Grandpa's 80th

Feb. 18th was Dad Speakman's 80th birthday. It was a good day to remember a great man who loved his family and set a great example of service and work ethic. One of his favorite sayings was "quit your belly aching" Marti found a x-stitch saying "kwitcherbellyakin" and gave it to Dad a while back. We all loved it so much that Kim and Jess stitched one for all of my siblings and now we all have one!!!

Brent and I went snowshoeing last Sat. I say snowshoeing a little tongue in cheek because I forgot to bring mine ... he. he. so I was walking the x-country groomed trail while Brent was stompin' in the powder. But it was still beautiful and lots of fun. It is so nice to have Snowbasin so close that we can hop up there in a 1/2 hour and be in the powder.

After snowshoeing we went to Kim's and helped her sheetrock part of her basement, and met her new roommate. She has the cutest condo. It is fun to watch her decorate and fix it up. She is the best aunt. She bought a blow-up pool and then dumped a whole bag of balls in it. Maggie is loving playing in it.

I am off to Ohio to play with the Beazers..... watch for pictures of the fun!!!

the 12 days of VALENTINES!!!

For Valentines this year Jan surprised me with a gift a day for 12 days. It was GREAT!!(I think she had almost as much fun as I did) She ought to do this professionally :)
1st day : an e-card very nice 2nd: CD of Jan singing 3rd: A card when opened has Sony and Cher singing"You got me Babe" 4th: new bedspread 5th: the Dakota got a "heat attack" 6th: a fancy white chocolate heart ... the size of my fists 7th Picure book of our trip to Alaska 8th: 50 reasons why I Love you 9th: 2 Bamboo plants in the shape of a Heart. 10th: A picture book of our trip to Moab 11th : e-card 12th: surprise date ....

Other Happy's were: snowmobiling into Julander's Cabin (thanks Merryweathers for the MACHINES!) staying the night, playing Boggle, and then snowshoeing down to the meadow and watching the dippers. Then back out on the Machines (10 miles) in the snow It snowed lightly alllll night and day. Then to Carlos and Hurley's in Eden for some very good fresh mex. Also Jan is enjoying her Valentines Gardenia coursage.

Book Club (see Kim's blog "Bob" http://www.bingeonbooks.blogspot.com/) was lots of fun. We talked about books written before 1900.

Kim, Jess, and Magie came up for a bit this week. It is always fun to have them around. We got to spend some great time together and also with Grma Iris.

Got a darling Valentine Card From Lydia where she drew a picture of herself Gr. Pete and Nana swinging in the hammock.... with lots of Love sent with it. Thank you Lydia.

Sads: The gardenia plant is dying, and we don't know what to do for it. We have done everything we have been told and what we can think of, but it just keeps fading.
My nephew Ben is having some difficult times. It is always hard to see someone you love suffer and struggle. It makes you just want to twinkle your nose and make it all better.

Well, there you go for this week. We will add pictures of the cabin trip when we get them. Have a great week.

HAPPY VALENTINES TO YOU

To everyone we wish a beautiful Valentine's Day. If you have a significant other or not... this is the day of friendships and Love, and we thank you for your friendship, support and love that we continue to feel from you in our lives. We wish that we could personally give you a big squeeze and tell you thanks.... but since we can't ..... we just sent you this wish and virtual hug.

Love you!!

The Mayor has been busy

This has been a busy month for the Mayor. (and his assistant... he-he that's me)

He finished his 3 year stint on the Davis Chamber of Commerce Board 2 years of that on the executive committee. So at the annual banquet he was recognized and awarded a plaque.

He also got to go to the City Officials Day at the Legislature (Youth City Council took this picture of him and some of the council members)

Speaker for the Day was Joseph Ellis who wrote Founding Brothers (we just happen to have that book on tape)

He has been in the newspaper twice, and a LOT of meetings:
*2 city council meetings
*2 city council work meetings
*Central Weber Sewer Improvement District meeting (finance Committee)
*Wasatch Integrated Waste Management (Burn Plant) (Finance Committee)
*Department of Health Board
*Councils of Government
*Business Development Fund
*Northern Wasatch Regional Growth Committee
*Aquifer Storage Recharge Committee (Weber Basin Water)
*Dare Graduation for the Elementary School
*Handed out "I like Me Book"s to the first graders at the school (Rotary)


And that is in addition to the many hours a week he puts in at work and those meetings. Not to mention the choir and his ward assignment as employment specialist. (Which, with the current economy has become very important) He always comments when he has so many meetings what his father used to tell him....... "I can't believe that they pay you for sitting around in a room all day!" It helps to keep him humble.

His assistant has been busy spring cleaning and you DON'T want to see pictures of that!!

So, January comes to and end and we look forward to Feb.