Various Pictures

 Tut, sleeping on the cool apple slices

 Looks like Leto is eating Paige's arm

(it's actually behind his muzzle)

 Hunter and Grandma

 Bethany and Josh bring me a birthday cake!

                                One of the ponies next to where Dallin and Haley are renting

 A fishing trip to Haley and Dallin's place

for my birthday!

 Who is that mysterious man under my hat? :)

 Hunter playing with Leto

 Dallin fishing with us

 Haley joined in, too

Mark caught two fish

Dallin caught one

Everyone had lots of bites

except me

but I had lots of fun and Mark did too!

 These are pictures from the Sounds Choir performance

of The Music Man

Melinda invited me along

Maria Hart and her dad were performers

and it was such a good show

Sis. Harshbarger sewed lots of the costumes, too

More pictures to come!

xoxoxo

July 22, 2013

Dear Seth,

How are you?  We loved your letter – thank you!  It made us miss you a bunch, and we did tell Leto how much you love him.   He is kinda spoiled, in terms of going everywhere we go.  Mark will keep the car running (with Mark in the car) to keep Leto cool, while I go in to the drs.’ Office for an appt.  Today the Diabetes Educator came out to see Leto, and we had him get out of the car.  Everyone always admires him.

Tut doesn’t know how much you miss him yet – we’ll have to work on that.

Cameron and Janik just left from visiting us with their kids.  You know they adopted Stephanie’s little girl, right?  Well, she was sealed to their family in the Rexburg Temple on Saturday.  We went there and Mark was a witness to the sealing.  They can sort out any of the details on Heaven, later on; at least she is sealed in the family, and that’s great.  Their kids are so sweet.

Last Thursday we went out to Haley and Dallin’s for an outdoor birthday party for Hunter’s 4th birthday.  It was perfect in the shade of the house.  (Did I tell you that they’re buying a house near Kattie and Ben’s?  That’s so cool!)

The last of the relatives left us last Wednesday.  Megan and Brooks drove all night to get to Grandpa Cripe’s house.  They stayed in a motel that next night, and they got to swim in the evening and the morning before they left there.  Then they ate out with Grandpa and took off for home, driving till the wee hours.  I haven’t talked to her since they got back, but I know they had a fun trip, just visiting people and not hurrying.

While they were here, they went to the splash park in Rexburg a couple of times, and I went to Yellowstone with Brooks and Megan and his side of the family (plus the kids).  We hiked around on the walkways and saw Old Faithful go off twice, really high and full.  It was awesome. 


We walked around the hot pots and lots of steaming geysers that were resting, but bubbling.  Those were cool!

It’s also fun to talk to the other people from all over the world.  I met some people from South Africa, originally from China.   People were very open and friendly, like they were at the Olympics and other places with a varied crowd.
Makes me feel all peaceful and happy inside.  That’s what the whole world should be like.

The fireworks were good this year.  They were an hour late because a man drowned.  (Sad)  Did I already tell you that?  Bonnie and Dennis plan to come up next year, too.  And Megan and Brooks are coming, and probably John and Ireta and some of their grown kids.  They were so great to have; just super-nice, all of them.

So now it’s much quieter, without little kids waking us early, tapping softly on our door and coming in to play with toys.  That was so enjoyable. 

We hope you are doing well.  Are there any books you want?  We’ll see if we can get them for you.  And remember your promise to at least read Third Nephi.  Read and pray and God will answer your prayers, I know.

We are supposed to hear by tomorrow about a job in No. Idaho for Mark.  If not, he’s working on another, all administrating assisted living facilities.  I want the one in Idaho!!

Ben and Linda’s baby is doing fine, but she had a really rough patch after we sent your last letter, so keep her in your prayers, and also us.  We’re getting close to the end of our rope, so we really need your prayers to help us get a job!
I’m reading Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy right now, for book club.  I’m enjoying it so far.  It’s interesting to see how his personal philosophy comes through in his writing, as he has the characters discuss the issues of their day and as they make their choices and what comes of them.  It’s very detailed, yet doesn’t tell too much.  There’s a mystery about Anna that mesmerizes others, and the reader, I believe.  I’m very interested in the characters’ lives!

Keep your spirits up and keep learning and growing, Seth.  There’s a much wider world out there for you to excel in.  Keep building your character and it will stand you in good stead.  Take pride in your ancestors and your heritage of hard-working, honest people, and decide the things that you will and won’t do and be, no matter what, for the rest of your life. 
You can decide other things later, but those essential choices about yourself can be made and committed to now.  Stay loyal to those, and let the chips fall where they may, you will still be standing, unshakeable, to the end.  You will feel those choices and your loyalty carrying you through, and you will have your self-respect.

