Odds & Ends From the Fairly Odd Parents

I'm pretty sure none of you have ever watched the cartoon show "The Fairly Odd Parents" (I haven't either), but I really like the title. Something about it speaks to  me.

So a couple of weeks ago I rode my bike north along the levee (I usually ride south), and saw this interesting  sight below. A pretty nicely set up homeless camp on the banks of the Feather River. Shaded and with waterfront access. Oh, and the sign says: "Absolutely NO Camping." 

Last week we had a guy deliver 10 yards of top grade top soil for our backyard garden. The pile below may not look like it, but that's the whole 10 yards.  ;- ) Anyway, with some help from Peter O. I managed to get it all moved with a wheelbarrow by Saturday so that someone could come in and start laying the sprinkler system. We're making progress.

The bad news is that Friday after school I drove over to take a little treat to Mom after work. I just missed her, because I passed her on the road going the other way. So I make a quick U turn and see that she is parked in the middle of the street, in the midst of making a left turn, and appears to be talking to some guy in a red Toyota Camry. I think: what the heck is she doing? Then I realize that she was broadsided by the Camry while turning. The good news? Not her fault. Not much damage. No injuries. Other guy is very apologetic. Still a pain to have to deal with. See her poor little blueberry below.

And finally, our stake held a Youth Conference at Zion's Camp last Saturday. A huge success! The theme was "A light in the Wilderness." Part of the deal was this 15' tall tower that was assembled just for that day. In some ways, vastly different from the ones we used to lash together when I was a kid. for scouting adventures. But in other ways, not so different at all. 

 I'm at the top, from which I delivered the opening lines of my address, mostly about the importance and advantages of towers in a spiritual sense. The rest of my remarks were given from below, on the stage. If you want to know the gist of my comments, read the chapter in "It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It" by Robert Fulghum where he talks about Alexander Papaderous and the meaning of life.

Exciting times in deed.

The Uncles

One of our favorite movies is "Second Hand Lions" which is about a boy that is dropped off at his bachelor uncles house and ends up being raised by them.  It is a great movie.  It makes me think about my Dad's brothers, 2 of which passed away this year.  The story of my Dad's family has always fascinated me, partly because of the history that they lived and also because of the interesting and amazing individuals they were.

Dad actually had 3 brothers.  When he was 2, his brother Floydie was born and had brain damage resulting from the use of forceps.  Sadly, at age 11 they had to put him in a state run institution.  I can't imagine how hard that must have been for the whole family.  Harry was young at the time and they worried about his safety when Floydie got aggressive. Dad pretty much grew up with him, though and I'm sure was one of his caregivers as well as big brother.  Floydie must have had good care.  He actually lived into his 50's or 60's.  I look forward to meeting him someday.

1939 from  left Harry, Floyd, Frances holding Paul, Grace and Emmett

Harry was the next in line and was also the Uncle I knew the best. He and Dad both served in WWII.  Being several years younger, he joined later in the war and didn't have to go to the front lines like Dad. He lived in Kuna a good portion of his life.  He and Dad loved to go hunting and fishing.  Harry was a confirmed bachelor, and even more confirmed cowboy.  He lived his golden years out in a trailer near my brothers house in Kuna.  He had a family of cadallics and always seemed to have a terrier-type dog around, too.  He and my Dad had some things in common.  They were both  men of few-words.  I remember when Harry came to visit, they would talk for a few minutes and then just sit in comfortable silence for the longest time.They were good friends, even though their lives were quite different.

 

Paul, Frances, Floyd, Emmett and Harry at Floyd and Frances 50th Wedding celebration 1968

Uncle Paul was born in 1938 - Dad was 19,( I think he helped pay the hospital bill.) It was nearing the end of the depression, just before WWII started.  Dad had been working on his own, but I bet he enjoyed the time he could spend with his new baby brother.  I know he was always proud of Paul and his accomplishments.  He had the opportunity for more education that any of the others and was very successful professionally.  He ended up living in southern California most the his life, so we didn't get to see him very much. My older sisters spent alot of time with him when they were growing up, I remember them talking about his talent for electronics.  He was always kind to me as a child.  I will miss getting his Christmas cards. He has a wonderful family that carry on the Mumford tradition.

So these are my Uncles, I am very thankful for them. (But I am even more thankful that my parents didn't drop me off so they could raise me!)

Labor Day Hike

Mom and I decided to take the afternoon off and do a little hiking. We even took grandma, and while we ran up the hill and back, she sat down at the lake and put her feet in the water.  The scene below looks Southwest and contains Lake Spaulding on the left and I-80 in the center background.

These photos were taken from the top of Zion Hill (6000') which is on the Southwest corner of Blue Lake. I messed up the angle, but Mom is almost holding Old Man Mountain in her palm (it's to the left), and hidden behind the hill you see in back of me is Grouse Ridge.

It's really nothing to brag about, hiking up Zion Hill. We started at 5700' at least, so no big rise in elevation, and a real easy walk with no real climbing. But it's really worth the drive, I think. Beautiful view, always a nice breeze, lots of good memories - not the least of which was a YW 4th Level hike that Mom and I went on together  probably 20+ years ago. We camped down at Blue Lake. Come to think of it, it was probably not the best camping experience for Mom. But no need to go into details. . .

On the way down I took this photo of a cool looking balanced rock. Perhaps the best part of the trip was when we stopped for chocolate dipped ice cream cones in Grass Valley on our way home. Did you know McDonalds has chocolate dipped cones? Well, they do, and they're nearly as good as Dairy Queen's. We had fun.

