Manti Temple Rhubarb Custard Pie

They serve the following at the temple cafeteria all of the time during the summer. However, when I got the recipe from Nellie (Cafeteria Manager), it was for 50 people. It called for 8 lbs rhubarb; 30 eggs, beaten; 5 c sugar; 1 c flour, etc. I hope my math is close. Nellie said that, while the recipe makes a great pie like the ones she had in France as a girl, at the temple they pour it into a baking dish (the adapted recipe would go into a 13”X9” pan. They serve it as a scoopful in a custard dish and topped with whipped cream.) This may be the only rhubarb recipe I really like.

Ingredients:
Fruit:
2 1/2 c. rhubarb, diced (3/8" pieces)
Custard:
6 eggs (US large)
1 1/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 c flour
(The cookbook recipe I have calls for 1 2/3 c milk in addition to the other ingredients..)
Procedure:
(If you use to make a pie, preheat oven to 375 F. Prepare your favorite pie crust in sufficient quantity for a 9-inch, one crust pie. Put the pastry in a 9" pie pan and bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven. This helps assure a fully baked crust under all of the liquid.) Reduce oven to 325 F. While crust is baking, prepare fruit. Wash and dice rhubarb. Prepare custard: In a large bowl, beat eggs together. Mix dry ingredients separately. Add eggs. Mix well. Put fruit in (partially) pre-baked pie shell. Spread evenly. Pour custard over fruit. There should be enough custard that the fruit floats, but not so little fruit that pieces of fruit will float apart. Bake an hour (or more), until custard is set. Serve cool. Refrigerate for storage (This is eggs, after all.)

The Old Folks At Home

It has been another busy month for us. We have rushed about from here to there. No, we have not finished the sprinkling system yet. Who knows, it may be the job that never ends. (She sings: “This is the job that never ends, it just goes on and on, my friend. Some people started doing it not knowing what it was and they’ll continue doing it forever, just because . . .”

We traveled to Kirsten and Jared’s home for Ryan’s blessing. It was great to be there for that special occasion in their lives. Jared’s sister and family, his parents and one young (the baby of the family) brother, and his brother (who lives nearby) and his family were all there. Todd and family were also present. It was a great day filled with good food and visits with family.

We had a long trip home. One of the tunnels was closed and we had to go up the side of the mountain at the Continental Divide. That would have been fine but we followed a row of semitractor trailer units up the mountain (one hauling a manufactured home) at approximately 5 mph. That trip was 22 miles. We finally arrived at Cove Fort where we picked up Erin and Donovin for a rushed visit. When we took them back to Cove Fort to meet David and Barbara, Bree’s co-workers called to tell David that Bree had just been rushed to the hospital. I know what she felt like, somewhat, not entirely. I had a tubular pregnancy between Todd and Eric but was lucky that my tube didn’t split. (Thanks to Dr. Francis.)

Kirsten, Jared and family spent Saturday night and Sunday morning with us last week. They went with Kimberly and kids to Lagoon on Wednesday. Kirsten visited with AnnMarie and family on Thursday and Friday while Jared was in his dental conference. He said he learned a lot and was glad he and family had come. They got caught in that crunch of the new rules on what can be taken on board the airliner. They also got caught in the road repair nightmare between Nephi and the Point of the Mountain.

On Wednesday, Aug. 16, we celebrated Rachel’s one-year birthday with cake, ice cream and fun. We had enough kids, with the E. Trauntveins, Howards and Joneses to have quite a party. She enjoyed her cake, white with chocolate frosting, but her siblings only liked the frosting. Oh, well. She was the birthday girl!

We finished up the summer tending the family of AnnMarie and the family of Eric. Now everyone has started back to school and are in the swing of things again. 

I went to Provo to baby-sit Rachel, Matthew and A.J. AnnMarie won her jury trial although she will tell you she wasn’t at her best. She must have done something right, however, because the jury found the woman guilty.

I did get to watch Matthew play soccer. He was a defender and blocked the ball from going into the net so his team could take it back down the field for a goal. I was also scared out of my wits when A.J. came up missing from inside the house. He had decided to walk down to Seven Peaks on his own. It ended happily for me because we found him and unhappily for him because I swatted him on his bottom. (I have not learned better in all these years. I still swat when I get scared. I don’t believe in it, but I do it.)

