I am so glad
I was able to go to Dad’s retirement luncheon!
I’m grateful to Michael for taking care of everything at home so that I
could go.
February 11,
Thursday
On Thursday
morning, I saw the boys out the door and went to get my hair done. It was a little too brown this time but that’s
ok. I got all packed up and went to the airport but quickly realized
that my flight was delayed. I was pretty excited that I had time to go to
Cowboy Ciao and get a Stetson salad. I haven't had one of those in about 20
years. I remember eating one when we went there in Scottsdale for a fancy
dinner way back when we lived in Apache Junction. Anyway, the flight was
delayed about an hour. I had a window seat so that was nice. There was quite a
bit of turbulence on the flight. I ate my salad and enjoyed it thoroughly. I
had done a check in for Enterprise so I went straight to the garage and I got a
Camry and drove to the hotel. I drove across the Courtney Campbell Causeway and
sang along to the radio. I easily checked in and got to my room and got ready
for bed. By the time I got there it was 12:30 AM.
February 10, Friday
Wow, what an epic day! I had my alarm set to
wake up at 8:30 AM but I was awoken at probably about 8 AM by a super loud
garbage truck. I got up and started getting ready. I think it was around 10:30
AM when I left. It took me about 30 to 40 minutes to get there. I got there
right at 11:30 AM like Karen asked me to. She put me in a little empty storage
room with some desks and tables and I waited in there until it was time to come
out. I heard Ken Marks get started and introduce some new managers. Then Karen
Jones came to get me. I was so nervous I couldn't even sit down while I was
waiting. I was nervous Dad would come back there or something but he never did.
I walked out and it took him a minute for it to register. He said it was like
time stood still for a minute while he figured out what was going on. He
stretched his arms out wide and laughed with joy. I'm so glad they got it on video!
I really, really wanted them to and they did. They also got some good pictures,
which I'm grateful for. His first question was, “How did this happen?” I
laughed and said, “I got on a plane.”
I sat with him while
they continued to surprise him. They gave him a very cool gift which was a
Bible that had some important US documents at the back, like the Declaration of
Independence. It also was signed by Lee Greenwood. To make it even cooler, they
had a pre-recorded video message from Lee Greenwood. It was personalized and he
was really talking to Dad and wishing him a happy retirement. In it, he joked
that Dad should go to Florida but he already lives there.
They had two people from the Sheriff's Youth Ranch
come up and say some very nice things about Dad. Their names are Scott and
Teresa. It was cool to meet them today.
Then there were messages from Chuck Urban, who he worked with for many years in Tallahassee.
There was another video call with Eric Clark who is the IT guy Chuck Joachim who does their insurance.
Camaray Simmons who does their social media was also there. She lives in Tampa and it's pretty rare for her to come in so Dad was pretty happy about that.
Ken Marks got up and
talked about me for a little while and talked about SweetLeaf and Dad going to
NASCAR with us. Then he asked me to get up and say a few words, which I hadn't
been warned about so I was pretty nervous. I can't even remember what I said. I
know I said that Karen Jones had reached out to me on Facebook and at first, I
didn't think I could go but then I thought, well why not? Michael said I should
go and I moved some things in my schedule around and got the plane tickets and
planned the trip. I mentioned how Dad is really good at surprises but it's very
hard to surprise him back so I was excited that this worked out and I was able
to surprise him today. I thought about telling the story about how dad
surprised us on Emily's first birthday but there wasn't much time and everybody
was waiting for the lunch so I didn't mention that. I said how I'm Dad's only
daughter, only child, and how he has always been there for me over the years. I
said that I know everybody knows how he is at work but that he's also a
wonderful father. I remember saying that he's the best dad I could ever ask
for. I remember saying that he's a great example to me of loving and serving
others in many different ways. I have no idea what I said at the end, but I
think it was something about how I was grateful I could make it there.
Afterwards, Ken Marks said I did a good job and that he hadn't told me about it
so I wouldn't worry about it so I guess it's just as well. He's right, I
would've stressed. I generally speak pretty well on the fly. I know I got
choked up in the middle and I didn't quite know what to say. One of the new manager
guys came up to me afterwards and said I made him cry. So, I guess everybody
got my intention and understood the message I was trying to get across.
