2011

THE YEAR IN REVIEW

Reed served as 1st counselor in the Bishopric of the 1st Ward in the Logan YSA 1st Stake. Therefore, church work, meetings and activities occupied a lot of our time. Sundays were an all day affair with bishopric meeting in the morning, the 3-hour block, ward prayer at night and other things in between. We hosted FHE in our home on Mondays, attended talent shows, linger-longers, planned pizza parties etc. It seemed like all we did was feed the students. Reed was also employed as a substitute school bus driver.

I enjoyed working at the Logan Temple two days a week. I served as secretary/treasurer of the Sunflower Camp of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers.

Our family did not grow in numbers during 2011. It looks like we’ve topped out at 31members. We are proud of our family and love them very much. Our 19 grandkids range in age from 1 to 16 years. They are growing up! We now have grandsons who are much taller and/or heavier than we are. We have 11 granddaughters: Courtney, Hailey, Ashley, Natalie, Ashlyn, Brynlee, Katelyn, Olivia, Brooklyn, Aubrey and Abby. Our 8 grandsons are: Riley, Mason, Tanner, Jayse, Kaden, Landon, Owen and Miles.

Grandson, Landon, was baptized in April. Niece, Staci, married Matt in May. Nephew, Brandon, got married to Maria in July and another nephew, Ben married Ally in October. Aunt Idella died in October.

We were in charge of the Ransom and Conlin Family reunions. Both were held at Willow Park in Logan. I, along with cousins Mary Ann and Jerry, started planning the Prigmore reunion for July 2012.

Perhaps the biggest news is that we sold our home in Nibley. We had lived there for 6½ years. We decided to downsize and not have as much money tied up in our home so we can travel and play more. We felt fortunate that with the state of the economy and housing market to have been able to sell our home on our own with just a sign in the yard and receive what we felt was a fair price. We moved in with Jill and Brandon and their family in Providence on June 1st. Turn about is fair play. (They lived with us while they built a new home) We had hoped the living arrangement would be short-lived but it didn’t turn out that way. Hunting for a home became a full-time job for us. In the end we couldn’t find anything we liked that would meet our needs and be in the price range we desired. We ended up starting construction on a new home in Smithfield in December. In the meantime half of our household goods, our pick-up, boat and 4-wheeler trailer are in storage units. Kim and Bryan are storing our shop and yard things. We sold some of our furniture with the house; we gave some of our belongings to the kids, donated to Deseret Industries and threw the rest of our junk away.

Without having our ‘toys’ with us, we didn’t do as much boating, fishing and 4-wheeling as we would have liked to have done. We usually go see about one movie per year. We actually went to three in 2011…”17 Miracles,” “The Help” and “Contagion.” What we did do a lot was go out to eat. And now we are fatter than ever!

By August I was released from the Temple, Reed was released from the Bishopric, I quit DUP and Reed gave up driving school buses. We hang out at the library and read lots of books but that doesn’t replace being busily engaged in something constructive. I look forward to having projects to do in a new home and yard and being involved in our own ward.

We enjoyed about 60 days of travel during the year. We had fun with family and friends. We saw many incredible sights and had great experiences. Details of these excursions are chronicled on my blog. In January we flew to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and embarked on a Panama Canal cruise. We made stops in the Bahamas, Aruba, Curacao, Panama and Costa Rica.

In March we drove to New Braunfels, Texas where we joined the Hawkins family. In San Antonio we went to the Alamo, the Riverwalk and San Antonio Temple. We visited Carlsbad Caverns on the way home.

In July we stayed a night in Boise, one night in Seattle, seven nights on an Alaskan cruise, five nights with the Coles on the Oregon Coast, another night in Boise and then home.

We attended our family camp-out up American Fork Canyon during August. We spent a night here or there in Salt Lake and a few nights in St. George.

Oh, and we finally got a texting plan.

The gospel is true, we have much to be thankful for, life is good but will be much better when we are settled in our own place.

P.S. Previously I have posted a reports on 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 but skipped over 2010. Well, I did write one paragraph a year ago but never finished it.

