The Cooks

Hello everyone! Our week was filled with activities, including celebrating Sadie's 6th birthday this week. She had a slumber party with her little friends. We took them to dinner at Red Robin and had ice cream cake for dessert. She was thrilled!

I have been toying with the idea of using digital scrapbooking and I found some free software that I tried a couple of pages with. You can view them on this website and give me some feedback if you wish! The pages are of Sadie's birthday.

http://www.scrapbookflair.com/alaskagirl

We hope everyone is doing great! We still love seeing all the posts and hearing from everyone! Sadie loves your cast Carinne!

Love, Katie

Hello everyone! Just got back from Idaho for Aunt Florence's funeral. Went with Uncle Fay. He was in Denali Park so Dad and I went down to pick him up and brought him back here. Early Sat. morning we left and that gave an extra day to connect with relatives in ID. I visited with cousins I'd never had much time with before. Was able to avert a disaster with the church reputation regarding the family's desires for the funeral. All were baptized but left activity as adults but wanted to honor their mother with having a former bishop preside. When they were told that wasn't possible they were pretty miffed. They thought the current bishop was rude in not honoring their request. So we chatted about the guidelines bishops have to follow at these times and were more understanding. The former bishop was a speaker so he wasn't left out.

Aunt Florence was a cryptic character but had a compassionate heart. She had some definite ying and yang qualities. Fay spoke and was "awesome" as one visitor expressed. He described how Florence and Bernice, a sister, had a relationship that was quite interesting. They seemed to give each other unsolicited advice constantly and shared an incident of Bernice shucking corn and Forence giving her advice on how she does it, which was not well received. These two ladies lived a good part of their lives in Buhl. I also learned that Florence spoke unkindly of my mother a few times which set the hearts of my older siblings to not come to the funeral. As Fay noted to me; he attends these funerals to be supportive of the living and he is very good in giving to all. He had no dress clothes with him so he wore his clean pair of Levis and a Pendleton shirt. He was wonderful in spite of his compromised health.

Yesterday we had another early morning flight back and stopped inAnchorage, having Lizzie and Tyler pick us up and drive us to Moose Pass where Fay rejoined his elderhostel tour. He'll have two more days with that before heading back to California.

I'm thoroughly enjoying the postings on this blogsite. Thank you, each of you, for giving us some updates on your family. I should get a camera and post some of my own photos?! Tomorrow we drive to Anchorage, possibly having Bryce with us, to attend the temple for his endowments. Exciting times for him!

Love, Mom/Grandma/Mormor

Hello Family!!!

This blogging stuff is great! It's so fun to see and hear how everyone is doing! Sorry it's taken us so long to put up our first blog...I didn't even know this existed until, like, Saturday. And then I only got a quick glimpse. I finally read the whole thing today and Alan just showed me how to put up my own blog. So, Zach and LaDawn. I will be calling you sometime really soon to find out if I'm an aunt or an uncle ;). It's late, but we'll try to get some photos up tomorrow with the updates.

We just got back from a Utah vacation. If you judge by the kids' reaction, it was a success as they started complaining about doing "too many things." They went to a Real Salt Lake soccer game, saw the new Joseph Smith movie, went to the "This is the Place" historical park, hiked up to the Timpanogas Caves, went to the reservoir, played a lot with cousins, and more. Jacob celebrated his release from the toils of daily life by not sleeping a wink at night. Here are some photos from the trip:

(below) Carinne, Kaiah and cousins Hailey and Chloe with ox. Sadie and Mason, please note the proof that Carinne independently proved the theory of gravity without the Newtonian need to have an apple fall on her head. Carinne fell backwards and put her arms out to catch herself. She didn't cry when she broke her arm, didn't cry when it was set, didn't cry when the pain meds wore off. Today, however, she shed a tear when the doctor told her she would have to be in the cast for four more weeks! She really misses being able to swim, ride a bike and being able to floss her teeth easily.






A few rare sightings of Jacob without his binky in his mouth. The first photo is inside Brigham Young's farmhouse transported from Sugarhouse.















Upon our return, we noted that the Plumas County Fair had one more day to run. The girls finangled all the baloons in the following photo from Safari Sadie, a one-woman kid's show wherein balloon animals appear out of nowhere. I guess they stayed and offered to help clean up. I showed up to pick them up and had the entire jungle waiting to be placed in our Yukon.



Note cousin Hailey who came back with us for a few days. That's all for now!

