Woodrow and Natalie Arrington's Wedding

After a fun Christmas Day, we received a huge snowstorm on December 26. It snowed most of the day. It was a difficult situation because Marilyn and Howard and their family were traveling with Grandma Kern to Salt Lake in preparation for the marriage of Woodrow Arrington to Natalie Thompson on December 27th. We tidied up from Christmas and waited out the day. Grandma and the Arrington’s finally arrived around 2;30 p.m. The Arrington’s visited for a while and then left Grandma and Mikyla and went off to the Little America hotel.

Saturday morning, the Kern’s with Grandma headed off to downtown Salt Lake for the day of wedding festivities. The first item on the agenda was a wedding breakfast in the Empire Room of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. This was a very lovely affair with many expensive extras added to the decorating. The bridal colors were black and taupe with red accents. The tables were all set with taupe tablecloths, and black bamboo chairs with taupe bows tied to the backs of each chair. The tables were set with gold chargers and black napkins folded into bishop’s miters. The floral tributes on each table were three foot thin vases with a red rose and red rose petals at the bases. It was very dynamic to see when we walked into the room. There were also huge clear blocks of ice with a frozen red rose inside on either side of the entrance. There were table assignments, and a master list to find where you were to sit. The single cousins were all at one table. Paul and I were at a table with Bee and Ed Kimball, Grandma Kern, Rob and Cindy, Kern, Ralph Kern and Woodrow’s bishop and wife—(last name Judd). The meal was very tasty, including a salad course, chicken filled crepes, and cheesecake for dessert. The mother of the bride did a multimedia presentation of a scrapbook that she had made called “Once Upon a Time”, and each of the parents of the bride and groom said a few words. The breakfast started at 10:30 and was concluded at around 12:30., we were to be at the temple at 1:50p.m., so people milled around and then went off to the temple across the plaza.

A sealer named Elder Brown performed the temple sealing and it turned out the Paul knew him from his translation days. Elder Brown had worked in audio-visual and they had been in meetings together. He did a very nice job and the ceremony went very smoothly. It was held in one of the large sealing rooms and the place was full. Two benches were brought in to accommodate the overflow. There were Kerns and Arringtons represented, as well as missionary companions and friends and the entire Thompson guests as well.

When the sealing had been completed, we waiting in the upstairs waiting area for the bride and groom to come out, but after a long wait, we left without being in any pictures. We returned to home and Paul and Grandma went to feed the horses. At about 7:00 p.m. we left to go to the reception that was held in La Jardin of the Rose Shop. I knew this was going to be a green house—and I have been to other receptions in this kind of facility and they are very nice. This was very exceptional. There were lots of twinkle lights, and pathways wandered in an out of greenery displays and it was warm and inviting. The bride’s aunt had made a Snapfish photo book, which was what was used as a guest book that I thought was a good idea. You could look through it and sign where you wanted. There were four bridesmaids including Mikyla and Natalie’s sister and the colors were very nice and striking in this setting. Everything looked great. The food was also very interesting. There were crepes with fruit, caramel nut, or chocolate toppings, lots of fresh fruit and finger sandwiches in buns for the refreshments. There were tables set up around the shop with beautiful floral arrangements on them and framed pictures of Natalie and Woodrow. There were lots of family members there and we enjoyed visiting and being with them. Philip and Camille who didn’t come to the wedding or the breakfast did join us at the reception and that was also fun. We are very happy that we were able to participate in the happy family occasion.

Christmas 2008

We have had a great Christmas. It has been wonderful to have all the children at home for Christmas day. We made a few changes in our Christmas traditions and had a few of the old ones hold over.