Jim’s summer help has gone back to school and Dad has started pitching in again. Jim is working to make his warehouse ready so that he can extract honey there this next month. His uncle wants Jim to have his own place. A water well has been dug and electricity has been run to the wearhouse. Jim is going to haul his recreation trailer over and make it permanent. The state says that you must have electricity, power and toilets and a place to wash up before you can extract honey. The trailer will fill the requirement for toilet, shower and washbasin.

Shawn and Kimberly are still looking for a van to replace the one they had. It threw a rod as they were starting on their family trip to the scout family camp. More fun! They still went to the camp but have not decided whether to replace the van with a different one or to fix up the one they have by putting in a new motor.

Eric is working hard to get the truck and camper his father-in-law gave them fixed up for our Labor Day family outing.

As you can see, I have contributions this month from only Melanie, David and Todd’s families. The rest of you, I guess, decided that the end of summer was too hectic to take time to write. I hope we have better luck next month.

We are looking forward to our campout. It will be nice to have a few days together. I hope that all of you who are coming and the cousins will all enjoy the fun. (I also hope I will keep my foot out of my mouth for the entire occasion. I open my mouth and disengage my brain. I hope, one day before I die, that I will learn to say what I mean and not what I say that is not what I mean but sounds like it may be. Confused? Me too. Maybe I should just apologize in advance.)

Oh! Hi! Oh!

Well, we all made it back home and are in the swing of things. While the family was gone, we had a neighbor checking in on the cats and feeding them. One of the cats, Tiger, must not have liked her because we still have not seen him. Other than that, all is well. The garden is growing. We have tomatoes, cucumbers and squash. We have a couple of melons out there as well, but they are not growing very fast. I hit the biggest on with the weedwhacker, so it is no more.

Hailey would be able to crawl, if she wanted to. She gets into the position and then just rocks back and forth. When she gets bored with that, she goes back to sitting. She scoots around pretty good and cleans up all the little particles on the floor that the other three leave lying around. She really is quite the joy. Emily is going to go to a new dance and gymnastics location this year. It is only 10 miles from home and a straight shot down 62. They offer better facilities and better equipment, so we will see how that goes. She is starting 2nd grade and is excited to get back to school next week.

Tyler is playing soccer, his all-time favorite sport. He loves being on the field with the other kids. The age group for him is 9-11, so he is one of the youngest, but not the shortest. He is going into 3rd grade next week. He is a little upset that his best friend does not have the same teacher, so we'll keep our eye on that situation with him.

Michael is in the 8th grade. His school time was moved to 7:20 am this year. The district says they have to consolidate bus schedules because of budget constraints. Of course, when a child can ride a bus 6 blocks to school, I think there is some over-busing that happens. He is excited by the prospect of 8th grade, because that means that next year, he is in high school. He will get to go to DC with his 8th grade class this year. They spend a week there in March. That should be exciting.

Amy is back into the swing of running the house and keeping the RS women active with her enrichment committee. She had a fun activity at a member's home last night and over 30 sisters participated. That was the best turnout they have had.

I am going to do a little traveling in the next couple of months as well as being the scoutmaster. I will be in Seattle the week of September 10th and in Las Vegas the week of November 5th. Work is going well and busy as ever. The kids are looking forward to going to Melanie's for Thanksgiving this year. I don't know if Melanie is ready for that.

That's us. Have a great month and know that we love you. Remember, no matter how difficult your struggles may be, you can always find someone who is a little worse off than you and if you can find some time to help them, you will be blessed for that. Sometimes, all you have time to do is fast and pray and to share of your oblations with the poor and the needy.

The Fantastic Five

Well it is August again and we are definitely getting hotter down in St. George. We spend all our time working and when we are not working, at the pool.

Arbree is starting to feel her age and David makes fun of her on a daily basis that she is getting closer and closer to 30. I keep telling him 29, 29, 29 but he just smiles and nods his head. As all of you know this can be very infuriating. 

Grandma Barbara has been under the weather but seems to be doing better in the long run. She needs to go to the doctor. A little help here please. She is as stubborn as most of the Trauntveins. I keep telling her that I married into the right family. 

Erin starts school on the 12th and is already planning her wardrobe and is more excited about school shopping than about school. I think she is going to be a handful when she gets older. She is such a little girl already. Donovin I think is a little jealous and is feeling left out so

mom's going to have to plan some special things for him. Dad wants Erin to ride the bus. Both Grandma and Mom are not so sure about this. I think she might be a little to young yet. Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated. I cannot fathom a 6 year old riding the bus yet all by herself. I guess if someone is there to pick her up.