We love you, and so does Leto and maybe Tut. (jk)
Doc and Mommy, and Tut and Leto

Seth Letter

July 22, 2013

 

Dear Seth,

 

How are you?  We loved your letter – thank you!  It made us miss you a bunch, and we did tell Leto how much you love him.   He is kinda spoiled, in terms of going everywhere we go.  Mark will keep the car running (with Mark in the car) to keep Leto cool, while I go in to the drs.’ Office for an appt.  Today the Diabetes Educator came out to see Leto, and we had him get out of the car.  Everyone always admires him.

 

Tut doesn’t know how much you miss him yet – we’ll have to work on that.

 

Cameron and Janik just left from visiting us with their kids.  You know they adopted Stephanie’s little girl, right?  Well, she was sealed to their family in the Rexburg Temple on Saturday.  We went there and Mark was a witness to the sealing.  They can sort out any of the details on Heaven, later on; at least she is sealed in the family, and that’s great.  Their kids are so sweet.

 

Last Thursday we went out to Haley and Dallin’s for an outdoor birthday party for Hunter’s 4^th birthday.  It was perfect in the shade of the house.  (Did I tell you that they’re buying a house near Kattie and Ben’s?  That’s so cool!)

The last of the relatives left us last Wednesday.  Megan and Brooks drove all night to get to Grandpa Cripe’s house.  They stayed in a motel that next night, and they got to swim in the evening and the morning before they left there.  Then they ate out with Grandpa and took off for home, driving till the wee hours.  I haven’t talked to her since they got back, but I know they had a fun trip, just visiting people and not hurrying.

While they were here, they went to the splash park in Rexburg a couple of times, and I went to Yellowstone with Brooks and Megan and his side of the family (plus the kids).  We hiked around on the walkways and saw Old Faithful go off twice, really high and full.  It was awesome. 

We walked around the hot pots and lots of steaming geysers that were resting, but bubbling.  Those were cool!

It’s also fun to talk to the other people from all over the world.  I met some people from South Africa, originally from China.   People were very open and friendly, like they were at the Olympics and other places with a varied crowd.

Makes me feel all peaceful and happy inside.  That’s what the whole world should be like.

The fireworks were good this year.  They were an hour late because a man drowned.  (Sad)  Did I already tell you that?  Bonnie and Dennis plan to come up next year, too.  And Megan and Brooks are coming, and probably John and Ireta and some of their grown kids.  They were so great to have; just super-nice, all of them.

So now it’s much quieter, without little kids waking us early, tapping softly on our door and coming in to play with toys.  That was so enjoyable. 

We hope you are doing well.  Are there any books you want?  We’ll see if we can get them for you.  And remember your promise to at least read Third Nephi.  Read and pray and God will answer your prayers, I know.

We are supposed to hear by tomorrow about a job in No. Idaho for Mark.  If not, he’s working on another, all administrating assisted living facilities.  I want the one in Idaho!!

Ben and Linda’s baby is doing fine, but she had a really rough patch after we sent your last letter, so keep her in your prayers, and also us.  We’re getting close to the end of our rope, so we really need your prayers to help us get a job!

I’m reading Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy right now, for book club.  I’m enjoying it so far.  It’s interesting to see how his personal philosophy comes through in his writing, as he has the characters discuss the issues of their day and as they make their choices and what comes of them.  It’s very detailed, yet doesn’t tell too much.  There’s a mystery about Anna that mesmerizes others, and the reader, I believe.  I’m very interested in the characters’ lives!

Keep your spirits up and keep learning and growing, Seth.  There’s a much wider world out there for you to excel in.  Keep building your character and it will stand you in good stead.  Take pride in your ancestors and your heritage of hard-working, honest people, and decide the things that you will and won’t do and be, no matter what, for the rest of your life. 

You can decide other things later, but those essential choices about yourself can be made and committed to now.  Stay loyal to those, and let the chips fall where they may, you will still be standing, unshakeable, to the end.  You will feel those choices and your loyalty carrying you through, and you will have your self-respect.

We love you, and so does Leto and maybe Tut. (jk)

Doc and Mommy, and Tut and Leto

 

The Values We Cherish

As you probably know, Mark has been unemployed for almost a year, and we've lost our Homestead Exemption on our home mortgage, and many of our resources are running dry; right now we're facing a tough row ahead if we don't find work, and pronto!   I say this, not because it's unusual, because of course it isn't, but because we recently found about a way to work things that would save us a lot of money over the next year or so, and it doesn't involve fraud or breaking the law.  It's just morally wrong.

It seems quite morally ambiguous, and even harmless on the surface.  But as I sat thinking about it tonight, I remembered my Dad and how you could call him even stubbornly honest, he was so scrupulous about it.  And he would tell me stories about Abraham Lincoln or William Wallace or someone he knew after he joined the church that he really admired, and I could feel how much those men meant to him, and how much he wanted to be like them - and that meant a lot to me.

