Belated Father's Day dinner out / Canal Collapse

Alicia and Jesse had given Bryan and me a promise for a dinner out for our Father's Day gifts and they reminded us of it this week. So we all headed down to Cafe Rio and enjoyed some Mexican food.

Bryan, Jesse, and Alicia chowing down.

Daughter and Father - I'm still sunburned from the 4th of July activities of the prior weekend.

Yesterday (Saturday the 11th), after morning chores, I headed home from Gayle's PT office to find several streets on my regular route home closed and lots of fire department and police vehicles everywhere. Then, when I tried to open the garage door I realized the power was off. Gayle came home a bit later. Soon Alicia came by with Avril for us to babysit. Meanwhile, a helicopter was buzzing overhead and sirens kept sounding. Eventually I went outside with Avril and spoke to a neighbor riding by on a bicycle to find out what was going on. He said the canal above Canyon Road had burst. Gayle, Avril, and I decided to walk across the walking bridge (Logan River) to see what the commotion was. We quickly saw unusual things, like water gurgling up out of cracks in a street near our church building. Then we saw mud everywhere and emergency vehicles. We saw church members with shovels, most returning because they said they couldn't do anything yet. The hillside had given way and the canal and tons of debris and mud and water had crashed into one particular house. A mother and two children are presumed dead and still have not been extracted from the collapsed house (hillside deemed unstable). Besides this home destroyed, there were 8 homes flooded, 11 homes with significant yard damage, and 50 people displaced from residences. The Red Cross set up in our stake center and several are staying there temporarily.

For Church today we held a three ward sacrament meeting. We organized work crews and returned after changing clothes, with tools and ready to work. Here I am in my issued vest and hard hat. Many of us used our Mormon Helping Hands T-shirts. I was one of 6 team leaders from our ward.

These are two of my team members -- Jared and Gayle.

Here are some of us cleaning up a yard on the corner of Crockett Ave. and Canyon Rd. Coincidentally, our friend Sandy Maxson (Alicia and Jesse had lived with Sandy and Richard before moving back to Logan) had once lived in this very house. Small world.

Here a crew tackles mud in front of some of the houses. Up the street on the left was where the home was destroyed. We were not allowed near due to the danger.

Here workers throw mud to the street for the city to move with a Bobcat (small front-end loader).

Jared chats with a ward member between shovelfuls of mud.

Azusa Parkinsons and 4th of July Events

On the 3rd of July we took a family trip to Bear Lake. Shelby, Jesse's brother, took this shot of the entire Spencer K. Parkinson family. Jesse, Alicia, yours truly, Gayle, Jared with Avril, Adrian, Arleen, and Brittney. Ray, Arleen's dad, was also with us but standing next to Shelby.

At the edge of the parking lot at Rendezvous Beach, south end of Bear Lake, UT.

Adrian, Arleen, Ray, and Brit, ready to hit the beach.

Avril, posing with Jesse. Believe it or not, it was cool and we even got some rain drops for awhile. But with the sun poking through the clouds later, and on the lake, we managed to get burns.

We rented a boat and Brit had fun telling us how to drive and ski.

Jesse was first to attempt it. We had trouble figuring out the right speed and trim. Also, the throttle was difficult to dial in for consistent speed. We still had fun.

I'm sitting high while driving to see above those sitting in the front of the boat. Jared's facing backwards to watch the skier and hold the flag when they're down.

Jared, ready to hit it.

Shelby also got up on his first day skiing. We didn't get a good clip of Alicia skiing, but on her very first day of water-skiing she got up and did very well. I skied too.

Jared spent the most time up on skis. However, on this, his first run, he did a pretty cool forward flip (accidentally). Again, part of the problem was our inexperience with the boat and its throttle, and controlling the speed properly.

After several hours at Rendezvous we stopped for the traditional shakes at Garden City. Here are Gayle, Ali, and Brit savoring some LaBeau milkshakes.

Avril, rapping at LaBeau's. She just gets straight mom's milk, then shakes it up herself!

After a fun day at Bear Lake and a pizza, we drove up above the grandparents' house (above Lundstrom Park) and caught the annual fireworks display put on at Romney Stadium (generally on the 3rd in Logan). The next morning, on the 4th, our ward held its traditional Independence Day neighborhood breakfast at the River Hollow Park across the walking bridge.

