The Ancient of Days Get More Ancient

The day after we got back from our little vacation to Island Park (post that I hope to post soon), my dad had his 99th birthday. I didn't get a picture of him on that day, but I got one of him when we were celebrating Pirate Princess Isla's birthday a few days later. Here's a pic of "Two-Eyed Willey" himself.

He is doing quite well for a 99 year-old dude- he (we) are very fortunate for that. He is now as old as his mother was before she died. But I think he really has his eye on the prize- to be the oldest in his family. One of his brothers lived to be 103. Might he do it? More than likely. Barring any slips, falls, or the like, he will probably achieve it and beyond. One thing to take into account is the battery life on his pacemaker. The doctor said it has a 10 year life. He's already done 2 of those. Is it rechargeable? don't know. I haven't had to plug him in since it was installed, so, who knows? He's a danged energizer bunny, that guy. "...A little girl asked me what am I gonna do when I get old and blue and worn clear through. And I said by that time I'm gonna be in my prime I'm gonna strut like a cock until I'm 99..." Grand Funk Railroad
Here is also a 4-generation pic for you to enjoy. "YO HO!" That's what Jake and the Neverland Pirates say.

Crazy Fun Weekend

Last weekend was very nice. Friday, Brenda and I went down to one of the stages of the Tour of Utah bike race. The stage we saw was in SLC. It was a 5-loop course- very fun to watch. On some of the downhill streets, they were going over 60 mph! I got up to 40 once on my bike- I was scared out of my wits. Thought I was gonna puke and then die. But, I live to tell the tale.

One thing though, those guys on their bikes, as good as they are, were just not good enough- they didn't stand a chance against all those cops on motorcycles.... how is that fair??   ;)

Then on Saturday night, we went to the Utah Symphony and the Music of the Rolling Stones up at Deer Valley in Park City (hangin' with the cool peeps). We took a little picnic basket with goodies and enjoyed the cool mountain air. NOTE TO SELF: Next time, take a jacket. The Stones are not my fave, but the impersonators played some of their best stuff. I like their older stuff better- personally. Man, I thought people at the Rush concert were old! Nothing to compare to the OLD people at this concert. I mean, Mick Jagger just turned 70, so, I guess there would be some oldies about. They were all drunk and dancing with wine glasses in there hands, shakin' and grindin'- hilarious! We did get up and shake it a wee bit, but we just haven't had the practice dancing with wine glasses in our hands, so we did not partake in those activities   :) We had a good time.

Clockwork Angels

After long months of patiently waiting, the time finally arrived- Rush's Clockwork Angels tour rolled into town! A few pix follow. Not the best photographymanship... it's hard to keep that phone/camera still when you're jumping around- yo!

Brenda and I decided to make a night of it. Since we were down SLC way, we had wanted to try this bbq place down in Grantsville, UT. Grantsville...where the Sam Hill is Grantsville you may ask? And, now that I think of it, who the Sam Hill is Sam Hill? (I just Googled it... interesting). Anyway, I digress... so, we went to Grantsville to eat at Richard's Roundup BBQ. Pretty good food, but I'm still wondering why they didn't put Grantsville a little bit closer?

After quickly eating, we buzzed on over to Usana Amphitheater which is on the other side of the mountain from Grantsville- thought we'd be late to the show for sure since they put Grantsville so far away, but we made it with time to spare. Seats weren't too bad, just a wee bit more off to the side than I liked- oh well, next time. Luckily the couple that was next to us (closer to the middle) moved to the handicap zone as the guy had a bad back... we just slipped over to their seats. It's amazing what 2 more seats to the center will give you for stage viewing.

The show was suppose to start @ 7:30, but it didn't start until about 8, probably on account that the sun was still blazing. Alex had to don some shades, of course Geddy wears his sunglasses at night, and Neil just squinted until the sun went down.

They took a break after playing quite a few songs from their previous albums, cause as Geddy said, they're a million years old (he just had his 60th birthday last week, Alex next month, Neil's already there). They came back and cranked out a bunch from the Clockwork Angels album. Brenda really liked Clockwork Angels and Headlong Flight- why wouldn't you? They were excellent. They had a seven-piece string orchestra that started the second half to cover the new album and many songs after that. I thought it was a pretty cool addition. After playing songs from the new album, they went back to more of their older songs- so awesome. They then bid goodnight which was much too soon. Brenda asked what they could come back and play for an encore- "there are so many"... I said, "Well, they can always come back and play Tom Sawyer and 2112 cause they haven't played them." They must have heard me, cause that's exactly what they played! Then they bid adieu until next time, that was about 11pm.

They played a lot of songs- many favorites, but they couldn't play them all of course. It was so much fun letting the hair down for a bit and getting crazy. It doesn't happen very often. We're usually very mild-mannered as you know ;) Brenda and I wondered how much longer Rush was going to keep this up... of course, all Rush fans have wondered that for some time now. Brenda said "Can you see them doing this @ 70?". I don't know... can you? Let's hope so. So what if they have to be wheeled out in a wheelchair or gurney- The show must go on! Thanks Neil, Alex, Geddy- we had a splendid time. And here's to at least 10 more years of timeless rockmanship!

