TUESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2010

SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 2010This was a great day. Because church wasn’t until 1:00, and the church was right there in Milwaukie, we were able to sleep late.

We went to the Riverside Ward, the same ward that Susan and Randy Sommers attend. That ward meets in the old Moreland Ward chapel of my boyhood, though it certainly must have been remodeled since I sometimes went there for activities, firesides, and probable occasions that I cannot remember.

We enjoyed the meetings and were deeply touched by some of the testimonies. I also bore my testimony, talking about having grown up in that area and having gained my testimony there. One sister, in her testimony, said that I probably knew her parents, but I do not know them. Another told Carol that she knew my parents and others in the family.

We had no dinner invitations for today, so we sought out a restaurant. We finally tried a family restaurant/cafeteria called Tebo’s, in northern Gladstone. We were delighted with Tebo’s, as the food was good, the workers were friendly, and the dessert—strawberry shortcake—was delicious. It is their specialty when strawberries are in season.

Before we entered the serving line, I read a framed newspaper clipping about Tebo’s and learned that the owner is John Karlik. Karlik is the last name of twin brothers who graduated from Oregon City high school with me, so I felt that there had to be a connec -tion. The man at the head of the serving line looked as if he could be a Karlik, and I was right. When I asked him about the Karlik twins, he told me that they were his uncles.

MONDAY, AUGUST 2, 2010We took another trip down memory lane again today, this time taking Doris and Marvin with us. Again we took a drive around

Gladstone, but we saw more than we saw before. Doris had us go by the places where she and Fred lived back in the 1950s, though both of those homes are now gone. We also went to the Pow Wow Tree, a historical site where American Indians used to hold their

powwows. That magnificent tree suffered great damage when freezing rain gathered as ice on the limbs. The weight became too great for the tree to withstand, and a large portion of it split off and crashed. The rest of the tree survived.

Next we drove into Portland to see our old stake center and the home where Grandma Skyles lived after moving from Ore-gon in 1942. The stake center looks quite a bit as it did when I was growing up, but a wing has been added. I went to many dances and other activities there, and it was there that Presi-dent David O. McKay spoke, giving us a chance afterward to shake hands with him. I remem-ber Darryl Gib-son saying, “I’ll never wash this [right] hand again.”

At the loca-tion of

Grandma’s house, we were disappointed. The home with the same address as hers is an old, dilapi-dated house. Where a modest, attractive home once stood, there is now a house that looks older than the subsequent 68 years would justify—even if it were the same house. Photos that Doris has in an album that she has at Marvin’s confirm that the house now at the same location is not the one where Grandma Skyles lived.

At Marvin’s, he showed us an aerial photo of the land where our old home stands. Thirteen homes now are located on our old three and a third acres. If Dad had only known how valuable that land would become, he would not have sold the home and land for a mere fraction of its later value. He would have become much more financially independent than he ever became. “If only…,” but he had no way of knowing what 20-20 hindsight now shows.

Normally, at family reunion time, our spouses and we siblings go to dinner the night before the major family gathering. Last Fri -day, we could not arrange that, so we went tonight. We went to Sayler’s Old Country Kitchen, in Portland. Carol and I have never been there before, and we quite enjoyed it. That is the restaurant that has a 72 oz. steak. Anyone who can eat the whole steak and the trimmings in an hour gets the meal free. I cannot imagine anyone succeeding doing so, and there is no way that I would ever try. A 6 oz. steak is plenty for me, and I often take home part of that. Anyway, the food there was excellent—the onion rings were deli -cious—and we six enjoyed our time together.

Doris is staying with Marvin and Ellen while in Oregon—she has her 60-year class reunion next Saturday—and our visit there was most pleasant. Doris has a thick album full of photos and other memorabilia. She has made copies for each of her children (and grandchildren?), and I just wish she made a copy for us. I have many those pages scanned into our computer, but she has added many more since then. When we go up there next week, I’m going to take our new scanner to see what more I can copy.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2010Carol’s favorite cousin, Susan (Sue) Evans Springer, lives in Portland, near Beaverton, and we went there for a visit today. We

have visited her there a number of times in the past, but we weren’t able to get together with her when here two years ago, so we hadn’t seen her in four years. We did not have her address or phone number, but we sleuthed it our using Facebook and Class -mates. We found the Susan Springer that we thought might be the one we were seeking, sent her an e-mail, and received an an -swer. Thus, we were able to set 11:00 this morning as a time to get together.

We learned today that Susan is an ardent conservative, a Fox News watcher, and a big fan of Glenn Beck. Yes, she knows that Glenn is a Mormon. Anyway, we did have a good visit, and we were able to see her son Anthony and her daughter Jennifer. They are from previous marriages. She is now divorced from Hugh Springer, the only one of her husbands that I ever met. I think I had previously met Anthony, who lives in Arizona, and Carol tells me that I had met Jennifer before. Jennifer brought along her two chil -dren—cute kids.

