Happy Thanksgiving 2019

KSL-TV reported on a survey conducted before Thanksgiving which had some interesting results:

·      75% of those surveyed felt “4 hours or less” was more than enough family time around the dinner table.

·      35% of those surveyed admitted they had found a place to hide out while family was visiting for the holiday.

·      25% of those surveyed reported they had seen a fight break out between family members (usually around the hot topics of politics, religion or the “right way” to cook something.

Thanksgiving 2019 was a pleasant time with Kris and Erin, Rick, Stacy, Taisley and Danielle, Simeon, Stephanie, Selwin, Brianna, Ed and me where together we enjoyed chicken (the turkey hadn’t thawed), dressing, potatoes and gravy, ribbon salad and pies.

A few minutes after dinner, the doorbell rang and we were happy to welcome Tiffany and Bob Nelson and all seven of their kids and Ben’s wife Hannah.  It was noisy fun and sweet to all be together.

Happy Thanksgiving, one and all!

PS:  I inadvertently deleted the original of this post so the pictures aren't exactly right but they're all I could find,

FAMILY STORY: Kendi's Abduction

It was Cuz’N Camp, 2003.  As always, we had selected a location which included water, shade, and interesting and/ or fun places to go on at least three “mystery trips.”  Along with my Cuz’N Camp assistant, Kaytee, the kids we had with us were Allysa, Whitney, Tylre, Zac and Kendi, all potty-trained and able to be away from Mom and Dad for 4-5 days.  This was the year we set as our base camp at Wasatch Mountain State Park, not far from Park City, UT.

Not sure what day of Cuz’N Camp this was, but Kendi – and probably a few of the other kids – had her shirt turned inside out because it was dirty, so it was probably Day 2-3 (this is significant because child abductions were common in this day and time – and most of the children abducted had their clothing altered so they were momentarily unidentifiable). 

The mystery-trip-of-the-day was a ride on the Alpine Slide, one of the longest slides in the world with over 3000 feet of track. Kendi, who was then about 5, happily joined her cousins on the ski-lift to the top of the mountain and enjoyed the exhilarating ride down the hill on her own sled. At the bottom, all the other kids wanted to ride the Alpine Slide one more time … Kendi did not. Tickets were handed out to all the other cousins for a second run, while Kendi selected something else to ride … until she saw the kids heading towards the ski lift. At that point she realized she may have made an error in judgment and wanted to trade her ticket for another ride on the Alpine Slide – except by now it was already on its way to the top with all her cousins on board.  She began to cry, howl, gyrate, scream, shout, bawl, weep … and, nothing could calm her.  

In complete frustration with the whole situation, Grandpa took her by the hand and began heading back to the camper.  The more he tugged, the more loudly she cried, wriggled and squirmed to get free of his grasp.  At this point he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder completely disgusted and muttering under his breath.  Suddenly from every side, concerned people encircled him and the child – still sobbing and carrying on. Now a crowd had gathered and some of the men pulled Kendi from her grandpa’s arms to try to determine her situation. They separated the two and began asking her questions. Was she being abused? Kidnapped?  Did she know this man?  Why was her t-shirt turned inside out?  When she realized the trouble she had caused for her Grandpa, she quieted down and admitted she was throwing a tantrum because her Grandma wouldn’t let her ride the Alpine Slide a second time when all her cousins got to go.

Eventually, the security guard returned his gun to its holster, the crowd dissipated and Grandpa and Kendi completed their trip back to the camper. Though Kendi hates hearing this story, it grows more fun and colorful with each telling and Grandpa is always pleased to report his police record remains unspotted.

The rest of the story is, Kendi Hansen has grown up to be a beautiful young woman and has apologized numerous times for her antics which nearly put Grandpa in jail.

FAMILY STORY: Skiing with the Scouts

Home after a day on the slopes:  Ed's brother Bob Sappington,
Bob's son Todd Sappington and our oldest daughter Kelly Sappington 
with Linda's grandmother Verda Bradford Howell and Ed and Robert's mother
Mina Sappington Carson (see Grandpa Owen Carson in the back).
This appears to be the only picture among our family photos
relating to skiing.

Ed began skiing as a young kid and became quite exceptional at the sport. When his kids were old enough, he enjoyed some amazing times on the slopes with Kelly, David, Michael and Kaytee (neither of us remember him skiing with Stacy or Kris) and is pleased to know, at least Adyn, Skylar and Thoryn, are following in his snowy trails.  

Outside the family, he rarely tells people how really good he was so when he volunteered to go along on a ski trip to chaperone scouts from the Bloomington 7^thWard, it was obvious the young men couldn’t imagine what fun it would turn out to be skiing with “this old priesthood leader.”  

In the end, it was probably more fun for Br. Ed because when he strapped on his skis and took off “at lightning speed” down the runs at Brian Head, he left behind many shocked young men!  Those who were along that day, spoke - for weeks - in absolute reverence of Br. Ed’s amazing skills on the slopes.  Lesson learned:  “Never judge a book by its cover!” 

Return to Branson, MO

 We traveled back to Branson, MO for our semi-annual week in our 3-bedroom timeshare.  This trip we took along Bob and Katie Beecher of Lehi and Jim and Mary Andrus from St. George – both couples with whom we have a connection to the West indies Mission.

It was another delightful vacation.  In our week together we saw 8 shows. My favorite was unquestionably “Million Dollar Quartet” with the Hughes Brothers Show a distant second.  I was also pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed “Yakov Smirnoff.”  We have seen his show before, so I didn’t expect to enjoy it a second time.  For the second time, I loved the Texas Tenors; followed by the Andy Williams Christmas Show with the Lennon Sisters and David Osmond.  We also saw SIX again and the Dolly Parton Christmas Stampede.  My least favorite – although we really did enjoy  it, too - just not quite as much as the others – was the Dutton Family Show.  

What was most interesting was to see a performer in an evening show, then be standing behind them in the morning at Walmart buying groceries. On Saturday night, we saw the Hughes Family on stage … then on Sunday morning, at one of 3 LDS wards within the city limits – in the state which had an extermination order against the Mormons - one of their teenagers prepared the Sacrament and another said the meeting’s closing prayer.

We also spent most of a full day at Top of the Rock, which everyone agreed was the highlight of our time in Missouri. For those contemplating a trip to Branson, Top of the Rock is a ‘MUST!”

As always, the time goes by way too fast, but it was 8 days of fun!

Interesting side notes: Branson has a fulltime population of only 10,500 (give or take) and millions of visitors annually, so there are plenty of jobs available. 

With millions of visitors in Branson from March to December, several people told us this little city becomes a veritable ghost town from Christmas Day until March 1 when all the performers take vacation and /or work on new elements for their next season.

Andrus’ son arranged for a car and booked our hotel stay in Kansas City.  I didn’t recognize it from the outside, but when I got inside, I experienced a little Déjà vu because it was the exact same hotel in which I attended a Youth Volunteer Corps annual conference when I was at the Volunteer Center.  Small world, huh!

And flying out to Branson and back to Las Vegas reminds me of a little ditty I heard recently:

“West to east is a beast … east to west is the best.”