A quick cabin overnighter and home at last

We went directly to the cabin from the Chile reunion.  Watered all our little trees, got laundry done and hosted Dennis and Margene Taylor for a quicky overnighter.  (Dennis and I served in Guatemala at the same time and they were also with us on our mission to Chile).   The highlight was the "Low Country Crab Boil" that Margene tutored me through.   You put a big pot on the stove, throw in some potatoes, Zataran's Crab Boil Seasoning bags, some smoked sausage, some corn on the cob and then shellfish of choice.   We added some fresh green beans and did Shrimp and Scallops.   A true Boil would be drained, thrown out onto newspaper in the middle of the table and then everyone eats with their hands and some bread.   We chose to be just a little more "civilized" and put it all on a platter! 

Invited neighbor Glen Barker to partake with us.  Good food (though the flavor was not quite as strong as I would have expected).  What the 5 of us didn't consume Glen got to take home.  Victor and I had to leave early the next morning (Sunday) so he could be back in Vegas for an assignment.

Thank you friends and family who hosted us, made up beds for us & gave us food throughout our 6 week sojourn:  Nathan & Colleen, Mildred and the Hunts in Boise, Roger and Maragaret who fed us at Loku Ona, Sandra Tegland in Chubbock, the Sowbys who housed us during the Genealogy Conference in Provo, the Andreasons in Brigham City, Cherie Lundwall in Ogden,  the Wagners in Salt Lake...........  we loved imposing on you all and will be happy to return the favor whenever you come to Las Vegas or to the cabin!!

SENIOR MISSIONARY FRIENDS ARE JUST THE BEST PEOPLE

     It has been many months since we have all gathered in one spot.  The Beuses hosted a nice cook out at their home in Orem.  We were lucky to have several far out of town people be able to be there:  Jacksons from Portland, Taylors from Corona, us from Las Vegas.   Most of the others are at various locations up and down the Wasatch Front.  

I am posting this picture so you can appreciate this genius idea.  Bro. Beus dug a hole for the trampoline but didn't want just a hole.  So he turned it into a seating area with a firepit/grill in the center.  The trampoline is raised up and serves as the shade cover while you enjoy the barbecue.  Is that not amazing?

There was a lot to reminisce and laugh about.  Many of these couples have served another mission since the one in Chile.  Others are involved in Bishoprics, Temple Presidencies, etc. that keep them home for a while.

A food force to reckon with in Chile and another here at home!

Some of Heavenly Father's best people.

Before we arrived in Orem Victor and I dressed in Sunday finery and raised to the new Draper temple to take in a session - only to find it was closed for the summer upkeep break!   So since we had extra time we went on to Lehi.  Victor had learned in the course of one of our research days at the Utah Historical Society that the ancestral home of John and Emma Austin was still standing.   It has recently been purchased and someone is renovating it (which it badly needs). 

The house is one block from the railroad station.  John and Emma rented out rooms to travelers passing through.   That would have been in the upstairs rooms and back when the house didn't have the lower additon you can see here to the right!   Victor is standing by the stump of the tree that was recently ordered cut down by the city.  The tree was nearly 150 years old.  This bush-like foliage is what has grown back from shoots from the trunk that no one wanted to pay to have removed.

This is the home of Thomas Austin, John's brother.  We vote that we would rather have lived here!  All of the Austin brothers did well in the Sugar business.

AND NOW IT IS TIME FOR R & R

     With most of the reunions, family & friend visiting, weddings, research trips, and genealogy conferences behind us at last it was time to let the rest and relaxation begin.   We got to do that for three days at lovely Zermatt Resort in Midway, Utah.

Zermatt is built in a Swiss theme

No decorating expense spared here!

The indoor pool (which allows you to swim on to the outside pool there at the left).  Had it all to myself at 6 a.m. for exercising.   Victor got a massage and used the sauna.

Great bed - but WAY too many cute pillows and a rather complicated duvet/sheet/cover system.  Must drive the housekeeping staff crazy to make these up each day!

The outdoor chess board.  They also have a carousel, a pretty walking path, miniature golf.  Problem is they charge you extra for the use of most everything.   We got to be there because I bid on my stay through Sky Auction and actually won.  So we paid only a third of what the nightly fee normally is.

The Midway/Heber/Park City Valley was gorgeous from summer rains.  This photo is taken on Monument Hill looking toward Deer Creek Reservoir.  Just to the right (not in the picture) is the back of Timpanogos mountain.

It was a really nice way to begin closing down a past-paced summer.  We had a lot of nice naps and ate good (very over-priced) food.