Susan took us to lunch at McCormick’s, a seafood restaurant nearby, and we enjoyed that lunch. I took a chance and ordered rock cod, fixed Japanese style. It tasted quite good. We appreciate Susan’s taking us there.

Having had a good-sized lunch with Susan, we weren’t very hungry tonight, so tonight we went back to Tebo’s just for dessert—strawberry shortcake. Mmm! It tasted just as good tonight as it did on Sunday.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2010We extended our original Oregon plans a couple of days from what we might otherwise have done, and we are glad we did. We

are happy with the things we were able to do on Monday and Tuesday, and today we attended the annual Class of ’53 Picnic. This is the first time we have been with my classmates since our 50 Year Reunion seven years ago. Since then, we have been unable to at -tended reunion events, but this worked well with the timing of our Skyles Family Reunion. In fact, since I accepted the responsibility of planning this year’s Skyles event—from 1000 miles away—the class picnic date was a factor in setting the Skyles Reunion for last Saturday. The date of the Skyles gathering also fit well for Doris, as I indicated in Monday’s entry.

Though we had what seemed like accurate directions to Barton Park, which is on the banks of the Clackamas River, we some -how got off course and had to seek directions from a local. However, we finally got there and were happy with the event. First, we

were greeted warmly by Ilene Williams ___________. My classmates and their spouses had no picture name tags, and my eyes aren’t all that good, so I was at a disadvantage in knowing who was who.

Some greeted us, and those I knew. Others had aged even more than they had seven years ago. At that time, LeRoy (Roy) Ar -nett was easy to recognize. Now he has aged so much that I did not know him by sight. I also would not have known Don Woodard, our senior class president, not just from ago but also due to his now having a big mustache. He’s still a really nice guy, though, and I appreciate his wife Gail Sosnovske Woodard, who heads up the planning for the reunions. I wasn’t in the same social set as she and Don were, but they have been nothing but nice to me at our reunions. One sad aspect of the reunion was seeing pictures of those who have died, Ken Tomlin and Wally Vermillion among them.

Though we ate enough at the picnic to be comfortable, we went back to Tebo’s for dinner tonight. We are glad we found that place. We will miss it, and we look forward to two years from now, when we’ll be back for another reunion.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 5, 2010We are back home! All went well as we traveled. We got checked out on time; turned in our car half an hour early; had a light

lunch at The Bad Dog (hotdogs); had a good flight home; got our luggage; picked up our car; drove to the top of the Cajon Pass, sometimes through slow traffic; had dinner at the Summit Cafe; and finally arrived home. All is well here, we are unpacked, the “whites” have been laundered, and we are relaxing some.

It’s nice to be home again, though we’ll be home less than a week before going to Utah for the Anderson Family Reunion. We really are glad we went, as we enjoyed the family reunion, the class reunion picnic, and our other activities. We ate lots of good food and will learn tomorrow morning how big a price we have paid in terms of weight gain.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 6, 2010

We resumed our regular home schedule today. We slept late, did a few things around the house, and then went to Victorville to see a movie. I would have preferred to have stayed home and done some of the things that need doing, but Carol wanted to see a movie, so I went along with her wishes. The movie was Salt, with Angelina Jolie as a CIA agent suspected as being a Russian spy. The film contained almost nonstop action, and it was unclear until up to the end whose side she was on. Some of the action was James Bond-like—somewhat unbelievable—but the story was still a good one. When the movie moves to the cheap theater, we may see it again, as we’ll then understand it better.

After the movie, we went to Costco for gasoline, the car wash, and to pick up a prescription that Carol had waiting for her. While we were there, we had a simple dinner. We went for a small dinner, as we both gained a lot of weight during our Oregon va-cation. I was horrified, when I stepped on the scales, to see that I had gained eight pounds. I weighed 180.5, the most I have weighed in years. I guess I deserved that bad news, as I was on the “see-food diet,” see food and eat it. I pretty much ate whatever I wanted. Carol gained four and a half pounds. On Thursday, we leave for Utah and the A.W. Anderson Family Reunion, so we have less than a week to lose part of that weight, starting with today.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 7, 2010The most important work I did today was regarding Dad’s life story. I found an error in spelling one name, and I worked on the

margins. That was a challenge, especially in getting the page numbers centered, at the bottom of the pages.Angela Norton was wed last month, and tonight was an open house for her and Josh. It was at the Norton home, here in Silver

Lakes. We didn’t stay very long, but we did enjoy being there. The Nortons are good people—and the food was good.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 8, 2010After church today, we resumed having choir practice at Anna Peeler’s home. In my marking of the Book of Mormon, I finished

the “Book of Mosiah.” However, I decided on a change in the way I have been doing the marking, a change that will give greater em -phasis to references to Christ, God, angels, and other references to the Divine. Thus, I went back and began revising my marking of “1 Nephi,” getting through Chapter 11.

