Fathers Day

I am a little late with this post. I want to tell my girls how much I love them and appreciate all they do for me. I do appreciate your encouragement and the nice things you do and say for and to me. I had a very nice Fathers day. Thanks for the gifts. I have read the book the last lecture. It was good. I think Randy is a good man. I think all of you are doing a good job raising your kids. They are all wonderful and I love them. They each on give in different ways. A smile, or play kaboom read to me. The Little things do mean the most. I love the hugs that you give to me. I love the phone calls most every day. I could use a few foot rubs,but I guess those are a thing of the past. Well anyway thanks for being my girls I am most fortunate for having you in my life. I am proud to be your Dad. I love you. Dad

more memories

Tonight I am continuing my childhood memories. I think I was a happy kid. I was always doing something. Playing some sort of make believe game. I always wanted to help my Dad. When I was 5 years old I would always ask my Dad if I could help him milk the cows. He would let me try but it was hard for small hands. When one finishes milking a cow we do what is called stripping. That is where you use two hand and squeeze the last of the milk from the cow. I started to do that and then low and behold my job was to milk a cow every night. So I milked the cow every night. I did not have to milk her in the morning. I think that is one reason I have had strong hands. I also had to bring in col for the stove each day and also chips of wood to start the fire every morning. When I was six I got a BB gun for Christmas and it was my most treasured possession. I took it wherever I went. I was allowed to shoot sparrows and no other living animals,except bugs , grasshoppers and other vermin. I was so proud the first time I killed a sparrow. I became a very good shot with my Daisy Red Ryder BB Gun. I got into big trouble one day when my brother Louis went to the Out house. There was a knothole in the door and I took aim at the knothole and shot away. There was a loud scream and Louis came running through the door. I had shot him dead center one inch below his belly button. I think he still has a scar. Needless to say I did not get to use my gun for over a month. What are the chances of hitting the knothole from 30 feet. I can remember when I went to Kindergarten. I was five and it lasted six weeks. I rode the school bus to Sutherland grade school which was about ten miles way. I caught the bus about a fourth of a mile away. It seemed kind of crazy to go that far just to take a nap and eat graham crackers. Like Ive mentioned before I liked to play cowboys. I remember when book matches first appeared on the scene. I got a book of matches and decided to build a fort. There was a new straw stack in the field by the house and I dug out a big hole in the middle of the straw for the fort. I then thought a fire wood be good. I burned down the straw stack, the field of wheat stubble and the fence along the road. Things got pretty hot after that escapade. I was only four at that time. Its funny how much a four year old picks up. I decided to be a bull rider when I was five. I climbed up onto the roof of the barn and when the cow walked by I leaped onto he back. What a ride I went up and up and came down very hard. It wasn't nice in what I landed in. My backside hurt for a long time. The ground is very hard. I gave up on bull riding. I like to watch it but it hurts to much for the amount of fun involved.I din not go anywhere when I was small except to Delta. Once every couple of weeks we would go to town. Each one of us would get a nickle to spend at the drug store. That was five suckers or ten strips of licorice or five packages of kits and other penny candy. Life isn't that simple anymore. Well I guess I will close for now I have remembered my first six years.

Things I know for sure

Kimberly asked me to write a blog about the things I know for sure. This hard because these things are close to my heart and are hard to write.
1. I know for sure that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer and that he knows me and
that he loves me.
2. I know that I love my wife Kathryn.
3. I know I love my five children and they are my greatest treasures.
4. My grandchildren are included in my greatest treasures.
5. I know that families can be together forever if we all work to that end.
6. I know that everyone has hard times and life doesn't seem to be fair. Life is not fair.
7. To make marriage work both people have to be totally committed to that end.
8. I know that life is full of hard work,but the rewards are worth the effort.
9. I know that character is important in men, women, dogs , horses we are defined by our
character.
10. The sound of falling rain is beautiful.
11. Smiles are infectious.
12. Hugs and kisses gladden the heart.
13. Foot rubs and back rubs are the best.
14. Hot water is a luxury.
15. I know that fathering a child is easy,but raising him is very hard.
16. I know I love to talk to my kids and am glad they live close by me.
17. Nature is Awesome. Thunder and lighting show how power full God is.
18. I know that sharing makes one feel good.
19. Lying in the sun is a great feeling.
20. These are some of the things I know for sure not all are profound maybe none of the are
are,but they are what I feel are important to me. I know that we have to have balance in our lives and are lives are what we make them. Little things mean a lot and make up most of our happiness. I think that blogging is good. we need to write more of our thoughts and feelings and need to expand our circle of friends.

