Ahhh...Small Town Politics

Life has recently gotten very interesting here in the Gila Valley. For those of you not familiar with our area, there has long been a rivalry between the neighboring communities of Safford and Thatcher. Well, that rivalry took an awfully ugly turn in the last few weeks. To give a full history, you have to go back decades. I don't particularly want to give a full history so we will only go back a couple of years. A couple of years ago, Safford decided that they would charge everyone who is not a resident of Safford who receives Safford water a higher rate than residents. This doesn't sound to out of line except when you consider that Safford receives most of their income from sales tax and not property tax. Thatcher residents are paying the same sales tax as their fellow Safford residents. Also, an agreement existed from when the water delivery system was created that Thatcher residents would never pay higher rates than Safford residents. That agreement is the main catch point. Rather than try and negotiate with Thatcher, Safford went ahead and started charging the higher rates. Thatcher sued and currently it is in litigation while we continue to pay the higher rates.

Shoot forward to a couple of months ago and now Safford is so enamored with their higher rates for non-residents idea that they have decided to charge non-resident rates for their pool usage and, even more recently, to charge non-residents of Safford $50 a year for an individual library card with a 5 item limit (residents have no limit on their library card) or $165 for a family library card. These higher rates don't just apply to Thatcher residents, they also apply to individuals with Safford addresses who technically live on county land. Needless to say, this has caused a certain amount of outrage throughout our valley. Most people would recognize the politically suicidal path this could turn out to be, but one of those people is not the mayor of Safford. My favorite letter to the editor of our local paper was from a man who said he asked the mayor what he should do since he will have trouble affording the $50 library card. He said the mayor told him he should get a second job. Keep in mind the current economy we are in and locally we are still trying to recover from the widespread layoffs recently carried out by the mining industry. That is caring for your constituents on the highest level right there. WOW!

So after all of that background, how does this affect our family? Shannon and I decided it was just too expensive to purchase a summer pass to the pool in Safford this year. Abby asked why we couldn't go swimming more at the Safford pool and Shannon explained why. Abby got very upset and asked what she should do. Shannon explained that about all she could do was write a letter to the editor. Which she did and delivered it to the paper before I ever got home from work. Her letter can be read here if you paste it into your browser line:

http://www.eacourier.com/articles/2009/06/03/opinion/letters/doc4a25952d264f0420686139.txt

I was very proud of her. I have since learned she has no desire to be a community activist and this will now conclude her interest in fighting city hall, but I suppose its a start. A pretty good start as far as I am concerned. But I had started to form my own opinions and felt that if my daughter could get involved, I probably ought to as well. So I wrote my own letter to the editor which can be viewed here:

http://www.eacourier.com/articles/2009/06/10/opinion/letters/doc4a2ee4000029f320878275.txt

Since I had opened the door, I felt I had better back it up and I attended the next Thatcher town council meeting. While there, I expressed that I believed we needed to be a self-sufficient community and asked what the council was planning to do with regard to building a pool, a library and working with Safford on assisting with the golf course so that Thatcher residents would not be charged non-resident rates at a facility that is within the Thatcher town boundaries. (For those not familiar with the golf course situation in Graham County, I am not going to explain it and you really don't care in the first place). I then asked if there were no plans, what could I as a resident do to make them a priority for the council and begin the process of looking into the feasibility of providing these resources. I then asked that if there is nothing I could do to make it a priority to please tell me so, so that I could then figure what my, and those who shared my concerns, next course of action would be. That is where it got interesting.

