Dave’s Blog

After much searching and study I decided to purchase a new SLR camera.  Like most people I am tired of trying to catch the exact moment that I can get a good picture of my grand kids with an aim and shoot camera. I bought a Nikon D-40 with two lenses, one a 15-55 and another 55-200.  The camera is easy to use and takes great pictures one after another. I signed up for some photography classes which should be good for a beginner like me. This is my first really big photography purchase. 

Last week my 16 year old Honda Lawnmower quit working. This yard implement has been the best lawn tool investment I ever made.  It now is showing wear and tear and is in need of new tires, a new drive cable, a new grass bag, a new blade and a complete tune up.  I asked the salesman at the store where I purchased it 16 years ago how much it would cost to get it back into top shape and would it be worth it considering the age of the machine.  The total bill is just under $200 and he said that he couldn’t sell me a machine even close to the one I have because they just don’t make them like they use to.  I was surprised at his answer but grateful for an honest salesperson. So instead of spending $700 I will spend the $200 and hope for another 10 years of happy mowing. There is nothing like a Honda Lawnmower.

Yesterday I got to do something I had never done before…dedicate a new park for North Ogden City. While I was introducing the dignitaries, I thought how great it was to have a new 6 field soccer complex for the kids to play on.  I was so proud of our little city for its efforts.  The new Wadman Soccer Complex is North Ogden’s 10th  park.  Jay Wadman of Wadman Construction was most generous in giving the means and labor to build this beautiful park. When it came time to unveil the large monument out in front of the park, a namesake for the park, I couldn’t believe my eyes.  Someone had misspelled complex.  There it was ComPex. No "L" and a capital "P" in the wrong place.  What an embarrassment!  Just glad this flub wasn’t on U-tube.

Tomorrow afternoon an era comes to an end.  The Nordquist family home will be sold to another family and never again will we have an opportunity to pick those small sour Session Plumbs from the back yard.  No more pruning the dinosaur bushes that are out front. No more scary fruit room romps, and no more thorny Bushes to get pricked with. We have emptied 30 cubic yards of garbage, and added one large U-Haul truck to the local donation center. The family and neighbors have had a field day in their new found treasures. The "old house" will be missed a lot!

This weekend will be the first of several walk-through’s to see what family members want to take form grandma and grandpa’s house in Bountiful.  It seems strange to be doing this.  After my family has had an opportunity to see what they want to take then my mother’s sister and her family can do the same. Then comes the big problem of give-away, throw-away or donate to a charity. I think a combination of all three will eventually do the trick.  I can remember moving into the house in 1958.  It was brand new with no yard and lots of construction junk all over the place.  It was fun to run and play dodging boards, buckets and sheet rock. It wasn’t too long after moving in that we started on the yard and pretty soon we had the best landscaped place on the block.  I think I learned my lawn moving technique from my dad.  He always mowed his lawn both ways. Brett use to do ours this way until I got tired of his grumbling and purchased a better  mower. these next few weeks will be fun and interesting as we pass from one generation to another.

One of my favorite things to do is to ask my grandkids if they would like to go get a hamburger.  I know fast food is bad for you and there are all kinds of things that are associated with this tradition that should be tossed to the wind but I can’t stop it.  The kids all jump up and down and yell, YES, YES with excitement that is so contagious that you can’t stop grinning from ear to ear!  I was thinking this week about why I get such a big kick out of this activity and I have figured it out.  It goes back to when my father would take John and I to Daisy May’s Dinner in Clearfield for a hamburger and French fries. I don’t know what it was about that hamburger but it was the most delicious thing I had ever eaten. In those days there were no fast food outlets but there were small town dinners that had delicious food. Money was scarce and eating out was a very BIG thing. Just being with my father made me feel so happy and special… and the food was so yummy.  I have never found any place that could match Daisy May’s Hamburgers.  Maybe that is why Burger King is such a big treat for the kids. The food isn’t all that great but the company is wonderful.  

