Duane Slocum: Kansas Plowboy

Sunday, July 25, 2010

As my new favorite cousin says, “I look forward to reading your posts in your Blog.”  She also reminds me that this is like a journal, however I never seem to get around to writing every day or even every week.  Crud, the summer has been so busy with garden, yard, international students, host families and our family events and activities.  Let me get a couple pics out of the way.  These two were taken in our back yard this week.

Now, I don’t like the dumb deer in our back yard eating flowers, hollyhocks and the bloom off my squash plants; however these three fawns with their Mom was cute.  Bobbie took a series of shots rather than throwing something at them like a I would have done.  The other pic is of a hummingbird at the feeder on our patio deck.  Both are really good shots.

Friday we had Ryan and Samantha with their two girls come spend the afternoon and evening at our home.  They leave a week from today flying to Amsterdam.   Ryan is our oldest grandson and will be stationed at a nearby NATO base for the Air Force.  They are likely to be there 4 years.  Madelyn is 3 and Riley is just 7 months.  The girls will both be speaking Dutch by the time they return.  We hope to go visit them at least once during the four years.  Here are a couple of pics.

Samantha’s eyes are closed in the pic with us, however we only took one and didn’t notice it until I blew up the pic on the computer after they left.  We have several other pics with them, although Camryn was in those shots.  We took lots of pics outside in our back yard.  It was a fun time.  We decided to eat in so I went to get some things that were close but different like; Sub sandwich, terakyi on a stick, egg rolls, pizza and some egg foo yong.  With the rice and cold slaw, there was enough variety that nobody said, “Oh, I don’t like that.”  The little ones were very good along with Camryn and Abbie, our springer spaniel.  They all loved romping on the grass and the weather was perfect.  We will miss them!

 We took this pic because Camryn is growing so fast, Ryan & Samantha wanted to see how tall she is now and how much she will have grown by the time they return in 4 years!

Sat. we went for our weekly visit to the Farmer’s Market to see Camryn ole vendor friends.  She gives them such big hugs and smiles, they can’t help but like her.  We bought two kinds of squash and cucumbers for us and a single lady in our Ward.  Camryn and her family are going to Aspen Grove Family Camp in Utah next Friday.  This was going to be the last time she will see them for three weeks.  The Camp is run by BYU and is a great place to spend a week on summer vacation.  We have been there once and it was a great time.  Much better than the YMCA Camp in Winter Park, Co.

Sat. afternoon we picked up Tahlia, Camryn best friend, and went to see the new movie, Ramona and Beezus.  It didn’t get very good reviews by the pundits; however it was a very good kids and family movie.  Rate “G”, which meant no bad words, sex or offensive material.  The two girls liked it as did Bobbie and me.  With our typical busy Sat., we stayed home last night rather than attend any July 24th celebrations.  Each Ward in town had some kind of a function.  Bobbie was ready to hit the hay at 9 p.m.

Today is our prison visit — three weeks in a row– as the Proctor’s are still out of town.  That means up earlier, at least for Bobbie, and will be attending the Mtn Shadows Ward.  More later!

Wed., July 28, 2010

This is absurd!!  I am going to quit waiting and post this. 

Oh, we had 11 inmates at the prison on Sunday.  The most ever.  One guy came who we hadn’t seen before, but left at the first movement.  He was raised in the Church and his grandfather has been a Bishop 3 times – so he said.  We could tell he was angry and had a big chip on his shoulder.  I doubt we will see him again, but he at least came once.  Good meeting!  We showed a video of the trek across the plains from Nauvoo to the Salt Lake Valley.  July 24th is the day the LDS Church celebrates that great event which occurred July 24, 1847.  Brigham Young raised up out of his wagon where he lay very sick and said “This is the right place.”  The Salt Lake Valley has been a place of peace and growth for Mormons who are now scattered throughout the free world.

July 16, 2010

Hard to believe; school begins in a month in most Colo. Springs schools.  Some even a bit earlier.  Sometimes I’m ready to get back on a schedule and sometimes I don’t want summer to be over.

