Hooray for Fathers

Just to set the record straight, unless I have messed up again ( I have already lost all of the pictures once), here are pictures of the fathers in the family plus some of their loved ones. Norda and I want you all to know how much we love each of you.

JWE holding Bill in the delivery room of the Salt Lake County hospital.

Bob holding John at Bear Lake.

Bill and three daughters at Beaver.

Jake holding Polly at Salt Lake Temple.

Jim holding Emily in our front room.

Tom teaching Alex to ski at Beaver.

Chad playing a duet with Sarah at Christmas program.

Matt and Koebe watching a Red Sox game in Boston.

Lorin holding Polly (? Bruce).

Tyler trying to feed Max some licorise.

John holding Jack.

JD holding Nashtyn.

Adam holding Merrick.

Neal Maxwell wrote the following: "A father who loves his children, and who is truly striving, for instance, to become a better man, sends off to his children all kinds of messages, in a variety of ways, that let them know he loves them and that he is a serious disciple of Jesus Christ. Then his children can more easily forgive him the tactical errors, because his basic message is intact: he believes in God and he cares for his family."

And may it ever be so!

Welcome home Sister Lundberg

BAM!

For you WWII buffs, this was not THE Battle at Midway, rather, the Battle at Midway

After chilly 1 mile swim in Deer Creek, John rolls by the Hamlet at mile 11 of his 22 mile bike ride

A Big Smile as he sees his fans lining the road ahead

Well that was fun, now what should we do?

It's hard to picture a more beautiful setting for a run than Soldier Hollow

The home stretch

'Hook 'em Horns' or is it just 'Hang Loose'?

Congratulations to John for another strong finish!

Evelyn Leatham Smith Funeral

Two years ago, Evelyn traveled to Irvine with Pam to attend Michael's mission farewell (pictured above outside the Irvine Stake Center). When she found out she had cancer two months ago, her first thought was that she hoped she could hold on long enough to see her two missionaries come home - Michael on July 3 and Jacob Smith on August 18. She decided against chemo and dialysis but hoped that the port to drain fluid from her kidneys and bladder would give her extra time.

It was not to be. She took a turn for the worse a couple of weeks ago. The day before John and Beth left for their two week trip to Asia, John was able to give his grandma a Priesthood blessing that was very inspired and powerful. I was very proud to be able to stand beside him as he blessed his grandma. During the next two weeks he checked in frequently with me to get updates on Grandma's status and was able to talk to her once by phone. When he and Beth landed last Saturday evening in SLC they drove directly to Logan to see grandma. She recognized John. John said, "Hi Grandma" and she replied, "Hi John". He said, "I love you" and she replied, "I love you". John told her a little about her trip and then left. Kristin was also with grandma that night and was able to tell her she loved her. After John, Beth and Kristin left, the 6 siblings had some time with Evelyn and then Rod, Annie and Pam found a spot to lay down for some sleep. Sometime after 2AM, Rod checked on his mom and found that she had passed away. Annie and Pam joined Rod at her bedside and Craig, Jana and Mark arrived back at the house within a few minutes.

It is impossible to put into words how proud I am of Annie and her sisters for the round the clock care they provided their mother these past few weeks. It was a very difficult and stressful task and their performance was stellar. The three sons were also very dutiful, but there were many things related to Evelyn's care that only the daughters were able to do.

The 3rd west neighbors were very impressed at the flood of cars parked in the driveway for the past 3-4 weeks. It was a pleasure to chat with many of them last night at the Mortuary. One of my favorite mortuary moments came in my conversation with Heber Lundberg. He told me of a time in the early 60's when Annie's dad, Jack Smith, and his brother, Strat, stopped by to get some gas for their new Dodge 4X4 trucks. Jack told Heber that "The only difference between a 2 wheel drive and a 4 wheel drive is that you have a longer walk out when you get stuck with a 4 wheel drive".