Here are Jared, Adrian, Brit, Ray, and Arleen.

Two weekends in a row I got to be involved in group breakfasts. The prior week was Youth Conference, and here I have the important duty of cooking "Texas toast" while Sherwood Hirschi reaches for the canola oil.

Ali, Avril, and Jared showing some sun from the previous day at Bear Lake.

Avril shows her rap face while Brit holds her little cousin. Brit actually has an even younger cousin because Arleen's sister, Maribel, gave birth to a baby girl the very night Adrian and family drove to Utah. After the neighborhood breakfast, we all high-tailed it over to the growing metropolis of Hyrum, UT to see their parade.

Resting and drinking water during the Hyrum 4th of July parade. Arleen, Adrian, Brittney, and Gayle.

What Utah town parade would be complete without some vaqueros (unos charros) in the line-up. Yes, I think it's cool that Hyrum has a significant hispanic population now. I listen to several Spanish radio stations locally.

And Jesse's own AA Stampede had a float (of sorts), although Jesse had to work and didn't get to see it.

Afterwards, Hyrum always gives away free, very cold, watermelon. Brit loved it.
Next we went to the Cache fairgrounds to see the Cruise-In car show.

There were several low-riders. These use pneumatics (or hydraulics, I'm not sure which) to raise or lower the vehicle body. After the Cruise-In car show we met mom and dad (Joyce and L. Spencer) at the Golden Corral (again) for a nice meal. Then we went to see the Cruise-In parade on main street. What a busy day! The next day, Sunday, after church and haystacks for lunch, we went to first dam to feed the ducks.

Brit, feeding the ducks at first dam in the evening. What a peaceful setting.

Father's Day, Youth Conference, Stampede Game, etc.

As usual, there is always so much going on that it's hard to stop and record some of it. I took a business trip to St. Louis, MO mid-June. The following Sunday was Father's Day. We had a nice meal in our back, added-on room, with the Patriarch and Matriarch attending.

Dad and Mom on Father's Day.

The next week I took off Friday to participate in our stake Youth Conference. Our stake youth and adult leaders, with contractors supervising, were divided into work groups and converged on 23 homes in our stake area, including non-member (non-LDS) homes, to do some major projects. This is a shot of the first home the group I was assigned to worked on. Our team did landscaping and changed weed-filled flower beds to manicured beds covered with chips. We next painted the porch and railing (two coats). Meanwhile, another team re-roofed the house. The lady who lives here is single and has medical problems. She is Baptist and was overcome with emotion at the work done for her. By the way, the LDS church donated $30,000 to the projects and Logan City donated another $20,000.

Here I am with a couple of youth from another ward in front of a home not far from my house, but over the walking bridge that spans Logan River. Several crews did some serious landscaping here. Note that we all wore those Mormon Helping Hands yellow T-shirts. In this home resides another single lady. Our projects involved full days Friday and Saturday, with various activities for the youth in the evenings. Sunday we held a special Sacrament meeting in the Logan tabernacle, and then a fireside that night at the stake center. Leisa and Camber Firth put together an amazing slide show set to music as a summary of the many projects done. A well known youth speaker, Brad Wilcox, gave the keynote address about service focused on "lifting up the hands that hang down."

Our ward was in charge of breakfast on Saturday for the 450 or so people involved. We started the set-up at 5:00 a.m. It was a serious operation. Gayle was in charge of getting and delivering the juice and then stayed on to help serve the workers. I also assisted.

(L to R) Jeff King, our neighbor, whose wife was in charge of food, watches the pancake flippers. Marlin Grant, our previous bishop gets ready to flip, while our current bishop, Mark Firth, pours some new pancakes.

Kent Millecam cooks up a big one for a member of the stake presidency.

They even managed to flip it.

Here's a shot of a big happy pancake. One of the stake leaders got it.

That same Saturday we saw the undefeated Logan Stampede (AA Rocky Mountain League) win the championship game played at Logan High. Here's Avril, Alicia, and Jesse, with the MVP trophy, which he was awarded after the game.

Pop and daughter.

MVP and league trophies.

Nancy and Brandon Muncy came with several of the clan to see Stephanie off on her mission to Birmingham, AL. Before dropping her off in Provo, they came to Logan. We were able to get a lunch in with them and the grandparents at the Golden Corral. Here we are waiting for some of the family. Of course Gayle is behind the camera.