Those unfamiliar with the Thatcher town government are not familiar with the name Terry Hinton. Those who are familiar react much the way the hyenas in Lion King do when they hear the name Mufasa. Terry Hinton is the Town Manager of Thatcher. Terry is very confident in his beliefs on what is best for the town. Following my remarks, he shared that the EAC pool was now open and therefore what is the problem, just use that one. I pointed out that EAC had not opened their pool to the public in the two years previous and that yet again this year, swimming lessons were not available. I asked what guarantees are there this would not be the case in the future. He then challenged me that the EAC library is open to the public. I responded that the EAC library has no children's books and therefore does not meet the needs of a "family community." He explained that in these tough economic times, we need to be looking to partner with people instead of spending our money. He used the example of Thatcher schools renting EAC's football field for their games which is a huge money saver. I said that is true, but recently EAC has kicked The American Cancer Society's Relay for Life and the Boy Scouts of America's Triatholon off their field because they don't like the effect it has on their facilities. What is to keep them from doing the same to Thatcher football? As you can imagine, we were not sharing our ideas while sipping gingerly from tea cups with our pinkies extended in a truly civil manner.

Then came the golf course. I was lectured that I don't pay any property tax to Thatcher (still not sure what that has to do with anything) and that why should residents who don't golf pay for my ability to golf. That is an interesting argument from a town that uses the golf course on their promotional material as a reason to come to our community. Also, following that logic, I am now claiming my independence from paying Social Security (which most of the council should be eligible for in the next 2-3 years if they aren't already). And then entered Dudley Welker. Dudley Welker is the town attorney. Dudley Welker appears to be old enough to have possibly drafted the original charter for the town over 100 years ago. If he doesn't move, you aren't sure he is real. However, to his credit he still has a nice head of hair which is more than I can say for myself. Over his long and varied career, Dudley Welker has apparently dealt with insane antics from Safford so many times that it has warped his ability to think or listen coherently when the topic of dealing with Safford is mentioned. Terry Hinton had just expounded on the virtues of partnering with other entities and so I suggested that with the local paper present, Thatcher should make an offer to reach out and assist with the golf course so that Thatcher residents would not take a financial hit yet again just for living on the west side of 20th Ave. (Everyone present was fully aware that working with Safford is a complete waste of time and it would never work. That was not the actual point of the comment.) That awoke the sleeping grizzly. Mr. Welker started in on me with how ridiculous it even is to have a golf course and the only reason it exists is because certain people in Safford like to play golf. (I actually thought that was a fairly reasonable reason to have a golf course. There are people in Thatcher who like to play golf as well, including one in a blue house on 1st Avenue, but I digress.) He went on to how many times he has sued the city of Safford and ended with a rousing rendition of "Kill The Beast" from Beauty and the Beast. Ok, he didn't do the last one, but I kind of pictured it just now and got a good chuckle. Anyway, as the conversation had pretty much played itself out, the mayor tried to bring it to an end when Mr. Welker said, "One more statement." He then looked at me, leaned forward and stated emphatically, "You could just move to Safford!"

That caught me by surprise and before I could take a moment to compose myself, I stated (shouted) back, "Or I could run for the council and make what I want a priority." Probably not my finest moment.

By the way, did I mention I had taken Abby to this meeting so that she could learn how to go through the proper channels of local government? Well, that went well. I am pretty sure she won't be writing any letters to editor again any time soon.

The coming weeks will be interesting and we will see how they play out. I can't help but wonder why it was again that I poked my neck out and got involved. I suppose it has to do with the way I was raised. Thanks again Mom and Dad. I owe you one.

Mini Posts, Spring Edition

Tis Graduatin' Season

Despite all of our best efforts to slow the hands of time, it just keeps marching on and another milepost just went by. Clinton graduated from high school this past week. This is the same Clinton who was just a cute 5 year old kid when I started dating Shannon. This is the kid who used to say You Nork instead of New York. The basketball fanatic who would spend hours upon hours outside shooting baskets to the point where he had to get a new basketball every year for Christmas because the previous one was worn out.

We went to graduation and it was a nice one. They kept it from dragging on too long and it was the first graduation I can remember where the salutatorian quoted Jerry and David Zucker (Creators of the Airplane movies) and Dr. Ruth Westheimer. I turned to Lamar during his speech and whispered, "They never should have given him that book of quotes without explaining who some of these people are." It was almost to the point that I was waiting to hear, "Never be afraid of the next frontier. -Jack Kevorkian." or "Tear down the walls that stifle your dreams. -Ghengis Khan." But it never came to that.

