iFLY Utah!

Riley (13) and Hailey (12) both had birthdays in January. Deciding on birthday gifts is always a dilema, especially just after Christmas. We finally decided to take them to iFLY Utah! With piano lessons, YM, YW, our travels etc., we had a tough time getting our schedules together. Today we made it happen! Riley and Hailey both go to Spring Creek Middle School in Providence. After school they took the bus to our house and we drove to Ogden. Riley and Hailey gabbed the whole way down.

While I filled out the necessary paperwork and paid, Riley and Hailey watched some other people fly. That helped them know what to expect as they experienced indoor skydiving. Then it was their turn to go to 'flight school.' After that, they got all suited up for their adventure. They were both a little nervous. The company tries to sell DVDs of the flights and iFLY t-shirts but I declined. (way too expensive) The pictures below are not very good, but I tried. Besides shooting through thick plastic or glass, the rapid motion and lighting made picture-taking pretty difficult.

HAILEY

RILEY

Well, they survived and had a great time. Here they are with their certificates. They wish they had a lot of money to do it again and again. They would like to get as good as their flight instructor. He really put on a show for us. We went around to another door in the same building and watched the surfers for a few minutes. You should have heard these two kids laugh and chatter all the way home about the experience. They never shut up! Happy belated birthday!

Homemade Hot House

Sometimes when the growing season is a little short, you just have to be a little inventive. I planned on using hula hoops until I found some flexible pipe in Lowe's. Re-bar stakes were pounded in the dirt first. Then the pipe was put on the re-bar and bent over to the other side onto another piece of re-bar. Reed has a bunch of seeds started and placed under the plastic dome. Other things he planted earlier like peas, beets and radishes are coming up along the east side of our backyard garage.

Tanner's Baptism Day 4/11/09

It's Great to be Eight

We are proud of you, Tanner!

Tanner was baptized and confirmed by his father, Jory

Tanner showing me his sore tongue

OUCH! He bit it off!
What a goofball!

The babies

Miles and Brooklyn

Olivia and Owen

Hailey and Brooklyn

Jodi and Olivia (and Jill)

Hangin' out at the VanWagenen's home

Bryan and Brandon,

twin boys in blue,

born in 'seventy-two.
Can you tell who's who?

After Tanner's baptism and confirmation, we met at VanWagenen's home in West Jordan. We had sloppy joes and salads, chips and veggies. It was originally planned for the pavilion behind the church but the weather wasn't very cooperative. With family and friends, there must have been at least 45 people in the house.

The Hawkins Family visited from Oklahoma

Owen and Grandma ready for a ride

Miles had to have a turn too!



Olivia...dripping and drooling



Playing in the bed of the pickup



Captain Owen driving the boat

Owen, Brynlee, Jayse and Ashley at Riverwalk

Walks are more fun when you're carrying a stick

Before the Hawkins family left for American Fork to stay at Robin's, we tried to do a few last minute things. On the Riverwalk we saw many ducks, a few snakes and a couple of weasels. Owen, age 3, can recite four Articles of Faith. According to him, I am married to 'Grandpa Weed.' He is a little smarty pants. He writes and spells very well. Miles, 1 1/2, likes to make animal sounds. He is especially good at cow and horse sounds. He points out birds to us. He is very active and likes to be outside. Olivia, 9 months, seems very happy and content. She and Miles take long naps.

Conference Weekend

What a weekend! We certainly tried to listen to General Conference but with our crowd of 29, it was pretty noisy and nearly impossible. At least we got it recorded. Jodi, Ty, Owen, Miles and Olivia came from Oklahoma. They made our celebrations complete as it was the first time in nearly 5 years that the whole clan was together. We thank Jodi for arranging for family photos. We had pictures taken by Jodi's friend on Saturday after conference at the Logan Tabernacle. It was nearly an impossible feat to get everyone's schedules to allow for the photo shoot. The weather and some of the kids didn't cooperate the best, so we are keeping our fingers crossed and anxiously awaiting the proofs. The photographer says she can PhotoShop very well. After pictures we had a light supper of chicken salad croissant sandwiches, whipped lemon jello salad, potato chips and raw veggies. Dessert was chocolate ice cream and Milano cookies. Some of the guys had to leave early for General Priesthood Meeting. Most of the womenfolk and kids went swimming at the motel where Candace and family were staying.

