Christmas Recuperation

It is almost Christmas and I am at home just recuperating from my foot surgery. I can be seen about 12 hours a day sitting in my overstuffed chair with my foot up on the ottoman. The surgery went great and thanks to a lot of help from Shawn and Kate I have managed just fine. It is a hassle getting around on crutches, but even if that is how I was mobile for the rest of my life, then it would still be better than a lot of other people forced to live their life with significant pain and deficiencies.

You can see from these pictures that I still have a black toenail from dropping Kate and Chad's TV on my foot during their move this August (ouch!); you can see that two of my other toes are black and blue from the surgery; you can see how my skin is stained from the disinfectant used during surgery. It looks a lot worse than it really is. I am without pain or much discomfort and I am able to sleep well during the night.

Lunch was brought to me on Thursday by Beth and Tyler and on Friday by Kate. Doug, and the Seymour grandchildren also visited me and brought me cards they had made. All have lifted my spirits. I have also been out on little trips (dinner and Glenn Beck Christmas program with the family; wedding reception; shopping with Kate). From my personal experience, I can tell you that the electric wheelchair/shopping carts are the best at Costco. They are way nicer and faster that at Home Depot and Whole Foods. Thanks Kate for an afternoon out of the house.

My heart is especially full this year for my love for Shawn and for all our family. With my extra down time, I have also been reading much about the Savior and I am more grateful than ever for His atonement and the great blessings evident in my life. Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!!

The Foot

Have you heard of “The Foot”? You know, the one on the left side of my body, that is somewhat deformed and goes at a 45ºangle to the left? The one they say I got from my ancestors and is likely something I have passed down to my children and/or grandchildren; yes, it sometimes skips a generation. Well I am having surgery on Tuesday to have it fixed. A friend of ours (Bonnie Goodson) was in church 2 weeks ago and walking with one foot in a tennis shoe. In talking to her about what happened, she told me she had bunion surgery by this Podiatrist, Dr. Dave Buchan, who has a new technique for fixing feet like mine with bunions. She swears by him and so I called his office the very next day to arrange an appointment to have him look at The Foot. He is not the first doctor with whom I have met. I have met with several different orthopedic surgeons over the past 10-15 years and each have told me that the day will come when I will need to do something, but that I would not be happy with the results; the procedure they offer is to cut, break and fuse, leaving little mobility.

Well, after meeting with Dr. Buchan (he does hundreds of these surgeries a year) I asked if there wasn't some way they could fit me in before the end of December. His surgical nurse called on Friday and said they made a spot for me and I am now scheduled for this Tuesday, December 16th. In talking to other patients, the results sound very promising. So, when I come home, I should have a proper working foot with a screw or two in it. Imagine, being able to walk without pain; being able to sleep when the barometric pressure changes; being able to walk instead of taking a cart when I play golf; being able to run again for aerobic exercise; being able to wear normal shoes that actually fit. And not having caluses on the side of my toes; and not having people laugh and point at my foot when I am barefooted. All these sound too good to be true.

We are really busy at work, so I have had to make a lot of changes in my schedule to fit this in, but I can’t pass up the opportunity to have it fixed. Getting it done this year will cause our insurance will pay 100% of the cost as opposed to delaying it until next year. So here goes. I will post new photos when everything heals.

They say, if I delay the surgery, my foot could look like this. What would you do????

General Conference - October 2008

I loved General Conference. Saturday was a busy day for us and I only watched about 45 minutes of the broadcast in its regular time slot. I also attended Priesthood Meeting on Saturday night. Sunday however was a different story. I started watching the different sessions starting at about 8:00 a.m. and finished about 9:30 p.m. with various breaks for meals, etc. It was a great experience. I know at this stage of life I have flexibility that I didn't have when our children were at home and they were younger. But it was really a focused time being able to see all of it in a condensed time. Kind of like the few times I have read the Book of Mormon in a month or two. I just brings the details into sharper focus and eliminates the memory lapse that comes from an extended period of time.