I wonder if they would retire to Grantsville, UT? Probably not. Too bad they put Grantsville so far away.

New Church Hymn?

I forgot to post this. It is pretty danged funny... well, it is now, but not so much when it happened.

On Father's Day, we were enjoying Sabbath services as usual. Wee little Isla and her parents usually sit with us and we all help to keep her entertained, or at least as quiet as possible. On my iPad, I have this doodle app where she can draw and touch pictures to put on the screen. Well, little kids today are what I call "Swipers". Yeah, they are born to swipe and touch icons in this technology-laden world. Granted, they don't always know what they are touching or swiping, but it's enough that things appear and things move. I guess it was my turn to watch her (as she was sitting on my lap), but I wasn't paying as close attention to her as I should have been (I must have been deep in thought about the sermon being delivered or something- I'm sure it wasn't about what the family was going to fix me for dinner ;) ). Apparently the little swiper got busy doing her thing, must have closed out the doodle app and opened up iTunes. All of a sudden, a new church hymn began to issue forth from my iPad. It caught me off guard and freaked me out. Realizing it was coming from my iPad, I just closed it(I have a cover on it). Well, iTunes does not shut off when it is closed. I also have a code which locks the screen so little fingers can't just get on auto magically and wreak havoc. Frantically, I started pushing digits trying to get in. I finally had to take a deep breath and focus for a second before I could open it up and shut off the music. Needless to say, I turned a few head that day in church, and it wasn't because of my nice hair.

Who knew that Led Zeppelin's Dazed And Confusedhad been added to the Classic Church Hymns? Rock on!

Day of Dapapa

How was the everyone's Father's Day weekend? Friday, Brenda took the day off and we went on a 60 mile bike ride up in the great Cache Valley. It was very nice- took our time and enjoyed each others company. Luckily it was not a hot day- nice and cool to start out. Brenda got a flat tire- I fixed it. I guess that's what I get for drafting off her all the way (jk). Then we visited and had dinner with her mom... since we were in the neighborhood (Cache Valley). We would have been dead meat if she'd have found out we were that close and not stopped in to see her. I think we've finally recovered from the ride. We're looking to do more of those "fun" rides throughout the summer. We might be in your neighborhood next. Get the grill ready! We had most of the kids here (and the grand girls), except for Rory of course. We went to the zoo (which was kind of lame- as I kept comparing it to the Animal Kingdom @ Disneyworld). The kids and us had driven separately to the zoo, so on the way home, Brenda and I stopped @ Trader Joes and got a salad, bagel chips and humus and had a little picnic on the lawn of the city/county building in SLC- nice. We felt like trendy jet-setters.

Sunday I scored an Almond Snickers @ church, had luau burgers (the kind we served @ our restaurant; teriyaki soaked burger and fresh grilled pineapple, swiss cheese, bacon) and sweet potato fries for lunch, had the Ancient of Days (my dad) over as well, like we do every Sunday, then went over and made him his annual favorite treat that evening- root beer freezes. All in all, a splendid day. Brenda was missing her dad, of course. She was asked to give the opening prayer in Sacrament @ church- she didn't know if she was going to be able to do it. She broke down a wee bit, but pulled it together. She got through the day as I got through Mother's Day- we move along.

Little Darlings

A couple weeks ago when Emery was here, the girls got together and made some cookies. Emery has always wanted to help in the kitchen with us, whether it's washing dishes or baking something and we're glad to have her with us. Isla is just as willing to "help". It always takes longer, things get a bit messier, the floor gets a little wetter, but hey, we're not baking cookies- we're raising grandchildren. Love those little darlin's.

And Then There Was One...

Last month, my dad's last remaining sister was thrown an early birthday party. She lives in Weiser, ID but the party was to be held down in Orem, UT. I thought that was doable, so Brenda and I packed Dad up and took him down to see Sis. Here is a pic of them at her party. Her birthday is May 10th, she'll be 95 years old.
They had a wonderful visit and enjoyed one another's company, no doubt, reminiscing old times.... better times? or better times ahead?

Well, last Sunday I was in one of my church meetings and I got an email whilst on my iPad (yes, I was following the lesson ;) isn't tech great? sometimes ). Anyway, the email was from my sister, Barbara. But like a good boy, I didn't look at it until later after getting home and had dinner fixed. I then remembered the email. It just said "too bad about Aunt Roxie".... I thought I'd better call her to see what "too bad" meant. Come to find out that Aunt Roxie had died earlier that day or the day before. And of course, Dad always eats Sunday dinner with us, so, guess it was my job to break the news.

After telling him about little sister, he said "Oh, now I am alone." How sad! Here he is, the last of the 13 kids, the oldest man in West Point... I wonder if he ever thinks, "can I just go home now? Why am I still hanging around here?" Then he probably thinks, "oh yeah, I've still got to keep an eye on Douglas and make sure he's taking care of the garden." 8D