Got an email from a former sister-in-law who used to live in Ecuador.  Reminded me of the great adventure it was to travel to that country and spend a couple of weeks just seeing the sights and taking a horseback ride into the Andes Mtns.  Here are a couple of pics from that trip with Pam and our guide.

    This is Pam on her horse trying to get him to go across a pretty fast running river.  The other is of Pam and our guide having lunch beside a small stream in the Andes.

  I bought these roses in Loja for Pam and a dozen for her next door neighbor.  The roses were $1.49 per dozen.  I loved my trip to Ecuador including the people and the weather.

July 20, 2010

Obviously, I didn’t finish my post of Friday.  We got too busy with picking up Camryn, my playing two games of Softball Friday morning and then being bushed.  I also tore a groin muscle rather than a muscle pull or stretch.  It caused blood to pool on the inside of my thigh.  Oh well, those things are part of working out and play games.

We also had two sparrows get into our sometime Friday evening.  It must have been when I had all the doors open because it has been so hot.  Anyway, it took a little going Sat. morning to catch them.  I finally used my fish net to put over them when they go tired from flying back and forth.  Camryn was more worried about me hurting them.   They both flew away when I turned them loose, which made her happy.

Our Sunday experience you have read above along with the Psalm.  It was a fun exercise; almost like a prayer or song of praise.  That is what David was doing in many of his psalms.  One more pic which won’t mean a great deal to anyone except us.  It is of our friend Eva and her daughter, Aggi; along with two of Eva’s sisters.  They met together in Germany.  Eva is from Hungary and worked for me in 1998, when I was there to help the plant in Tatabanya.

Eva is on the right with her daughter.  We stay in touch with her and Monica.

July 19, 2010

We have been studying the Book of Psalms in the Old Testament, both in our Gospel Doctrine class at church, but also at the prison where we take religious services on Sunday afternoon.  A week ago, I gave the inmates an assignment to write their own psalm to share with our group yesterday.  As a result, I wrote one, thinking I would be the only one who remembered.  Lo and behold!!  All, except one in our group, wrote one for themselves.

I read mine first and then invited each to come to the small pulpit to read their’s to the group.  bobbie and I were blown away by their ability to express their feelings through a poem/hymn/psalm.  Because I was asked, I will attempt to post mine within my Blog.

Psalm of the Heart

 Oh God, because I have been given much

My eternal love of thee is endless
Thou hath saved me from endless torment
By letting me walk the path of righteousness

Thou has given me a good woman to travel
Beside me during the trials of mortality.

Thou has put gladness into her heart to be
A beacon of light during times of darkness during our journey

 Oh God, cleanse me of my sins and weaknesses
Help me to see clearly the path to follow

To undersdand the importance of feeling thy love
Thou has put gladness into my heart to serve others
Would thou touch the hearts of many to know thou art the only true God?

Though the walls may be high and the days be long and sometimes dreary
Nothing can shut out the pure love of our Savior and King
Though the gates of Hell may clang shut behind us
Nothing will stay the light which shines from thee.

 O God, reach out thy hand to both sinner and saint
Touch me with thy tender mercy to know thee all the days of my life.

Save my soul so I may find a place in thy Kingdom on High
Thou art a kind loving Father who rejoices in seeing his children doing good

Help me become one of those special ones
Chosen to remain in thy presence forever and ever.

July 11, 2010 – Sunday

Like my friend, Roland Smith, I always have good intentions, but sometimes the world overtakes me and I falter.  I want to post something every couple of days.  Then the activities of the day seem so mundane, why bother to post things like working in the garden, mowing the lawn, finishing a book, going to Lowe’s, etc.  10 days later I don’t remember what I did last week.

So, I’ll start with yesterday as it is early on the Sabbath.  Everyone is still asleep except Abbie (my dog) and I.  That is typical in our home.   I woke at 4 a.m. and said No Way!  Went back to sleep and woke again at 5 a.m.  Still No Way.  Finally woke at 6:05 a.m. and decided “Way.”  Got up and took Abbie outside for her morning run in the common area above our home.  Isn’t this exciting stuff???