MONDAY, AUGUST 9, 2010For several years, I have had trouble with my throat, coughing frequently, often without warning. I went to a Kaiser doctor, but

she misdiagnosed my problem, and my coughing has continued. Today, I went to Dr. Kathleen Jones, an ear-nose-throat specialist. She said that I have heavy mucus on my vocal cords. She wants me to drink lots of water, and she recommended that I take something like Mucinex, which could cut the mucus. I looked at two kinds of Mucinex at Costco, along with Robitussin. In talking to Carol by phone, I learned that she has some Mucinex that she is not using. It is a bit past its expiration date, but I have decided to try it out before buying any.

Our Empty Nesters met for dinner at Fratelli’s tonight. We thought that there would be twelve of us, but the Browns and the Shropshires did not show up. The eight of us, the Leanys, Mirl Orebaugh and his daughter, Diane, Sister Salazar, and Carol and me, had a wonderful time together.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2010I am getting my own MacBook laptop computer, this one a 13-inch model. Carol encouraged me to do so, as she sometimes is

reluctant to ask to use hers when I am using it. I told her that she has only to ask, but she feels that we both will feel freer if I have my own—and we can afford it. I want to have it for our trip to Utah on Thursday, so delivery is set for tomorrow morning. I will also be getting something different, a wireless printer.

Tonight, we treated our missionaries to dinner at IHOP. With Elder Corey and Elder Sega as a two-week missionary who has en -joyed his experience so much that he has extended to four weeks. We told them to order whatever they wanted, and Elder Sega (Samoan) took us literally and ordered two complete meals. He not only ordered them, but he polished both off and cleaned his plates—before I even finished my ordinary meal. We have had good laughs about that. Elder Sega is big, but he is not all that big by Samoan standards. I don’t think I have ever seen someone eat so much. I am not being critical, just amazed and amused.

In preparation for our Utah trip on Thursday, today I phoned Doris, Linda Fielding, the Dunnells, and Valeen. I called Doris to learn when her church meets. I told Valeen that we are going to be at the reunion (the A.W. Anderson Family), and that pleased her. She said that she would try to be there, though that will depend on how she feels that day. Linda said that the best time to visit her would be Thursday night. Betty Jo and Fred can visit us on our return trip, next Monday night. We look forward to visit all of them. We look forward to the trip.

My bad news of today is that I lost my Pictures Folder off our iMac. I clicked something and “zoop” it was done. After an exten -sive search for it, I got online with a paid expert, and he tried to help. My work with him is not done, and it will resume tomorrow. I can get most of the pictures back, as they are on my backup disk, but all my photos from our Oregon trip are gone. I will be sick if I cannot get them back.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11, 2010

My Picture Folder is back! I could not sleep very well, so I got up in the middle of the night with an idea in my mind as to how to find the photos. I tried that, but it did not work. However, I accidentally opened a folder that I sometimes get without trying, and there it was. All my pictures were there, completely intact. I do not know if anything my expert, Daniel, recommended made this possible, but I paid him his $18, plus a $3 tip. I also thanked my Heavenly Father fervently, as I had prayed fervently for His help. I told Daniel of my prayers and my thanks to Heavenly Father. His answer closed with, “Your brother in Christ Jesus.” I hit a respon -sive cord with him, and I am glad I told him.

Another major victory was in my search for Mom’s recordings of her life story. I found the tapes on the top shelf in the “old of -fice” closet, and I will take them to Doris. In finding them, I also found the 8mm and Super 8mm movies from many years of the chil -dren’s childhood. I really do not remember what years are covered, but I think they go back to before Mary Beth and I were mar -ried. My recollection is that Mary Beth bought a 8mm movie camera while I was still on my mission. LeAnne had wanted me to find those films so that they could be put onto DVDs and distributed to her and the other kids. I had looked for them before but had never been able to find them. After they are on a DVD (or DVDs), I want to transfer them to a computer and edit them.

My new laptop computer and printer came today, as scheduled, and I have the computer all set up, with iWorks software in -stalled. I will take it to Utah, but I did not have time to set up the wireless printer. I will take the wired printer to Utah, as it includes a scanner, which I might use to copy more photos that Doris has found. I also bought a padded cover for Carol’s iPad, one that gives it more protection and with which she can prop it up.