We have decided to put Donovin in either Pee Wee Football or Little league Baseball or Tee Ball. He has aggression that we have decided needs a positive outlook. We are also looking at karate or Judo, but I think we have to wait till he is fully potty trained. He is doing well when we remind him. If we don't I think he forgets.

So this is another month to look forward to and we are doing well. I have been doing ok with my sobriety. I have slipped a couple of times but I am trying. I am in intensive therapy group three times a week. A program that I found myself to help me cope with the daily stresses in my life. I have been going to three sessions a week for three hours a night and have focused on staying sober and happy. David has been very supportive and I thank the family for standing by me and doing all they can to be supportive in my recovery. I hope that you are all well and we love you and can't wait till the Labor Day camp out. We have both been planning on it and are very excited. It will be good to see everyone before this year is out.

Happy Wanderings.

Boston Baked Boltons

Okay, so the month of June was a quick one. It ended up with Howard, Melanie and Braden participating in a Pioneer Trek for three days and two nights. It was quite and interesting experience. Melanie and Howard were parents of nine children, aged fourteen to eighteen. There were six girls and three boys. The girls were amazing! We were very challenged by our boys. They were a constant drag on the handcart and the girls ended up pulling and pushing more than the three boys did. We had the allest and presumably, the heaviest of the handcarts, with the tallest and supposedly strongest young man (not so!). We took everything the Stake told us to take, and it was to our detriment. If we had been on the Plains, we would have pitched out a few of our items to be left to the Plains Marauders.

The first day it was hot and humid, but the sky was overcast with clouds, which was a blessing. There was a good breeze, which was also a blessing. We hiked six miles that day, which doesn’t seem like much, except when you are pushing/pulling a 1200-pound handcart. We had a few sandy, steep hills that required all our help and several times we stopped to help those in front and those behind us to get the carts up the hills. We learned that it doesn’t work to try and do things on your own. The cart behind crashed and split the frame. Luckily for us, someone had Duct Tape (no, not Pioneer style) and taped the cart together, which held for the rest of the trip.

The first night we corralled our handcarts in a very haphazard and unorganized fashion. Our boys wandered off several times and the girls set up their own camp in an organized and timely fashion. They also assisted with dinner and clean up. We then had a fireside and went to bed. About an hour after we turned in for the night, the heavens lighted up with the most amazing lightning storm that I have ever beheld in the out of doors. When I first woke up to the light display, I thought that someone was playing the “flashlight strobe-light” game that is so common on camp outs. It wasn’t that, there were lightning strikes every thirty to forty seconds (as timed on my watch). The interesting thing about camping in the East is that most of the time, there are large clearings, surrounded by trees and that is where we tend to set up the tents.

Howard and I were in one of our own tents and the girls in our family were in another of the Bolton family tents. We knew that we would be dry and relatively safe. Howard and I went back to sleep. A few hours later, we heard a “knocking” on our tent door that startled us out of sleep. It was Braden. He was soaked and so was his sleeping bag, which he had left behind in his tent. He had abandoned his pioneer family to come to his eternal family. Howard and I shared a sleeping bag over and under the top of Braden. An hour later, we heard his tent mates. The tent had collapsed. It was a torrential rainstorm and they were all wet. But instead of going back to sleep in other tents, the other boys proceeded to wake the entire camp at 5:00. I wasn’t happy. Howard reminded me of the shirt that he had purchased me: Sometimes I wake up happy, sometimes I let her sleep. I tried to change my attitude. The boys were so loud and so rude. It reminded me of the scripture that Satan wants others to be miserable, like unto himself. My attitude changed.

We got rolling after making breakfast, cleaning up and breaking camp. We then walked for another three miles. We came to a stop when we met Brigham Young and a member of the United States government (who is actually a General in the modern day Mormon Battalion, his great-great- grandfather had been in the original unit), who called out all our young men and a few leaders to serve in the Mormon Battalion. The young women then had to proceed for two miles on their own and push their handcarts, unaided by men, up a very steep hill. I relied on my Heavenly Father’s help and some very determined young women, to help us up that hill. We knew that we could do most anything, because we had been given the boys that didn’t do much. Still it was very hard work and I was glad that Howard could help out after that. The young men came back after a long march in the hot sandy dunes, we had our lunch, which consisted of a roll, water and a piece of battered fruit. Then we were rolling off again to our final destination. We walked another two miles and pulled into a better-organized camping system. We set up camp, and then participated in Pioneer games and lessons. That night we had a big dinner and fireside with Shane Jackman as our speaker. After Brother Jackman’s music, we divided back up into families and did an hour of square dancing. Then it was time for a much needed night of sleep. Braden again abandoned his family, as they didn’t have a tent for him and he slept with our family. I am not sure where the other five boys from that family slept. I think they just slept on the ground without cover.

