Merry Christmas

For Christmas this year the entire family went up Mary Elizabeth and Spencer's house for Christmas. We all got there on Christmas Eve and had a nice dinner and played games late into the night. The next morning Ayden got us up bright and early, He is 3 years old now and so excited for Christmas. This is one of those Christmases that I will always remember it was a joy being around family and grand kids are the absolute best.

Every time we have a family Christmas - Becky and Monica like to make some kind of a gag gift to for us to open on Christmas year. One year they made matching pj bottoms, another time we got matching pillow caes. this year they made matching tee shirts using a old family picture and photo shopping in pictures of Sean, spencer, Joe and Chris (our foster son) I thought it was pretty ingenius and like the idea.



As you can see the girls were much better sports with the cool family teeshirts

Moving and Birthdays

Well we had a long weekend this last week. Sean and Monica Closed on their new home and we went up to help them make the move. We went up Wednesday. We were planning on going up in the morning but before we could get out of here we lost power in the house. Someone crashed their truck into a power pole, one pole away from the one by our house and broke it in half. The lines were down and a fence caught fire on the other side of the street. We had a hard time getting out of our driveway, but finally did. Monica had most things packed up when we arrived and Sean had things pretty well packed in the garage. We took Loaded and unloaded two big uhaul trucks, my van three times and their pickup truck twice, before the Elders quorum got there that night. I was beat, my only consulation was Sean seemed to be really tired as well. Although he helped the elders load and unload the uhaul truck, while I sat around, for the most part. Truth is my wife said I had to stop, but she didn't have to talk to hard.

I am getting ahead of myself, the first night we just watched the little ones, while Sean and Monica packed a little. Then we went to Seans baseball game and were entertained both by the game and by watching Batman playing in the dirt.



Sean did fantastic at the game, scoring 3 of the 14 runs they had, stopping many balls at third base and busting open his finger. They won I think 14 - 3. Good job Sean.

Monica did get a little carried away on her packing. She was very efficient maybe too much so. Because latter we found Ayden a little surprised in one of the boxes.



Gayelene had brought up a quilt she had made for Gavin. She was very proud of it and Gavin seemed to enjoy it as well. I think Gavin slept through most of the move, which was his job anyway. I can't believe how good my grandchildren are.

We just puttered around the next day, unpacking and putting things together and organizing. I think we only had a couple of small loads the next day, but I enjoyed so much working with Sean putting things together and doing little odd projects. We put together their new Ikea dresser, the crib, their bench, cut down the tv entertainment center and moved boxes around in the house and garage. I must have carried and hiked the stairs a hundred times that day. But it was amazing how much we got done, when the four of us went to work.

I have a story to tell too. During the move when all the elders got to their house we were waiting around to head over to the apartment to get that load. We were standing around in the garage, when Ayden came out of the house to the garage and announced at the top of his lungs, "That is my Grandpa" and points at me. Nobody was listening, so he yelled it again and again, until everyone knew. I was beaming from ear to ear. I love my Grandchildren.

Sean and Monica took such good care of us, we had fun with them, ate like kings, and worked like slaves, and totally loved every minute of it. It was hard to leave, but we left tired and happy. The house is beautiful and they are in. Congradulations.

Next we made it to Spencer and Mary Elizabeths, for the boys birthday. We got there and they fed us dinner and we talked for awhile in the new basement with Aunt Wendy and her husbad. Becky was there and she had made a cake for the boys. It is a transformer cake. We sang the boys happy birthday and Becky puts this big piece of cake in front of both boys. It was more like four pieces of cake and let the boys have at it.



Pen went to it like it was his last piece he would ever have and loved it, kind of made a mess of himself and the whole kitchen. At one time picking up the whole piece and stuffing it in his face.



Logan was different he played with it but kept teasing us looking like he was going to eat a piece and then setting the piece down. Finally he got a bite and then he liked it. But still ate it with one pinky finger in the air. The perfect gentleman.



Of course after cleaning the boys up there was presents to open and play with.



They both had a great time and were a joy to watch.





We loved our time with everyone, but boy were we worn out. What a great thing to visit everyone, and what a great thing to get home and rest.

