Stupid Ox Lost His Way!

Well, it's been a while but I finally recovered my access as I was cleaning up some old e-mail stuff. So, now maybe nearly a year later I can add some additional ox-like wisdom to this cyberspace record things immaterial to most but precious to a few, maybe only myself.

I'll be back soon to do some updates, but for now I pause to finish my Sabbath preparations for covenants, teaching, family, etc. Ahoy.

Work and Play with Grandpa

On Friday, August 22nd we had a take your kid to work day at the city so I had Melanie and Joey come and bring Marlie and James with them to have a half day of some fun. They had a good time, especially the ride on the fire truck!

That evening we met at the Roy Aquatic Park for an employee's and family swim party. Amber came with Marlie, James, and Jack. Joey met us, Melanie and I, there too. They had a fun time in the pools.

Happy Anniversary - Cody & Tiff

Today is Cody and Tiffani's 4th anniversary and I wish them a very happy one with many more to come! In some ways, the time has gone by quickly, in other ways, the time hasn't moved by to fast at all. Anyway, I'm happy for them and am glad to see them getting along well.

Last night Melanie, the girls and I, Wendy, Annie, and Joey went to the Bountiful Temple after work. We planned to meet for the 7:00 p.m. session, but it was very crowded so we were delayed some for the later session. Other than feeling slightly warm in there and not quite as comfortable as I'd have liked, it was something that I don't think could make me feel any better or happier than to be in the temple with my wife and daughters. They look like angels to me!

Tonight after work and after a nice BLT sandwich (which we've been eating more of lately since our tomatoes are on in full production) I picked three large buckets of plums. Seems like the fruit and veggies are growing like I haven't seen in years with quite a crop to harvest. Of course harvesting is the fun part after the work that preceeds it and sharing with others is always fun too!

Guess that's about it for today. Guess the market is still behaving crappy so the 'flocks and the herds' have been taking a beating. Way to ox it, boy! Ahoy...

Bear Bottom Inn at Bear Lake

Our 2008 version of our annual Bear Lake vacation was slightly different but actually slightly more enjoyable than last year. We put our condo in the rental pool and it did get rented for the full week, yea!

That made it possible for us to rent a large and air-conditioned cabin, the "Bear Bottom Inn"above the Marina, which we did, yea again!! Plenty of room, very nicely furnished, etc.


We stayed from Monday, July 28th until Friday, August 1st. Ate some great food, thanks to Melanie. Played lots of games, Wii, marbles, dice. Played a little golf at Sweetwater, well Jimmy and Cody played, Annie and I just tagged along hacking up the course and ditching many balls. We went to the lake for a swim and a picnic. And we just had a fun and nice relaxing week together.










One little downside this year, Jeremy had to work at his new UP railroad job. But we were glad he finally got started with a career with trains following his Gpa Hansen's path.

This worked out well enough that I think we'll try it again next year. It was so very nice and roomy and the air conditioning was wonderful and the grandkids had lots of room to run around and play.

Grandkids posing with charm and personality

Marlie's (4y 8m) spaced off while holding Jack (4m) for this July 2nd shot and James (2y 6m) has obviously got something else on his mind. Wonderful! I love this totally unposed scene as we prepared to get a nice posed one.

So this next shot a few seconds later captured a rapid change in attitudes as you can see. Marlie started to enjoy the occasion and James reacted like Jack was in mortal danger.

Engaged to my Sweetheart - July 8th, 1970

And it came to pass on this summer night, 38 years ago, the love of my life was gently persuaded through some sweet talk and strange conversation to become my wife.

Although we had only dated a few times since early June, we had spent many hours together and had talked a lot too. I have always been indebted to her mother Betty for setting us up.

Betty and I were good friends and had been co-workers at the IRS. Betty was always really friendly to me and seemed to enjoy the escapades that I would share with her and the other women at work. Sooner or later she showed me this picture of Melanie and it sort of registered with me.

After my stint in Army training, one of the first things I did was to call Betty and set up an arranged meeting with Melanie for a motorcycle ride. After meeting her in person, it was really not much question for me from then on. We dated a couple of times. She went to South Dakota with her family to see her Grandpa Nelson. I went to Ft. Lewis Washington for Army camp. I did miss her immediately and was awakened to a deep sense of need for her companionship and felt the beginnings of a loving desire to just be with her.

Once we both returned and resumed dating a few times and many more hours together, one thing led to another that night of July 8th and as we sat in my car in her driveway we talked and talked. She said how she loved Logan and wanted to be married in the Logan Temple. I probably said that sounded good to me too, when should we get married?

We sort of agreed sometime around spring of the next year I believe and as our evening together ended, we were engaged to be married in the Logan Temple. I don't think anything in my life thus far had been such a wonderful feeling as this acceptance of marriage by this wonderful and beautiful girl!

June 2008

The month of June passed quickly. It started out with finishing up Annie's tonsilectomy rehab at home with us. It was hard, but we sent her on her way south to get back to normal life again. Her operation was a challenge but appears now to have been worth it for her and glad it's behind her and all of us too.