After that, Ken asked
Dad to lead everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance. Dale gave a prayer. Then everybody
started eating. Ken asked Dad and I to go first. They had all kinds of barbecue
and it was really good. I had the brisket. I enjoyed sitting with Dad and
talking with Terri Marks. She is lovely, inside and out. She had her grandson
Beckham with her and he was adorable. They had had grandparents’ day at his
school that morning and he told them they could take him home and she couldn't
resist. He seemed a little bored but probably preferred to be there instead of
school. He had fun playing with the balloons. Linda Drake had made the
centerpieces and they had a real piston in them that had been cleaned up. They
made a point of telling Dad that he should take one home and they also had a
bouquet of roses for me to take home. Some people came up and greeted us and
said how much they will miss Dad. It was very nice. They had two really nice
cakes. One was for Dad's retirement and one was for all of the birthdays.
We got some pictures
taken. He talked a little more with the two people from the Sheriff's Youth
Ranch. I talked a little more with Terri. Ken said the band was coming at 3 PM.
I think by then it was almost 2 PM. Dad took me over to the main building and
showed me around. It's really nice! He showed me Karen's office and one of the
conference rooms. He showed me his old office where Linda is now situated. It's
right next to Ken Marks's office. They're attached and there's a glass wall
between them.
He had a little
cubicle in the accounting room where he's been sitting to give Linda her space.
There are three other girls in that area. He was helping somebody with
something and then when he was done, he wanted to go pick up a seat for the four-wheeler,
but Ken had asked me to keep him there because the band had already arrived and
they were setting up and so if he went outside he would've seen them. I had a
really hard time keeping him from going to get that seat. Once he has something
in his mind that he needs to do, there's no stopping him but somehow, I made it
work. I kept asking him about pictures and then we talked to the girls in the
office. Finally, I texted Ken and told him that I was having a hard time
because he wanted to go get that seat. When Dad realized I was trying to stop
him, he asked somebody to go get the seat for him. I knew he was onto me.
Apparently, the place where the seat was was going to close early that day so
he wanted to make sure he got it. Ken called me and I went into the lunchroom
and told him what a hard time I was having and he sent some people up to talk
to Dad to stall for more time. Finally, Linda came to get him and take him
downstairs. She told him Ken needed help at the delivery area. They took him
out the side door and Ken's Kids were out there, some of the kids from the
Sheriff's Youth Ranch. They had been picked up from school to come over and see
Dad. I think there were about eight of them. Dad was so excited to see them. I
was relieved because I knew he would think that was why I was stalling. He
later admitted he did.
Then he wanted to
take the seat that he was holding that the lady had given him and put it in his
car, so I told him, you stay here and I'll go put it in my rental car. The
bummer was, while I was gone doing that, that's when the band showed up so I
missed Dad's initial reaction to that but apparently, he was pretty happy about
it. I got it on video when he looked at me and said, is this why you were
trying to keep me from leaving? I laughed and played innocent but he knew. We
enjoyed quite a few numbers from the band.
They played the
National Anthem and God Bless the USA.
They played the Macarena and did the
dance to it so we all got a chuckle out of that.
They played We are the
Champions by Queen and Celebration by Kool and the Gang.
They played a couple
more that I can't remember, but I got most of it on video. After that, we got
some pictures with the band.
I took pictures for
Ken of the original four who used to be at Ken Marks Ford. That's Ken, Dad,
Karen Jones, and Cameron Ker.
We said our goodbyes.