Although it has been four years since we moved here, I still struggle sometimes that I am now affiliated with the Thatcher Eagle system. So I couldn't resist the temptation to wear my red polo shirt with my gray slacks. Childish? probably. Immature? definitely. Do it again? In a heart beat.

As the ceremony was supposed to be outdoors, they had prepared a fireworks show following graduation. Due to weather they moved the ceremony indoors and announced that immediately following the ceremony, the fireworks show would take place outside. They meant immediately. No one in the building got to see the show, but apparently all the neighbors who didn't have someone graduating were all treated to a nice fireworks display.

I can't believe Clinton is out of school. Good luck old man and congratulations.

Long In The Blue Tooth

People who use blue tooth technology freak me out a little bit. Either they look like they have a growth coming out of their ear or you don't see it and they appear to be speaking either to you or no one and it just creates awkward situations. But I had never seen anyone representing the extreme elderly with the blue tooth technology until today. I saw a woman of advanced years walking in the halls of the hospital and it reinforced my belief that I will never use one of those things. Especially when I get older. The device was mostly covered by her hair and so (I totally recognize that this stereotypical and ageist) it appeared she was...how do I say this nicely...demented? That probably wasn't nice, but you get my point. It just looked like a woman who was content to be speaking to someone in her own little world. Again, no point here, but I will never use Blue Tooth. (I also will never use it because it makes Shannon think of the Borg from Star Trek and I certainly don't need my spouse equating me with that image.)

The Fam

Shannon's family was all here this last weekend for Clint's graduation and Melinda and Spencer's baby blessing. Below are couple of pictures from the weekend. As you can see, all those people finally got to Kate and she just shut down. This happened to Logan as well, but unfortunately for him, it happened in the middle of Golden Corral. He was sitting there eating and then all of a sudden, with his half eaten roll still in his hand, he leaned over on the table and fell completely asleep. When we were done, I couldn't wake him, so I picked him up and carried him out to the car. He woke up when I was putting him in his seat and said he wanted a drink. I went to hand him a water bottle and he said, "No, I want my root beer drink." When I explained that the waitress had taken his drink, he got quite upset, then it hit him. "What about my food?" I explained she took that also. "But I wasn't done!" He then cried profusely. I think it may have been a little bit much for him this weekend. Also, you can see that Abby got to see her Aunt Danica and got her hair done. They also went out to Dairy Queen together. You can't tell at all who Abby thinks is her "young, cool" aunt. Sorry Melinda and Danae, I think you had a shot until that over 30 thing came into play.





Wipeout

You can call us simple minded if you want, but my family is extremely excited that Wipeout is starting again tonight. I don't care how silly it is, there is nothing quite as entertaining as people getting whacked and falling into mud and water. Bring on those big red rubber balls!!!

Little League Baseball...or Rugby???

Braden and Logan start their Little League baseball games this week. Braden is an old veteren at this so nothing funny there, but Logan on the other hand is in his first year. His first game was yesterday and there is nothing as entertaining as a bunch of tee-ballers in their first game. Every hit produces a rugby scrum as they may not know much, but they know they are supposed to get the ball. We even had two occasions where the person who hit the ball, or a runner on base, got confused and ran with the rest of the other team to get the ball. In one case, they actually came up with it. You gotta love T-ball!





Final Thought I Should Probably Leave Alone

If Obama continues to have the government take over the banks, the auto industry and soon the health care industry, how are we going to be any different than Cuba or Venezuela? Oh yeah...we will still be the only country producing The Bachelorette. We're totally fine!

A Surreal Reality

There are some situations in life you wonder how you will handle them when they arise, but you don't really want to know because those situations suck. I suppose last week would qualify as one of those situations. Without dwelling too much on things that are depressing, I guess I will share some of the experiences I had last week as we dealt with the passing of my mother.