This shows some of the family at the end of Saturday's meal. I could never get everyone in a single picture. Many of the kids don't settle down in one place long enough and my little camera doesn't do wide-angle shots.





After the first session of conference on Sunday we ate together. On the menu was ham with pineapple topping, funeral potatoes, peas, green salad, rolls and butter. Thank goodness for two refrigerators and two ovens! For dessert we had Katelyn's birthday cake.

Here is Katelyn with her birthday cake. She will be 3 years old on Tues., April 7th.

Robin lit the candles and everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to Katelyn.



After cleaning up, putting the tables and chairs away and loading the dishwashers, we had our annual Conlin Family Easter Egg Hunt. This year we divided the kids into two groups. The babies, Olivia and Brooklyn, didn't participate. Miles was a little young, but here is the next youngest group, ages almost 3-6 1/2, getting ready to hunt eggs...Brynlee, Landon, Kaden, Ashlyn, Katelyn and Owen.

With a little assistance from their parents, the little kids ran from egg to egg, picking up their prizes.

This is the 8-13 age group. From left to right: Ashley, Natalie, Hailey, Jayse, Tanner, Riley, Courtney and Mason.

Receiving final instructions from Aunt Jill...stay out of the garden area etc.

Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday

On Thursday Reed picked up a garbage can and recycling bin in Logan and delivered it to Jill and Brandon's home in Providence. He noticed the garage floor was a mess so we went back with the power washer and supplies. Reed swept and I used a screwdriver to scrape all the drywall mud and sheetrock adhesive from the garage floor. Then Reed used the power washer and I used the squeege. A van load of belongings was taken up to the house that night. The big move was on Friday. Most of the Schvaneveldt's belongings were moved from our house and their storage shed on Friday. Brandon rented a U-Haul, Reed used our pickup and ATV trailer, and Jill used the van. Bryan provided muscle power all day as well. The kids helped when they got home from school and I picked up Riley to assist too. A few guys from the Elders' Quorum in our ward came over to move the piano. What a lot of work! They stayed here Friday night and pulled out of here about 11 a.m. on Saturday morning. Kim and Ashley arrived to help them. Everyone's muscles are still sore. We are empty nesters once again! Natalie and Kaden will start going to Providence Elementary on Monday morning. Courtney and Hailey will still be at their same schools.


I was so delighted on Saturday that all the snow had melted from our lawn so I took a couple of pictures from the back porch. Reed was out raking and planting a few seeds.

Shucks! This is what the backyard looked like 24 hours later. I am sick and tired of snow. I can't wait for summer.

Ashley was in a dance competition on Saturday. Here she is all dressed in costume with her hair crimped and make-up on.

Good Bye Elder Hawkes

Today we attended funeral services for Stephen Hawkes of Richmond, Utah. He and his wife, Jennette, served with us at Heber Valley Camp. I didn't know until I read his obituary, but I went to school with two of his sisters, Carmen and Becky. It was good to see other Heber Valley Camp missionaries even though the circumstances that brought us back together weren't the best. We were able to briefly visit with Horners, Andersons, Spencers, Gurneys, Cefalos, Lessers,
Wagstaffs, Ballifs, Souths, Gregorys and Sister Forrester. The Egberts from the preceding year were there. Elder Egbert is the one who gave us a tour of the camp prior to putting our papers in. The funeral was nice and fitting; the displays were interesting; there were many beautiful floral offerings; a large crowd was in attendance and Steve looked good.