Next stop:  Chilean Senior Missionaries Reunion

Next stop: Brigham City and the Forsgren Reunion

     The whole focus of my year since about February has been the Forsgren Reunion August 7, 2010.  These are held only every two years, but this time I had to make good on some promises I have been trying to bring to pass for the last 8 years.    ( You know the old wisdom:  "If you want a job done do it yourself."  I delegated out this job to three different people, none of whom ever did anything with the assignment).   The first promise was to make sure that 1 broken headstone and 5 buried ones were reset at the Brigham City Cemetery.   Bott Monument did a wonderful job of doing just that (though it took even them nearly a year!)  Sooooo - now my grandmother Frieda's sisters and brothers that died at young ages or in infancy are up above ground again and there to greet you if you ever go to Section B of the cemetery.  And little Charles P. Lee's headstone has been mended and set so that the cemetery mowers won't damage it further.

The five small stones, raised & reset.   They were completely buried for many years.

(Twins Velate & Violet, Cornelius, Hyrum, Josephine, Eugene and Adolph - children of Adolph Peter Forsgren)

     The second promise to fulfill was an effort to get all the Forsgren papers into some sort of on-line format so that more people could benefit from all the knowledge stored at MY house.   Instead of creating I finally opted to create blogs for each of the three convert children of Johan Olof Forsgren and their descendants.   I have spent a LOT of time on that project as well as uploading as many cemetery photos as possible to the findagrave.com website and putting all the family photos on Flickr.  As you can imagine all this is an enormous task and I don't pretend to be near finished.   But at least I have given it a good starting effort.  Click on the links to the right of the blog to visit these other sites.

     The reward for my efforts is for others to "google" a name and then have my blogs come up to reward them with an opportunity to learn more about their particular ancestor.  Two righter/journalists have found the blogs and are using them in their own writings and investigations.   It is an exciting thing to see the blogs actually fulfill what they were meant to do.

     The third major task was updating the "Forsgren Scrolls" - the list of all known descendants of the three Forsgren siblings.  Colleen and Nana will testify that I took up a lot time and counter space working on these scrolls at their homes as we visited prior to the reunion.  We are into the 8th generation on some of these lines.   If I had had as much data as I would like to have had then the building would not have been able to accommodate the life-size descendancy chart:

The top three rows of paper are the Peter Forsgren descendants, the bottom sheet holds the names of descendants of John Erik Forsgren.  Christina Erika's sheets are clear to the left.

My brain and my  body are really glad it is all over!   Still plenty to do at home, but that can be sandwiched in.

THE FIRST ANNUAL COUSIN CAMP WAS A SUCCESS!

     July 30-August 2nd found the entire Austin family at the cabin for the first time EVER!  It was wonderful and memorable and sweet and chaotic and crazy and sometimes even tense!  But what wonderful memories!

Already, with 8 adults and 6 terrific little grandchildren, we have stretched the limits of our room here.  But everyone dealt pretty well with being on top of each other and putting up with crowded conditions.  The weather was perfect, with cool days caused by thunderstorms and summer showers.   Have a look.

That's all of us:

Front:  Amaya (Nathan's), Alyssa (Peter's), Jill (Peter's wife)

Back: Nathan holding 2nd daur, Noelle, Colleen (his wife) holding 3rd daur, Tara.  Next is Charles Graf (orange shirt, Becky's husband) holding Ethan, their 2nd child, in the middle is family patriarch/grandpa.  Then Audrey and Becky, then me, then our youngest son, Peter.  As luck would have it the photo was taken by a knowledgable passerby who happens to be girl formerly from our ward!

Audrey said she liked the walk with Grandpa the best. 

How long does it take to paint 40 toes and 40 fingernails?

Planting the Cousin Tree.  Course we had to remove three LARGE boulders so they didn't actually achieve much digging. 

When the digging got boring (about 10 minutes into it) there was an urgent need to cool off.   How many little girls can you fit into a 3 ft. wading pool?

Getting involved in the summer cloud burst.  We all gathered on the porch
to witness the downpour

No more monkeys jumping on the bed!

Say cheese!

Tara, Audrey, Aly, Amaya, Noelle & Ethan ready for Church

At the meadow turnoff to go to Cedar Breaks or Brianhead there were gorgeous wildflowers.  The family picture-taking event wasn't popular with everyone!

Usually passive Aly, however, thought it was way fun!

It was pretty cold for little people who all really wanted naps

It's fun to see the next generation be parents & love their kids!

More activities:

Gotta do the ATV thing.  Audrey might be a little less enthusiastic on the next trip since she and Grandpa took a spill when their ATV hit a rut.  Glad for a padded coat and helmut!

Story time with Uncle/Papa Charles

There are another 430 pictures I could upload.  We made ice cream in a baggy, finger painted, sang songs with Aunt Jill, fought over toys, had naps (even the adults), ate well, played games, colored, put puzzles together and generally loved being together.

What satisfaction....and "all because two people fell in love!"