Friday afternoon, Karen dropped off Camryn at our home for the weekend.  Karen is a Major in the AF Reserves. She has full weekend duty which means we have Camryn until Sunday afternoon about 4 p.m.  This creates a problem as we also have our prison assignment.  So Bobbie will take Camryn and JJ to church this afternoon.  I will go to the Mtn. Shadows morning church meetings and to the prison in the afternoon.  I will meet Lee Johnson in Canyon City to be with me for the two hours of church services for the inmates.

Saturday was busy with going to the Farmer’s Market so Camryn could see her old vendor friends.  That is the highlight of her day; visting and getting samples.  Some of the vendors are always trying to give her something.  Yesterday it was some fruit from her favorite farmer and a big decorative fan from the cookie lady.  Then we stopped at our favorite eating place for breakfast on the way home.  Bobbie and I had our annual Prison update training session Sat. afternoon.  Then we decided to go out to our favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner Sat. evening.  Thus went our weekend as today will be equally busy.

 This is one of my favorite shots from my trip to Ecuador.  It is a big beautiful church that dominates the center of a small town of Malacatos, Ecuador.  Impressive structure, especially up close!

We have gotten a couple nice showers to keep the lawns green and the flowers to grow.  Our Utility bill has been awful for May and June.  Almost no rain in either month.  I promise not to get started on my feelings about our City Utility company.

We have our itinerary for our cruise in Nov. which includes our two daughters, Terri and Tami, with their husbands.  It is called The Travels of Paul, starting in Venice, Italy and ending in Athens, Greece.  The ship goes to Egypt, Israel, Turkey and a couple other places I can’t spell before ending up in Greece.  We will fly to Baltimore and stay a couple of days with Terri before going with them to catch the plane to Venice.  Then fly back to Baltimore and stay with Terri for Thanksgiving day.  Finally, three weeks later, we will fly back to Colo. Springs.   WOW!  I’m tired already from so much travelling.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Need to finish this post.  Had a great meeting with the inmates in Canon City yesterday.  We studied the Book of Psalms.  Their homework during the coming week was to write their on psalm.  It will be interesting to see what they come up with.  My workout is done along with a stop at WalMart on the way home.  Now to get some yard work done before it gets too hot!

 This is Hank Dodson, Bob Johnson and me; taken during my trip to Utah.  Hank is the brother of Marie Dodson Johnson.  Bob and Marie Johnson have been our friends for 25 years.

July 1, 2010

June passed by so fast it was almost a blur.  Now to get ready for International students starting July 29th or 30th.  My Orientation meeting for new host families is July 31st.  This will be pics for memory and recording sakes.

    This is the house I was born and raised.  Let me assure you it never looked like this when I lived there with 6 brother & sisters.  The current owners did miracles with it.  The other pic is more like our house used to be, but this is our old barn, which has now blown down.  They have never replaced it.  I have a picture frame my sister made out of the lumber from the old barn.

  This is Camryn and me a couple years ago on July 4th.  She was scared of all the loud noises or maybe she just loved her Grandpa.

   One shot is a typical summer sunset in Colo. Springs.  The other is Bobbie and me with my Aunt Nelda and Uncle Cleo when they were both about 90.  Both are now deceased and buried in the Soldier, Kansas cemetery.

 This is a great shot of Bobbie and our daughter, Tami, shortly after Tami got her R.N. degree.  Tami is working nights at this time at Memorial Hospital in Colo. Springs.

July 2, 2010

Have only a few minutes before going to the YMCA for about 10 minutes to use the elliptical  machine to get all my muscles warm and limber.  Today is a doubleheaderin softball for us in the 60+ league.  It is going to be another hot day, up to around 90F, which is way too hot for me.  We start at 8:30 a.m. and will be done a little before noon.  Long time for old guys with gimpy knees and ankles.

