Dad aka Grandpa John Babe

What a summer!

2011-09-06T17:42:00.000-07:00

OK. Anyone who has been the recipient of my digs about not updating their Blog has all the right in the world to lay into me for my lack of attention to my Blog. June 27th was my last entry? Really?? Maybe nothing much happened this summer!!!

Actually, that's not true at all, is it?

In my defense, I've been really busy, and also a bit distracted creating a new life for myself, moving, and finding other things to do than be alone and lonely and sitting at the computer. Defense number two is that I sat down to attempt to make a Blog entry several times, but for some reason the computer wouldn't let me sign in. I later discovered that it had a nasty virus, and it is, at this moment, in the hands of a (hopefully) able computer Geek, who will remedy the situation. But, since I now have access to another computer in my "new home", and I have a bit of time, I can now try to update my Blog. (Because I can't currently access any of my pictures, I'll try to post them later.)

Towards the end of June a friendship that I had began to get a little serious. Pat Aanderud, a woman in my ward, lost her husband last year just a couple months after Terry passed away. She and I had become cautious friends, had shared some of our experiences, and had begun taking occasional walks together during the summer evenings. We began to realize that our friendship was becoming something greater just about the beginning of July.

But then, she left for a week, and before she returned, I left on yet another trip to spend a week with my brother Mike and his wife, Fran. While there, I was able to visit with two of their kids and their families--Mike and Tamara, from Minnesota and their three kids--and Leslie and Christian and their two girls were there visiting from their home in Pennsylvania. It has been a tradition for them to try to get together over the 4th of July week, and this year only the two of the families could make it. Robin and John are living in the woods in the coast range in Washington, and Matt is currently serving overseas in the military. While there Mike and I walked everyday, we went golfing once, and Mike also introduced me to his new hobby/addiction--shooting, and I was able to take target practice with a few different handguns.

In addition to enjoying this time visiting with family, I spent a bit of time on the phone each night with Pat, getting to know each other a bit better. Now, there was a three hour time difference, so when Pat was able to talk to me at 8 or 9 at night, it was 11 or 12 in Michigan.

Then I returned home for a few days, something I hadn't originally intended to do. But because of this new relationship, I rescheduled my trips. Later, Marc told me that he knew something was up, because "Dad would never pay extra to change a trip unless he had a good reason!"

So I returned home for a few days specifically to spend time with Pat, to see if there was anything to these new found feelings, and to see if love would blossom. It didn't. It exploded! We were as surprised by this as anyone. Both of us had long and happy marriages to our high school sweethearts, and neither one of us really expected to feel that way again. But there were special forces at work, and within days it felt like we were simply meant to be together. We discussed and actually set a date for a marriage on the 12th of August, much to the surprise, delight, and in some cases, dismay of friends and family members.

During this time I also took a day and went out to the coast range of Washington and visited with Robin and John and their family in their rustic setting where they have actually built their own log cabin. That same day I also went up to the Tacoma area and visited with Craig and Tracy.

And then after only eight days, I left again to go to Part 2 of my trip. This time I headed back to Lake Charles, Louisiana. I had previously arranged with Marc and Letty that I would stay with their kids while they took a much needed vacation. So, after I had been there for the weekend, Marc and Letty hit the road, heading for New York and Ohio to see some of the Church Historical sites, as well as Niagara Falls.

In the meantime, Grandpa JohnBabe played Mr. Mom to five Cajun Cliffords for a week. We went to the swimming pool everyday, played games, watched movies, messed up the house, cleaned up the house, and otherwise had a great time. I made countless meals, cleaned the kitchen a million times, did laundry, and otherwise tried to keep things in order. It was actually the first time in my life that I had ever been alone with five young children for such a long stretch of time. It gave me new found empathy for all young parents everywhere!

And of course, I continued to have my evening phone chats with Pat. The difference was that this time, we already knew how we felt about each other and we were already planning a wedding. There was only a two hour time difference, which meant I didn't have to wait up quite as late for her calls. But another difference was that sometimes she would call in the middle of the night if she couldn't sleep, which seemed to be happening a lot...to both of us. I believe I can honestly say that I had never spent so much time on the phone since I was a teenager...and maybe not even then!

I returned home, and just a week later, on August 12th, Pat Aanderud and I were married in her son Ben's backyard, which was a beautiful setting. We were fortunate enough to be able to have all of our kids present, most of our sons and daughters-in-law, and many of our grandchildren. It was a beautiful ceremony and a great little family reception.

We spent a week at Rockaway Beach on the coast, where the Aanderud family has a beach house. We took little day trips almost every day, took walks every evening, and enjoyed the beauty and the great weather that the Oregon Coast had to offer.

Then, we returned home, and we began the process of blending two complete households. It was interesting, because frankly, most of the things that I had, furniture, appliances, kitchen things, etc., simply weren't needed. The remedy for this was that Stacy and the kids were moving into my home, and I pretty much left almost everything for them. So she packed up lots of her things, and simply carted them out to the curb, where in Southeast Portland, they would get taken away in no time by someone who could use them.

I moved all my clothes, went through all the boxes of stuff, packed up all my books, and made decisions about what to keep, what to store, and what to send off to D.I. I also helped Stacy with her move, including renting a truck one day to move the bulk of her things. We then loaded up some of the larger items to take to my new home, as well as some things to take out to Daryl's. I also went back several days to finish projects that I felt I needed to do, including a final yard clean-up, and once a year garage clean-up.

So now, I'm pretty much ready to begin my "New Life". So different than what I had imagined. The Lord certainly moves in mysterious ways!

So...other than that, I didn't do much during the summer!

Tigard's Annual Balloon Festival

2011-06-27T09:26:00.000-07:00

Every year for one weekend in June traffic around Tigard gets pretty heavy, and early in the mornings, weather permitting, this is what you can see. (A better camera would have given you a much better idea!!!)

Additions and Corrections

2011-06-13T18:32:00.000-07:00

I took all of my creative juices and finger dexterity-type skills, and masterfully added anniversaries to our Family Birthday Mobile. Major accomplishment!!! Who knows what I'll tackle next!!!

Of Kings and Queens and Crazy Things

2011-06-06T07:11:00.000-07:00

From time to time when I've had guests visit, I've felt mildly guilty about squeezing couples into the Full Size beds that I have in the guest rooms, while I have the King all to myself. (Not guilty enough to offer these guests my room, mind you. Like I said, mildly guilty!!) So, anticipating the visit of Marc and Letty last month, I decided to switch the beds out. I moved the King into the guest room, (it barely fit!) and the Full into mine.

I'm not sure where they get the names for these beds, but a Full Size bed is clearly not made for a Full Size person...at least not a Full Size person over five feet six! So, I put on my List of Things to Do--Someday, that I would get a new bed. In the meantime, I sent the Full Size mattress to the Tovey's house to live in Ella's room on her new Platform Bed, (custom built by Uncle Daryl), and pulled out the blow-up Aero bed for my temporary use.

One day about a week before my visitors were due to arrive (April 29th, to be exact) I got one of those e-mails from Costco.com, with all the Hot Deals of the week on it, and noticed a Queen Size bed at a Super Hot Price. So, thinking, "Perfect timing!", and on a total impulse I click-clicked, and ordered one. Best of all, my new bed would be delivered, which would save me the trouble of bothering one of my truck owning friends to join me on a trip to Costco.

CRAZY THING #1: Before completing the transaction, I tried to determine the delivery times, but couldn't really find anything. But after completing the online purchase, I received an e-mail that explained that the bed and the frame were broken down into separate orders and delivery numbers because they came from two separate vendors. There was also a note that said, "Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery!!!" About a week later I received an e-mail telling me that the frame had been shipped, and came home one day to find a rather large, long box sitting on my front porch. A few days later I received notice that the mattresses had been shipped, but instead of a tracking number, I was given a toll free phone number to call for tracking information. I figured by this time I wasn't in any big rush, and besides, it hadn't yet been four weeks. But as time passed, I began to wonder, but still remained patient...or lazy... I guess I really didn't feel like making the call. But as May turned into June, I figured it was time to sit down and take care of this. So I called the number, and discovered that it was just a Customer Service line for Costco.com. When I finally made it through the meandering push button menu, (Press #1 if you'd like to listen to this message in English; Press #2 if you have a question about an order....bottom line is that it was pretty clear that "talking to a real person" was the last thing they wanted me to do!) I finally explained my plight to Christina from Costco, who took my information, and put me on hold. After a couple of minutes she came back and said that she had contacted the vendor, who had shipped my mattresses to their local warehouse. They had apparently attempted to call me to arrange delivery, but without success. She checked my information, and we discovered that they did not have my current phone number. So, I gave her my new number, and within minutes the vendor called me to arrange for delivery on Saturday.
Now, here's the thing. This was an online order. Wouldn't you think that when the vendor couldn't get in touch with me, that they would have, or at least should have contacted Costco.com, who could have e-mailed me about the problem?!! If I hadn't called, would I have simply been waiting FOREVER??!!! Just curious...

CRAZY THING #2: OK. So, they called on Friday evening and gave me a window: "We will be delivering your order sometime between 1:30 and 3:30 on Saturday afternoon." On Saturday morning I deflated my blow-up mattress, and opened up my bed frame box, which had been sitting in the corner of my room for almost a month. There were no instructions or anything with it, but I figured, "How hard can this be?!!" However, as I began to look more closely, I realized that either there were a few pieces missing, or "it really could be a lot harder than it looked!" I looked online for instructions, and discovered that I had been right--I was missing one cross bar, and two feet. HOW COULD THIS BE??? I sort of chuckled as I realized that this box had been sitting, unopened in the corner of my room for weeks, and now, just hours before my delivery was due, I discovered that it was incomplete. So I could either race down to Costco on a Saturday morning, (not likely!!) or figure something else out. I went out to the garage and rummaged around, and found the old bed frame for the Full Size bed, thinking that maybe I could exchange parts. But, as it turned out, the old frame extended to Queen Size, so I just set it up, and figured, "Ha! Just saved me some money!!!" Of course, when the mattresses did arrive, there was a set of instructions and many warnings on how to safely use this dangerous piece of equipment. One of the items suggested that a bed frame with a center support, specifically designed for larger beds should definitely be used in order to get the full benefits and life from my new bed. So...I probably still need to replace the bed frame. However, I can just return it, get a refund, and boldly risk nullifying the warranty on my new Sealy Mattress!