I have put together the collage above of those who delivered what, for me, were the most profound talks. I don't think I will ever forget some of the words and thoughts expressed in their talks. I think there was an overall theme of hope and peace even in troubled times. It is difficult at a young age to have the patience to see beyond the trials that lie ahead, but having gone through several rough spots in life, I have the advantage of knowing that "this too will come to pass". Meaningful was Elder Uchtdorf's Saturday morning talk about Hope; Saturday Afternoon provided insight by Elder Wirthlin and his stories of dealing with humor in difficulties; Elder Holland and his testimony of how angels are among us; and my favorite of the entire conference was Elder Corbridge's talk about the Savior.......The Way!!! The priesthood session was powerful and I thought especially oriented to the Melchizedek Priesthood.....Elder Scott and each of the talks given by the members of the First Presidency were impactful. Of the talks delivered on Sunday, those by Elder Eyring and President Monson received my greatest attention.

All-in-all, I looked forward to listening to our leaders; I wasn't disappointed. Again, the most unique and most powerful for me was Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge's talk about the Savior and that we must follow him. I thought of my own life and I also thought of Brad and Adam and Jason and Taryn and my father and sister......family that I love and whose lives could be richly blessed if they were to take to heart the message that Elder Corbridge delivered. I am so grateful to be a member of Christ's church. It has enriched my life beyond measure!!

Chad Gets His White Coat.....Class of 2012

Chad Pershing Lyons is now officially in The Ohio State University College of Dentistry. Kate and I attended the "White Coat" Ceremony on Wednesday night the 24th os September. It was a great night and one that I know Chad and his family have been looking forward to for several years.

We arrived just in time for Chad to join his chair among his classmates. Kate and I sat several rows behind. Several speakers, including the Dean spoke about the achievements already accomplished by those in the 2012 class. Then each row was dismissed to the adjacent foyer where their white coas was placed upon them and they then re-entered the presentation room and walked across the front dais as their picture along with their previous college and place of origin was shown on a large screen at the front.

When this was all done, and the oath and pledge was administered, a nice buffet of hot hors d'oeuvres and punch were available for the students and guests. I was surprised by the number of females who are attending dental school. This class has a record number of female students; about 50% in total. There are also several husband/wife teams of student......now that's some whopping student loans. You know the other thing that struck me?? Normally we only make a big deal or celebrate someone's graduation from something. But, in this case a big deal was made about 104 individuals who were just starting something. I guess it is not unusual for the professional colleges to recognize the high level of achievement of those entering, given their effort and sacrifice that got them there.

Anyway, it was a nice evening with Chad and Kate. Shawn and I love them both.

Family BBQ 9-20-08

Grandma and I are all about getting the family together. She can't go too long without a "fix" of being with her grandchildren. This night was just another example. Get everyone over for a barbacue and let the children run and play and get wet on one of Grandma's water slides.

Here is Dillon and Kelsey coming down and up top you can see some of Morgan as she readies to descend.........watch our below.

Mike and Myles on the tranpoline. All the grandchildren are becoming real pros; just like our children, they are growing up with the big springy mat.

Tired of their wet bathing suits, off they went for a little nudist jumping.

After it was all done and they were pretty sweaty, nothing is better than a group tubby. Here is Morgan, Tyler and Myles.

So, another successful night at Grandma and Grandpa's comes to an end!!!!!!!

Dillon Gets Baptized 8-30-2008

Dillon, the oldest of our grandchildren is now 8 years old. On Saturday, August 30th he was baptized by his father Doug. Don't they look great together? We remember how special it was when it came time for each of our children to be baptized. It is a particularly close time for a father and the chiuld being baptized. Children are "always" close to their Mom; there is just something special about mothers. But on this day, there is something special with Dad.

Dillon's baptism was a small, private experience. I spoke on the importance of being baptized and receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost. The ordinance itself was sacred. The blessing pronounced upon his head by his father was full of faith and love. It was a pleasure to be there for everyone.



After the baptism, the family, joined by the Pye's (Bishop Richard, Denise, and children) went to our house, where Beth and Doug hosted a marvelous dinner and gathering time. Dillon wanted steak and ribs.......and that's exactly what he got. It was delicious. The children played on Grandma's water slide and had a blast until the sun set in the west.