Dad looked at Ken and said I don't know how I can thank you enough. We walked
back into the building where the luncheon was, which is going to be the used
car building. The Sheriff's Youth Ranch kids were in there having some of the leftover
food which was nice. One of the boys came up to Dad and said, thank you for
showing us what true service is. I don't know if those were his exact words but
they are pretty close. Dad was really touched and talked about it quite a few
times the rest of the night. We said our goodbyes to them. Dad needed to go
pick up the four-wheeler so we took his truck over to get the trailer and to
pick it up. That took some time because it didn't fit on the trailer so they
had to make an adjustment and take off something called spacers to get it on
there. They needed a special tool to remove the spacers, and the guy who could
sell it to them showed up right when they needed him to and now Dad has the
tool to do it himself later. While Dad was dealing with all that, I was talking
to Michael because he found out that Daniel was going to be having a lot more
kids over so I called Papa John's and they were able to add three more pizzas
to our order. I told Michael he needed to go to the store to get more soda,
some cookies, and a veggie tray. He said he would handle all that. Once the
four-wheeler got loaded, Dad drove me over to get my rental car and then we
headed back to Palm Harbor. He went home and I went to the hotel. I had some
texts and things to deal with on my phone. Debbie was with Dad when they picked
me up. I gave her a hug and got in the back. Dad had mentioned going to
Bonefish Grill. I had made a reservation at 7:30 PM and we tried to get in
earlier. We showed up at 6:30 PM and they said they couldn't give us an earlier
reservation and the wait was an hour and that they would text us when it was
our turn. So, we wasted a little time and Dad drove us around the Sheriff's
Youth Ranch and showed us some things. Then we drove over to Publix so I could
get some cookies. Then we drove back to the restaurant and there were some nice
chairs outside and it was a very pleasant night so we sat out there and waited
for a while. I tried again to get them to get us in earlier and they said they
were waiting for people to leave. We got a picture.
Finally, they got us a table at a nice booth. The dinner was
delicious! I love their corn and lump crab chowder. I got a cup and Debbie got
a bowl and she loved it, too. I ordered the butterfish, which was the same
thing I had when we were at Daytona and it was amazing again. After dinner, Dad
drove me back to the Howard Johnson's. I said my goodbyes to Debbie and came
back to my hotel room. I've spent the last two hours trying to get caught up on
my phone and my emails. Ken Marks texted us a bunch of pictures and Karen Jones
emailed me a bunch of pictures. She sent me 14 emails, all with pictures
attached. That was so nice of her. She and I texted back-and-forth and I
thanked her a lot. Earlier, when I was waiting for Dad and Debbie to pick me
up, I texted Ken Marks and thanked him again for all he did for Dad and for
including me. I talked to Michael and he said everything was fine at the house.
Apparently, the kids went to the park to play soccer and then came back and
ate. There was enough food, so that's good. Now it's finally time for me to go
to bed.
February 11, Saturday
I got up this morning at 7:30 AM so I could get
ready and get checked out. Dad picked me up and helped me load my stuff in the
car and then we went to Chiefland to the ranch. He said it would take two hours
but it was closer to 2 1/2 hours. We stopped at a McDonald's on the way so I
could use the bathroom since there's nowhere to go there. It was a really nice
drive and a really nice day. I had a great time talking to Dad. He said he's a
little bit sad that he won't be able to go into the office on Monday and
reminisce with everybody about what a fantastic retirement celebration it was.
He said he hadn't really thought about that. He'll have lots of opportunities
to go back there and say hi to people. He still does a lot of things for Ken,
such as go up to the ranch. He brought the four-wheeler up. When we were
leaving, he told me that he wasn't going to try and meet with those two guys
which was a relief because we wouldn't have had time. We got there and he
unloaded the four-wheeler and put it in the garage. We took a few pictures and
I took a video so I could send them to Ken since he asked for them.
We spent about 10 minutes there and then got back in the car
and left. It was quicker getting back. We talked about so many different
things. We talked about the kids. We talked about the trip to Las Vegas and him
coming out to Phoenix. We made it to Chicken Salad Chick near his house on 19
by 2 PM. I had the one with fruit and it was good, as always. We enjoyed our meal
and then Dad drove me about 10 minutes away to the Howard Johnson's where I had
left the rental car. He waited for me to get organized and I gave him one more
hug and then I left. I got to the airport right around 3:30 PM when I wanted
to. There weren't very many people on my flight. I was thrilled that the two
seats next to me were empty! I took advantage of the empty seats next to me and
laid down. I think I took a nap for about an hour. I got home easily and did
some unpacking. I watched some TV with the boys and went to bed.
