Boo!

Here we are-- another Halloween! It seems strange to not celebrate at all. No pumpkin, no candy to give out, and not even any costumes! I could go as a witch without doing anything about it-- just being natural! I guess I will remember the good times and our kids having the time of their lives raking in as much candy as they had the fortitude to stay out. Sometimes it was warm and other times snowy and cold, but nothing kept them from their appointed rounds!
 I liked the cartoon the other day that had a sign on the door which read something like this: Due to Obama's hope and change, we have no candy to give you because we are redistributing the wealth and we gave yours to Bill and Lisa.
 I loved all the pictures you sent, even the sad one. It watered my eyes you can be sure. Such happiness and agony all rolled into one!! I wrote Camilla a short letter today and sent it. I will try and write more while she is gone too. Maybe that is what Grandma's are good for.  ( I hope you sent them to the rest of the family too!)
 We are still enjoying the wonderful food you left, and even froze some packets which we will enjoy more later on. Tonight we had some more of the spicy Olive Garden soup and some kind of slumgulion concoction that I made and I think it looked like something
Dracula would have eaten. We even put fried green tomatoes in it! Arent you glad that you were not here?
 I am wondering what your triplets think about Halloween and all it entails? They must get a new culture shock every hour!! They entered the Emerald City of Oz! I just hope that they can finally get used to our decadent food. Who is to say what the good stuff is? Are they going TorT tonight? I will bet they stay home and fill the treater's bags.
 As for those supplements, dont worry about taking them. I guess that is why they sounded familiar, but we have to know that one pill doesnt fit all. I guess there are those who are really deficient in something and when it is provided it is a godsend. To others it does nothing, or even can cause trouble. You look at some people and think to yourself that they really do need something containing nourishment. Others like myself, need less!! Anybody who eats like we do should be healthy with all of our soups and goulashes.
 I guess you are going to make the grand leap and take the family to Church tomorrow-- even if you are not Seventh Day Adventists. Tell the girls that we are the Sixth Day Branch.
 I am not sure I will go, but hope so. I have been so tired all day. Coughing wears one out, and if I am coughing at all I would not dare go! Scary. With the pandemic jitters no one wants to hear a cough.
 Elissa and Caitlin looked so cute in their costumes today! E is a long green caterpiller!! They went to the Zoo.
 I havent left the house since the Dr. visit. We shall see.
 I hope that you made it home safely the other night. I guess you did, but maybe not if you hadnt had that short nap. Very dangerous. That was a hard and long day for you. Did Camilla forget anything? I am so glad that she will stay in the States!
 Marlene, Norma and their husbands are coming on Tues and bringing lunch! It is Andy's birthday too. That should work out well. We like the Kneaders sandwiches they brought last time. It should be fun.
 I hope all who read this are doing well, and things are looking up for each of you. 

Love,  Frightful Mom

Who do I thank?

10/26/09

Dear Martha or Lynn D and Cindy-- 

I have been meaning to write for months to thank whoever it is that put a very nice electric clock in the King room!! Maybe you just left it there by accident, in which case we will get it back to you at the first opportunity. It seems to work well and it is a very nice one too. I saw it there months ago and meant to comment on it, but by the time I got upstairs it had vanished into the same thin air that other reminders and ideas do!! Let us know and whatever, and thanks for letting us use it!!!
 E&M are almost moved in. It has been a hectic week for them, buying a house, moving, a sick baby, her first BD, his mom here from Ore., and Andrea here at Christina's house ( and sick), and now a new baby for Mark and Amber!! They still have stuff stacked in the front room. They were putting up the crib late last night downstairs. I just hope that they don’t get sick as well.  E is helping Mark and A today and also they are cleaning the Condo. The new people move in this weekend.  Lots going on.  If all goes well they could be in their new house in a month.
 I feel rotten as my cold has gone to my chest. We both woke up too early this morning too. Lots of coughing on my part. We do have food!!! Wonderful.
 Hugs, Mom
ps Janna and family will be here Wed. and bring lunch for those who want to see Camilla off on her mission (MTC) It is supposed to snow tomorrow and Wed. Sigh If she didn’t contact Katie she is certainly invited!!!!!