Walloon Lake - Petoskey Michigan 8-11-08 to 8-16-08

On Monday, August 11th all of our family (in separate cars at different times) drove up to Walloon Lake which is just south of Petoskey, Michigan for a week’s vacation. We rented a home on the lake from Monday through Saturday. The home was a little rustic, but very roomy. It had 6 bedrooms and a number of bathrooms. I was right on the lake and had a dock, including a covered area for our boat. The weather was great even though it was a little cooler than we have experienced at other lakes in the past. It was a beautiful lake surrounded by marvelous homes. The water was unbelievably clear and the bottom of the lake was sand. It was a nice week of family bonding. There was a little beach at the home and the children enjoyed playing in the water. We had the use of kayak’s, a paddle boat, and our boat. We enjoyed the town of Petoskey including the quaint downtown shops. It took about 7+ hours to drive there from our home in Powell. On the way up we stopped at Bronner’s Christmas Store in Frankenmuth, Michigan. It is reported to be the largest Christmas store in the U.S. It must be because it sits on about 40 acres and is equal to 5.5 football fields under roof. It was incredible. We spent about 2-3 hours there and after Shawn made her purchases, I think she better understood how such a place could actually make money. They have their own hotel, a RV park, etc. etc.

35 YEARS TOGETHER

It is hard to believe that 35 years ago on October 11, 1973 my sweetheart, Shawnee, and I were married and sealed for time and ALL eternity in the Oakland Temple. I have been thinking of our anniversary for some time now. Our plans to celebrate have changed somewhat and........because no one is going to bail us out!!..........we cancelled the trip oversees, and instead we have opened up our home to host about 70 young single adults who are coming to our house for a bonn fire. I know it doesn't seem very special, but there are lots of ways for me to let Shawn know how special she is to me. This blog post is just one of them. And so Shawn, from me to you, I want to tell you how much I love you. I was struck the first time I saw you, and frankly that feeling of confusion, amazement and discovery has never left me. You are amazing. You have enriched my life in ways I couldn't have even imagined. You have enlarged my life by being my best friend, my lover, my partner and eternal companion. I am so much better because of you. Our children are so much better because of you. Everyone you have met and know are so much better because of you - - - - that's just how I feel. I loved you then; I love you now; I will ALWAYS love you!!!! Thanks for 35 great years!! Your devoted husband, Kurt.

Tribute to Bailey 1993 - 2008

Sadly, our precious beagle, Bailey, left this life after almost 15 years as our beloved family pet. We loved him and he loved us. There were just too many complications from his old age and the decision was reached that it was time to say goodbye. So, while Shawn was out of town, Kate and I took him on his final drive in the Jeep with all the air he could want blowing in his face. He died calmly and without pain. It was a sobering experience. But there is not sadness, but a lot of fun memories of his life with us. See you soon old man.

Outer Banks, NC Beach Vacation 7/4/08 - 7/12/08

This seems to be the year of the vacation and this trip was just the start. We sort of attached ourselves to a week at the beach which Brent and Diana planned for their family. As it turned out all of our family (minus our missionary, Scott) joined all of the Wahlquists (minus Brad), but including Grandma Garlock/Provost/Platt and had a great time of family bonding.
We left on Friday, July 4th and we drove to downstown Staunton, Virginia in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley to stay the night at the Stonewall Jackson Hotel. All of our family arrived there around dinner time and ate together at a local restaurant. That night we went up to the local park and watched the fireworks. The next morning we drove to Corolla, North Carolina which is part of the area known as the Outer Banks. The house we stayed in was three stories. It was located right on the beach with a pool and hot tub. It had about 10 bedrooms and an equal number of bathrooms, with a family room on each level. The kitchen was large.
Okay, enough about the house. What really matters is the good time we all had together and the fun the children (young and old) had on the beach and in the water. The weather was great with a couple of partial days of overcast/rainy skies giving us the opportunity to spend a little time shopping and doing tourist things. It was great re-connecting with the cousins who have lived closest to us for these past few decades. But, sadly our fun came to an end and we drove back to Columbus, Ohio on Saturday. No accidents (sorry Uncle Brent.......at least none that hurt anybody), no hurt or upset feelings, everything fine when we returned. All-in-all a successful week.