July 3, 2010

Had a fun time at the softball game.  Played my best game in years; catching 4 line drives at 3rd, handled hot smashes to start a double play and  charged a slow dribbler, picking it up on the run to nip the batter at 1st base.  Never made an error, plus we won both games.  Also drove in a couple of runs.  Doesn’t happen very often when a person is 74.

Now to get all my other stuff done today.  Already taken stuff to Black Forest.  Need to fill two propane tanks for BBQ grill.  Need to get some mulch, but don’t want to pay $50 for a pickup load.  Oh well, here is a couple of pics and I’ll publish it.

   One is a pic of Bobbie and Abbie.  The other is to remind me there is hope for cooler weather.  I don’t like this summer heat at all.  Come on Fall season!!

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

The blessings come when a child or grandchild does all his parents and other family members want.  That happened this weekend concluding with the final event last night; Monday evening in the home of Pres. Mark McConkie.

For you who are not LDS members, I better elaborate a little.  Grandson, Taylor Hollister is now Elder Hollister.  He was set apart last night as a full time Latter Day Saint Missionary bound for Nagoya, Japan.  Headed there after at least 8 weeks of language training 7 days a week in the MTC.

   This first pic is of Pres. McConkie and Elder Hollister.  With Taylor is his parents, Tami and Scott Hollister, his sister, Olivia and Bobbie and me.  The other pic is of Pres. McConkie and Elder Hollister.  The setting apart was done in the McConkie home along with almost an hour of doctrinal and spiritual discussion led by Pres. McConkie.

Prior to all this was our trip to the Denver Temple Sat. morning for Taylor to take out his endowments and make covenants to the Lord.  Sat. evening was an open house in the Hollister home with all of Tami & Scott’s  family present except Scotty, who is in Ala. going through OCS training for the Air Force.  Sunday, Taylor was the speaker in our Sacrament meeting, giving his farewell address for two years he will be serving in Japan.  Bobbie and I are already talking about returning to Japan in 2012 just before Elder Hollister gets off his Mission.

June 30, 2010

Need to finish this epistle so I can go to the YMCA to work out and then come home and mow the lawn before it get too hot.  I’m still chasing one more host family to make it an even five. (or is that an uneven 5) I spent last week getting everything done for a new host family — Joseph and Sarah Terry.  I knew the Joseph and Sarah Avalos before they knew each other in the Singles Ward of the LDS Church.  I was their Branch President.  Now they have two girls and were willing to host a high school student from Columbia.  It took all week to get the interviews and paperwork done.  Everthing was completed and approved yesterday.  Here is a pic of the Terry family.

 This is Joseph and Sarah with Alicia (youngest) and Adrianna.  Joseph speaks Spanish and the girls are excited to have a “big sister” in their home.  Gabriela will fit nicely into their family.

Now wonder I haven’t got everything done in my yard and garden.  Maybe this week while Camryn is gone to Iowa with her family on a vacation.  Her Mom wanted to visit her sister in Iowa.  Karen and her parents went taking the three kids with them.  It is quiet, not having Camryn around to bug me and Abbie.  Another pic!

   I love both of the pics.  This is five girls, which includes Camryn, out on the street riding bikes and playing just outside out back yard.  The other shot of Camryn indicates “What was I thinking” as we teased her about something.  This was before she got her braces.

O.K. time to go to the YMCA for my workout.

June 27, 2010

This has been an interesting week in the realm of find a new host family from someone I know quite well.  It started with sending an email to about 15 people; giving them the names and information about two Internationalstudents, who wanted to spend a year in the U.S. going to high school.  Joseph and Sarah Terry were one of those people.

 This is the Terry family with their two daughters.  The girls are so excited to have a big sister.

We knew Sarah Avalos and Joseph Terry in the Young Singles Ward before they knew each other.   They were married about the time we left the Singles unit of the LDS Church.  They now have two daughters and were intrigued with the idea of hosting a Spanish speaking student.  Joseph speaks Spanish and they adopted a young baby from Guatemala 5 years ago.  So they wanted more information on Gabriela Lopez from Cali, Columbia.