On Wednesday morning, my dad called to let me know my mom had taken another turn for the worse and wasn't sure how long we had. I had never been one who felt they wanted to be there when the moment arrived and so I asked my dad if he wanted me to come or if he was ok. He said he was ok, but would keep me updated. As it turned out, it wouldn't have mattered anyway as he called me back less than an hour later to let me know that my mom had passed away. I dropped everything to go and be with him. That was one of the weirdest moments of my life. Being with my dad in the house I grew up in, planning my mother's funeral with her being in the other room, yet not. As fortune would have it, my brother was already in transit from Utah just to come and visit and so he and Kirt arrived at 6 that night.

One of my favorite people in the world, my cousin Michael. The only downside about being around him is, he is such a fashion plate that he always looks so much better than I do. Oh well, at least I can claim him as a relative.

My dad's only real request that he really wanted was that my mom have a red casket. Because of the amount of time he wanted to have between the passing and the funeral (Wednesday to Saturday), it looked like we would not be able to get a red one. Thankfully, the folks at Caldwell went out of their way and were able to find one in Tucson. We found out the next day the reason he really wanted that red casket. He told us that she always looked good in red.

By Friday, family had started to arrive and so we did what any family would do living in the Gila Valley...We gathered at Casa Manana. I felt a little bad for the owners of Casa. It was already a very busy Friday night, but then you throw in our little party of 22 and it slightly taxed their whole system. But they took good care of us and you can't beat their fish tacos. Shannon has raved about them for years and I am only recently getting on board, but they tasted good.

Logan did not like having to wear a flower. However, his problem seemed small when Braden found out that being an Honorary Pall Bearer didn't entitle him to actually try and help carry the casket. In his own words, "Honorary means you don't get to do anything!"

The day of the funeral it just didn't seem real. Shannon had worked so hard on a number of collages and display items that when she was in the midst of getting it together it seemed like a lot of effort for such a short amount of time. But when it was all put in place, it made such a wonderful difference. Special thanks to Kerrie Scarbrough for all of her help on the collages. Of course, all of this means that I have to admit that my wife is smarter and wiser than I am...again. She did such a wonderful job and the effect it had on my dad made me just that much more grateful to have married such an angel.



It was nice to see so many people who mean so much to us. Some of my favorite people in the world were there and I realize yet again how little I see some of the people who mean the most to me. My three best friends from high school came and we realized the four of us had not been in the same place for over 20 years. Needless to say, we took a picture. It is funny because Jerry saw all of us talking at the gravesite and ran over to Shannon and said, "You have got to get a picture of that." "Already taken care of", she said. She is so perfect she might be getting a bit smug about it at this point. Just kidding dear. It meant so much to me to have everyone come who did. My friend Jared and his sister drove down from Salt Lake on about 36 hours notice. I don't know if I could ever put into words how much that meant to me.

First time in 20 years we were all together. If only Brandon had been there. We took this picture in order of hair loss. It is sad that I got the end position of that line up.

That night, we invited Jared and Allison (his sister) to stay and play Runs and Bunches (a rummy type game played with Rook cards) with us. It seemed the fitting tribute to my mom as this was such a staple in our family. In fact, on the way home that night, Shannon said she could remember when we were first married, coming to Duncan and spending weekends where we would get up, play cards, eat, play cards, eat some more, play cards until Midnight and then go to bed. Good times. So we played in memory of my mom and we remembered and laughed and it was great. We may have times of sorrow still to come, but that night was truly a happy time on the day we said goodbye to a great lady.

I love you Mom!

Kate did amazingly well. However, by this point, she was about done.


In other news, the previous weekend had seen the arrival of sod for our front yard. With the help of Heath, Rhett and Paul McMaster, along with several of Paul and Rhett's boys, we got it all laid out and from the picture you can see how the progress is going on the yard project. I can honestly say that in spite of all of the days of massive amounts of dust blowing right in my face while putting in the sprinkler system, there is no better feeling in the world than watching your sprinklers come on without you doing anything to make it happen. It is a beautiful thing.

