They Have Arrived!!

Announcing! Jacob Smith Anderson! Born March 30, 2009 in Manhattan Kansas

Mike and Anne and the boys are really excited to have this good looking little guy, here, finally! He is a mild mannered little man. And both mom and son are doing well!

Cheramie and Shaun also welcomed additions to thier home on May 7th, 2009.

Carter Glade Smith

Mia Lyn Smith

Coleman Lowell Smith

This is a great day in the Anderson and Smith families. The Triplets have arrived and Cherm and the babies are doing well. Everybody is doing OK! that is so great. Cherm went to the Dr. this morning for a checkup and he said lets go to the hospital and get these babies out, (well those weren't his exact words, but you get the idea). This is so exciting! I will fly out tomorrow afternoon and arrive in Bentonville around 11:00 pm. As far as I know there are no names yet; I guess they want to see the babies before giving them a handle. We have called and texted everyone we can think of and hope none were missed.

Evelyn was able to be there for all the births and was thrilled to be able to help out as much as possible. She had a great time with Will, Isaac, and Anderson.

In honor of the big event, Daisy 2 our Wa-gu Angus mix had her baby the same day as the triplets! He is a little bull and I believe I will name him "Triplet"in honor of the big day, instead of "Ferdinand the Fourth".

Will and Isaac have changed my mind about the name "Triplet" for the new bull. They have been calling the triplets; "Twiglets" so now the bull bears the name "Twiglet".

Growing Old is not for the Faint Hearted
I just got home from the hospital. Grandma Powell was taken to the ER, they suspect infection and slight pneumonia. She seems to be ok, they will admit her tonight and look for any problems. I watched Grandpa and his worry and love for Grandma, I realized it is so true...growing old is not for sissys. They both do the best they can for each other, and where they have been so independent they now must rely on others which is hard for them. The same with Grandma and Grandpa Anderson, his eye surgery went ok, but now he is totally dependent on Grandma and she is doing the best she can but it is very difficult to handle it all. So I have come to the conclusion that the toughest among us are the old ones who get up everyday and face the health challenges, face the long hours of the day with minimal physical strength when they had been active all their lives, and just face life in general and keep pushing on. This is not unlike the pioneers pushing handcarts all day for months on end, they just got up and kept going. I admire that and hope we all think about the "old ones" and the courage they show.
Love,
Dad

What a Great Day!
Well the kids and grandgirls have all gone home now, and I get to reflect on another birthday come and gone. It has been a very good life so far and with the family and gospel I can only see more wonderful things in store. Don't get me wrong it's not been all easy, but nothing good ever is. The Lord has blessed me greatly none of which I have deserved, but it has been given; ..."good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over..." (Luke 6:38) That is how I honestly feel my life has been! The phone calls starting this morning and interspersed all day, Angie, Ernie, and Anna; Jeff, Britt, and Brooklyn bringing over dinner and then whisking me off the the bowling alley, it was really fun. I have some pictures I will post with this blog of the "Tres Leches" cake and the group gathered around the table (our favorite spot). Thanks for such a great day and life, all of you I love you and "cannot say but the smallest part which is in my heart". You all have brought so much joy to Mutsi and I because of your loyalty to each other, love for each other, and service to each other. What more can an old guy say?
Love, Dad

These are for Mutsi, since she is missing the Lilacs in bloom, they smell Lilacky too!

Here are the blossoms of the bush trees in front

This provides a better close-up they are very pretty

And finally the BIRTHDAY SUPPER! What great kids! And a whole bunch of fun! Thanks for making an old guys Day!

Now you see it, Now you don't

Bless the our neighbors hearts! I asked Bro. Caldwell what he was doing with his almond tree in the back yard. He had cut it way back. He said he was going to cut it out, but was waiting for a chain saw...mmmm!!! "Chain saw" I said. I ran home and fired up the old "Stihl" saw and cut it down in a couple of minutes. I was feeling pretty good, when Sister Caldwell asked how Evelyn was doing? "Fine" I said; then came the kicker! "How are your doing," I didn't want just cry right there and blubber out "lonely" so I said...."I'm fine." (This might be a litte dramatic, but it is a good story. I REALLY am doing relatively well and better than I thought without Mom here!)
Back to the story. Emily said "I'd like to bring dinner over if I can, when would be a good night!" I graciously said "No, no need" (I like eating chicken patties every meal. (three of them) nothing else.) She insisted and set the night for tonight.