On Saturday, the last day of the Trek, we had a great breakfast of old fashioned oatmeal, which most of our Pioneer family wouldn’t eat. It was a good thing we didn’t have to work very hard that day or I don’t know that they would have had the energy sufficient to carry it out. We broke camp and had a devotional. Then we had a wonderful Testimony meeting.

Where were Mikaela and Ben? My Second Counselor in the Young Women organization sent her husband and two daughters on the Trek, so she felt like she could handle my two children. They had a great time at Jennifer’s and made better friends with their children (who they were already friends with). They said that they were glad to be back as a family with us though. After that, we had a week together, we sent Braden off to National Youth Leader Training at the Boy Scout Camp, Squanto. He was chosen to go from our troop because he is the Senior Patrol Leader. He had a great time. He was worried at first when he got there and discovered that it was set up like Boot Camp. The leaders were all ex-Navy Seals. They knew what it was like to teach others how to behave. Braden learned that discipline doesn’t always have to cause conflict, which was a good thing. He also learned how to take orders and how to work with others. Overall, he ended up really enjoying his time there. When he was done with that, he left two days later for Utah and you all know the rest: he was there for a week, then went to Especially for Youth at BYU, stayed at AnnMarie’s, Grandma and Grandpa’s, and friends of Siovhan’s. He had a great

time and wanted to stay longer.

Ben went to Scout Camp the third week of July. He had two nights of thunderstorms, but at Squanto, they sleep in old army style tents with cement floors. He wasn’t too worried. The last night while doing Wilderness Survival, his lean-to that he had fashioned himself, leaked during an all night rainstorm and he ended up sleeping in a wet sleeping bag. He put his feet inside a plastic bag and then put a towel over the top of him. What resourcefulness. Needless to say, he was glad to come home and sleep in a solid house.

Mikaela has had several play dates, but more time with Mom than she realized that she would have. Most of her friends have been in Utah or on vacation or at Camp. She has had to do things with Mom that she didn’t know she would or could do. Her newest craft craze is Shrink Art, formerly called Shrinky Dinks. She loves to be social and looks forward to Achievement Night with a new found passion; much like us older girls look to Enrichment Night as a time to get away from those that we love so much.

Well, that is all for now. The Epistle of the Boltons is at an end for another month. Look to our next installment when we tell tales of our family trip to Montreal and Quebec, Quebec.

With love, Melanie and family

Snakes on a Stick or Campfire Grilled Logs.

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup butter or margarine

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tbsp. dried buttermilk powder

1-1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

1/2 tsp. baking soda

3/4 cup water

In a large bowl, rub the margarine or butter into the flour, buttermilk powder, cream of tartar and baking soda until it resembles a coarse meal. Store the mixture in a sealable plastic bag labeled Camp Dough. Write "Add 1 cup water" on the bag. When you are ready to mix up the dough, pour the water into the bag, stir (be sure you do not add too much or overmix) and bake. The dry mix travels well for about three days unless you are in a very hot and humid climate. Makes 2-1/2 cups.

For Snakes on a Stick: Use a dowl that is aboutabout 2 feet long and 1/2 inch in diameter as a roasting stick. Mix the dough and pull off a clump the size of a child's fist. Roll the dough into a long, thin snake shape. (Thin dough cooks easiest). Carefully twist and wrap it around the peeled end of the stick and pinch the dough ends so the snake doesn't fall off the stick. Roast it over the fire until brown and cooked through, then slip it off the stick to eat. This is delicious topped with butter and jam. Makes 1 serving.

