Happy Father's Day Dad!

Dearest DAD!!!!!!!!!

Happy Father's Day to you!!

Here are just some pictures of you and me, or of just you....but mostly just pictures that each are worth a thousand words. I am not much of a writer when I write blogs; therefore, here are some pictures for your entertainment and some comments of just a FEW of the reasons why i love you and am grateful to have you as my very own DAD!

First of all, how lucky am I to have a dad that looks like a rooster?!?! Pretty darn lucky!

You have been there for every major school, church, and sporting event possible. thanks for coming out to support me and cheer your very loudest. And thank you for bringing all of those Dill pickles to my volleyball games. GO RAVENS!!!

Me and you at Seminary graduation

you and me before i went to prom!....this picture is living proof that you are I are blood related. I never realized how much we look alike.

Thanks for always "checking out" my dates and making sure they treat me with respect. It always works!

Dad LOOK AT YOU!!!! You are so driven and disciplined. I have never seen someone be so motivated to loose weight and be so successful. You run every day and are always sure to count your calories after every meal. How you manage not to eat sugar, i am not sure...and i even did it for two YEARS!..I also was driven to make that goal because of YOU. I thought "My dad is awesome, how can he go four years without ever eating sugar and i can hardly make a day without it? I want to try that!" And i must say, that has been a pretty cool accomplishment for me in my life. thank you for your good, healthy example. And dad, you definitely have been working on your cardio!

I love seeing you with your grandkids. You have so much love to give and are always happier when you are around them (not that you're never NOT happy). I am excited for the day when I will have children and you will show them the same love...and take them shooting, eat beef jerky with them, make a christmas list of "boy toys or girl toys" to get them, and throw them over cement walls!

You make life at home fun! I love you and mom both, if it weren't for you, then it would just be me and mom at dinner every day without anyone to torture Doug!

I know that whenever I am having a hard time I can always come to you. You are truly a WISE MAN

This moment was GREAT! There we were, feet above the ground, truly bonding! That was awesome. We were skiing over clouds of snow that day. So much fun. thanks for teaching me how to ski, I have found a new love for it because of YOU!

An image from my childhood is the back of your head in the reflection of your mirror in your bedroom, working at your computer desk! thank you so much for being a righteous priesthood holder and working hard to provide for our family so we can go on cool trips to Germany and London and California, and every other imaginable place! especially when we can sleep THREE TO A BED! (i had a picture of that pure moment, but i accidentally erased it!) Or we can run up a big hill in Hawaii.

HAHA!

 

And one of my most favorite moments with you is when you escorted me out onto the field on H.C. night. That was so much fun. We were the most sharp looking people out there! You know you are a good dad when TWO of your daughters are named Homecoming Queen. 

Dad, I love you. Thank you so much for all of the harassment and love. I am grateful that I get to have YOU as my dad. You are truly the best example to me in my life. 

Nice work Gum DadDY!

. . . . . . . . . . Grandkid Withdrawal Pangs

As you know, we had three consecutive weekends with Carter contact (babysat for them in Provo during the State Track meet where CJ was coach and took Ram home; returned Ram and switch him out for Viana for a week; returned Viana and attended CharlyAnn's baby blessing).  So we had two grandkids, each for a week, and it was very fun and exciting.  Now we're experiencing grandkid withdrawal pangs.  Here are some pics to help us recover:

Vick was the main grandkid watcher, though Ram and I did have a marvelous time at Keller Park one afternoon.

During the whole grandkid time, Krista was jetting around the world.  It was good to have her drop in for a couple of days on her way home.  By the way, we went running together and she helped me set a record for my little 3.1 mile route!

Brooke said, "I know why I love you . . . " but she never told me why.  No prob, I'll take it!

Viana was smart and fun, and always talking!

I chose this picture of Ram because he was always moving, always a blur!

CharlyAnn's theme song:  "And I'll always have eyes for youuuu!"

Viana always has a smile.  I think she's either smiling or laughing or singing . . . but in some way her mouth is always moving.  We love it!

Oh, no, no, nooooo.  (Inside joke)

Big blue eyes, but they're not always open, as you'll see in the video below.