CRAZY THING #3: As I mentioned, I had been given a delivery window for Saturday afternoon. I called the Tovey Kids to see if they were interested in coming for a visit for the day. I figured I could get over and pick them up, and get back by 1:00 p.m., which would still be half an hour before the delivery window opened. As it turned out, the kids had Big Plans that day. Instead, I ended up down the street helping a ward member with a bark dust project. About 12:30 we noticed a delivery truck drive slowly down the street, and sure enough, stopped in front of my house. So, they were a full hour early! If I had gone to Southeast to pick up the kids, I would have missed the delivery!!

MORAL OF THE STORY: I should have just let the guests deal with the smaller bed!!!

FAMILY REUNION!!!

2011-05-21T16:02:00.000-07:00

During Marc and Letty's stay we were able to have an historic gathering of Cliffords. We were all able to gather on Sunday afternoon, which happened to be Mother's Day. For the first time ever, all 12 1/2 of the Clifford Grandchildren were in the same place at the same time. There were cousins everywhere!

8 cousins dressed and ready for Church. We took up a whole center row!

4 Siblings and 3 spouses.

12 Cousins!

19 in the stairwell!

Sorely missed, of course, was the presence of Craig and Tracy, who were unable to come down. We would have gladly squeezed them in!

CAJUN VISITORS

2011-05-21T15:51:00.000-07:00

The Cajun Cliffords came to pay a visit to the Pacific Northwest...all 7 of them! They stayed for a week, and were able to visit family and also do lots of fun activities.

For more details, see their Blog!

Another Road Trip

2011-05-02T10:13:00.000-07:00

On Thurday, April 21st I jumped in the car for another Road Trip...destination...St. George, Utah. I drove ten hours down to Ione, California, the home of Terry's Sister, Rea. I spent the night there, and then early in the morning Rea and I loaded up and hit the road for another ten hour leg or our journey. We drove through California, parts of Nevada and Arizona, then into Southern Utah and the city of St. George. We visited with Grandma Lu for a bit, then went to meet Lynn (Terry's older sister) and her husband Garth for dinner. Their son-in-law, Jason, was down from Salt Lake for a couple of days with his youngest daughters for a fishing trip, so there was quite a large group at our table.

On Saturday we went over to the Temple. This is the oldest operating temple in the church. It was dedicated in 1877, the first temple completed after the arrival of the Saints in Utah. It was also the temple that Grandpa Tom and Grandma Lu were married in. Until the completion of the L.A. temple in 1956, it was the closest temple to Southern California.

We witnessed a little mini-drama in the Visitors' Center. The guy in the shorts had brought a really cool looking Easter Basket, (clearly made my Mom, or some other talented female!) and put it at the base of the Christus statue. He had informed the missionaries there that he was going to bring his girlfriend back and she was going to discover the basket, and inside one of the eggs was an engagement ring. Well, after we heard this story, we kind of hung out in the general area until we were able to witness this scene. I was far enough away that I thought I'd take "candid pictures" and then send them to the couple. But the missionary lady walked up to them before the girl even found the ring, and asked them if they'd like a private room. (which I thought may have ruined the surprise, and definitely ruined our ability to view it. However, I may not have been as candid as I thought, because in this photo it looks like the girl is looking right at us! (I thought I could look like I was photographing the statue!)

Later, we went to an art festival, which had about a million people. Just the kind of thing I love!!!

Funny story. Rea had a headache that morning, and asked her mom if she had any Tylonol. Lu produced a bottle of pills, and Rea immediately popped a couple. A few minutes later I heard her say, "MOM!!! You gave me Tylonol P.M!!!" Rea, needless to say, was in a blur much of the afternoon. But she didn't have a headache anymore!

We attended Sunday meetings with Grandma Lu, and then Easter Dinner at Garth and Lynne's. It was a beautiful weekend, weather wise, and a great change from rainly Portland!

As I returned to my motel Sunday evening, I noticed the beauty of the temple against the gray dusk skies, so I went over to try to get a couple of shots. They all came out darker, as if it was already totally dark outside, but they still looked pretty cool.

Monday morning, we hit the road again, and traveled across a few state lines, and then arrived in Ione about 3:00 p.m. Since it was so early, I continued driving a few more hours before I stopped for the night. I then continued on Tuesday morning, arriving home about noon. People think I'm crazy to drive like that, but I really enjoy it. I put on conference talks, or music, and do my best karaoke, really loud! (That is, when I'm alone....only when I'm alone.) Next trip....???

2011-04-20T13:24:00.000-07:00

Massive partying to celebrate Max's Birthday. Games were played, "Simon", "Spin the Coin", "Spin the Top", "Bop the Fur Ball," and something that looks like "Eat the Bat".

Massive Taco/Burrito Fiesta was had.

Awesome baked goods were provided to celebrate Big Number Nine!

Trip to the Southeast

2011-03-30T18:25:00.000-07:00

On the 8th of March I took a flight to Houston, and then from there to Lake Charles, Louisiana to explore the wildlife in that area. You see here examples of said wildlife blowing off bottle rockets..... looking cute in baggy training pants....

just plain looking cute....

playing on slides...

jumping on the trampoline... miniature golfing...

playing with balloons...

(did I mention looking cute?)

I also took a few days and drove further east, through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and on to Florida, to visit with my brother Mike and his wife, Fran, in their "winter retreat" in Destin, Florida on "The Emerald Coast".

I returned to Lake Charles to spend the last few days with Marc and Letty and the kids, and then flew home on the 23rd.

With the exception of the day I arrived, every day was sunny and reasonbly warm.

In all, I was gone for 15 days, which I believe it is the longest vacation I've ever taken.

One Month of Retirement

2011-03-01T17:51:00.000-08:00

Today is March 1st, which means I've been officially retired for one month. Granted, it was the shortest month of the year, but nevertheless... Note the unshaven face, the dishevelled, homeless look... So, what have I accomplished? What life changing decisions have I made? What marvelous plans have I developed? Hmmm....... Well, I did take a trip. Here are a few pics. My Uncle Bill and his toy

Some random California shots. Note the freeway with five lines across, each direction, and noticeably empty!!! (It was early Saturday morning...)

I was a bit bored going up I-5.... Ellen and Herb's Harley Potty Parlor A weather shot of snow going over Shasta in Northern California.....

Then a weather shot at home a couple days later!

Well, I did take a trip down to California. I sent e-mails with the details, but here are a few pics.

Ellen and Herb's Harley Guest Bathroom

Uncle Bill and his toy

Random California shots, including snow.

Snow when I got home.

Celebration of The Last Day

2011-02-06T12:17:00.000-08:00

Monday January 31st was my last day of work. After 31 1/2 years I retired from Oroweat Baking Company. It has been interesting, because over the last few weeks friends as well as co-workers have been asking me how it felt. The truth is that I simply wasn't feeling much at all. Towards the end of last week I realized that my lack of enthusiasm was probably due, at least in part, to Terry's absence. She would have made such a Big Deal about this. She would have made a "Chain", with a link for each remaining day, and she would have been giving me a daily countdown. And it was easy to imagine that on my final day, when I returned home, she would have met me at the door with a warm affectionate hug, and she would have said something sweet and simple like, "We finally made it!!" So knowing that I would be missing that scene may have contributed to my "ho-hum" approach to this event.

As I was working Monday, I even tried to get myself a little excited--"My last day!"--"My last store!"--"My last rack!" And, although in my head I realized it was the end, and I would no doubt be relieved, I nevertheless felt a little empty...and it definitely wasn't because I thought I would miss the job!

When I returned to the depot and unloaded the truck ("For the last time! Wahoo!!!" Nope, still nothin'!) I went inside and discovered a big cake, and a card. There were only a couple of guys in so far, but the managers came down from upstairs, and we stood around and ate as they congratulated me, and each one said something like, "It must be nice!". (BTW--They had previously offered to have a farewell party at a local establishment, but I politely refused...)

Afterwards, I went up to the cemetery and took flowers to Terry's grave site. Now I know that she's not really there, (I also, BTW, do not know for sure that she wasn't!) but I somehow felt a need to share day, in some way, with the woman who put up with all the tough schedules, the long work hours, and the whining. I spent an emotional few minutes up there, with my memories, my love, and my gratitude.

I finally headed home to my empty house. I knew that Ginger was planning on "stopping by" later, I assumed to drop off a card or something, but other than that, I planned for a quiet afternoon and evening alone.

When I pulled up to the house I got quite the surprise, as I witnessed this artistic vandalism. My emotions again got the best of me, as I felt that friends cared enough about me to go to all of this trouble.

Of course, I immediately took it down and put it inside the privacy of my home. No need to share this cool stuff with all the neighbors!
Later, when Ginger stopped by the house, she brought a big chocolate cake. A few minutes later Bishop Eckhardt and his wife, Debbie, arrived, and they all took me out to dinner at the Oswego Grill. Later we came back and cut up the cake.

So, although I expected this to be a rather uneventful evening, it turned out to be a very pleasant little celebration with three of my closest friends.

This cake was given to me by some of the employees of Lambs Thriftway in Wilsonville.

Cake #2 is the one that they had at work....

And Cake #3 is the big yummy chocolate cake that Ginger brought over.

2011: A Year of Changes....

2011-01-22T15:03:00.000-08:00

2011 is going to be a year of some significant changes to my life and my lifestyle.

1. Career change, Phase 1: January 31st will be my last day as an employee of Oroweat/Bimbo Baking Company. In 1979 I went to work for Oroweat as a summer job, "just until the real estate market picks up." It has been the longest summer of my life! So, after 31 1/2 years I am finally retiring from the early morning grind.

2. Career change, Phase 2: By springtime I expect to be gainfully employed in some other field. The lack of specifics here perfectly mirrors my lack of direction in this area. And springtime is only a guess. If total unemployment and laziness appeal to me, I may put this phase of my plan on hold for a little while longer!

3. Marital status: 2011 will be my first complete calendar year as a single/widowed/live all alone guy. (That is, if I can keep from getting snagged by all of those Super Models that keep hounding me, day and night!)