*********************************************************

For Campfire Grilled Logs: Flatten a fist-size piece of dough into a rectangle that is large enough to cover the a piece of string cheese and about 1/4 inch thick. Roll the dough around the string cheese and seal tightly. Wrap the log in a buttered, double thickness of aluminum foil and place it on the coals or grill. With a pair of tongs, rotate the package until the dough is cooked on all sides (about 12 to 18 minutes). Unwrap and dip in mustard or ketchup. Makes 1 serving. There is an easier adaption to this recipe.nPurchase ready-made biscuit dough and wrap the stick with one biscuit. Brown over coals and carefully remove from stick. Roll in melted butter and then roll in sugar and cinnamon. Use wooden dowels wraped at the end and up further to keep from burning. Fill the campfire biscuits with jam or a little butter and honey. They would work with the wire campfire rosting sticks because they need something thicker in the center.

That Dratted Newsletter!

Todd: Ok. Quick question. Are we still doing the newsletter monthly? Amy and I made sure we got our information in last month and have not seen one coming out yet.

Hope all is well and that you had fun at the temple today.

Myrna: It was mailed mid-week. The place I had run it off made a mistake. They left out three pages and put page 11 on the back of page 7. I wasn't certain what to do about it but Kirsten said just to go ahead and mail it as is. I will copy the pages left out and you can insert them when they come next month. I am surprised, however, that you haven't received it yet. I guess they call it snail-mail for a reason, right?

Love, Mom

Kimberly: When are we going to start taking our months to be in charge of compiling and getting out the newsletter? Are we going in order Shawn to David?

Myrna: That was Dad talking, not me. He thought I put too much time into the newsletter last month and then had the girl do the printing who did it wrong. He thought I should have noticed. This is me talking, and now Dad knows, I like doing it. Julie could not help this month because Mary was ill. I did not mind but I did not know how to insert headers. Dad and I had something of an arguement about it just before we talked about it to you (Kimberly). Sorry. It helped, that those of you who heard about it (Kimberly and Kirsten) are willing to do a month. Dad had heard from a couple who thought doing it monthly was too much and thought I was, "As usual, just taking over and bossing everyone around." I am doing the newsletter this year. I am learning lots of new things, like how to insert headers. Love, Mom

From Barbara

Bree had surgery; she was pregnant, about 6-8 weeks, but the fetus had attached to the ovary, there was actually a heartbeat. Dr. said he hadn't seen anything like it but once in 17 years. The egg was fertilized before it entered the fallopian tube, and attached to the closest thing handy, to the ovary. The ovary and the fallopian tube were removed. She had bled a lot internally, about 1/3rd of her blood. She was sent home right after, the same day, which was way too soon. She started having a lot of pain on Saturday and her blood pressure dropped, we had to take her

back to the hospital. They kept her Sat night and then because she had lost so much blood and it wasn't replacing itself, she was given a transfusion yesterday. They sent her home last night. She seems to be doing OK this morning. I will have David call you guys as soon as he gets back; he took Erin to her first day of first grade this morning. 

Will talk to you later. 

Barbara.

Please help with genealogy

At you request, I will not send more to your address, Helen, because I understand that you need the computer free for your church calling. However, on these genealogy questions, I need help.

 I sent you the e-mail addresses of two of your cousins and the mailing address of one. I do have the information they are requesting. However, I do not have it in the computer, as yet. That is the next project. My Pitts genealogy turned out to be a more massive and on-going project than I ever thought. Back to the Trauntvein questions. As I understand, Faye and Connie are the daughters of your cousin. Their father grew up in Eureka and then moved to California. Their grandfather was Julius. The one sister, Connie, is a member, the other sister, Faye, is a Methodist. They have absolutely nothing! In fact, they do not even have their grandfather's name correctly. Faye thought it was Jens Henry Julius Trauntvein.

Could one of you correspond with them? I think that would probably be you, Eva. If not, do you have any of this on the computer or should I just photocopy the information I have and mail it to them?

Love, Myrna

MYRNA: EVA WOULD BE THE ONE TO RESPOND TO THIS WITH ALL THE INFORMATION
SHE HAS ON THE TRAUNTVEIN FAMILY- HOWEVER, SHE IS HAVING A MOST DIFFICULT
TIME HEALTH WISE RIGHT NOW AND IS NOT FUNCTIONING VERY WELL. SHE HAS SAID
SHE WILL TRY TO RESPOND BUT JUST DOEN'T KNOW HOW OR WHEN. YOUR TRIP TO
COLORADO WAS MOST WONDERFUL TO BE SURE. AM PLEASED TODD, AMY AND THE FAMILY
ARRIVED SAFELY HOME. LOVE HELEN.

