RURAL RESPITE

Robert and I had the chance to get away last weekend to small town Utah and it was so nice! We left after work and once we were through all the construction traffic of Utah County, the stress started to loosen up. What was so fun as we drove through so many of the small towns (away from the freeway) like Levan and Nephi and Gunnison were the Christmas decorations. They still have streamers across the streets and nativities in the parks. Lights everywhere - on a very small scale. This park above was in Nephi and was terrific. We also found a restaurant in Nephi called Lisa's cafe (or diner or something). It was beautifully decorated and the food was terrific. So was the service. I wanted to go back in with my camera to get pictures of the Christmas trees and the teddy bears on a seesaw and the beautiful fireplace, but didn't.

This is the B & B we stayed in - the Gunnison Rose Bed & Breakfast. A very old pioneer house that they have very lovingly restored. It is beautiful inside and they do all they can to make you comfortable. I called ahead to ask them make the room cold for us and they did a pretty good job. It wasn't all the way down to 58', but almost!

Our cute bedroom.

The breakfast room was charming and reminded us of the ones in Amsterdam and Cornwall the most. The breakfast, however, was far superior, consisting of bacon and eggs and french toast, instead of fried tomatoes, baked beans and peculiarly tasteless sausage.

The house was all decorated for Christmas

Storm clouds threatened on the way to Manti.

A funny story - the night before, after we were long past Provo, Robert realized that he'd left his temple clothes at home. Sometime during the night, he realized he had also left his suit at home. So this morning as we dressed for the temple, he had his white dress shirt from the day before, black cargo pants and his Sunday shoes. As we drove through Gunnison and then through Manti we kept an eye out for a clothing store - not an easy thing to find in such tiny towns. In Manti there was a small storefront department store on the main street, so Robert quickly pulled a U-turn and we dashed in and went straight to the single tie rack. As we were ruffling through the selection, the salesman came over and in a booming voice said, "You're going to the temple and you forgot your tie. I make more money off that rack of ties than anything else in this store." He made the purchase fun. So, Robert had to buy a tie and later rent temple clothes and we just had to shrug off the unneeded expense and call it a Christmas present or a souvenir of the weekend.

We had never attended a session in Manti before, but had always wanted to. It was beautiful. Robert's great-grandfather, Daniel H. Wells was president of it, long, long ago.

We stopped in Fairview to see the Museum, because Fairview is where many of my ancestors are from - Grandma Sellick's family - the Johnsons, Sandersons and Days. There are a lot of great pioneer things to see, plus great art and sculpture. I was too walked out to stay long - we'll have to go back.

But here is one thing in the museum that is very important to me. This portrait hung in my grandpa Johnson's dining room all of my life till he died when I was 21. He is the tall boy in the middle of the back row. I was so surprised to see it hanging on the wall there - like an old friend. I have to admit I was always creeped out as a child by the little boy painted in, in the middle, posthumously. He looked mean and I didn't like some mean dead kid looking at me.

Here is something we need to take the grandkids to to see - two, I mean one, dinosaurs.

SAMMY AND SUPER HERO-GRANDPA

Last week Sammy came in to our room, after contemplating Robert's extensive collection of swords, and asked, "Grandpa, did you take all those swords off of bad guys?"

I THINK THAT I SHALL NEVER SEE...

This was our front yard just over one year ago. Our beautiful maple tree that gave us so much shade and privacy was decimated on the east side by a series of storms that tore off limbs as fast as we could clear them away. Then, in late summer, the power company came and sheared off all of the west side branches - even though they don't even come close to the power lines. But that's a rant for another day. Anyway, all of that led to this:

Robert and Rob took the tree down. By a sheer fluke, they left the house standing, so it wasn't a total loss. But so sad to have the tree gone! The shade, the privacy, the beauty - all gone. So we've spent a lot of time researching new trees and landscaping plans. But when you google "pretty, fast-growing trees, all for free and a landscaper to put them in" not much comes up.

And even though some people thought the stump was great, we felt there ought to be a little more. Erin and I made a couple of trips to nurseries and were encouraged. But last Friday we ended up in Layton. We did not plan to buy there, but we found this Purple Robe Locust that was so pretty and the man said he could get it into the van and we thought all would be well, so we bought it.

Well, the man's idea of "fitting it in the car" and ours was not quite the same, and our trip home from Layton became a 90 minute white-knuckle expedition through all of the backroads of Davis County to Sugar House with 7 feet of the tree hanging out of the back of the van. Halfway home, a wild windstorm kicked up that threw the tree from one side of the car to the other and poor little 4 year old Sammy would have to hang on to the trunk, and Holly tried to reach back and hold on to the pot to try and keep the tree sticking straight out the back and not in the next lane over! We were trying hard to drive slowly to keep the leaves and blossoms on the tree and the wind was NOT helping!

In this picture above you can see all of the limbs from the old maple tree that have spent the winter in the backyard. Robert spent the morning hauling them all to the street for the city clean-up next week. He worked hard all morning before he even tackled the planting.

What could be in a hole that causes so much despair?

Really, really big roots to chop up and dig out.