4. Church Calling: Last Sunday (January 16th) our Bishopric was reorganized. I was released from my calling as Counselor in the Bishopric, where I have served for almost three years, and called as the Executive Secretary to the new Bishopric. This gives me the opportunity to continue serving with the Bishopric, but in a different capacity.

My Christmas Project

2011-01-02T19:34:00.000-08:00

As you all know by now, Old Dad undertook an ambitious Christmas Project when I decided to make hats, and then scarves, for all of the grandchildren; and then for all of their moms and dads. In the end, I made 21 hats, and 17 scarves. (Logical reason for the discrepancy...but not interesting!)

And that has been what I have been up to since about the first week of August. As of today, I am working on the last "Christmas" scarf. Here we have the Tovey kids, who received theirs before they went up to spend the holiday weeks with their dad.

This is the original batch....

(Can you find yours???)

And these are the ones I've done since Christmas. (I had a couple days off, with nothing else to do!)

A PICTURE IS WORTH 1000 WORDS

2010-12-15T16:58:00.000-08:00

After too many delays, Terry's marker is finally in place.

OH CHRISTMAS TREE!!!!

2010-12-12T20:05:00.000-08:00

I had pretty much decided not to do any Christmas decorating this year. Not that I'm trying to be Mr. Scrooge, or the Grinch. I just didn't feel up to it. But I invited Stacy and the kids over last Sunday for dinner, so I decided to get out the tree. (As of last year, we went with an artificial. No more tree shopping. No more needles all over the house. No more paying for recycling.) I set it up, and got the box of lights and ornaments out, and when the kids arrived, I asked if they would be interested in decorating the tree. They enthusiastically volunteered, so I turned on the traditional and obligatory Christmas music, and I put the finishing touches on my gourmet dinner while the kids decorated the tree. Just like years ago, when our kids decorated, I heard comments like, "Oooh. I remember this one!" "Look. The Grinch!" "Hey have you seen the one with Santa climbing on a rope?"

Then, when the job was finished, we sat down to eat.

Then, CRASH. The tree came down, and spewed its ornaments all over the floor.

We put it back up, and the kids decorated again. I supported the flimsy little tree with a wire so it wouldn't fall again.

When I got home from work the following day, the tree was leaning. The wire was the only thing holding it up. I realized that the stand was bent, so I carefully laid the tree down, and I put it in a stronger, traditional Christmas tree stand. But most of the ornaments fell off again, so I had to decorate the tree...this time by myself.

A couple hours later...CRASH. It came down again! So I supported it again with a wire, and redecorated it, again. I then gave it a stern warning: "if you come down again, you're going back in the box!" It hasn't messed with me since!

So, for a guy who didn't feel like doing any decorating, I've already decorated this puny fake tree FOUR TIMES!!!

BLACK FRIDAY

2010-11-26T07:07:00.000-08:00

Black Friday sounds ominous, and used to be a term used to describe the unlucky Friday the 13th. But in our lifetimes it has changed. As you all know, it now refers to the huge shopping day which officially kicks off the Christmas Season. The "Black" is about retail stores getting out of the "red" as early as possible in the season. I don't recall this being a huge shopping day until I was an adult. I remember the first time I heard about it. It was 1978 and I was working part-time in the Melody Real Estate office the week of Thanksgiving. One of the associates there mentioned that he and his wife went out to the Mall every year on the day after Thanksgiving to do the bulk of their holiday shopping. I thought it was an interesting family tradition. (In those days, we already had the bulk of our shopping done by then!)

I recall one year we bundled everyone up (OK...we were in California. There may not have been all that much bundling!) Anyway, we headed to the Oaks Mall early in the morning. By the time we left, it was really getting crowded, and we noticed that there were cars in the parking lot just circling or just sitting and waiting for places to open up. Unfortunately, I had to return later in the afternoon to exchange a damaged item, and it was so crowded I actually parked across the street from the Mall! That may have been the last time I ever got close to a Mall on Black Friday!

A few years later Jared had a paper route, and we learned that the Thanksgiving Day paper was the largest of the year, because it had all of the Black Friday ads. It has since become a tradition for stores to open early...really early...some as early as 3 a.m. with "door busting" sales. (This year there were stores that opened at Midnight!) This year I saw a story of a couple that was camping out in front of a Best Buy, a few days before Thanksgiving, in order to be first in the door! Every year there are accounts of fights breaking out, and of people getting hurt in door opening "stampedes".

Terry and I actually went out on year, maybe the first or second year we were here in Oregon, and hit a few of the stores. Not uncharacteristically, she was organized, had a plan, and the whole ordeal was almost painless. I remember a couple of the items we bought that year--"Ghetto Blasters" from Best Buy for Jared and Stacy, and a basket ball backboard from GI Joes. We survived, but, we also decided we would never do that again!

For several years, I worked on Black Friday, doing my "Wednesday Oroweat job". Each year it got more and more difficult. There was more and more traffic, and I also learned to schedule the Fred Meyer stores very early, or I wouldn't even be able to find parking! It was crazy! The things people will do for 1/2 price socks!!

One more thing I recall from Black Friday family lore--sometime in our early Oregon years, we decided that we'd go to the movies as a family. We piled into the car, and drove to the cinamaplex, only to discover the longest lines we'd ever seen before, and a totally jammed parking lot. Not surprisingly, we made alternate plans, much to the dismay of the children, and made a mental note not to make movie plans on Black Friday anymore!

Two Mini-Trips

2010-11-18T17:40:00.000-08:00

On Halloween I wanted an excuse to leave the neighborhood, which gets absolutely bombarded with kids (most of whom aren't from the neighborhood!), so I volunteered to go up to Tacoma to pick up the Simone, Ella and Max from their dad's. You may recall that it was a Sunday, so I drove up in the early afternoon after church meetings were all over and went to Craig and Tracy's for a short visit. (I actually drove straight there this time, with no scenic detours of the greater Tacoma area!). Then I drove over to pick up the kids, and then I packed three sugared up Halloweenies into the car, and we headed back down I-5, with games, singing and I'm really not sure what else they were doing. But whatever it was, it was noisy! I didn't get home until about 9:30, and the neighborhood was pretty dark by then, so my "escape the Trick-or-Treaters" plan had worked.

The following weekend I headed east, to Prosser, to visit with Jared and Mary and the kids. Three and a half hours on the road this time. But it is a pleasant drive, most of it following the Columbia Gorge. The kids treated me like a long lost hero, and we had a great visit. We went to church the next day, had a great lunch, and then after a bit it was time for me to hit the road again.

I actually remembered to take my camera because of the scenic drive, thinking I'd take some shots for this blog. But the weather didn't cooperate. Yet, the following day after work, I caught the following picture in front of the house.

Birthday Traditions Rage on!!

2010-10-28T16:34:00.001-07:00

Last Sunday we had a Massive Celebration for Simone's Birthday...

OK. We had pizza. We sang. We ate the traditional Clifford Birthday Cake.

Happy Birthday to the first teenager among all the grandchildren, the person who holds the distinction of making Terry and John into Grandparents!

The End of Terry's Wall

2010-10-28T16:21:00.000-07:00

On Friday evening, October 22nd, I undertook a little project....

I read each and every card...

I used my fair share of Kleenex...

I took my time...

I had mentioned that if I didn't take The Wall down by the holidays, that you'd have to have me committed.

So, I'm safe....for now!

WHERE AM I???

2010-10-07T18:41:00.000-07:00

On Conference Sunday I headed up to Craig and Tracy's to see their new "temporary/hopefully soon to be permanent" additions to their family, little baby Aaron and Adalia. Very cute kids. Pictures were taken. Amazingly, this is one time that the Old Man remembered to take his camera. But it is understandably a Big No No to post pictures of Foster Kids on Blogs. Just imagine two very adorable kids, and you've got the picture.

The Sad Part of this story (OK...it's really pretty funny!) is that I've only been up there twice, (due to distance as well as last year's family drama.) So I Mapquested, and took off. While following, (or attempting to follow!) the directions, I became painfully aware once I got up in the general vicinity of Fife, Puyallup, Milton, Edgewood, that this was definitely NOT the way that we had gone before. I kept missing off ramps, and getting turned around. I actually called Craig for assistance...THREE TIMES. After an extra 45 minutes, I finally showed up at their apartment complex, and had to call a FOURTH TIME to determine the exact door!

I will never mock those with GPS systems again!!!

On the way home I picked up the Tovey kids, met their dog and the kids insisted that she try on her little hoody, (which is apparently necessary since greyhounds are almost naked, and have zero body fat.

We then drove home...directly home...no Old Dad got lost detours! We saw an awesome sunset, and observed how the colors and the clouds change almost every minute. I actually took pictures with my phone, but, as yet, I have no idea how to get said pictures out of phone and on to the computer. I'm sure it's not that tough, I just haven't learned how to do it yet. Hey...at least I have the phone!!!

Trip to Louisiana

2010-09-30T15:21:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, I took a trip last week to Lake Charles, Louisiana to visit with Marc and Letty and the kids.

I still haven't learned to take a camera with me on these trips! But...see Marc and Letty's blog for pictures of me and the kids, and me shooting a shotgun for the first time in my life.

I did have a phone with me, which has a built in camera, and there are pictures of alligators and clouds...but I haven't the slightest idea how to get them from the phone to the Blog. Perhaps by next trip I'll have it all figured out!

But...as the kids' journals used to say, at the end of every exciting entry, "It was fun!"

Massive Birthday Celebration

2010-09-06T15:38:00.001-07:00

After celebrating his birthday for days with various members of his family, Caden came over a day after his birthday for the Last Six year old birthday present, and a Massive Fiesta.

In a true Clifford Style, five minutes later, we were done.

I did it!

