The Energizer Cowboys who kept things humming at the reunion

The Energizer Cowboys who kept things humming at the reunion
These kids know how to have fun!

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Third Grandchild in 2012--Lawsyn Margaret


For Anthony and Ashley, 2012 was the culminating and successful ending year of Law school, and also the welcomed blessing of a new child in their family.  Lawsyn Margaret Wilcox was born June 25 in Duschene, Utah  about 9 PM.  She weighed 8 lb. 14 oz.  We were happy to meet her for the first time on the 27th, and Ashley had just gotten home from the hospital. 


They had lots of company while we were there.  They have a very large and tight-knit family, who really come through when help is needed. Her mom and dad had just left for SLC to be with her Grandpa Sam who was in the ICU.  Anthony left the next day with Sam and Logan and headed to Idaho for our family reunion.  We really appreciate Ashley letting them go, but perhaps the peace and quiet of those three days was a greater help than their company would have been!  We knew she would be in great hands with her Grandma Farnsworth, aunts and sister.

The week had been somewhat of an anxious one, as her Grandpa Sam Burdick had been in the Duschene hospital being treated for pneumonia.   He has since returned home and seems to be doing well.  He is Sam's namesake, and is a pretty special guy in their family.

 
We got to meet Buck while we were there.  He is Logan's favorite horse and was hiding out in one of the old sheds.  We also discovered that Sam knows how to drive the Gator.

On the way up from Blanding we saw smoke billowing over the mountains west of Price caused by the Fairview fire, and then as we traveled up Indian Creek to Mountain Home, saw another fire in that canyon.  Utah is really dry right now, and we've been asked to fast and pray for rain.  We need rain all over the state.


Saturday, June 23, 2012

"O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!" Amanda Goes to Temple


 
We've become friends with Amanda over the past three years, and we were so thrilled with her wonderful progress in the gospel.  Saturday we were blessed to be able to attend the Monticello temple with her when she received her endowments.  Now we are praying she'll meet an active worthy priesthood holder who will help her fulfill her other goals.  We're so thankful we were there. Shawn and Shilo had come over to the YSA activity Friday night, or we wouldn't have known about it.

Monday, June 18, 2012

LaVaur & Laura Wilcox Reunion June 15-17


A good turnout of cousins, aunts, and uncles showed up for the bi-annual Wilcox reunion planned by Don and Virginia Cazier.  Initially they only reserved the big camp site for Sat. and Sun, but most of our family were available to camp on Friday, so Andrew changed his camp site to the big one, and we all joined them Friday, along with some of Katherine and Keith's kids and grandkids.  We had a lot of fun that night as well as Saturday.  Rob and Kathryn let us bring Ethan up to the reunion, so that made it even more fun for us. He tented with Autumn the first night, but stayed with us in Payson the 2nd night.



Payson Lakes was a most gorgeous setting for a family reunion.  There are three small lakes, hiking paths, and several big open areas.  We camped here the summer Antonio Navarro came to live with us, in fact, we picked him up from the airport the first day of that Wilcox reunion.

Amy and Autumn take the kiddos for a cruise along the lake.






Chris, Anthony, Autumn, Andrew and their families were all able to come participate, camp, fish, hike and play games. 








Chris and Pam's family


Andrew's in-laws, Denny and Connie Roberts, came camping too, in their Muffin self-contained mini RV. We celebrated Denny's birthday along with CJ and Logan who were also having birthdays that week. The next night we got to have some homemade ice cream which was made in a specialized ball which we rolled and tossed.

Autumn drove up with her kids and they had a lot of fun playing and camping...even enjoying a hammock.



















We visited with Paul, Monte, Lynette, Cindy, Brent, and Nick's families from Keith's family.  Nick's oldest son is on a mission in Colorado.

Paul was the family "bread winner" on this reunion and furnished two large bags of delicious breads of all kinds from Kneaders. We even took some home. Their oldest daughter has graduated, and the next one had just had an accident and dislocated her collar bone.


Brent's family


Nick and Debbie's family
Lynette's family
Monte's family


Cindy's family



Liz was the only one of Katherine and Harvey's family to come. It was fun hearing about their daughter's mission in France, and getting reacquainted with their other girls.

Katherine and Harvey stayed in the same motel in Payson that we did -- see what pitiful campers we've turned into!  We've gotten rid of most of our camping equipment, so motel camping is our preferred modus operandi.

 Day 1 we hiked around the west side of the lake.
Water activities were a big part of this reunion.  Grandma and Grandpa Wilcox even went rowing on the lake.  Andrew and Denny both brought boats, and the kids enjoyed riding in the boat as well as fishing. 



 Hailey shows off the fish they caught.  Mattea, Peyton and Hinckley try catching fish by hand.  Michael and Ethan go wading in the lake on their fishing endeavors.


Father's Day remembrance for Steve

I need all the help I can get in remembering all family birthdays.  Thanks, Amy

How in the heck did we get everything in the trunk?  It was tight, but we did it!




Friday, June 15, 2012

A Blessing from Heaven--Ryan Lemuel Arrives

Though it was a scary arrival for Ryan Lemuel Wilcox, we are so thrilled that Rob and Kathryn have the opportunity to adopt this handsome little boy.  He was born June 7 and weighed 6 lb. 11 oz.  The cord was wrapped around his neck, with no heart beat, so it was pretty scary at first.  However, the two doctors in Burley, knew what to do, and also helped Rob give him a blessing before he was flown down to McKay Dee Hospital in Ogden. 