Finally, Robert and Erin are ready to place it in the hole. I think this is the first of two or three attempts to place it in the hole.

Planting the ground cover shrubs that will fill in and cover the stump.

With triple stakes, this tree will grow straight, dang it! I will personally confront any power company tree killer who dares to trim it!

Now, we just sit back and wait for the next 30 feet to grow.

"The same thing we do every week, Pinky"

Today's children are not like those we raised in days of yore. They are not amused by simple toys, say, a mailing envelope on the head. They must have the latest technical gadget. These babies won't be bought off with last year's cell phone - even if it has batteries - even if it is charged; if mom and dad don't use it, neither will they. And don't even get them started on a bright plastic colored "phone" that talks like Elmo. They know. They know more than you.

The first thing Max wants EVERYDAY is to have his picture taken on my camera. He always knows where it is. Even when I hide it from view he can still sense it somehow and points right to it. He wants his every mood validated from happy and goofy to sad and despised of all babies. He knows how to wear the right accessories for the shoot.

"See," he says, "I'm sad." "No one loves me. No one lets me play with remotes or cords or grandma's medicine or whatever Sammy has right now or drop my cars in the toilet. I'm gonna eat some worms. Until I get a little taller and then I'll take over the world!"

As I said, you can't buy a child off with a substitute or just pretend. Max knows when I actually take a picture and he knows how to push the buttons to see it on the camera screen. Sometimes he gets so excited that he can't sit still for the photo and lunges for the camera

Or tries to push the button to see the photo before it's even taken.

"What am I thinking now, grandma?"

Max has learned to pose on cue - to "sparkle". But it's all a ploy to suck in the grown-ups, to blind us to his long term plans.

If taking over the world doesn't pan out, he's always got his fall back plan of a rock musician.

I did manage to sneak a photo of him at his most vulnerable, when he lets his hair down, so to speak. Whenever Max has his sippy cup his hand goes up to his head in a little ballerina position - index finger down, the others up daintily as he drinks his milk and drops off to sleep. Perhaps he's not quite the evil overthrower yet.

REMEMBERING GRANDMA WELLS

Sunday was eleven years since Robert's mother died. Coincidently, March 14, 1999 was a Sunday, too. We decided to have a Sunday dinner that we would have had at Grandma's - minus a few of the very special things that she had the energy to make and we didn't. We had pot roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, and asparagus. We were going to have frog eye salad but settled for orange jello with mandarin oranges in it. We were also going to have her special glazed carrots but time ran out. And you know, now that I think of it, we should have had Rhodes rolls and we could have been sitting at Grandma's. We already sit at her table and use her dishes.

After dinner everyone piled in the van and went up to the cemetery to leave shamrocks and other spring flowers at her grave.

Rob always had a special relationship with his grandma.

Grandma would have absolutely loved her great-grandchildren.

There are several generations of Wells buried in the Salt Lake Cemetery and the kids were anxious to know who all these Wells stones belonged to. Robert's great-grandfather, Daniel H Wells, set aside the land to be the cemetery back in the olden days and reserved a premier spot for himself - right as you enter from Fourth and N Street. But his wives are buried all over the cemetery and Robert's great-grandmother is up with his parents and grandparents in a beautiful old section on a hill.

It was a beautiful day from this beautiful spot.

I talked to Allison later that night and she had prepared the same menu for dinner because of Grandma. She always remembers the day because she was there with Robert and I when Wilma died. Rob was still three weeks from finishing his mission and Dan was at the Y.

All three kids agree, however, that if Grandma were to pick a place for a special dinner, it would be Sizzler - she and Grandpa loved going there.

Erin and Grandma would have gotten along great, Robert and I agree. They both have the same down to earth, cope-with-anything attitude.

CHRISTMAS MONKEYS

This Christmas we had a houseful of monkeys! Three - Holly, Sam, and Max, who live with us (and their parents) and two more - Zoe and Jim, who came to stay for nine days over the holidays. Oh, and they brought their parents, too.

So, eleven people in our little house. But Christmas was so fun! You just can't have Christmas without kids around. Christmas morning, the presents so overwhelmed the tree that they spilled all over into the living room.

And opening presents with children on Christmas morning. Is there any more special than that?

The fun of watching kids open what they asked for, or even better, something they didn't, but a total surprise Santa knew they'd love even more.

No one ever seems as delighted as Holly!

Ethan and Max, hampered by lunch, looking for the next creative trouble...

The cousins enjoying each other. And the food.

Monkeys in elephant suits, made by grandma.

Here they are at the Matheson Party singing their hearts out on "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas", so they can get to their favorite - the Christmas Monkey song!!

Max and Grandpa playing around.

Zoe was baptized Tuesday the 29th, with all her family and her cousins there. It was a really beautiful night. You can see how happy Zoe is here with Grandpa.

Audrey, Zoe, Holly and Morgan, singing a Primary song at the baptism - "When Jesus was Baptized"

The boys, Ethan, Jim, and Sammy sing along, too. I didn't know that song had hand gestures!

All in all, it was a terrific visit. Lots of relatives, kids, games, noise, presents, good food, and other special times. And Christmas Monkey is still stuck in my head...along with his monkety cheer!