On Sunday February 10, 2008 I was released from being a bishop in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints after serving for over 6 years, and boy has things changed. I believe the phone has rung only a couple times which I diverted to the new bishop.  The LDS Family Services Department, (Church counseling) called several times and I got to say with a smile, “Sorry no longer in charge”!  Tuesday night was… watching Planet Earth Night with Ilene.  I believe that was the first Tuesday evening I have been home for over 6 years. The mail has slowed to a trickle this week.  Usually I would receive 15-20 pieces of mail form members or from Church Headquarters. One of the strangest things is that while you are serving as a bishop you are addressed as Bishop when spoken to for respect to the office. Now everyone says hi Dave!  It sounds good to be called by my name again.  I received several Valentines from ward members and some of the neighbor kids telling me they were sad I was no longer their Bishop.  That was a little hard to swallow but I will survive.  One of the fun things that became a tradition in the ward was after the last meeting was held all of the kids from 3-18 would come to my office for “Taffy Time”.  This was a weekly routine where everyone could find their favorite piece of taffy in the “Bishop’s Taffy Basket”  Some of the kids were found taking more than three pieces which automatically made them a candidate to speak in Sacrament meeting.  “Hey, don’t take more than three or the Bishop will call on you to speak.” The week was been filled with wonderful memories, lots of reminiscing, and a great week with Ilene. Hey I have even started to ride the treadmill again.  

With my mother in an assisted living center I enjoyed this story about elderly care.

A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year old grandson. The old man’s hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered. The family ate together at the table. But the elderly grandfather’s shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult, peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.

The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess. “We must do something about father,” said the son. “I’ve had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor.” So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner. There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner. Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl!

When the family glanced in Grandfather’s direction, sometime he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone. Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food. The four-year-old watched it all in silence.

One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor. He asked the child sweetly, “What are you making?” Just as sweetly, the boy responded, “Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up.” The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.

The words so struck the parents so that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done. That evening the husband took Grandfather’s hand and gently led him back to the family table. For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.

Merry Christmas! 

I was thinking how different my Christmas is this year. Oh let me count the ways!

When we were younger and had little ones running around we had to be creative with the purchase of our presents. Money was tight and we had so much more energy than money.  Now we have much more money than energy.  I can remember how much fun it was when we strung popcorn and cranberries for the Christmas tree and made gingerbread boys to hang on the tree.  Eight gingerbread houses was never enough but lots of fun to make and display.  Mom would sew for days making dresses for our three little girls and then put on a Christmas buffet which resembled a food line at the Marriott.

My job was always to clean the house from top to bottom.  I did pretty well until one Christmas Eve I decided to paint the basement stairs which necessitated fumigation of the entire house.  Boy was mom mad at me that Christmas! 

For the past six Christmas’s I have tried to help as many people as I could in our LDS Ward.  I am not sure how I got so caught up in this entire Sub for Santa stuff but I have really become quite good and totally obsessed with it.  This year we gave something to over 250 people.  Gifts ranged from fruit plates to turkeys to entire families being given gifts by various agencies. Weber State University, several dentists, doctors, and of course the best friend of all Gil Craig helped with the finances. Last night I delivered the last quilt to a little family who is moving to Kansas to go to graduate school.  It was snowing and the roads didn’t even have a tire track in them yet.  That was really fun. This will be the last Christmas I will be able to do that for my Ward and I will sorely miss this experience.

At eight o’clock everything was ready for the family to visit on Christmas day, far cry from the 3:00 am completions we use to have. Mom and I watched several of the Christmas DVD’s we have and then continued with several TV programs.  It was so good to just stop running around and just relax….that may be the best Christmas gift I have had for a very long time.

This year I have been reminded of how fragile our health is. With my mother and mother-in-law now at an assisted living center and my wife struggling with her health and me with my bad back and Arthritic knees you really have to count your blessings. I believe that 2008 will be a little more reflective and a time to stop and smell the roses.  That is my goal.

I am so blessed to have the best family of all.  I hope you are all filled with the Christmas spirit as you enjoy your holiday today.  

I had a neat experience happen to me last night on Temple Square in Salt Lake City. I was early for the annual Christmas Program at the Conference Center so my brother and I toured Temple Square and looked at all of the thousands of lights that decorated Temple Square. While we were walking around I was telling my brother how hard it was to get a ticket for tonight’s performance. I had three tickets that I had gotten online and there was only two of us so I had one extra ticket. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with the one extra ticket. As we were speaking kind of loud about the concert a young girl in her twenty’s asked if we were going to the performance and we said we were. She was going to watch it on TV in the Tabernacle which was an overflow area for those not having tickets. I asked her if she wanted to go to the performance and she said she was from back East and would love to go but she had no way of getting a ticket. She was there by herself and wanted to at least see the concert on TV. When I offered her one of my tickets she held the ticket up and danced around in a circle and yelled “wait until my father hears about this” I felt good that I found someone who really wanted a ticket and I could help. Kind of the true spirit of Christmas I’d say!