As always we have had a Christmas Eve activity here at Oak Valley Drive. For the past several years we have had a Christmas Eve surrey ride. This year it was so stormy and windy that we decided that it would be unwise. Nevertheless, Grannie and Granddad came over for Christmas Eve dinner and our Christmas devotional. They arrived at about three thirty and we visited and then watched a DVD –The Stonecutter. This was not a Christmas DVD, but it had a wonderful message, and it had been a Christmas gift. Then we put on dinner and ate in the dining room, decorated for Christmas. K.C., Peter and Erika were present for this, as well as the Gates grandparents. It was a traditional dinner, with turkey, dressing, potatoes, green beans, a jelled salad and rolls. For dessert we had chocolate pound cake with chocolate chip mint ice cream and chocolate sauce. After dinner and dessert we had our Christmas devotional, which included Christmas missionary memories of Peter, K.C. and Granddad, and Christmas caroling, Erika playing the piano, Paul playing the guitar and the rest of us singing. (Some numbers were better than others.) K.C. had a version of the Christmas story from Luke and Matthew on his Ipod and we listened to it, and just as things were winding down, Philip and Camille arrived. They had their Christmas Eve with Camille’s family but then came over so that we could celebrate Christmas morning together. Camille had to work at 12:00 noon until 6:00 p.m. on Christmas Day so they came so that they could have Christmas morning with us. After the Christmas Scripture story we had hot chocolate. Paul gave one gift to everyone on Christmas eve. There were gift certificates for everyone. We shared our week at Westgate with Grannie and Granddad, Peter and Philip and Camille, and Erika and K.C. got ski passes. Then Grannie and Granddad left. (One of the changes that we made this year, was that we didn’t read, A Visit from St. Nicholas—it will be saved to be used when there are grandchildren; we have no more children at home now.)

Another change that we made this year was that Santa didn’t come to our house. All the gifts were wrapped this year and placed under the tree. Paul did the majority of the wrapping starting in the afternoon and then doing more wrapping while I was cleaning up the kitchen. We got to bed about 12:30p.m.

Paul was the first one up on Christmas morning, he left to go feed the horses and I got up and set up the table for Christmas breakfast and did some of the preliminary stuff. When Paul got home, and the children began to wander in, we went into the living room to begin unwrapping gifts. We were able to unwrap for about a half an hour then had a break for breakfast (Breakfast Sausage Pie—a great recipe, but the sausage was too spicy). After breakfast the unwrapping began again. The four children surprised me with season tickets to Hale Theatre, and Paul got us a set of Adirondack chairs for the patio. Everyone got some nice gifts and we were very contented and happy. I think everyone felt that they got things that they wanted and needed.




Camille gave the accessory that provided the best photo opportunity for Christmas morning. And the pictures of the children in their ‘do rags” were fun to take and funny to look at.

Later in the afternoon we headed off to Grannie and Granddad’s house for Christmas dinner with Stephen and Steve. Grannie, or course put on a great spread—this time ham and all the fixings and eggnog mouse for dessert. We exchanged gifts with Stephen and Steve—I had made a quilt with Nancy’s T-shirts with a matching pillow, and I had tickets for the Hale Theater, a family photo, cookbook and CD of Cowboy Poetry for Grannie and Granddad. I thought that we would probably play a game of charades, but we just visited and left in a significant snowstorm and arrived home tired, but happy.

Christmas Parties Galore

We have had a couple of very busy Christmas Party weeks. And it has been fun and has gotten me in the Christmas mood. Christmas activities are one of the things that signal Christmas for me.

The first week in December I enjoyed two book club parties. Bibliobabes had their annual Christmas party at the home of Petra Pinto on Tuesday, December 2nd. It is a nice group of women, and Petra originally has done the whole meal herself, but in the past couple of years she has been willing to let some of the other club members bring something, so this year I brought the appetizer, which was a Spinach and Krab Quiche. It looks very Christmasy because the green spinach and the decorative red food coloring on the Krab make it look rather “red and green” which is festive. It was interesting because it turned out to be a seafood evening. The other appetizer was chips with a seafood dip, and the main course was pasta and shrimp, so my contribution was a very good fit. We had a few activities after dinner. Petra had some word puzzles that we tried to solve, they were quite tricky, and the first one required that she give us a very big hint, but we did get into the spirit of it. Then we played a game of book title charades which I helped to lead, being a very big charade player myself. We decided that it was too easy however, because we used only titles of books that we have read in our bookclub and that was too small of a universe of books. It will be harder if we don’t keep so limited the next time we try it.