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Here's a funny story about Brooke:  In the video above, you'll hear Viana say "Meem!"  That's short for Meemaw, which is what the grandkids call Vickie.  Earlier that day Viana said to Vickie, "I think I"ll call you Meem.  Hello Meem!"  Not missing a beat, Brook said to me, "Hello Gran . . ." (short for Grandbill).  Smart and funny--a precious Brooke moment!


We sure miss 'em!  Parents of grandchildren:  please plan to bring your children to see us or invite us to your home at least once every month.  More would be better.  Kids of Bill and Vick:  We also still love you very much, so you may visit or invite us to see you as well!


Love, Grandbill/Dad



Since I was but a youth, I can remember looking toward Pikes Peak and seeing the "zipper" on the side of the mountain.
This is looking down that zipper, from not even the top.



Lots of people hike this incline, my very own daughters included.  Although none of us are in this picture.  I have always thought it would be a great thing to do.  But after all I am over the hill, not an age to be ON the hill.





But where did I find myself this Saturday thanks to Krista, the queen of adventures?  You guessed it, scrambling up the Incline!





It's kinda steep!



But, oh so rewarding!





After an hour and 22 minutes I got a high that lasted ALL DAY!  And not very many sore muscles even!  You are never over the hill if you can still climb to the top!



. . . . . . . . . Camping to CharlyAnn's Blessing

This weekend capped a two-week adventure where Meemaw and I hosted Ram and then Viana at our house in Colorado, and then we drove Viana home to Monroe via a camping trip!  It was great good fun to camp with Viana, and we also had a marvelous visit with the Carter family as we were privileged to be a part of the blessing of CharlyAnn Jill Carter by her father, Eric.  It was a perfect weekend.  Well, almost--we forgot the best part of camping (according to Viana), which is marshmallows.  Oh well, that's a good excuse to do it all again!

Viana and her dogs, Doug and "Sit-nee" (Sydney).   This is one of the best pictures of our dogs I've even seen--usually they're camera shy, or we can't get them to look at the camera at the same time.  Good job Viana!

We also packed the car full of Summerque's stuff for college.  We'll store it at CJ's house until  Summer arrives in August.  We'll miss Summer!

Here is our campsite at Island Acres, near Grand Junction, CO.  Viana was a natural camper!  But dang, those bugs sure liked that sweet Viana!

We had a great campfire.  Unfortunately, we forgot the best part of camping (according to Viana): Marshmallows!  Still, it was a magical night on the Colorado River!

Viana and Meemaw by the light of the campfire . . . .

Meemaw cooked an awesome camp breakfast of bacon and eggs.  That little blue blob on the picnic table is Viana trying to stay warm.

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When we arrived home (Monroe City, UT) everyone was glad to see each other, especially Viana and her sister, Brooke!

Here we are with CharlyAnn, who is now almost three months old!  CUTE KID!

On Saturday afternoon we took a hike to the hot springs near CJ's house.  Boiling hot water bubbles from the ground--so interesting and beautiful.

The beautiful Carter family:  Brooke, Eric, Viana, CharlyAnn, and CJ.  I reckon Ram was off exploring cliffs or playing in the boiling water!

Vick and I sneaked into this picture--so fun to be together!  Including Ram, in the stroller.

In this video, you'll see Brooke in the tent.  We "camped" in CJ's back yard on Saturday night.  The first thing she did when she woke up was start singing "the rain came down and the suds (floods) came up, the rain came down and the suds came up." Not sure why, but so cute.  We also took a walk to the hot springs, and a walk after church on Sunday.  Great fun!

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Ram at breakfast--he's a good eater!

Eric looking handsome before CharlyAnn's blessing.  Thumbs up!

CharlyAnn always has big eyes . . . and such a cute baby.  She usually has a big smile for  everyone.

Carter Fam.

Vick and CharlyAnn during Sunday School.  They were both good students while CJ taught the class.  Lovely!  (I wonder where CharlyAnn gets her big eyes???)

At breakfast before we returned to Colorado Springs.  We'll miss the Carters.  :(

Here we are at a rest stop on the way home.  Gorgeous drive from Monroe to Colorado Springs, and only about nine hours.