The Old Folks at Home

I give up! I guess I am the only one who wants a newsletter this month. I have no submissions, other than the one I am doing. I will send it out as I have it prepared and you can all e-mail your responses. Then I can add them, or not, depending on what you all do. However, there is only a week left of July and the deadlines have come and gone and the reminders have been ignored. Some of you think we should do this every other month, but that would just mean that I would have to nag you every other month instead of every month as I now do. Then you would want to do this once every two months and then, not at all. I want to do this; I think it is a way to keep the family close since we are all so spread out. We love each other and it is nice to know what each person is doing. Some families have no idea where their cousins are or how they are. They would not know if a family member died. I do not want that to happen to our family. I want the cousins to be friends even in their old age. My grandmother (Smith) was still in contact with her cousins and siblings when she died. Grandpa Pitts was a great one for keeping in touch. We should take a note from them and do the same.

Since June, I have had the great privilege of taking care of a couple of moms, new babies and families. Julie, as you all know, went term with little Christene. Little Mary loves her baby sister and is not overly mothering but is happy to be helpful. Christene is a good baby, most of the time, and Julie is often able to get more than two hours sleep at a stretch. Julie had the great honor (?) of having both a mother-in-law and a mother move into her threebedroom home to stay for a couple of weeks. Then, oddly enough, both of us left to take care of daughters who were living in (or near) Colorado Springs and both of whom had babies.

Kirsten went into labor the first day of her move to her first house. After working all day, we went out to eat. She was sitting at the table and said she must be having Braxton Hicks contractions. I felt her tummy and told her they were real. Later that night she went to the hospital and gave birth to little Ryan during the early morning hours. Do not worry about his cleft lip. It will be repaired when he is approximately three-months old or is the right body weight. He will not have mental disability problems and his teeth and pallet are not involved so it will be an easier repair and he will be normal and will look great. (I already think he does look great! He is a handsome little fellow and has a sweet personality.) We got Kirsten completely moved, unpacked, all the boxes thrown away, and everything (except pictures) put away. She finally got her dryer installed the day I left so she had to do the laundry by herself. Her house is now livable and the family is enjoying it. I got to go the Air Force Academy in Colorado for the fireworks on the Fourth. It was fun. You have to have a card to get in so Jared’s and Kirsten’s friend took us in. Some of you did the parade in Provo (along with Grandpa) and the fireworks in Nephi.

Braden has been to visit and will be back for a few more days. He is a lot of fun. He has grown into a great guy and is helpful and thoughtful. It is nice to see him developing the traits that will make him a good missionary. AnnMarie took him to Seven Peaks and he lost the hair on one side of his leg because he brushed against the side of the tubing slot. It is quite funny looking because he has hairy legs and now has a bald spot on one.

Todd has been here and we have had a fun camping trip where many of you were able to come and spend a couple of days at our canyon. Except for a couple of bites here and there, everyone had a great time. Todd is now back in Ohio working and his family, this week, are on a camping trip with the Gordons. It is Amy and her mother’s birthday week so they are having fun celebrating. They spent time with our family before I got here and compensated by coming back and spending a couple of days and nights with us here at our home after Todd was gone.

We all joined together (Braden, Shawn and family, Todd and family, AnnMarie and family, Dad and I, and Jim’s brother in Utah and his family, two of his sisters and his Mom, Dad and Grandma Jones) for Christene’s blessing. We had a big meal at Julie’s house afterward. It was good weather and we put up those outdoor tent-like gazebos and ate outside. It was great fun. We also had an indoor barbeque at

AnnMarie’s house while Todd was here.

It was much too hot outside. Braden and Siovhan were there. Siovhan says her class is over and now she is just working all the time—up to 11 hours a day. Dad and Jim took on a project while I was with Kirsten. They tore out the rock wall, rebuilt it and started putting in the sprinkler system Todd got in a couple ofdays work and Jim hired his summer helper to also work on the project. It has been three weeks and is “just nearly” done but not done. They would pick the hottest time of the year to do the work. We have had 100-plus temperatures forndays.

We spent the first time in our new trailer while Todd was here and (except for Dad who was trying to kill himself with work) found it to be an excellent purchase. We hope we can all enjoy it at our family camp on Labor Day weekend. That is also the time of Bree’s and Jason’s birthday (Sept. 5) so they can

use a little party.

