A Plethora of Projects and a Pair of Parodies

 

I think most families are familiar with the popular children's book "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" featuring a cute little mouse who wants more and more ... and more. The parallel to home projects is pretty predictable (continuing on with my title alliteration). You start with one thing, but changing it makes you realize something else should be changed as well, and so on and so on ...

The Blackham family did some home renovations in 2020 ... as Callahan got married and moved out, Keaton would be taking over that bedroom. But the wall was damaged, so it was necessary to fix the wall. Then that wall needed to be painted, so why not paint the whole room ... I mean the whole basement? With the fresh paint, the old carpet looks awful, so replacing the flooring is next. New lights are next. Where do you stop painting? Best to just continue all the way upstairs, right? The Blackham renovations stopped there. For NOW anyway (the kitchen floors no longer match the new paint, but then the cabinets, which match the floor, would need to be replaced too, then would the furniture match?)

Derek and Danielle had numerous projects in their home during 2020 (with quarantine, there wasn't a whole lot else to do!). In August, in an email he mentioned:

I've had a dumb little idea for a parody children's book for a while. We were talking to our friends about their new sofa, and she was saying: "so, we got the new sofa, and we love it - but it doesn't match our room perfectly, so we needed to get some new throw pillows, and then a rug - but the rug was too big for the space so we had to..." then she proceeded to talk about all the things that resulted from the new sofa. I joked how it was like the kid's book "If You Give A Mouse a Cookie." So I finally sat down and wrote out "If You Give a Spouse a Sofa" in the same style. See attached.

Wendy commented that SHE had also written a parody of this SAME little story based on a drippy-door painting project back in 2009! Here's a link to her blog post about it, and the text included below ...

Have you ever heard the story "If you give a mouse a cookie?"
Well, here is our TRUE story of "If you give your husband a request..."

If you ask your husband to put the closet doors back on your daughter's room (that he took off and put in the shed two months ago to paint and never did), then he will go and rent a paint sprayer so that he can spray the door before putting it back on...

And if he rents a spray gun to spray the door, he will decide to spray all of the closet doors that are sitting in the shed before putting them back on...

And if he decides to spray all of the closet doors before putting them back on, he will also take off all of the other doors in the house in order to paint them too (even if his wife tells him over and over not to)...

And if he takes all of the other doors off their hinges, then he will carry them all into the garage and stand them up while he attempts to paint them (even if his wife tells him that it looks very precarious and perhaps he should lean them against the garage wall instead)...

And if he balances the closet doors capriciously, and begins to paint them with the paint sprayer, then right before he is almost finished painting all of them, one will fall over and knock another, which will knock another, which will knock another, until just like dominoes, all of the freshly painted doors are now all over the garage floor with paint everywhere and a husband who is covered from head to toe in splattered white paint...

And if there is a husband covered with splattered white paint and doors all over the ground, then the paint splattered husband will enlist the help of his tired wife who was almost ready to crawl into bed, while he tries to brush the drippy paint (and dirt) off the doors. 

And while brushing debris and splattered paint off the doors, the husband will ask his wife if she will hold the doors while he sprays them. The wife, not wanting to be sprayed in the face with a paint sprayer, politely declines but attempts to help brush the drippy paint. But since the wife's painting skills are no better than her husbands, she is not much help.

And after two frustrated tired people try to salvage messy doors, the husband will try again, re-spraying all of the doors making more drippy paint.

And after leaving the doors dripping with paint and the time almost midnight, the husband will ask the wife if he should go paint the outside doors now.

And if the wife exasperatedly vetoes that idea, the next morning, the husband will go check on the doors and inform his wife that all of the doors look like someone just threw a bucket of paint on them and they are now completely ruined. 

And if the doors are ruined, the determined husband will still go ahead and begin to paint the outside doors of the house.

And if the husband begins to paint the outside doors of the house, the paint sprayer will start to spray paint in every direction.

And after the paint sprayer starts to spray paint in every direction, the husband will bag the paint sprayer and start to paint with a brush.

And after the husband starts to paint with a brush, he will run out of paint and go to Home Depot to get some more.

And if the husband goes to Home Depot in order to get more paint, they will say that they don't have any more paint in that color.

