A Shining Light Goes Out...A Spirit Lives On

Sue's dad, John, passed away last night after a several month battle with cancer.

I never did have the privilege of meeting him, but felt that I knew him at least a little, vicariously through Sue. I understood him to be a very quiet and private person, that was small in stature but not in heart.

He has now joined his sweetheart, Faye, who preceeded him in death, and is definitely free from the pain and suffering that he has been experiencing for the last several months.

John's son, Tom, was able to take care of him in the early stages of his illness before he was diagnosed, as they both lived in Florida.

When he began to get sicker, he moved back to Buffalo to live with his daughter, Lori, and son-in-law, Gary. They were both angels to him and took great care of him until John had to be admitted to the hospital where he was when he passed away.

Sue was able to see him a short time ago and was grateful for the time that she spent with him. She was also very appreciative of her brother and sister for the care they provided their dad.

As in life, he chose to leave this world peacefully and privately.

He will be interred with his wife, Faye, in Florida where they have been living for a number of years.

John had many family and friends that loved him....He will be missed by all those that knew him

Eli's Bonk to the Head...AKA...Welcome to Utah

Our little grandson, Eli, was helping his family move into their new home in St. George, Utah last week when all of a sudden he met his match in the form of the moving truck. I think he tried to move "it" but ultimately came out on the short end of that stick.

We think he rode his tricycle into the back of the truck and split his head open to the skull. Kari and Will called an ambulance to come and get him.

Luckily, when he got to the hospital they called in a plastic surgeon to sew it up so the scarring would be very limited to non-existent. They didn't get home until after 11pm last night. The poor little guy was ready for bed when he got home. The after pictures actually look pretty good.

Eli is one tough little hombre. He'll be running around like nothing ever happened before you know it. As you can see by the after phot, he is really doing pretty well.

Sue's Weekend Birthday Bash

We had a great weekend birthday celebration for Sue's birthday. We decided to head to Las Vegas on Friday night to catch the "Jersey Boys" show at the Pallazzo, which is a very ice high end hotel and casino that is attached to the Venetian.

Before the show we ate dinner at one of Mario Battali's higher end restaurants, Carnevino, a really nice steakhouse.

The show was a synopsis of the rise of Franki Valli and the Four Seasons. The cast was great and the music was pretty awesome too. The show was about 2 hours long and worth every penny.

After the show we decided to take stroll through the canal shops at the Venetian. We passed the Blue Man Group's theater and said kind of asked if we should take in that show too. We both kind of laughed it off and just kept walking. As we finished our walk we were heading back to the Pallazzo when we were passing the BMG theater once again. I was talking to Sue and all of a sudden this guy kind of stuck something out in front of me to look at and I told him that I wasn't interested. Then he said, no, listen, these are free tickets tot he BMG that was starting in 5 minutes. I looked at him suspiciously and then he said that he had two friends that did not show up for the show and he was just going to give us the tickets. Wow, what a coincidence. I took the tickets and we went inside. We scored 12th Row seats that had a face value of $170 bucks a piece. How cool was that. The show was very entertaining. Great percussion based rock music and some pretty good mime style comedy. We found out that the guys were from Brazil. On our way out of the theater we were able to get real close to one of the BMG members....take a look at the cool picture I was able take with Sue and "Mr Blue"

After the BMG show we went and found a really good Italian gelatto shop and enjoyed some more time together and some great gelatto. Then it was off to our hotel. We stayed at the Rio, just off the strip. One we got there it was pretty late and then they upgraded us to the Presidential suite on the top floor. We didn't get to sleep until 3:45am...well worth it!

You know, Sue just has a knack for receiving these special blessings. ..ALL THE TIME!

Before we went home on Saturday we went to the Gold Coast Bowling Center and got Sue fitted for her own bowling ball. We have been going out every now and then just for grins...but those house balls suck!

When we got home the best birthday present of all was waiting. Kari, Will, and the kids beat us home. They are now officially "Utahns". They are staying with us for a few days until their furniture gets here and they move into their new home. Will starts his new practice today...Way to g Will! We are happy for them....and...US! It's great to have them close by. WE love it when our family is able to visit or we are able to visit them.

Until next time...happy blogging!

Conference Weekend

We had a very busy and fun-filled conference weekend. Friday began with us doing a Temple session at the Timpanogos Temple. Sue hadn't been there before so it was even more special. Then we were off to SLC for dinner at the "Roof" restaurant on the top floor of the Joseph Smith Bldg. that looks directly over Temple Square. After dinner we went to the History Museum. Sue had never been there before and it was very interesting. We both loved it. There were some real gems there. John Taylor's watch that stopped the bullet in the Carthage jail was there along with the death masks of the Joseph and Hyrum Smith.

Saturday saw us go to the first session of General Conference. As always the topics and speakers were inspiring. I especially loved Elder Bednar's talk. A lot of families need to hear that message. After conferences we went to our favorite little Italian restaurant, Tucci's, by Trolley Square. We really like that place a lot.

Sue and I then went to the Salt Lake City Cemetery. You probably didn't know, but I love old cemeteries. I love the SLC cemetery very much because it is filled with tons of church history. Most of the leaders of our church are buried there. There are also a lot of pioneers who are buried there too. We may not know them like we know our leaders, but they helped pave the way for us and our way of life and what we believe. I have paid some photographic respect to some of them.

After that we headed up to Park City for the night. We took a stroll along historic main st. and found a great little brasserie to have our dinner. We even ate next to Rocky Anderson, SLC's ex mayor.

The next day was a real rainy day but we still decided to take in the Winter Olympic park and do a guided tour there. That was awesome to get behind the scenes and stand on top of the ski jumping area.

After that it was a long drive home in absurdly strong winds. I was beat up when I got home.
It was a fun filled wonderful weekend though. Not really R&R but something that stimulated our brains.