Lake Powell Trip #2

 

 

 

 

After a two year absence, we ventured south this summer for not one but two trips to Powell. After our last trip, our dear friend, and Superman in real life Rulon Horne called Dennis and said he would love to go with us sometime to Lake Powell. The request doesn't sound too out of the ordinary except for the fact that a little over a year ago, Rulon was in a Glider plane crash and miraculously survived! Surrounded around the clock by his loving wife (and Superwoman herself) Nancy, his family and friends, Rulon underwent 7 to 8 surgeries, a coma, blood infection, and several other complications. Nancy never left his side, even renting a house across the street from LDS Hospital to sleep occasionally. Crashing nose down going approximately 200 miles an hour in a field in Heber Valley broke and crushed most of the bones in his body from feet to shoulders which should have taken his life. After about a nine month effort to save his leg, one had to be removed. But, being the Superman that he is, he hasn't let the dust settle. He is off and running once again. Dennis and I were concerned how he was going to be able to manuever getting in and out of the speed boat and trying to swim with one leg, however he conguered ever obstacle as a challenge and won every time. For example, he wanted to go down the slide, so he pulled his way up the winding stairs and went down the slide many times. He popped his new leg on to get in and out of the boat and popped it off to swim and relax. He challenged Dennis and Paul to try climbing out of the water and onto the Houseboat and then climb up the stairs and over to the slide just using one leg. The results were hilarious, and the two men marveled at their friend once again. The other couple that went with us was Paul and Jill Seppi. Paul was a DAILY visitor to Rulon from the day of the crash until Rulon was up and running. Paul even built a ramp in front of their home to provide access for Rulon to get inside his home sitting in his now abondoned wheel chair. When asked how Rulon could of possibly survived, the family simply states, the power of prayer, fasting and love!! Thousands and thousands of prayers were shared in his behalf. Obviously, the Lord had determined this wasn't Rulon time to go home.

Beautiful Lake Powell

 

 

 

Rulon the super man!

 

 

 

 

Lake Powell cont.

 

 

 

 

My Mother!

 

A year ago on September 5th, my mom unexpectly passed away due to complications from being malnurished for far too long. For reasons which I can't comprehend at this time, she was unable to eat properly, which resulted in constant pain for her physically, emotionally and mentally. As a child, I thought it was normal for Mom's not to eat. As a teenager, I was too involved in my own teenage dramas to pay attention. As a mom myself, I thought she was missing out on one the best parts of living--EATING! As a mom later in years, with a daughter suffering from an eating disorder, I realized my mother was ill as well. By the time I realized her plight, it was too late. At first, I was angry, then frustrated, then guilty for not realizing the problem sooner. None of those emotions helped my mom, however. She needed and continues to need, I imagine, our understanding. She was ill, and therefore, was limited in her abilities. Nevertheless, she loved passionately, her family and friends. I can no longer feel any negative feelings about her illness. It wasn't who she was!!! I know without a doubt, that she made sure Telisa gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Maybe, she is doing in the next life, what she was unable to do here. I know she is thrilled to be with her parents, whom she adored, and looks forward to the day when she can be reunited with her Harold! Since her death, Bodie (Van Leeuwen), Lily (Blake), Owen (Peters) and soon Redd (Van Leeuwen) and baby Beaton will be born all healthy and strong. I know Mom is sending all these little Spirits off with her love and blessings. As a family, we are united in the cause of healthy eating styles for us and for our posterity (and anyone else who will listen to us), for we have painfully witnessed the affects of Eating Disorders. My mother's passing only reiterated the vital importance of eating and caring for our bodies properly. I know we live in a world obsessed with thinness. I am grateful, we have the truth! I love you MOM! We won't let you down!

Owen Howard Peters has arrived!!!

