Visit to Carl and Velvet's family

We need to visit Carl and Velvet more often. When we first arrived Kate examined Grandpa and then asked her Dad, "Who's that boy?" But it didn't take long to make friends.

We did a lot of fun things. We went swimming twice.  I taught Grandpa my aquatic exercises. The girls are little fish. 

We went to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point which is purported to be the largest in the world. It was well worth seeing. There were many varieties of dinosaurs I'd never heard of.

On Saturday Velvet went to a boutique to peddle her wares so Carl went to the Primary inservice meeting to give the talk she'd prepared on service. I tagged along. He did a good job and made it entertaining as well. He threw in an example of his own about service. I didn't remember this story. Our house got t.p.ed quite a bit. He thought it was a form of showing affection for his big sisters. So one night a boy t.p.ed our house and Eldon went out and yelled at the boy who began running down the street. He fell and skinned up his knees so Eldon brought him home and administered first aid.

There were a lot of animals at Carl and Velvet's--Capote and Puffo and Harold in the Olsen clan, a huge dog and another cat they were petsitting for Velvet's folks, plus the Kolbs live downstairs now and they have 2 cats. Sometimes we felt like we were in a zoo. 

We played games and went on walks. We went to church on Sunday. They have a nice ward except the music director is pretty much ineffectual. (My mission president used to tell us never to criticize unless we could do it better ourselves.) The SS class was motivational--made me want to endure to the end.  

Esther's 16th Birthday

We were able to be at dinner on Esther's 16th Birthday.

We got everyone to describe interesting and positive things about her.

1. Esther goes to bed earlier than anyone else in the house, except Metta (the cat). She gets herself up for Seminary every morning. She's dedicated like that.
2. She has a sultry, melodic, resonant voice.
3. She got a perfect report card which is posted on the wall.
4. She smells good.
5. She's able to be patient with little brothers.
6. She takes over domestic duties in the home in her mother's absence.
7. She's feminine, or as Emily says, "girly."

Esther--we love you.

Grandsons' Hair Styles

This last visit to Brenda's I noticed Berkeley's hair looked remarkably good. He admitted to styling it when it gets long.

Sam is contented with his hair style. He says he likes it long. Maybe to hide behind? I don't know. In any case, it sure is shiney.

Emily's friend, Jason- updated

I had a request from Zachary for a better picture of Jason so he'll be sure to recognize him.

I now see why my Grandpa Fugal would just pat us on the head and say, "So it's you, is it?" (He had so many grandchildren he couldn't keep track of their names.)
Not that Jason is a grandchild. He's a friend of a grandchild. His name is Jason Campbell. His parents, Courtney and Marie Campbell, live in our ward. He's the second of four children. His birthday is on July 2nd! He just returned from a mission to Japan. He's an Eagle Scout. His project was building bird houses for wood ducks and bat boxes for Crystal Lake Park. He played soccer and was a sprinter in track. He coaches a 4th/5th grade team in basketball. He went to Xavier University in Cincinatti, Ohio for 2 years before his mission. He's transferring to the University of Washington next fall where he'll major in business and Japanese. He likes to sing and dance (not at the same time).

Jessica's New Friend

I thought you'd be curious to meet Jessica's new friend, Aaron Painter. Brenda introduced them and his family lives across the street from the Andruses. He was in Brenda's SS class. He is the eldest of five boys. He was born the same month as Jessica. He draws and writes books and songs. He plays the piano and guitar. He runs cross country. He's an Eagle Scout. His project was to collect coats for the DI. He's planning on a mission! A very nice boy.

The Power of the Priesthood

We have a good friend named Marie Cook. She's a widow and a recent convert. She's in our FHE group and is also my visiting teacher so we know her pretty well.

Sunday she called from the Salem Hospital wanting to know if I knew anyone who could come and administer to her sister who has stage 4 cancer and a blood clot in her lungs. Her sister isn't a member, but she was willing to have a blessing. I gave her Jeff's phone number and he got a neighbor and came right over. Marie said he gave a beautiful blessing and immediately her sister's face went from panic and pain to at peace and comforted.

The next day they did scans and found no more blood clots and the medication they've given her is reducing the one she has. She's feeling much better.  Marie is very grateful and we're proud of our grandson.