Great Times; Days to Remember

It's not often you get to celebrate someone's 90th birthday, but we have been able to enjoy that blessing with my Dad. He has lived quite a life. He was born and lived all of his growing up years in a pioneer setting. Born in a 2-room log cabin, slept on straw mattresses, his Mom cooked on a wood/coal burning stove, and they had no indoor plumbing. Water was obtained from a pump outside, and winter or summer the outhouse some 30 or so yards from the house was the only restroom available. They traveled by foot or horseback, grew or hunted for their food, and went to Fishlake in the winter to cut ice blocks for the ice house so they could keep things cool in the summer. Now, 90 years later, he has been a part of, or seen, so much change. The list of things that we now enjoy as part of our everyday life, but didn't exist when he was growing up, is amazing. He was the 8th child born, but three of those that preceeded him in birth did not survive. The first born, a brother, died at the age of five of menengities. Two earlier-born sisters died as infants. Eleven grew to adulthood. Six are still living.
I want to thank all of you for coming. That meant alot to Dad. He meant alot to me. I apologize for not spending more time with you. Somehow the night got away from me. I was trying to let Dad's siblings know how much I appreciated the effort they made to be there; and tried to find out a little about how they were doing. Before I know it the night was gone and it was time to leave. So, again, I'm sorry for not spending more time letting you know how grateful I was for your being there. (And, Rhonda, we know you would have been there too if you could have been. We missed you, and send our love to you and the kids.)
It has been a busy time. First was the President's Dinner at BYU in Provo and the President's Advisory Committee happening at the same time in Idaho. The next week we had the Dedication and Open House for our new building. Then Monday I left for our communication team conference in Idaho. And, to top it off, we've got our annual LDS Philanthropies conference coming up on the 5th and 6th of June. All of these activities required a lot of preparation on our part in communications, including two videos and a variety of printed materials. I also covered the shipping of Humanitarian Supplies to Myanmar this past Sunday at the SLC airport. UPS provided a large cargo plane and we loaded it with supplies for the people who were so devestated by the cyclone. I took photos and prepared a story that is posted on our website. At the same time we were in the process of publishing the BYU Provo's President's Report. And that is just a little of the things we have been doing. Wow. It's fun. But I could use a break. And here at home we've been trying to get the basement cleaned out so we can be ready for the construction crew who will be here Tuesday morning.
Well, I didn't mean to unload all of this here. It just kind of flowed out.
I hope my family knows how much I love you. You make me very, very proud. And it so much fun to hang out with you. You are great.