On Thursday, December 4th, Bookworms had their annual Christmas dinner and party. I ended up hosting it this year, kind of by default. Camille Mendel has been the hostess many times, but she had another party the next night and didn’t feel that she could handle the two back to back, and Jolene, who has also been hostess, was going to be late and couldn’t hostess, so I volunteered. Everyone was assigned to bring something so all I had to do was set up the party and make lasagna. This was also a very fun party and we laughed a lot. Paul went to bed before everyone left, and the last ones left after 11:00, so that was a late evening for Bookworms. We did a white elephant book exchange, and Shauna Syphus suggested a new way to pick the books. We had a very funny exchange about changing the tradition, in which everyone laughed until they cried, but we did end up doing it her way, which was new and fun. She had a story that included the words ‘right’ and ‘left’ many times and each time the word was said you shifted the book that was in front of you either to the right or to the left and at the end of the story you ended up with the book that was in front of you. There were some really interesting books exchanged this year. I got For Such a Time as This the women’s conference talks from 2007.

On the weekend, December 5,6, and 7th, we went up to the cabin and attended the Christmas concert that the BYU-Idaho choirs presented, which I have already reported about.

The following Tuesday, which was December 9, I once again hosted the Career Center Christmas party. This is a traditional event as well and we always have the same thing, and do it in the same way. We always have it on a Tuesday because I don’t have to work on Tuesday and can be home to set it up. We always have it at my house because I live the closest to the school and we always have Raclette because it is a fun and unique meal and also easy to prepare. The rest of the guests, which this year were Carolyn Chipman, Sandi Simmons, Linda Anderson and Nancy Reynolds brought other food items, the drinks, the salad, the appetizers and the dessert, so I provided the chopped up vegetables, the shrimp, ham and crab. It was a very fun luncheon and went on until well after 3:00 which was no problem this year because I didn’t have to go back to the school to pick up Erika, like I did last year and failed to do so because we were having such a good time. I was happy this year to host two parties early in the month because it gives me the incentive to get the house all decorated early and get the stuff that I am not going to be using sorted through and stored out on the back patio. I am using a lot of the same stuff I use year after year, but I am slowly getting rid of the stuff that I am not using anymore. I gave some stuff to the Deseret Industries last year and will probably give away some more this year.

Thusday, December 11, was the biggest and most time consuming party effort so far. It was the Back Country Horseman Annual Christmas party and Paul was the chairman this year. We put on a dinner and program and silent auction for about 80 people. Paul did the organizing and delegating and handled the program, the auction and the decorating, and I did the dinner. This included ordering a party favor for everyone in attendance, this year large forest green bandanas, and also setting the tables and decorating them. I bought pine garlands from Roberts’s crafts and then attached red bandanas to them bunched up and pulled through the greenery so that they had a kind of poinsettia look. I put disposable green tablecloths on the eight banquette tables that I was setting, and used bright red plastic plates with the green bandannas centered on each plate and tied with a length of red raffia. The tables looked very festive when they were set with the red and green table decorations and the red plates and green bandannas. The room looked very nice, one of the members brought a tree and decorated it and several women brought decorations which were spread throughout the room. The tables for the silent auction were covered with red disposable tablecloths as well and so they looked like a party as well. I worked for three days solid making the food, but the evening came off really well. The menu is pretty standard, year after year and I didn’t deviate. Bruce Kartchner brings his huge grill and serves as the grill master. I ordered 80 New York strips from the local Reams grocery store and they did a wonderful job on them. I also bought four packages of Tyson frozen chicken breasts that were also grilled and so there was plenty of meat. During the previous three days, I made four big trays of funeral potatoes, and three pans of green bean casseroles, and six batches of brownies. The last day I did final shopping that included soft drinks, ice cream and the makings for two huge Caesar Salads. As it turned out the meat was wonderful, tender and well trimmed and very delicious by many accounts. There was plenty of food, and the brownie sundaes were a big hit. Everyone was very pleased with the dinner. People were also very generous with donations for the silent auction and things sold well and a lot of money was raised, and the program was very entertaining. Paul had arranged for Gordon Thomas to come and “be Santa Claus” and he came and they did some poetry exchanges and then Gordon made himself available for pictures with Santa Claus in the red sleigh that Paul brought as part of the decorations. I got to know a few of the women in the club better as they came and helped to set up the room and do decorations. It was a long and exhausting day, but we felt that it went off very well and were glad to have participated in it.

