On April 17 we had the sad news that Neal’s father, Bill Hubbard, passed away. We knew the time would come soon after our visit in March with him. He was weakening from the cancer. It was with sad hearts we went to the funeral in Utah. The funeral was held on April 29th. It was nice to gather as a family and see so many relatives and friends come together to support one another. It was a beautiful day. The kids loved being with their cousins and sharing time with them. Andrea’s family traveled from San Antonio and stayed over night at our house both ways, so we saw them here too. We are thankful for Grandpa Hubbard and his good example he set for his family. He will be missed. We had a quick trip to Utah and only stayed there two days. It was hard for the kids to miss more school since it is the end of the year and they have testing and projects going on. They managed and seem to be all caught up now.
James had this old picture from 2008 on his phone and showed it to Ruth.
They decided to do a reinactment of it. The cousins had lots of fun together.
On April 17th in the evening we attended the National Honor Society induction for Ruth. She has worked hard in school and I think it was great she was accepted into the Society. She had some friends with her that night too. I am glad that Neal and I were able to attend the meeting and give her support, especially where it had been an emotional day for us all.
On April 19th the kids were out of school. The boy scouts went on a camping trip, Neal went with them. They went to the Gorham Scout Ranch to do a service project of building a bridge over a wash. It was dry as they built it but it is an area that receives lots of run off in the spring and summer. Spencer thought it was neat that there would be a plaque placed saying their troop built the bridge. They had some fun with the project.
That evening Ruth was happy to dress up and go the PriestLaurel Prom the church sponsored. She didn’t have a date but dates weren’t necessary to attend. Ruth and a friend, Ann, got all dressed up here at our house and then went to the dance together and met up with other girl friends. They had a great time and were glad that they went.
Spencer and Andrew had just returned from camping.
After the baskets I did hair cuts for the three boys so they weren't so shaggy.
The following week was busy with school activities. Caleb went with his class to an opera. He said that it was fun and he enjoyed the music. He didn’t know what the opera was and didn’t offer many details to me. Spencer enjoyed the last couple of meetings of his robotic club at the school. He enjoyed playing and building with their robot things. He wished he had more time to make his robot better. Maybe it will continue into next year for him. Andrew tried out for the high school Jazz band. This week he told me he made it into Jazz band two (one being the highest out of three groups). I am proud of his accomplishments. He loves music and enjoys playing his trombone. Neal went on a business trip to Texas and was gone for a few days. I wasn’t feeling well completely and then I also developed an odd looking sore on my finger. I decided to go to the doctor. The sore was an infection and the doctor felt I would benefit from antibiotics to help fight the sinus infection too. I feel much better now and my finger sore healed nicely.
Last week we had more activity. Things are never too slow here, there is always something going on. I enjoyed going to an Relief Society pot luck dinner. I had fun visiting with the other women and eating some good foods. It as a nice evening and one I really needed. It is always good to visit with other women. I am thankful for the kind friends I have here.
I took Caleb to the eye doctor because he had been complaining about how he was seeing things. He needs glasses. We have ordered a pair and he should be getting them soon. He is nervous about wearing them, yet, also excited about it. He was talking to his friends at cub scouts last night that he would be wearing glasses soon. Two of the other boys also wear glasses and they were talking about it with him. Caleb also left his scriptures behind on our short trip to Utah. We didn’t know for sure where they might have gone, but they didn’t come home with us. We had both grandmas looking for them. Then we heard from Andrea that when they got home to San Antonio they found Caleb’s scriptures in their van. He had left them there on Sunday when they gave him a ride from the church to grandma’s house. Andrea was kind and mailed them back to him. He was happy to get them back.
Last week end Neal took Andrew and Spencer on a rail fanning trip. They drove to Wyoming to see a refurbished Big Boy train engine. It was the first time in over 50 years that a Big Boy was working. (They also had a smaller steam engine running with it.) The Big Boys are huge steam engines that were built in the 1940’s to help haul freight over the rocky mountains. The Union Pacific railroad refurbished one of the few remaining ones and were doing a special trip to Odgen, Utah in honor of 150 years since the Transcontinental railroad was finished. There will be big celebrations with that all summer. This week is starting things off as the engines will drive into Utah later this week and do a reenactment of the Golden Spike. Saturday the boys watched the train leave the station in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The train stopped in front of the crowd and after a bit started moving again. Spencer said the noise hurt his ears. It is a huge engine, the biggest steam locomotive built in the USA. The boys have loved seeing the models of Big Boys at many train shows and were excited to see the real thing. After the train left they drove to Laramie and were there before the train, so they got to see it drive into the city and also watched it leave. Then Neal turned the car back towards home. They had a fun, but long, day of driving and watching the train.
The engine was so big Neal had a hard time getting it into one picture.
The top picture is the back end of it and the bottom picture shows the front of the engine.
The top picture is the back end of it and the bottom picture shows the front of the engine.
This is the second, smaller, steam engine. There was also a more
modern diesel engine running with them.
Saturday evening Ruth was able to attend a special fireside for the youth of the church. We had two general authority Seventy here to speak to the youth. She said it was an excellent meeting. I am glad she was able to go.
This week is going well. But busy. Tonight we have a band concert to attend. The boys are excited to play their songs and have their last concert of the year. Tomorrow Neal and Andrew will be going on a Jazz Band trip for two days with the school. I just try to keep up with everyone schedule.
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