Goin' Home

The weather has been wonderful. There are trees in blossom everywhere and green leaves are coming out in full force. It gives me hope that spring will eventually arrive in Cache Valley as well. We have eaten out so much we will be rolling home...Texas Roadhouse, Applebee's, Chuck-A-Rama, Gun Barrel Restaurant etc. In Chuck-A-Rama we ran into Richard and Janice Zollinger and Bill and Karen Zollinger. Their mother had passed away and they were making funeral plans. As we were walking into the St. George Temple someone called our names. It was Jon Parker out for a walk. We are going out to eat lunch with Jon and Ronda tomorrow. In the evening we will grab a hamburger and go to a movie with Brent and Diane Ballard. We never did see Elder and Sister McArthur (Jill and Doug) although we passed their home in Santa Clara a couple of times. They live near Jacob Hamblin's home. We went to see Silver Reef ghost town, Red Cliffs, and Quail Creek State Park. Reed and Gary never did make it there to fish.

We were saddened by the news that one of our fellow Heber Valley Camp missionaries, Steve Hawkes, died yesterday. He had a very aggressive, malignant brain tumor. Steve and his wife, Jennette, lived in the cabin just east of us at HVC. They are from Richmond. We went to visit them at Christmastime. Steve and Jennette were not only close neighbors but they were in the same district we were in, so we often shared rides. They worked at Legacy Lake. Steve assisted our family when they stayed overnight at camp and went to the lake to use the paddleboats. Steve's funeral will be on Tuesday.

This is the view from our patio of one of the playgrounds and one of the pools. I made a very graceful entrance into the hot tub...I fell in with a splash.

Another pretty view from our patio

Our end unit patio is accessed from a patio door from either the bedroom (shown) or from the livingroom.

Quail Creek Reservoir

Nevada ride and hike 3/16/09

Vaughn and Susan Evans, fellow Heber Valley Camp Missionaries from Logandale, Nevada, invited a bunch of us on an ATV ride near Mesquite. We really enjoyed the beautiful surroundings and great company with Elder Evans, our expert guide.

Reed and Vaughn on one of our walks

On our exploration were: Gary and Suzanne Felter, Morris and Sharlene Mower, Reed and Kathy Conlin and Susan and Vaughn Evans

This rock looks like a lizard or dragon

We were taken to a very large sink hole out in the middle of the desert. Evidently the hole appeared out of the blue, back in the 1930's. There was a chainlink fence around the hole, which was about 100 feet deep and about 50-75 feet across. Elder Felter thought the bottom of the crater would make a wonderful place for a certain sister missionary.

Suzanne, Susan and Sharlene

Gary, Reed and Vaughn

Petroglyphs

Tailgate Party

For lunch we stopped and had a tailgate party. Especially good were these 'slammers' as Elder Felter called his creation. They are made with a Ritz cracker with cheese squirted on it, a hunk of imitation crabmeat, then topped with cocktail sauce. They can be messy so you have to 'slam' the whole thing in your mouth at once.

C.C.C. Work Project

Vaughn climbing the steps to "The Great Wall of Nevada"

Shar on the "dam" wall and Suzanne almost there.

The project included construction of dams and catch basins for rain and waterfall off the cliffs. Troughs were installed and the water was able to be used for raising livestock in the desert. I thought Obama could bring back the C.C.C. and put people to work filling in the huge crater we saw.

Shar and Vaughn exiting the dam site a different way.

Suzanne tore something in her knee when being pushed and pulled up a rock formation on one of our walks to see petroglyphs. She is now in a brace and on crutches awaiting further tests and a visit to an orthopedic surgeon. At the conclusion of the ride, the other missionary couples went into Mesquite to eat at a Mexican Restaurant. Reed and I beelined back to St. George. After a quick clean-up we met Brent and Diane Ballard at 'Texas Roadhouse' and then went to their home in Ivins to play games.