In loving memory of JoAnn Emmett Hickman

 JoAnn Emmett Hickman passed away after a long battle with cancer on Sunday morning June 10, 2012. She was surrounded by her six daughters and their families. These are photos of her that were stored on her brother John's computer.

JoAnn on the lap of her oldest sister Lucile

JoAnn Emmett and John Emmett. The two youngest children of Roland and Harriet Dudley Emmett

 JoAnn (second from left) with her mother Harriet (second from right)

 The six children on Roland and Harriet: Lucile, Dorothy, Pat, Dud, John and JoAnn (center)

 Harriet and her six children. JoAnn is second from the right in the back.

 JoAnn and Martin Hickman with the first five of their six daughters: Allison, Patricia, Heather, Melissa, Betsey and Anne.

JoAnn and Melissa

 

Emmett Family reunion in the Hickman Backyard

 

Harriet (center top) with two sisters Emily and Thelma, JoAnn  (center bottom) with two sisters Pat and Lucy

Allison, Patricia, Heather, Melissa, Betsey and Anne.

Sleeping siblings

Bother John and his wife Norda with JoAnn. In this 2010 photo both John and JoAnn were dealing with cancer. Both succumbed at age 83, the same age Harriet died.

 Matriarch JoAnn with some of her loving daughters, nieces and nephew.


I have so many happy memories of this wonderful, happy, talented, loving, outspoken, "tired and nervous" aunt. I remember as a young boy her coming to our home and always quizzing us boys if we had helped our mom fold the laundry. It was only much later in life that I realized that laundry folding was not being done in her home either.

During my graduate school years at BYU, I delighted in regular Sunday dinners at the Hickman home. She was a great cook. I think some of us even believed her when she said that if the dessert had been frozen then there were no more calories.

In 1989 during my dissertation research year in Nazareth, JoAnn and Martin were living in Jerusalem where he was the first director of the BYU Jerusalem Center. I spent a few weeks when I first arrived and then many weekends after that staying in their apartment. I was treated like one of the family. On several occasions Martin and JoAnn would pick me up in Nazareth and I would help show their visitors around the Galilee. When my parents came to visit along with Aunt Pat, Patricia, Heather and Betsey we all were invited to a delicious dinner at the home of Ehab Abunuwara's parents in Nazareth. Dessert was delicious kenaffeh--soft goat cheese with a layer of butter soaked shredded wheat on top and then doused in syrup (not the best heart healthy food). The Hickman daughters at one end of the table were not that thrilled with the dessert. Nearby Martin, however loved it. After his heart attack, JoAnn had been very vigilant in making sure Martin prolonged his life by eating right. But on this occasion, she was distracted by all of the good company. It wasn't until Martin had polished off the desserts of his three daughters that JoAnn from the other end of the table noticed the four empty plates in front of her husband. She let out a loud "Martin" with which he knew that he had been caught with his hands in the proverbial Arab cookie jar.
 

Emmett Cousins in DC

 

 Diane Dorius (#1 of Lucille Emmett Dorius and eldest of the 27 Emmett Cousins), Chad Emmett (#3 of John Emmett and #19 of the cousins) and Judy Nelson (#3 of Dorothy Emmett Nelson) at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington DC. It was great to spend an afternoon with cousins.

happy birthday kristin

Since I never post I thought this was a great time to talk me!  While all my friends are getting married and having babies I am just getting more awesome.  Here are a few photos from the iphone.

 A friend posted this on her blog and thought I would post for the family.

The Knots Prayer:
Dear God,
Please untie the knots that are in my mind, my heart and my life.
Remove the have nots, the can nots and the do nots that I have in my mind.
Erase the will nots, may nots, might nots that may find a home in my heart.
Release me from the could nots, would nots and should nots that obstruct my life.
And most of all, Dear God, I ask you to remove from my mind, my heart and my life all of the 'am nots' that I have allowed to hold me back, especially the thought that I am not good enough.
Amen

Happy Graduation and Anniversary

 The happy couple on their wedding day, April 24, 2009

 A few years later at Ben's graduation.

 Clara, Ben and Courtney ready to 'go forth to serve'

 Molly, Ben and Erin

Celebration dinner. 

2012 graduates

Well it's that time of year again when anxious graduates get to show the world all they have accomplished. This year Colonel Brandon is included in that. Not just with his undergrad (which I have yet to complete), but with his Juris Doctorate. Wahoo! I cannot adequately express how proud I am of him. These last three years have been fun but I must say I'm excited for the next stage. I know he will find something he loves soon, but tomorrow we're just going to focus on the here and now and celebrate that he's done and the fact that we all survived.

Welcome to the family, Henry Clark Pierson

Nothing like a cranial IV to make a kid look tough. 

The nurses wanted Henry to get his sleep so I don't have a photo showing the new mom holding her 7 pound, 7 ounce, 21 inch long newborn son.  I do get to show that she's still a proud mama.

Congratulations Clark and Laura.  Ya done grand!



Hazel Sue Fotheringham

The world  became an even more beautiful place with the arrival for Hazel Sue Fotheringham on March 14th at 3:40 p.m. 

Congratulations to Paige and Lorin!

Spring Break "Dropping" in Jackson Hole

For Sam's quick spring break from school and her 2 jobs, Alex, Sam, and I pilled in the car late Sunday night and headed for Jackson Hole to ski Teton Village.  The kids have never skied there and I haven't for many years and we found it to big one big play ground.  The weather cooperated with semi sunny or kinda cloudy spring conditions. Here are a couple of the videos.

kids now days....