Saturday was the annual Christmas Concert in the conference center with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Orchestra at Temple Square. The guest singer this year was Brian Stokes Mitchell and the orator was Edward Herman. It was a spectacular of grand dimension and we enjoyed it very much. We went with Grannie and Granddad and went to dinner at Sizzler first. This was in part a reward for all the effort that Paul and I had gone to for the Back Country Horseman Christmas party; we felt that we deserved a little pampering after all that hard work.

Sunday, December 14th we attended a neighborhood party hosted by Bob and Marilyn Heiner. It was a lot of fun and we had some nice visiting with old neighbors and ones that we didn’t know very well. This is the first year that we have been invited to this party which has been going on for several years. Everyone is invited to bring an appetizer (I bought the same Spinach and Krab Quiche that I had made last week for the book club party) and then there was a delicious frozen chocolate pie served after everyone had had a turn around the appetizer table. Apparrently this party has been going on at the end of the Oak Valley drive for some years, but this year the Frisks and the Shenks and the Secrists and Kerns were added to the guest list—so it was fun to be a part of this party. It was an enjoyable evening and a terrific end to two weeks of non-stop partying.

Weekend in Idaho: Island Park and Rexburg

We spent the weekend in Idaho. On Friday evening we headed up to the cabin. It was cold and had snow there sometime in the past, but it wasn’t particularly snowy or icy. The roads were clear and dry the whole way and we made it there by about 10:00 p.m. Paul set up the torpedo heater in the doorway to the garage and started a fire in the fireplace. I changed the sheets and started the heated bed pad and the space heater in the bedroom and by the time we went to bed it was quite toasty in the cabin. I never even bothered to unpack the cooler, we just kept it in the garage and went out there when we needed something.

In the morning, I heated up some seafood quiche that I had brought and some hot chocolate and herbal tea and made some Pillsbury caramel rolls, and we had a tasty breakfast. Paul did some errands over at the Kern Parents Cabin, some collecting and removing of some items Grandpa had requested, and went out to the pasture to collect some stuff there, and then came back to our cabin. In the meantime, I worked on folding napkin bandannas and tying them with raffia in preparation for the Back Country Horseman Christmas dinner while listening to Jude the Obscure.

Then we headed off to Rexburg to attend the 2:00 dress rehearsal of Erika’s Christmas Concert. It was the same program as was going to be performed in the evening and we watched the technical part of the performance get ironed out. We hadn’t really decided what to do in the evening, not having decided whether to stay and attend the real concert in the evening, but after watching the dress rehearsal we decided that we would stay for the evening concert as well. We took Erika to an early dinner at Arby’s and dropped her off at home. Then Paul and I went to C-A-L Ranch and then went to visit Ralph and Connie. At about 6:50 we picked up Erika and went back to the Hart building for the evening concert. It was much better than the rehearsal and we were glad that we got to see both versions. Erika’s Women’s Choir was just one of the performing groups, and it was a nice Christmas-y concert. Afterwards, we headed by to Island Park and then went to bed.

Sunday morning we attended meetings in the Island Park Ward at Mack’s Inn and then checked out of the cabin and drove to Idaho Falls where we stopped to visit Lee Jacobson. He is now living in an Assisted Living situation and is 98 years old. He doesn’t see very well and is hard of hearing, but still knew us and we had a nice visit. He probably had been told of Grandpa’s passing, but when Paul talked to him it was as if he was hearing it for the first time. He teared up when we told him that Grandpa had passed away in a very sweet and tender moment, and remembered him as a wonderful friend and one who he had been on many trail rides with. We were glad that we had a chance to visit with him for a few minutes. And then we were back on our way home.

