Hearty News

During this last month, I went in for my annual physical. As usual, I was sick at the time and was generally expecting bad news. There was some - that is how I found that the pain in my shoulder was a torn rotator cuff. But today I got good news. The picture above is a healthy heart. Well, I just may have one somewhat like that. My cholesterol numbers came in with total cholesterol at 118 (good is less than 200), triglycerides was 46 ( ideal is less than 150), my HDL -that's the good cholesterol showed up at 49 (optimum for men is 40-50) and the bad cholesterol -LDL was a whopping 60 ( less than 100 is best). It looks like Janene's vegetable diet from our garden is working well. Hip Hip Hooray!

Family Christmas -2008

Well - It's over! This year for Christmas we were surrounded by family. The whole family was here including Glen's grandkids. Christina and Brady came from San Diego and the rest of the family made their treks over the river and through the woods. To grandmother Janene's house they all came (at about the same time) and brightened up our day. We had grandchildren in nooks and crannies we didn't know existed. I went into the toyroom once and there were at least four kids hiding in the toybox. I know what a blessing this is for us. I used to enjoy being one of the seven dozen cousins at my grandparents home on Jeremy Avenue. I also know that it won't always be this way. Young ones will grow up, our children may move away, and their spouses parents will want a turn with our cute grandkids. So we enjoy the moment while it is here, treasure the brief time we have with each one, and thank God for this tender mercy.

Phillips Fam - 1982

A glimpse into the past. Our new Christmas toy will allow us to scan in all of our old slides and import them into other programs like Picasa. What fun! The only person who won't like this will be Janene with her poofy hair.

Christmas Eve - Phillips Style

Every year we go to Grandpa and Grandma Phillips home for Christmas Eve. This tradition started years ago when we would go to Grandpa and Grandma Morton's home for Christmas Eve. We always start the evening by lighting a candelaria and placing it at the street in front of our home. This was started by some dear friends of ours, the Schneblys, who provide every home in the neighborhood with a bag and candle. This year, the wind blew it over before we could even get out of the driveway.

We always pig out on food to start with (including Morton's famous deviled ham chip dip) and then we sing the song Grandma Darlene wrote to the tune of "The 12 Days of Christmas" with our own favorite words. Then all the lights go out as we read from the Holy Scriptures the story from Luke. At the conclusion of the reading each one of us lights a candle in the darkness to symbolize the light of Christ coming into the world and finish with "Silent Night".

As soon as the song is over and the candles are gathered up safely, the children rush downstairs to open presents and mad chaos ensues. I think we all remember the picture of David scooping up all his presents with a snow shovel. Cousins Laura and Elsie somehow got given the same new outfit.

Grandma Janene gets a brief moment during the pandemonium to cuddle her newest grandson, Ben. Then it's off to our house again to watch "Its a Wonderful Life" and we will all be snug in our beds, with visions of Sugar Plums (I learned how to make these the other day - use the attached link)http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98666433 in our heads around midnight

Christmas Eve

My brother Mort needs some grandkids of his own. He's been pretty good at teaching Angie's kids how to fish and Sam how to knock over trees in the forest. Ben here was pretty pleased just being told that another year hence and he too will be knocking down trees. I told Ali that she would someday have children of her own that Grandpa Mort could play with. She seemed positively horrified at the thought. Hmmm.

Tammy's favorite day of the year is Christmas Eve. She can still think like a child and can come up with the best presents for the children.

Christmas Talent Show

Here is the whole fandamily at our Christmas talent show. Of course, this isn't the half of it all, but you get the idea. We were entertained by a couple of great piano solos, with violin and stories.

Isabel was excited for the prospect of Christmas coming and wanted everyone to know about it.

Elsie was pretty shy about doing her talent. Can you blame her? There were more people in our house than in church

Shon's kids were excited to listen to the story of Christmas as told by Grandma Janene.

Downtown Christmas

The lights were brilliant last night as Janene and I got to spend the evening at the Grand America Hotel. The night started with a dinner with all the managers from Firetrol. Our boss has sponsored this every year for the last three years. For one night a year, we get to see how the other half lives with a night in a suite at the hotel and a fancy dinner.

After dinner, Janene and I went for a walk downtown. We got to watch the news broadcast at Channel 2, the skaters at the Gallivan Center, and then on to Temple Square and all the lights. ( well... not all the lights. By the time we got to Temple Square, they had started turning off the lights)

By the time we were done, they were all off, and only the lights on the Temple remained. We awoke this morning to freshly fallen snow and the excitement of Christmas in the air.

We finished with some shopping at The Gateway and breakfast at Lambs Grill. It is hard to believe that Lambs Grill hasn't changed a bit since I first went there for a milkshake with my grandmother when I was ten or eleven years old. We had a wonderful break from the hectic days we are used to having.