Pallbearers - Jed Smith, Brett Smith, Rod Smith, Andy Hansen on the left and Mike Hansen, Craig Smith, Mark Smith and Bob Emmett on the right. Mike Hansen filled in for Brian who was not able to make the trip from Miami. We really missed Brian and Michael. First I booked Brian's flights for the wrong day, but once we got that straightened out his flight from Miami was going to be delayed so that he would miss his connection in Dallas. We looked at flying him to Vegas or LAX but decided it would not work out. As it turns out, he would not have been able to get home tonight either as all flights in and out of Dallas tonight have been delayed or canceled due to weather.

John getting ready to dedicate the grave. He did an awesome job - just as we all expected.

Jack was less interested in a photo op and more interested in being a 'tad'

Six Great Kids - Pam, Mark, Annie, Craig, Jana and Rod (l-r)

There were many tears shed today. I think this picture of Kristin and Annie at Evelyn and Jack's gravesite after the funeral is very touching. Annie spoke for 5 minutes today at the funeral was did an incredible job both in words spoken and her ablility to maintain her composure. All six of the siblings spoke and did a great job. Many tears, but also plenty of smiles and laughs were shared.

Thank you to all for your kind words, thoughts and prayers during these past few weeks. Bill and Lorie (Lorie is part of the 3rd West / 3rd Ward family) were at the mortuary last night and the funeral today. Tom and mom were able to leave dad alone for an hour this morning and visited before the funeral in Hyrum. Flowers from the Emmett family and Smith family (Lorie's siblings) were much appreciated and very beautiful.

"....... to the Ball Game"

Alex's new love for the season is Baseball. He started playing with the neighborhood kids and getting some pitching tips from a 15 year old who is on the LHS team. This is a pitching sequence. Now I just need to keep him away from female fertility drugs...

I didn't even know he was going to pitch or wanted to. He was the first pitcher, struck out the first batter and loves it. Not to mention the team is the Red Socks

home sweet home

After only 33 hours at the new Intermountain Medical Center in Murray Marie and I retuned home to Springville Tuesday afternnon. Jamie Lundberg (thanks Jamie!) came over Sunday night so that she could get Joel up and off to BYU soccer camp by 7:30 (Will went with Joel to watch--thanks to neighbor Catrina Jensen for doing that). Sarah then spent the morning at the Bowers family. Grandma and grandpa Tueller came that afternoon and stayed with the kids until we returned on Tuesday. Marie and I drove up for our 5:30 appointment. As dad mentioned I was very touched by Dr. Bishoff's prayer prior to surgery. On Sunday Evening my two counsellors came over to give me a blessing. That along with being on the top of mom's prayer list (sorry Bob--I hope you get a job soon) and having the collective prayers of the Emmett and Tueller families and the 18th ward seemed to do the job. I had considered staying a second night but then when Marie talked to her mom and we found out that Will had a tempertaure and was not doing very well we decided to come home. It was a good decision. Will needed his mom and I slept much better in my own bed than with having talkative nurses come in to my hospital room every two hours during the night. I am typing this standing up because I'm not to sit upright in chairs for any length of time and because I am suppose to stand and walk a lot to avoid blood clots. I will have the cathater in for two weeks and so will not be driving or doing much until then. I am pretty sore across the stomach where the five small incisions were made, but other than that I am on the mend and doing well.

Jack & Lily Emmett

I think these photos say it all! Super Cute Kids. Special THANKS to my cousin for her house, the field and helping take these pictures.

Update on Chad's Surgery

Chad with measles in 1963

Norda and I just got back from visiting Chad and Marie in the Intermountain Medical Center in SLC. He was alert and in good spirits but was also having some pain from the prostate surgery. He had an endoscopic robotic removal of his prostate (which uses small instruments inserted through the abdominal wall to accomplish the surgery rather than having to make an incision through the abdominal wall to get to the prostate) and according to the surgeon, who has done 3000 operations like this, everything went well. His assumption is that, because the nerves separated so well from the prostate, that the tumor hadn't spread but the final report from the pathologist won't be availabe for 2 or 3 more days. The surgeon asked Chad and Marie if it would be OK if he said a prayer before they left the room for surgery - very touching and, apparently, effective! Chad will most likely spend 2 or 3 nights in the hospital before he is released but, so far, everything looks good. If anything changes, we will put an update on the blog. Sorry, but no pictures are available yet so I have added something from the past just for fun.