 

 

 

 

...and he shall be known as: OWEN HOWARD PETERS
Owen has already shown tremondous sensibility by coming a few days early and quite quickly for his mom. Just to recap: Sara's water broke at 6:45 am on Thursday, September 11, 2008. Thiry minutes later, the contractions started. She and Treavor went immediately to the hospital in Murray, Utah. I think it's called IHC Women's Medical Center? Sara was efficiantly dilated to a five, so they gave her the epidural and about 2:10 in the afternoon, she gave birth to a beautiful, healthy, perfect little baby BOY! The pushing was quite arduous (about an hour and forty-five minutes), as his head was rather large, 38 cinameters. He weighed in at 8 lbs. 10oz. and was 23 inches long!!! Oh wow, Treavor! There is some Stout in him there. As both families were anxiously waiting in the hall and at their respective homes, we jumped for joy when Sara's mom came out and announced to us through her tears, that "IT'S A BOY!!!" For Dennis and I there were two monumental reasons for rejoicing and celebrating, one, we now have a Peters heir to carry on the name, which we have been patiently waiting. Two, ALL of our children are now parents! Words can barely express our gratitude and joy. We are overcome with emotion-our cup runneth over!

The Peters Family, Treavor, Sara and Owen

 

 

 

 

Owen Howard Peters cont.

 

 

 

 

September Birthdays!!!

The month of September wins for the most birthdays!!!! Wow, I'm tired!

Tens Reasons Why I Love Owen Howard!

 

1. Because he gave so much joy to this family the moment he was born!
2. He is our only male heir after 18 grandchildren!
3. I have never seen Treavor so overwhelmed with emotion when Owen was born!
4. He is so soft!
5. He smells divine!
6. He definitly has his daddy's height!
7. He made his cousin Bodie, leap for joy in his mother's arms when he heard of his cousins arrival!
8. He brought me to my knees in gratitude for him and all of my grandchildren!
9. He came early and quickly for his mommy!
10. He just left Heavenly Father and he still has that glow!

Ten Reasons Why I Love Jovie Hazel!

 

1. Her big deep laugh and bright smile!
2. The way she is learning to talk!
3. The way she reaches for me when she see me!
4. The way she shakes her booty!
5. The way she loves to sign!
6. I love to see her run to her daddy when he comes home!
7. I love how she wanted a Priestood Blessing from her Dad when she saw her sisters getting theirs.
8. I love to watch her eat!
9. I love when I come to babysit, she quickly says "bye, bye" to her mom.
10. I love to see her sister dotting over her.

Ten Reasons Why I Love Treavor Howard!

 

 

1. He has always been the happiest little guy and so adorable with his glasses since he turned five!
2. Now as an adult, he continues to bring laughter and sunshine into every situation!
3. He is tremondous listener and a very astute observer.
4. He gives me the best hugs, especially at times of trial in my life.
5. He is quick witted and the stand up comic of our family.
6. He fell in love with and married Sara Bell who has given us nothing but love and joy!
7. He is an outstanding son, brother, uncle, husband and now FATHER in everyway!
8. He always serves the Lord with valiance and honor.
9. He loves to play and participate in sports and games!
10. This week, he and Sara gave us our first Peters boy heir! OWEN HOWARD PETERS

Ten Reasons Why I Love Luke Richard!

 

1. He melts my heart when he gets real close to my face and talks for about five minutes without stopping for a breath to share something very important!!! (most of the time I am not quite sure what he is saying, but it's so cute)
2. His tender heart!
3. When he calls his baby sister, Pyper, "My pretty girl"!
4. The look on his face when his mom or dad tells him to stop sucking his thumb!
5. His big brown eyes! So far his mom has given them to all her children!
6. The space between his teeth compliments of Grandpa Dennis.
7. How he cuddles up next to me.
8. When he doesn't want me to leave him.
9. How he loves his big brother Cade!
10. The way his face lights up when his daddy comes home from work!

Ten Reasons Why I Love Gunnar Scott!

 

1. He is my first Grandchild!
2. Over the past 14 years, he has remained loving to his grandparents!
3. He loves to hang out with his Uncles! Always has!
4. He's not afraid of hard work!
5. He's a good conversationalist with adults and children alike.
6. He is a fast learner, has a keen intellect and always maintains good grades!
7. He looks up to his dad and adores his mother and is a good example to his siblings!
8. He excels at all sports!
9. Honors his Priestood!
10. Learns from his mistakes and is a natural leader!

Electronics! The bain of my existence!

For the past two weeks, my computer and printer have been in the shop! Tough thing for a photographer/grandma/mom/crazy person! So the posts I have been yearning to make have not occured due to the fact that the pictures on safely tucked away in my desktop. ( Anyway, I hope they are still there!!) Also, in service are my Central Vac System, my Camera, my Cell Phone! Just to name a few of the things I use on a slightly regular basis! Apologies to the September Birthdays especially! They are coming!