All weekend I had been experiencing some discomfort with one of my wisdom teeth. And by the time that we got on the road home I was quite uncomfortable. Monday morning I called the dentist and got in to see him at 9:30 a.m. He took a look at it and said, “This tooth has got to go.” And so within fifteen minutes it was gone. It came out really easily and the bone had receded, so now it is just waiting for the hole to heal up.

Thanksgiving 2008

Thanksgiving has come and gone for 2008 and we had a fun family time. We had Thanksgiving dinner at Grannie and Granddad’s house again. Grannie has probably put on about 50 Thanksgiving dinners over her lifetime, but always puts on a meal with flair and polish and this one was no exception. There were twelve guests at the table this year. Grannie and Granddad, of course, and Stephen and Steve; there were four Kerns. Paul and I and Peter and Erika, and four David Gates’, Carole and David and Landen and Crawford. After dinner was over, Emily arrived for some dinner, having just flown in from Colfax and much later, just as we were leaving, Merrick and Philip arrived, spending the night with their parents at Grannie and Granddad’s house.

Grannie put on a great dinner, with turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, yams, green beans, appetizers and condiments. Carole supplied the rolls and I brought a cranberry jelled salad, and pies. I also brought a chocolate cake because we honored those (Peter and me) who had November birthdays.

After dinner we engaged in a very competitive game of charades. It was the boys against the girls. Granddad, Paul, David, Crawford and Peter against Grannie, Carole, Erika, Landen and me. (Stephen and Steve had left earlier.) There were some very difficult titles, but there were also some very fantastic clue giving as well. David did a particularly well-done series of clues for Alias Smith and Jones, (a TV series from the ‘70s.) And the female team figured Origin of the Species done by Landen. There was much laughter and groaning between acting out the clues and discovering what horrible torture the other team was inflicting on the clue giver. We all had a very nice time.

I am particularly thankful for a family that gathers, for a matriarch who is willing to put on events like that, and for a family group that enjoys a competitive game of charades.