I should have taken a before picture but couldn't wait

If you will imagine then pan half filled with green salad and half with a delicious casserole, mmmm! and the plate with chocolate-chip cookies well I just couldn't wait and take a before shot. So you will have to settle for the after shot.

LESSON:
Sometimes you are the giver and other times the reciever. The trick is to swallow your pride and let others help you out!

GARDEN UPDATE:
Here are some of the tulips that survived the deer. They would come through at night an clip off the tulips at dirt level, so these came back from just being nubs.

they are very pretty when left alone. I'm thinking of applying for a drepredation permit with the fish and game and bag a little tulip fed venison! Lucky for the culprits, they have moved up the mountain now and are nowhere to be seen.

Love you all!

Dad

Blizzard to 70 in no time at all!

Wednesday it snowed 4 inches in Payson and 13 inches in Alpine! Friday it warmed up enough for Jeff and I to go golfing, which was a lot of fun, but quite a change in weather. Today the prognosticators are saying in the high 60's tomorrow in the 70's. I thought it might be fun to put some pictures of the blossoms which are out now. The apricots have come and gone, however the cherries are just coming in.

This is the Lemon Peach just about to blossom

Again the Lemon peach, man I love this peach tree!

And now the fabled cherry trees!

As you can see things are looking pretty good, however if a later freeze comes we are in trouble.

Last Monday night for FHE I planted some of the cooler plants from seeds: I got Swiss chard in, along with Peas, Onions, and Kohlrabi. I was just beginning to put in some potato sets when a neighbor crowd descended like a cloud of locusts. There were all of a sudden 12 little kids wanting to know if they could help. So I gave them each a potato set and began to dig the holes for them to put them in. One little guy just set his on the trail and proceeded to try to pound it in. I showed him we have to dig a hole and bury it. (I don't think his is goin to make it!) then we covered them all up and that was it. The kids said "thats all!?" They were disappointed, and I was glad, I think they would have driven me crazy if there had been more! That Wed. one of the boys yelled down the street if the potatoes were up yet! This might be a long season! I'm not sure how to deal with 12 kids asking how their potato is doing every 2 days. Oh, well a good experience.

Dad

What A Conference!
It was great to go to Angies and watch on the superscreen. I heard a lot about temples and the covenants we make to get there and be there. Good food and good company hearing the word, it can't get much better than that.
We have split two wards to make three last week. So after the last session we had some calls to make and new bishopric to train.
Mom is in Arkansas with Cherm and Shawn and Anderson (of course) the triplets and Cherm seen to be getting along ok. Though Cherm is now on a month or so of bed rest to keep them from coming too soon.
Mike and Anne just had their third, we are worring that this baby may not get a name. They seem to be having a hard time coming up with a proper monicle. He was induced early because of just very big kid syndrome. Still over 9 pounds and 22.5 inches long. Another BYU linebacker.
Life is good!

How High Can Y0u Go?
Mom and I had Fall Break this last weekend. So we thought we would go to Gunlock and see how the cabin is coming along. Thursday we drove down in time to take Grandma and Grandpa Anderson to Tuachan to see "Les Miserables". Of Course we stopped in Beaver to the cheese plant to get some curds and ice cream cones...we sort of plan our trip around making sure the cheese plant is open. Anyway "Les Miz" was good and we had a fun time.
The cabin sure has a different look to it now! I don't know if it is for sure flood proof, but it is really up in the air. They had to jack the whole house up over ten feet and then pour the footings and bearing walls, pretty amazing! Of course Grandma had plenty of work for us to do, but it wasn't bad at all. I thought you might like to see some pictures of the project. The interior 1st floor isn't complete yet; still new flooring to put down but it is looking pretty good, just different.