Alex loved this park with the jumps.

We learned park educate from the ski classes.. You yell "next drop" to be the next in line and "dropping" when you are ready to go so no one else cuts you off.  This kinda works most of the time but some folks can't figure it out. No doubt they are the drivers in the left lane going slower then the speed limit.

Sam and Alex liked this BIG table.

JH have built "Stash" parks found in the trees with mostly natural hits, jumps, tables, rails and other playful wood terrain type things.

This is Sam and Alex hitting a curved wall to a big wall.  They both loved it.  

Katie Goes to the Prom

Katie and Kyle dressed up for Logan High's Junior Prom.  Where has our little girl gone . . .?  We're too old for this.

Sweet 16 for McKinley

Look what happened 16 years ago.  This girl came into the world to remind us to smile.

Mac's first birthday party 

somebody unrolled the toilet paper and laughed 

Happy Sweet 16 Birthday McKinley

Snowbird Time Machine

Yesterday, John and I enjoyed a few hours of epic powder skiing at Snowbird.  After 3 days of storms with 48" in 72 hours and 13" overnight - the powder hounds were lined up for miles waiting for Little Cottonwood Canyon to open.  Traffic started moving at about 9:00AM and we were on the mountain at 9:50.  We stayed on GAD II lift all morning.  It was a wise decision.  Word was that the tram line was longer than ever.  Little Cloud didn't open until about 10:30 and Mineral Basin was closed until 1:00

There are a few more photos over at my blog.

 That's me above in my new white coat and John below in blue on Violator Bowl.  You'll just have to take my word that I'm wearing my volcano pants.  I don't remember if John was even wearing pants....

Following in Dad's Footsteps

Spent the afternoon in the garage creating some garage art.  I think I like it.

 "Following in Dad's footsteps"

 Circa 1960. Generations 1 and 2 of the Skiing Emmetts

 The eighties. Generations 2 and 3

Pool House construction is underway

 The day the foundation was poured we had 5 cement trucks lined up in the open space west of the house.  If you look close you can see the rectangle area for the swim spa, an 'L' shaped garage area on the south and west side that will be used for an equipment room (furnace, water heater) as well as for storage (lawn mower, garden equipment, outside furniture, ATV and horse tack).  There is also a small 5X7' cold storage room for garden potatoes and apples.

 Here comes the swim spa!  I spent Saturday afternoon installing additional gravel on the south side of the bike path in an attempt to help the heavy equipment have a better chance of staying on the bike path and not rolling into the creek.

Stuart, the crane operator, guides the spa down the narrow bike path. 

 Up, up and away

 Perfect Fit

The two Spa delivery guys and the crane operator all sent me text messages asking for a copy of the photos.  They did such a good job I treated them to lunch at Barbacoa.  

The framers start tomorrow. 

I wonder if we can get the real Michael Phelps to stop by for a swim lesson

Alex's 3 Generations of Skiers

Alex's health class assignment about traditions, family history and ancestors. What better project?

You had me at the word 'hike'

 Bill owns Beaver's backside

 "You had me at the work 'hike'"  Yup, you don't have to ask Bill twice 

 Yes, that is Bill with a Diet DP and a 'true to his 60's roots' Peace Sign on his helmet.  As is almost always the case, these were the best two skiers on the mountain.  Neither one even flinches at a steep pitch with wind-blown crud and a tight fit between rock and trees.  Butter. Silk. Smooth as. Always.

 Tres bros in our camo gear.  Bill and Tom both look dapper in green.  Not sure the same can be said of my 'Ocean' blue jacket or my 'volcano' pants.

Happy 60th!

Happy 60th Birthday to Father Bill (yesterday). Last night we had a small surprise party for him at Allison's house in which we came up with 25 trivia questions about him...how many can you answer?

1. How many pets did Bill have as a child and what were their names?
2. Where is Bill favorite place to ski?
3. What age did Bill learn to ski?
4. Where did Bill learn to ski?
5. Where did Bill go on his mission?
6. Where was Bill born?
7. How much did it cost Grandpa and Grandma to have Bill in 1952?
8. Where did Bill live when he had to pass a HUGE FEROCIOUS CHILD EATING dog going to school? And what grade was he in?
9. How old was Bill when he finally slept through the night? And what made him sleep through the night?
10. Where did Bill first learn to ice skate?
11. How many times has Bill hiked and skied the Wellsvilles?
12. How many times has Bill hiked the Tetons?
13. How old was Bill when he spent a night on Logan Peak during a thunder / lightning storm?
14. What was Bill’s first job?
15. What instrument did Bill play in Logan High School’s Band?
16. What instruments has Bill played or attempted to play in his lifetime?
17. What was Bill’s first car?
18. Who was Bill babysitting when they all threw up and Bill covered the throw up with a towel?
19. Can you name all the places Bill has lived?
20. How many marathons has Bill completed? Or almost completed?
21. What age did Bill start teaching? And where was his first job?
22. What song would Bill sing when he got his hair cut?
23. How did Bill break his leg and what kind of break was it?
24. Who were the co-producers in a film Bill made in High School? What was the film about?
25. And last but not least...Which one of Bill’s girlfriends is STILL IN LOVE with him and wishes she were here right now?

Thanks to Grandma Norda for helping with the trivia questions. I learned a couple new things about my Dad such as the song he sang while getting his hair cut and that he was quite the film producer.

Happy Birthday Dad! We Love You!