The Valiant Little Peach Tree

Sometimes you find yourself looking at the everyday and discovering more than you once saw. That is surely the case with the peach tree in our back yard.


We've just marked our 17th anniversary in this house and neighborhood. The peach tree has been with us since the beginning. It has withstood harsh winters, microbursts that uprooted other trees in the yard, Neal forgetting to water all the yard, and worst of all, devastating insect infestations.


Even though this close-up does not reveal the extent of the damage, if you look closely you can see how much of the trunk has been eaten away by the bugs--the monsters. We have tried to stop them and have probably slowed them down. But like the scariest aliens in the movies, they never entirely succumb.


Through it all, without fail, the little tree has blossomed every spring, stayed hardy through the summer, and given us beautiful and delicious fruit each fall. Even after the fruit is bottled and stored safely in the basement, it retains its beauty and flavor. But the best moment of all comes when you pick a peach, walk into the kitchen, take a bite, and let its natural sweetness melt in your mouth.

When we think of the tree, we are reminded of a few important human virtues--the things that hold families together and keep them strong.

First, we think of resilience. No matter what hits this little tree, it always comes back. Leaves may be a little thin one year, but the foliage emerges richer and thicker the next time around.

Second, we think of courage. This little tree not only takes everything nature can throw at it, but it also fights back. It refuses to diminish. It seems like it chooses to flourish.

Third, we think of persistence. Each year, the tree pushes through spring, summer, fall, and winter. This tree is not in the race for the short term. As we ride along with it over the long haul, we are inspired by its will to push on through all difficulties.

Fourth, we think of integrity. The tree knows who it is. It seems to be conscious of its strengths and uses them to fulfill the purpose of its life. It has no pretensions. We never come outside to find it wishing it were an oak, or a maple, or a birch.

Fifth, even as the tree attempts to survive by reproduction, it presents us with the gifts of its beauty and its fruit. With a nod to Shel Silverstein, ours is also a giving tree. It brings happiness to others. Sometimes, it feels like it loves us. And, of course, we love it.

Liam Douglas Collins is here!

There is nothing like the miracle of the arrival of a new child into this world. Heavenly Father has sent our family another one of his beautiful spirit children. Liam was born Thursday morning, weighs 6 lbs. and 15 oz., and is 19.5 inches long. This little boy will be called Liam Douglas Collins, connected by name to multiple generations of faithful men on both sides of his family. To learn more about him, please check Megan's blog.



The arrival of a new brother for two sisters can generate a lot of love. Lucy and Eowyn admire their brother, but the looks on their faces show the joy of love in a family that wants to be together forever. Leila is with them to try to help the family make this lovely transition in their lives and to help Megan heal and get ready for 3 children.

Our family grows. Our hearts are full of gratitude. We love Liam's terrific parents and have great faith that they will always strive to raise their children in righteousness and love. The pictures just show how well they've done so far.

Our Family Portraits

We want to show you our most recent family portraits. These were taken by our fantastically talented neighbor, Clara Jerome, in very early 2010.



This first photo looks vaguely familiar. If you study the photo in the title of our blog, you can find a couple that looks strikingly like this one. Can you guess how long it's been between photos?



This is a proud photo. You see us with our five accomplished daughters. We can't even begin to say how much we love each one and all of them together. For us love is both infinite and eternal. We'll be together forever. From the left: Eleanor, Sydney, Neal, Leila, Erin, Emily, and Megan. It looks like the one in the gray cardigan (the male) is pregnant, but can you tell who really is?



This is Emily's family. From the left: Anne, Jane, Olivia, Abbey, Cory, Max, and Emily.



Next comes Megan's family. From the left: Eowyn, Megan, John, and Lucy. Liam is missing. Have you heard the news?



Now we have Erin's family: Elena, Eva, Christopher Aaron, Erin, and Christopher Neal.



You can probably tell that this picture was not taken at the same time as the others. It's Syd's family. Ella (too cute!), Syd, and Gustavo.



Eleanor at her graduation. A fantastic young woman with endless potential, like her sisters.

The Trip to Fairview

We've been planning to take a trip with as many of our children and grandchildren as we could. We guess you'd have to call it a family vacation.

We decided, with tons of help from Syd and Gustavo, to rent two cabins at the Skyline Mountain Resort in the hills east of Fairview, Utah. It's about an eighty-minute drive from where we live.