Carol went to Victorville this afternoon to get a CT Scan (with contrast dye). She also went to Costco for prescriptions and to Wal*Mart and Ross’ Dress For Less to buy some new clothes. I did much of my work while she was gone.

Of course, another major task for us today was to pack for tomorrow’s trip. We are almost ready to go.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2010We are ending this day ensconced in Room 206 at the Cedar City UT Quality Inn, our usual place to stay when we come here.

We got away about 12:15 this afternoon and had a good trip. We stopped for lunch at the Burger King in Baker, and we bought gasoline in St. George. As we traveled, we listened to Fox News on Carol’s satellite radio.

When we arrived in Cedar City, we went to cousin Linda Fielding’s home, and we had a wonderful visit with her. We surely do love Linda. She is a great lady, and she has made the best of life since Steven’s death.

After getting settled in our motel room, we had dinner at the nearby Denny’s. I was not very hungry, so I wanted just a bowl of soup. We arrived a minute or two before 10:00, but our server took our order after 10:00. They quit serving soup at 10, so I had to order something else.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 13, 2010We are now at the Choice Hotel (motel) in Orem UT, and we will be staying here through Monday morning. Our journey was

quite routine, but somewhere along the way, Carol has lost or misplaced her American Express Card. She has looked for it but is not certain that she has looked everywhere. In addition to that, I left my Visa Card at a Mexican Restaurant where we went for dinner. We went back, and we were met at the door by a worker or owner there who had the card in her hand. Whew!

Tonight, we also found Simply Mac, the Apple Macintosh store we visited last year. At that store, we were warmly welcomed by one of the salesmen, and we ended up making some purchases. We bought a genealogy program designed specifically for Macs. Carol then found a carrying case for her iPad and then protective screen covers. The salesman applied one screen cover, and then we bought some computer cleaning supplies. This activity had an interval in which we went back to our room to get her iPad. We feel good about our purchases, and this has added to the satisfaction of this trip.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 14, 2010The A.W. Anderson Reunion today was very enjoyable. When arrived at Harmony Park in Salt Lake City, we saw some cars but

no people. However, a few people were there, but the walls of the pavilion shielded them from our view. Among others, Linda Stuart was there. More came as time passed, with the greatest surprise being Baleen’s arrival. Linda had said that there was “no way” that Valeen would be there. However, there she was, along with Bud. It was so good to see her. She looked good, but we know that her prognosis is not good. She was able to stay for about an hour, and was able to eat with us. She now breathes through a tube inserted into her throat, and she is in a wheelchair. She sometimes is able to go to church, but the ward now televises Relief Society, Sunday School, and Sacrament Meeting, directly into her home. We do not know how long she has to live, but we are glad that we were there. Seeing Valeen was the main reason we came to this reunion. We do not know if she will live to see the next one. Bud, meanwhile, has turned his business over to Matt. His “job” now is to take care of Valeen. I do not know if she has to have someone with her when Bud is performing sealings in the temple.

When we arrived, Maxine’s daughter said that Maxine had gone to get her father, Clyde. That made me wonder about Aunt Wanda. When Maxine and Uncle Clyde came, we learned that Wanda passed away early this year. That made me sad, but I was not surprised. At Clyde’s 80th birthday party the night before last year’s reunion, Wanda was very frail, and they were not at the re -union the next day. Clyde seems to be doing well.

I cannot remember for sure who all were there today, but some I would like to mention are Uncle Ralph and Aunt Mabel’s daughter Sylvia and Sylvia’s daughter Ann. I was impressed with Ann, who has served a mission and is on her way to graduate school—if my memory serves me right. (Ralph and Mabel are deceased, and we miss them.)

The last to arrive were Mary Beth’s favorite cousin, Norman Anderson, and his wife Arnolene. We learned that Norman has been a mission president in Georgia. Arnolene said that Norman was greatly loved by his missionaries—which does not surprise us one bit. I have liked Norman from the first time I met him, back when he was single, and Arnolene completes him. She is really sweet.

Tonight we went to IHOP for a light dinner—soup. They were out, having had a run at lunchtime. Thus, we decided to have a “dinner” of hot fudge sundaes. Mmm!

SUNDAY, AUGUST 15, 2010We have had a great day! The hardest part was getting up at 6:00, but after that the day was wonderful. Our getting up that

early was to go to Salt Lake City to attend the telecast of “Music and the Spoken Word,” with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Orchestra At Temple Square. We made good time in getting to the Conference Center, and we were able park free in the garage under the Conference Center.