HI EVERYONE THIS IS DANA. JUST WANT TO SAY THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I HAVE EVERY BLOGGED. SO I HOPE I DO IT RIGHT. WELL EVERYTHING IS GOING PRETTY GOOD. SARAH AND BRIAN AND NATHAN ARE GETTING READY TO MOVE TO RENO IF YOU HAVENT HEARD. THEY LEAVE IN ABOUT TWO WEEKS. JAKE IS DOING WELL, HE GOES BACK TO SCHOOL IN A WEEK. HE HAS ALSO BEEN WORKING AT SUBWAY AND LOVES PAYCHECKS! I HAVE BEEN BUSY AT WORK AND HAVE JUST STARTED ON A PAINTING FOR BP. ITS OF A AMERICAN FLAG WITH A SUNSET (3FT X 4FT) IT WILL PROBABLY TAKE ABOUT THREE WEEKS TO PAINT. THANKS TO BOB HANSEN FOR GETTING THE JOB FOR ME! LAST WE ARE TRYING TO BUY A HOUSE. WE MADE A OFFER BUT HAVE NOT HEARD BACK YET. ITS A HOUSE OFF OF COLLEGE ROAD. IM REALLY EXCITED ABOUT IT AND STRESSED. ANYWAY HOPE EVERYONE IS DOING WELL, SO I BETTER GO. IM AT WORK AT THE MOMENT SO I BETTER GET TO WORK. COOL BLOG SITE KATIE!!

LOVE DANA, JULIA, JAKE

Thanks to everyone for their posts! I really enjoy checking the website to see who has gotten on and posted. I love hearing and seeing pictures of what everyone is doing. Sadie and Mason enjoy seeing the pictures of all their cousins! They are really worried about Carinne and her arm as Sadie and Mason love climbing the tree in our front yard and can't figure out how Carinne could have fallen out! So if you have pictures of your cast Carinne, you'll have to post them for the kids.

The kids and I had a chance to go ice skating with some friends who are moving out of the area soon. Mason is a little zoomer on the ice and puts everyone to shame. Sadie is a little more cautious and is still learning but does a great job! This week we have our Stake temple day on Thursday and will enjoy serving in the temple for most of the day. We are also planning a birthday party for Sadie on Friday with her two little friends who are leaving. We will be having a slumber party for the first time at our house with them. Love to all of you from the east! Katie

That last posting was by me. Obviously I haven't gotten the hang of this thing yet. One photo was of Mom/Grandma and me with Tyler taking Fay and Linda to Denali Wilderness Lodge. The other was of us eating at the Salmon Bake. We had a great visit with them. Unfortunately, Fay's only living sibling, his sister Florence, died in Buhl. Fay learned of this after he and Linda arrived at Denali Park. So now he is trying to make arrangements to fly to Idaho for the funeral on Monday and then back to join Linda at Seward. Mom may go to the funeral, too.

It's too late to call Z & L tonight to find out about this new kid. So we will call in the morning. We really are eager to know, but we simply waited too long.

Enough for now. I'll try to make the next blog a little more artistic.

Dad/Grandpa

OK, I'm going to try to post a few photos. Here are two taken when Uncle Fay and Linda were here.

Here are a few pictures of the boys on our trip to Idaho and of Josh's birthday. As you can see, the boys are growing up quickly! We wish we could see each of you in person.

If you want to find out whether you are a new uncle or aunt, please give us a call. I suppose I could tell you in this blog about the special baby in LaDawn's tummy, but I thought it might make more sense to give each of you a little incentive to call us so we can hear from you. If you do know (i.e. Katie) help us keep the secret.

Not much too exciting is going on here. We went on a camping trip last weekend to Big Sur, camped in the redwoods and spend some time at the beach. It was the first time we had driven that far up Highway 1. I wish we had had more time to drive further. It was beautiful to see the unspoiled coast line. I'd share some pictures but we haven't developed the film yet (I dropped our digital camera in a lake after the canoe shot. We salvaged the pictures but not the camera).


Josh has started playing soccer again. As his coach, we are working on learning how to dribble. He is a good sport to put up with me.

Here's our phone number in case you can't find it. 805-553-0286. we should be around this weekend.

Zach, LaDawn, and J&J

What lovely photos, Katie! Is your dress the one you were telling me about? When Dana and Julia were here with Fay and Linda, Julia noted that in your family photo of you there is a strong resemblance to my graduation photo that hangs on the wall. So when I look at this photo, I think, Hmmmm, I really look good, don't I????
Love Mom

I just recieved my director pictures in the mail today and wanted to share it with everyone. Yes, it is the same picture! Katie