This is the larger of the 2 cabins we stayed in. Emily and Cory and Chris and Erin and all their kids stayed here. They had a huge loft that "slept" eight children. We say sleep advisedly, because there was a lot of playing around up there. Some adults were more than a little disturbed by all the fussiness, including throwing clothing and bedding from the loft in to the living room. The cabin had a very adequate kitchen and bathroom. Our main meals were served in the dining area. We then spread out from there to various places to eat our food. Choosing who to eat with was very fun. Christopher was often Grandpa's eating buddy. Nice to hang out with a cool dude who knows your name, "Gampa." Handing the football back and forward in between bites of bagel, tomato, turkey, and lettuce sandwiches is awesome.



This was the quieter of the two cabins. Grandma, Grandpa, Syd, Gustavo, and Ella all stayed there. Ella's parents have taught her to sign as well as speak. She can say Gampa and point at her head to try to get to wear one of Grandpa's hats. Of course, the world's best taste in headgear draws all grandkids to "ze hat man." Unless you've actually seen Grandpa's stars and stripes tee-shirt accompanied by the stars and stripes cap, you have no idea what Utah County is about. If you look closely at the opening on the porch of this cabin, you can see the space we covered with a sheet. Four great speakers, a quality dvd player and a nice Optoma projector created the atmosphere of a drive in, only with camp chairs, quilts, and lots of snuggling. It was sweet. Everyone was given a small bowl of treats by Sydney. We'll definitely be looking for chances to do this again. Maybe the Adventures of Robin Hood in our backyard forest.

Here is a cute shot of Sydney and Ella playing ball with Christopher. It is an occasion for fun within the limits of the driveway and the front porch.


Our group consisted of 4 families--Kramer, Holmes, Chambers, Gonzalez--and 17 total people total. The addition of Eleanor and Jeff made it 19 for Tuesday. With excellent planning, a complete menu from Monday night to Friday morning was put together,including gluten free and dairy free options for those who needed them. We ate chipotle beef tacos with toppings ranging from mango to corn and tomatoes to avocado, along with the usual lettuce, cheese, and diced tomatoes. We had teriyaki chicken, fried rice, and spinach strawberry salad. We had pulled pork sandwiches with a variety of potato chips and fresh fruit. We even had black bean chili over Navajo fried bread for Navajo tacos. We had strawberries galore, watermelon, canteloupe, honeydew melon, fresh pineapple. We had apple pie, brown sugar peach pie, dairy free ice cream, strawberry sorbet, and flour-less chocolate cake. And that was just dinner and dessert at night. We had puff pancakes, regular pancakes, eggs with cheese and ham, breakfast sausage, sugar free map-le syrup, regular maple syrup, raspberry syrup, and so on. Lunch was filled with bagel sandwiches, tons of fresh fruit, great leftovers, and much more.

The Skyline Mountain Resort has just a few amenities, but more than enough for a brief visit. The outdoor swimming area has a large pool for people who can swim, a smaller one for children, and they even had a couple of wading pools for the toddlers and babies. But the highlight was a water slide that grabbed everyone's attention. Abbey must have gone down the slide over a hundred times. She perfected just about every sliding move she could imagine. Grandma went down dozens of time bu herself and with children on her lap. Eva went down. Elena went down. Olivia squealed with delight with every slide. Chris was the man, sliding with children and on his own. Anne was a little shy to slide at the beginning. She chose to dive and swim races against the adults using different strokes (she is a member of a local swim team). Once she caught the sliding bug, she didn't stop until she had gone down fifty times. Even the shaky old grandpa went sliding, hitting the water like a speeding bullet. Once Grandma explained that a deep breath just before hitting the water, followed by underwater exhaling made the experience more fun, the old guy smiled a little more.

There was small park between the cabins and the pool that kept the kids busy. A couple of swings, a jungle gym, and small horse on springs kept everybody busy. Christopher proved to be an accomplished horseman.

The tennis courts provided a nice diversion. Eleanor and her friend Jeff came down on Tuesday night and hit the courts, followed quickly by Sydney and Gustavo. Anne and Grandpa set foot on the court, but grandpa was shamed by the awesome Gustavo. It is apparently difficult to drag 220 fifty-seven-year-old pounds around the court. Bad reflexes make things even worse.

