February 2009

February 27, 20009
Some of the kids have been after me to update my blog. When I hadn’t written anything, I knew it would take me some time, and so I kept putting it off. Well I finally did it yesterday and then a few minutes ago I lost all the text and so I am having to do it again. This time I am summarizing by month.

August
Teresa and Aaron moved in and stayed with me until the end of the year.
I went up to Washington to visit Don & Gaylynne and celebrate Dayton’s birthday with them. One day we went to the beach and it was cold, windy and foggy. The next day we rode on the Mt. Hood train and roasted. It was nearly 100 degrees. The train ride was fun but hot. There was a train robbery where we had to give them our "money". It was fun just being with their family.

September
I went up to Utah for Tanner’s blessing which was on Sept 14th. He cried during the whole blessing. I would have been frazzled, but it didn’t seem to bother Wade and he gave a beautiful blessing. Tanner is such a cutie and his smile wins over everyone. The next day we celebrated Dad’s (Grandpa Kitchen’s ) 83rd birthday with him doing all the cooking. It was a delicious meal. His creamed beans, corn on the cob, grilled chicken were so-o good. My contribution was a sorry looking birthday cake. I was able to attend the temple while I was there and meet with Dill’s brothers and sisters at their annual get-together on Sept 12. That was a fun evening also.

October
All of the family that lives in Arizona went to Rocky Point on Oct 10-11. As a family we went there several times as the kids were growing and so I fond memories of it and love to go there. Michael and Katie weren’t able to come until Saturday morning so they only had a few hours there and it was really windy that day. If you stayed down by the water, it wasn’t as bad. Friday the kids had fun catching the waves, riding in the raft and playing in the sand. Saturday it was so-o windy, but I think they still had fun. We had to eat in the motorhomes because it was so bad.

My good friend and visiting teacher Juanita Peterson died on October 11 of Pancreatic cancer. She and Jenny Townsend came over to my house on Mondays and we would have dinner and family home evening together. She had been diagnosed with cancer in July. She was able to make a trip up to Utah in August and see her son and other family members. She is greatly missed.

November
I worked the general election as I did the primary one in September. With the election of Obama we are going to be in for some very difficult times. I can’t believe how a person who has so little experience has been elected. The press idolize him. I watched Abby and Cameron while Michael and Katie went on a trip. Ryan & Dana, Lisa & Trent and Teresa & Aaron were here for Thanksgiving.

December
I went up to Utah and visited family. It was good to visit with Wade, Jolene, Heidy, Jerrald and Grandpa and Henny. It was fun seeing Tanner again and seeing his personality and how much he had grown. But going to Utah seemed to put me behind schedule and I didn’t catch up. Michael and Katie came down Christmas eve and along with them, Scott & Lila, Teresa & Aaron and Lisa & Trent and their families were here for our annual Christmas eve dinner and program. Cameron didn’t particularly enjoy being "baby Jesus" but it was a fun evening. On the 26th Michael and Katie went back to Tempe and picked up Jolene, Wade and Tanner who flew in late that night. They drove down the next morning. Gaylynne, Don & family arrived that night also. The time went by so-o fast. Some went to a movie, we went to the zoo and the adults went and ate at Sakura’s Chinese restaurant. Watching the chef doing his knife act and seeing him cook the food was enjoyable. We went hiking along the Rincon mountains and that was fun. Greg and his family came down New Year’s eve and we were all together–visiting and playing games. The next day we all met at Randoph Park and Don took pictures of us–what an accomplishment. Friday morning Don & Gaylynne went up to Greg’s place and spent the day and night with them. Ryan & Dana and family and me went up to Michael and spent the evening and night with them. Saturday the whole family met at Gammage Auditorium and saw the Lion King. The costumes were something else. It was really enjoyable. Afterwards Katie whipped up a dinner for a lot of us. It was delicious. Thanks Katie. Don & Gaylynne stayed the night with Ryan and Dana and then left the next day for home.

January
Dad and Henny came down to Arizona the middle of the month to witness the sealing of her grandson and his wife. I drove up to Greg’s place on the 16th and stayed with them along with Henny and Grandpa. The next evening Greg and Shelley hosted a get-together for all the family living up there so they could visit with Grandpa and Henny. It was good to see Liz, Bryan and Laurel–how she has grown. Ryan & Dana and Michael and Katie and families were there along with Greg’s family. Friday evening I went and watched Jessica at her gymnastics practice. She is very limber and loves it. While Grandpa and Henny were here, we went to the San Xavier mission. Henny really enjoyed it. They did some things on their own.