And after going to Home Depot and being told they don't have any more of that kind of paint, the husband will get very indignant, and blame the sprayer and Home Depot and the doors and say, "I never should have started this project..."

And after the husband frets and complains and blames Home Depot, the sprayer, and the doors; the wife will murmur under her breath...but will refrain from thinking, "This is what I get for marrying a musician/teacher instead of a handyman.."

And after the fretting and murmuring, the husband will tell the sons to go ahead and put the dried drippy doors back on their hinges so that he and his wife can fulfill their obligation at the temple that evening...

And after the boys put the dried drippy doors back on their hinges, the husband hurries and puts the still slightly wet outside doors back on so that the baby will not escape and the kids won't freeze with the approaching evening.

And with the doors back on the hinges, the husband and wife leave the 11 year old son in charge of baby-sitting all of the kids, fixing dinner, and putting on the rest of the doorknobs, since the 13 year old daughter got a last minute invitation to see the movie, "New Moon."

And if the husband and wife get home from the temple and find that all is well (except for having to live with dried drippy doors)...

And if all of this happens on the husband's birthday...then the wife has no choice but to close her eyes so that she doesn't see dried drippy doors and ask her husband to sing her a nice soothing love song...and tell him that someday they will laugh over this day, and that they will celebrate his birthday tomorrow...

And please oh please, if you happen to come visit this particular house, just don't ask who painted the doors!

Check out the Westra Writing ~ Stories and Poetry for other creative contributions over the years! And here's a little look at a little book Derek wrote and had animated ...

 

Timeless Toys

Thinking back on days of childhood play, there were so many toys that stand out in my memory. I was able to find images of a few. Some are still available in updated formats, others may be found on ebay at inflated prices for vintage items. Mom and Dad have hung on to some of the family favorites that stand the test of time. I know I picked up a few sentimental toys at the thrift store over the years (then as kids have grown and we've purged, they've gone back to thrift store for the next sentimental person to find). 

Can you remember the little tune the Fisher-Price clock would play when you wound up the back? Or the "ding" when the little car reached the top of the elevator and slid down the ramp? Making ooey-gooey creepy crawly bugs, racing cars down the orange hot wheels tracks and trying to memorize the code on Merlin ... The colored blocks (pictured above) that had a little figure inside, matching the letter on the outside, and the many different ways those blocks could be clicked together.

I remember the big horse ... I'm still surprised I don't remember anyone's fingers getting caught in the springs. Lots of Big Wheels over the years. The Fun Fountain (clown water toy) in the summer (Derek had a memory, and here's an old commercial featuring it!) Big Henry and Little Henry (Jen's stuffed doggies) and Wendy's Toto. The "musical marble" tower. The stacking rings.  The homemade play rug with a full city for us to drive our cars around on, and the dollhouses (which became "smurf" houses when smurfs were all the rage ... you can see them in old Westra film reels, here's a link to it, starting at Christmas 1972, where you get a good glimpse of them, as well as a bike and big wheel). There was a big box of Lincoln Logs at Grandma Burgener's house, and Grandma Norman had a box of toys too. Grandma and Grandpa Westra have a huge toy cupboard! Pop beads and bristle blocks and lots of balls. Ping Pong, a mini-pool table and lots of legos. 

Big Wheel, and a glimpse of one of the homemade dollhouses in Christmas 1972. The Simon game, SO MANY stuffed animals! And SPOOLS! They work as blocks, or as bubble blowers with Grandma Norman. 

Memories from Mom/Margie ...

We still have the toybox, sans the lid. Remember colored Simon, where you had to repeat the sequence? We still have the orange hot wheels tracks, that the grandkids have loved through the years. I remember every kid in the neighborhood would come over asking to play with our big wheel in Richland.  The big wheel on the front would wear through fairly quickly with use. So it got to the point that I didn't like to let all the neighbor kids in Richland use it----especially when they weren't even playing with our kids! They would just ring the bell and ask to use the Big Wheel. No one else seemed to own one in the neighborhood and we had to keep replacing ours over and over. I don't remember that you could just replace the large wheel, and had to buy the whole thing. I remember the day when I was far pregnant with Jeni and so tired and laying down for a rest, when the doorbell rang. A big truck driver, visibly shaken, told me, "I just came this close to killing your son!" Chris, age 4, had been zooming down our little bit steep driveway and into the street on his big wheel, and the truck had almost hit him! Scary! And guilt for a mom not watching their little kids every minute of every day. I wish we had good photos of your 2 dollhouses---one 2-storied with the open side and the other a top open view. I think they were made by my dad or by LaMar or one by each. Big Henry and little Henry dogs----brings to mind the cute picture we have when you guys buried little Derek in stuffed animals and it is hard to find his little face amongst all the toys. I remember you all as toddlers, pulling the "chatter phone" and the sound it would make, as the eyes rolled and you would "call" Daddy at work. And you as toddlers would push the "popcorn popper" pictured next to the "chatter phone."