A small nine-hole golf course attracted Grandpa, Grandma, Gustavo, Cory, and Anne on Tuesday. It is a well-kept course, with devilishly fast raised greens. Some good shots were more than balanced by some not-so-good shots, but it was a good time for all. A few good putts even made the day more livable. Golf, of course, is not a sport. It is psychological trauma.

Close to the cabin, video games on the Wii and cut-throat croquet were the order of the day. With a cross country course--wickets placed by the ditch, behind the rocks, and beyond the lawn into the cactus--the games were tests of skill, patience and very good (or very bad) luck for all the players. The parents went at each other with all the competitive juices they could muster. (That's a lot of adrenaline and gamesmanship in a small yard!) Erin's victory was accompanied by the careful return of a losing ball to each person she poisoned along the way. The loss was especially bitter for Chris, the man with the black ball and an operatic villainy, who missed his chance to win by a single stroke.

We had hoped to see the Northern Lights while away from the city and after the great solar flare on Sunday. We saw spectacular sunsets. And we had a spectacular lightning show on Wednesday night, which stopped an outdoor cinematic extravaganza before we could really get it started. Wednesday was also a night for s'mores, flaming marshmallows, and even flaming Starbursts. A couple of kids got a little too close, but all survived the live flames, carmelized sugar, and melted chocolate. But we don't know whether the spectacle was Northern Lights or just a powerful reminder of the glory and majesty of God.

Thursday was a day for the grandparents, who slipped off to the Fairview Art and Heritage Museum, a gem in the heart of Sanpete County. We were impressed by the large collection of sculpture, especially the Avard Fairbanks collection. More impressive to us, however, was the extraordinary collection of photographs, furniture, clothing, books, and other reminders of the Mormon pioneer heritage of the Fairview area. Room after room is filled with precious memories of hard-working, tough, spiritually-minded people who provide us with a foundation for our own faith. These good people knew how to do everything from make cloth to sew absolutely beautiful homespun dresses. They scratched a living out of the sagebrush and cedar woods. They set their jaws against tribulation and lived lives of deep patriotism and faith. Especially poignant were the military uniforms, stories of veterans, and lists of young people who gave their lives for freedom. it was a strong reminder that the backbone of America is small towns like Fairview spread across the nation, filled with people who work hard and whose love of liberty is part of the very fiber of their being.

The best part of the trip, though, for Grandpa, was the chance to play nine holes of golf with Grandma on Thursday afternoon. They've only played together three time since they have been married, but Grandma played like a seasoned veteran. She remembers what she learned from her dad (a very skilled golfer in his day). Great touch around the greens and the added advantage of the red tees had her close to par on a couple of holes. A couple more weeks of practice and Grandpa will be barely visible in her rearview mirror.

Thursday night was outdoor cinema. Grandpa's home theater system traveled nicely. After a few minutes of set-up, including attaching a sheet to the front of one of our cabins, the show was on. Since we were under the stars, in full view of the Big Dipper, the romantic comedy IQ was Grandma's choice. We laughed and laughed and delighted to true love in a movie featuring Einstein and a comet. What more could we ask? Erin may have thought the cheap characterization of an experimental psychologist was unnecessary. But good social scientists are tough.

A thorough clean-up and more swimming finished off a great family trip on Friday. The days flew by too fast, but the days together will provide great memories for everyone. A few of the family are already talking about the next trip.

We love our children and their children. Being together in close quarters for these past few days has been wonderful. We think it's very close to heaven on earth and can't wait for the next trip.

Movies We Love to Watch Again and Again

We like movies. We love to go to a nice air-conditioned theater in the summer, hold hands, and get lost in the world on the screen. We also have a small home theater where we can watch the movies we enjoy the most. A little homemade popcorn candy or a mini-Snickers brings everything into focus. We'd like to share a few of our favorites with you. Tell us what you think.

Leila can't get enough of Pride and Prejudice and has three different versions she'll watch at the drop of a hat. It might be just a little obvious, but we also have five daughters. On a bad day, Neal may resemble Mr. Bennet, but Leila has been mistaken for Elizabeth on multiple occasions! With good reason. Besides, Elizabeth Bennet has never been too witty nor Mr. Darcy too aloof for her taste. She gushes with enthusiasm whenever someone mentions the title. She is not quite so certain about Pemberley. Maybe. If there really were enough servants. But she'd have to be allowed to bake.