Jonathan had a band concert with the sixth graders and the high schoolers. They performed separately and then everyone crammed onto the stage to play a song together.
I can't believe they've been married for a year already! I'm so glad they got to enjoy the gift we got them for Christmas. It was a reservation for an Alpenglobe at Cafe Galleria in Midway, Utah. It's a cool little private igloo-shaped globe that's heated and they had a nice dinner there. They went to dinner on Friday and their anniversary was on Sunday, January 15.
This morning I took Jonathan to the orthodontist. Emily, Audrey, and I
all got pedicures today. That was fun!
I offered to take the boys to get Thai food at the Thai
Bistro on Queen Creek and Higley Road but only Nathaniel was interested so he
met us there. Audrey loves Thai food. I came home and did some chores and then
I went to work out. I got the car washed and came home. I asked everyone to eat
leftovers for dinner and we got some eaten but there's still a lot left. Daniel
had plans to go to Seth's house tonight and Michael, Nathaniel, and Andrew all
went to see Devotion at Superstition Springs Harkins. We stayed up talking with
the kids, had family prayer, and had a short staff meeting about tomorrow.
December 23,
Friday
It's been another very long day of chores. Not only did I have to
prepare for dinner with the Akers tonight, but I also baked two batches of
poppyseed bread and delivered them with the boys. Nathaniel and Audrey drove
Daniel around and he delivered six loaves and I drove Jonny around and we
delivered five. I had a Walmart order scheduled to come between 11 AM and noon
today and it never came and it was a huge pain because I needed all that stuff,
especially butter flavoring for the poppyseed bread. I ended up just leaving it
out. It caused me stress all day because I was wondering when it was going to
come and then it never did. The kids were really good about helping me prepare
for the Akers to come over. Dinner was great. Everyone really liked the ham. We
cleaned up a little and took a picture and opened gifts.
After presents, we did a little more cleanup and then Daniel
wanted to play Jackbox with everyone because he just bought it today. The Akers
left soon after that. We had a family prayer together and then Michael and I
went to Walmart to try and get my order. They couldn't find it and suggested we
would just have to shop for it and cancel the order so that's what we did. It
took forever and the lines were very long but we got it done. Audrey and
Nathaniel and Emily watched A Christmas Story tonight.
December 24,
Saturday
It was a great day but I still had a ton to do. I slept in until almost
9 AM. I got showered and then we read the Come Follow Me lesson around 10:30
AM. Then I had to make two more batches of poppyseed bread. I got it baked and
glazed and wrapped up and by about 12:45 PM, Michael and the boys and I left to
get them delivered. We delivered nine of them today. As soon as we got back, we
had to hurry to get ready to meet Erin for a late lunch at Oasis Bay.
We got home by about 3:45 PM. We got out all of the winter
clothes and got it all organized so we can go sledding next week. Then
everybody did their own thing for a while. I think it was about 8:30 PM or so
when we started our tradition. We read Luke 2 and also some scriptures from the
Book of Mormon. Everybody took a turn playing a Christmas song except for
Michael. I even played Joy to the World from the 2B lesson book. Then the kids
opened their pajamas. Then we talked about our Sedona plans. Then the kids play
Jackbox games. I played one round of Quiplash with them. The kids played games
until almost midnight till we told them all it was time for bed. It didn't take
me very long to do the few things I still needed to do, like filling the
stockings and putting a couple more gifts under the tree.
December 25,
Sunday
We had a wonderful Christmas! I took the boys to the church early at
8:30 AM. They wanted the sacrament prepared early. I printed off the programs.
The meeting was wonderful. We specially loved hearing the Primary children
sing. Chanda and Brooklyn Evans did a musical number and the Wheeler children
sang and they were so cute. Sarah Haslip and Bishop spoke and President and
McClure said a few words about how cool it was to see the rising generation of
all the kids coming home to visit, and how even some of them already had
children. I was thinking the same thing. Anyway, the kids wanted to leave right
after church so we did. We all got on our new Christmas pajamas and opened
presents. I think we spent almost 2 hours opening presents
today so we had a great time.