Hello Everyone! Uncle Fay and Aunt Linda have come and gone. We managed to get them out quite a bit. They toured Aurora Motors with Tyler as host, were very impressed with all they saw, got to see some of Dana's paintings that hang around town and a short visit with Dana and Julia as they shared his portfolio. Uncle Fay remembered that Dana worked in parts at Aurora ten years ago! He does have a remarkable memory.
Tyler took us in his Broussard to Denali Wilderness Lodge. That was a grand trip for all of us. Uncle Fay had not eaten very heartily and Linda is petite and doesn't eat much either. But we had breakfast at the lodge and he went back to refill his plate several times. We were very pleased to see his appetite enlivened. Later we toured Georgeson Botanical Gardens where I'm active with the Herb bed. Then he needed a nap and rested for a while. They took us to dinner at Gambardellas. We went to visit Tyler's family and stopped by my second cousin's house next door to Val Spencer's old home.
We did the Riverboat Saturday morning and they think it's the most wonderful experience for a tourist. Took them to the lake, stopping at Santa Claus House, the Extreme Makeover house, the Knotty Shop and had lunch at the cabin. Walked to Grandma's, visited for a hour, came back to town. He had a nap at the lake but seemed bushed back in town. This morning we put them on the train and hope their trip continues well.
I'm sure Dad will post some photos soon as he organizes them or figures how to do it. Now I'm planning to get busy on the house and yard and continue the fight to catch up! A new family in our ward needs some help moving in and cleaning their new abode! Seems like life never levels off to boredom!
Love, Mom,Grandma/Mormor

We received a new fish tank from some good friends who are moving soon. Mason and Sadie loved the fish everytime they went to their house and our friends felt they needed to have the tank. So, we have been fish happy the last couple of days and given them all names. We have Spot, Hidey, Kissy, Toppy, Gill(bad fish), and four we haven't named yet.




The kids have been enjoying taking pictures with the camera. Sadie took this one of Mason in true form.



Here is one Sadie took of Chris and I at Ikea the other day. Photographer in the making I'd say!

Here are the champion watermelon eaters of Indian Valley in all their glory:



Carinne won't be entering any more competitions this year. After mastering the climbing wall at Girl's Camp (doubled the old record of completions in one day) she fell out of a tree at Doug's house in Utah and broke her arm clean through both the radius and ulna. So much for going on the pro watermelon circuit this year.

Deb's out in Utah with all the kids and has been for a week. I am staying up all night to catch up on work so I can leave Saturday at 6:00 a.m.to meet up with them. I'm not the only one up, though. Jacob is apparently not sleeping at night either. I'll post a picture of him later. Back to work so I don't miss my plane!

Bret

Great photos of Sadie! Congratulations on your white belt which looks very long! I'm surprised your suit is black, I thought it would be white, too. Is Mason taking lessons?

Katie, sounds like a great idea to post photos and news. Bret sent an email with a photo of his powerhouse girls in their sport in Greenville. I'll let Bret post that for everyone. Zach and family and I were at Lava Hot Springs, so maybe he can post some of his of his family there or of CA. Tyler and family went to a wonderful place in the Denali area and have some photos of that. Lizzie should be able to post now they have a computer, too. Dana and Julia are looking to buy a new house, Sarah and Brian are moving to Reno, Jacob works at Subway. Whit and Erin plugging along, saw them Sunday while A&L were still here.

Today Uncle Fay and Aunt Linda arrive for their visit to Alaska. In early June he battled a bout with shingles that had him hospitalized for ten days. He was in very bad shape. He says his ear and throat still have pain. That's where the shingles lodged, in the ear and throat. He lost weight for not being able to eat very well. But he's better now, enough so that we'll be picking them up this afternoon and have two days touring Fairbanks. Then they go to Denali and end up in Seward. Their travels are arranged by Elderhostel, which must be an interesting way to travel. Will tell you more, later.

Am looking forward to any and all postings!
Love, Mom/Grandma/Mormor

katie, this is such a cute idea!! i LOVE your pictures of sadie, but i'm sad to see that she's so much older than the last time we saw her!! time flies, but it's crazy how quickly!! what martial arts is she taking?? nick has tried to get alex interested, but he's leaning towards gymnastics. we'll see...

as for our fam....nick is getting down to the wire w/his studies for his neurology finals. he's crammed 3 years into 2, so it'll be a huge accomplishment if/when he passes the boards in september. he'll be a certified chiropractic neurologist.
....jason is getting ready to enter high school (wahoo!) and trying to find work. ...alex is going to try one more year to do homeschool, reading like crazy, and helping w/taylor all the time. ...sammy is becoming much more gentle, and spending lots of time w/dad. ...taylor is starting to sit up, scoot, and suck/chew on anything he can get his hands on. ...mom is just trying to keep the boys hair from getting too long, and trying w/out success to stay on top of housecleaning. ....we have a few new additions to the family: 3 goats named charles, boil & llama, and 8 chickens. (what have we gotten into?????)
we sure wish we could see more of the family, and hope that everyone is doing great!! i'd post pictures, but this is so complicated for me....love you all.....wms boys & soo

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