Grandpa Wayne Dunham Stout’s journal

10/21/09

Dear Kirt, Thank you so much for a great labor of love! You did a magnificent job on this journal and we are so happy to get it in this format. We are thinking that now Richard has the ball in his court, as he has the original journal, and he can do what editing is needed. With winter coming he should have more time to do it too, without all the gardening etc.
 Dad really, really enjoyed your nice letter and he will have to get back to you later. I would write more but have to get busy working downstairs before the Hammonds move in this weekend. I guess I told you about that. Anyway, we are all so richly blessed it takes my breath away. Always in ways we don’t expect-- but better. Again, thank you for a wonderful and very readable history. I think this is why grandpa wanted it brought out of obscurity. Love, Mom

On Tue, Oct 20, 2009 at 11:24 PM, Kirtland Stout <kirtlandstout@hotmail.com> wrote:

Dear Dad,
Several years ago, well before you moved out of the house on 10th East, you sent me a copy of your dad's abbreviated autobiography.  I began transcribing it almost immediately, finishing within maybe 60 days.  From that point until now I've had it in the back of my mind that the document needs to be edited for accuracy in comparison to the handwritten journal.  As you read the transcription you'll see that there are question marks here and there indicating that I couldn't make out grandpa's handwriting, although I like his handwriting a lot.  So where I had found adequate time to transcribe the document, I suddenly couldn't seem to find time to edit it for accuracy.  And that's where it has hung these several years.

So I've decided to stop thinking I could finish it, and just send it out.  I've got a copy of grandpa's journal from which I took the text here at home and am happy to make a copy for anyone who would like to do the editing.  The document I created is in Microsoft Word format, and is easily edited and improved.

I enjoyed transcribing grandpa's partial life story because he took the time to write about his youth, his military and mission stories, his struggles to gain an education at a time when most didn't understand the need for people to get a formal education beyond high school, and how he saw himself as a bit different than those around him.  I enjoyed reading about the actual classes and instructors he had at BYU and the University of Utah.  I note throughout his early life story his love for family, even if that love was manifest a bit differently than this generation is used to seeing it.  

To me the most interesting part of the story was his earliest encounters with your mother.  It was fascinating to look into a window of his life that he left open, after having had it closed to all of us for so many years.  I loved reading of the early years of strong attraction between him and grandma LaRene.  I noted how he came into the marriage with a long history of self-discipline and delayed self-gratification.  She, however seems to have flummoxed him with her "let's do it right now" attitude (for example, their "instant" marriage in the Salt Lake Temple), her desire for instant gratification, as well as her sparkle and creativity.  For the first time in my life I can see how the early seeds of two very different personalities in love sprouted, but not into a strong marriage, but into conflict and eventual dissolution of that marriage, with a tsunami effect that is still being felt in the Stout family today.

That's enough of my commentary.  I hope you enjoy the transcribed partial personal history of your dad.  

Please note that I am copying this email to Vaughn, David, Richard, and Maxine.  I can't find Aunt Lois' email address in my contact list, so I'd appreciate it if one of you could send it to me so I can send her a copy too.  I hope my address list is correct.
Love,
~Kirt

Trip update from Spencer

Dear Spencer, Emily and Mary,

 A thousand words is worth one picture!! Isn’t that the way it goes? I loved your word picture and almost felt like we were there with you. When we remember our trips with half a dozen or more children in non A/C cars in the summer to enjoy seeing long stretches of highway with broken parts on our "beasts" as well, it certainly brings back memories best forgotten. Not to diminish your "adventures," but to sum it all up, we were young, but then that is also how we got old. Ordinarily I should be about 50 years old, but those trips added years so I am nearing 100!

The good thing was that the kids had fun and love to tell the stories to this day about how they slept on Church lawns with the sprinkler going off a couple of times during the night, the bears that almost got us, the suffocating hot breezes in the back seat and kids who kept touching each other. They liked counting utility poles or car licenses and singing Mrs. O' Leary and Here's to Utah 14 times. Just try going back east and staying in KOA campgrounds with millions of mosquitoes and all of their relatives eating you alive! Now that is fun and joy!
 We really are glad that you got to go and see that huge hole in the ground that we have heard about. We stick to pot holes, but I know it was grand from the pictures.
 Yes, Dale and Jayne are a hoot! They are off the beaten path so love to have company. They treated us royally and we are still grateful that they put up with us.
 Happy Conference watching. I loved Pres. Monson's talk! Made me cry though  Love Grandma

On Sun, Oct 4, 2009 at 1:33 PM, SpencerJ McConkie  > wrote:

Hey out there,

It’s been a while since Emily and I sent out an update—at least a written update. Hopefully you all got several of the pictures that we sent out this past week from our trip to St. George, Grand Canyon, Phoenix/Mesa, etc. Because summer is so busy with so much happening at home and work, Emily and I try to travel during “off” times. It works better for us and helps avoid crowds and traffic.