Welcome to the Christmas House

Christmas is in full swing at the Phillips Home. Steve helped us put up the lights on the roof and Chelane helped us with our tree and the house is finally decorated for Christmas. This year we found a new kind of Christmas lights that are solar powered like the kind used on walkways. This allowed us to put up a tree at the cemetery for David this year that is lighted at night. For the first time in years, I was able to take a few minutes and just sit in the living room admiring the tree and soaking up the spirit of the season. We had grandkids over tonight. They spent a few minutes standing in awe as they watched the lights. We love the Christmas season and look forward (sometimes with a little dread) to putting up the lights again, and listening to all the old Christmas stories. We each have our favorite stories and the good ones make you cry.

One thing that we can do now that the kids have grown is put up the Christmas Village. With no kids around to throw balls at the schoolhouse, the village can remain intact - at least until the grandkids come over. With the grandchildren proliferating in our family, we may need to keep the village boxed up next year. Janene and I both know that 'things' are not really important. We love our traditions, but we love our kids more. The most important things in our lives are our relationships with family and friends. Hopefully, they can help us enjoy this Christmas season.

37 Years ... and we still love each other!

Today marks 37 years together as husband and wife - and as Janene was quick to point out, that means we have been in love for over 40 years. Janene wrote me a little note today to tell me how much we have been through and yet how happy we are. Of course, me being the klutz of the relationship, I didn't have anything written for her. So I'll put it on the blog for everyone to see. Janene has always been my best friend, the one I can talk to, the one I can share my fears, my sorrows and my joys. We have not always had what you would call a perfect marriage, although we are pretty close to that now. Through all the years we were raising 6+ kids, our relationship has been a lot of work, most of it on Janene's back, as she changed diapers, washed clothes, drove car pools, and put up with a missing husband. We have had lots of good times though, as we have been able to raise a beautiful family with children who know how and choose to do good and righteous things. Through it all we have had some great adventures, travelled all over the world and learned to love our own backyard. We have tried to help our family see the beauty God created in this world, and Janene has taught them that they can create beauty of their own by her example. I have had the benefit of a very understanding wife, one who lets me be who I need to be, but who lets me know when I'm out of line too. When I see her come into a room, I still get that same giddy feeling I did when I first saw her get on the summer science class bus in 1967. I picked the prettiest girl in school and that hasn't changed in forty years. I've learned in that time that there's a lot more important things than looks, and I hit the jackpot when I chose Janene and got the best woman on earth. I'll love you always, Janene.

This is our Doug - as a kid!

This is a short video clip of Doug when he was young and carefree. Dan, Shon and Doug were playing on the hill in what is now Brandon Phillips' yard next door. I'm trying out my video editing skills as a test and I thought this was pretty funny. Doug is a grandpa now and driving truck for MBCI. He's on the road a lot, but he's still a lot of fun. The other day, I was at a truck stop and headed into the rest room. I stepped up to the urinal next to another guy, did what I came in for, minding my own business, when the guy next to me reached over and smacked me. I was shocked (shocked, I tell you!) I couldn't believe what was happening. I looked up to find none other than my own boy, Doug! We laughed for quite a while. He was filling up his truck with diesel. Half full, it cost $560!! What a fun guy! He has always been a barrel of laughs.

Gramp's Adventure with Cy

Grandpa got to spend an evening with Cy while his parents worked in Park City. We started by watching Nemo (a show Grandpa had never seen before last night). Then first thing this morning, we had a nice breakfast of oatmeal with brown sugar and homemade applesauce, and headed out to the garden to dig a big hole. This is a boy's dream come true and we both enjoyed it until Gramps got tired. Then it was off to work with Cy in tow at a job up by Hill Air Force Base. When Cy saw the airplanes at the Aerospace Museum, he decided we should go see the airplanes. Why not? We were on an adventure, weren't we?

This plane had the name of Brigadier General Jake Garn on the cockpit and dwarfed poor little Cy. He wasn't even as big as the wheels. After that it was off to work again, but we were soon stopped again by one of Roy's finest complete with flashing lights and siren. He was sure sure that I was kidnapping Cy from his Mom and Dad. It was actually just to check that my Jeep had insurance. Cy didn't think anything of it. It was just another experience in an adventurous day for him.

No self respecting Grandpa would be worth his salt if he didn't take his grandchild to Mickey D's. We actually went there in the guise of taking a potty break, but we got a burger and a drink and played in the playland while we were there. Then it was time to head for home.

Cy sang a few songs and told me some outrageous stories as we drove back to Bountiful. I told him we were going to stop at our warehouse on the way and he expressed surprise. He didn't know what a warehouse was, but he was sure it had something to do with werewolves. It wasn't as much fun when I told him what it really was.

Gramp's Adventure with Cy Continues

The day continued with a little walk along the railroad tracks. When we crossed the tracks, Cy said, "There is the railroad tracks. I never walked on the railroad tracks." So, since this was an adventure day, we stopped the car and went for a little walk along the tracks. At first Cy was scared to get on the tracks, but eventually it took a required potty break to get him off.