2010-09-06T15:11:00.000-07:00

As you all may know, I was extremely disappointed in my 1998 Honda Accord this year. It broke my heart. When the rains stopped the dryness revealed a pealing, fading paint job. I had babied that thing, and taken care of all of its mechanical needs, and it only had 95,000 miles on it, and I intended to drive it FOREVER.
But once it disappointed me like that, I could never forgive it, so I sent it to live on The East Side, with Stacy, where it will be more comfortable, and she will drive it and not worry about loving it, and everyone will be happy.
That left me with a 1998 Oldsmobile Intrigue that only has 58,600 miles on it, but that I didn't like. I could almost hear Terry, standing over my shoulder saying, "John, that is a perfectly good car!" Which, frankly, it is. But I didn't like it. And for some reason, I didn't trust it like I did my Honda.
So, I began shopping, thinking Toyota or Honda. With New Car Incentives and almost 0% interest, the auto industry is trying to make it impossible to turn down a new car. So I went out and looked at Toyota Camrys and Corollas, and Honda Accords and Civics. (I even considered an AWESOME truck or SUV, but decided I really don't need to reinvent myself, just get reliable transportation. If I later decide to become Marty McFly Sr., I'll trade my reliable transportation in...)
Then, in a fit of paralysis by analysis, I waffled, and decided, "I have a perfectly good car here...." But then I found myself spending almost an hour a day on line, looking at new cars and used cars....and so I said, "What the heck...." I went out last Wednesday and test drove a new Accord, then a New Civic. I tried to talk myself into the Civic, since 99% of all the driving I do is by myself. But it felt just a tad claustrophobic to me, so I went with the Accord. Then I said to the guy....let's look at what you have in your "Certified Used" inventory, and I ended up with this 2007 Honda Accord Ex with 35,900 miles on it. Although I could have gotten monthly payments about the same, the total cost to me was $8-9000 less, and being the King of Frugal, I was looking at total cost, so I went with the used one.

Next step...what to do with the Olds. I checked first to see if there were any family members in need of such a beast. None. I had Blue Booked the Intrigue, and saw that Private Party price was suggested at $2500, but the dealership only wanted to give me $1100 trade-in for it, so I said, "I'll just take it home. I'll give it to someone if I have to." (Truth is, you will probably NEVER find a car in reasonable condition with such low mileage for under $5000.)
Anyway, I put a For Sale sign on the Intrigue, drove it to work Friday and on Saturday morning two of my co-workers wanted to buy it. I have to DEQ it on Tuesday, then it will be sold.
So, there you have it, the story of how Old Dad actually pulled the trigger on the car decision. Almost a miracle!

On the Lighter Side...

2010-08-21T21:47:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year we replaced the dishwasher and oven/stove top. Then the counters. The old Almond refrigerator was drastically out of place. So, I went shopping. Because of the size of the space in our kitchen, I couldn't go too fancy, with french doors and a side by side with ice and water dispenser. So I pretty much just replaced what we had, only with the freezer on the bottom. Got it on sale at Home Depot. Saved 10%. $ 908.99 - 10% = 819.09.

Now get this...

When it arrived, one of the delivery boys noticed a small scratch on the front. I'm talking small....almost imperceptible. They tried to clean it off, but it was clear it had been scratched, and almost looked like it had been touched up. Now, their M.O. is that if I want it replaced, they take it back, schedule a new delivery date, and start all over. But it was so small, it hardly seemed worth it. You put a magnet on it and done. Well, the guy said, "We can give you a damage credit." So I said, "Fine." He calls, and I hear him explaining to the lady what the scratch was, and where it was, and she said, "We can go up to $150." So I figured, with the size of my scratch, they're going to offer me a $25 discount. The guy gets off the phone, begins writing up something, and says, "They'll send you a check for $150."

And let's not forget the $50 Energy Star rebate.

So...Let's review again. $ 909-10%=$819-$150=$769-$50=$719 which, by the way, is a full 21% off of the original price.

I think I'm ready to go new car shopping now....I'm looking for deals and scratches!

MY NEW LIFE

2010-08-21T21:40:00.000-07:00

I have begun My New Life.

Chapter 2.

It seems a lot like my Old Life.

Work....home....church.

But Terry's empty drawers, closet, and plant room are symbolic of how I feel.

My New Life has a big hole in it.

Yet my faith and understanding of The Plan provide an inner peace that is comforting.

July 28th, 2010

2010-07-31T06:23:00.001-07:00

The End of a Long Journey

2010-07-21T16:04:00.001-07:00

TERRY ANN CHENEY CLIFFORD

JUNE 8, 1952 - JULY 20, 2010

CHERISHED MOTHER, FRIEND, AND ETERNAL COMPANION

A TRIVIAL NOTE

2010-06-25T11:01:00.000-07:00

In the midst of the somber realities of the journey Terry and I are undertaking, life still goes on. Yards need to be done, bills need to be paid, dishes done, bathrooms cleaned, etc.

So, while checking through e-mails the other day, I saw a note from Consumer Cellular that says something like, "You are 450% above your plan usage. If you do not upgrade your plan NOW, you will really be sorry come bill time!!" Now of course, that's not exactly what it said, but that was the message.

You see, when I finally broke down and got a cell phone, it was only so that Terry could get in touch with me in the case of an emergency. I opted for the lowest plan, 200 minutes, no texts, in lieu of the pay by the minute program. The first few months I was paying $20 for about one call a month.

A few weeks ago, when Terry began staying downstairs all the time, I set our home phone to "message" so that the ringing wouldn't disturb her, and began using my cell phone almost exclusively. Of course, it hadn't dawned on me to change my plan.... These are the kinds of details that you overlook...

Thought you might get a kick out of Old Dad almost receiving a Gazillion dollar phone bill!!!

HAVE YOU HEARD THE NEWS??!!!

2010-06-13T03:11:00.000-07:00

Available from Amazon.com September 14th. Pre-order now!!!!

Wanna know something funny? Just today I boxed up all of our remaining VHS tapes to cart off to DI. I gave the Disney tapes to the kids next door. But the one tape I saved was...you guessed it. Funny thing is, I even told the neighbor about it, and how it was The Family Favorite for years, and how they still hadn't made it in DVD form.

I guess they figured they'd better hurry, before DVD was completely obsolete as well!

Terry's Birthday Bash

2010-06-11T21:12:00.001-07:00

Terry was extremely moved by the pictures of all of the Kids and their families. We couldn't have thought of a better gift!!!

In the last few months Terry has received TONS of flowers from people expressing their love. In fact, we now have quite a collection of vases!!! (I'm thinking eBay!! Yeah....right....try shipping glass!!!!!) On Terry's birthday, three different arrangements arrived, and I had to turn into Flower Man. Perhaps my next career????

Another Hobby

2010-06-03T15:48:00.001-07:00

You all may recall that a couple of years ago I, (John) got some plastic lacing (called Boondogle, Soubidou, or Gimp), and had a craft day for grandkids. I thought they would enjoy the projects. But then, true to my style, I got sort of hooked on it. I researched and learned different stitches, and ended up making hundreds of key chains and zipper pulls, and gave them away and donated them to various charitable sales.

Well, last year we gave the same kids some round knitting looms for Christmas. I asked them if they still had them, and thought I'd try my hand. The results are pictured below. Looks like I'll have more stuff to donate to the charitable events this year!

When Marc was here for Daryl's wedding, he even decided to get into the act! He ended up making a fine hat for Hudson, who is pictured sitting next to him, still safe inside Mom!

Daryl and Christie--May 29th, 2010

2010-06-03T15:41:00.000-07:00

It was not a very warm day, and the sleeveless Bride and Bride's Maids were probably all shivering. But the record rains of May subsided for the morning, and the wedding ceremony and pictures afterwards went off without a hitch, and without a single guest being drenched! The reception afterwards was indoors, and great fun as guests danced their fannies off. (Caden was awesome on the dance floor!!)

Bride and Groom (and Ring Bearer, Caden) were looking fine!

DUDE!!! Check this out!!!

2010-05-27T14:48:00.001-07:00

Every once in a while, friends come over to visit with Terry, and they play games from time to time. Check out the score that Terry got one day last week on Yahtzee!!!

The next week her friend called and left the following message: "Hey, if you want to get together, so you can beat your friend in games, let me know!"

VISITORS FROM THE EAST

2010-05-27T14:19:00.001-07:00

Jared and Mary and the Kids came out for a quick visit, Mom and Dad were off to the opera, and the Kids hung out with Grandma and Grandpa.

Happy Mother's Day!!!!

2010-05-10T20:05:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all for your thoughtful gift!!!!

2010-04-25T16:57:00.001-07:00

Other than trips to radiation treatments and doctors, Terry hasn't been up to any outings at all. However, this week we took a quick trip over to the Portland Temple to see the tulips in bloom.

Other news: Stacy and Dad took a quick trip up to Tacoma for Max's baptism. No pictures. One day I'll remember I own a camera!!!

A Special Visitor

2010-03-29T15:38:00.001-07:00

With wife and kids on a Spring Break Adventure, Jared took the time to drive west for a quick visit.

A Card for Grandma

2010-03-29T15:35:00.000-07:00

How cool is this?!!! Thanks Simone!!!!

A Picture is worth 1000 words!

2010-03-25T10:44:00.001-07:00

Balloons up the nose, anyone?

2010-03-25T10:38:00.000-07:00

During a recent visit, the Tovey Kids decided to do some Balloon Twisting. They even brought a library book, hoping Old Grandpa John Babe would still have a stash of balloons available. They all got into it and made all sorts of creations. They even got Grandma Terry involved!

Speaking of involved, Grandpa also got involved by driving the Three up to Tacoma for their Spring Break with their dad.

A HOT DEAL

2010-03-25T09:06:00.000-07:00

If any of you are interested in Classical Music at all, I discovered a HOT DEAL on iTunes. This collection contains 24 complete albums, all on one collection, for the HOT PRICE of only $9.99. If you look on the NAXOS website, and type in "24 Hours of Classical Music", it will show you all of the albums that you will be getting.

The only problems are that it takes about 3 hours to download, and then it is on your iTunes (or wherever you put it) as one Super Long Disc with 316 tracks. If you are anal about your music, you can rename every album, renumber every piece, and copy the album art, and then you will have all 24 albums sorted the way you like them. (I, being anal about my music, have done this, and frankly it took a couple of hours. But what else do you have to do at 4:00 a.m. when you can't sleep???)

Anyway, if I had seen this at Wall Mart, I may have said, "Dude, Christmas for everyone!!" and then you guys would have opened it up on Christmas Day and said, "What in the world was Dad thinking???" Of course then, if you didn't like them, you could have at least sold all of the 24 CD's on eBay, or Craig's List, or used them to trade on Swap a CD.