Just as kids today wouldn't know how to use a rotary phone ... the little FisherPrice pull-toy rotary phone has been replaced by toy "cell" phones with lots of buttons and noises.

What toys do you think stand the test of time? 

What toys will your kids look back on as a sentimental favorite?

Here's a little look at a toy over two generations.
Derek 1982 //Landon&Callahan 2000

Little Red Caboose ...

It was April 28, 2015 when Scott wrote an email (which is pretty momentous in and of itself), he included a picture with the note "Guess what I found? A whole box of childhood!" And sure enough, it was! Oh the memories music can create! "Little Red Caboose" is probably the most remembered song for the Westra siblings (at least for the older four kids). I remember we would take the square case and use it for a "wheel" as we "chug, chug, chugged" around the front room.  Even in today's tech-savvy world, I'd been unable to find a copy of the Chip 'n Dale version of the song we loved.

So ... take the train back to childhood. Chug, chug chug!
(click HERE for video)

I

Summer Gone To The Birds

 (this will be backdated to July 2020)

Derek's front porch has a cute swing. It's been featured in many family photos. In the summer of 2020 however, a new family took ownership of said swing. A hummingbird family! There on one of the top knots, a mama hummingbird built a nest and laid two tiny eggs. Derek's family had a front row (or front window) view of all the hummingbird happenings, and Derek got some video so family and friends could also get a peek.  Here's some of the video updates he shared on Facebook ...

https://youtu.be/5Qn6v4fWJlo

... and amazingly enough, this wasn't the only bird family to take up residence at D&D's abode, a little earlier in the year, a momma robin built a nest and laid four little eggs. Derek documented that too ...

https://youtu.be/o3JJyyEydco

In July, Derek wrote "Final hummingbird update: The birds have flown the nest, and the Westras have taken black their porch! We loved all the birds this year, and had a 6 for 6 success ratio (with all four baby robins and 2 baby hummingbirds surviving). The hummingbirds were so cute and fun to watch, but they were SO messy and pooped all over. Our Saturday chores included deep cleaning the whole porch, and removing their nests. Sad to see them go, but glad to have our space back. "

This wasn't the first hummingbird nest for one of the Westras. 

Back in 2016, when Shane's family was living in California, Alicia wrote ...

• (February 21) The girls discovered a hummingbird nest in one of the trees by our garage! We were excited to find that it even has two tiny hummingbird eggs in it. 
• (March 6) one of the hummingbird eggs in the nest hatched this week! Now there is a little ball of feather fluff with a beak in the nest. We haven't gotten a great photo yet...we'll keep trying. 
• (March 13) We've been anxiously watching our baby hummingbird grow! The other egg never hatched, sadly. The baby hummingbird is almost filling up the whole nest. It's fun to peek in at it.

The Blackham home has housed some birds too ... but they just get starlings, which aren't as cute! You can check out a post on the Blackham Blog about them (Noisy Birds). And then of course, there were the DUCKS (several blog posts about the ducks, but to see the hatching caught on camera, click HERE). Ducklings are on the go just a few hours out of the egg, very different than the helpless little robins and hummingbirds. Another winged set of progression pictures and video of  Monarch Memories is on the Blackham Blog as well. 

Old-Fashioned Film and Video

When I  finished up the "Red Pig" post, Wendy let me know about another photo of Baby Scottie on the red pig. In fact, in this photo, you could actually tell the pig was red! It was in color. The other, more familiar photo, was black&white.