catch up

I still can't work the computer. I wanted to write a few words about Mothers Day. Sunday was a great day for our family. We saw all he grand kids and their parents and had a nice time together. When the kids are all together it is a zoo. 15 people all doing their own thing. It is great.Wednesday was even a better day. Our girls all wrote a tribute to their mother. They are so kind and show their love for her so much. All I can say is that I too admire her and her great qualities. I am grateful that Kathy is my wife and the mother of our children. We couldn't have been more fortunate with the way our lives have gone. Not that there hasn't been ups and downs,but overall we couldn't have been more blessed. Michael sent his mom a card form Canada and it arrived on Wednesday. He wrote such nice things to her. He is a great boy and I hope he will continue on the path that he is on,not that he could not with all of the watch dogs that he has.Three sisters and his Mom.So anyway the week has been good. Now on to the next topic. King size beds. We went on a road trip last week with our friends Frank and Vikki Larkins to the Black Hills and Mount Rushmore and all of the Motels have king sized beds. Why would anyone want to sleep in a bed that large? They have 6 pillows and room for Grandparents and 6 grandchildren. One might as well sleep alone as in a king sized bed. Marriage and sleeping are like building a good camp fire you need to be beside each other with a little space to move. If the logs are to far apart the fire goes out,but if the logs are close the fire feeds of the logs. I know no one will agree with me but, that's the way I see it. We had a great trip. Mount Rushmore is amazing and it is a testament to what hard work can do. Not one person was killed building the monument. That is truly amazing. The Black Hills a gorgeous and they contain a lot of early American History. Wild Bill Hickcock, Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull and of course the famous dufus General George Armstrong Custer. Calamity Jane was also a big part of Deadwood and that Era. She could out shoot most men. Except Buffalo Bill Cody. Anyway we had a good time with our friends. We will remember how bad the town of Custer is for accommodation. No place to eat,but maybe that is providence stepping in. We don't need to eat. I will close this for now, remember that for a good camp fire there needs to be two logs close together,but with a little space to breath.

Rambling

I jut read the lastest entrys that my girls wrote. They are such good girls and have such wonderful children that I cant believe that I am soo lucky. I am so proud of them. Nicole you have been such a good example to Jessica and Kimberly. They love you so much. Sometimes it is hard to be the example when you are a kid. Jessica you always have tried to be the peace maker and tried to make sure everyone shared and everyone is happy. Kim you are so tough and fiesty. I see a whole lot of your mother in you and that is good. She has done such a good job raising her girls and I am proud of the result. I hope that you girls will find sucess from emulaating her. I think I might like this blogging. We went on a trip to the black hills with our friends Frank and Vikki Larkins and Kathy brought along a book on tapes. It is a history of John Adams the second President of the United States. Anyway we listened to it while traveling.I made plenty of remarks about it ,but is really interesting learning about what life was like in the 1700's. John Adams read and wrote a great deal. It is sad that we dont write like kthey did back then. Maybe these blogs will create more of an interest in writing and keeping journals. John Adams was a good man and gave much for his country,but he had his strugglesalso. Two of his four children were acholiic. I guess it is hard work to raise children no matter thetime peiod we live in. He had one son be President of the United tates and two that struggled. I guess that Father in Heaven has the same emotions andfeelings that we have. Great joy and feelings of sadness and wondering what we are doing wrong. Life is a great experience and I am glad that I have had the experieces that I have had. Our greatest accomplishments are good children and their continued desires to be good parents and contribute to society. Well this was kind of a rambling type missive. It is not what I was going to discuss,but tomarrow is another day

rembering

Today I am going to start writing about my life. My first memory is of a deep hole in the ground. I was about three years old and we lived in Milford Utah and next to the house we lived in was a foundation hole for a new house. I can remember how high and deep it seemed to me and I was afraid if I fell in I would not get out. I can faintly remember my older sister,but nothing specific about her until I was a little older. It seems like we remember specific event or certain things but not everyday life situations. I don't recall very much about Mom or Dad that except they were there. My next clearest memory is of a house in Sugarville, Utah I think we moved there when I was four. I can remember there was a hole in the floor and my Dad had given me a small hammer and some nails and I decided I was going to fix the floor. I can remember trying to pound nails into a board,but it is very hard to drive nails when one is four. I didn't do very well on that particular job. I did still like to hammer. I remember that my sister Gloria liked to boss me around and try to make me do her thing whatever that was. I would say no and she would start to bawl and my mother would always take her side. If we fought my mom would make us sit on separate chairs and we couldn't get down until we kissed and made up. Sometimes I would sit for at least an hour. There was a cotton wood tree in the yard and I loved to climb it. I would climb to what seemed to me great heights. I would sit on the branches and pretend I was Roy Rogers and the tree branch was trigger. For those who don't know trigger was Roy's horse. I listened to Roy Rogers and Gene Autry, Hop along Cassidy on the radio at night. We listened on KSL radio from SLC. I also listendto Fibber Magee and Molly, The Whistler and other radio shows. I can rember the first movie I ever saw. It was a Roy Rogers show and it was at a Drive in this must of been in 1950.I always wanted to be a cowboy. I think that is why I have always liked to read western stories and adventure stories. I guess that is also why Louis Lamour has been such a big part of my life. He had a great philosphy about life and how people should live. Character is so important for all of us. if a man has a good truck a good knife and a good gun he can do just about what ever he needs to survive and to provide for his family. That is stretching it a little but may be you get the picture?This history may take a long time because I do think there are many things to talk about and how child hood affects ones whole life.