Back to School and the Cook O Rama

I mentioned last week that Crista was on her way to the Gorge to spend some time.  We were there for just two days of her visit, Sunday and Monday.  The Vances stayed until Friday evening, having fun boating and hiking.  The kids loved the knee board that Dan purchased. They all tried it except Zack. 

Zack spending some time with grandpal; Ruby driving Bridget around in the tractor.

Todd and Bridget with grandma. See the side X side in the background.  They
all took a ride, then Todd was relentless for a ride in "the other one." After getting his way and 
obtaining a ride in the Talon, he said, "I like this one better."  
Crista told me that after boating a couple of times during the week, Todd said, "I want to take the little boat out next."  The little boat is not little, but it belongs to Adrienne and AJ.  He said he wanted to go in that one because it was "newer."  This is true, but how he knew it, we don't know.  

Back to School

Going back to school is always exciting--at least for the moms, right?  I think the kids share in the excitement to some extent, especially the younger ones.  Elise's kids started school right after they returned to Georgia; August 5.  The Davis county kids started school on the 15th (early this year), and the Logan kids start next week.  

First: Elise and Andy's beautiful children:

I'm betting these kids were a little tired on their first day back.  They got used to staying up late in Utah, then lost two hours going home.  Max is starting 6th grade, which is middle school in Georgia.  Mav is now in the 3rd grade, and Bevy's in first.  Harvey's pre-school hasn't started yet, but he loves to be in the pictures with his siblings.

Doyeon is the middle. It's her first year at the Jr. High.  Hyeji is at the far right.

And, Dan's beautiful children:

Hyeji, Doyeon (top) and Yuna and Dojin (bottom).  

Yuli hasn't started into her pre-school activites yet, either.

Adrienne's children are just as beautiful!

Gunnar--1st year of Jr. High; Ollie, 5th grade

Finn, 3rd grade and Ila

Ila, Finn, Ollie (still in elementary) and Cub a wannabe student

And last for this week, Nick's beautiful children

Ori,  Effie, Avie; their signs tell the story here.

Cook O Rama

This year's Cook O Rama was slightly more stressful, mostly because it was held in Goshen, Utah.  My great great grandfather, Phineas Wolcott Cook settled Goshen early in his Utah years because it was a place where he could find land in order to feed his family.  The 2nd reason it was a little more stressful is because we had a speaker who is not related to PW Cook; Gerrit Dirkmaat, and we wanted him to have at least a little bit of a crowd to hear him.   Gerrit is a historian familiar with the history of the "Mormons," who shares his knowledge on a podcast called, "Standard of Truth."  I thought he'd be talking about the history of Goshen, but Janet Porter covered that. Gerritt spoke more generally about the desire for the Saints to find peace and get out of the United States of America where they could find no redress for the crimes that had been committed against them. Phineas founded Goshen. Phineas was working to establish a new community at the same time there was a drought in the land, Johnston’s army was marching west to kill the “Mormons,” and the Blackhawk War started with their goal to drive the Saints out of the

state of Deseret (Utah). Phineas was willing to answer the call to fight in the Blackhawk war

but was stopped by Church Leaders who felt he was safer to grow crops in Goshen than in

most places of Utah. The people were in desperate need of food. Dr. Dirkmaat spoke a little longer than asked for, but I found it all very interesting, and I think most of the people there were happy to listen for a few extra minutes.  The kids that came had a fun time at the picnic (indoors because of inclement weather) and with the games that had been planned for them.  When the meeting started they had fun running around the church mostly unsupervised; but they were quiet. 😀

Hyeji, Doyeon, Yuna and Ori playing with one of their third cousins.  She's Geoff Smith's (my first cousin) granddaughter ; Her parents, Becca and Joseph Groberg, live in my stake.  

Enjoying some Kentucky Fried Chicken 

One of our side dishes from Kentucky Fried Chicken was french fries.  But...we had no catsup, which upset Camden greatly.  He was pouting and wouldn't eat.  Nan saved the day because her mail had catsup with it.  He was immediately pacified.

After the speaker, my brother Dave led us on a tour of Goshen.  Of course, there are no existing structures from Phineas' day, except possibly the dam.  Dave didn't think it was original, but it looked like it could have been; and it looked like it had been built by people who didn't have modern equipment, etc.  One of the sites Dave showed us was "Sodom Town," but only because the people lived in sod huts.  Dave didn't think they were trying to be funny with the chosen name. 

Above: PW Cook wrote and gave the dedicatory prayer for the town of Goshen, Utah; Dave Cook, Nan and Bruce Oblad, and Roy and me.

Dave did an excellent job as a tour guide.  He led about 12 -15 cars full of people around the area

As far as we know, none of our ancestors was buried in this cemetery (the bodies have since been moved to dryer ground).  There are a couple of Cooks on this plaque, but they're unrelated.

One of the interesting stories that Janet told was about a dispute over water rights.  Some time after Goshen was settled, another town was settled nearby, called Mona.  Water was always a big issue.  The worry was mostly about how to get enough water, though some areas would flood yearly.  Mona decided the nearby water reserves belonged to them, but Goshen had been using it for years and they knew it was theirs.  Unfortunately Brigham Young voted with Mona, but the people in Goshen felt they were in the right and pursued it through the law.  When the court agreed with them, it angered Brigham Young and he excommunicated the whole town. (Phineas had long since moved to Bear Lake, helping to settle Garden City, Utah). Apparently, many of these once members never came back into the church.  Dave said that as he was participating in missionary work in the area, he found that these old, 200 year-old wrongs were still keeping people out of the church.  There was also a lot of inaccurate history that people were holding onto.  Dave put a pamphlet together (of about 20 pages), using Phineas' journal, about the history of the town, so that people could have correct information.

In back: Nick, Roy, Hyeji, Doyeon, Ori, Catharine, Yuli and Dan 
Effie, Yuna, Avi, Camden, Bruce and Nan (and somewhere, hiding behind
everyone, is Dojin).

After the Cook O Rama was over, we drove to Santaquin and stopped by to see Verl.  Dan, Nick and Caitlyn had all stopped by previously.  Nick said that he and Dan stayed until their kids drove them all crazy.  I asked Verl if he'd had too many visitors and he said, "never."  I asked if the kids had been rowdy and he smiled and said, "they were all over the place."  I asked, "you haven't seen Caitlyn in a while, have you?" he responded, "No, I didn't recognize her."

Many years ago, my dad inspired me to memorize Isaiah 53--the full chapter (it's short). 

1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 ¶ Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

10 ¶ Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

The Jewish people had access to this prophecy from Isaiah, but when Christ came among them, most of them closed their eyes to who He was.  They wanted a Messiah who would be a great military leader and save them from their enemies.  Today, most Jewish people don't read beyond the first five books of the Old Testment, and don't accept Christ as their Messiah, although some are turning to Him and accepting Him as their Savior.  It's prophesied that this will happen more and more as we get closer to His second coming (interestingly, several of the actors from "The Chosen" are Jewish, now Christian).  The Jewish people had the Messiah among them.  "He walked the streets of Palestine, healing the sick, causing the blind to see, and raising the dead." (The Testimony of the Living Christ).  They had a witness of His power right before their eyes, but pride and jealousy caused them to reject Him. Most of them looked "beyond the mark."  

Today we have the scriptures and the words of the prophets.  Let's make sure that we don't look beyond the mark to something that's not there and miss what's right in front of us.  We know that "in the last days men's hearts will fail them."  Let us "look to God and live."  

Love you all.