Yard Update

So I finally have a few minutes today to give you a brief update. In spite of being the laziest man on earth, I managed to do a little work last Saturday to finish up one portion of the back yard improvement. The first photos you see below are actually something I did  month or so ago. It's the beginning of a short retaining wall that will eventually make it's way around to the back fence, enclosing a raised garden bed for Melody to use. She got the idea from her sister Colleen when we her in Idaho visited there last month.

What I was able to complete last Saturday was the patio portion from the stairs to the garage. You might not guess it, but there are 127 16" square paving blocks laid out there. Each one weighing just over 30 lbs. I have them set in the dirt for easy removal should one need to be replaced.

This ares is completely shaded by 3pm, so it should be a great place to hang out in the evenings fro BBQ's or whatever. Maybe I'll put my hammock up there.

We had John Stentzel come by and give us a quote for hyro-seeding and installing a sprinkler system. He'll get started in a couple of weeks, which means it probably won't be ready for grand kids to run and play on until after Pam & Rob are here in mid-October. But there's always the school across the street.

School Daze

Ever since we got back from visiting Trevor and Michelle (it was a great visit), I've been running around like a chicken with it's legs cut off (think about it).

First there was the state-wide YSA Conference, then school started with all that it brings, and finally trying to keep up with all of the projects we have going.

We really don't have any cool pictures to post. So I'll cheat just a bit and include a link to Todd Hall's blog. The reason for this is that he and his wife had a baby boy this past week, and named him Peter. That makes three Peter Halls in the family.

Todd has done a good job of explaining his lack of judgement, so follow the link and enjoy.

http://coursemaychange.blogspot.com/

More from Port Angeles

One  morning Mom got up early and started working in the overgrown flower beds at Trevor & Michelle's. Shelly has since been able to fill some of the cleared off land with berry bushed, which should do very well in that climate.

So the twins got up and I placed them both in one of the big window sills that face the front of the house. They got such a kick out if it, and stayed there quite a while watching Mom.

Below are the birthday girls eating away at the massive cake Michelle made for them. Well, and for me. I cajoled her into doing a repeat of the 1st year B-Day cake.

The Masterpiece

Another day we went into town to see what was left of a sand sculpture contest. It was actually about a week old, bu mostly still intact. David makes a good live model next to the still life sculptures.

 Still later, we walked up through the downtown district. We stopped at a donut place that was selling day-olds for $2 a 1/2 dozen. What a deal! So we bough a bag and some mild, and scarfed them all down pronto. The best part was watching Lizzie and Jane-o each work their way through to the bottom of  a chocolate covered delight.

In the end it was a good day of window shopping and sightseeing. Atticus is a great kid to have along. He's always full of wonder and has next to no bad temperament. Jane and Elizabeth both have their (fairly regular) moments of temper tantrums, but they never last more than a few moments and then everything is good again. It was a blast being there.

A Couple of Days with Chris, Lorna and the Clan

As part of Mom's Family Reunion plans we stayed a few days in Kaysville with Chris' family. They are all growing up and really doing well, as you can see in the pics Mel posted a week or so ago. One of the events of the reunion was to go to the Pioneer Museum in Salt Lake, up by the capital. 

A highlight for me going there when I was young was looking at the replica of the Golden Spike that they keep there in an exhibit about the meeting of the Eastern and Western Railroads. Ian and Kayla had fun pretending that they were on the tracks waiting for a train to run them over.

The statue out in front is of one of the greatest ladies in the early history of the Church, Eliza R. Snow. She was good friends with Patty Sessions, who Melody descends from (5th great grand daughter). Ian makes a good addition, being a 7th great grandsons. There may well be thousands like him. 

The BIG event while we were there was celebrating Chris' 33rd birthday. Lorna and Mom made a spectacular cake layered with chocolate, ice cream, more cake and some kind of special filling. There were mint Oreos crushed up throughout, and a few stuck in the top. There would have been more to put on top, but SOMEONE kept eating them. (Not me, I'm not a big mint lover.)

On to Washington

We left Utah and drove as far as Middleton, ID and stayed overnight with Melody's sister Colleen. That was a real nice break. Then we headed over to Port Angeles and got there in time for dinner. Jane (on the left) and Lizzie knew just what to do with the bench I hauled all the way from California. It makes a great addition to their bedroom.

David loved being so close to the beach and he and I ran in the mornings the half mile down to the ocean, then a 1/4 mile along the beach, and back up the trail that follows Morse Creek to Michelle's house. Twice for three miles. Every evening David would walk down to the beach. Sometimes Mom and I would join him.

Going the other direction, we drove for 40 minutes up into the mountains to a place called Hurricane Ridge. We stopped at an overlook on the way up and let the kids climb on rocks. This is as close as we could ever get to a photo with all three kids posed. Call it two and a half - not bad considering. . .

There were several paved trails, beautiful vistas, and plenty of deer. The deer were so used to having people around (but they were not tame) that you could be very close, often within 4ft of them and they wouldn't flinch. 

However, the hit of the day was the snow. Everybody got into the act of throwing snowballs, which was pretty fun - until the kids started throwing them at strangers too. Hmmm, where did they learn that? Okay, maybe it was inherited from one of their grandpas.

In short, Trevor and Michelle live in this amazing little enclave of houses  in a  little swale between two ridges as you enter Port Angeles. More to photos follow.