Anne of Green Gables comes in behind P&P, but only by the slightest of margins. Anne is the quintessential movie heroine. She's too smart by half, a dreamer of BIG dreams, one who easily returns love and kindness rendered to her by others, a seeker of adventure in everyday life, and just about the very best friend a girl could have. You could easily find Leila on a sick day under a blanket, lost up north on Prince Edward Island with the impetuous redhead.



Leila is a big fan of Sandra Bullock. Both of us really enjoyed The Blind Side. ButWhile You Were Sleeping is the one Leila likes the most. It doesn't hurt that the movie is set in Chicago, where we used to live. With the backdrop of the city and the accident of true love, this is a movie to put a little romance in your comedy. It simply makes you happy.



Leila's next recommendation is a big favorite for her and for Neal. It's You've Got Mail. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are the perfect movie couple for these times. Nora Ephron's whole approach to romance speaks to our hearts. And, of course, this movie is about books and bookstores. If we see that this is on television, even if it's two-thirds of the way over, we immediately change the station and settle in. Isn't it nice to think that your truest feelings could still get past extreme obstacles just by writing them down? If you like to read, like we do, and you're in love, like we are, you have to watch this movie.



For pure escape, you can't beat Superman II. The film answers two cosmic questions and raises another: 1) Can't she tell that Superman and Clark Kent are the same guy? 2)Has there ever been a better name for an evil villain than General Zod? and 3) Is the President really wearing a toupe? Clark and Lois go undercover to research a story for the Daily Planet about newlyweds at Niagara Falls. Being in the very close proximity of a honeymoon suite awakens Lois's curiosity. The man of steel cannot resist. Before we know it, they have flown off together to the Fortress of Solitude while Zod and his minions try to destroy the world. If he stays with Lois, who will save the world? We all should be able to have it both ways, shouldn't we? Lots of popcorn for this one.



Neal has five favorites, too. He still remembers the first full length feature film he ever saw. It was in the first grade at William Penn Elementary School. The Adventures of Robin Hood has just about everything you could want in a movie. Beautiful color, evil villains, a dazzling couple (Errol Flynn and Olivia de Haviland!), idealism, the most swashbuckling sword fight ever filmed, and poetic justice. There is nothing like Flynn as Robin Hood standing on a gigantic tree limb looking down on Sir Guy and Lady Marian: "Welcome to Sherwood." You can feel the goosebumps just thinking about it.



Neal's second recommendation has been voted the greatest movie ever. He can't disagree. Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains. Nazis. Rick's Cafe Americain. True love sacrificed for the greater good. Perfect lighting on Ingrid Bergman's face as she weeps the cruelest tears ever. Le Marseillaise. As that plane taxis down the runway and takes off into the night, you know you have to go back to Casablanca.



Next comes the dazzling partnership of Raymond Chandler, William Faulkner, and Howard Hawks. It really can't get much better than this. The Big Sleep is a murder mystery. Everything gets so tangled up in this mess that some believe it really has no plot. Humphrey Bogart is Philip Marlowe. Called into the very strange world of the Sternwood family, he tries to discover what happened to the missing family chauffeur. He meets 2 sisters. Both are spectacularly beautiful. They both live very dangerously. Suddenly Bogie and Bacall (the older sister) light up the screen. Their attraction is heightened by danger at every turn. Their witty and intelligent dialogue screams love affair. You can't take your eyes or ears off the screen.



In the pantheon of great directors, John Ford stands supreme. He won four academy awards for best director and could have won many more. His onscreen collaborations with Henry Fonda, James Stewart, and especially John Wayne are spectacular. Neal's favorite did not win an Oscar or even a nomination for Ford, but it is the greatest western ever made. In The Searchers, John Wayne plays Ethan Edwards, a hardened, bitter man filled with hatred for Comanches. After the brutal murder of his only remaining family, Ethan embarks on a long journey to try to find his niece who may have survived the massacre, but has almost certainly been molested and assimilated by her captors. His skills as a tracker and killer finally lead him to her. Should he kill the girl who he believes has been contaminated and polluted by subhuman Comanches? Should he return her to the settled civilization of the white farmers with whom has has next to nothing in common? And what about him? Does he have any home at all? You must see this masterpiece.