The hi-light of the month was the baptism of Spencer. What a handsome young man he is. It was good that he was the last one baptized because then everyone was there. It was a busy day for everyone. Ryan and Dana ran in a marathon that morning and Jessica had her first gymnastics meet. Afterwards we went to Lisa & Trent’s place for dinner. A family friend, Mary O’Brien came to Spencer’s baptism and she really enjoyed it. She knows the gospel is true and I hope and pray that she will be baptized.

I almost forgot to mention that I have sister missionaries now living with me. I got a call from Elder Meadows of the Tucson, AZ mission on January 8th. He said he had received my name from Pres. Lewis of the Stake Presidency and wanted to know of the possibility of the sisters living with me and wanted to check out the house. He came the following Monday. He said if the President agreed they would move in the end of the month. Well, I got a call on the 14th from one of the elders of the possibility of moving beds in a couple of hours. It was nine and they came at 11. The sisters moved in the following morning. Sister Robinson is from Oklahoma and will finish her mission the beginning of April. She has a brother on a mission in South America. She and her brorther left on their missions the very same day. I think she has five brothers and sisters. Sister Jager is from Germany. She has nine brothers and sisters and has a sister serving a mission in Hawaii. This is her first area. So far it is working out good.

February
Along with Dad and Henny, we went out to visit Sam & Jeannine in Florida. I left 76 degree weather in Arizona to a chilly Florida. Wednesday we swam in their new pool and then left in the afternoon for Orlando. We attended a temple session at the Orlando temple. We numbered six people in that session. I am so glad we went to the temple. The next three days were spent at Disney World. It is a huge place. Since it was a cold day we went to the Epcot Center first. It was cold and windy, but interesting. We then went to Hollywood Studios. We saw two stunt shows–one with cars and an Indiana Jones stunt show. They were pretty interesting. Jeannine and I went on the Twilight Tower ride. She hadn’t been on it. We both enjoyed it. We had hoped to see the Mickey Mouse laser-water show, but they were only showing it on Friday. . We left the park shortly after six and the temperature registered 39 degrees. Cold!! The next day we went to the Magic Kingdom and again to Hollywood Studios. We watched the laser show that evening. It was really good. Saturday we went to the Animal Kingdom and then back to Magic Kingdom. At the animal kingdom we went on a safari ride and saw lots of animals. Dad joined Jeannine & I on the Mt Everest roller coaster ride. He said he wouldn’t want to do that very often. Grandpa said he needed to go home so he could rest from his vacation. Saturday night we watched the electric parade and the fireworks show in Magic Kingdom. We were very busy those three days trying to see and do as much as we could. Each day it warmed up by 10 degrees. Saturday was very nice. Sunday we went to church with Sam and Jeannine. They also had the missionaries over for dinner that evening. Monday we went to see their sailboat--the boat that Ssam lived on for a year and visit the beach. Jeannine and I walked along the beach and gathered seashells. We found lots of pretty ones. Jeannine even found a starfish. It was so enjoyable at the beach. A man was cleaning fish there and he was surrounded by pelicans waiting to be fed. Tuesday morning came and our trip was over and we headed home. I flew via Washington D.C. Jeannine gave up her first class seat that she had been given to seat with me. The ticket lady had a rough time with that. "You mean you want to downsize your ticket?" Jeannine didn’t tell her that she hadn’t paid for a first class ticket. Since she is a frequent flyer, they have given her first class seating on some of the oft days that she has flown. It was a very enjoyable trip. It was fun being with all of them.

We thought Teresa might be having their baby on Wednesday. She had an amniocentesis that day and if the lungs were developed enough, the doctor was going to take the baby that day. She ended waiting for the results until 5 p.m and found out that they weren’t developed enough. The doctor will have Teresa repeat the test next Thursday (the 5th of March). Since she had a t-cut with the twins, the doctor doesn’t want to take a chance of her going into labor because her uterus could rupture. What a way for Aaron to spend his birthday. That day it was Grandparents day at Carden School where Alyssa and Spencer go to school. Lisa and I ate lunch with them and then there was a short program. All the grades did dancing. Spencer gave me a bookmark. Last evening Kayla performed in a short play through the Parks & Recreation program. She played a talking horse.

I got a scare Thursday evening when Henny called and told me Dad was in the hospital. As it turned out his oxygen level was low and he is now on oxygen and is feeling much better.