We left a Tuesday Morning and stopped in at Gma/Gpa Stout’s house to pick up a goodie basket she had prepared for Jayne’s family. We continued on to St. George and stayed with Stan and Amy McConkie at their home for the night. As most of you are well aware, travelling with child(ren) is quite different from travelling w/o them, so Em and I wanted to break our drive up a bit to better accommodate mary and keep her on our good side.

We left St. George Wednesday morning and drove to the South rim of the grand canyon. We spent the rest of the afternoon stopping at overlooks and enjoying the amazing natural beauty of that gorgeous part of the world. We chose to stay at a hotel just south of the canyon so that we could be there for sunset and sunrise the next morning. Some of the pictures we sent out showed majestic views from the canyon as the sun set and came back up the following day. Pretty spectacular view! Our plan worked pretty well at avoiding crowds as there were much fewer people there than there would have been if we’d gone mid summer—although none of the Asian or Europeans got the memo about this being “off season.” There were soooo many people from Europe and Asia at the canyon (much like last year when we went to Zions and the year before when we went to Bryce Canyon). It’s a shame that people travel 10,000 miles to see sites that we never drive 4 hours to see!

About 2 o’clock on Thursday we continued our journey southward towards Phoenix. Mary had about 50 million toys in the back seat, snacks, drinks, and candy galore (anything to keep her pacified), and a mini dvd player for her to view her little people movies. All in all she did quite well over the journey but did get antsy after several hours of being strapped in like an astronaut. It’s amazing how many gas stations and rest stops overlook the necessity of baby changing stations (most the time we stop it’s for Mary anyway). If you need tips for changing babies on the ground at Maverick Gas Station or in (or on) the trunk of the car in some remote place along I-15 or Highway 89, we can give you tips.

We made it to Jayne and Dales home in Mesa, AZ on Thursday evening about 6 pm. We doubt they would have let us stay with them but for the fact that we brought mary as a bargaining chip. We told them that we’d let Mary chase and annoy their dog all around the house and throw banana slop all over their kitchen if they’d let us stay for a few days. They seemed to think that was a fair deal (I credit myself for sly bargaining techniques) and welcomed us in with open arms. In all seriousness, it was a pleasure to stay with the Macpherson’s and have the opportunity to get to know some of their family better.

Jayne said we could go swimming in the pool out back, but it didn’t take a Certified Pool Operator to know that green water and fair skinned Utah people don’t mix well. The chemical balance was messed up and an algae explosion had occurred the week before we arrived. With so much to do and see, however, there probably wouldn’t have been time for swimming anyway.  We visited Queen Creek and Tempe (both areas where Emily served) and also went to the mission home/office. We chatted with a Senior Sister Missionary in the mission office who said everybody was at zone conference in another city. We saw Uncle Oscar’s picture on the wall from when he was mission president there in the 70’s sometime.

Dale took me to a Diamondback’s baseball game in Phoenix. It’s a beautiful domed ball park and was a good game and fun company. Dale showed me where I could buy a $250 jersey (the same one you can buy at WalMart for $40) and a life sized bobble head for $450. I almost bought the bobble head for Emily for Christmas (I’m always looking) but Dale fortunately talked me out of it—not to mention trying to hide a life-sized bobble head from Emily all the way home! The night of the game Emily went to Women’s conference with Jayne and Anna while Sarah and Allison (two youngest daughters) watched Mary-kins and Anna’s baby. We had fun staying up late hearing stories about Germany and Korea, playing Guitar Hero, watching Glenn Beck, and eating “authentic” Mexican/Pakistani food.

We started for home on Monday morning making out way up through Page, AZ and stopped in at Glenn Canyon Dam—a site to behold. Mary was getting restless about the time we hit Cedar City (and the muffler pipe on the car had broken and sounded like continuous thunder). We stopped in at a hotel in Cedar City and took Mary swimming at about 9pm—she loves to swim. The following morning we woke up and made our way back to SLC, better people for having made the journey.   

Happy conference,

Spencer and Emily