Vacation

As you may or may not know Dad and I just got back from a wonderful vacation to visit Candis, Joe and Alexis. Alexis is just as cute as ever, smiling all the time and was a joy to be around. Candis and Joe took us all over the place and we got to see so many sites. Here are some pictures that we took but they are not in any order. Check out Candis' blog for additional fun things that we got to do. We basically went to 4 different sites - Philidelphia, Washington D.C., New York and Gettysburg. I have never been to the first three places and Daryl hasn't been to any of the places, so it was all new and a great experiences to see.

We spend a day in New York City and saw many amazing things. Here is a picture of Dad and I at the Empire State building. While in New York we rode the subway, and train. We saw the Empire State Building, Ground Zero, Time Square, Grand Central Station and ate a hot dog from a street vendor in Central Park. It is an amazing place and the people in New York were really willing to help you find the different locations and help get you on the right subway. I was not expecting that, I heard that New York people were not nice and you shouldn't bother them because they would be rude. But thank goodness that wasn't the case.



We spend the fourth of July in Gettysburg, where Daryl and Joe got to visit the museum. We walked through the cemetery and saw the spot were Abraham Lincoln delivered the famous Gettysburg address. Joe took us around the battlefield and explained what happened during the 3 day battle. Joe is amazing in his knowledge of the Civil War. Thanks for making it come alive Joe. After Gettysburg we went to Liberty Park where you could see the Statue of Liberty and the skyline of New York City and watch the fireworks. What an experience and what a great back drop for the 4th of July fireworks. In the distance we could also see the fireworks going off at Central Park. Thank you Joe for driving into that so we could have that experience.



We spent one day in Washington D.C. that was a lot of fun. We did so much. We saw all the war monuments. the Lincoln, Washington and Thomas Jefferson memorials and also the American History Smithsonian. We visited the National Archives were we saw the original Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights and even ate a hot dog from a street vendor. The following picture is of Candis, Alexis and I sitting on the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial. Everyone sits there in the movies so we had to join along as well.



In Philidelphia we visited the Liberty Bell (following picture is of Daryl and I by the Liberty Bell). We saw Independence Hall, and ate at the famous Jim's Steak were we had the original Philly Cheese Steak and it was delicious.



We had a really great vacation and appreciate Joe and Candis for letting us come for a visit and for showing us around. Candis your an excellent tour guide (Joe had to work part of the time we were out there) and so nice of you to go back to different places that you had already been so we could see them as well.

Youth Conference

Well I got invited to youth conference again. Bishop called me up Wendesday and asked if I couldn't go to youth conference to help out. It was at Camp William this year. The kids did all kinds of fun things before I got there including games, repelling off a tower, and swimming. By the time I got there they were just finishing up swimming.

As always it is a lot of hard work, here are some of our helpers in the kitchen. I mostly stayed with the youth, but did a little in the kitchen.




As you can tell we had good eats. Kids always make it fun but especially when it comes to food.





After the food came our guest speaker, it was Lavel Edwards. I can certainly see why he was a coach and a good one. It was quite motivating, and several great messages. After that a testimony meeting.




We Slept in the barricks at the camp. The adults and boys together, on the main floor and the Girls and their leaders on the second floor. It wasn't too bad. The next day packed up, cleaned up and went through the open house at the Oquirrh temple. Kind of a short trip, but worth while. I am glad the Bishop thought of me to help out.

The Perfect Day

Dad and I had a perfect day, believe it or not, and I wanted to share with you what it was all about. It started out by being woken by two little voices (Penn and Logan) talking to each other. So we quickly jumped up and retrieved the boys to our bed. We played with them for a little while, it was so much fun and brought back a lot of memories of when our girls were little and we used to do the same thing. Then it was time to help Mary Elizabeth feed the boys and then cook breakfast. Meanwhile Dad was downstairs helping Spencer hang some doors in the basement in preparation to getting their new carpet in. - See it was a perfect morning.

