most to me.  I was so impressed with the new apostles.  Yes, we are related to Elder Rasband.  I have heard from several of you that you received many texts from friends asking you that question.  Roy is 2nd cousins once removed, which makes you all 2nd cousins, twice removed.  He is 2nd cousins with grandpa Rasband.

Dad and I had a good time waiting for General Conference.  Crista didn't want to drive down for Conference, so we decided to go watch a session with her.  We thought it would be fun to stay at the Anniversary Inn the night before, watch the first session at the hotel, and then watch part of the afternoon session with Crista.  It turned out well for Crista and Matt, because they were able to buy a piano for a good price in South Jordan, but she needed a way to get it to Logan.  She had some piano movers bring it to our home and install it in a trailer, and we drove it up there for her.  It also worked well for us because we had a little alone time.  I told Dad maybe we shouldn't spend the money to stay there as it's a little expensive, etc.  He said it was worth it to him because he has my complete attention for a few hours.  Plus, we had a coupon.  We stayed in the Fire and Ice Room.  At first I didn't think I liked the room.  The air conditioning was on full blast when we got there, and with the icicle decorations, let me tell you--the room looked and felt freezing!  We turned up the heat and filled the tub with hot water, turned down the lights, and then it was warm and quite romantic with twinkling icicles all around the room.

Without flash

With flash

After checking into the hotel, we took the piano over to Crista's.  She had prepared a nice dinner for us.  Tomato soup, potatoes, and salad.  The tomatoes in the soup and salad were all from her garden.  We got to enjoy Ruby for a little bit, too.

Saturday morning, we watched the first session of conference, and at noon we went out to lunch with Matt and Crista.  After lunch we watched conference with them for another 1 1/2, then we had to leave to be able to make it to Ollie's birthday party at 5:00 (pictures at top of page).

Following the party, Roy, Caitlyn, myself, Nick, Dan, and Jieun and the girls went to our house.  The men watched the priesthood session of conference while the girls played some violin and piano, and cards.  Crista and Matt had not planned on coming down, but Matt's mom had a special event going on.  She had commissioned Annie Henrie to do a painting based on the Proclamation of the Family.  Crista and Matt were models for the painting.  The debut of the painting was the focus for Ladies Night Out at Deseret Book.  Janna bought the painting, but the deal she has with Annie Henrie is that she gets a portion of the proceeds, as it was her idea.  Annie was a friend of Elise's in Jr. High.  She's made quite a name for herself in the LDS art world.

Crista, Matt and Ruby.  Crista and Matt were models for this painting

Of course, Sunday we watched both sessions of conference, and then we had Sloppy Joes with several members of the family.  We were able to see everyone but Elise, Andy and Max sometime during the week.  However, we did receive a cute picture of Max today.  

You can see that he had had enough of General Conference as he fell asleep right in his lunch. :)

We are so grateful for all of you!  We are greatly blessed!