Miscellaneous

I think I forgot to post this picture earlier. On January 8th, Ashlyn's 8th birthday, Robin flew to California with Ashlyn. They did the California Adventure/Disneyland type things. Last Monday Andrew and Katelyn flew to California for a daddy-daughter date. Before they left they had to make a quick trip to the doctor to put a cast on Katelyn's arm. They had been waiting over the weekend for the swelling to go down. Darn monkey bars! This is her second broken arm. She picked out a bright pink cast and said she wants to get a green one next time. Andrew will be starting his new job in Salt Lake on February 6th. Aubrey has been working to be toilet-trained and is transitioning from the crib to a toddler bed. Ashlyn will be in a dance competition on the first Saturday of February so will be baptized on March 3rd. Ashlyn, Robin, Katelyn, Andrew, Aubrey


The sheetrock has been delivered to our home and the scaffolding has gone up so they can get ready to do the exterior. We had some major issues come up in regards to the house but we think we've got them ironed out with the builder, agent or whoever. There are still some things that tick me off but I'll skip the details. Hopefully we will move in sometime in March. Our house is on Coyote Ridge Drive. I was wondering how we should say 'Coyote.' I posed the question on Facebook and everyone who responded pronounces it using 3 syllables and long vowels: Ki-o-tee. I normally do the 2 syllable pronunciation with long vowels: Ki-ot. But what do I know? I say 'crick' instead of 'creek.' According to daughter, Robin, and granddaughter, Natalie, I mis-pronounce everything.


Brynlee is selling Girl Scout cookies. Thin Mints are my favorite. We've placed our order and if anyone wants to purchase some, let me know. We attended Riley's ordination as a priest. He is looking forward to his very first date...he has been asked to the Girl's Choice Dance, Sweethearts Ball or whatever it is called. Bryan is finally working days...12 hour shifts on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and every other Sunday.


Last Sunday we had our first experience on Skype. We talked to Jodi and the kids. Kind of fun!

On Wednesday we celebrated our 41st Wedding Anniversary. We went to a movie, "Incredibly Loud and Up Close." We thought it was pretty good. Then we had a rib dinner at Texas Roadhouse. 41 years ago I was attending USU, working at Steffen's Drug and living in my childhood home in Logan. Reed was working as a Teaching Assistant at WSU while pursuing a PHD in Pullman, Washington. Our first apartment was in Pullman. I got a job at WSU in the Political Science Dept. Then we moved back to Logan and lived on Darwin Avenue in one of dad's apartments. Reed had a job as an Research Assistant at USU and I painted apartments. We moved to another apartment in Logan, then down to Murray where Reed was an air pollution specialist for Salt Lake City/County Health Department. I worked a little while for Supreme Foods. Reed sold Prudential Insurance. We moved to a little old house in the northern end of Bountiful. Kimberly was born. We bought a duplex in the Val Verda area of Bountiful. Reed got a job as a Sanitarian for Bear River District Health Department so we moved back to Logan. Jill was born. We had a new home built in Millville. Robin was born. Reed worked as a lab supervisor at Dairy Herd Improvement Association. His office was on campus at USU. I was Millville Town Clerk. Candace was born. Reed obtained employment at Thiokol. Jodi was born. I managed apartments, worked at John D's TV, Moore Business Forms and Icon. We spent the bulk of our married life (nearly 30 years) in our home in Millville and Reed spent the bulk of his working career (nearly 30 years) at ATK/Thiokol. We moved to Nibley for 6 1/2 years. We retired. We moved temporarily to Providence. We are moving to Smithfield. This sums up our moves and jobs but leaves everything else out. We are best friends and we do everything together. We have been blessed and have so much to be thankful for.

We haven't had a big accumulation of snow so far this winter. The temperatures have often been warmer than usual and precipation arrives as rain. Because the ground is frozen the rain has caused lots of flooding. Many Cache communities have had problems. Mendon has been hit particularly hard. There are still road closures, muddy messes, ruts along the sides of roads and sandbags all over the place. Bear Lake did not freeze over. It remains open water.

When ordering food at a place such as Arctic Circle, the person behind the counter asks for a name to call when it is ready. The name is written on the order receipt and placed on the tray. We are amazed at how difficult the name, 'Reed' must be to some people. Often it has to be repeated several times. Recently when we have received our order we have been surprised to see 'Weed' and 'Ree.'

I was thinking the other day that 2012 is a year of 'milestone' birthdays in our family. Church-wise, Ashlyn and Brynlee will turn 8 and be baptized. Tanner and Jayse will both reach the age of 12 and graduate from Primary. They will receive the Aaronic Priesthood and be ordained as deacons. I already mentioned that Riley is now a priest.

Bryan, Brandon and Kim will each turn 40! (niece Jennifer too)

Two old geezers, Gary and Reed, have the same 'biggie' birthdays in May and June.

I have a brother who will be 55, a sister who will be 60 and another sister who will be 65! I could go on and on but will quit here.

New Blog

I am soon coming to the storage limit on my blog account. My account consists of four family history blogs, one about our Nibley home, plus this personal, private blog. I had a blog of our YSA Ward at USU too. I deleted it when I maxed out my account, thus allowing me to continue for a while longer. I hadn't realized that every blog under one email address counts toward the total space allowed. Anyway, I have another blog set up and I have two posts on it. The name of it is "The Conlin Chronicles II." I tried to make it easy to remember so instead of 'kathyreedc.blogspot.com,' the new one is 'reedkathyc.blogspot.com.' I don't need it right now and I haven't privatized it yet so anyone can get on it. I think I have only 5 or 6 regular readers but if you would like to have an invitation to my newest blog when I make it private, please send me an email request. In the meantime, I will still use my original blog.