Now Vick will focus on Girls Camp (she's the Stake Girls Camp Director) which is 20 - 25 June.  Summer is working as a nanny this summer, and then she'll leave for BYU Provo in August.  Krista had an adventure in San Francisco/Hawaii/Guam/Fiji/Tonga/Japan the past two weeks, and will visit Jamie in San Jose and then come home for a day or two before going off to see a friend in Texas, and then back to work in Utah.  Charina is about to finish her internship and then go to Girls Camp with her ward, and Jimmy is doing well in his clinical portion of his Physical Therapy schooling.  Jamie and Ladon just went to Washington to welcome home Ladon's brother, Jonas, from his mission in North Carolina, and that's a pretty busy snapshot for the Roy family in the past week.  Oh, Summer also returned from a week-long rafting trip with some high-school friends, and now she is at Jamie's house also.

And I'm loving semi-retirement, though a couple of job prospects are looming . . . . 

Hope your summer is starting as well as ours has!

Love,

Dad/Grandbill

. . . . . . . . . Viana Visit, Part I

IF YOU HAVE DISNEY CHARACTERS GUARDING YOUR BATHTUB, THEN VIANA MUST BE IN TOWN!


Meemaw and I switched out Ram for Viana last Saturday, and we've enjoyed a marvelous visit with this singing skipping chatterbox fairy princess ever since.  Lesser souls might ask, "Where's the Off switch on this kid," but we're loving every minute of it.  We'll take her back this weekend (hoping to drive to Monroe City and camp at the Colorado National Park along the way), to attend CharlyAnn's blessing.  Here are some pics:

Not only do we have Disney characters on the rim of our bathtub, we've got them  IN EVERY ROOM, AND IN TERRIFYING NUMBERS.  If they come to life when we're not looking, they'd spend most of their time just trying to find their movie partners!

Viana with "her" dogs, Sydney and Doug.  She loves animals!

We attended a Memorial Day ceremony sponsored by Colorado Springs Hospice, at which they read Grandma Lenhart's name (she passed away on 27 March 2011) and released some butterflies in memoriam.  It was a beautiful day, and Viana was very patient.  Notice Grandma and Grandpa Norton in the background.  

Here's a fun group of people!

Here are some of the butterflies.  Pretty cool!

Pretty Monarch butterflies.  

We went to Great Grandma Norton's house today for lunch.  Roast beast and peach pie!  We also watched "A Little Princess" in Grandpa's home theater.  Such a good movie, and Viana loved it!  Reminds me of the time Charina saw it for the first time.  When little Sara Crewe was clinging to the ledge of the building while being chased by the evil Miss Minchin, Charina--transfixed as if she were there--raised up her hand to try to grasp the ledge!  

Viana loves jello. 

This was her second cup!

It was a yummy lunch and a good time!

We took a hike to a hill near our neighborhood.  Sydney and Viana had a grand time.  

Here's a beautiful view of Colorado Springs.  

 Yesterday we watched "Gnomeo and Juliet" in the theater (not bad, and I especially liked the numerous references to William Shakespeare, and an appearance by the Bard himself), and then enjoyed "Taco Night" at Del Taco.  On Sunday Viana enjoyed attending Primary at church, and she also went shopping like crazy on Monday with me and Meemaw.  She loooves any kind of pie, and will munch down a big piece of watermelon like a Pacman head!  Viana is also highly self-entertaining.  She can play in an elaborate imaginary world for hours!  And this is a very, very, very smart kid.  I would say her ability to reason and process stuff is at the high school level.  And SHE CAN READ ANY BOOK YOU PUT IN FRONT HER, and I'm NOT talking Run, Spot, Run.  She is very inquisitive, talkative, energetic.  


Unfortunately, I gave my camera to Summer for her river rafting trip this week, so I don't have a video camera to show you some live action.  But I'll put up another blog after we drive to the Carter's house and camp along the way.  Should be a great time!


By the way: Summer is floating down the Green river with a group of high school friends and her Anatomy teacher, Krista is in Tonga with a group building prosthetic legs, Jamie and Ladon were driving to Washington to welcome Ladon's brother, Jonas, back from his mission in North Carolina (Matt Harding's stake!), and Charina and Jimmy had a fun expedition (check out their blog for a great laugh).  CJ and Eric celebrated their seventh anniversary, and good ol' Meemaw and I are glad to have little visitors around.
   
Fun at the Roy's!


Love, Grandbill