This way, you got nothing, except an idea!!

So, if you are at all interested in the Classics, check this out!!!

Here we go again!!!

2010-03-10T13:54:00.000-08:00

Starting Monday, March 8th, we began making daily pilgrimages to the Radiation Oncology Center so that Terry can have 15 more radiation treatments, this time aimed at lesions that have developed as the cancer has spread to her brain.

Although painless, the main side effect this time around will be that Terry's beautiful, thick blond hair will fall out, and, as she puts it, she will "join the ranks" of the many cancer patients who must temporarily lose their hair in an effort to gain relief from the serious symptoms of their disease.

Springtime???

2010-03-10T13:49:00.001-08:00

Although some Traitors in the neighborhood drag out their lawnmowers and edgers in an effort to hurry the spring season along, I have always avoided the task as long as possible. However, here in the Great Pacific Northwest, if the weather gives you a few good days, you have to start hitting the weeds. You never know when you'll get another dry spell!!! So, I joined their ranks. First weeds of the season!!

Terry is drinking WHAT????

2010-03-10T13:38:00.000-08:00

Touted by many nutritionists as extremely beneficial for Cancer Patients, Terry has elected to try a Wheat Grass Elixir. Grown and raised in her own indoor garden center, then harvested and ground to juice, Terry savors the Wheat Grass Juice on the spot.

Terry's Valentine Visitors

2010-02-24T19:26:00.001-08:00

The girls from the Primary Activity Day Group came by to give Terry some Valentines that they made. A couple of them chose to sing a song...believe it or not, the Chipmunk Christmas Song! "It was fun!!"

Terry's Activities

2010-02-10T12:10:00.001-08:00

Occasionally I encounter friends who are under the impression that Terry spends the bulk of her time in bed. So I thought I'd include some of Terry's Daily Activities here. In addition to a pile of books and magazines that she is currently reading, Terry has found other ways to occupy her time! From crocheting to puzzles to rug pulling to making Valentines Day cards, she has plenty of activities to keep her occupied.

But, she also gets out from time to time, as this picture of her and a friend escaping to the movies testifies.

More Mr. Fix-it

2010-02-10T11:45:00.000-08:00

These pictures tell of my activities last week. Simply put: Removing old appliances and installing new ones. Not included are pictures of the FLOOD when I broke the Hot Water line under the sink, the sad story of having to turn off the Hot Water to the house for a day, several trips to the plumbing supply store and Home Depot, and the reinforcement/moral support I had to call in, in the person of one Dan Cherry, a True Fix-it Man. But hurt pride aside, the job is now done!

More Books

2010-01-27T14:51:00.000-08:00

More book suggestions. I went out to the bookstore after Christmas and found a couple half-pricers. We read them, and reccommend them to all. Tissues may be required, or, depending on your moods, a puke bucket!!!

Terry's Least Favorite Thing!!

2010-01-27T14:42:00.001-08:00

Posing for a picture is not Terry's favorite thing to do! Here, I caught her without a hand in front of her face!!!

Happy Home Owner!!!

2010-01-27T14:38:00.000-08:00

Always stuff to fix! Handyman Grandpa fixing the squeeky dryer. Good as new now!!! Note the cool Snowman Fort that the dryer parts made!!!

Terry's Appetite

2010-01-13T09:03:00.001-08:00

One of Terry's problems was that she didn't have an appetite, and, although extremely petite, she was actually losing weight. The Doctor gave her a steroid product specifically made to correct this. Problem Solved!!!

Dia de los Reyes

2010-01-13T08:54:00.000-08:00

The Tovey Kids were in Utah over Christmas, so their loot sat unmolested in the corner even after all of the Holiday Decorations were put away. They arrived on January 6th for a late Christmas Celebration. It was Dia de los Reyes.

Terry's Garden

2010-01-13T08:45:00.000-08:00

Terry's love for plants manifests itself in her indoor garden!

Happy New Year 2010

2010-01-02T14:10:00.000-08:00

Thanks to a gift from the five kids and their families, we headed out to Cannon Beach for a couple of days. The weather was typical winter...cold, overcast, and rainy, but it was great to get away to one of our favorite places. And...we totally missed the Tuesday "Winter Weather Event" that paralyzed the freeway system in Portland! No snow out at the coast!

Christmas Day 2009

2009-12-26T09:49:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve we had a buffet/dinner and Craig and Tracy, and Stacy came over. Somehow, the camera never came out, so there is no photographic evidence of this Major Feast, catered by Old Dad.

Later, we went down the street to watch Caden as he opened the first Christmas Present. (An AWESOME Lego-type army set!!) The next morning we went down again to participate in the full Christmas morning ritual, and Craig and Tracy came by as well.

Later in the afternoon, Terry got into the action as well!

Visitor from the South

2009-12-20T18:40:00.000-08:00

Although this is the time of year that we expect visitors from the North Pole, we were pleased to receive a visitor from the South. Lynn Winn came up from Thousand Oaks, California to spend a few days with Terry. They hung around, talked, hung around....actually, if they weren't such good friends, it might sound kind of boring! But they thoroughly enjoyed their time together!

MY FOUR SONS

2009-12-12T17:25:00.000-08:00

Marc flew in from Louisiana for the weekend, towing baby Kera with him. Jared and Sydney drove in from Prosser; Craig and Tracy drove down from Federal Way; and Daryl and Christie walked down the street. So, for the first time in about six years all four of our sons were together for the afternoon on Saturday, December 5th. We visited. We feasted on family favorites Viva La Chicken and Enchiladas. But mostly, Kera stole the show. Tracy was overheard telling Craig to start the car, and they could steal her. (How I ended up without any pictures of them holding and trying to steal the child is amazing!)

As these few pictures show, it was a great afternoon!

OH CHRISTMAS TREE!!!

2009-12-12T17:10:00.001-08:00

As you can see, we went all out in the tree trimming department!

Thought some closeups of some of the ornaments might jog a pleasant holiday memory or two!

Terry tenderly trims the tree. (Say that ten times fast!)

Thanksgiving Dinner for Two

2009-11-30T16:13:00.000-08:00

Jared and Mary and the kids came in from Prosser, parked themselves at the local Residence Inn, and stopped by for visits on Wednesday evening, Thursday evening and Friday morning prior to heading back. They hooked up with Stacy for Thanksgiving Dinner at the Claim Jumper, and then they all came over here for pies and whipped cream. Daryl and Christie also joined us. Marc and his family at home entertaining a house full, and Craig and Tracy were stuck in Federal Way "On Call".

We didn't think that Terry would be up to a excitement, (noise and chaos!) of a full fledged Thanksgiving meal, with everyone here. But we still had to eat, so here you see our Thanksgiving Dinner for Two. Simple, yet elegant.

2009-11-19T04:44:00.000-08:00

I was also looking for something that might lift Terry's spirits a bit, and I found this little angel. This is simply called "Courage", and the caption on the card reads: "Bringing a triumphant spirit, inspiration and courage." Later that evening, I encouraged Terry to visualize the triumphant image of this little angel, and think of it whenever she is having a rough moment.
The following morning I got up, and made copies of a photo of this little angel, and placed them all over the house, and also made it our screensaver.

NOVEMBER 15TH

2009-11-19T04:33:00.000-08:00

Although I no doubt have never appeared to anyone to be "the Romantic Type", I have almost always given Terry a little gift on November 15th, which is the Anniversary of our First Date. This year I gave her this Susan Lordi statuette, entitled "Together: for those who have found their true partner in life."

The following day, I wrote the following caption of my own, and left it with the statuette:

This represents you and me

when we were young and "bitchin'"!

I'm writing to Susan L.

to see if she will make one

with a balding old guy,

and a petite little lady,

both in wheel chairs and drooling!

Now that is Eternal Love!!!

Terry's Wall of Love

2009-11-15T04:17:00.001-08:00

Terry's Locks of Love

2009-11-15T04:11:00.001-08:00

Terry has often donated her hair to Locks of Love. So...one more time!!!

Caden's Pumkin

2009-11-15T04:04:00.001-08:00

Terry's Diploma!

2009-11-05T19:34:00.000-08:00

After 15 daily radiation treatments this is what you get!!!!

Terry's Medical Adventure

2009-10-18T11:30:00.000-07:00

The Pin Cushion Period of Life

Terry's 0.1 mile ambulance ride

15 Treatments at the Radiation Center

"Little Old Lady" Cane Helps Terry get around

Cards and Flowers from caring friends

Cajun Cliffords Visit the Great Pacific Northwest!!

2009-09-23T11:30:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, September 12th, Marc, Leti, Adaliz and Nayalie arrived at PDX for a week stay in Portland. On Sunday, Stacy and the Tovey Kids came by for a visit, which included the obligatory Pinata; Caden and Daryl came by on Monday evening, then they all got together again later in the week for a picnic at the park, which got rained out. So it morphed into a picnic at Grandma's house, complete with balloon games and treats. Everyone had a good time.

With the exception of the picnic day, the weather cooperated, and they all had a nice week of fun and activities. They did a few family activities, including the zoo, a walk around the temple, and shopping. Marc and Leti were also able to take a few day trips, see a few friends, and get some errands done. One of their trips up the Gorge came complete with a car breakdown and repair job! Adaliz and Nayalie took lots of walks with Grandpa, played games, read books, did projects, and had a great time all around.

On Saturday morning, the 19th, I loaded them all up, and shipped them off to PDX again, for the long day's journey back to Cajun Country.

But the bottom line is: We had fun!!

2009-09-05T19:13:00.000-07:00

Last week we took a little drive up north to visit with Craig and Tracy. They provided a fine dinner and great entertainment in the form of an Old Favorite, Mississippi Marbles! They didn't actually have the game, but had downloaded the rules, and made their own.

It is interesting, isn't it, the things that you take from your family traditions?!!

As the journals of all the kids used to lavishly describe such events, "We had fun!"

