First Fun of Summer

I mentioned last week that Zack needed a helmet.  He doesn't seem to mind it too much.

The first picture is Foster with a neighbor's dog.  She's obviously not scared of it at all.  Since Jennie cuts hair in my home, Foster is getting well aquainted with her grandparents.  She always seeks me out when she arrives at my home.  Yesterday I gave her these magnets to entertain her.  At first I watched her very closely because if she puts them in her mouth she could choke or swallow a magnet.  She wasn't at all interested in tasting them, but she played with them for about 45 minutes.

Memorial Day

On Memorial Day we remember our loved ones that have passed away, and we remember those who have given their lives for the freedom of our country.  We also play because Roy doesn't have to work.  We'll make an effort to get to the graves of those we love as time goes on this summer (Caitlyn lives right by the Bountiful Cemetery which is calm, peaceful and a beautiful place to walk, so she visits Tom's grave nearly every day).  Monday it was finally warm enough to take the boat out.  Dallin vowed to ski if it was "glass," but he backed out when he felt the temperature of the water.  It was pretty glassy, though.  There were people wake-boarding and tubing, too.

I asked Roy how many pictures we've taken of him in that very spot over the last many years. 

Caitlyn was sick with a cold during the week before we went up to the cabin, Roy started coming down with one the day Caitlyn and Dallin arrived (so Caitlyn couldn't have given it to him).  I waited until we got home to get sick. 

Dan and his children went up to the cabin this week (Jieun has strep throat so she stayed home).  They took on one of the chores Roy has set up to be done up there, and that was to put an extra coat of stain on the fence.  Jieun wanted to do it because she remembered the movie Tom Sawyer from when she was young and she always thought it looked fun.  Unfortunately, she didn't get to help.  Hyeji and Yuna said it was fun, but Doyeon wasn't so sure.  In any case, they finished it and by the looks of it did a great job.

Because I was sick I missed this piano recital (Roy attended and said the boys did a great job!). I also missed the baseball game, below.

Ollie's getting to be a very serious player

Another Side X Side Ride

I stayed home from this activity because I still wasn't feeling great.  Dallin and Caitlyn joined Roy because Dallin has access to a side X side.  This one is being stored at Dallin's paren't home by a relative.  They get some rights to using it in exchange for the storage.  They both said they like Roy's Talon a little better than the Yamaha.  I'm giving Roy another chance to finish this letter and tell about his ride.

This was another club ride this past Friday and Saturday down in the Wellington, Utah area which is near Price, Utah.  I (Roy) went down by myself to meet the club on Thursday afternoon.  I met some club friends in Helper, Utah.  Downtown main street is being revitalized and they had a couple of museums that I wanted to see.  Mom still wasn't feeling well and she didn't want to go on the Friday ride as it was supposed to be really rough 4/5 difficulty which her back can't handle very well.  The Friday ride was pretty difficult but very fun.  Scenery was okay, deserty with some history of narrow gauge trains, petroglyphs, etc.  The club sponsored an Ice Cream social at the hotel Friday evening.  I have made a bunch of friends, they are good folks.  I would say that the average age is low to mid-70s.  So we are on the younger side, mom and me.  Caitlyn and Dallin were going to come down with their Dad's (friends) Yamaha SxS Friday night after they finished work.  They stayed in the same hotel that I did, just a clean, inexpensive National 9 Hotel in Wellington.  They didn't get in until late around 9 pm.  The next morning we rode our SxS's about (2) miles down the road to the Miller's Truck Stop to meet the club orientation at 9:00 am.  There were about 23 machines (Polaris, Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha, CanAm).  We rode on a trail over to Sunny Side, an old mining community.  They still have a power plant there that employs some of the locals that burns "Garbage" to generate power.  Not the kind of garbage that you were thinking of but tar sands, etc.  We had lunch at a cafe that was in their local grocery store.  It was pretty good but took a long time because there were so many people to feed.  There were some local guides that lived in the area that gave us some mining history that was pretty interesting.  After lunch we headed back on the trail and then changed trails at some point.  

 One of the highlights of the day Saturday, was conquering this very steep hill.  The photo doesn't give it justice it was pretty hairy but we all made it up okay.  Pretty exciting!!  One of the guides with us, who was riding a 4-wheel drive ATV said that he tried to climb it twice unsuccessfully.  The SxS's seemed to conquer it okay.

(Back to Catharine) As I said above, I stayed home because of a bad cold.  This allowed me to join the bookclub (put on by the Cook Family Organization) to discuss the book, Phineas Wolcott Cook, A Legacy of Faith.  It is amazing that we have his journal to give us insight into what things were truly like for these pioneer ancestors.  We owe so much to them.  In yesterday's discussion (we discussed pages 49-71) we saw how difficult living in Winter Quarters was.  You would think that these new members, who have accepted the Gospel of Jesus Christ, would have been full of love for each other and would treat each other accordingly.  We forget, though, that they were all new in the faith.  They didn't grow up singing primary songs like, Love One Another, or the one my dad often sang to Christine and me when we'd fight; Let us Oft Speak Kind Words to Each Other.  We also don't take into consideration how very poor and hungry they were; it's hard to share with your neighbor when you're worried your family might starve.  Phineas did share with his neighbors and his family nearly did starve because no one would return the favor when he was desperate. 

Phineas shared the story of when his beloved, almost 7-year old daughter, Charlotte, died of illness.  Phineas had called Doctor Sprague to help her, but whatever medicine the doctor gave her was making her much sicker.  They decided they needed a 2nd opinion and called in another doctor, Dr. Clinton. The two doctors talked over the treatment and decided together what should be done, but since it was more convenient for Dr. Sprague to administer the treatment, Dr. Clinton agreed to let him continue to treat her.  I am assuming the doctor's pride got in the way because when Charlotte was very near death Dr. Clinton returned and asked Dr. Sprague if he'd done exactly as they'd counseled. Dr. Sprague said no.  He was not happy with the Cook's for employing another doctor and the child paid for this decision with her life.  Phineas says,

"It may be imagined that we did not feel exactly right towards Doctor Sprague for the course he had taken, and it came to the ears of Sister Young, and while Charlotte was yet lying on the bed before she was laid out she came in.  She refused to be seated but began to reprimand us for our feelings, saying it was better that a millstone was hanged about our necks and we were thrown into the sea , for Doctor Sprague was one of the little ones that Jesus spoke of, and we had sinned before God and if we did not repent we should be damned.  Anne Eliza was sitting by the bed as Sister Young was going on in this way like a mad person.  She caught hold of her dress saying, "Mary! Mary, don't talk so.  Wait and let us tell you how it is." But Sister Young would not listen to anything." (p.67 and 68 of the book).  

Phineas says he became so enraged it was hard to master himself, but, "by the help of the Lord I did overcome my feelings." And further down the page he says of this and other slander against him, "...my faith was not tried in the least, only my patience.  He had committed to serve the Lord and he did.

I encourage all of you to read this book (dad and I gave it to you a year ago Christmas).  Phineas sacrificed so much so that we can have the wonderful lives we have.  Our trials are miniscule compared to what he suffered because of his testimony of the restored gospel.