This happened on Monday June 21st.  I immediately sent them info along with a Host Family application andHost Family agreement.  We had to get permission from the Falcon School District (D-49) as I knew nothing about their process.  The Adm. office told me their process was closed, but leave it up to the Principal of Sand Creek High to decide if they would take an foreign exchange student.  Mr. Dorsey said yes on Tuesday.  The Terry said yes the same day and the mad rush was on to get everything into the paperwork process.  We scheduled the home visit on Friday when Bobbie and I went to visit our ole friends we hadn’t seen in several years.  A home visit is required.

Needless to say, it was a wild week plus the D-49 Administrator took Thursday and Friday off work.  The Terry’s have to prove they own a home.  Joseph is going to the D-49 offices Monday morning with the proof they are buying the home.  I have to go Monday to pick up a signed copy of the Student Enrollment form, which is required to have an original signature.  Once I have that form in hand, everything will be sent to S.F., where Aspect Foundation’s office is located.  They give the final O.K. on the placement.  Once that happens, Gabriela and her family in Columbia will be notified.  The other wrinkle for this moving so quickly is D-49’s schools begin on Aug. 4th.  Plus Gabriela needs to be here a few days earlier to get registered.   Hopefully everything will be in place by the middle of the coming week, unless I have overlooked something.

Adding to our fun this past week and today is having a grandson leaving on his two year Mission for the LDS Church on Wed, June 30, 2010.  We had his initial trip to the Denver Temple yesterday (6-26-10) and an open house at our daughter’s home last night with his speaking in Sacrament today and setting apart as a Missionary Monday evening.  More on all that later with some pics.  Its 8 a.m. Sunday and time to think of getting ready for our afternoon meetings.

With all this, we had Carmryn Thursday night as she left Friday with Karen and Karen’s parents for a trip to Kansas and then on to Iowa to visit Jill, Karen’s sister.  They will be gone through July 4th.  So we had a Thursday night out for dinner at Red Robin with Lindsay and her two children.  Lindsay is married to Scotty, our grandson.  Scotty is in OCS training in Montgomery, Ala for at least 3 months.  Its just like being in boot camp.  Lindsay continues working at AAA while Scotty is gone.  When he finishes, he will become a new 2nd Lt. in the Air Force.  He has already been in the AF for 5 years as an enlisted man.  I forgot my camera and don’t have any pics of that event.  Plus it was Anna’s 6th birthday (6-24-10)  Anna is Camryn’s younger sister.  Enough for now!  Pics later!

June 20, 2010

It seems like Father’s Day is not such a big deal compared to Mother’s Day.  Of course, that is the way it should be.  Without Mom and Mom being happy, there is little right in the world.  Today more likely reminds many of us Dad’s we could and should do a better job at being a father.  This pic is of the Mom in our home.  Bobbie always looks & acts nice!  That is the Salt Lake LDS Temple in the background.

Hired a guy to help me pull all the junipers out of our front yard landscaping.  Some were dying and looking ratty.  Plus the guy recently moved to Colo. Springs from Ariz to live with his neice, who is a member of our Ward.  He has spent time in prison and is trying to make a clean start in life.  He is strong and a good worker; so am willing to have him help me with projects, while giving him some spending money.  We even bought a new wheel barrow and he assembled it.  Interesting enough, I was going to buy just a new wheel.  Found out the cost of a total new unit cost only $5 more than buying just the wheel.  Am trying to get all the junipers into trash containers before Tuesday trash day.

Had two of my Letters to the Editor published this week.  One in the Independent and the other in the Gazette.  I’m always rabble-rousing about something going on in the community.  Now I’ll send something in to the Woodmen Edition.  I’ll finish this later today as it is almost time for Church and we have our prison missionary assignment this afternoon.  Sunday’s are usually a busy time for us.

Well, the day is about finished.  We attended the Mtn. Shadows Ward in the morning, came home for a hour to have a sandwich and then leave for Canon City and our prison assignment.  They had a nice Sacrament meeting with John Harvey Sr. and his son, John Harvey, Jr. as the speakers.  They did a good job talking about fathers and their importance in the family and in the home.