Who are the greatest onscreen couple of all time? Neal's answer is simple: Cary Grant and you fill in the blank. Katharine Hepburn; Ingrid Bergman; Grace Kelly; Sophia Loren; Marilyn Monroe; Audrey Hepburn; Eva Marie Saint. No wonder he never won an academy award. The audience was always looking at his co-star. Neal chooses Eva Marie Saint and Hitchcock's North by Northwest. This spine tingling thriller has foreign agents, microfilm, the United Nations, a great Mercedes Benz, fine art, Mount Rushmore, double agents, Greyhound buses, mistaken identities, and crop dusters. Who else but Hitchcock could combine them all into such a wonderful mixture of comedy, suspense, and unlikely romance. Can the lovers survive the cliffs, the wind, gunshots, treacherous footing, and the nose of Thomas Jefferson? Watch carefully for the matchbook. You must see it again.



What list could be complete without a couple of guilty pleasures?

For Leila, it has to Bride and Prejudice. The Bollywood spoof on P&P (see above) is filled with music, pretty girls, very handsome men (for the most part), an outstanding Mr. Collins (the exception), and elephants. Who could ask for more?



For Neal, hands down, guilt and pleasure come together in Flash Gordon. A pro football player, a mad scientist, and an entertainment reporter make up the noble triumvirate of pure goodness (Go, Flash, go!). Ming the Magnificent, Emperor of Mongo, seeks to destroy the world with burning hail. With a great camp performance by Max von Sydow and a musical score by Queen ( Flash, ah, ah. He'll save everyone of us), who can resist?

Summer Fun

Summer outings in our backyard include all the children and grandchildren when we're lucky. If you think fun involves grilling, swimming, playing games, jumping on a trampoline and lots of conversation, then you are like us.




These two candid shots taken by Megan caught us both having lots of fun at the annual Fourth of July water balloon fight. No holds barred in this competition. Neal is standing next to Max, our newest grandson. Leila's smile reveals just a little of the fun she had, highlighted by a sneak attack and drenching of her beloved husband. The grandkids love filling the balloons almost as much as they enjoy spattering an adult!


To include everyone, we have had a small inflatable pool for kids worried about the deeper water. Slam dunks are much more difficult than they look!


This is Ella's first day swimming in the big pool. Her dad's hand gives you an idea of how tiny she was.

Everybody loves the water. And we love it when they come. There's nothing quite like a beautiful summer day, high temperatures, clear skies, and a swimming pool.

We Love Waterfalls

When we are out and about, we love to look for waterfalls. We're hardly intrepid about it, but a short hike can sometimes result in some spectacular scenery. The photo above was taken along Henry's Fork of the Snake River near the overlook of Upper and Lower Mesa Falls. Unfortunately, the photographer did not realize the shutter was sticking. Hope you can make out the gorgeous falls in the center of the "frame."

Here is a similarly framed view of the lower falls. The location provides great memories for Neal, who floated the river with his father, uncle and cousin in the early 1960's. Note the rainbow.

Here is a shot of the river flowing away from the falls, where the raft trip began. The amateur photographer managed to make it look like the river is flowing up! Note the high canyon walls, the rockfall, and the lodgepole pine forest.


Can you guess who this enthusiastic former rafter might be?

This is a video of Cave Falls in Yellowstone. Listen carefully for the children and the old man.



This is world famous Tower Falls in Yellowstone. The view from an overlook just a few minutes down the trail left us breathless. In Neal's case, the hike may have been the culprit.


Along the trail down the mountainside toward the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone, we caught this glimpse of the Upper Falls in the distance. This was as close as we got.

The Yellowstone River rushing past the overlook and crashing over the cliffs over three hundred feet into the valley below. The site brings back memories of Neal's family's trip to Yellowstone because this is the spot his younger brother climbed over a protective railing to get closer to the water. A very quick father saved the day, yanking the little boy to safety. Today, as you can see, the railing has been replaced with a taller chain link fence.


The next video gives a sense of the Yellowstone River flying over the precipice of the Lower Falls, plummeting into the canyon below, and rushing on through the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.



This is lovely Waimea Falls on the north shore of Oahu. It's just a short hike through a tropical nature preserve to get there. Peaceful, serene, and very lovely.

We hope you enjoyed some of our waterfalls. We treasure the memories of these visits and hope to make many more.