Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband.  He's been a great father to our 8 children, and a wonderful grandfather to our 25 grandchildren.  He received a lot of loving messages (complete with pictures) from all of his kids this morning on our family text group.  Roy's definitely made my life more exciting, fun and meaningful.  I'm very thankful for him.  I'm also proud of my sons and sons in-law and their willingness to spend love and time on their children.

My own father was wonderful to me, also.  He taught me so much and taught me what was important in life.  He was a great example and a great teacher.  I miss him.

It's hard getting the blog written when we're always having so much fun.  This past weekend gave us another few days up at the Gorge.  Nick and Sara and the kids came up, too.  Roy didn't have to do his weekend project alone; with Nick's help he was able to get his ham radio antennas set up.  He absolutely had to have another tall man for the job as it required fixing wires to the top of the garage and the house.  Sara helped with the other project which was to scout out trails for the ride that Roy is responsible for in July.  Sara, Ori, and Effie drove the Pioneer, and Roy took the Talon. 

On the ride, Sara got stuck in the mud, which is the reason Roy always wants to have two
vehicles on the ride.  It's not great when you have a problem and no cell service.  Roy was able to 
hook her to the Talon and pull her out in no time.  The funnest part of the ride was seeing the herd of antelope, a hawk, wild mustang horses, lizards and...cows.

 

Avie and Effie

Ori (and Roy)

Ori, Camden, and Nick

Effie and Catharine (we still got in little bit of hiking)

Camden: We were able to have s'mores by the campfire.  Sometimes it's just too windy to have a fire.

Sara took this picture, but Avie and Cam and I had walked down the hill earlier in the day to watch the goats while Sara and Roy were out riding.  There are a lot of goats and a lot of babies.  Many of them came over to interact with us from behind the fence.

Avie

Camden and Avie

While we were playing at the Gorge, Dan and Jieun were in Tahoe and Yosemite. 

Doyeon, Yuna,  Hyeji, Jieun, Dan and Yuli

Ruby and Matt went on a 4-mile mountain bike ride in Green Canyon.  

 

As soon as we got back from the Gorge, we went to downtown Bountiful for a piano recital.  Ila, Finn and Gunnar all did a great job (but Cub wouldn't give us any attention).

Jennie had to have gall bladder surgery Monday morning.  She went to the emergency room on
Sunday night and they found several stones in her gall bladder.  I had Foster all day on Monday and we played on Tuesday, too, so her mom could rest and recover.  

I only had Elijah for a short time.  Jordan took care of him while he worked from home.

Ori, Sara, Effie, Catharine (and Roy) enjoyed the NUATV Club social.  Roy's famous baked beans were a hit.  I also took homemade banana pudding and that was mostly gone as well.  Ori and Avie seemed to have a good time even though it was with a bunch of old fogies (the median age in the club is probably 72 or so.  All the club members love Sara and Nick; usually the youngest riders there other than the occasional grandchild).  At the park there was a splash pad and a playground.  Effie managed to get soaked just before they turned off the water in the splash pad.  Ori was slightly wet.

Roy had another conference for work starting on Wednesday.  This time in Arizona.  He said it was hot.  While he was gone, Nan, Christine and I went out to lunch with our cousin Stephen Hunsaker.  It was fun to catch up with him.  I think it meant a lot to him to be able to visit with us.  He was recently diagnosed with Parkinson's; he's 83.  We talked memories and family history, as well as hearing about Stephen's many service missions.  In her letter, Nan also commented about our lunch date; she said, "Steve is my Aunt Vera’s son. He is older than me and I didn’t really know him. Catharine is one of those Christ-like people who takes the initiative to visit people who may be lonely or just need a visit. When Aunt Vera was alive, Catharine went many times to visit her. Steve said that Aunt Vera loved Catharine. Steve is smart and generous. He loves the little Mexican restaurant where we ate. Years ago, he got to know one of the waitresses and helped her get her citizenship and paid for her education. She no longer works there but has a better job somewhere else. Steve even worked as an unpaid bus boy at this restaurant to help them out. I think he said he has served 6 service missions. One was working on the Joseph Smith Papers. Jan had a child when they married and they adopted two children. Aunt Vera was Dad’s oldest sister, and her children were all older than I was, so I didn’t know any of them very well."

 After lunch I went home for a short nap and then prepared a lesson for institute--I was just subbing.  I enjoy teaching.  It's a great way to invite the Spirit into my life.  I learn so much preparing the lessons, too.

My 2nd great grandfather, Phineas Wolcott Cook, lived for a short time in a place called Camp Floyd, Utah.  This was where Johnson's army camped to suppress a supposed Mormon rebellion.  The army arrived in 1858 and remained for three years before being recalled for the Civil War.  At one time there were 400 buildings in the camp.  When the army left, PWC was called to move to the camp to restore the public property back into farmland.  Brigham Young did not want the fort left in tact as it might serve as an invitation for another army to come in and take up residence.  The lumber, tools, wagons, tents, medical stores, clothing and livestock was sold to settlers for a pittance compared to what it had cost the army. We visited Camp Floyd this weekend to go on a ride with the NUATV Club.  For this ride, I accompanied Roy (for Father's Day...). It was interesting to see a place where my ancestors had lived.  My great grandfather, Alonzo Howland Cook said, "We subsisted that summer while our father and brother freighted to Reese River with ox teams to procure the necessary wherewithal to live on in the forthcoming winter in Bear Lake Valley." Brigham Young had called them to settle the Bear Lake area immediately following their assignment in Camp Floyd.  Alonzo H. Cook also said, "My brother and myself would amuse ourselves gathering shot which seemed to be abundantly scattered around the ground from the size of bird shot to cannon balls."

I teased Roy about taking yet another photo of side X sides lined up for a ride.  He reminded me he'd won a prize at the last Christmas party for turning in the most pictures.

The guy taking the pictures is from a show called, "Adventures You Love." He went with us on the ride, taking pictures with cameras and a drone.  He said it would probably air in two or three weeks.  They also did a segment on their last ride to San Rafael Swells.  He said this one had already aired.  Nick and Sara were with Roy that weekend.  The guy on the right is Scott.  He and his wife were the ride leaders this week.

Here we're listening to the history of the Fort.  It was HOT.

This little butterfly must have loved the smell of my sunscreen.  It stayed with me all through lunch and even after I walked back to our vehicle.  

Hyeji is a "flyer" on her cheer team.  That means that they throw her up in the air.  She said it's scary!  She's in the group on the right.

  

For Father's Day our kids worked as a team and provided a great dinner for the whole family.  Everyone was there except Elise and Adrienne and their families.  Elise and Andy were probably on the way home from Texas after visiting Andy's family, and Adrienne and AJ were in Cooperstown, New York, at a baseball camp for Ollie.

Crista had the idea to buy this for Zack to see if he would use it to get around.  He was traveling all over the kitchen, stopping to look up at people.  He was definitely socializing.  This item is just a gardening tool or something like that.  I think they should market it as a help for disabled children.  They could charge a lot more with that type of a label. 

Yuli and Camden (Ori is camera bombing).

Everyone hug grandma!

Foster and Hyeji; oldest and youngest granddaughters

 Foster, Cam, Yuli, Todd, Ori, Catharine, Greta, Avie,Bridget, Yuna, Ruby, Effie and Dojin.
Unfortunately there were wasps, too.  Both Bridget and Effie got stung