We were present for most of the practice recording of today’s program and then for the performance itself. The music was great, and it was a thrill to be there for the live performance. Among the audience were a dance-performing group from Mongolia, Utah Senator Bob Bennett and his wife, and some broadcasting executives. The Tabernacle Choir has been selected for induction into the Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

After the Choir’s broadcast, we drove to South Salt Lake for Sacrament Meeting at the Kimball Ward, Doris’ ward. It was good to be there with her. We enjoyed the meeting and were happy to be there with Doris, who has been in that ward since 1966, 44 years. She is highly regarded by the people in her ward, as well she should be.

After church, we went over to Doris’ home, where she served us a delicious dinner. We had a wonderful visit, and we enjoyed her cat, Mattie, who has mellowed as he has aged. He loves Doris, and he shows it. We had initially planned to spend that time working on Dad’s life story. However, Carol helped me realize that we wouldn’t get very much done in one afternoon and that I should fly up and spend a week or so single-mindedly working on it with Doris and get it done once and for all. Doris going to have knee replacement surgery and therapy afterward. Then we can plan work on this project. We still have editing to do, and we have to decide which photos to include, and where to put them.

Doris had us bring home a couple of sandwiches, so we were able to relax in our motel room and prepare for tomorrow’s first leg of our trip home.

MONDAY, AUGUST 16, 2010We are back in Cedar City tonight, and we have had another good day. After we arrived at our Quality Inn, we took our long -

time friends, Betty Jo and Fred Dunnell, to dinner at IHOP. We had a good dinner and a great visit over the dinner table. Then they invited us to their home for further visiting—and dessert.

We had so much fun visiting with these great friends. We were also surprised to see Betty Jo’s paintings, as we did not know that she could paint. A year ago, neither did she. Her paintings are wonderful, and she has won prizes with them. In looking at her paintings, we are not surprised at her winning those prizes.

We did talking of politics, and they are on the same wavelength as we are. At one point, Betty Jo said that she just hopes that they are living in such a way that they will help the Lord preserve our nation. Wow! If any people are living the Gospel and are help -ing the nation to be worthy of God’s protection, they are. They are truly good people.

Dessert: They served us zucchini cake and ice cream, which was delicious. We also enjoyed a visit from one of their sons, Daniel(?) and one grandson. I do not know how many grandchildren they have, but they soon will have sixteen great-grandchildren. What a family! They were married on the same day that Mary Beth and I were wed.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 17, 2010We had a pleasant surprise when we went breakfast this morning at our motel. I heard Carol say, “Hello, Doug.” I looked up

and saw Doug Custance, our former Southern California Mormon Choir director. Next, we saw his wife, Linda Parrish Custance, who invited us to join them for breakfast. We happily agreed to join them. We had a wonderful visit. I think Doug was somewhat un -comfortable, as his leaving the choir was not by his choice, but Linda was wonderful. Our special connection with Linda is because she sang in a trio with Valeen when they were young (teenagers?), and she knew Mary Beth.

Doug and Linda were on their way north, for a special family event. We learned that their adopted son, Nate, has their musical talent, and he is now on a mission in New Mexico. That is good news. We always saw him as a being a precocious child and are happy to learn of his musical and spiritual growth.

The rest of our trip home was routine and pleasant, including a stop for dinner at the Bob’s Big Boy in Lenwood. Our pets ap -pear to be well and happy to see us. Ito showed this more than Mandy did, as Mandy was chewing on a rawhide bone. When she is thus involved, her whole attention is centered on her bone. Later, she warmed up to us.

When Carol phoned Diane to let her know that we are home, we learned that there was a 22-hour power outage while we were gone. Not all of Silver Lakes was out, but our section was. I am glad we were not here at that time. The cause of the outage was not due to a storm but due to corrosion of the underground wiring.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2010I mailed Mom’s life story tapes to Doris today, sending them by Priority Mail and paying extra to have her sign for them and get

a notice that she signed for them. I then phoned her to let her know that she could expect them. I also phoned my MacMall sales -man to protest the shipping charges for my order received August 11. He offered to refund 50% of the shipping fee, and I agreed to that. I made another call to the car rental office in Portland to inquire about the iPhone car recharger that I left in our rental car. I was told that they get many of these and that I could go to their rental office at the Ontario Airport and pick out one left there by someone else. I probably will go to the next Southern California Mormon Choir rehearsal with Carol and Diane; we can then stop at the airport for me to do that. Meanwhile, I do have enough chargers to fill my present needs.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 2010Our “Friday movie” was today, a Thursday. That is because Carol has a doctor’s appointment tomorrow afternoon. We saw a

“chick flick” that starred Julia Roberts, Eat, Pray, Love. Even for a man, it was reasonably good, though not one I’d see again. It was long and slow moving, with liberal calling on the cultures of Italy, India, and Bali (Indonesia). It was interesting, which may be the best I can say about it.