Dad's Procedure

2009-08-21T17:23:00.001-07:00

Health care professionals as well as health enthusiasts in general suggest that at age 50 we all undergo a procedure which I will simply refer to as The Scope. Frankly, The Scope never sounded like too much fun to me, so I simply put the procedure off. After all, I had a heart attack at age 50, as well as a couple of angioplasty procedures, so I figured I'd done enough for one year. The next year my doctor spoke sternly to me about this negligence....and the following year he spoke even more sternly, questioning my intelligence for ignoring a procedure that is the only proven technique to detect colon cancer, and when said malady is caught early, it can be treated at close to a 100% success rate. "Why," asked the well meaning physician, "would anyone fail to take advantage of this modern technological breakthrough?!!"

In a fit of Super Responsibility, both Terry and I scheduled The Scope, maybe along about age 54, but in doing some checking, the office discovered that our insurance wouldn't cover the procedures, which at the time would have run us a cool five grand for the "double date".

Hmmm. The Scope and cancel vacations for the next few years, or .... The decision was simple.

A couple years later I discovered that our insurance had seen the light, and that the procedure would now be covered. After being yelled at again by my doctor, we scheduled The Scope....for Terry. This event was last summer, and frankly, Terry did not do well. Not that the procedure was all that bad, but the prep was brutal. Her blood sugar dropped, she got dehydrated, and by the time she was finished with the procedure, I literally had to carry her out of the car and into the house, and it took her days to recover.

Needless to say, this didn't do a lot to encourage me. So, I changed doctors! The New Guy's approach was, "Hey, it's your colon!"

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I had no fear of the procedure. I simply couldn't quite get myself to put it high enough up the priority list to make the call. I always seemed to have better things to do on my day off!

In June as we began investigating the possibility of turning in mission papers, Terry was at the computer on the Church website when I began to hear laughing...actually, it was more like cackling! When I came to investigate she triumphantly informed me that if I wanted to be a Senior Missionary, that I was going to have to have The Scope!

So, we scheduled it, I got all the information I needed, and for a week I went on a reasonably bland diet, during which I had to avoid a whole list of offending foods. Then, on Tuesday I went on a total clear liquid diet. Then, at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday evening, I began drinking the Evil Potion, which assists in what can only be referred to as Total Elimination. One of the problems is the amount of the liquid that you are required to consume! An 8 oz glass, every 20 minutes for an hour, then after that, one every ten minutes until you've had 8. That is 64 oz. A half-gallon! Then, in the morning, I had to set my alarm for 5:30 so that I could do it all again... another 64 ounces of pure liquid refreshment!

Without going into any more detail, let me just say that if the goal was Total Elimination, the stuff worked. I spent the better part of the evening, until pretty late at night doing SODUKO puzzles while perched upon the porcelain throne.

When Terry got up Wednesday morning, I was resting. She asked how I was doing, and I simply said, "I'm Pooped!!"

We arrived at The Scope Place, and they got me all ready. I was wheeled in, and they administered a little something to "make me more comfortable". The next thing I remember is sort of half waking up back in my little curtained-off room, while the doctor told Terry that I was clean as a whistle, with nothing to report, and nothing to worry about. SUCCESS!!!

We went home, and I slept most of the day.

I wonder where I can get some of that stuff they gave me to "make me feel more comfortable"? It would be a great sleep aid!!

Terry's Swiss Adventure

2009-08-04T18:57:00.000-07:00

Terry's Swiss Vacation

7-30 to 8-08

HEAT WAVE!!!!

2009-07-29T16:23:00.000-07:00

Current conditions (as of 3:53 PM)
Today's forecast

Excessive heat warning
Clear
108°F
Feels like: 108°F
Barometer:
29.7 in

You will note that the Peach Tree in the front yard does not mind the heat, and as a matter of fact is so overloaded that it looks more like a Eucalyptus! Harvesting will begin within days.

The Turtle Adventures

2009-07-22T17:29:00.000-07:00

As you can see, Terry's Turtle has grown a bit. She worries about him walking around and around in the wading pool that is the home for Mr and Mrs Turtle...(or is it Tortoise?). So today she decided to let him outside to roam around a bit. At first he just stayed inside his shell, unsure of his new surroundings. But once he overcame his original shyness, he just took off all over the yard. Click on the AWESOME VIDEO to see a few exciting seconds of Mr T forging through the Strawberry Forest!

Arborial Angst Abounds!!

2009-07-18T17:43:00.000-07:00

First it was Jared and Mary's diseased tree, then Daryl's storm disaster tree, and now this!!! Mom and Dad's peach tree is so heavy, that one of the branches broke!!!

Massive Birthday Celebration for Daryl

2009-07-18T17:16:00.000-07:00

Continuing the theme of July Celebrations, we had an AWESOME party for Daryl. Attendees included the Birthday Boy himself, Christie, Caden, Stacy, Terry and John. We partied hard with Viva La Chicken, and topped it off with cheese cake with cherries. Party games were skipped, as the revelers chose instead to sit on the couch and "hang". Pictorial evidence of this Bodacious Bash would be posted here, if T & J would ever get in the habit of actually taking pictures!

Massive 4th of July Celebration

2009-07-18T16:58:00.000-07:00

Here we have video proof of our AWESOME Independence Day Celebration. But I can't seem to get it posted here. We did nothing...never left the house all day, until about 9:45, when we waited in our front yard for the Tigard High School Fireworks display. Daryl, Christie and Caden came over to enjoy the spectacular display, which seemed late...and short. Hey, apparently everyone is cutting back!!!

If you listen closely to the audio, you can hear the artist/videographer carefully and strategically planning the intricate details of this shot.

CLASSIC!!!!

2009-06-24T14:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday!!!

2009-06-10T17:01:00.000-07:00

Photo evidence of raging parties as we celebrated Max's, Ella's, Christie's and Terry's birthdays, (on four different festive occasions!) in true, wild, Clifford style!!!

NAUVOO--THE BEAUTIFUL

2009-06-10T14:36:00.001-07:00

After the graduation festivities, we caravanned down to Nauvoo with Marc and Leti and the girls, and spent a couple of days there, seeing the sites, and enjoying the temple.

Any guess which was the picture Adaliz wanted to take????

I've frankly never been one to get all jazzed about being somewhere historic.... Sitting in Abe Lincoln's chair probably would not be much of a thrill for me. But back in 1997 when we visited Nauvoo, I stood on that temple lot, where they had excavated down to where you could see the foundation of the original temple, I was a bit overwhelmed as I recalled the sacrifices that the Saints went through to make that building possible. And that was without really having a knowledge of its importance or significance! To be honest with you, that day 12 years ago had an effect on me, to the point that I try never to walk into one of our temples without looking at it for a moment, and recalling those sacrifices.

However, this trip was a bit different, as you know, because the Church rebuilt that temple, and standing on that bluff is the beautiful Nauvoo Temple, built to the dimensions and architectural style of the original! What that must have looked like to those 19th century farmers is pretty hard to imagine!

We also went over to Carthage, and took a tour of the Old Carthage Jail.

Craig's Graduation

2009-06-10T14:22:00.000-07:00

We made our final trip to Des Moines, Iowa for Craig's graduation from DMU. It was an awesome affair, attended by 451 graduates from 9 different colleges in DMU (I think) and their families and friends, in a facility that could have comfortably held about 85% of those who attended. We calculated that probably 451 graduates did not really want to be there, and would have just as soon received their diplomas by FedEx. But it is tradition. A sacred and holy tradition. You go. You pay the money!! You help support the economy of both the university and the community! You party like you mean it...all this as a way to say, "Congratulations! You made it!!! Now get out there and start earning your keep, and start paying off those loans!!!

In all seriousness, we are all proud of Craig and Tracy's efforts, and for having the tenacity to get through the grueling education required to make something of themselves. (By the way, I have this thing on my toe....)

One Year Anniversary

2009-04-29T12:56:00.001-07:00

As of April 20th, 2009 the Bishopric has been serving together for one year in the Tigard 2nd Ward. Bishop Bill Eckhardt, (seated), John Walch, 1st Counselor, John Clifford (aka Grandpa JohnBabe), 2nd Counselor.

Party Games

2009-04-29T12:37:00.000-07:00

We had a little party for Max, and then a week or so later, another party for Ella. Thought we'd try our hands at balloon animals...and hats.

We played a few different party games. You may recognize some of them as Family Classics!

Note the Hershey bar, dice and utensils. Jog any memories?

Terry's Tulips

2009-04-29T12:30:00.000-07:00

It's spring, and time for Terry's Tulips...which sadly, have already come and gone!

O.F.'s Don't Like Change!!!

2009-03-28T19:20:00.000-07:00

I'm a certified, card carrying member of the Old Fart's Club, and as such, I'm not all that fond of change. Don't get me wrong. Change from something bad to something good is a Good Thing. (I have no interest, for example, in returning to 12 MPG gas guzzling muscle cars, slide rules, or trips to the library every time I have a question.)
But change, just because, (or worse yet, because somebody else wants change!) is a Bad Thing. Recently, my company instituted three such changes, one at a time, each one allegedly independent of the other. Each of these changes, I'm sure, could be justified by The Powers that Be. However, as an O.F., I failed to see either the necessity or the benefits of any of them. But they have affected me by making my work days approxiamately two hours longer. This, in my O.F. humble opinion, is a Bad Thing. As Danny Glover is fond of saying in the Lethal Weapons movies, "I'm too old for this doo-doo!"

Another change that is messing with my O.F. Kharma, has to do with our computer...our beloved, 6 year-old computer...which by the way, will never see it's seventh birthday. I attempted to resusitate it by replacing the power supply, (I felt like a Total Computer Dude!!!) but my efforts failed. After a respectable mourning period, (about a minute) I went shopping, and, after deciding that I was not a Total Computer Dude, I enlisted the help of a Real Computer Dude from our ward to help me get what I needed, and not get what I didn't need. Then he came over and helped me set it up and get it running.

But my old nemesis CHANGE hit me between the eyes, because I am now using Windows Vista, which is "New and Improved"--which means means that I now have to relearn everything that was almost second nature to me before. And there are some things that I can't do, (at least yet!) I know that after some time, this will all become second nature again, but what's the point?!! The other program worked just fine! Shouldn't they have a little option that says, "For O.F.'s, click here to return to the outdated Windows XP (or whatever it was!) By the way, I'll give $10 to the first one of you that tells me that they do have that option, and how to find it!

Just today, for the first time on the new computer, I opened an excel file, and I couldn't find the tabs at the bottom, or the arrows on the side. They may be there, hiding, but WHO NEEDS THIS???

