TRIP TO CANADA

We just returned from a great time in Canada with Allan's family.  Grandma Asplund celebrated her 90th birthday so all the family and many people from their little community came to her party.  We were so very happy that all of our kids made the HUGE EFFORT to come and be part of the celebration.

Allan has 7 sisters and 5 brothers so it was quite the group.  The party was held at a large park/museum that one of Allan's brothers sponsors and it was a terrific place for kids with old tractors, a horse drawn school bus , old school, jail and trains.  I think everyone had quite the entertaining day and Allan's mom seemed very pleased with all the friends and family that came.

                                        Some of Grandma Asplunds beautiful granddaughters.

The grounds and fun attractions at this part/museum were a photographer's paradise.  We took several family pictures which I will post at another time but the grandkids provided grandma and grandpa with a gaggle of pictures.

The grand and great granddaughters sang 3 of Grandma's favorite songs for her and Ame preformed some serious hip shakin' .

One of the days we all went to a farm and through a really fun corn maze.  It was rather interesting trying to keep 24 of us together and not loosing kids in the corn.

Perhaps the grandkid's favorite activity was riding horses at Uncle Mark's.  There were kids and horses everywhere for several hours--don't know who tired out first !

We are so thankful for this wonderful time with all of our family together.   We cherish the occasions which bring us closer and hope there will be many more to come.

FORMER FRIENDS CROSSING OUR WAY

We have had some interesting renewed friendships lately.  A couple of months ago while scheduling a trip with LDS travel one of the agents asked me, "how old is your husband....is he from Canada.....did he serve a mission in Scotland??"  Well Dave was a missionary who Allan greatly admired  and has had no contact with for 55 years.  To make a long story short, he has written a story about his life growing up in a polygamist family and escaping entitled Be Still My Son that is really inspiring and well written.  We were able to hook up for dinner this week and had a marvelous time getting to know him and his cute wife.  It is so interesting how our paths intersect with former friends.

And another friend  emerged from India.  Preetha was one of our best Seminary teachers in Bangalore and was trying to make the dream of serving a mission come true when we left.  She accomplished that goal and received her call to Fiji.  Yesterday we got to pick her up and deliver her to the MTC for language training.  She is not only a beautiful young woman, but has overcome much as do all those dear Indian saints and is so eager to serve the Lord.  We had a grand (but short) reunion.

We had a special date with Ame and Kaipo to celebrate the beginning of their new year of school.  Lunch was yummy but  our conversation with those two cuties provided quite the entertaining afternoon.

Our stop at Kohls also proved to be fun and hilarious as they picked out and paraded their new school duds.  We love the individual and personal times we are able to have with our grandchildren and adore each of them for the unique, cute, loving and genuinely GOOD little people they are !

Cox Visit and Family fun

We had a wonderful visit from our old (well 35 year friendship) friends Becky and Bob  this past week.  They came for our "family Sunday" and we all had a great time catching up!

Anyone who comes to visit us gets drug to Temple Square to meet our "Indian daughter" Sister Sundaram,  We had a wonderful tour with her and her companion and even got to take them to lunch.   
We never seem to lack for fun and memorable conversation with Becky and Bob, a good game of golf and even a beautiful ride threw Ogden canyon.  It is so DARN GOOD to have these times together again after 3 years.  Can't wait for the fun ahead.....

Allan made a quick trip back to Corcoran last week for the funeral of a dear friend, Darrell Frey.  He was a part of our lives for many years with alot of funny memories.  Allan was able to see so many former friends and employees that we both worked with and really enjoyed seeing everyone again.


I was able to play grandma twice this week for Brittany & Quinn and Karli & chris who were both celebrating their anniversaries.  I loved this special time with our precious grandchildren.


Jake has begun his FAVORITE sport again--Football.  He is lucky this year that DAD gets to be one of his coaches and MOM is the team mom.  We got to watch his first scrimmage on Saturday and were so proud and excited for him.

Little Miss Kaiya turned 3 Saturday and we joined the celebration at the pool in Logan.  It was such a fun and beautiful day to spend with the family and be part of the excitement.  Kaiya-bear  holds a special place in our hearts.  (even when she licks her birthday cake).

SISTER/MOM RETREAT

Last weekend my mom and 3 sisters all met for a fun get-away.  We stayed at the Lodges in Deer Valley and had so much fun together.  We had a delicious dinner at Stein Erickson Lodge and the view and weather was almost as good as the company.

When the Thurgood girls get together there is no lack of laughing and good stories.  We spent one day tramping around Park City shopping and finding good eating establishments.  We had rented a wheel chair for Mom so no one had to slow down and she felt a part of the festivities.   We even took the gondola to the top of The Canyons which was a beautiful trip.  

One night we went to the outdoor concert at Deer Valley featuring the Mormon Tab, Choir and Utah Symphony and it was fabulous.  It was such a beautiful setting and the concert was a tribute to America.   And to add even more excitement to the evening, Pres. Eyring and Pres. Uchtdorf and family were sitting a stone's throw away!!

We wanted to include our brother Craig (and he wasn't too keen on spending the weekend with 4 crazy women) so Sunday afternoon we had a great reunion together with his family, and many of our children and grandchildren. About 50 were able to be there and it was such a good time to renew friendships with cousins, brother and sisters and Mom.

I am so thankful for the wonderful extended family I am blessed with and for this terrific time to solidify our love and friendship.  I am also so incredibly thankful for Mom and the amazing woman she is.  At 90+ years she is still so fun and willing to be with all her family to share these good moments.

QUICK TRIP TO TAHOE

This weekend we made a quick and fun trip to Lake Tahoe where we met Aaron and Debbie to return our guests of the past 2 weeks.  It was bitter sweet to "hand them back" because we had so much fun.  They were all quite excited to reunite (especially mom and Lukie).  We spent a few hours at the Lake at the "former Beach Club" before they headed back home.

It was a short but great time together and we got some good snuggle time with baby Reid.  What a little and LONG sweetie!

We spent the night with some of our dear Tahoe friends, Cheryl and Donovan.  We had some good laughs and caught up on all the Tahoe Ward gossip before attending church on Sunday.  It was reallllly fun to see all the Tahoe ward members.  What a great reunion it was for us.

ENDLESS SUMMER (finally)

We have done our best to entertain and keep up with the grandkids during Evan and Kyle's stay and we are loving every moment.  This week Ame and Kaipo had a sleepover and we went miniature golfing, which proved to be quite hilarious with 4 kids whacking balls everywhere.

Jason and LeAnne took us out on their boat one night and that was totally fun.  Jake and Ryan got to "strut their stuff" which is pretty amazing what they can do on the wakeboards!  All the boys had such fun trying to stay on the tube--Jason loves to see who he can dump!  It was gorgeous evening on the lake and we were almost solo.

We spent a WONDERFUL day on Temple Square.  Our dear Indian daughter, Sis Sundaram, took all of us on a terrific tour and the kids had opportunity to learn and feel of the spirit there.  They all loved Sister Sundaram (as do we). 

We then went across the street to the Church Museum up on the 2nd floor where there are so many terrific activities for kids.  Everything is so hands on and appropriate for all ages. 

We left with such grateful hearts for the gospel blessings we enjoy and that bless us individually and as families.  No greater joy can be ours!