In loving memory of a great man...

This post is late, but I wanted to get it on my blog to remember and honor a great man – my grandpa, Woodrow Marsh Thompson.

We decided on Memorial Day to go and visit my grandpa’s grave at the Springville cemetery. We were just getting out of our car and walking over to the grave when my parents drove up with my grandma - that was a nice surprise. I don’t know if our kids remember my grandpa very well, Danielle was 5 and Ashley was 1 ½ years old when he died.

My grandpa, Woodrow Thompson, was born in Evanston, Wyoming on December 24th, 1916 to Charles and Sarah Thompson. He was the youngest of 5 brothers and sisters. They lived on a 360 acre land in Evanston and moved into town during the winter to put the children in school. My grandpa was only 22 months old when his father, age 39, died of the flu. His older brother, Fredrick, age 16, ended up being the breadwinner for the family. His family moved to Provo in 1930. He had various odd jobs in his life, but eventually found one he enjoyed – accounting.

On July 3rd, 1937, he met my grandma, Veryl Davis, and was married 4 months later in the SLC temple, November 23, 1937.

They had their first child, Karen, on December 29th, 1938 and their second child, Stephen (my dad) on May 12, 1944.

They enjoyed life as a family for about a year when my grandpa was drafted in the Infantry at Fort Douglas, Utah during World War II. He completed his basic training and was sent to Yokohama, Japan to serve in the Depot Surgeon’s office for 13 months.

After being discharged he worked for Anderson Lumber Co. for a while, and then in May of 1947 he began a Public Accounting and Tax practice working out of his home. They had their 3rd child, Sue, on April 20th 1949 and their 4th child, Philip, on December 2, 1952, and then their last child, Jill, was born March 5, 1956.

My grandparents went on numerous trips to China, California, Alaska, Hawaii and Europe and they traveled around the US in their old green RV camper. (I can still remember the smell of that RV).

My grandpa died on New Year’s Day 2004.

The memories I had of my grandpa was his wonderful disposition, he was a quiet man and always in high spirits. I also remember his great love for my grandma, you could always catch them holding hands during every prayer. He was an inspiration and a huge example in my life.

The start of our active summer...

This year Duane declared he wanted to have a more active summer, so we got the calendar out and started planning. One of the things we wanted to do this summer was go to more local events and just get out of the house. I got on our local cities web sites and searched out their summer activities. I was on P.G.’s web site and saw that the Fire department was having a breakfast on the 30th of May, so this year we got the kids up early and headed down to the fire department for some fun and interaction with the fireman and our community.

Kaman, of course, loved every minute! He loved seeing all the fire trucks up close...

and sitting in the HUGE fire trucks driver seat. I don’t think he moved at all, though, he was to fascinated with everything.

The girls enjoyed it, too.

After having breakfast, we decided to continue our active streak that day and hike the "Y".



This was the first time for the kids and they were excited for about the first 1/8 of the hike.



Then it got to be a little to much for some of them and we did end up caring Kaman for most of the way.



And resting every 10 steps...



But we did make it and the kids can now say they've been to the "Y".

Attempting a garden

We decided this year we would attempt a garden. When we built our house we laid out a spot along the back part of our yard for a garden, but I never got up enough nerve to plant. I guess I thought it would be more work then I wanted. I was worried that I’d have to take a gardening class before even attempting to plant, so I went to one my mom was attending at church. I got really concerned when I found out there were several classes and each one lasted 2 hours long! But I gave it some thought and decided this was my year to set all my fears aside and just go for it.

Our strategy…we’d plant a whole bunch of stuff and see if any of it grew.

This is what we planted…

2 Aristocrat zucchini plants
2 Burpless cucumber plants
1 green sweet pepper
5 strawberry plants
Pumpkins
Watermelons
Corn
Carrots
Cilantro
Lettuce
8 Big Boy tomato plants
2 yellow squash plants
Sunflower


So, May 23rd we took the bark and weed control off the plot, mixed in mulch and fertilizer,



and planted our 1st vegetable garden




Then we hired a very efficient little boy to water our plants.



Here is one of our zucchini plants about a couple weeks after planting. I’d say it’s actually working.



And here are our strawberry plants.



This is one happy customer who LOVES strawberries right off the vine.



