12 27 09 Christmas Visits

Summer (L) and Ali (R)

Zach's beloved Christmas Tre

Brooke, Aaron, & Zach

Pa Pa Ross & Gamma Janice giving Zach a ride in his new dump truck

Pa Pa Ross and Grandma Janice with Ali & Summer at Clint's house

Clint & Summer (Did Santa Come?)

Ali and her new tutu  (don't know how to turn this photo)

Kelli Cookin up a good Christmas breakfast

Love the olive green counter tops!

Aunt Alisa reading the beloved Davey book to Ali & Summer

Sleding on Christmas afternoon

December 27, 2009

Dear Bret,

Even though we just spoke a couple of days ago I thought I would give you a little more detail about our Christmas. We left Madison at 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning. We got a cab to the airport because we realized the two cab rides are less than the parking if you are gone more than 5 days. Everything went fine until we got on the airplane. It was snowing lightly but we didn’t think that would be much of a problem until they ran out of de-icer for our plane. We sat on the runway for about two hours then got off the plane, then reboarded eventually we got to Chicago and on to Salt Lake. There was another young couple traveling to Salt Lake with their little girl and I was worried Janice was going to make me give up our seats on the new flight if they didn’t get on but they were the last ones called and I didn’t have to be a good Samaritan.



Clint picked us up at the airport in Salt Lake and we drove his car to Jenny’s condo while he went back to work. The weather in Salt Lake was exactly the same as in Wisconsin about 27 degrees and lightly snowing. Kelli picked us up a little later in their van and we drove down to Temple Square. Clint met us and we went with him and the girls to hear Spencer sing in the Assembly Hall with the Brighton High Choruses. We looked at the lights then went to eat at a Thai restaurant near Clint’s house. The owner of the restaurant speaks Thai with Clint and the food was pretty good so it was a nice dinner.

On Wednesday we did the skate ski thing. Clint was better than Jeff or I because he said he is a better roller blader than either of us. I think there is something to be said for his roller blading experience but I also think that the extra pounds that Jeff and I carry really slows us down. I like skate skiing more than the traditional cross-country skiing because it is so much faster. But, it is a lot of work. I am going to rent some skate skis in Wisconsin again before buying any to make sure it doesn’t bother my knees. The guy who taught us our lesson was 65 years old and in great shape. I thought I should do something like this when I retire. Then I thought I probably could work 5 hours a week as a consultant for a life insurance company when I am 65 and make more money than he does working 40 hours. Jeff said the same thing about the fact that our professions allow us to work even when we are old and still make a good wage.

After skiing I went and visited with my parents. I didn’t do much to help them but the visits probably break up the day. Your Grandfather has changed a lot in the last year or so but he knew who I was and recognized Janice when she came. He doesn’t move around to quickly and gets confused but they get by. They are headed to Arizona soon and we will see how that goes. My mother is still trying to needlepoint Christmas stockings for the great-grandchildren. It has become a year round task because they multiply so rapidly. She says she is 5 or 6 stockings behind based upon recently born children and pregnancies that we know about. I think you and some of the younger grandchildren may need to learn how to needlepoint yourselves because there may be so many great-grandchildren by the time you are married she will be hopelessly behind.

On Wednesday night we went to a Wiggins family party in Farmington. I feel badly that I don’t know Linda and Randy’s children better and they have a slew of grandchildren so I may never know who they are. We had a nice visit with Kent, Cherie, Haley and Trevor (Haley and Trevor love speaking Spanish to each other) after everyone else left. Trevor says you have good Spanish. He showed us pictures of the Elders playing with the crocodiles and the week you hurt your toe. I thought it was interesting that Trevor said he isn’t going to play baseball anymore but wants to play soccer. He said he might play softball with Wes’ team. I said if Wes doesn’t use him I am sure Clint and Kelli will find a spot on their team.

