Archive for August, 2009

Life moves forward

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

Last weekend we went to the last night of this year’s Martin Harris Pageant, called “The Man Who Knew”.

Family members in Clarkston, UT

Family members in Clarkston, UT


This is the story of a man who was misunderstood by his neighbors and peers (and his wife) as he came to understand and accept the teachings of the LDS faith. He fell away from the faithful for many years after the trek to the west, but rejoined them very late in his life.
Pageant Opening: The 3 Witnesses

Pageant Opening: The 3 Witnesses


He never recanted his witness as one of three persons who saw the plates, saw the engravings, and heard the voice of God commanding him to bear witness of what he saw. The pageant used to be over three hours in length and has been shortened to under 1.5 hours which was about right. I understand that it is only presented every-other year, so make your plans soon if you are interested in seeing it in 2011. It requires tickets to control the size of the crowds. We enjoyed it very much. Clarkston UT is only a few miles south of the Idaho/Utah border, west of Logan.

Not quite done yet...

Not quite done yet...

The kitchen is finally done and Mom is moving in dishes and other things that were moved out for the demolition that had to take place before the remodeling and improvements after the flood. This photo was taken before the floor was finished. We still need to purchase a light fixture for the kitcen and install it, but otherwise it is virtually complete.

Julia, Daphne, and Ethan

Julia, Daphne, and Ethan

Last week Rosie’s kids were at Grandma’s for lessons and were quite pleased that Charlotte let them hold Daphne for a few minutes. They were very cute as they held her and watched her reaction when they took her from her mother. She was really good and seemed to enjoy getting to know her cousins. We wish all of her cousins could get to know her better but they are scattered around the globe at the moment.

Wispy late summer clouds

Wispy late summer clouds

The early fall sky is really fascinating to me, especially when the clouds are lightly dispersed like wisps of cotton up in the air. The early morning sunshine lights up the sky and the clouds in such a beautiful manner that I needed to have a photo of it. I hope you enjoy this.

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

Monday, August 24th, 2009

We recently went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house.

Evening looking southwest

Evening looking southwest

What a beautiful place! Peaceful, serene, elegant, and other adjectives do not adequately describe this edifice. There are many photographs available online of this (and other) LDS temples. Here is a link to that site: http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/oquirrhmountain/gallery/
View from southwest corner

View from southwest corner


We had the privilege of participating in the extended dedicatory services (away from the temple) of this building. A great opportunity to reflect on the love of our creator for his children and His concern for their well-being in this weary old world of ours and the differences cultures have one with another.

Daphne Helen Green makes her appearance

Sunday, August 16th, 2009

Mom and Daughter

Mom and Daughter


Cute little one!

Cute, alert little one!


Sleeping princess.

Sleeping princess.

We are pleased to announce the birth of Daphne Helen Green to Charlotte and Andrew this weekend. Her arrival was none to soon for Charlotte, by way of a c-section at Timpanogos Hospital. She was born at 5:48 a.m. on Saturday August 15, 2009. Her first vital stastistics include a weight of 8 lb. 2 oz., and length (or height) of of 19 inches. She has some thin, moderately dark hair on her head. We first saw her about an hour later, which is when these photos were taken. In the nursery she looked bigger than most of the other babies to us for some reason. We are thrilled to add her to our family which now includes 8 children, 6 spouses and 14 grandchildren. We now number 30 in all.

Progress is taking place at the house, Derek and I worked late into the night Saturday night to finish the bathroom floor. The job turned out to take us a lot longer than we had originally planned for (what is so unusual about that, you say) because the concrete backer board took quite a while to measure and get cut out. The progress is nice but aching backs and joints are the price we are paying today for this work. I am glad I don’t have to work tonight.

Life is good!

Thursday, August 13th, 2009

The progress on our kitchen is somewhat slow but we have had good people helping us out with the project. We are grateful for the help offered by everyone and we may yet use some of you to assist us as we move things from room to room for painting in preparation for carpet, and then for the laying of the carpet.

Progress is evident, more work to go

Progress is evident, more work to go


Here is what the kitcen looks like now. We still need the countertops and sink, as well as the dishwasher put in place. You can see the microwave and the under-counter lighting, which we really like. It will be really nice when it is finished. Although we have enjoyed our time with Grandma, we are very excited with the prospect of moving back in, and she is surely also looking forward to this so her life can get “back to normal” for a while. I have also been fortunate to replace my old Honda with a newer one after a parking-lot collision damaged my old car to the point it could not be economically repaired to pass inspection, which was due the end of July.