The sandpile will never be the same again. Melanie and I weeded it and salted the earth (in this case the sand) and then started hauling in the two dumptruck loads of chipped bark for the play area. Thankfully, Roy Purkiss and his boys saw us and helped us get it finished up really quickly. Twelve yards is a lot of chips! It really looks nice now though.

We enjoyed the culmination of Kayli and John's engagement by attending their wedding reception in Layton on the 5th of June, which was also my sister LaRena's 57th birthday. Now Joey is alone in her little condo, at least for the time being.

On Friday the 6th, Melanie and I went to the Outback Steakhouse in Layton to dinner with Hunter's and Beech's to celebrate the 17th year since our release as a Bishopric. We always seem to have such an enjoyable annual visit and dinner together. They are special and choice friends and ever will be.

Saturday the 7th, Jeremy, Jimmy, Cody and I met Lee and LaRena over at Gma H's to lay sod in her former garden area. Jeremy had already done a good job with some bark and planters and a tree. Now we were trying to put some finishing touches on it with the sod. Lee and Bryce had installed some sprinkler heads to take care of the water coverage.

On Sunday the 8th I started teaching the temple preparation class during Sunday School. I was called to teach this class last July but had to wait until now to have some people ready for the class. I'm starting out with six. I am glad to be able to teach it and to be a ward missionary with Dale Hunter. It's a little more of a spiritual lift to me to get out of the finance clerk office and get out with the people.

I had an interesting and satisfying experience on Monday the 9th. I went to Salt Lake City and had a full body scan to see what if anything would show up. Given a large family history of a variety of things I guess I felt some compelling need to know if there was anything lurking beneath the surface of this plentiful, deep skin. That and the fact that I had a little extra "use or lose" flex plan money that expired June 30th. Anyway, the scan went better than I had anticipated as far as results. It was encouraging to find out arteries, heart, lungs, entrals, etc. all looked to be in reasonably good shape for a fellow in my condition!

Donated blood on the 11th to the Red Cross to help with an Eagle project for Todd Nelson from the ward. I've always been glad to help with blood donations whenever they hold them. Sort of like the morbid warm feel of the blood flowing through the tube along my arm and down into the bag. It would be an easy and peaceful way to bleed to death!

At my encouragement, the city held a free swim night for Riverdale residents at the Roy Aquatic Park on the 12th. Only problem was that it was too cold. So, Jeannette Hall just met people at the gate and passed out free passes for another time to those that showed up. We bought 175 passes and surprise, surprise, she needed more passes on a cold day. Oh well, guess it is a good idea and we do have another day coming up in July.

Friday, the 13th! Our special family day that occurs occasionally and we celebrate. Melanie and I, Jimmy and Amber, Cody and Tiffani met together for a celebration dinner at Rickenbacker's at the airport. We had a nice time together for the $300 tab. The food was ok, but the company was where the real value was. I suppose we are establishing the 13th as a family tradition worthy of some efforts to continue and expand, that is if any of the others decide to follow along some time. It's fun and we like it!

Father's Day was on the 15th. My family got me a new grill for the deck which is really nice along with some nice battery operated Fisher Price Lawn tools, a blower and a trimmer. They also made a delicious cookout dinner complete with a giant 2 lb. cheeseburger that I could only begin an attempt to eat. It looked and tasted great, but I could only down a small portion of it. There was a day now long past though that I'm sure I could have and would have eaten the whole thing. Gma H came over and ate with us. This was the first year in 59 years that my Dad wasn't around to celebrate it with us or us with him, rest in peace.

I appreciated the Mayor and City Council approving my request to reward the city employees with a special one-time 1.5% June 30th incentive payment. Our staff is pulling together and performing well and building an organizational culture worthy of nurturing and encouraging. It is better and different than recent years ago. Yea!

Dale and I met an ex-con on a missionary visit who said he was waiting for us to show up and that he needed to get his life in order in line with the Lord. He said he would come to church. It was a very good visit. He didn't make it to church. We will stick with him and see what happens.

Between the 20th and month-end I used up some vacation time doing some chores and things around home. Melanie and I went to the temple. We went to Cedar City for a couple of nights while I attended an URMMA (Utah Risk Management Mutual Association) Board Meeting and conference. While there we saw a "Fiddler On the Roof" play and enjoyed a little time together and away.

On the 21st we met a lot of Gma H's Kunz relatives at the Riverdale Park for a reunion. It was good to see some of them again. There were a couple of hundred of them. Most of whom I'd never recognize if I passed them in WalMart. Next year it's our turn to host the event and organize the festivities, yea.

On the 30th I spent the last day of vacation while Melanie went back to work. I got the carpets cleaned and had some cement landscape edging installed in our front yard and in Gma H's front yard. It looks good. It was quite hard work at the end getting rid of the sod they cut out though. Made me appreciate Jeremy and Cody's help with it at the end of a hard day's work. Glad to go back to work in an air conditioned office tomorrow.