Julie is in Idaho this week. She and Jim and girls went to help Dad Jones with a concrete-laying project and will be gone for several days.

AnnMarie has been working for Jared Eldridge and has put in a long threedays. She actually did two courts the same day and at the same time. It required a lot of running back and forth. Jared is on vacation and AnnMarie and Brandon get to go on an Idaho/Utah based vacation next week.

The Ute Stampede has come and gone. I have mixed feelings about it. I like the rodeo but I get a little tired of always being the newspaper rep. Heath and Rebecca did do the photos on Thursday night and Braden, Todd, Michael, Tyler, Emily, LHT, Grandpa Gordon and I got to go to the rodeo as regular folk. A bunch of us, including AnnMarie and kids, Julie and kids, and Amy J., and kids, Todd and kids and Grandpa Gordon went to the horse parade. Then Julie and girls, Braden and I went to the Mammoth Parade.

Uncle Charles and Aunt Merle Edwards came for the rodeo. Dad walked past them on Thursday night and then came and got me. We had a short and noisy visit (they weren’t noisy, the rodeo was) and then they came to the house for a visit on Friday morning. It was so good to see them. They miss Grandpa Pitts also. They stayed up the canyon in their trailer. Uncle Charles is volunteering as a dentist for those who need help but can’t afford it.

I have not seen my sweet little Erin and my good little boy Donovin since the week of Donovin’s birthday. They stayed with us then for a few days that week. I miss getting to see them as often as I once did. Grandma Barbara says that they are healthy and well and are happy. “We are doing OK, and the little kids are doing great,” she said. “Let me know exactly what is happening for the camping trip over Labor Day. That is Bree’s birthday also, so we are trying to decide how we want to make the trip. So, how many days, how much for the camp spot and the exact dates? I am going to try to rent a camper for the trip. Myrna, please email me with the family plans.”

Shawn and Dane have been on scout camp. Now, this week, they are going to family camp where Shawn earned his Woodbadge last year. They wanted to go to Kirsten’s for Ryan’s blessing on Aug.

5 but will not get home in time. Todd and his family and Dad and I will be going. Todd and Michael have also been on a scout camp. Brigitta spent a week with Kim’s birth mother and her half-brother in California. It was a new experience for her. Eric and Amy did have a visit, with family, to Colorado to Amy’s Great-Grandmother’s home. The rest of the time they have been putting in long hours at work and the kids have, while I was gone, been at a sitters. Now that Alyssa is 12-years old, she can baby-sit her family but Jason is not year old enough to do that. I think, however, that they were all glad to see me. Kimberly, Melanie, AnnMarie and Kirsten all had the good-fortune to spend time at girl’s camp. I remember those days when that was my summer fun. Most of the guys spent time with Scouts and Scout camp one way or the other. Shawn and Todd as scoutmasters.

I made a bunch of baby blankets and delivered most of them. Hey, I think if I keep practicing I may actually get good at it, or not. I am still working on a couple. I am hoping that all of you Utah kids will be at Auntie Helen’s family reunion “Christmas in July.” David and Bree said they were planning on coming. Jim and Julie were planning to be there but now they will be helping in Idaho so they will not make it. I wish there were some way, other than having someone die, to get us all together at one time. That is why I like the newsletter—it makes us all take a moment to let others know what we are doing and that we still remember each other.

When your parents die, the only people who know where you are coming from are your siblings. Try to stay close!

Mona is having their fireworks on July 22 to celebrate Pioneer Day. We hope to see those. They actually have better fireworks there than the Air Force. It isno wonder that folks come from miles around just to see them. Nephi fireworks fans, don’t tell Nephi city fathers, but the Mona ones are better. They even broadcast via loudspeaker, the music designed by Jason Gibson. Season five of the new pageant in Nephi, the Mormon Handcart Pageant, will be held July 26 through 29 at the county fairgrounds. This is the 150th year since the handcarts ran into trouble in Wyoming. That occurred in 1856 when the Martin and Willie Handcart companies were hit hard by winter storms.

Following that is the county fair. Keeps us all busy, I suppose, and maybe it might work to bring enough revenue into Nephi that our property taxes can be lower. (I am still giggling over that one.) All this activity does keep AnnMarie busy, she sees all the unsavory people who come to town.

Dad and I love each and every one of you. We love our sweet grandchildren and think that each one of them is a gift from Heaven. We also love you.

Mom and Dad