Christmas 2009

We had a great Christmas Eve and Christmas. Andrea/Mike, Grandpa Dick and Grandma Joy, Nate/Beth/Spencer/Preston and Brian/Mindi/Jaimee/Brandon all came over for Christmas Eve. We ate a prime rib dinner downstairs in the newly-remodeled basement and had a wonderful time talking, laughing and joking. It was fun to watch Spencer and Preston open gifts from us of dinosaurs and dinosaur train movie; and Jaimee and Brandon open their gifts of a watch, coloring books and tools. All the kids were very excited.

Prior to our Christmas Eve dinner, Andrea and Mike had come over to stay with us for two days. We saw the new movie Avatar with 3D glasses and saw the lights on Temple Square. We also played the usual Settlers and the Great Dalmoody. We had a lot of fun.

Christmas day, all the kids came over again for a visit and we played “Mafia”. It was a lot of fun. Everyone got very involved in the activity. The highlight, of course, was talking to Kaelynn on the phone. She is doing great in Trumbull and has some good ideas to try to invigorate the area. We are so proud of her.

Preston and Jaimee, December 2009

I watched Spencer and Preston this week. They were funny and delightful. After I dropped Spencer at his pre-school, Preston was in the back set of the car. He asked me, “Are two Lightening McQueens the same or different? I said, “The same”. “Very good Grandpa, you’re so smart. Is a Lightening McQueen and a Sally the same or different?” I said, “Different”. “Your right! Good job Grandpa!” There you have it the “same” and “different”.

Jaimee Joy performed, "Roly Poly the Polar Bear" at her dance recital this week. Below is a video of the event--Jaimee is on the far left.

Thanksgiving trip 2009

We visited Mike and Andrea over Thanksgiving. It was a lot of fun.

We started out Tuesday morning and drove to Kanab, Utah. On the way we missed a turnoff and a canyon road was closed, so we ended up gonig through Arizona to get to Kanab. This actually turned out to be a good thing because we visited a place called "Pipe Springs". This was an outpost buildt by Mormons called by Brigham Young. They built a fort somewhat like Cove Fort and had a very thriving industry there for a number of years. It was really interesting to take a tour of the fort and learn about the settlement.

Wednesday morning we left Kanab and headed for Arizona. On the way we stopped at a turnaround and took a 1/2 mile hike into some pretty rock formations. We also stopped at Glen canyon dam and took a tour that went deep inside the dam. It was very, very interesting. We got to Mike and Andrea's place that evening and went shopping for Thanksgiving foods.

Thanksgiving day began by making pies and then playing soccer at a local school with lots of other people in the ward. We had fun and afterwards came home to the usual Thanksgiving dinner. Afterwards we played Settlers which Mike won (I might add Sandy won a game of Settlers on Wednesday night).

Friday we worked out together and went to a museum/zoo. This museum/zoo was very well done. We saw a raptor show--like Hogle Zoo's show-wild pigs (Javiers), mountain goats, a bear, hummingbirds, etc. The exhibits were very impressive and we enjoyed ourselves a lot. We then went home to homemade turkey soup (made by yours truly) and afterwards a game of Legretto won by Andrea. We then watched a video.

Saturday morning Mike and I played racquetball while Andrea and Mom exercised. They all went shopping while I stayed home. They knew I would be terribly disruptive if I had to shop for longer than a half hour.

On our way home we stopped at Paria Canyon and took a great hike through part of the canyon. We saw a deer carcass and some mountain lion tracks along the floor of the canyon.

Below are some pictures of the trip: 1. The first picture is of Glen Canyon dam looking up from inside the dam. Note the shadow of the bridge across the dam; 2. The third picture is a photograph of a "Javier" or Arizona pig. 3. On the fifth picture that looks just like rocks, can you see the mountain lion? 4. Pictures seven through ten are of Paria Canyon. Can you see the petroglyphs in picture eight?

Movie of Brandon and Jaimee at the zoo

Hi All,

Here's a movie of Brandon and Jaimee at the Zoo, November 09

Halloween 2009

Sandy wrote this about our Halloween Family Home Evening--We had a FHE together with the littles and they wore their Halloween costumes since we’ll be in Texas for Halloween. Spencer was a DRAGON. The costume was so cute! Preston was a tiger, and was also supremely darling.

Jaimee came in a home sewn Alice in Wonderland outfit and Mindi proclaimed the she hates sewing and will never buy a sewing machine (she borrowed mine).

When I said, “Well, here’s Alice in Wonderland,” Jaimee said, “It’s really me Grandma. I’m just wearing a costume. “ Brandon was supposed to be a BYU football player but after he put it on at home, the costume was too bulky to fit in the car seat and he had to take it off. Then he was sick of all the on a off so he didn’t wear it at the party.

After eating, we let everyone show a talent. Spencer said a dinosaur name for every letter in the alphabet! It was amazing. Beth would say “A” and Spencer said, “Allosaurus”. Then, “B”, and “Brachiosaurus”. He went through the whole alphabet without a pause and it was adorable.

Preston roared like a tiger, Jaimee did a dance, Brandon made an animal noise and all were duly admired.

Grandma Joy and Grandpa Dick were there and they are doing well. I thought you’d like to know that Spencer has a girlfriend at preschool. Her name (must be whispered) is Brooklyn. Spencer’s teacher is “Miss Michelle”. If you ask Spencer if she is nice he will say. “Of course.”
That is his favorite answer to most questions, except for food questions.

Craig: “Spencer, do you like that soup?”
Spencer: “No.”
Beth: “That’s not very polite.”
Craig: “Preston, do you like that soup?”
Preston: “Sure!” (His favorite answer.)



