Choir rehearsal in the Conference Center

Choir rehearsal in the Conference Center

Tonight in Tab Choir we enjoyed the first preparations for the new Associate Music Director, Ryan Murphy’s first Choir Broadcast performance in his new position. I was in my place and found that Randy was missing today. Gosh Randy, I miss you! It was nice to sit with David though and Kent will be there to help keep us in line as we sing together. I look forward to the inclusing of Dan Gawthrop’s brilliant arrangement of “Press Forward, Saints” with Clay Christiansen at the organ on Sunday. It has a toccata-like accompaniment that is well-suited for Clay’s ample abilities and I really enjoy hearing him play the organ.

Tonight at rehearsal we had some guests in the loft. I was privileged to share my music with Brother Wilcox from Ogden who was joining us tonight with his wife, as a birthday gift for her. They are the guests of their daughter-in-law, who is a member of the choir. We were told that they have sung at many funeral and memorial services in the Ogden area over the years. Their daughter-in-law told me afterwards that he has had quickly diminishing health (he came in a wheelchair and was able to walk very carefully to a seat in the loft), the result of an illness from the past month. He has been diagnosed with some form of cancer although the doctors do not know where it is. He has lost a lot of weight and has become quite weak in recent days. He will begin chemotherapy tomorrow. Please pray for him and his family.

Charlotte is going to the hospital tomorrow morning to begin her labor! We are very excited for her and Andrew, and are praying for the health of mother and baby. More to come when news is available!

Restoration Progress

Monday, August 10th, 2009

We have been rather disappointed with Farmers Insturance company and our adjuster for what we feel is a rather uncooperative attitude as opposed to “what can we do to help”. At first they seemed to be forthcoming although the connection they had with the restoration company didn’t work and help took over six hours to arrive after the flooding was discovered and reported. Thanks to family and neighbors the water removal process was already well under way when Service Masters finally arrived to help out. Since then we feel like they have minimized our losses (sheet rock repair and painting) and denied our claim for many things we believed should have been covered including some of our floor coverings. As a result we are trying to take care of some of these things ourselves. The kitchen cabinetry was affected by the warping of the underlayment, but we were told that unless the warping was evident to the eye or specifically to the operation of doors, etc, it would not be covered. We decided the cabinets needed to be replaced anyway.

Kitchen before demolition

Kitchen before demolition


Here is the way our kitchen looked before cabinets were removed. We painted the kitchen after their removal to prepare for the new kitcehn fixtures and carpet.
The second photo is of the intermediate stage, taken today, of the installation process for the new cabinets we purchased at Home Depot. They aren’t custom cabinets but seem to be built quite well.
Installation progress shown with Brian at work.

Installation progress shown with Brian at work.


I will post a “finished” photo when the project is done. Randy Hickman and his son Brian from Randal Construction are doing the installation for us. I will update you on other portions of our home as we get to them. We are still unable to live here because the bedrooms and living room have been filled with items from the kitchen, hallway and closet, bathroom, and office, where flooring was removed due to water damage. We are grateful to Ruth’s mother who is hosting us for the present time and to Rosie who hosted us the first few weeks.

Happy Birthday!

Sunday, August 9th, 2009

Birthday Kids

Birthday Kids

We had a family get-together tonight and got a chance to wish Kent Seal and Mary Ann Parsons a happy birthday. Since they have both been living a long ways away from us (and from each other) it was really fun to have them together with their families. The family is getting so large now that it is difficult to plan things with so many diverse schedules and with family members living so far from each other.

Nice to have you along!

Saturday, August 8th, 2009

Our brother Neil was called and has accepted a position at a Trombone player in the Orchestra at Temple Square.

Mark, Neil, and Mike

Mark, Neil, and Mike

Mark had heard he was invited to participate, and saw him during our rehearsal on Thursday at the Conference Center with members of his family. We found that he was there to be set apart and we were able to join in this process. Neil is currently serving as the President of the Utah Music Educators Association among many other things he does, along with teaching choirs at Woods Cross so he is very busy. Mark and I look forward to seeing him a little more often, now that some of the time he will be at rehearsals, concerts, and recordings at Temple Square with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square in the future. Congratulations!