Til We Meet Again

1949-2009

I'm Sorry, I Believe You Have The Wrong Guy

Over the last week, several things had been building that were bringing out my sarcastic side. I was to the point that I was about ready to unleash with a post just snidely and sarcastically commenting on a number of different things that were really getting under my skin. It would have been grand. But events this last weekend made me change my thinking.

Friday night, we finally got away from the Gila Valley and headed for the Phoenix Valley in order to go to the temple. During the day, Abby came home from school and begged not to go. We finally relented and she got to stay home with Grandma Claridge and do her things on Saturday. I only mention this because this is the first trip anywhere where we were down a family member simply because they had other things they needed/wanted to be to. After Shannon was done renting her clothes over this, I told her I wasn't buying her anymore clothes first off, but then we just huddled together in sadness at the growing up of our family.

Anyway, Jerry went with us and we had an enjoyable trip. Once we got there, I ran over to the Apple store and got Abby her birthday present (shhh! her birthday is tomorrow) which is an ipod shuffle. The main reason for this gift is that we are sick of Miley Cyrus and Camp Rock songs on our own ipod as well as the fact that we can never find it anymore because Abby has it in her room.

The next day we went to the temple and made it in time for the Spanish session. I enjoyed that, then we went to the Rapier Family Reunion. It was a little difficult because a lot of the questions we got centered around my mom. Totally understandable, but difficult none-the-less. However, we discovered that Braden is totally taken with Basketball. Got to get that boy a hoop.

After the reunion, Shannon and I finished up shopping errands that we needed to get done. Having not had a lot of sleep the previous three nights and then basically not sleeping the night before, I was about to the point of complete breakdown. I kept trying to pick fights with Shannon and threw at least three temper tantrums in the mall. It was not my most stellar day. I just seemed out of whack and nothing seemed to fix it. Wasn't sure why. Boy if I had only known what was coming.

We finally got in the car and headed home. We got back about 10:15 and got everyone to bed and then got ourselves to bed. We didn't even check our messages....

At 7:00 a.m. sharp our phone rang. I was completely asleep still. It was President Larson of the Stake Presidency. He asked if we could be at the stake offices in an hour. After I said we would be there and hung up, I made sure I hadn't been dreaming and then I turned to Shannon. She was looking at me with that deer in the headlight look of, "What did I just hear you say?" I looked back with that Oh Crap look and without words said, "You heard right!" She said, "What does this mean?"

"I don't know."

"Well, what did he say?"

"Can you and your wife be at the stake offices in an hour."

"So he said you before me."

"Yeah, but that could be because I answered the phone. This could be about you."

"No, no. I am sure this is for you. What would it be."

At that point, the silence was deafening. We looked at each other with a shocked look for about 15 seconds, then we got moving because we were down to about 52 minutes at that point.

By the time we got there, we had narrowed it down to a reorganization of the Stake Young Men's presidency or a vacancy in the Elder's Quorum Presidency. I still had a sliver of hope that it was for Shannon, but I kept that to myself as she was adamant it wasn't for her. We were met by President Larson and he asked to meet with me individually for just a moment first. Dang it, so much for the sliver of hope. I assured him I could accept a calling and then Shannon came in and he explained that they were reorganizing the bishopric in our ward that day and the new bishop had asked if I would serve as his second counselor...........I wasn't expecting that. I am pretty sure I just babbled for about thirty seconds and then was interrupted by President Larson when he said, "So can I assume that is a yes?"

We went home and told the kids and a little while later, Abby asked if she had to give her tithing to me now. I said that yeah, I guess so. She responded, "That is just weird." I couldn't help but agree.

We called our families and they all came, even my mom. Shannon and I must not be included in the ward informational system, because a ton of people seemed to know we were getting a new bishopric. We had no idea. So we kind of were giving something away with all of my family there. But the jig was pretty much up when President Kartchner asked me to stand and presented my name for advancement to High Priest. Then it was just a question of which one was I.

