RP + JP VALENTINE

R & J
ROBIN AND JANENE
ALSO ROMEO AND JULIET,
ALWAYS THERE THROUGH
JOY AND SORROW.
HELPING HANDS SO LINKED TOGETHER
THEY OFTEN MOVE AS ONE;
A SHINING LESSON
OF WHAT'S POSSIBLE
WHEN LOVE IS FOCUSED
AND YET HAS A WIDE ANGLE LENS.

My mother wrote this poem for us for Valentines Day. I think she wrote one for every one of us in the family. It reminded me of something I did on our third anniversary of knowing each other. We were having one of our difficult times, and I went for a hike by myself and carved our initials into this tree just below Grandview Peak in a lovesick moment. I knew then that I wanted to be with Janene for my whole life. I wasn't thinking about the rules about not carving your initials in a tree. It was only a few month later that we were married and we have lived happily ever after. It hasn't always been easy; we have had to work hard at it. I do lots of stupid things, but Janene always finds a way to forgive me and over the years we have become a good team. We have a goal to be together forever. I heard Elder Holland say that he could not imagine heaven without his family. The thought reminded me of our hope of being united together as a complete family for the rest of time. We have that wide view and it governs most of our decisions in this life (except when I forget and do something stupid or selfish). I do love this girl and want to be with her forever. Happy Valentine's Day, babe.

Here we sit like flies on a toilet seat!

I tried to write this one from my iTouch, but it wouldn't let me. We were waiting to have the surgery on my shoulder. The good news is that everything went well. The doctor scraped some garbage out of the socket and cut out some bone spurs. The only problem is that it is almost midnight and the pain medication is keeping me wide awake. I guess that is better than the pain. Thank you all for your prayers. They are working.

"Bartender! I'll have one more... Swordplant?"

Isabel made us all proud with her winning Science Fair project last month. Her hypothesis was that plants should grow just the same if you feed them water or alcohol. So what was her super plant nutrient? How about VODKA! She watered swordplants with water, beer and vodka. Needless to say, by the time the test period was over, some of her plants were a little tipsy - not to mention, a bit rubbery and (dare we say it?) a might on the pickled side. What surprised me was that they weren't dead. Hmmm - I wonder what a Diet Coke diet would do? Isabel, you better head back to the lab. Your work is not done. I told her about her dad's project that got him all the way to the district level. She turned to her dad and said "I thought you said they kicked you out and wouldn't let you enter your project?" Shon! It looks like you've got some s'plaining to do. You go, girl!

Best Friends

As I have been reviewing the slides that Janene has been scanning (YES - I did say Janene. I'm so proud of her), I have been struck by how lucky our girls are to have had such good friends. Our boys have too, I could only find these pictures of the girls on the top of the pile. So don't get mad at me because I didn't include you (Marie and Mindy and Christina and Jennifer and Emily and others) or because I didn't include your current best friend.

They have always had someone to goof around with, someone to listen to their stupid jokes and their problems.

Some of their friends have changed over the years as friends have moved away, and others have been lifelong relationships.

But they have always had someone to lean on and someone to help them with life's challenges. And that is a great blessing.

Granddaddy Hike

Wow! One of the slides we found is of the trip we took to Granddaddy, Betsy, Mohawk and Fish Hatchery. Mom and Dad have a copy of this on their wall, but I haven't seen it for a really long time. Time has caused me to forget how happy Julia and David were back then. I wish I could see Julia smile like that now. Dad has the cheshire cat grin that comes from knowing that he caught the mother of all brookies on this trip at Fish Hatchery. It weighed in at over 5 pounds. Boy, was that ever fun to watch Dad play that one. We hiked all over the basin, even going to Lodgepole, Pine Island and Farney. We always camp out on the point at Betsy, even though it is usually a little far from drinking water. David cooked us up some great meals over the fire and Shon really learned how to cast far on this trip. We fished on Mohawk until after dark and then walked back to camp not knowing where the trail was. Grandma Phillips would have been horrified. (once, she gave me a bunch of little ribbons to tie on the trees so I would be able to find my way home). And look, everybody has hiking boots on except me. I've got my steel-toed cowboy boots. What was I thinking? Oh well, they did make me two inches taller.

Super Sunday at our house

Usually, every Sunday, one of our kids will come over to our house. These are not often quiet affairs with thoughtful conversation by the fire. One or two of the grandkids will head up to the loft to play or drop bombs on their unsuspecting parents below. Another will head to the toy room or the costume closet. Angie and David brought their little (not so little anymore) family tonight. Nathan was his usual inquisitive self and pretty much wore his mother out.

More likely than not, you will find Laura up on the loft reading a book, but this time she spent a lot of her time helping Mom and Dad take care of the other kids. She can talk to you about complicated issues and is the only girl I know who begged her mother to create a chore chart so she could fill it up with things she wants to do around the house.

Sam is looking awful grown-up with his shirt and tie. Somehow, he lost his coat by the time it was time to go home, so he must have been up to something. He can run around the circle in the living room and kitchen so fast that I could never catch up to him and he loves to push his little brother on the jumping jack.

Little Ben was the star of the show as he got to swing in the jumper and jump up and down on people's laps. He always has a smile on his face, even when you can see he is a little nervous about where his big brother is pushing him. He can almost sit up by himself and can now roll over. It was only yesterday that he came to our family, but already we don't know what we ever did without him. We still don't know whether Angie & David will get the Bountiful house, but we are hoping they can be a lot closer soon. We look forward to some Sunday parties at their house. Who needs football games when we have such a good time just playing with our little ones.