Over the years, I think we'd seen many of these black&white pictures. In photo albums, and then when Wendy created the wonderful book for Mom and Dad's 50th anniversary, she took all those old negatives and had them converted to digital files. Those pictures were now easily accessible in Dropbox, and in the printed book. There was the occasional color picture in the earlier years, but they were few and far between. It wasn't until just recently, when Chris took Dad's slides, and got them converted to digital, that more of these color pictures have surfaced. There are quite a few pictures that are obviously taken at the same time (moments apart) to the more familiar b&w shots.

I've asked Dad, and I've done some Googling ... and I THINK, that there must have been different film types. If you were taking pictures for slides, or taking them for prints/negatives, you'd load different film into your camera. I guess it's possible that perhaps it was in the processing that the end result occurred, but I don't think so, I think you had to plan from the start. I don't know if the same camera could work with different types of film, and even if it did, you'd have to stick with one or the other until the film roll was completed.  I asked Dad if he remembered having two different cameras, and stopping and taking a photo with one (to get a slide shot) and then the other (to get a print/negative.) He doesn't remember that, but admitted to having two cameras ... and he said that they both likely have an unfinished roll of film in them!

When Chris went to get the slides processed, he and Dad thought they were mostly mission memories (and there are a lot of those), but we were all happily surprised to find quite a few early photos of the family as well. Some color-recreations of familiar photos, but lots of new pictures as well. All in color!

We are pretty spoiled today, being able to see the picture immediately after taking it, not having to buy film, and then wait and pay to get it developed. Then, there was often just one copy of a photo/slide/negative, and if it was lost, it was gone.  Now it is easy to take, store and share pictures. Video too ... looking back through my own video history, I recall the big VHS recorder, then the switch to a smaller camcorder with mini-tapes. Then as digital cameras were introduced, I was able to take a picture or a video using the same device ... although I still had my separate video camera as well. Now video saves to a drive and it's easy to copy, share and play with. And you can take both pictures and video on your phone!

Before the VHS even though, were film reels. I don't know exactly what that type of video camera looked like, I can't recall being filmed with it, but I DO remember when Dad would set up the reels and project the moving pictures onto the wall. No sound, just images. We'd laugh when Dad would stop and reverse it, and suddenly we were going back up the slide instead of down!

Sometime in the past, we had the old reels converted ... to VHS. Now that VHS is obsolete (Mom and Dad still have a VCR though, just FYI), time to convert them again. Skipping DVD, straight to digital. The quality isn't great. There's the original conversion, and then I'm not sure of the condition of the tape that was sent it. There was some obvious issues, but still, it's fun to get a little peek at the Westra Siblings way back in the day, IRL ...  I'll be grabbing portions and pieces to go with specific blog posts in the future, but if you wanted to look at the entire tape (it's two hours ... covering 1969-1984) it's on youtube/below, and in GoogleDrive (where you could download a copy if desired). 

Sitting on the Red Pig

This little piggy ... the first photo is of baby Scottie, first of the Westra siblings, sitting on the red pig. You can't even tell it's red in the black and white picture. In the second picture, the last of the Westra siblings, little Derek. I don't think the parents (or who knows, maybe this was Jen taking the picture) were trying to capture the EXACT pose ... but it is almost identical, even to the arm placement of Scott and Derek! Except for the EYES. What happened to the piggy's eyes? They were just stickers, and it had been 19+ years ...

But that wasn't the end of sitting on the red pig ...

Chris's four boys (Cayson wasn't here yet) in 2005 (top row)

Then another "piggie" photo shoot in 2011 with multiple cousins. So Camden has TWO pictures on the pig. Conner was the biggest grandkid, Ani closest to the age of Scott and Derek in the original pictures. I think Corin wins for the best pose, followed closely by Adria.

Found Photos!  A couple more grandkid sits 

... now it's a three-way tie with Camden's two-time sit with both Adria and Rella too! 

... and then as slides have been converted ... 

some color photos emerged of baby Scott.

Read a little more about the slides/negatives.

  Old-Fashioned Film and Photo

What happened to the red pig? Well in 2011, it would have been 48 years old! Beyond losing paper eyeballs, thin plastic (it was a bank if I remember correctly ... hollow) gets brittle over time. It finally broke. Hopefully NOT while being sat on, although I guess that is a very good possibility! Poor piggy. You will always be remembered. 