Then we headed off to Mantua to do some 4-wheeling. I haven't been able to go 4-wheeling since May of 2007 and I was excited to do so. We invited Dad Gudmundson and Judy to go with us. This is one of the first times that Judy has done anything like this. We put Grandpa and Judy on the yellow Honda 4 wheeler and we were on the red suzuki and off we went. It was on a groomed trail and a perfect day. All the way up the mountain I was telling Daryl that there had to be bugs in my teeth because I could not stop smiling I was having so much fun. So image my surprise when we finally reached the top of the mountain and Judy told me that she did not understand why people enjoyed 4 wheeling so much. To her it was miserable and she was not having any fun. We could not make it all the way to Inspiration Point becuase there was still way too much snow on the road. So we stopped for lunch (it was Subway sandwiches). I love subway sandwiches so that just added to the perfectness of the day. We took the following pictures and walked around for a little while.



This is the scenery from where we stopped for lunch. Notice the heart shape tree off to the right of the picture. It was beautiful. We could see all the way down into Pineview Reservior in Ogden canyon.


This is a picture of dad and I in the meadow.

This one is of Dad, Grandpa Gudmundson and Judy right after we reach this space. The sign told us we were at 9,300 feet above sea level. What a beautiful place.

After we ate lunch we traveled back down the mountain, where I relectedly let dad drive. So you can see we had a perfect afternoon.

Now it was time to head home. Dad and I were both so exhausted that we didn't make it all the way home before we knew we had better pull off the road and take a quick nap. We were on the Legacy highway and able to pull off at a rest area. We both laid back in our seats and were sound asleep. After awhile I woke up because it was so hot and had to move around to cool off. Dad joined me and then we were able to continue our ride home. As you can see it was the perfect afternoon.

Now the Temple was closed for cleaning this Saturday, June 27. So Daryl and I had decided it would be a great day to visit the Draper Temple and see all our friends that were transferred to that temple from the Jordan River Temple. I cut Daryl's hair and he cut mine (which added to the perfect day) and we got ready to go to the temple. The Draper Temple really is hard to find. You have to be on the right road or you cannot get up to it. Since this was our first trip to that temple, it took several wrong roads and extra time to get there. By the time we arrived the session was full so we did sealings (that was the only option available). But let me tell you, from the minute we walked into the temple we were bombarded with friends that we used to work with at the Jordan River Temple. It was wonderful to see them all again and feel of their love. We were able to do the sealings and then we went to the Celestial room to enjoy the Spirit and talk about Spiritual things. While in the Celestial Room, Sister Koch came up to us (she used to work in the Jordan River Temple) and told us that we would be eternal friends because of the relationship we had with her and her husband in the opportunity of being temple workers. You know we felt the same way. The Temple has the best people working their and it is a honor and privilege to be able to work with them. We have made many special friends while having this opportunity. - what a perfect evening.

After the temple it was late and we hadn't had time for dinner so we stopped by the Golden Corral for dinner which just added to our perfect day.

Baby Gavin

Gavin with grandpa

WE have some exciting news. Monica and Sean had a little baby boy on June 15, 2009. we were able to go visit them this past weekend and I must say that Gavin Kendall is absolutely beautiful and perfect and is way loved by his Grandparents. He weight in at 9 pounds 14 oz. and 21.5 inches long. We will be going up to stay with them to help out the end of July and I am already excited to be there. Grandchildren are the absolutely best things ever. Its your reward for having children.

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The other day I was driving the van home from work and one of the ladies in the van was talking about how she has made it a goal to work in the yard for 15 minutes a day. I thought what a great idea and so Daryl and I decided to implement it. As any of you know, that know my husband, he is a hard worker and once he gets started he doesn't quit. Anyway we have been working in the yard, I work for 15 minutes and Daryl just keeps going until it gets dark and he can't see to do anymore. The best thing about this is that tons of stuff is getting done around the yard. We have pulled all the weeds in the swimming pool and put black plastic down to keep the weeds under control. We have pulled weeds by our few raspberry plants and planted 6 tomato plants- which I am way excited about. Daryl has moved a fence post so he can construct a gate into our back yard and has cut down branches off a pine tree that gets in the way. He is currently working on a new flower bed in our front yard under the guest bedroom which is staring to look really nice. I think the thing I love the most is that the front flower bed by the porch is now finished and boy does it look nice. He did such a wonderful job, I am so proud of the look, I know it adds alot to the front yard. Hope you all can see what a great job he did.