Progress Report

349 Coyote Ridge Drive, Smithfield, Utah 84335

(349 South 1100 East)

January 13th

Roof sheeting complete,

last wood edging above garage being placed

January 19th

Metal strips on roof edge and tar paper are on. Worker is up on the roof shingling. Main bath tub/shower is installed as is most ductwork and 'mechanical' stuff. All but a few of the windows have been put in. We mainly do 'drive-bys' as we are not supposed to be on site while workers are present.

January 21st

The front entry door and man door in garage were installed yesterday. The furnace is in, most of electrical and plumbing are done. We have the typical frustrations of building a home. We are making them change out two windows already. We thought it is a 'no-brainer' to have windows that open in the bathrooms but fixed 'picture' windows were installed. We'd like a couple more electrical outlets and phone and cable jacks put in. The north slope of the roof is the only remaining side without shingles. I think it is a miracle they even got the rest done with the massive amounts of precipitation we've been having.

Taking Shape

When we returned from vacation we were happy to see that our house is mostly framed and enclosed. Yahoo! Here are the progress pictures:

Front - faces East

South and East sides

Another front shot

East and North sides

One of the front windows will be in a spare bedroom,

the other will be for our computer room.

The lone window on the north is a bathroom.

Back side - West

The main floor windows are as follows: (L - R)

Master bathroom, next two are master bedroom,

the triple window is the living room,

the next one is the dining area.

There is a covered deck on the SW corner

off from the patio door in the dining area.

On our way home...

All good things must come to an end. It is time to put our swimming suits, shorts and sandals away and head back to snow and cold temperatures at home. We had a great time in sunny and warm southern California. We did lots of reading, resting and relaxing. Our first stop on the way home was at the Redlands California Temple. I know, just as Reed says, they all look alike if the landscaping is removed. It is just something I like to do...visit as many temples as I can. I think I've made it to about 43 temples so far. I'm glad Reed puts up with this little quirk of mine.

Next we made a quick stop at the outlet stores in Barstow, CA. We had lunch in Silverton, NV. After that we visited Vaughn and Susan in Logandale, NV. They generously gave us some frozen pomegranate juice and raspberry/pomegranate jam from the pomegranates they grow.
When we got to St. George we checked into the motel, changed our shorts and sandals into long pants and shoes, grabbed a jacket and walked to Iggy's. There we met the Gary and Suzanne (above) and Shar and Morris (below) and enjoyed dinner and visiting. These three couples served with us at Heber Valley Camp.

Tomorrow it will be "Home again, home again, jiggidy jog".

Riley

In honor of our oldest grandson's 16th birthday I am posting some pictures of him that were taken during the past few years. Riley David Johnson was born in Logan, Utah on January 9, 1996 to Kim and Bryan. He is now tall and lanky at 6'2." (I don't think he got many of his genes from us) Riley is a good kid and we think he is pretty special. He will soon be ordained a priest. Watch out, he got his driver's license today! And watch out girls, he is officially old enough to date! HaPpY BiRtHdAy RiLeY!!!

Visitors

We were happy to have Mike and Linda over for a visit. They live in Corona, which is about an hour and a half away from Indio. It was really good to see them. We went to eat at a seafood restaurant. We were celebrating Mike's birthday which is on the 10th.

Palm Springs Aerial Tram

On the way to Palm Springs we passed thousands and thousands of windmills. I have never seen so many.We drove from the valley floor which is about sea level to the station where we took an aerial tram to Mount San Jacinto State Park. There are two 80-passenger enclosed cars that rotate 360 degrees. The tram goes from an elevation of 2,643 to 8,516. After we got to the top we went on a hike. Some of the trails were covered with ice and snow and were very slippery.



We stopped to eat at PF Changs in Rancho Mirage. After the sun went down we went out to soak our sore muscles in the hot tub. Enjoyable day.

Glimpses of WorldMark Indio

Here are some pictures taken in and around WorldMark Indio. Everything is so pretty and the temperatures are perfect. I know the temperatures at home have been unseasonably warm as well. We hope the builders can make some headway on our house while the sun shines. We have been sitting on our deck to have breakfast, flip burgers on the grill or read a book. We overlook a hot tub, two swimming pools and a splash pad. The first four pictures were taken while on a walk just before sunset. The first two show the view on my right, the resort property from a distance. The next two are taken from the same place but represent the view on my left. What a contrast!