Maybe the Grey Hair should win!! or a new wig for Syndey Bristow!

 

As before mentioned, my hair has really taken a beating this summer! With my naturally dry, frizzy, course and generally unruly hair, working out in the yard everyday didn't help the situation. I went to Tara's yesterday to get a color job. She was out of the color we usually use, but she had purchased a new more expensive line with the same color code and name. She put the color on and then left for some errands leaving me with instructions on when to rinse, which I followed. I didn't even ever bother to look in the mirror until after I rinsed! And then a scream came from the bathroom mirror! IT WAS ME when I discovered my hair was the color of the cones on the streets!!! I called Tara and said, "Tara, I think we have a problem!" After two bleach jobs later, I am still pretty orange, but tolerable. What do you think, should I just let the grey hair win? It's definitly taking over!

BYU Seattle Boys Trip!

To support their "Men in Blue" nearly 10,000 BYU fans made the trek to Husky Stadium, Saturday September 6, 2008. Among those present were the most loyal of loyal fans, Ron Beach, Milt Moody, Travis, Treavor and Grandpa! We saw many other loyal fans there including Bubba and his wife Brittany, Todd Stout, and many, many others.
Our trip began Thursday, arriving in Seattle in the late afternoon just in time to do some "birding" near Husky Stadium. Milt is our resident expert and could identify every bird we saw! He is the Webmaster of the Utah Birding Organization! We ate at Ivar's Seafood that night which is a local seafood chain!

Friday was sightseeing day! We drove from our hotel in Belluvue to downtown Seattle where we were entertained for a couple of hours in an hilarious tour through the old part of Seattle referred to as the "underground"! We learned about the early days of Seattle including the seamstress industry and "Seattle Spirit"! You will have to ask one of us what that means later! Next we walked to the waterfront on Puget Sound, had lunch at Anthony's on the Sound then toured Pikes Market Place which is famous for throwing their fish orders from the display case to the cashier. We then went to the Seattle Space Needle which I had visited with my family 46 years earlier during the 1962 World's Fair. What is really funny is that Milt was at the same World's Fair with his family. Maybe we bumped into each other back then? After the Space Needle we drove to the Ballard Locks to observe the large yachts and ships be raised and lowered between Lake Union (fresh water) and the Puget Sound (sea water). Very fascinating! They also had a fish ladder there for the various types of salmon to return to spawn were they were born. To complete a near perfect weather day and touring day we had dinner at "Ray's Boathouse" on the Puget Sound. It is listed as one of the "1000 places to visit before you die"! One comment said to miss Ray's would be like going to Paris and not visiting the Eiffel Tower! The views and food were amazing!

Saturday was of course "game day"! The game was at noon but we were at the stadium a little after 9 AM. The BYU Alumni location had not even finished setting up near the Stadium before we got there. Notice how many tailgaters were already there for their Huskies. That was about one fifth of the total! They really make a day of it.
Before the game, we visited the Legand's Hall, the Boathouse, the BYU tailgate party and walked around the stadium. It really is one of the most beautiful settings in College Football. Almost as beautiful as Provo!

For those of you who watched the game, you know how exciting it was. We had terrible seats about one hundred yards behind the west goal posts but we didn't care. There were a lot of BYU fans there and the Washington fans were for the most part very cordial. They cheered hard for their Huskies but fell one point short on the last play. We listened to the post game comments from their radio station which was quite entertaining. Later we watched SportsCenter and they had several shots and many commentaries about the game and the unsportsmanlike penalty at the end.

Sunday, we attended Church at the Belluvue 6th Ward, drove by the Seattle Temple, went birding again at the Kent Ponds and then drove to the airport where we played a little Truco! An added benefit to the trip was that we followed the Dodger v. Dback series which the Dodgers swept three games to none so now the Dodgers are in first place in the National League West. We also introduced Ron and Milt to Brian Reagan! They thought he was hilarious. Fabulous trip - special thanks to Sara for letting Treavor come and not having a baby, to Kim for holding down the ship while Travis was gone and to Kathryn for her unending support of Grandpa's sports addictions. I am not sure who to thank for letting Ron and Milt come? We love you all!

The sights and sounds of Seattle