After a short talk about all callings having a release and thanking the previous bishopric, he then called Max Nicholas as our new bishop, with Rhett Dodge as 1st counselor and myself as 2nd counselor. After having just served for four years in the Teacher's Quorum with Rhett, people are going to think we come in a package deal or something. Little did I know that Tommy Nicholas was in the back of the chapel with his finger poised on the send button of his phone waiting to text to Heath the information. Which he then did. Imagine Shannon's surprise when a package was waiting on our porch before she got home from the block with a congratulations on the new calling. They say news travels fast in a small town, but I think it might be getting out of hand.

After sacrament meeting, they ordained me and set us apart and then all of a sudden I was getting called into a meeting in the Bishop's office, getting keys handed to me and being shown how to count the tithing. I couldn't help thinking, "Don't we get a week worth of preparation time." It was just ten hours previous I had even found out about this.

So now, I find I feel totally guilty for being such a pain with my wife the day before, I have to keep my sarcasm in check and most of all, I need to find a suit since I don't even own one. Please pray for our family, we are going to need it.

Living On The Edge Of Reason

Our pictures from Easter. Easter started on Saturday with an egg hunt in Duncan and then moved to Thatcher the next morning. Because of the addition of a dog since last Easter, the Easter Bunny moved his operations into the front yard this year.



I recently have had a couple of downer posts. Because of that, I have worried that I sound like I am a downer myself or am looking for sympathy and because of that, I have wanted to have a fun, interesting post next. Unfortunately, that just isn't working out.

On Saturday, April 10th, my grandmother June Martineau, passed away. This is my mother's mother. This in and of itself is not really a bad thing. She had had Alzheimer's for the last few years and was not doing well. However, we had pretty much assumed that my mom would not be traveling again. This event blew that idea out of the water as my mom was very determined to go to the funeral in Heber, AZ. Fortunately, Jerry has been in Duncan since the 5th of April and was able to help them prepare. I wish someone would have been here to help us prepare. Trying to get my mother out of the car to come into our house proved to be too difficult and painful. She ended up not coming in. It was pretty traumatic for me to see her hurting that much, but it was really hard on my kids. Braden just started walking down the block without asking and when I called him back, he came back with tears in his eyes. I asked him if he was sad because he thought I was mad at him. He said no, just that he was sad it hurt grandma so much just to touch her. That broke my heart and we just hugged and cried together.

Our view from the front door of our motel in Heber.

But, we did make it to Heber and it turned out to be a positive thing. I think it gave my mom's family a chance to say goodbye to her and vice versa. It was a very nice service, but by the end, my mom was done and so we got her back to the hotel before heading over to the gravesite. Because the kids are in school, we wished my parents and brother a hesitant but fond farewell and started home after the luncheon at the church. They stayed an additional night to let my mom recover somewhat.



A couple notes about Heber: It was snowing on us when we arrived. It is the middle of April and it was snowing. I am just saying.

Heber is not a big place, but very pretty. However, when I went on-line to see our hotel options, it was pretty much the Best Western or...it was pretty much the Best Western.

Spiffy looking boys. They looked better than their father even. At least for the first few minutes after getting ready.

I always find myself wondering what brings certain people to certain places in their lives. I live in Thatcher, but I grew up 45 miles away in Duncan and I married a Thatcher girl. It is somewhat understandable. The hotel owner was East Indian and had lived in New York. I didn't ask, but the thought kept coming back to me every time we entered the lobby and smelled curry. How did you and your family end up in Heber, and where do you find curry?

Last Saturday, Rhett Dodge came over and we trenched our front yard for a sprinkler system. This, of course, involved more manual labor with a shovel on my part. I am woefully out of shape and there is nothing like a day in my front yard to remind me of it.

This is our current view of the front yard. Someday...Someday!

Lastly, this weekend was Stake Conference. Timilee Brown's parents, Jay and Diane Layton, spoke as he has recently been called as Mission President for the Rapid City South Dakota Mission. They gave excellent talks and they will do an awesome job. Conference was outstanding and we are glad we had made plans to attend the temple this coming weekend because the whole conference was about the temple and being there and not finding reasons not to be there. You get the point.