Quilt Retreat - Flushing, Ohio 7/30/08 - 8/2/08

Shawn went on a quilt retreat with some of the gals in her local quilt group. Diana joined them and they met up at a bed & breakfast in Flushing, Ohio. Shawn has explained it to me, but I still don't get Flushing, Ohio. It isn't near anything and for the life of me I can't understand why you would go to the middle of nowhere and stay in a house and quilt all day and eat munchies well into the night. I guess I would better understand it if they were going to the middle of nowhere and golfing from sunrise to dark and eating lots of meat and potatoes. Now that I understand!!!!

Anyway, they had a great time. And that's what counts. That, and while they were gone I got to golf from sunrise to dark.

Nauvoo........The City Beautiful

Grandma Margaret and Diana came to visit the for the week arriving June 16th. On the 18th with Shawn driving they all went to Nauvoo for a few days. Shawn said they had a great time and that she had numerous moving spiritual experiences. They stayed in a Bed & Breakfast and attended the temple as well as all the church history sites. They went to plays at night and without exception, they all had a great time. At the same time they were in Nauvoo, there was wide flooding in Iowa and Illinois from extended and severe rain storms. Fortunately it didn’t effect their trip, except a few detours away from flooded roads.

A Visit to the "BIG APPLE"

Shawn and I had a great get-a-way to New York City the week we got back from Utah to be with Kate and Chad for his graduation. I had some meetings to attend and Shawh was more than happy to go with me. We had been to NYC before, but this time we just wanted to spend some time together and see some of the tourist sights the city has to offer. Let me tell you, it was a GREAT trip.

We stayed in a very nice hotel (thanks to our company) called The London. Our room was a suite and large by New York standards. Gordon Ramsey has his New York restaurant in the hotel; we sampled his food through room service one night and it was delicious! Hell's Kitchen it wasn't.
We took the subway and caught the fairy to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

We took in a Broadway play - Mary Poppins and it was really good. We would recommend it to everyone if it comes your way. Your kids will like it too.

We attended the broadcast of Live with Regis and Kelly. Their guests were Jeff Propst (host of the Survivor) and Carly Simon (singer, song writer). Reeeeg and Kelly were relaxed and mingled with the audience comfortably during the commercial breaks. There were only about 120-150 people in the audience and we all learned the proper way to be a quiet, clapping, fast clapping, excited audience. I felt a little like a circus animal having to perform in a certain way (whether you wanted to or not).

The show lasted and hour and we were off to the temple.

Did I mention that we sampled some of the food Manhattan has to offer? Well, we didn't pig out, but it was nice to have many choices no matter what time of day or night you were out. One of Shawn's favorites is Carnegie Deli, which she liked from being in NYC with her sister, Diana and her mother last year.

I loved how the sandwiches were piled high with meat and they were really good.

Not this good, but almost this good!!!

During our few days there, we traveled to a number of the different sections of Manhattan - Little Italy, Chinatown, SOHO, the Garment District, etc. There were people everywhere.......at all times of the day and night. I love the energy of the City.

For those bargain hunters out there, Our lease favorite experience was walking on Canal Street among all the rip off vendors selling fake and stolen merchandise. Overall, the weather was good and we had enough down time to not make it too rushed. Our trip ended by going to Church with the Manhattan 2nd Ward, grabbed a bite of lunch and headed to the airport.

As I said before, it was a great trip!!!!!

Chad's Graduation

Shawn and I traveled to Utah to be with Kate and Chad for his graduation from BYU. He graduated Magna Cum Laude in Exercise Science and is planning to attend THE Ohio State University to attend Dental School starting this fall.

We had a great time with Kate, Chad and all of Chad's family, who turned out en masse to show their pride for the first of the children to graduate from college. We are proud of you Chad!!!

We had a nice dinner in The Tree Room at Sundance on the night we arrived.

Shawn had a bad cold hit her hard once we arrived and she spent the rest of the trip, except for Chad's actual graduation, in bed in our hotel room. I, on the other hand, spent a lot of time with the Lyon's. At the end of the week we took a couple of days to get Kate and Chad's apartment all packed up and ready to be loaded into a U-Haul truck for their move to Ohio. They loaded their U-haul truck on Saturday and we left on Sunday to return home.