We are excited to see if we get any edible vegetables this year. And if it ALL works we will have more then enough to share, so come on over and help yourself.

My little funny guy.

It's so fun to hear what comes out of my little 2 year olds mouth. The other Sunday Duane said to Kaman, "Mom's hot, isn't she?" He very casually walked over to me, touched my leg, and said, "No, she's not, Dad."

And just today he had gotten a muffin from the kitchen and brought it into my bedroom to show me, and I told him he needed to go sit down and eat it on one of the bar stools. Well, a few seconds later, I come out of my bathroom to see Kaman sitting on a bar stool right in front of my bedroom door. I meant for him to sit on the bar stool IN the kitchen. I'd say he's a little smarty pants. Wouldn't you?

Potty training a boy?

I need to potty train Kaman, but I’m a little hesitant. Why? He’s a boy. I’ve only heard that it’s harder to train boys. And I’m waiting for the perfect week that I can devote all my time to this project. I know I’ll be asking him every ½ hour if he needs to go potty and encouraging him to go in the toilet NOT on my furniture. I’d rather not have to have my carpets/furniture cleaned after training him. I am more then excited to get him out of diapers. This being the last step Kaman takes from ‘babyhood’ to ‘toddlerhood’ is exciting. Oh, I’m so looking forward to being free of all the baby duties!

I need help.

First of all, does it take longer to train a boy? And do you teach him to pee standing up or sitting down? (Seriously, I need to know) Also, should I spend the money to get a portable potty or teach him on the family potty? I trained my first child with a portable potty and my second with the family potty. Both worked fine for girls, but what about training a boy. Which one?

And finally, what special tricks did you use to get your son (or daughter) to potty train?

"Gooooooooaaallll!"

So I’m a little late at posting this…Soccer season has come to an end for my two girls, but they had a very productive season. Danielle started out the season at a fair level, she wasn’t scoring any goals, and her coach wasn’t putting her in as often as we would have liked. So we gave her some motivation - $20 a goal. That did it! The first game she scored 1 goal, the next game she scored 2 goals and every game after that she scored at least one or two in a game. Aside from letting greed propel her into a better soccer season, she played her heart out. After the initial motivation something clicked in her and she realized that she could do it. Sometimes that’s all you need, really, is to see yourself accomplish something and then it becomes so much easier with out all the effort. Danielle ended up being the team captain for one game and then MVP for another. This season they won almost every game, and they ended their tournament in 2nd place.

She has made so many improvements and I’m so proud of her. And I’m more then happy to have Danielle love the sport I love.

till we meet again...

This past Sunday ended my reign as a Young Womens 2nd counselor. I remember being called in to the bishops office a year and a half ago and asked if I would accept the call to serve in the YW. Honestly, I was terrified. I think I stared, mouth open for about 10 minutes trying to think of something I could say to get out of it. I thought people who were asked to be in callings like these had previously been in more prominent callings. At the time, I was currently the achievement days leader and before that I was a sunbeams teacher. What made ME worthy of such a calling? I did accept the calling, well, it was more like I was shooed out the door with a pat on the back and told I’d do fine. I got home and cried uncontrollably. My thoughts… I couldn’t do it. There had to be someone else more worthy then me in the ward. I’m not comfortable in a leadership position. Who is going to listen to me?

That night I could here all the wise people in my life telling me that if I didn’t put myself in positions that I’m uncomfortable I’d never learn and grow. And then it hit me. Oh. My. Gosh. Could I have been asked to serve in this calling not because people mistook me for the most scholarly or spiritual in the church, but because heavenly father knew this would help me grow and strengthen my testimony. That, because of my stubbornly ways, this was the only way I would be forced to grow, and Heavenly Father knew that. Not only would this help me with my testimony but it would benefit me in other ways as well – home life, social life, church, etc. So I got myself together, put a smile on my face and went about what I was asked to do, and in return welcomed the blessings that I received.

I have had so much fun being with these great, wonderful, friendly, spiritual young women. They are such an example to ME. I'm impressed by how much these girls love their heavenly father and how welcoming and loving they are to everyone. I will miss them SO much and hope they know how much I loved being their leader and watching them grow into beautiful, spiritual young women!