My iTunes now will not let me add notes, artwork, or change the Get Info pages, and I used to do this regularly.

My scripture files (which are just word files that I've copied off of the net) used to open up the footnotes if I moved the cursor over them, now NADA!

Oh, and I no longer seem to be able to "back up" my DVD's.

I'm sure I'll figure this all out, but COME ON!!!! When you get a new car, you don't usually have to relearn every driving skill! The toughest part is learning how to reset the clock each spring-forward and fall-back!

OK....Done whining....For now. I'll go take more medication, and see if I can muster up the strength to deal with the next Big Change!

Bridges, Driver's Training and Dancing Girls!!!

2009-03-11T19:20:00.000-07:00

I’ve always wondered why anybody would ever admit to doing something pretty stupid, when there were no witnesses. But I’ve discovered one possible answer—It’s something to go on the Blog!

The Ross Island Bridge (hereafter RIB) was constructed in the late 1920’s, and was no doubt hailed as an amazing architectural accomplishment, linking East and West Portland. But that was before major traffic, before I-5, I-405, and Rt.26. Since the development of those famous numbers, the getting on and getting off of the RIB could be described as “Nightmarish” at its worst, or “Comedic” at its best. In fact, you can see the RIB listed as #7 on the charming website named “Things that suck about Portland”. For those unfamiliar with the meanderings required to cross the Willamette River on the Ross Island Bridge, let me see if I can describe them for you. If you are headed north on I-5, and want to cross the RIB going east (which would be a right turn), you take the off ramp, stay left, (but not to far left, or else you end up back on I-5!) then go left (W), then curve left again. (You are now headed south!) You are in the left lane which heads back to I-5 South, but you need to get in the right lane, while almost all of the people in the right lane are coming off of the RIB, wanting to get in the left lane! From the right lane, heading south, you turn right again (W), meandering through an old Portland neighborhood, (skinny streets and all!) go up a hill to a stop sign, turn right again (N), (make sure you take the left fork!) then stop again, then take a right turn onto a busy thoroughfare (which seems to have traffic coming from about three different directions!) and you are finally headed east on the Infamous Ross Island Bridge!! So to review, in order to go right, you need to go left, left, right, right, right. It sounds like one of those old tricky algebra questions—how many possible turns can you make… Now imagine doing this during rush hour traffic, when half of Portland is trying to follow the same intricate trail! Fortunately, there are plenty of signs, and if you follow them to a “T”, you will make your way just fine.

Now, on to another subject for a moment. Do you remember when you first started driving? There was so much to remember—so much to concentrate on. How could you possibly focus on so much at the same time!!! Adjust seat, put on seatbelt, insert key, foot on brake, check mirrors, start engine, DON’T HOLD THE KEY IN THE START POSITION! (VOICE OF DAD!!); turn head to check traffic, put car in gear, turn signal indicator, slowly and safely pull out into lane, check mirrors, car is moving, maintain speed limit, (WHAT WAS THE SPEED LIMIT IN A RESIDENTIAL ZONE??) stay between the lines, begin to apply brakes, (SLOWLY OR YOU WILL JERK TO A STOP!!) Check mirrors, begin to turn right, car is turning, it keeps turning, WHY DOES IT KEEP TURNING!!! (GET OFF OF THE NEIGHBOR’S LAWN!!!)

You get the point. At first, driving requires 110% of our available attention. In fact, it’s amazing that we don’t all kill ourselves in the process. But as we gain experience, many of the above mentioned tasks seem to be taken over by our lower brain functions (this is a model, not an accurate physiological description), and our conscious mind is available for tasks such as talking on the cell phone, texting, choosing the radio station, eating the taco, flashing hand signals to fellow drivers, etc.

Sometimes, in fact, you are hardly aware that you are driving! Years ago when we lived in California, I got off of work at Vicente Foods around 9:00 p.m., was in the car by 9:15, and made the 45 mile drive home to Thousand Oaks. Usually I’d be listening to a Dodger game, or Radio Mystery Theatre, or one of several Billy Joel or Lionel Richie tapes I had back then. I’d get out to Agoura, and realize that I could not even remember ever passing through the San Fernando Valley. Now, it wasn’t that I had slept through it (hopefully!!), but rather, that my mind had been preoccupied with other things, and the old, stay between the lines, watch the traffic tasks associated with driving were handily orchestrated by my lower brain functions. But I must admit, there were a couple of times that I found myself headed North on the San Diego Freeway, having completely missed my westbound Ventura Freeway off ramp. That makes you feel, well, let’s just say, Less than smart!

Which brings us to the point of the story. Last Tuesday evening I was coming home from Stacy’s, and my mind was actively engaged in deep thoughts. (You know, like, “Are there really more Dancing Girls on the eastside, or do I just notice more signs over here?” If I grew my hair out really long, would I still look like a BaldGuy?” Like I said—Deep Thoughts!) Anyway, I found myself on the Ross Island Bridge, and frankly, I was a bit disoriented. Milwaukie? 99E?? Mt. Hood?? Where is the I-5 onramp?? Then I began noticing familiar signs, like Dancing Girls, Jack in the Box, and I realized that I had indeed crossed over the Ross Island Bridge…GOING EAST!!! I had absent mindedly crossed the RIB going west, then followed through the meandering streets of Portland, right, right, stop, right—and gotten right back on the RIB going back to Stacy’s! By the way, once you get over there, there are not a lot of easy left turns to get yourself turned around heading back where you belong! Meandering through skinny little eastside neighborhoods, with their fair share of dead ends and no left turn signs can make you crazy at 9:30 at night when you already feel like a dummy!

2009-02-08T18:44:00.000-08:00

Yes, we are complete blog slackers. We fear our lives are far too dull to offer much in the way of entertainment, but the following few words and pictures will let you know that we are still alive and living in Portland...Enjoy!

2009-02-08T18:41:00.000-08:00

Ahhh! The snowstorm that threatened to ruin Christmas...

2009-02-08T18:38:00.000-08:00

These pictures were taken at Christmas when Craig and Tracy opened their gift from the family. Notice all the excitement. I believe Craig described it as "pooped our pants" or something to that effect. Such emotion!!

2009-02-08T18:35:00.002-08:00

Photos taken on my recent trip to Cannon Beach...

Can you believe this is the beach in January!!

2009-02-08T18:35:00.001-08:00

Proof that we eat...

2009-02-08T18:33:00.000-08:00

This photo needs no explanation...

Holday/Snow Activities

2008-12-21T08:40:00.000-08:00

Gingerbread Cookies Activity

DECORATING "THE TREE"

This is a memory that will last a lifetime! You'll always remember the year you decorated the "non-tree"!

Classic Clifford Journal entry:

"We had fun"

And the snow just kept falling....

And out of nowhere, all the robins in the city came to the tree that we can see outside our backyard. We've never seen this many robins in the springtime!!

Winter Wonderland

2008-12-18T17:15:00.000-08:00

This time of year we hear songs about a White Christmas, a Winter Wonderland, and frolicking in the snow. But here in Portland, when we get the proverbial Arctic Blast, it SHUTS DOWN THE CITY!!! We get it so rarely that the city isn't set up to take care of it, people don't know how to drive in it, and it generally just creates a mess for everyone. People from Real Winter Places laugh at us, because here they cancel school, church, and anything else that isn't absolutely necessary. Bread, of course, is necessary. So even if there is so much ice on the road that the postman stays home, the Bread Man must get through!!! Fortunately, unlike Real Winter Places, we know that it will be gone in a day or so, and we will return to more typical overcast skies and wet weather.

We have survived so far without any problems, except the Old Man took an unceremonious and most ungraceful "Home Alone"-type fall on the ice at work on Monday. But other than severe aches and pains, and damaged pride, all is well.

As you can see, we do have great snowmen in Portland though!!!

TERRY'S TERRIFIC TRIP

While some of the Northwest faction of the Clifford/Toveys headed south to D-land, the Southern Cliffords headed to Salt Lake City for a visit.

Terry met Marc and Leti and the girls there, and spent a few days seeing the sites, going to First Presidency Christmas Devotionals, and slumming in their little rental shack. (That screen behind them is the TV!!!) Fun was had by all!!!

HOW MUCH?????

2008-11-27T08:53:00.000-08:00

This past weekend Terry and I went down to St. George for the Memorial Service for Grandpa Tom. I had the following experience that I thought you'd all get a kick out of.

On Saturday morning I woke up early, as usual, and headed down to the breakfast buffet. This is a tradition that most hotels have now, and even though I’m not usually a big breakfast eater, whenever I’m in a hotel I indulge, feeling, I guess, that, “heck, I paid for it, so I’m going to eat it!!” Well, I didn’t feel like much, so I just got a bowl of raisin bran and juice, but then the old, “what the heck” attitude kicked in, and I got a small plate of scrambled egg-like substance, 2 bacon, and a little bit of potatoes. I was actually congratulating myself for the tremendous control I was exhibiting! While feeling intensely worthy, considering the biscuits and gravy, waffles, etc, that I could have been loading up on, one of the servers came over and presented me with a bill! I had noticed the cash register, and I had also noticed a sign when we entered the hotel the night before, with an $8.99 price for the breakfast buffet. But frankly, I had somehow assumed that did not apply to guests of the hotel. (On the other hand, how many people drive by the Village Inn and Denny’s up the street to go to the Marriot for breakfast?!!!!) Anyway, I wondered if he had been hanging around watching what I put on my tray, in order to charge me. But then I saw that my bill was for the $8.99 breakfast buffet…plus tax…plus tip…which came to $11.59 for raisin bran and a small plate of eggs and bacon! Clearly, this was the highlight of my trip!!! Can you imagine me, seeing a sign that said, Breakfast, $12, and saying, “Hey, let’s all go in for a bite to eat!”??!!! Needless to say, I fasted for the next couple of days, and I wondered about the families that I saw eating there. “Dude, did that guy really just drop $50 so his family could eat the buffet????”

In Memory of...

2008-11-27T08:49:00.000-08:00

Thomas Howard Cheney

Dec. 11, 1927 to Nov. 19, 2008

Sad News...

2008-11-18T11:59:00.000-08:00

Sometimes bad news doesn't just happen to other people!