Today’s lesson with our group was really good.  First, we had 9 inmates, which is a larger number than our typical Sunday group.  Three new guys, one who will be leaving in about 10 days.  His name is Jeremiah and went to church until about 13.  He has a brother named Joseph Smith.  If we had time, I’m convinced we could have gotten him involved in the Church.  Our lesson dealt with Samuel the Prophet and Saul becoming King.  It talked about how we sometimes rationalize our actions which aren’t in harmony with the Commandments.  I also showed a talk from the April Gen. Conf. by Quenton L. Cook.  Guess What??  His talk was about how we sometimes justify our actions which aren’t in harmony with the teachings of Christ.  It tied nicely with the doctrine I was teaching.  Overall, one of our best meetings in some time.  Hopefully, the other two new guys will continue to come back.

Had a great call from a friend who worked for me when Bobbie and I were in Hungary in 1998.  I still stay in contact with two ladies from the HR department.  Both are now married and have children.  Here is a pic of Eva and her daughter.  Neither of them smile much for pics, which is typical of Hungarian people.   Most of them have had hard lives and struggle with daily existence.  Eva is a very nice bright lady who teaches English in their school system in Tatabanya.

 Eva Federi and daughter Aggie.  The daughter has a Hungarian name, but I don’t remember what it is.

Thus ends my struggles for the past week.  Still very hot by my standards.  Ready for fall to arrive and summer doesn’t get here until Monday (tomorrow).  Anything above 80 is too warm.  It was 98 today.  YUK!!

June 13, 2010

I keep thinking things will get better and they have — almost!!  Last week was really the first full week of school being out and a chance to start of projects.  I have my garden planted and things growing.  I started cleaning out my garage with Troy (our son) coming to pick up a 1974 pin ball machine to put into their newly purchased home.  That was the impetus to start my cleaning and organizing project.  About half done before getting side-tracked again.  Got the lawns mowed and flowers pretty much planted.  Bobbie is never completely done.

We have a community garage sale and I am going to try to get rid of more stuff or give it away.  Gave all my old tarps and sleeping bags to the LDS Church scout program.  The Scoutmaster came and picked them up.  6-7 of each thing.  Emptied all of our water storage bottles and now am refilling them and must find a place to put them in the garage.  One side is pretty clean and organized.  Now to work on the other side this coming week.

Here are some pics of an event we attended a couple weeks ago.

A couple weeks ago, we attended the official opening of the Swing High special playground for kids with disabilities.  This entire project was headed by Michelle Farrell, who is in two of the pics.  She has a special needs daughter, Abby, who was born with spina bifida.  Abby is in these pictures along with our special needs granddaughter, Camryn, who has a mild case of CP.  I did several stories on the project over the years it took to get funding and get through the Colo. Springs red tape and funding processes.  The park is in a section of Memorial Park in the Springs, dedicated to be accessible to kids with any type disability.  It was great to see this project come to fruition after all Michelle’s hard work.  The first pic is is with Bobbie and Michelle along with Abby and Camryn.  The next pic is of Abby and Camryn.  The next is with Michelle speaking at the dedication and finally of Abby with a girlfriend, both in their wheel chairs.  Over the past four years, I have stayed in touch with Michelle and continue to be impressed with her dedication and comittment to doing everything possible for Abby.  We feel the same way about Camryn, always trying  to find ways to improve her capabilities to cope with life.  Bobbie and Karen, (Camryn’s Mom) have done a wonderful job in making this happen.  I’m going to write a newspaper story about this project someday soon.

Played two games of softball last Friday.  Boy, does my ankle hurt while trying to run.  Sometimes, it isn’t much fun, even though we did win both games.  I played pretty well, getting some hits and never making an error at 3rd base.  However, I need a runner for me everytime I get on base.  The ankle has kept me from playing 9 holes of golf yet this year.  Bummer!!