On Thursday I spent some more time with my parents and then we went out with Kelli’s family for her mother’s birthday. I visited with Jeff’s sister who spent several summers with us on the river. After the dinner everyone went out and Janice and I watched the little girls. I felt kind of badly that we had Clint and Kelli load them in the van then Janice and I got in and drove off. As we were driving the DVD stopped playing and the girls asked for it to be changed. Janice didn’t know how to make the DVD work and as we were responding to them was when they realized their parents were not the ones driving the car. They were surprised and a little unsure of what to do when they realized they had been kidnapped but gradually came to accept it. Janice and I took the girls to Canovas and visited with them and my parents and added a little more energy to their Christmas Eve. The nice thing about the little girls is they let 4 people read them the same Christmas book. But they didn’t do so well with our attempt to have a real nativity program – they kept playing with the paper that wrapped the props. Thursday night we saw Clint’s house for the first time. There is plenty of room in the house but it has some unusual architecture and could use some updating.

Thursday night we wrapped presents then got up and went to Clint’s for Christmas. It was fun watching the girls open their presents and Grandma Janice bought them more than they needed but it wouldn’t feel like Christmas if it wasn’t a little bit overboard.

In the evening I played with the girls while Clint and Kelli went to visit my parents. It isn’t hard to entertain them – you either chase them in circles around the house or lay on the floor and let them climb on you. I went for the laying on the floor option. Unfortunately, Janice gave them a pretend Doctor kit and they spent lots of time looking in my ears and nose and giving me shots in my nose. It got kind of annoying after 30 minutes but they were happy and I didn’t want to stop the fun. Sometimes the girls tell us all sorts of things but we cannot understand them. When we tried to get Summer to go to bed she kept asking for her blanket and we were quite unsuccessful in locating the correct blanket. Eventually we figured out the correct blanket was on her nap time bed in another part of the house. When we retrieved the blanket life went much more smoothly. It was funny Summer knew what she wanted, she knew where it was and she told us but there was a lot lost in the translation.

Yesterday we flew to Californian and that flight had no weather problems. It is kind of weird to leave snow and end up in 70 degree weather. As I sat in Priesthood meeting and looked out the window everything looked so green and sunny it just didn’t seem right. It was nice to go to church with Brooke and Aaron. They have a nice ward and the teachers were all good. After church we hauled in the presents we had brought with us and Brooke said it was like having Christmas a second time (maybe it was also just a little over the top). We came back to the hotel so Janice and Zachary could have their nap time and now we are going back to Brooke’s house for dinner. I laid on the floor and played with Zachary. It hurts my back but it isn't hard to entertain him we just play with cars and trains.

On Monday we are going to the Long Beach aquarium. Aaron is going to work but will meet us later in the evening for dinner and a movie.

It was nice to talk to you on Christmas. You sound the same (with a little bit of a Mexican accent) so we know it is you but at the same time we realize you have changed. I am sure there are lots of stories and experiences you will share when you come home it just the in between calls can be kind of awkward because no one really knows what to say. You seem to have a good attitude and are working hard which makes us proud.

I finished a book about the Mormon Trail on the first part of the trip. It was written by a non-Mormon author who had a great deal of respect for the pioneers and what they did. There were lots of great stories but one thing that struck me is what the Saints could accomplish by working together. The pioneers were following the path of the Donner Party when they entered the Salt Lake Valley. The author said the Donner party had to use all their teams to pull one wagon at a time over the hill at the mouth of Emigration Canyon. In 4 hours the advance team cut a road around the hill, they then entered the valley dammed city creek and were irrigating crops before Brigham Young and the rest of the initial group entered the valley on the 24th of July. He said that many parts of the western trail that deviated from the path taken by the Mormons were never improved because they cared nothing for those who were coming after them. The work you are doing in Mexico is pioneering work in many ways. You and your fellow missionaries are building up these branches wards and stakes. You may never get a chance to go back and see what you have created but by each of us working together and planting crops to be sowed by others we are engaged in a great work. Our callings today have changed but if we each contribute and do our part we can and will accomplish great things. A speaker today in Brooke’s sacrament meeting said he had a chance to go back to England this summer where he served 30 years ago and he had no idea then what would come of the efforts of those Elders so long ago. I hope you realize great things will come of your efforts, but it takes time and the efforts of others for us to carry out the Lord’s plan. If you ever get discouraged just try to imagine what your area might be like if you went back in 30 years.

Love,

Dad

P.S. BYU and Utah both won their bowl games handily. BYU killed Oregon State and Utah handled Cal. The teams they beat were top teams from the PAC 10 which is great for the MWC Conference and bad for the PAC 10. Utah has a freshman quarterback who was the MVP of their game so the future looks good.