The kids loved all their gifts. Audrey was happy
with all her gifts and Nathaniel was grateful to get all of his movies. Emily
loved her gifts and I was glad she liked her cute French fry holder gift I had
found her. The boys were pretty excited about the PS5 and quite shocked that I
even was able to procure one. When we were done opening gifts, Michael helped
the kids clean up and I worked on making the aebleskivers.
Emily did most of the work cleaning up the
family room. I asked everyone to help and we had a nice meal together.
I really wanted to make a sweet potato casserole it was
supposed to be a Ruth's Chris copycat recipe. It was amazing! Michael, Erin,
and Audrey all liked it and I loved it too. We had a nice meal together and
then we cleaned up. Then Erin gave us a family home evening lesson and we
watched The Christ Child. We had a prayer and then gave Erin her gifts. She
gave an Arizona temple calendar to Michael and me. Then we played Herd
Mentality. I think Emily won the first time and then Erin but I can't remember
the order. After that, we played one of the new Jackbox games called Roomerang.
We also played Trivia Murder Party and Role Models. Then Erin went home and we
all started getting ready for bed.
December 26,
Monday
We had a great day today and got a lot done. A little after
11 AM, we all worked on taking down the Christmas decorations. I think we were
done in about 45 minutes and it was awesome. Everything is all boxed up and
ready to go to the storage unit. After that, Michael dug a hole in the yard so
we could bury Maggie's ashes. We went out there and Michael said a nice prayer.
We all put in a scoop of dirt on the box. We had lunch and then everybody went
off and did their own thing. In the evening, we read the Come Follow Me lesson
and I gave the kids a money tips adulting lesson and we talked about manners
for the week. Andrew and I went to work out. Michael went to bed early. Daniel,
Audrey, Emily, Daniel, and I watched Rear Window and then we all went to bed.
On the way home we stopped at Batch Cookies and I got a dozen
cookies in all kinds of varieties. We cut most of the cookies into pieces so
the kids could try some. We asked the kids if they wanted to play a game and we
decided to play a new game I got called Family Face-off. It was pretty fun.
Nathaniel, Audrey, Andrew, and I won the game. After that, the kids finished
their movie and Andrew and Jonathan played on their video games and then
everybody went to bed.
December 28,
Wednesday
We didn't do a whole lot today, but I got some chores done.
Our goal was to go bowling as a family but it never worked out. Nathaniel and
Audrey left a little before 10 AM to go to the Mesa temple for a 10:45 AM
endowment session. They got back around 1 PM, I think. In the evening, Andrew
and Jonathan played Fortnite and the other kids watched another Alfred
Hitchcock movie called Rebecca. They paused it so we could have dinner and then
they finished watching it. Andrew and I went to the gym.
December 29,
Thursday
I got up at 5:30 AM because the goal was to be ready to load the car at
8 AM and I wanted to have plenty of time to get myself ready for the day and do
all my packing. I think we pulled away from the house at 9 AM. We made it to
the McDonald's in Sedona before 11:30 AM. Many of us were not thrilled about
eating at McDonald's, but we had to get a picture.
First, we went on the black run then the blue
one. Then we headed over to the teal. That was closed the last time we went. It
was pretty fun.
Finally, we went on the red one. We decided that
we should all go down together so we made a big circle and all eight of us went
down and I videotaped it. That was really fun!
After that, we went back to the
black one. By then it was almost time for the sledding to be over so we headed
out.
I took a quick picture on the way out and the
kids played in the snow for a little bit and then we went to the cars. It took
us forever but we finally got everybody changed back and in the car and we
headed over to the hotel. It was snowing pretty badly. We got checked in and
brought up our luggage. We got ready and went to dinner at Galaxy Diner. It
really was like we remembered at the one back in Provo, except for the French
fries. There was a guy there playing music right next to our table. We all
enjoyed our food; it was really good. Audrey found some questions on a poster
near the bathroom that were movie quotes so we had fun playing those.
We came back to the hotel. There were people sitting at the breakfast
tables playing games so when I went to get more towels I asked if they had any
games we could borrow and they had 5 Second Rule. I thought everybody would
want to join us and play but they turned us down. So, Emily, Jonny, and I all
relaxed and watched TV and played the game ourselves.