I have three International students and host families comitted for this coming school year.  I surely would like to get at least one more.  The same Michelle I mentioned above has inquired about being a host family.  They would be awesome, but having a special needs child can be time consuming.  The young female student they are considering is from Ecuador.  Last year, I was in Ecuador for two weeks and loved the people and the country.  My kind of place; laid back and warm all year around. We will see what happens.

Last week was the family gathering to wish three Air Force grandsons goodbye.  Ryan and his family are headed for Holland.  Taylor is leaving the AF Academy after one year to go on his LDS Church Mission to Nagoya, Japan.  Scotty is going to Ala. for 3-4 months for OCS training to become an officer in the Air Force.  Scotty’s wife and two children are staying in Colo. Springs.  A couple of pics.

This is Taylor, Ryan and Scotty with us.     The other pic is Scotty, Taylor & Ryan with their younger sister, Olivia, who will be a senior at Air Academy High this coming school year.

Enough for now!  Have to get ready for an afternoon Sacrament meeting in our own Academy Ward.  We haven’t been in our home Ward for three weeks.  We never know what is happening.  It is usally blessings, ordinations, Stake Conf. or our prison assignment which keeps us away.

June 5, 2010

I really don’t like and don’t do well with hot weather.  I guess our springer spaniel doesn’t like it either.  We took Camryn to Tami’s house along with Abbie.  Abbie fell into the fish pond and then after getting almost dried off; she decided that felt pretty good and jumped in again.  I had to hose her down when we got home to get all the gunk and alge off her before letting her back into our house.  Camryn thought it was big fun.  The going-away party/family gathering begins at 4 p.m. and Camryn has to go home; so we decided to let Camryn see her cousins for an hour before Karen comes to pick her up.

Here are some pics from Camille’s promotion ceremony from 5th grade to middle school starting in the fall.

  The first is Bobbie and me with Camille.  Then the pic with Camille and her Mom, Lisa.  The last is of Camille with Bobbie, showing off her Academic Achievement certificate.  It was a nice straightforward program basically run by the kids.  Camille was also one of the speakers.  The boys and girls dressed really well.  They looked much better than the 8th graders in JJ’s ceremony a few days earlier.

June 6, 2010

Sunday, D-Day landing on Normandy beaches, 1944.  This day is pretty much forgotten by the younger generations, but many of us were alive when this occurred as part of WWII.

We celebrated the going away of three grandsons of ours; the sons of Scott and Tami Hollister.  Here are some pics from Sat. night’s gathering.

Here they are: (lt. to rt.) Scotty, Taylor and Ryan.  The other pic is the three brother with their kid sister, Olivia.   All three guys are in the Air Force.  Scotty leaves Monday for Ala. and 3-4 months of Officer Candidate School.  His wife and two kids will stay in Colo. Springs.  Taylor just finished his 1st year at the Air Force Academy and has received his Mission call to Nagoya, Japan.  He leaves at the end of June.  Ryan, the oldest, is going to a NATO base in Holland with his family, leaving August 1st.  Not in Colorado is Dr. Jason Harris, who is married to our granddaughter Shandra.  Army Dr. Harris is being transferred to Triple Army Hospital in Hawaii, effective Aug. 1st.  A couple more pics!

    It was hard to get a serious moment at our family gathering.  The first pic is of Scott and Tami with their sons.  The other pic is of Bobbie and me trying to get them to act normal.  All three boys were very good high school wrestlers.  None of their wives & kids got much attention.  Also missing was Andrea and her husband Bill Pratt, Amanda and her husband, Pete and Dacia; all with their kids.  It was an interesting noisy fun time to go with a great BBQ and all the trimmings.  I won’t post any of their muscle posing pictures, they all have good muscle tone.

Today was our Stake Conference and our trip to the prison.  We discussed the book of Ruth, from the old Testament plus watched an address from President Monson’s daughter from our last General Conf.  I was trying to show the important role women have played from the time of Deborah, Naomi, Ruth and Hannah from early scriptures.  Our group is all men and none of them are married now.  Wanted to give them hope about finding and marrying a righteous woman was possible.  I’m tired and time to call it a week done and ready to start on a Monday.