Father's Day 2020 - Memories of Dad

As for Mother's Day 2020, Chris wanted to put together a collection of memories, from each of the Westra siblings about Dad ...
here they are in the order received:

From Wendy~ 

• I am grateful that I could grow up with the priesthood in my home and that I could receive Father’s blessings from my dad through the years! It was clear that both Mom and Dad had strong testimonies of the gospel and I learned so much from both of them! Recently Rick recorded a podcast (an audio interview) of Mom and Dad and I loved learning new things I hadn’t heard before and received advice and “words of wisdom!” 
• Dad helped me to gain a love of sports -- basketball, softball, soccer, tennis, and hiking! We would often play basketball in our driveway, or play catch or soccer in our yard or at the park. When I was a teenager (or young adult) Dad and I joined the Stake tennis tournament playing doubles as a Daddy-Daughter team. We actually did pretty well!!
• Dad challenged the grand-kids to tennis matches, telling them that they could win $100.00 if they beat him in a tennis match. One such match was with our son, Jase, when he was staying with Mom and Dad while going to a Math camp at the University of Utah. Dad went into Cardiac Arrest and was rushed to the hospital. It was touch and go there for a while and so scary for all of us! There were many tender mercies during this time and we were SO grateful that Dad pulled through!! How fitting that he was released from the hospital on Father’s Day (five years ago) and that we could all join together that night to celebrate Dad and also the miracle of his recovery! 
• Dad always had lots of little songs and sayings. I remember Dad singing to us and later to our children…. “Pretty baby, pretty baby, how I love my pretty baby, how I love my pretty girl, pretty baby, pretty baby…” (I sung that to my babies too!) Whenever we passed by a sewer grate Dad would say, There are “Heffalumps and Woozles down there!” 
• I remember Dad chanting, “Rootie toot toot, rootie toot toot, we’re the boys from the Institute. We don’t smoke and we don’t chew and we don’t go with girls who do!!” Later on I heard this saying from President Hinckley in a General Conference talk but I had already heard it long before that from my Dad!! I also remember the little Dutch Christmas song, “SinterKlass Kapoentje” that he often sang to all of us!
• I look a lot like my dad and we are similar in temperament. Both Mom and Dad helped me to gain a testimony and love of the gospel. Other LOVES I received from my dad are: Love of naps! I also gained a love of sports, the outdoors, singing, journal writing, and more recently family history!! I am so grateful for Dad and for the legacy he has given to us! Thank you Dad, I love you!  (Wendy also wrote a list of memories for Dad in 2003).

From Scott ~

• I am grateful for the example my dad set for me. Dad and I are very different from the personality profile perspective. I am Type A, flaming Red, ears glowing with passion and emotion whereas dad is the peacemaker, calming color code white person.
• I appreciate him giving me advice. It came very infrequently which made it so much more potent. Some of that advice came at critical junctures in my life and changed the direction on my progression – always for the better.
• I am grateful that he was able to ordain me to the priesthood and be an example of the proper use of its power.
• I am grateful that he didn’t correct me even when I was obviously wrong and he knew clearly knew it. He just let me keep saying the same stupid thing until I figured it out myself.
• I enjoyed being with him fishing, hiking, camping and working in the house and yard. I am grateful that I learned how to install and repair sprinkler systems, fix walls, repair plumbing and electrical, plant a garden and a hundred other things that have been useful in my life.
• I love his passion for family history and I am grateful for the legacy of my ancestors.
• I remember the terror of finding out mom was going fishing with grandma and grandpa and knowing that we would have to live on graham crackers with butter and peanut butter in between them or maybe toast if we were lucky until she got back.
• Dad was not an exemplary mechanic. I remember learning how to check a cars oil in 10th grade auto shop and coming home to check our cars oil. With horror, I discovered the dipstick for the Impala station wagon barely registered any oil and what was there looked and felt like tar. My exasperation only grew when I checked the 1977 Honda Civic and the dipstick registered no oil at all. When I (with great despair) ask my dad why he had not changed the oil, he replied: “Why would I want to change the oil?’
• I remember him killing a rattlesnake when we were hiking on the Grandeur peak trail. I understand now that that wasn’t the best course of action but I thought he was a hero for protecting the world from a great threat.
• I remember dad being made the Scout Transportation Coordination when I turned 12, by virtue of him purchasing a station wagon. His first experience was taking about nine scouts to the Bear Lake camp. On the way, one of the boys suggested we stop at a firework stand in Evanston. My dad failed to see any problem with this and we left a few minutes later with enough fire power to take over a small country. When we arrived at the camp, the leaders were stopping every car and checking for fireworks. They asked my dad if he had any fireworks and since my dad had personally made no purchases, he looked the 16-year old straight in the eye and said: “Absolutely not.” We then proceeded to terrorize the camp, dropping smoke bombs and M80s into latrines and firing bottle rockets over the camp. My dad (the only adult leader for several days) knew nothing of this as he brought his fishing gear and was gone before sunrise and didn’t return until late after dark.
• I admire his frugality. Even with more money than he could spend in his life, he wears two button-down shirts, one purchased from a store in Richland Washington that went out of business in 1970 and another that I handed down to him 23 years ago when it was too old for me to wear any more. I know that the lives of his children and grandchildren have been and will be greatly blessed by the lifetime of saving, canning, drying fruit, couponing, refunding and scrimping both our parents did since they were married.
• I am grateful for all he did to support his family and to raise them in the gospel. There is no question that our parents fully fulfilled their sacred obligation and duty to teach us truth and light and provide us with all we needed to govern ourselves. They should be proud of their tireless efforts.