Of course, we had do do something a little mischievious, so we stuck a nickel on the tracks in the hope that we could go back later and see a squished nickel. Who knows. On the way home, we stopped at a home that Bill Fuller is building for his daughter Nikki near our house. With Cy misbehaving a little, Bill warned Cy that he was going to poke his eyes out and kick his butt. Cy could tell he was teasing, so he teased back. Finally Bill told Cy " If you don't start being nice to me, I'm going to tell Heather on you - and then she'll stop feeding you and you will just shrivel up." Cy looked a little worried for a second and then lept into Bill's arms and gave him a big bear hug. We finished the day as we started, digging a big hole in the garden. It was a dream day for Grandpa.

Goblin Ghouls Come to Haunt Grandma's

It was a frightening sight at Grandma's house as all the little goblins came to visit. We has Elsie (aka Little Red Riding Hood) The HULK - man was he ever green! and Andrew as a cute dalmation puppy.

We had Nathan as a Dracula character - He was pretty out of character, and then Sam was totally in character as a Police Mouse Princess. You had to be there. Pictures could not do him justice. Laura looked like she was trying to be a hip teenager. She is eight going on seventeen.

Then there was Parrot Boy and his sister the LadyBug - complete with antennae. Mikey looked just like a parrot until he raised his head - then you could tell that he was a really cute little boy inside there. Shon, Mel, Isabel, Max and Jake were here the day before. They weren't scary - they were just plain fun.

But probably the most fun of all was getting to hold little Ben for the evening while his brothers and sister went out trick or treating. He was in a little pumpkin outfit that suited the little punkin' just fine. He had just had his shots, so he wasn't laughing like he has been known to do, but I've never held a more cuddly pumpkin.

Utah - A mountain desert

On our way back home from Florida, I sat next to a contractor from Syracuse, New York, who was headed to Park City for a conference at the Stein Erickson Lodge. As we talked, I realized that he had no clue what Utah was like. He had no concept of a place where lawns had to be watered to grow, where it only rained 14 inches a year, and yet the mountains get 600 inches of snow a year. He couldn't imagine a place where mountains rose 8000 feet above the valley floor that was already almost a mile high. As we got closer to Utah, he could see the mountains and the lack of growth. He marvelled that there were no deciduous forests, and yet he could not imagine a place where the mountains held snow capped peaks with quaking aspen, alpine fir, and blue spruce. Today I was able to go bid a job at Brighton Ski Resort, taking only a couple of hours out of my work day, and was transported to a totally different environment than the valley floor. Being away from Salt Lake for a while let me appreciate what a wonderful place this is where we live. I just thought I would share a small piece of the beauty I saw this afternoon.

Books and Music and Pots - Oh My!

Here are samples of the items we have decided to get out of our house to reduce the clutter. They include lots of books including the Science Library -(lots of experiments), the Time-Life set of American Wilderness Books (about 20 volumes)and lots and lots of Reader's Digest Condensed Books (about 30 volumes)

Janene has added lots of her pottery and tons of sheet music.

Come One - Come All- First come first served. They will be here for a week and then they are out of here. We could even be tempted to let some of our other books go as well. Just let us know what you want.

Chelane Commissions Her First Work of Art

During our recent trip to Mata Ortiz, Mexico, we went to the home of Juan Quezada to look at some of his pots (we could only afford to look) and see some of his family's works. We met Juan's son, Alvaro at the gallery in their home and Janene and I bought one of his pots. (More about the pot and the trip later) In talking with Alvaro, he asked if we wanted to see him paint one of his pots since he was painting one to be exhibited in Tuscon. Of course, we jumped at the chance to watch a master potter work in his studio.

We followed Alvaro out into the dirt streets of Mata Ortiz, past a few yards with chickens, dogs and goats to his home on Iturbide Steet. Once there, we found that his studio was his immaculately furnished living room! One thing you will note in Mata Ortiz is the homes may not be much to look at on the outside, with dirt yards, adobe walls and mud roofs, but inside they could be any home in the United States. We watched as he painted this pot. He never even seemed a bit bothered by seven of us looking over his shoulder, asking questions and firing flashes.

He works totally freehand, not knowing what the pot will look like beforehand. He says that he starts to draw some basic lines and then lets the pot tell him what to paint. He usually will repeat that pattern three times. The brush he uses has the hair of a small child, usually someone in his family. The paints are made with local minerals, ground up and mixed with water and fine clay. The pot was made of a specially prepared clay dug from the hills outside town and is astunning dark chocolate brown color. Juan has shared with the entire town his methods for making the pots and his love of quality, but he has kept a few thing like the pigments a secret.

When we went back to Juan's home a day later to look at pots again, Juan's wife Guillermina, came out and said we must stay for a while longer. The family had something to show us. In a few minutes Alvaro came out of the kitchen with the beautiful pot that he had been painting. They had just taken out of the firing and it was still very warm to the touch. When we asked how much it would bring after the exhibition, we inquired if he would be willing to sell it now before it was shown. He hesitated a moment and then said "Yes". The words were no sooner out of his mouth when Chelane piped up and said "I'll buy it!" We had Juan come out to have his picture taken with Chelane and his son and their newest family pot. We all marvelled that Chelane ended up with the very pot she watched the artist make. Chelane brought home 13 pots of her own this time down and every one of them is a treasure.