December 30,
Friday
I'm so glad we got to do the trip to Sedona and Flagstaff. I had a
really great time and I think the kids did, too. We all went down to breakfast
and then said our goodbyes to Nathaniel and Audrey around 9 AM. They were
driving back to Provo and then they were going to go to her grandparents' 50th
anniversary party. They made it back safely. We got all packed up and checked
out around 10:30 AM. The first place we went was to Montezuma Castle. That was
pretty cool. We walked around the little path and took some pictures and
learned a couple of things and then we headed out.
We walked around the museum in their gift shop for a few
minutes and then left. We got home and unloaded the car, got something to eat,
and unpacked. We decided to go see Avatar tonight so I bought the tickets and
did some chores and laundry. I even took a little nap. Jonathan didn't
want to go to the movies and Andrew was hanging out with friends so it was just
me and Michael and Emily and Daniel who went to the movie at 7:15 PM. We saw in
3-D at the Queen Creek Harkins. It was amazing! I really enjoyed it. It was a
three-hour movie but I didn't feel that long and I really enjoyed the story.
December 31,
Saturday
The Walmart order came at around 10 AM and then we had a
staff meeting and then everybody worked hard to get as many chores done as they
could until we had to leave for lunch with Erin at Gecko Grill. Emily and
Daniel went to get haircuts. Daniel took some convincing but he looked great.
The food at Gecko Grill was delicious, as always. I gave Erin her birthday gift
and she liked it. It was some Bath and Body Works lotions and a fragrance mist
and also some pretty Cate and Chloe earrings. We said our goodbyes to Erin and
got in the car. Apparently, at the restaurant when I was going to the bathroom,
Michael and the kids made a bet of whether or not I would want to go to Chunk
Cookies afterwards. I didn't want to go because I would rather go somewhere
else and I didn't want to make myself sick by eating a big cookie. Daniel was
the only one who said I wouldn't want them so I guess he won the bet. We got
the mail on the way home because Emily's new Taylor Swift book was in it and of
course she had to play it right away. Her friends picked her up a little after
2 PM and they've been gone all day. I did some laundry and then I took Daniel
and his friend to the movies. Then I ran some errands. We didn’t do much else
tonight. I watched one episode of The Amazing Race. Then I called everybody
down and we counted down the last 10 seconds of the new year together and then
everybody started getting ready for bed.
January 1, Sunday
We had a good day at church. Elder Martinez and then Elder
Platt spoke. For the second hour, I sat in on Jonathan's Sunday school class
because one of his teachers couldn’t be there. Tonight, Michael showed us an
awesome talk by Elder Bednar. Emily and Jonathan gave a short lesson about the
importance of setting goals. Then we played two games of Clue. Andrew won and
then Michael won. The kids wanted to play Aggravation but by then it was 10 PM
but I gave in and we played until midnight. Emily won the game.
January 2, Monday
Today was the last day of the boys' Christmas break and it's
been wonderful! They have to go back to school bright and early tomorrow and
Michael has to be to the temple by 5:30 AM. Since we were up so late last
night, I didn't get up this morning until 9 AM. I got ready for the day and we
put away the Walmart order. I did a bunch of laundry. Emily, Andrew, and I were
the only ones who wanted to go to Panera so we went a little before 1 PM to the
one in Queen Creek. Dad had given me four $10 bonus cards so we used them all
up. We came home and I did a few chores and Daniel played a few video games and
then we watched the movie Ticket to Paradise. I really enjoyed it. I did some
more laundry and chores. Andrew made dinner. I spent 20 minutes reading so that
was awesome. Daniel got me a book for Christmas called Maybe in Another Life so
I started reading that. We cleaned up dinner and read Matthew chapter 1. After
scriptures, Andrew and I went to work out at the gym.
Well, that’s our Christmas break. It was a lot of work, but it was worth
it! I loved having all the kids in the
house together for so long and it went really well. Now we’re back to our routine. Emily flew back to Provo on Friday, January
6. We miss our college kids but everyone
is off to a great start for the new semester and Audrey seems to be enjoying
her new job.
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