From Derek ~

I feel so grateful for my Dad. I even wrote a little article about him as one of my personal "heroes" a while back. https://medium.com/@derekwestra/trading-card-heroes-7cf8e822199d

There are so many LaMar-isms that I find myself remembering, or thinking, or even saying as a Dad myself. Here are a few: 

• Calling all kids George and Henry (irrespective of gender) :)
• Calling all kids Mr. Jones (also irrespective of gender)
• Whenever seeing a hole or grate or sewer, saying "there are Heffelumps and Woozels down there!" T
• elling all male kids/grandkids that girls were "nothing but trouble," and telling the girls the same about boys :)
• Saying "Good morning!" when Dad got home from work
• Dad singing "Oh What a Beautiful Morning!" or "On Moonlight Bay" 
• Dad using Dutch words exclusively for "green beans" "shoes" and other things
• Dad teaching us all the "sinterklaas kapoentje" song at Christmas, and what it meant
• If a kid is doing anything remotely dangerous: "you'll break your bones Mr. Jones!"
• If a kid has in fact hurt some body part "it's okay - you've got another one!

Dad was always soft-spoken. I don't remember him ever raising his voice or yelling (I wish my kids could say the same for their Dad). He was not over-corrective and let his kids figure things out. I remember once being bored as a 13-year-old kid during Summer break and pulling out an old golf-caddy (a three-wheeled device that held your golf-bag). I asked Dad "can I get an old lawn-mower motor and make that thing into a go-cart?" Dad certainly knew that I entirely lacked all the skills to do such a thing, but said, "Sure." I think he was genuinely entertained at what I might do. When I was 16, I asked Mom and Dad if I could get a motorcycle. I remember being VERY surprised that they were somewhat supportive. Dad helped me look in the classified ads in the newspaper for motorcycles in my price range ($650). We found one (I remember it was on Wayne's World Drive in Draper) and Dad drove me out there to see it. I had never ridden a motorcycle with a clutch before, but I managed to test-drive the bike without killing myself (although it was really scary). Dad wisely told me to sleep on the decision and we could come back the next night to buy it. The next day, I was so excited to get it, but in my excitement, I pulled the car out of the driveway without checking my blindspot and hit Shane's Mazda 626. I was very upset, but Dad wasn't, and said "these things happen." The cost to fix it was $650, so my motorcycle never made it home. I remember Dad letting me learn in my own way. 

Dad was my soccer and tennis coach growing up. He taught us all to kick with the side of our foot for control, and to pass the ball in triangles. As I got older and played competitive and High-School soccer and tennis, Dad would come to my games and matches. He even drove clear out to Davis High and other further away schools and watched. I remember him pacing back and forth and licking his lips nervously (which I only remember him doing when watching his kids play sports). He was invested in my athletics. I recall one time really wanting this Adidas soccer jumpsuit and telling him "Dad! I NEED it!" I recall him explaining to me the difference between wants and needs. I've thought about that conversation hundreds of times since then. 