We brought their cat Harley with us on the plane. They got some medicine for Harley to take so he would be calm, but he seemed to actually get quite excited and tried his best to rip out of the carrier Kate had for us to transport him. At one point one of the flight attendants asked if I was traveling with an attended pet animal. I said yes and she said I needed to keep a closer eye on him, because he was in the plane back several rows. We were surprised and I went back and got him from another passenger who was holding Harley. I put him back in the carrier and put a twisty tie on the two zippers to hold them together so he couldn’t escape again.

Michael Buble'

Shawn and I had a great little get-a-way this past weekend. We left on Saturday after a late lunch and drove on the back roads (State Route 42) from our house to Cincinnati to go to the Michael Buble' concert being held Saturday night at the U.S. Bank Arena.



We stayed at the Westin Cincinnati, downtown. We had a great room (thank you PriceLine) and after a meal in our room, we changed and went to the concert. It was a fantastic night. Preceeding Michael Buble' was an acappella group from New York called Naturally 7. They

perform what they call "vocal play" which is where they vocally mimick different musical instruments (guitar, bass, drums, trombone, trumpet, violin, etc) while singing songs by others and those written by themselves. They sing blues, jazz, gospel and rock. They provided an incredible opening prior to Michael coming on stage.



Michael started about 9:00 p.m. and he put on quite a show. He really gets into the songs he sings and oddly enough somehow makes the evening feel intimate for the audience, even though there are 9,000 to 10,000 people attending. He sang for about 2 hours. There were times that his dialogue between songs was a little off-color and would have been better had he left it at home. All-in-all it was a great concert. He has a fantastic voice. I liked it well enough that we bought tickets for his Columbus, Ohio concert for Shawn to take Beth and Amber (sorry Kate).



After the concert, Shawn and I had a cup of herb tea and shared a piece of cheesecake in our room. The next morning we had a bagel for breakfast, read our books and then drove back to Columbus with my sister, Jody, and her fiance, Tom Grimm. They had flown in to Cincy from Denver so they could go back to Columbus with us and make some final preparations for their wedding in May. We drove back along SR 42 again, stopping in Lebanon, Ohio for a big lunch at the historic Golden Lamb Inn.



I mean it.......it was a great weekend. It was so nice not to be in a rush or feeling like we had to be somewhere specific at any time. Let's do it again soon, Shawn.

Winter Wonderland in Ohio

Kurt And The Little Tractor That Could.......Honestly Shawn,
don't you agree I need a bigger man toy than this???

Bailey - This is where he stopped.
Kurt went out and picked him up and brought him back inside.


A look at our front porch


Front of our house - taken part way down our driveway

The last two days have been great!! We love the snow. It has snowed since Friday morning, and it is still coming down (Saturday at 5:30 p.m.) We were out and about yesterday with little difficulty, except the traffic all moved about 20 mph. Our SUV was just fine and we didn't think twice about joining our dinner group last night over at the Barney's. Today was a little different story.

We awoke this morning to about 8 additional inches of snow on the ground. Our daughter Beth planned a group of her friends to be at our house today for a scrap booking feast. I got on our little tractor and started pushing snow off our driveway and parking area about 7:00 a.m., but I was unable to keep ahead of it due the volume of new snow coming down. Beth called to say they cancelled and so I came in for breakfast and some quiet time with Shawn by the fire.

By about 1:00 p.m. we were ready to get out of the house and see if we couldn't find some place open for lunch. McDonald's was it. All the malls are closed; the only stores we found open were the grocery stores, gas stations, Home Depot and McDonald's. Visibility was very bad (white out) and very few cars were trying to maneuver the poorly plowed streets. I pulled out two stuck cars using a tow rope I put in the back of the Denali. When we got home from our little jaunt, we got a call saying that church was cancelled tomorrow.

Update.......it is now 5:50 p.m. and the snow has abruptly stopped; the sun even popped through the clouds. What juxtaposition from the last 31 hours. Our snow total is 20.3 inches, which beats the previous record set in 1910 of 15 inches. I hope you enjoyed the pictures of our house, yard, Bailey in the snow and me standing by The Little Tractor That Could.