Before he even got there, his breathing had improved and his heart was going good.  They said he would be in the NICU two weeks, but it ended up only being four days. 


We feel it was truly God's answer to many, many prayers.  Andrew and Amy opened up their home during the 4 days he was in the NICU which was a huge help to them; Lila was able to go up and provide her  love and support.  We kept the phone lines and FB posts pretty busy for those four days, and it was great to see the steady progress he made.  They had a web cam on him while he was in the NICU, so we got to watch him several times.

It was truly wonderful to have him come home and get to see him for the first time.  He is so little, and cute, with such a lot of hair.
It was wonderful holding him for the first time, and having such a welcome addition to our family.


One of our first visits with Ryan.  Ethan is really being a good big brother for him.  Ziggy wonders who he is!


Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Updates from the Kaysville Kiddos


Here are the crazy fishermen of the Kaysville Clan (except Mom, who isn't that crazy!)  The current news on their famly is that they have already been camping, and survived the wrath of the killer winds the last weekend in May.  As a result, however, they have purchased a pop-up trailer for camping and have already successfully tried it out .  Everything works and they got a killer deal on it.
     Andrew got a raise, after working at his new job for only six months.  The only complaint is that he works too fast, and they can't keep up with him!  Hooray, for Andrew!!
    Their current farm animals include midget goats, ducks and dogs.  They put in a big garden again with Connie and Denny.  Amy's brother Kelly and Rosie have moved to Uraguay to be close to her famly.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Incentives for Summer Reading

One of the things we never had to contend much with while raising kids was the invasive and addictive nature of video games creeping into family and recreation time.  I'm glad that all of our children and their spouses are making a concerted effort to teach balance to their children, and involve them in more physical and mental exercise instead of spending so much time in front of a screen.


Sam's 7th birthday cake made in Blanding.
Sometimes even the best thought out plans backfire, however.  This past week, Ashley sat down with Sam to discuss things he could do instead of playing video games.  They determined that reading would be a good choice and she agreed he could have a Lego Star Wars toy if he reached his goal.  She then asked him how many books he thought he should read to get that $11 toy.  He figured that 75 books would be a fair amount!
     Though somewhat surprised by the high number, she agreed.  Then Sam scoured through the house and gathered up every book he could possibly read, and in two days had reached his goal and earned the prize.  Talk about motivation!
   Mom's decided now that Sam's next goal needs to be reading something a little more challenging like chapter books instead of the usual picture books that 1st graders read.  I am always amazed at how well these little first graders and kindergarteners in our family read!  That's because they have moms and dads who value it!    Way to Go Sam, and Ashley!

Friday, June 1, 2012

Quilt Camp 2012 -- Ethan the survivor!

“Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me
 and I’ll understand.”


Had a great, though very busy day at quilt camp the past two days, May 31-June 1.  The kids really worked hard and got their projects pretty much finished up by noon on Day 2. 

I had such a fun time helping Ethan learn to sew, and everything went terrifically, until Day Two when he was rushing to finish his quilt top for the group photo shoot.  I had just left to find a good spot for the photo, and got called back, with an emergency.  Ethan had somehow had a very "pointed" encounter with the needle, while sewing.  With the strong pointer finger that he has--the needle broke twice on its way THROUGH his poor finger!  It was pretty traumatic getting the last piece out--through the bottom, but thanks to these smart quilters, one lady had medical tweezers with her! 

He did great regain his composure, and within an hour was making jokes about the experience -- one which he is sure to always remember.  He made a really cute quilt for a new baby brother, we hope arrives soon.

You can see he'll never forget that wounded finger, and how the sewing machine attacked him!  I love his quirky sense of humor and his zestful curiousity.


I also worked with two neighbor girls, who took a lot of time and attention.  My original teacher-partner never came, but Bobbie Holt graciously help me out, day 1, and Eve Lynn Perkins helped on day two.  It would have been even more stressful  without them.  It takes a lot of patience and instruction to teach a child how to sew, and some take more than others.


The only thing worse that Ethan's experience happened to Sister Stubbs.  When she and her grandkids went home in the afternoon, they took everything with them hoping to do some work that evening.  Unfortunately, Brian was not  informed that all their things were in the trunk of the car, and he let Jessica take it to Salt Lake later that  afternoon while Silvia was napping, so when they went to get their things--they couldn't do anything, nor participate the 2nd day.  We all felt so bad for them.



I was the Quilt Guild chairman over the camp, found the teachers (19 of them, plus 5 teen assistants).  Three of the teachers weren't able to come, or we would have had 22.
Each teacher found her own students, and prepared them for the camp experience.  That meant giving them hands on experience with a sewing machine, finding cloth, chosing a pattern, and cutting it out prior to camp.  So it was quite a commitment.  I really appreciated all the good ladies and youth who helped us. Here they are!



During the camp, I made sure we had photos of all participants, handed out recognition treats when they finished their quilt top, and organized where the stations would be.  USU and the Arts and Events Center did all the set up, and provided snacks, lunch, and break out activities.

The reason I love doing things for the youth coorelates with this wonderful quote:

Oliver Wendall Homes said, “Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.”  And quilting is definitely a mind stretcher!