Katie and Aaron's Wedding in Las Vegas

We have been home for over a week and I have been meaning to write a report on our experiences in Las Vegas during the festivities of Katie Kern and Aaron Neely’s wedding. It was a very nice event and we were very glad that we were able to attend.
We left Sandy in the late afternoon, and headed south for Las Vegas. When we were well out of Utah County, but not yet to Cedar City, Paul realized that he had forgotten his temple recommend. I called Erika and got Bishop Cannon’s number and we called him. He told us to get in touch with the temple and ask them what their procedure was. I called the Church’s main number and asked for the Las Vegas Temple’s number and then called them. They told me what I needed to do and gave me the appropriate number at the Temple. I called back Bishop Cannon and gave him the number and he called them and got Paul approved to go to that Temple the following morning. We were very appreciative that Bishop Cannon was willing to work with us.
Before leaving Sandy, I had gone onto Google Maps and had gotten driving directions to Carole and David’s house (where we were planning on staying) and the directions from the Gates’ house to the Temple and from the Gates’ house to the address on the wedding invitation. So we had maps and directions on how to get around somewhat in Las Vegas. However, when we arrived at David and Carole’s place at around 10:00p.m., they weren’t at home. I called Erika again and asked for Landen’s number and called her to see if I could get a cell phone for Carole or David, but she didn’t pick up. Carole and I hadn’t spoken at all about this visit, everything had been done through email and I had only sent a confirmation early that day. So, we figured there had been some kind of mix-up and left and went off to find the location of the temple that evening and then find a motel. (Carole and David had thought it was next week and were in Arizona.)
The next morning after a hasty breakfast in the hotel, we headed off to the temple. We arrived about an hour before the wedding—we were supposed to be there a half an hour earlier than the scheduled 10:00 a.m. wedding, and with our problem of no recommend we needed to be there a half an hour earlier than that. When we arrived, Paul explained our situation and the man at the recommend desk called the Recorder’s office and apparently everything was in order. Paul was invited to show his driver’s license to verify that he was the man who he said he was, and they admitted us right in. (Paul commented afterwards that this was the first time that he had ever been allowed to enter the temple with a driver’s license.) We now had about an hour to wait, but we were duly escorted to the waiting area. Some of the relatives from Ann’s side of the family arrived quite soon after us; we waited for the Kern family members to arrive. Finally Rob and Cindy and her daughter and son-in-law (Ashley and Ryan) arrived having just picked up Holly at the airport. We asked after Marilyn and Howard, but they had turned back because Marilyn had a medical difficulty and they needed to return home. So the Kern’s were not numerous, but we were very happy to be there.
In time we went into the sealing room and then Katie and Aaron arrived. She looked lovely, and was wearing her temple dress and not a wedding dress. The temple president was the officiator and did a very nice job. It was a little sad though, that Grandpa Kern was not performing the ceremony, as was originally planned. Aaron has recently joined the Church and none of his family was present. There were quite a few Las Vegas people of one kind or another, members of Katie and Ann’s ward and King family members of various generations. (King is Ann’s maiden name.) Rob was one witness and the Grandpa King was the other. Following the ceremony in the temple, there were pictures in the temple gardens, well organized and planned in advance. Aaron’s family didn’t come to the temple as a ring ceremony was planned later in the afternoon at Red Rock Nature Preserve.
Rob took the family members who were from his family to a very nice Country Club on the same side of Las Vegas as the park and we had a nice lunch together. Present were Rob and Cindy, Ashley, Ryan and Cindy’s youngest daughter Chelsea, Paul, Holly and me. Later an old friend of Ashley and Ryan joined us for lunch. We had a nice meal and visited in a relaxed way—I’m sure that at Ann’s house where a light lunch of cold cuts, and the like was being served there was more stress involved. After lunch, we followed Rob and Cindy’s car to the park where the ring ceremony was to take place.
The ring ceremony was a consideration for the family of the groom and I thought that it was lovely and certainly would have been satisfying for the other side of the family who hadn’t been to the temple earlier in the day. The park had a big open nature area laced with boardwalks, and at one stretch there was an independent trail leading to a landing. The wedding was to take place on the landing. Ann’s nieces and nephews had ferried out chairs, a small sound system and a table with plastic champagne glasses. There was a center isle dividing the bride and groom’s guests. Family members busied themselves with details, and everyone who had been assigned some responsibility did it so that at the right moment the sound system was turned on and down the boardwalk into the landing came the wedding party. There were three bridesmaids, Aaron’s sister and Heidi and Callie in rust and brown dresses and on the arms of the best man, a groomsman and the father of the groom. And when they arrived at the landing the music changed to here comes the bride, and Katie came down the pathway to the landing on Rob’s arm.
The bishop of Katie’s Las Vegas Ward presided and did what was essentially a full blown wedding ceremony. He gave some preliminary remarks and advice to the couple, read a scripture from 1 John that the couple had previously selected and then helped them exchange vows. They exchanged rings and then the groom kissed the bride. It was very nice. Then the assembled group was invited to get a glass of champagne or sparkling cider and we all raised our glasses to the happy couple, following a toast made by the best man.
People milled around and visited and the two sides of the family got better acquainted. Paul and I left sooner than most because Holly needed to be taken back to the airport. She was not staying for the evening festivities, but was present for both of the ceremonies. After Paul and I dropped Holly off, we had a couple of hours to kill until the reception began and so we took a trip to the Las Vegas strip. We parked in self-parking outside the Luxor and went in. We walked around some and ultimately visited the Excalibur, the MGM Grand and the Tropicana. Then following my Google map we headed off to the King residence (Ann’s parents home) for the reception.
The King’s live in a planned senior retirement community on the bench of Las Vegas in a circle with the backyard providing wonderful valley views. It was an outstanding location for a backyard reception. They had decorated the yard with thousands of twinkle lights, they installed a small dance floor, brought in six heaters, so that the chill in the air would not be uncomfortable, and catered in a wonderful light dinner. The guests came in a lump between six thirty and seven and then stayed for the evening. It was very much an intimate party. There were probably about 80-100 guests. Tables had been set up and Paul and I joined Cindy and her children for a nice conversation, and eating. Sometime before 8:00 Katie and Aaron cut and distributed the cake. Then there was a performance by Aaron and Katie; they sang It Only Takes A Moment from Hello Dolly!; then there was the bride and groom dance, and then various other configurations of dancing couples—the bride with her father and the groom with his mother, then other family members. In a very classy moment, the best man took Ann out on the dance floor. And all in all, it was a happy time. The best man had created a large pencil drawing/collage with illusions and references that Katie and Aaron could appreciate and he presented that, but no other gifts were opened.
At about eight thirty, Paul and I departed and headed back to Salt Lake, we made it to Mesquite before becoming too tired and finished the rest of the trip early in the morning. We arrived home safely, glad to have been able to attend, glad to be home.