After the movie, we had dinner at The Red Robin near the theater and then headed home. When we dropped off Diane at her home, Carol assisted her with some of her things, so I turned the motor off. When I tried to start the car, the battery was dead. There was no warning. It just plain died. We called AAA, and one of their men came out and gave us a jump-start. He then followed us home to make sure we arrived all right. He said that we can call AAA tomorrow, and they will bring out a battery and install it. We will only have to pay for the battery.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 20, 2010Our Camry has had it dead battery replaced. I tried again this morning to start the car, just to make sure of the need for a new

battery, and the need was confirmed. I called AAA, and they sent a man out right away. He tested the battery and confirmed that it was dead. He said that most batteries these days die without any warning, just as this one did last night. When he put the new one in and started the car, that sound was sweet.

I installed our new wireless printer today, and it works—but not wirelessly. I will have to learn why that is the case but ran out of time today. I also loaded our “Reunion 9” genealogy program on Carol’s laptop, on mine, and on our iMac.

Carol went to Dr. Sahai this afternoon to have the CT Scan of her lungs evaluated. He told her that nothing has changed in the last two years, so she doesn’t have to be checked again unless she has further symptoms. No Cancer. That is great news!

I am back to filling out rebate forms, this time from my latest computer and printer purchase. The people who design these re -bate forms make it hard to discern what they want. The cynic in me says that they do this with the hope that people will give up try -ing, and the companies will not have to give the rebates.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 21, 2010We received a phone call from Devan and Jonell today. They said that the birth of their baby is just five weeks away, and they

are excited. They were calling from their car, and Vallon was with them, so we were able to talk to him and get his phone number. I thought I heard Devan say that his medical discharge was expected “in two weeks,” but Carol heard “in a few weeks.” Carol is prob -ably right.

Devan and Jonell are looking forward to returning to California, though I am not sure why. Probably it is the lure of family. They still plan to move to a home in Hinkley, some 20-25 miles from us, and they plan to go to school at Barstow Community College. The GI Bill will pay for his college expenses—and more—and he will receive disability payments from the Army (we taxpayers). We’ll see what shakes out in the end. We do hope that they, or at least Devan, will get an education while he has the opportunity. He has not been a diligent student in the past. However, we hope that his greater maturity and the increased obligations to support a wife and child will be enough of an incentive to keep him on track. In response to a question as to their church attendance, we were disap -pointed to learn that they are not going to church regularly. We reminded them that the new baby gives them a heightened degree of responsibility, and that they need to raise their child, in this dangerous world, in a way that he will become a faithful priesthood holder. We hope that this counsel sinks in. Devan loves us, but he was not one to take our counsel seriously when he lived with us.

We went to dinner with Diane tonight, going to Margarita’s Mexican Restaurant. We certainly had fun. Our visit hit some funny topics, and all of us were in a mood to laugh. I cannot remember a time when all three of us laughed so much. Sometimes, Carol and Diane get into a laugh-fest, but usually it does not include me so much. Tonight, I was a full-fledged participant. We enjoyed ourselves.

On our way to taking Diane home, we drove by Helendale’s new middle school/high school. We were able to drive onto the grounds and see the new buildings. We saw a man there and asked if school had started. He said that the completion of the school

had been delayed and that school will start the day after Labor Day. The building appear completed—from the outside—but the grounds are not. It appears that this will be a beautiful, a beautiful campus.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 22, 2010We enjoyed this day at church—and afterward. Jacob Snedegar’s missionary farewell Sacrament Meeting was a highlight. He is

going to the Chile Asunción Mission, reporting to the MTC on September 8. His talk was really good.Speaking of missionaries and missionary work, we a new (third) missionary and two new converts. Elder Harvey is a “greenie”

from Sandy UT and went to the same high school as Elder Corey. He joins Elder Corey and Elder Sega in our ward. The two new con -verts are Jonathan Villa, who was baptized on August 14, and Marcel [Kenneth Marcellus] Green, who was baptized yesterday and confirmed today. Jonathan is an interesting, sharp dressing young Hispanic, who has long, black hair and wears a black hat with a white band. Marcel is an African-American man. He had two pre-teen children with him, though I don’t know if he is their father.

We had choir practice in the chapel after the Sacrament Meeting. The choir no longer is practicing at Anna Peeler’s home—and no more treats—but now rehearses from 12:15 to 1:00, and the Samoan Branch then meets at 1:15. We were supposed to have sung for Sacrament Meeting today, but Jacob’s farewell changed that. The choir will sing next week, when we will be at Lake Tahoe.

On our way home, we had a good Home Teaching visit with Francis and Marie Gramada. Marie is now 91 years old, and we learned today that Francis is 74, 17 years her junior. I guess that makes Marie a “cougar.” We next had a good Home Teaching/Vis -iting Teaching visit with Denise and J.R. Daniels. J.R. participated in our conversation today, more than usual.