Stephanie is in the blue. The rest are Muncies or Parkinsons.

Avril had a good time too. Here she is trying to talk. This consists of blowing bubbles and squeeling.

Alicia and Jesse packing away some much needed caloric content at the Golden Corral while Brandon looks on. Avril puts on the weight as Alicia seems to lose it.

Granddaughters/Stampede/Carme Visit

Since Avril is close-by we tend to get lots of pictures of her for the blog. However, we also have beautiful Brittney, who lives in Azusa, CA as a wonderful granddaughter. Here is a shot of Brittney from around Christmastime that we haven't posted before. She turns 12 yrs. old later this summer!

Brittney Parkinson, our eldest granddaughter.

June 5th was supposed to be our ward Fathers' & Sons' camp out. But with severe weather predicted we called it off (although several ward fathers and sons went anyway and had a good, if wet, time). So the next morning we held the breakfast at the nearby Riverside Hollow Park and enjoyed the food, fellowship, and Runar Anderson's message anyway, under the Bowery roof. Meanwhile, Carme (Jesse's mother) had come up from California to visit her sons. So later that evening we all went up to Romney Stadium to see Jesse shine in the Stampede win over the Gladiators from Montana.

Here's the group waiting for the start of the game. That's Gayle with Avril, Alicia (#11 is Jesse's number), Shelby (Jesse's younger brother), and Carme.

Jesse lining up for a play.

Avril, smiling during the game. She had fun!

Close-up.

Sucking a thumb.

Jesse with wife and daughter, post win. Jesse had several great catches, including a touchdown!

Jesse works three jobs and here he is after dinner at our house with Carme, Shelby, Alicia, Jared, Gayle, and me. We caught a DVR'd "So You Think You Can Dance?"

Jared's Tree Experience, Avril, and the H.S. Senior Dinner

Friday evening of the week we got back from Georgia, Jared called to frantically share that a huge tree limb had broken and fallen on two power lines, including one that connected to his meter. The lines managed to hold up the branch but also pulled the meter off his wall and pulled out the eve siding, etc.

View of Jared's back wall.

Gayle near the downed limb, held up by the wires.

A Logan city crew came out to cut up the limb. They ended up having to cut off the power to the neighborhood to repair things.

Here's Avril on a recent visit to our house.

Avril just being her cute self.
Gayle, as the YSA adviser in our ward, held the annual H.S. graduating senior dinner at our house (with parents). Here's a shot from one end of the tables.

Looking north.

Some of the decorations.

Looking south.

The end round table. Sorry Bart, for not timing the shot well.

Georgia Trip Continued

Well, on the rainy Saturday night (it actually rained every evening while we were there) of our Georgia trip, Richard and Rosemarie took us with them to Conyers where we took in the new Star Trek movie and ate huge containers of popcorn! The next morning we left in time to get to Milledgeville in order to get to the Covenant Baptist church with Robert and Beth early so they could open it up and get prepared for the services. I played some prelude music from their hymnal as the first few folks arrived. We listened to the visiting pastor, Fred Billy, preach about remembering (Memorial weekend). We enjoyed a nice sourthern meal with the congregation after the services. That evening Beth and Robert pulled out the scrabble board for a friendly men vs. women game.

About to start the game at Beth's and Robert's house.

On Memorial Day we ate a true southern breakfast. I'm chomping down on some whole grain grits while eating my toast.

Beth and Robert took us to nearby Sinclair Lake for a ride on their pontoon boat. Here we're loading it up.

Fixin' to head out.

What a great vacation!

Two sisters with sun protection on their heads.

Our captain, Robert.

There were many beautiful homes right on the water. Here's one. This doesn't even show their boathouse on the other side of the lot.

I got a chance at the wheel too. I love the wind in my hair.

After the big day at Sinclair Lake and our afternoon exercise on the nearby school track, Gayle and I drove back to Social Circle. The next day we enjoyed the morning and then went out in the country to visit Rosemarie's daughter, Emily, and her children. Chester (dad) was at work but we were able to have a good visit (and great lunch) with the rest of them. Rosemarie joined us too. The Cleggs very much enjoy music, especially Aaron (now 11 yrs. old). I remember Aaron carrying around a toy guitar as not much more than a toddler. He has really developed his talent and plays every instrument in the house (and there are many). He's a whiz on the guitar (blue grass flat picking), the mandolin, the banjo, and even the fiddle. He'll even show his stand-up bass playing cousin tips on the bass when she needs help. He plays the piano as well. Chester sings well and plays instruments too. Abby plays mandolin and fiddle. I don't recall who plays what else, but they have a very talented family.