New Archive for Peter's MTC Pictures

This is quite random for my blog, but I have had these pictures on my computer at work for the last two years and have never gotten them off this computer and into some family archive of some kind, so I thought I would move them here.

These are pictures of Peter in the MTC in June of 2006. He is with some two of his Brighton High School friends, Alex Stoddard and Jake Lyman.

It was tradition in the Missonary Training Center to take pictures of all the young men currently in the MTC who attended Brighton High School--regardless of where they were going to serve on their missions. So this is the Brighton Boys picture as well.

Peter actually went into the MTC without a camera (sent to him later) so these pictures were given to me by Allyson Stoddard (now Hanks). She thought that I would enjoy seeing Peter in the MTC surrounded by familiar faces. Peter wrote such great letters from his mission that I never worried that he was lonely or disconnected--as if that were possible with him. But it was fun to see him with other faces that I recognized.

First Snow of the Season

When it works out in a satisfactory way, Paul drives me up to work and then I walk home. Today when we went out to the car it was snowing, but I had hopes that it would warm up and melt by the end of the day. It snowed pretty much all day long. I kept looking out through the media center and it was always snowing. I stalled going home after the bell rang at 2:25 for almost an hour, visiting with Linda D. and doing some odd work that was still outstanding and then I put on my wool walking sweater and my Nike walking shoes and my stretch gloves and got out my umbrella for the walk home. But to my surprise when I walked outside the snow had stopped and I walked home with no falling snow. Since it had been snowing all day, there was not one sidewalk all the way home that was shoveled and I mostly walked at the side of the road. I continued to hope that speeding cars would not splash up dirty slush, and I made it home reasonably dry.
When I got home, there was about six inches of snow on the front walk, the driveway and the sidewalks. I began shoveling snow immediately, it was about 4:15, and I finished up about an hour later. It was a lot of snow to move, but it eventually was all removed from the surfaces that are expected to be clean. The amazing thing about this storm was that it wasn't that cold and miraculously the geraniums have survived. We have taken them down for the night and covered them on the porch. We should be getting a few more days in the 40 degree range before cold sets in permanently so I will enjoy the big flower baskets hanging from the hooks on the porch for at least a few more days. (Last year it was November 17 when the plants were frost bitten enough so that it was apparent that they would not recover--I think it will be just shy of that date this year.) We have enjoyed them and they are large and beautiful plants now--with their final days approaching rapidly.

Returning from Colorado

It was a tender event that brought our family together this weekend. Paul left on Wednesday evening to fly to Denver and on to Loveland, Colorado. K.C. flew out of San Francisco on Friday. Erika left Rexburg, Idaho with Uncle Ralph to drive to Salt Lake City on Friday morning. Friday afternoon Philip and Peter met with us in Salt Lake City to drive to Loveland together. We gathered in Loveland to participate in a celebration of the life of Reese Kern, our father and grandfather, at a Memorial Service held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday morning.
It was a lovely event. Holly, Ralph and Paul were the primary speakers and wonderful musical numbers were provided by Marilyn's daughters, Kjirsten and Brigette, and by Rob's family. Prayers were offered by Rob and Richard. The meeting house was full of family members and friends who came from both near and far, and most of Grandpa's 39 grandchildren were present. The ward put on a luncheon following the service in a most gracious manner. Saturday evening family members gathered at Holly and Michael's home for a dinner and a chance to share our thoughts and memories. It was touching and heartwarming and comforting to hear about the way he had influenced lives in different ways, and to know of everyone's love for him.
As I returned from Colorado this afternoon with Peter and Philip, I continue to sense with gratefulness, what a treasure it was to have had Dad a part of my life, and how dearly he will be missed, both now and into the future, by Paul and I and by our children.