New Kitchen Cabinets

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

You may have heard that we had a flood in our home in late June when the toilet tank split open down the corner. Nobody was home and water spilled into our house for several hours. What a mess! We have decided that while the house is torn up for repairs, this would be a good time to purchase the new kitchen cabinets and countertops we have wanted for a long time. 30 years of wear and tear with a large family have taken ther toll on the kitchen cabinets and the counter surfaces.

We recieved notice yesterday that the cabinets were ready for delivery and to expect a call this morning sometime during a 4-hour period notifying us that they were in the area. We got the call today and came over to get the new cabinets into the house. It was quite a chore getting these three pallets of cabinets over to the house with only a pallet jack and two workers.

Pallets in the front yard

Pallets in the front yard


Mom and I took the stacks apart and the cabinets into the house, and then took them out of their protective cardboard coverings. Only one was slightly damaged. The system we enjoy of commerce and interchange is such a nice convenience! These cabinets were built in Indiana and shipped to us here in Utah, and delivered to our home for installation. We did not have to pick them up ourselves and it is a good thing, as the truck is not usable at the moment. More to come after they are installed!
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City Conveniences are great!

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

We take many of the wonderful things we enjoy in our way of life for granted, such as the great invention of having water inside of our homes for various uses. When something happens to interrupt this convenience we realize just how important it is to have access.

Our neighbor across the street said his wife heard running water late at night when it was quiet. A quick check in their home indicated that there was no leak or water running inside of their home, so he went outside to check the sprinkler system for their yard and lawns. He could hear the sound in the meter box. When the water valve to their home was shut off, the sound could still be heard. He called the city and they came out to check. Sure enough there was a break in the line between the main and their home. The water main is on our side of the street.

Today the crew brought a backhoe and some skilled labor to replace the leaking line. They dug about 4 feet down in the street to the main water line on our side of the street, and down to the connection to their meter, also about about 4 feet deep in their lawn. They used the old line to pull through the new line under the street, avoiding having do dig across the entire street to replace the line.

Out comes the old line!

Out comes the old line!


Here they are pulling the old galvanized steel line out with the backhoe, which had the new copper line attached to it. When the old line came out, one end of the new line was attached to it. All they needed to do was attach both ends of the line again. The far side to the meter across the street, and the near side shown here,
Finishing up with the main attachment
to the water main. Then a dump truck with sand filled the bottom of both holes (most of the one in the grass) and then soil and rock back into the hole in the street followed by road base. They came by today and put black top pavement over the spot. Amazing work guys! It makes me grateful for the work these people do for us, and also for the many conveniences we enjoy in our society. We have great friends and neighbors who look out for each other.

Bye-bye, Mountain View

Saturday, August 1st, 2009

I received confirmation on July 31st by a short call from my principal that after 11 years of working with many able and gifted students, my part-time employment with Alpine School District had come to an end. The Lakeridge Orchestra teaching position was offered, and it was decided to include my job to raise it from a .50 contract to a .67 contract, to make it more desirable. I was told (reading between the lines) that the school administrations had planned to leave things as they were –make no notification to me–, in case they were unable to find someone to fill this position so they would only have one position to worry about. Now that someone had been hired for both positions, my services were no longer required.

I had heard about this change in June before going out of town for two weeks when a relative saw the entry of my position on the district web page as part of the other job. I applied for the “new” position that was offered on the District Web Page, and wrote an Email message to the principal after visiting the school and seeing the extensive construction– and no administrators there. I never received any kind of acknowledgement of my application for that job, nor a reply to the Email message about the job. I think that EVERY applicant should at least receive a reply email message, even if it is automated. Since I had heard about this situation I was not too surprised to recieve this notification, only disappointed and saddened by the timing.

It is further disappointing that no notification or discussion was offered at the time my job was offered with the other job on the web back in April. This courtesy should be a given. The fact was certainly known by my administrator as well as others. To say I am disappointed and unhappy about the way this was handled is an understatement, but life will go on. I have arranged my other employment and many other commitments around my teaching job for so many years because it was a priority for me.

To my former students, please support the program in your school and work hard. You are the greatest!