Just some of the stringed instruments at the Clegg home!

Here are a few more.

Aaron and I jammed a little bit as Abby and Amanda hang out with us.

Aaron showing a few licks on the dobro for me.

Gayle complained that I cut off Aaron's head in this clip, but I was trying to show his hands on this banjo piece. It's a segment from Somewhere Over the Rainbow and is relatively slow compared to a lot of what he played.


Here's grandma Rosemarie ("nana" is in pink) along with Emily and the kids - Ashley, Andrew, Aaron, Emily (mom), Amanda, and Abby.


Before we left, the younger ones insisted on shoulder rides. Note their large yard and very peaceful country setting.

Georgia Trip

We got up before 4:00 a.m. on Thursday the 21st and left not long after for the SLC airport. Richard picked us up from the Atlanta airport after we got in from Houston. We did enjoy fish tacos at Pappasito's in the Houston International Airport. We ate at a new 50's diner behind the Blue Willow Inn that night.

Right across the street from the Sells' (Richard and Rosemarie) downtown home (they live in their country home most of the time and let us use their home in town) a young couple moved in. Turns out that the young man grew up mostly in Logan. His dad was down helping them move in. The parents now live in Alaska, but spent many years in Cache Valley.

We jog (Gayle walks while I go back and forth) in the mornings. Typical of trees in town are the ones shown here. I'm standing next to one of many huge Magnolias. The next shot is one of many, many Pecan trees.

And here is one of the Magnolia blossoms close-up.

This is typical of the architecture in town.

We were surprised, after coming to Social Circle (the town) for over 30 years (but never getting around town much) that not far from us is a beautiful lake with homes around it.

This is one of the homes we like in town that we saw on our morning jog. We especially liked the landscaping.

On Friday evening I went with Richard. He is certified as a boxing judge and scores pro bouts about once a month. This one was at a venue in downtown Atlanta, but in a rather less than desirable part of town. Here's the next door building and some of the rubble near the boxing gym where the matches were held. Usually the venues are better.

There were many amateur bouts, followed by two pro fights that Richard helped score. This is a clip from the first pro fight. There was a lot of down time so I read magazines (the Liahona in Spanish and the New Era).

The Blue Willow Inn is a great restaurant in town. Here it is from the front.


Behind the Blue Willow is a row of new businesses, including this 50's diner. We stopped back in to get an orange freeze and take some shots.

Next to the diner is a Creation Museum of Natural History. This is from a wall of butterflies.


And this was from part of the minerals section.


There was a good animated presentation about the plan of salvation featuring Mr. Lion and his little friend the lamb. Note the cross and stone in front of a tomb in the background.


Here's Gayle in the lobby of the museum.


On Saturday we spent time with Richard, Rosemarie, David, and Katie out at their country home. Here's Gayle drinking apple juice out of a bottle that had held a mango health potion that Rosemarie bought from a chiropractor who claimed it had healing properties (against arthritis, etc.) And while at the house, we got to see some of the family of red foxes that have a den next to their long driveway, and also Rosemarie's vegetable garden (from which we picked snow peas for lunch).


Here are Katie and David. Katie's an OB-GYN nurse and is ready to go to work. Here she's cutting up celery for Rosemarie's home-made lentil soup.

I have just sauteed the snow peas (or sugar snap peas) and Rosemarie approves. We also had black-eyed peas, corn bread, chicken, new potatoes with cheese, fried okra, etc.

While Richard and I went to boxing in Atlanta, Rosemarie and Gayle went to Athens to do pottery. Here are some previous examples of Rosemarie's pottery. The piece with the flowers is named "Multi-Tasking." Both they and Richard and I stopped at different Varsity eateries. The Varsity is famous in Atlanta and surrounding areas as a hot dog/burger joint.

Rosemarie had left peaches for us to eat at her home in town. Here is one Georgia peach holding several others.

That's it for now. We're already having more experiences we'll share later.