After all that, enjoyable as it was, it was good to get home and be able to relax some. After dinner, I tried to make a gedcom file on our Dell Computer. I need that to transfer my data to my MacBook and the Reunion9 program we bought in Orem. I was unable to do so, so I phoned Joan Hulihan to get help. I followed her directions, step-by-step, and it worked on her computer—but not on ours.

MONDAY, AUGUST 23, 2010My therapy resumed today, but I only get two sessions this week. We will be at Lake Tahoe next week, so I won’t have any ther -

apy that week. My insurance company will have to give approval for further sessions, but I have two appointments set for the week after we return from Tahoe.

After my session today, I went to Costco for gasoline, to get the Camry washed, and to do some shopping. Gas prices at Costco have dropped 6¢, to $2.01, so there was some good news there. Next I did some shopping at Stater Brothers, bought Carol a roast beef sandwich at Subway, and then headed home.

Carol had an appointment this afternoon with Jim Bennett, to look into the insurance plan she will use when Medicare kicks in on November 10 (her birthday). Instead of coming at 2:00, he showed up at 10:00. He was here for about two hours, and Carol is now deciding between two plans.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2010I phoned Doris today to inquire if she had received Mom’s life story tapes. She did get them, which is a relief. There are no

copies of those tapes, so it was essential that she receive them. She planned to begin transcribing them today, but Kathryn became ill, so Doris spent the day helping her. Doris said that her knee replacement surgery will be in October, so I will probably go there in early November.

Our Home Teacher, Brother James, visited us tonight. He is such a good man and carries a sweet spirit with him. He really cares about us. We had a good visit, and he gave us an excellent lesson about keeping the Sabbath Day holy.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2010My therapy session this afternoon was moved from 1:30 to 2:30. Susie worked on hard “knots” in my back, and I’m glad she

did. I am excited to go to Lake Tahoe on Friday, but I wish I did not have to miss a week of therapy.On my way home, I stopped at Costco to have a pharmacist identify some pills I have. I thought that they are Acyclovir, and I

was right. They appear different from pills that I know are Acyclovir. The ones I wanted identified were made by a different com-pany.

Carol and Diane went to lunch together at Molly Brown’s, and they enjoyed that time together. While they were away, storm clouds gathered, and by the time Carol let Diane off at her home, rain began to fall. After Carol got home, the storm hit with full force. Rain and hail fell, driven by fierce winds. There was enough rain that the Mojave River had water in it as I passed over it on my way home. I saw the clouds, dark and reaching the ground in places. I did not get much rain, but I did have to use my windshield wipers for a while. When I was going into town, I heard flash flood warnings on the radio. The temperature was 107˚ when I went in; as I returned home, the temp fell steadily, down to 88˚.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 26, 2010We packed today, and we are about as ready for tomorrow’s trip to Lake Tahoe as we can be, with a few things that have to be

done the day we leave—and that probably will take us longer to do than we expect.

I called Apple Computers today and signed up for the AppleCare Protection Plan for my iPhone. I did sign up for AppleCare for my first iPhone and got a refund after I lost it. I did not get the plan again when I bought my second iPhone. However, there are some little things that are happening with my iPhone that make me uneasy, so I decided to get AppleCare after all.

I was able to complete one of the rebate forms today, the one that had to be in by August 30. The other can be finished shortly after we get back from our vacation.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 2010Tonight, we are at our timeshare at Lake Tahoe, the Tahoe Sands Resort. I wish I could say that our trip was without incident,

but it was not. While passing a truck in a passing lane, Carol exceeded the speed limit and got a speeding ticket. She had been care -ful to watch her speed, but that one spurt of speeding will cost us dearly. That Highway Patrol officer probably writes many tickets a day parking where he did, as it is a place where people will speed up to get past slower vehicles. He caught two of us together, the other being one who passed us after we passed the truck. The officer was parked where he could not be seen ahead of time. I will say that he was quite nice, but we do not think that Carol’s ticket was deserved.

We got away from Silver Lakes about noon but did not get here until after 9:00. We did not go shopping, as we decided to go out to breakfast tomorrow and do our shopping afterward. However, someone was at the Tahoe Sands office when we arrived, and she said that there would be a continental breakfast at the office tomorrow morning. We plan to take advantage of that.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 2010This day was better than yesterday was. We slept well last night and felt better today. Arline and her son Steve came up, and

Arline treated us to a mid-afternoon dinner at Jason’s. We had a good meal and had a good visit. Steve does not go to church much, and he has a generally negative attitude towards God and religion, putting his faith in science. Carol, especially, urged him to open his heart to the Spirit. We hope some of the things we told him will sink in, even though he will not admit it. We like Steve, who calls Carol his “second mom,” but he seems self-destructive. He is not happy and sometimes says that he sees no reason to live. Poor Arline sometimes get her hopes up, and then Steve dashes those hopes. Her whole family, except for her, is quite a mess—and that is all I will say about that.

Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” began at 7:00 this morning, and it lasted until after 10:00. It finally occurred to me to look on glennbeck.com to see if it was being broadcast there. That website was carrying the event but also directed me to C-Span on TV, and there we were able to watch the last hour or so of the program. One of the speakers was a very eloquent Sarah Palin. Another was a message of unity by Dr. Alveda King, a niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The music was music of unity, not of diversity and di -vision. I stayed on Glenn’s site to watch blogs about the event, and I contributed some comments of my own.

Most of that which we saw was an impassioned “sermon” by Brother Beck. It was not a political rally, even though Sarah Palin spoke before Glenn did. It concluded with the singing of Amazing Grace and a prayer by one of the 240 ministers of many faiths who were behind him, Christians, Jews, and Muslims. The whole event was a plea to return to God and to raise money for the Special Operations Forces Foundation. Over $5 Million was raised to aid the families of Special Operations Forces who have lost their lives in defense of this nation, to give the children college educations. It probably will be distorted by “the lame-stream media,” but those who watched with open hearts and minds could not help but be moved.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 29, 2010We always enjoy visiting the Tahoe North Ward, and today was no exception. The people there are so nice, and the visitors are

often fun to meet. Today, one of the visitors was the bishop’s former bishop and stake president, who also became a mission presi -dent in Argentina. The sacrament meeting speakers did not show up today, so the bishop called on people to speak, and that man was one of them. Another was a mother of a missionary, and she talked about Home Teachers and the influence one HT had on her son, who did not decide to go on a mission until he was 21.

The missionaries here are busy. One of them is a “greenie” who has a friend serving in Adam’s mission (Korean speaking). The other elder is from North Carolina, and he is aware of Shelby, where I began my mission.

This ward seems to be doing what it can to help Hispanics whose fluency in English is limited. In Sacrament Meeting, one middle aged Hispanic man blessed the bread in Spanish, and a teenaged Hispanic boy blessed the water in English. A sister sat at a table in the left-front of the chapel and translated the proceedings of the meeting into Spanish. She did that so quietly that at first I did not know why she was there. I could not hear her, so her translating was not a distraction. Spanish speakers usually have their own Re -lief Society meeting, but today they were with the English speakers. Those proceeding were also translated.

Back at our unit, we relaxed, reading the Scriptures, etc. Carol read a General Conference talk by President Uchtdorf and then listened to it in Spanish through a podcast. We enjoyed the dinner items that we bought yesterday. It tasted pretty good.

Having Adam’s e-mail address, I finally wrote him a letter, and Carol added to it. That is easier to do than writing a letter, print -ing it, and mailing it. I had started letters before but had never finished one. I apologized to him for having not written before.

In my revised marking of the Book of Mormon, I am now through “Mosiah” Chapter 3.”

MONDAY, AUGUST 30, 2010

Last night, I logged onto the Internet to learn when Glenn Beck’s Restoring Honor rally was going to be rebroadcast on C-Span. I knew that the C-Span people said that it would be rebroadcast during primetime on Monday, but I did not know what “primetime” meant to C-Span. Today’s schedule was posted only until the early afternoon. When I went on C-Span.com this morning, Restoring Honor was scheduled for 5:00-8:15, so we set our plans for today to be available to watch it.

Carol went swimming in the lake about noon today, and she said it was “great.” She wore her short wetsuit, which helped pro -tect her against the cold water. This afternoon, she went for a short swim—without the wetsuit.

Wanting to watch the complete Restoring Honor rebroadcast on C-Span, we bought Subway sandwiches to eat at home. The girl who served us had an accent that we did not recognize, and she told us that she is from The Ukraine (where our 134th temple was dedicated yesterday or the day before).

We watched Restoring Honor from the beginning until the end of Glenn’s speech, which ended just in time for us to watch The O’Reilly Factor, with Bill O’Reilly’s devoting most of his hour to the rally. He interviewed Glenn and then Al Sharpton, who tried to di-minish what Glenn did. Restoring Honor was about unity and returning to God, but Sharpton continue to characterize Glenn as a racist. He “pulled his punches” some, though, I think knowing that O’Reilly would slap him down. When Juan Williams, usually mod -erate, implied that Glenn is a charlatan, Bill bristled, saying that he knows Beck better than anyone else, and Glenn is no charlatan.