Scout Court of Honor

Last night dad received an district scout award for his service as a Scout master. It was really neat for him to be recognized in this way - he sure deserved it. He has been involved with scouting for 30 years now and has had a influence for good on more young men then I could possibly count. But last night after he received his award he paid special recognition to me and I thought I would like to share it with everyone. I cried all the way through it. I have married a great man and one that I love dearly. Here is his comments:

We all know the role parents, especially moms play in helping these young men achieve their goals and advance in scouting. Thats why a mothers pin is awarded at each rank advancement. It is a way to say thank you and to recognize their efforts in the success of their boys. Tonight I would like to thank someone who has helped to make me a success as a scout master. Someone I have depended on countless times, someone that has sacrificed for many of your boys over the years. That is my wife Gayelene. Whenever I have needed her to help with an activity, a campout, a court of honor or when I get discouraged with the way things are going or to help me to figure out the needs of your boys she has been there over these decades. She has listened and help me to prepare countless lessons for mutual and priesthood meetings. She has gone with me on several summer camps to cook for the boys, or gone grocery shoping, or prepared food for camp and packing before the camp, or clean up after the camp. She has driven hundreds of miles to bring me parts for my vehicle when we were broken down and stranded, she has run to the scout office for patches and tour permits or help to drive the boys around for activities. She has made flyers and calenders for parents. On many occasions she has been our photographer, then later made posters for our bulletin board. She has set up tables or donated her kitchen table for scout projects. She has sacrificed vacations for summer camps or outings. I counted up over 400 nights, she as sent me off over night and was left at home to sleep alone, many times for a week at a time, sometimes without a vehicle, so the souts could go on these outings. She has waited patiently for her distracted husband to finish the endless hours it takes to run a troop, or talk to a boy or work out a project. Every week she has to eat alone on mutual night and then warm my dinner, late at night after our activities. Many times she has been the other half of two deep leadership, so the boys could even have an activity or meeting. She has sustained me, helped me, counseled me and worked with me. Yet she has never had a son in a scout program to be proud of, or received an award, a pin, a patch, or recognition of any kind for her many efforts. I would like to take this time to honor her and say thank you, I only wish there was a badge of honor I could hang around your neck for her 30 years of devotion to scouting, the young men that have passed through our home and hearts, but mostly for what she has done for me. If I have been successful in scouting at all, I owe a great deal of that success to my wife Gayelene

California trip

I was looking at our blog and realized that I had forgot to blog about our trip to California to visit Candis and Joe. We really had a good time and on the way got to visit with Alan and Liz - they are such great hosts and we really felt welcome. Joesph provided the entertainment with bagpipes and it was fun to hear how good he is at that as well as the piano. Keep up the good work Joseph.

We visited Hollywood. I always wanted to go to Hollywood and see the Star's star on the sidewalk so this was pretty exciting for me. Just to walk around and see all the stars and who has a star. They were all over the place.



We also went to the Hollywood Wax Museum. It was not as impressive as I remember from when I visited as a young child. But here are a couple of pictures. Candis and I in front of Pirate of the Carribean.



This picture is of the actors that betrayed James Bond and then the 3 Charlie Angels.



We went on a hike to see the tidal waves. It was a beautiful hike with the ocean in the back ground. We hike up a hill by the ocean, around the hill and then back down the other side. Here is a picture of Candis, Alexis and I at the end of the hike. Coming down some steep stairs.



This is a picture of us during the hike. As you can see it was really pretty with the ocean in the back ground.



One day we just spend hanging around the complex and enjoying the exercise room and the swimming pool. It was a relaxing day. I wish I had taken a picture of this because it was a nice set up and Alexis really enjoyed being outside. I did get to feed Alexis by the pool and that was fun. I can't get it in fast enough.

The last day before we came home. Candis, Daryl and I had the opportunity to see a taping of "The Doctor's". It was interesting to see how it is done. the show actually aired and Candis was the only one that saw it. She said it was the same at the taping expect for a few minor changes.

Sean's graduation

We had another great week. Sean graduated from paramedic school. He graduated on April 1. We are so proud of him, it was a lot of hard work and from what Monica tells us he learned so much. Way to do Sean. Here are some pictures that we took of the event.




Here is a priceless picture of Sean and Ayden right before the graduation. They sure look good together - father and son. Ayden may not hear what you do, but he certainly sees what you do




Monica surprised Sean by having a special tee-shirt for Ayden. Here is a picture of him wearing it and his dad's hat and glove. Picture was taken right after the graduation.