October Family Birthday Dinner

Once again Grannie has outdone herself with another family birthday celebration. There are many birthdays in the family circle in October, but only one member of the family was at the table in Salt Lake City on Sunday, October 26, 2008. While we celebrated all the birthdays, we actually feted Stephen Randall Gates' birthday.
There was an especially large turn-out this month. There were thirteen family members present: Grannie and Granddad, Stephen and Steve, Paul and Kathie, Philip, Camille and Peter, Emily, and Merrick, Philip and Landen. Grannie put on the usual outstanding spread, the groaning board including: Imperial chicken, brown rice with dried apricots, a tasty acorn squash dish with prosciutto and maple flavoring, crowd pleasing seasoned green beans, a tossed green salad and bounteous orange rolls, with cherry chocolate pound cake and ice cream for dessert.
Following the meal, we adjourned to the sitting area, where Stephen favored us on the piano with three of his own compositions: Tim's Piece, and unnamed piece from about 1984, and a composition he composed when he first began dating Nancy. These were lovely and impressively played pieces, received with appreciative and lively applause. Then Granddad provided a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday" which we all sang to Stephen, followed by some gifts for Stephen. Serious visiting continued as various family members departed.
I acknowledge with gratitude the efforts that Grannie goes to, to keep family members connected and celebrated.

The Lauper Ladies Luncheon

Saturday, October 18, was the annual Lauper Ladies Luncheon, hosted by Georgia Gates, mother grandmother, sister, aunt, cousin, niece and in-law to those present. It was remarked that this may have been one of the best attended luncheons to date, with more than twenty-five ladies in attendance. Those present from our immediate line, were Georgia Gates, Kathie Kern, Liza Dailey, Emily Dailey, Robin Dailey, Merrick White and Landon Gates.
One of the primary functions of this gathering is to keep acquainted with one another, and to catch up on the various doings of family members. There are also some standard elements. We sing the Lauper Family Song, composed by Aunt Paulie Hutchings, and awards are given to people in various categories. Liza and Robin were recognized for the distance that they came from to attend, as well as Wilma Stocker and Karen Talbot. There were about six of us, including me, who were recognized for never having missed a Lauper Ladies Luncheon, and prizes were given to first time attendees.
Mom put on a great luncheon including a fluffy tuna salad, fresh fruit tray and a tossed green salad, with season bread and various garnishments. Desserts included brownie squares, lemon bar squares and banana cake with peanut butter frosting squares.
The afternoon concluded with family members reporting on their activities over the last year and much chatting and laughing.
We were all glad that this gathering exists and that we were able to attend. Our thanks to Mom/Grannie for putting this significant event together, keeping it going and being the superlative hostess.

Quiet on the Homefront

The Kern children have been leaving home off and on since 1999 when Philip left for BYU. Since then we have had children coming and going steadily. All three boys have served missions and have been away for two years at a time. And all three boys have gone away to college. Additionally, Philip has been married since March of 2007. This summer at one time or another the other children were at home. Erika hadn't really left, Peter returned from his mission in Montreal in June, and K.C. returned home following his graduation from college which was on August 15th. Then Peter left the last week in August to return to Provo for his sophomore year at BYU, and Erika left September 4 to go to Rexburg, Idaho to attend BYU-I. K.C. left on October 10th for his new life in San Francisco as an employee of Accenture. And now Dad and I are the exclusive residents of the domaine.
Dad left on Wednesday evening to take the Salt Lake Express Shuttle to Idaho Falls. He is ferrying Grandpa and Grandma back to Loveland, Colorado in their car on Thursday and Friday and Sunday morning he will take the train back to Salt Lake City. In the meantime, I am feeding the horses and am the sole occupant of our Oak Valley residence.