I remember being bored as a kid in the Summertime, and Dad was out working in the yard. I would say "Hey Dad, want to play tennis?" Almost every time, Dad would say "I'm working on this or that so I can't right now." Somehow, Mom was always watching, and I would see her come out and talk to Dad. A few minutes later Dad would come find me and say, "Want to go play tennis?" Haha. :) Not sure what Mom would say to Dad, but I'm guessing that it was some combination of "this is your last kid and you're missing key father/son moments!" and other "Cats in the Cradle" lyrics. But I always appreciated Dad's willingness to listen to Mom and to do what she asked. I see that now with Mom's generous financial offers and incentives, and other things that I'm sure she's talking Dad into. I like that he thinks about it, and supports his wife's desires. 

I am so grateful for things that Dad taught me. How to respect women. How to find answers to my own questions. How to fish. How to work hard. How to be loyal to a calling or an assignment even when it wasn't convenient or even wanted. How to love the outdoors, and love hiking and tennis and soccer. One lesson that I think we've all mentioned is how to live within our means. Mom and Dad were very frugal, and taught us how to take care of money. Dad epitomized the "waste not, want not" mentality of his generation, and I wish my generation were better at this. 

Things I don't share with Dad? His body type, his hair, and his love of digging. ;) 

From Jeni~ 

• Others have mentioned some of the “Dad-isms” … not sure if I’d seen mentioned how he calls parmesan cheese “parameciam” cheese, and butterflies “flutterbyes” and would often say “I just ate a bar of soap”. We WERE seriously considering using “Jones” and a middle name for one of the kids so that Dad would actually be correct when he called that particular child xxxxxx Jones (we didn’t end up doing that, but joked about it!)
• I remember him taking me “stream fishing” up the mountains. It was a tiny little stream, not even a foot wide, not fast-moving at all. There were fish in there? I recall expressing my doubts “Dad, there’s no way there are fish in here LOOK A FISH!” and I think we proceed to catch it (or try to) with our bare hands.
• I remember going up the canyons to help gather rocks for all the various projects, from the fireplace/planter downstairs, to the little pond and stairs in the backyard, the trail around the side of the house and all over the flowerbeds. Once we stuck closer to home (the old orchard) and tried to get a big piece of concrete (used for the base of one of said projects). Hitting it with a sledgehammer, disturbing a wasps nest and everyone except me got stung multiple times.
• Playing tennis, while he likely WAS taking it easy on me, it didn’t feel like it. He’d come up and play the net and run me back and forth. It was exhausting! I had to learn to lob the ball to the back of the court in defense. I remember once when he came to watch me play soccer, he seemed a little shocked that his “little girl” was so mean out there on the field.
• Dad was always working outside. I remember him cutting “snakes” along the edge of the grass to clean it up. He was supportive of me planting pumpkins and replanting the “chickens and hens” in little pots, and then I’d sell both there by the side of the road. I remember him putting us in the wheelbarrow and running us around the yard.
• I did NOT appreciate him tricking me into turning on the freeway when I was learning how to drive.
• The talk of building an underground racquetball court … we did get a cave! The little unique things added to the homes … in the Hermitage house, the “high bed” and the food storage underneath it (accessed from the food room) and the extra closet behind Wendy’s closet. In the Havenhill house ... the high bed again, and the little door storing toilet paper in the bathroom.
• Hiding jellybeans in the little lava holes of the black fireplace at Easter … and also up inside the fireplace on the little ledge there.
• Always giving  Mom and hello/goodbye kiss.
• Asking him for the date when a couple of our ancestors came to Utah (school assignment for Colton), and him coming back with a complete list of ALL the ancestors and writeups of their experiences. I told Colton he should see if he could get extra credit because it was so above and beyond what had been asked (and it's on the blog and in Dropbox if any of the other grandkids need that info!)
• After we'd gotten married and moved away, we'd get Christmas "gifts" of random stuff we'd left behind.
• Sleeping in a sunbeam … my cats, and Grandpa.
• I think Keaton gets the juggling gene from Grandpa. 