Dad also took care of the shopping and transportation or gardening help for many elderly widows, all without anyone else's knowledge.  And if he saw or heard someone in need, he didn't hesitate to help them at all.  He taught us to push cars, shovel snow, carry boxes, and move plants.  Once, he carried an elderly lady's giant white stove up three flights of stairs on his back - he was reallly strong.

No wonder...he worked hard!

Mom was right there by his side, just as honest and just as hard-working.  He used her for his referral source, or you might say, need-finder.  She'd tell him about someone in need and off he'd go, alone or (usually, unless she was unwell, with Mom).  For much of my childhood we kids would wait in the car as she visited with the needy or helped someone who was ill.   

Their whole lives they spent countless hours in service of all kinds.  They believed in basic values like patriotism and raising your children to be good citizens and learning first aid and volunteering.  The things they taught me and that I saw them do have made me who I am.  I am so grateful for that foundation in my life.  I know the roots of that foundation go back generations and generations, and that our children are teaching their children those same values.  They are so precious and important!

As I thought of these things, I didn't even have to pray about what I would do, and I knew Mark would feel the same way, because he'd been raised by the same type of people.  And I also knew that this is the kind of challenge we will face in the future.  Now is the time for us to decide, ahead of time, whether we'll be the ones fighting over the food or sharing with others.  That's what happens when resources get scarce.

Lots of people nowadays think that that kind of thinking belongs in the last century, that you should work all the angles, but I bear you my testimony that we have been taught better than that and a higher standard of behavior is required of us.  We are men and women with compassion and dignity, and we are honest people.  Let's not sell our heritage for a mess of pottage like Esau did.  Let's be "true to the truths that our parents have cherished" in all our dealings, to the best of our ability, no matter what the cost. 

We love you!  Please pray for each other!

xoxoxo

Dear Seth (pictures separate or added later)

Dear Seth,

So many things have been happening and I’ve wanted to tell you about all of them.  I’ve wanted to blog and I haven’t even done that.  Not because I was busy, but because I become overwhelmed with things to tell about.  Anyway we’re missing you and wish you could be here for everything.  How are you doing?  It turned really hot here for a while.  It’s a little better now.  We had my birthday and the girls got me a book by my favorite author, Jeanette Walls, and I got to go fishing at Haley’s’.  Ben and Linda gave me a DVD of Lincoln, and they bought me a cake.

For father’s day, Mark got a tie and a kitchen knife from me.  I don’t remember what he got from other people.

My cousin Bonnie and her husband came to stay for several days, as well as my cousin John Ringer and his wife and a son and his wife.  Megan and Brooks decided suddenly to come to Idaho for the 4^th also.  It was really nice where we are now, to have rooms for everyone even if they had to sleep on the floors.  I had a really nice visit with the cousins and we exchanged a lot of memories about my grandmother.  My uncle Gene was John’s father, who died when he was like four.  Bonnie is a big Karaoke fan so we all had to sing Karaoke.  We also went to the Temple grounds and Megan took pictures of each family group. 

Bonnie and her husband had to fly out the afternoon of the 4^th and MISSED the fireworks!  However, John and all his family were here for them and he said in his 54 years he’s never seen anything like it, so we were adequately pleased with ourselves.  He said it made the “Stadium of Fire” celebration (Provo) look like a backyard display.

Since the 4^th, Megan and Brooks have spent time with his family, at Mel’s, and today they are at Haley’s for the day.

Ben and Linda had to have the baby 2 months early because it wasn’t receiving the nutrition it needed and wasn’t growing. It was 3 lbs., 3 oz.  It will be in the Neo-natal ICU for about 8 weeks, but is doing fine.  Her name is Caitlin Vernice and she has golden blonde hair and looks great – not like a normal premie.

Megan says:

Hello Sethy Woo,

Spank you for the letters.  We’ve wanted to write for a long time.  We like hearing what life is like there.  We spontaneously decided to drive to Idaho and have been having lots of fun here.  We’re staying at Grandpa Doc’s.  We’ve taken the kids to the splash park several times (Rexburg) and the Carousel.  We had Anya’s 5^th birthday and today we’re going to visit Haley.

Sabriel is 2 now and talks a lot.  You better learn Spanish while you are in there because Brooks only speaks Spanish to her and she understands everything he says.  It took us 34 hours of driving to get here. 

I saw a picture of a baby that looks just like you but with red hair - now we know what you’d look like if you were a girl.  Anya starts kindergarten this fall, and I’ll be in my second semester of nursing school so we’re going to be very busy.

Bye Bye,

Megan

This is your mother writing again.  I apologize again for the long wait between letters, and I’ll try not to do that again.  I’m exercising, testing more frequently, and counting carbs, so I might even be clear-headed in the future!

We love you bunches and lots!!

We’re thinking of you and keeping you in our prayers.

Love,

Doc (who wrote this out and added his own bits), Mommy, Megan

And Everybodeee!!