We have a Rapier family reunion this weekend as well and we look forward to a slightly more upbeat post after that event.

Pulling Off The Party Of The Century

This last week has been absolutely crazy. About three months ago, Shannon decided that with her grandmother, Maxine Layton, turning 83 this year, it was time to throw a big party. We all look forward to those major milestones of 16, 21, 30, 40, 50 and 83. Right? I just kid. Shannon's rationale was that when you start putting an 8 at the beginning of your age each year, you better celebrate now regardless of how healthy one may be, because there is no guarantee for the future. So, she sent out the word and got all of her grandmother's descendents to commit and the date was set for April 3, 2009 in Thatcher, AZ. The truly amazing thing about this party was she managed to get 34 people here from all over the country (southwest part anyway) and still keep it a secret from Maxine. But before we get to the party, let us digress:

This is the face of surprise when Maxine arrived for her party.

The week leading up to this has been exactly what one would hope for if you are planning a major social event. Sunday started with Kate puking twice and blowing out not one, not two, but 5 diapers with nasty diarrhea. I stayed home with her and we prayed she would get over it. She did, eventually. By Wednesday, she was feeling better. However, in that time, both Shannon and I had come down with nasty throat and ear infections. Good times. Add to that a nice middle of the night puking from Logan and we were in great shape to host 30 people.

But it all worked out by Friday, and the party looked great. Maxine showed up and was completely surprised and very shocked. She cried, we cried (I didn't cry. I never cry. I don't care what Danica thinks she saw during Elder Holland's talk today.) and we had a fantastic evening. Everyone remarked yet again how amazing Maxine is at 83. I think she has more energy and get up and go than I do. Of course even she is no match energy wise for her new 93 year old boyfriend, who unfortunately was on a cruise with his family and couldn't make the party. To wrap things up, we watched a video of pictures and Maxine telling her life story in her own words. It was a fantastic evening.


That would be Abby under all that toilet paper during the toilet paper mummy game. I'm not sure the title gets the essence of the game.

The next day while the family basically hung out and went to lunch at La Casita, Lamar and I braved the winds and played in the hospital's fund raising golf tournament. There is nothing like playing golf in 30-40 mph wind gusts...all day long...it never let up...in fact...it got worse the longer we went. Highlights from the day included:

Reuniting with an old flame. My 3 wood and I had not been on speaking terms for a couple of years. But we got together again and we wondered how we ever let things get so wrong.

Free Soda. It wasn't Dr. Pepper, but it was soda. Lamar was in seventh heaven because the Pepsi was free and they kept it flowing.

Arnold's joke in the restroom. I won't repeat it, but I know Lamar will get a good chuckle remembering it as he chuckled about it all weekend.

Free Brawts for Lamar and I. Shannon would consider this a low light, but oh well. (This actually led to a conversation later at the house on foods that Shannon thinks are disgusting.)

Lamar draining a 20 foot putt on the last hole to win between the two groups who were playing together. Ok, officially we tied, but they bought a mulligan and used it to take off one stroke. We went mulligan free and still pulled out the tie. So we win. This goes back to basic tie rules as established during the UofA streak in football over ASU when they won 9 consecutive years. They actually tied in one of those games, but in that game, ASU just needed to punt and they would win. But instead, the punter muffed the snap and UofA scored and tied the game. Sorry, that is a UofA win, just like our golf round.

Lamar between shots and blinding wind gusts. When are they going to move here so we could play golf and have fun any time we want? I realize it is a rhetorical question, but I ask it nonetheless.

That night, after the priesthood session, we hung out and enjoyed each other's company and then Shannon and I stayed up until 1:30 with Cody and Danica just visiting. My goodness how we miss them.

The family all left today and we are back to normal life tomorrow. But WOW, what a weekend and congrats to my wife for pulling off an amazing surprise party.