From Chris ~ 

• I remember when I did the Heber Triathlon when I was only 15 or so. I wasn’t even allowed to register, but I did it anyway. Dad took me up there for the race. It was an incredible time commitment - one mile swim in Deer Creek, 112 mile bike ride, and then a half marathon! It took me ten hours and he just stayed there all day, helping me with the transitions.Thanks!
• I remember one time in college when I called home and had a long conversation (with Mom, of course). Dad never has long phone conversations. However, just before hanging up, as Mom said goodbye - I heard Dad say goodbye also, and I knew that he had been listening the whole time. 
• Dad taught me how to do rock work (just much later in life - but I’m catching up). I also love all types of yard work as he does. I’ve also enjoyed delving into family history lately and he has taught me a lot of that also. Spending much of my time with yard work and family history suits me just fine.
• I’m glad he taught me how to treat a woman with respect, and Kim appreciates that also! 
• My kids comment that I’m starting to look like Dad as I work around the yard with my hat and long sleeved button down shirt for sun protection. I’m the only child so far who has been able (so far) to follow his Grandpa example. Dad will tend lots of grandkids, but they will be involved in the projects he is doing (for the most part).
• That’s what I do with Integrity - sure I’ll read a bunch of books and dance with her, but much of the time I’m simply involving her in the yard projects I’m doing anyway (and she loves it). And yes, I call her Integrity Jones. And she says, “Nooo”.

From Shane ~

These are all great! With me going last (my fault), I have fewer unique things to add, but I'll add a "plus 1" to a few things as well.

• I remember Dad being so dedicated to his calling. All growing up, he was in the Bishopric, which I only realized later how big of a commitment that was.
• Dad was (is) an excellent singer, a trait that I didn't inherit at all. I loved how he would sing the hymns, usually switching between tenor and bass parts on each verse. 
• Dad was willing to try new things, even rollerblading. Which he did fine until the day he fell and broke his wrist. I remember when that happened (picnic up the canyon), he still hadn't eaten dinner yet...so he wanted to eat first, then go to the doctor/hospital to get his wrist fixed. He ended up getting external pins in his arm, with this big metal thing that was very inconvenient. So with his right arm out of commission, he couldn't shift the stick-shift very well, so when driving places I would shift for him. He would put the clutch in and say "shift!" and then I'd put it into the correct gear (I was not even near driving age yet). 
• Even with Dad's right arm not working, he'd play tennis. He'd play all left-handed, and still beat me easily. 
• Because Dad was in the bishopric, and he liked hiking, camping, and fishing, it seemed like he was the dedicated bishopric member for ALL hikes and campouts. Dad would take me along well before I was a Boy Scout, and I loved it. I've been passionate about hiking and camping ever since. 
• Dad was so calm and patient -- even when I crashed the car into the garage, he handled it in a very kind and understanding manner. 
• Dad taught me sports -- how to drop-kick a soccer ball sky-high, how to do an under-the-leg layup in basketball (a great shot when playing "Horse"), and how to throw and catch a baseball. 
• Frugality. Dad taught me how to hammer nails back into shape and re-use them, how to fix hoses and extension cords, and do all sorts of home improvement projects. Besides just being frugal, he taught me how to be grateful for what I had. 
• Dad always treated Mom so well, and would be so supportive of what Mom wanted. I remember being so shocked at some of the arguments/fights my friend's parents had, because I had never really witnessed that before. 
• I loved making creations out of random things in the "Dingwidgets" and "Doogoogalies" boxes. 
• Dad was both quiet and non-controversial, and so discussing "the birds and the bees" was not his thing. But I think Mom made him agree that he would have "the talk" with me. So on the day that the elementary school had the maturation program, during the drive to the school, Dad said to me "So...you've raised hamsters. You know how all that stuff works?". I replied, "Yep". He simply said "Okay, good."

Funny sayings: 

• "Peas, cheese, and chocolate pudding"
• "Hello, toast!" when the toast pops up (we say this in our family now)
• "Faster than a terd of hurdles"
• (While moving the limbs of a baby), "Exercises, exercises!" 
• Calling everybody "George" or "Henry", or <fill in the blank> Jones. Once I went out with a girl named Jessica Jones, and he said "I don't know much about her, but I love her name!" 

We love you Dad! Have a super Father’s Day!

Now DAD and GRANDPA can be completely different ...

We'll have to get some memories from the grandkids! I asked Keaton what Grandpa Memories he had and he said "Tennis, PingPong, swimming with a hat on and tossing tennis balls, the pond and the cave in the backyard, sleeping in a sunbeam" ...