Most of you no doubt remember going to visit my dad and Denise in their mobile home park in Sylmar. We didn't go that often, because of all of their cats. Anyway, you may have heard of the recent fires in California. Well, on Saturday almost 500 of the mobile homes were completely destroyed by the fire. Denise's home was one of them. They had evacuated the entire complex, so she got out safely, with her two remaining cats, and just a few things that she could throw in the car. Everything else was completely destroyed.

Check out the following website for pictures. It's probably not how you remember it!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kros/sets/72157609297245743/show/

What time is it, really??

2008-11-04T13:23:00.000-08:00

As you all know, this past weekend was the Official End of Daylight Saving Time. I’m sure all of us have known, or heard of people who failed to do the Spring Forward or Fall Back Thing, and showed up for church an hour early, or an hour late. One year, for example, my sister was somehow able to convince her husband, as well as all of their children that the Spring Forward was actually a week before they all thought it was. And so, they all marched into church one hour early, a full week before DST was supposed to begin. It is even funnier when people make the same mistake on Monday for work. That means that they somehow went the whole day on Sunday without realizing the time change.

Although apparently an original concept suggested by Benjamin Franklin, the idea of DST didn’t really catch on much until WWI, when it was instituted as an energy saving program. Then, apparently everyone hated it so much they changed it back. But then before you knew it, there was WWII, and so the DST policy was again enacted. Afterwards, some states kept it, some went back to Standard Time, and others adopted it on a county-by-county basis. Government couldn’t allow this, of course, and so in 1966 a bill was passed, making it Federal Law to go on DST, unless the state could override it with a vote, (which is why, for example, Arizona doesn’t observe DST.) There have been a few changes to the DST laws since then, most recently in 2005 they just added a couple weeks, (which is why it is not pitch black at 5:00 for the toddlers to go Trick or Treating.) The whole concept of “saving light” is a bit interesting. One writer suggested that it is like taking a yard of cloth, cutting a foot off of one end, sewing it to the other end, and believing that you somehow have more cloth. But that is neither here nor there.

OK. Enough of the little history lesson. Apparently one of the biggest complaints to Daylight Saving Time, and the whole Spring Forward and Fall Back thing, is the actual process of Springing and Falling. There are now so many clocks and electronic devices which run by clocks, that actually effecting the whole time change can be quite a chore.

Which brings me to my little story. It is traditionally My Job to change all of the clocks in the house. This past weekend I was suffering from a pretty bad cold, or flu or I’m not sure what. So instead of getting up at 5:00 a.m. and heading off to Bishopric Meetings, I stayed in bed. I was aware that Terry got up and got ready and left, and I dragged myself out of bed to “drug up”. I figured that I’d better do the clock changing task. I looked at my watch, and saw that it read 10:18, which meant it was really 9:18. “I’ll change my watch last,” I thought. It was a new watch, and I wasn’t really sure how to do it. Some combination of the four little buttons, no doubt. I’d figure it out later.

So I changed the oven clock, the microwave clock, the clock on the thermostat, (which took forever to fast forward 23 hours!!!! They should call it slow forward!) I changed the computer clock. Then I went upstairs, and changed the alarm in the spare bedroom. By then it was 9:27, so I was either moving pretty slowly, or I wasn’t as focused as I might have been if I had been feeling better. Then I went into the Master Bedroom, and sat down to change the alarm clock in there. I stared in quizzically as that clock now read 11:30!!!

It took a minute to figure it out. (Remember, I once again, in my defense, assert that I was not feeling well!) I had been basing everything on my wristwatch, which I knew I had not changed! Then I remembered that my watch is supposed to synchronize itself a couple times a day to satellites, and must have reset itself to Standard Time. Then I realized that Terry must have reset all of the other clocks in the house but the alarm in the Master Bedroom! (I later discovered that the computer and the thermostat apparently reset themselves as well.)

I may not have arrived at church an hour early, but I almost felt as dumb as if I had!!! The funny thing is, when I began the process at 9:18, I remembered thinking, “Is it possible that Terry has only been gone for half an hour? It seems like a lot longer!”

So, I changed all of the clocks back (which of course, was forward!), took more drugs, and went back to bed!

Quick Trip

2008-10-28T13:20:00.000-07:00

The Old Folks hit the road this weekend for a quick trip to Prosser to visit with Jared and Mary and the kids. Of course, as you all know, "the weekend" in breadman vernacular means "day off". So we left Saturday afternoon, made a short detour to deposit Max and Ella at their home, since they had spent the night with us, while their almost teenage sister had some sort of slumber party, unencumbered by siblings.

The drive out the Columbia Gorge is absolutely beautiful! We comment about this every time we take this trip. And it changes with the seasons! (Imagine a few fine photos of the picturesque vistas that we enjoyed. Someday we'll get used to taking and using our new camera!) Three and a half hours on that drive is much better than the two hours it used to take to go to Tacoma!!! (No offense, Craig!)

We arrived in the evening and were greeted by loving grandchildren, eager to climb on us and share with us the excitement of their lives. On Sunday morning we went over to the church to attend the annual Primary Children's program. The Prosser Ward is quite large, and there were at least 80 children participating. Some of them, (22 to be exact) played little piano pieces for the prelude music. (By the way, Sydney was Performing Artist #4, playing a wonderful rendition of some Primary Song that I absolutely could not get out of my head for a full 24 hours but for some reason escapes me at the moment!) The program was great, with all 80 kids having speaking parts, and many enthusiastic and energetic musical numbers. The Primary Presidency and the Chorister and pianist, as well as all of the teachers and leaders deserve giant gold stars on their foreheads for the effort that they put into this production.

After a short, but great visit, Grandma Terry and GPJB were on the road again by Sunday afternoon headed back to Portland, straight into the setting sun. The visit was short, but sweet.

What's going on???

2008-10-13T18:07:00.000-07:00

Terry has taken to the "Friendly Skies" again. This time she and her sister Rea have flown down to Las Vegas, where they will board a shuttle bus and go to St. George to spend a couple of days visiting with their parents.

Although you cannot see who it is up there on top of the towering ladder, it is me, the One and Only Grandpa JohnBabe, accomplishing two things. First, I am attempting to get a coat of paint on the newly rebuilt pillars, before the weather ruins the new wood; and second, I am trying to conquer my fear of heights. (Actually, it is not high places that bother me, rather, it is the fear of the pain that would inevitably follow, should I fall from any of the aforementioned high places!!)

While we were visiting Marc and Letty and the girls in Louisiana, we ran into an Old Family Friend!!!

Dad's Book Recommendation

2008-09-30T15:40:00.000-07:00

Frankly, I don't often read books. I study all the time, but rarely do I just read for pleasure. Part of it, I guess, has been my sleep deprived schedule. Typically, if I pick up a book, find a comfortable place, and start reading, it's ZZZZ's time.

However, I received this book as a gift a few years ago, and read the bulk of it for the first time as we were stuck on an airplane on the Tarmac in Salt Lake City, waiting for a clearing in the snowstorm. Since then it has become my "book of choice" for trips. It is thought provoking, entertaining, and (pardon the sentimentality) inspiring.

A Weekend Trip to Cajun Country

2008-09-30T14:54:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, September 21st we got a call from Marc, who called to chat while they were in the car on their way over to the Stake President's home, where they had been invited for ice cream. That invitation was not all that unusual, since the Stake President happens to be in Marc and Letty's ward, and the SP's wife is also Adaliz's Primary Teacher. On the other hand, they also knew that their Bishopric was being reorganized the next week, so there was also room for a bit of apprehension. But since a reorganization like that can cause a bit of shuffling and "domino effect" as people are called, and then their callings need to be filled, and so on, there was no way to know for sure what was going to happen. Perhaps it really was just an invitation for ice cream!

On his way home Marc called back to say that he had just been called to serve as a counselor in the new Bishopric. He then asked if there was any way Old Dad could make it out there on Sunday to ordain him a High Priest, even in spite of the totally inflexible work situation. "The thought of having a Priesthood Line of Authority for the rest of my life, without Dad's name on it just doesn't seem right."

Considering this request to be both an honor and a privilege, I called in a few favors at work, and we arranged to make a quick trip to Lake Charles, Louisiana. Since it was last minute, there were no good deals or discounts to be had, and not all that many options either! We ended up flying to Houston on Friday, spending the night there, and driving the three hours to Lake Charles on Saturday morning. We spent the day with Marc, Letty, Adaliz and Nayalie, visiting and playing games and having a Pinata for GPJB's birthday.

On Sunday we attended the Lake Charles Ward, where the Stake Presidency released the existing Bishopric, and sustained the new one. Then each of the former Bishopric members bore their testimonies, and then the members of the new Bishopric, including Marc, bore theirs. It was a great meeting, and there was a very special feeling present.

When the Stake President got up to speak, he mentioned that a few years ago he called a young man to be in a bishopric, whom he had known for many years. This young man was totally shocked at the calling, and just sort of stared at him. Then the SP said that he hadn't seen that look again, until the previous Sunday, when he extended the call to "Brother Clifford" to serve in this Bishopric.

After the meeting we went into the Bishop's office, where, under the direction of the Stake Presidency, each of the members of the new Bishopric was set apart. At the appropriate time, I ordained Marc to be a High Priest, so that he could then be set apart as a counselor in the Bishopric. Once again, there was a very special spirit present in that room, as family members witnessed and participated in the blessings, as their husbands, sons, dads and fathers received the authority to officiate as leaders in the Lake Charles Ward.

Later that day Bishop Young invited his new counselors and their families over to his house for a "get to know you" dinner. We ate "Gumbo", and were introduced to Southern Hospitality, Cajun Style. We were greeted with big "Bear Hugs", and were treated as if we had been long, lost friends. We listened as they each shared their apprehensions as well as their excitement about receiving their callings. And then we sat and observed the Bishop, who clearly already had the mantle fall upon him, give counsel and direction for his new counselors.

And when the serious part of the evening was over, we chuckled as we heard them share their hunting stories, pull guns out of the gun case for everyone to admire, (including a little pink rifle which belonged to their little daughter), and heard how good Squirrel meat was! Not only did it sound like another culture, (Y'all!), it definitely was! What an awesome experience Marc and Letty and the girls are having there!