Logan and Penn even got into the fun and had their own tee-shirts.




Becky is a wonderful Aunt. You can just see how much Ayden loves the tent that his Aunt Becky bought him. At first he would only let Aunt Becky and him in the tent. After a while it was - "Do you want to see my tent? Come play in my tent?" He really loved it.

Family get together

We had a really good weekend this past weekend (March 6, 2009) Daryl's dad got married in the Logan Temple. Afterwards there was a luncheon in the Temple cafeteria. Then our immediate family went down to Mary Elizabeth's house for a sheetrock party. The guys worked hard, and the gals did as well - playing with the babies and cooking the meals. It was really fun, and I hated to see the weekend end.


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A picture of the happy Bride and Groom
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Now, us ladies, were very busy as well. You know it is hard work to take care of Grand babies - HaHa. I was really enjoying all my grandsons and the fun activities we were doing - like giving them baths and rescuing the chicken and the horse. (Ayden really got into doing that)


We had really good food that was enjoyed by all. Dad was enjoying the French Bread Pizza. Here is a picture of everyone that would let me take their picture gathering around the table for lunch.




We had a lot of fun this weekend, it was great to see everyone and best of all I think a lot got done. The men are hard workers.

Klondike

Let me intoduce you to my new Assistant Scoutmaster(Bro. Newbold). Of all the first camps to go on, he picked the Klondike. He made it through the night and this is about 10:00 the next morning. The van is warm, he is buckled up and ready to head for home. I hope he will go with me again.



Here are my scouts the next morning after a cold nights sleep, popping their heads out the first two comments were: "Is breakfast ready" and "Why didn't you put my chair away last night after I went to bed" It snowed during the night the night before valentines day, a few inches and his chair was buried. I laughed and asked him why he hadn't put his chair away last night, I had put mine away. It was his first camp with me and without his mom. He fast realized his mistake and we dusted off his chair.



Another cold Klondike with the scouts for Dad. This makes 11. The boys always have fun, in fact they always say that it is one of their funnest and most favorite camps. I must say, for me, they have lost some of the fun. I have learned how to stay warm enough and that is never a problem, but as scout master they are a lot of work before, during and after the camp. This year we had a little problem, during the night the propane tank froze. So in the morning I could only get one burner going and then it was so low it took us just over two hours to cook our bacon well enough that we could eat it. We had a great breakfast planned, pancakes, eggs, bacon and hot chocolate. Besides the bacon we couldn't cook anything else. So we had two slices of bread and two crusts, slow cooked bacon and two cookies for breakfast. No one complained. Here is hoping for better days and better camp outs.

We love our family

We had a great weekend, with a visit from Monica, Sean and Ayden. Then Mary Elizabeth, Logan and Penn along with Becky came over as well. We had a house full and it was so fun. It made me miss Candis It was really hard to leave for our temple assignment on Saturday night. I inserted a few pictures of the fun we had playing with Ayden. As you can tell Ayden really loves his Grandpa.

Sean, Monica and Ayden when you tell Ayden to say "Cheese" he does and then he wrinkles up his nose for the picture with a great smile. it is just sooooo cute


Grandpa and Ayden playing Superman Ayden really loves Superman and likes to fly around like Superman does




Picture of Grandpa and Ayden looking at past family pictures. One of those quiet movements when Ayden stopped for a few minutes to enjoy looking at pictures.

Dad and I sure love our family

Busy times

Hi Everyone,

The above is the family picture that dad I and decided to use. I think it is the best one of everyone. Hope you like it, but then again you all have your own disk and decided what you what or don't.

Boy we have been busy lately and I thought I would share with you some of the things we have done. Last night we went to the Draper Temple open house. All I can say is that it was beautiful (what else would it be). The Celestial Room took my breath away with the beauty and the Spirit that was there. We are definately going to go back when it opens.

As you all know Candis and Joe got away and arrived in California safely. We had a going away dinner for them the night before they left and here are some pictures that I thought was fun.

My procedure on Wednesday went great and everything came back as normal and no worries. I am glad that is over. But it was nice to spend the time with Dad.