On Wednesday night of Halloween week we went to Texas to be with Chris and Lisa. When we got there and had a hamburger dinner and played games with the kids.

On Thursday we went to the Houston Temple and Space Museum. Mom and I watched the kids while Chris and Lisa went to a session of the Temple--we played around the Temple grounds chasing snails and afterwards went to McDonalds). After the Temple we went to the Houston Space Museum. Chris and Lisa seemed to enjoy it and the kids really enjoyed the big slide and playground there.

The next day I went to drop off the kids at school. In the afternoon me, Allysa, Lisa, and Emma all ate school lunch with Matthew. In the evening we went out to a restaurant to celebrate Chris's birthday.

Saturday we spent the days making donuts and playing games.

It's funny to to listen to Allysa get her subjects and objects missed up. She says things like, "Him hit me!"

Emma is starting to say words. She even came up to me, saying "Grandpa".

Matthew is getting his words and arithmetic down great. He is reading and spelling a lot of words. If you need someone to count to a hundred by "2"s, "5"s, etc. he's your man...

EXTINCTION--The Definitive Definition

Hi Everyone,

Spencer said to me, "Grandpa I have to say a question to you. Do you know what EXTINCT means? It means you're dead."

There you have it folks. Webster dictionary take notice--we have THE definition!

The Cruise--Sep09

We went cruisin’! We went on a family outing with all the brothers and sisters and Grandpa and Grandma Monson with the exception of Ryan and Doris who couldn’t go. We boarded the Celebrity Mercury in Seattle on Friday September 25th.

The Mercury

We started feeding immediately upon arrival

Conrad and Debbie practicing for the movie, "Titanic"

That night we saw a show with dancing, amazing gymnasts and a magician.

The next day the ship docked in Victoria, British Columbia. Kim/Cary, Sean/Jana and I rented bikes and rode them along the “Galloping Goose” trail. We had a wonderful time. The rest of the crew went to the Buchart Gardens where they raved about the great floral arrangements. Here are some pictures of it:





People returned from the shore excursions and slept, relaxed, ate, ate, ate, read, etc. until dinner. One memorable activity was that Debbie sat in the hot tub with a borrowed swimsuit. It was too big for her and the bubbles from the hot tub filled up the swimsuit to give Debbie the perfect Dolly Parton body! Conrad, unfortunately, was eating and didn’t witness the transformation.

That night we dressed up and made it a formal dinner. We had a lot of fun dining, even though the “cruise gurus” said that the food was not all that good. But, here are some pictures of the formal diners, including Cary who dressed up in a tux to fulfill his lifelong dream of being a waiter.








Later that night we saw another show with dancing and the gymnasts performing. It was great. Afterwards we gathered round and listened as Norm told about his Father's life which was really interesting. The subject then changed to our growing up in New Jersey and how Conrad was exploited by his parents who unfairly gave the girls preferential treatment. We all agreed and felt that this is the explanation for Conrad’s major psychological problems. We all agreed not to tell Mom for fear she would spend the rest of her life worrying about it.

The next day we had a short church meeting. Karla gave a spiritual thought about King Lamoni’s wife in the Book of Mormon and then we had a good discussion on Isiaih 55:8-9: “God’s thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways”. Here’s a picture of church:

A most spiritual group


Following church we boarded little boats called “tenders” (sounds just like the Wendy’s chicken ten….) and went to Nanaimo. We saw a reenactment of cannon firing and wandered along the shore. Nanaimo is a beautiful little place. Here are some pictures of Nanaimo:

Don't they make a lovely couple?

After the shore excursion we went back to the ship and read, relaxed and ate, ate, ate. That evening we had dinner and then some went to the show and others played spoons. The highlight of the game was when the waiter started to remove spoons that Sean had set on the floor as the game progressed. Sean gave him a look that could kill and the waiter retreated.

The next morning we got off the ship and went to the Seattle Aquarium. The highlight of the aquarium is when they fed the sea otters. The otters laid on their backs and the keepers tossed fish and shrimp to them. The otters would catch the food and eat it in a most human-like manner. After the aquarium we flew home. A most delightful time was had by all!

Family Reunion and a Fiery Uintas Experience, Sep09

We had a family reunion this Saturday that turned out well. We debated what to do when you've got four little ones and hit upon the idea to go to the zoo, then women go to a movie and boys watch the kids and football game and then finish with a dinner. The actual plan was excellent in everything except that Mindi was sick and so couldn’t come. We went to the zoo early Saturday morning—the weather was great, the crowds were few and we saw a baby elephant, baby leopard, baby tiger cubs and baby gjiraffe. Nate and Brian watched the BYU football team clobber Tulane while I played with the kids. Sandy and Beth decided to wait until Mindi was available to go to lunch and a movie, so they sort of watched the game and chatted. We had a lovely dinner in the backyard with prizes for everyone! By the way, everyone got a $3, Walmart clearance t-shirt, cool, huh?

Earlier in the week, Sandy and I went to the Uintas to ride bikes and have a cookout. Those of you familiar with our family pyro, will appreciate this fire, dedicated to Sandy!

Trip to Flaming Gorge Aug 09

This week I went to Flaming Gorge with Dad on a fishing trip. It was fun to be with him. As usual, we didn’t catch much. Here’s some pictures:

Have you ever eaten a Stegosaurus? Sep09

Spencer's birthday party had a "dinaosaur motiff". Here's a picture of the amazing creature and it's creator--Beth:












I now know why carnivores ruled the earth--there is nothing better than a good "leg of Stego". And here are some shots of the birthday boy himself. By the way, I thought you might be interested in a comparison picture of Spencer when he was 1.