Elwell Family Blog

17 My 2009

elwellfamily — Sun, 17 May 2009 21:13:50 +0000

17 May 2009

Hello,

Sunday – I gave my Gospel Doctrine Lesson today – Lesson 17 “The Law of Tithing and the Law of the Fast”. We had dinner and I worked on my Gospel Doctrine lesson.

Monday – Anne had Caddy for the Hole and I gave a lesson to a Mark Thatcher from London, England. I had a Desert Chapter meeting at Mission Lakes in Desert Hot Springs. It was very windy up there. I spoke with Joe Williams after the meeting about the Teaching situation at Indian Wells Golf Resort.

Tuesday – I worked on employment situations and packaging. I had a 2 p.m. AMF webinar call with Lorin Anderson about the Top 100 Teachers List. Anne went to Scouts and then we went to an Al-Anon meeting at the Betty Ford Center in Palm Desert.

Wednesday – I worked on Employment opportunities, packing, and then went to Tahquitz and practiced and gave Carlos’ son a lesson.

Thursday – Anne had Caddy for the Hole and I worked on an Interview Questionnaire from The Sports Club/LA. It took me all day to answer it and then Anne stayed up until 1 a.m. fine tuning it.

Friday – I sent in the Questionnaire about 7 a.m. Anne had Caddy for the Hole and I went to a Clubfitting Seminar held at Cathedral Canyon by Steve Creps. I then went back to Tahquitz and met with John Hardy and Marty Greenman and their Zero Putting Tool. I then had a lesson with Bob Gray and then home and on to an Al-Anon Meeting at St. Margaret’s Church.

Saturday – We packed and organized the shed and Anne went to a Stake Relief Society Luncheon and I had a 2 hour telephone interview with Bob Grissett of The Sports Club/LA. We then went to the Temple and did an Endowment Session for Joseph Scarberry, Jr. We came home and Anne worked on her Relief Society lesson.

That was our busy week.

Love,

Mom & Dad

10 May 2009

elwellfamily — Sun, 17 May 2009 21:11:24 +0000

10 May 2009

Hello,

Sunday – I gave my Gospel Doctrine Lesson today – Lesson 16 “Thou Shalt…Offer Up Thy Sacraments upon My Holy Day”. We had dinner and then went to the Moffett’s. I was going to go to bed but Will needed some help with a homework assignment on John Philip Souza. Several hours later, I found the bed.

Monday – We were at the Moffett’s and then went to the Billy Caper’s – Billy’s Kids at San Diego Country Club. We had a great time seeing Bill, Shirley, and the family. I saw Mitch Voges on the range and went and said hello. He talked about the business closing and what he was doing. He went up to the putting green and we left it at that. A little while later Anne ran into Mitch and then Mitch came up and made peace with me saying, he had my note for a couple of years (it was really about 3 years) and he said he didn’t know how to respond. We left at about 11:30 and got home and relaxed.

Tuesday – I had a lesson with Dick Wood and Mr. & Mrs. Prim Busam. Dick and I had a good talk and I did not charge him. Anne went to Scouts and made copies of my Gospel Doctrine Class lesson then we went to an Al-Anon meeting at the Betty Ford Center in Palm Desert.

Wednesday – I worked on Employment opportunities and packing for the storage shed.

Thursday – Anne had Caddy for the Hole and I practiced and played some on the course.

Friday – Anne had Caddy for the Hole and I stayed home and had an Employment Committee Conference Call and a call from Andy Beyrer from Linx Tracker & PGA PAR Program. After Anne came home I went to Tahquitz and gave a Lesson to Austin – 14 and his father James Olshelski.

Saturday – We left at 6 a.m. for Esta’s House in Azusa and organized that stuff and put it in her garage for moving to Utah. We left at 11 and went to see Sherri and Wyn Pope arriving just after 12. We were going to stay until 2:45 as Wyn fixed the computer but there were transfer problems and we left finally at 8:15 and getting to Esta’s and decided to stay the night. I finished about 10:30 and Anne stayed up until 1.

That was our busy week.

Love,

Mom & Dad

Visit to Mom & Dad in Palm Desert

elwellfamily — Mon, 11 May 2009 06:11:13 +0000

As Dad mentioned, I went to visit them in Palm Desert. Here are pictures of our trip. It was so fun to see them. It was HOT and dry, but overall, the food and company were well worth it. Rod thought Mom and Dad were great. Dad shocked me by not filling up the gas tank past 1/4 full, so we had to have Rod drive us around. I was shocked…everyone remember how we couldn’t let our gas tanks fall below 1/2 full before Dad would FLIP out! Wow, times have changed… What’s next? Anarchy, I guess.

Dad’s Weekly Newsletter – 26 April 2009

elwellfamily — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 01:34:56 +0000

Hello,

Sunday – We had a wonderful surprise today – Heather and Rod Rex were able to join us in church today. They were in Long Beach for a few days enjoying some time off. I gave my Gospel Doctrine Lesson today – Lesson 14 “The Law of Consecration.” It was a lot of fun having chairs set up in the world’s fashion of 1 ahead of the other, the pyramid, and the best seats up front. We then went into the circle where everyone was equal. I went with Rod to the Elders Quorum. We had Heather and Rod to dinner and then we went up Highway 74 to look over the valley, down El Paseo Drive, and then to The River.

Monday – I had lessons with Harry Stoinoff and Gary Matthews and then we went to Yorba Linda for the Section Teaching & Coaching Summit. We got in and had a nice hotel and got out of the 100 plus degree weather.

Tuesday – It was an all day Teaching Summit for the Section. We had 22 speakers each going 15 minutes and it was really top drawer. We got home in time for dinner and off to an Al-Anon meeting – a record attendance of 62 people at the Betty Ford Center in Palm Desert.

Wednesday – I had a lesson with a couple – Mr.& Mrs. Jide Bada from London, originally from Nigeria. He is an attorney in London and they came for a week’s holiday. They were brand new golfers so I helped them. I then went out and played the front nine of the Legends course. I had never played it before and all I could see along the fairways were apartments on one side and homes on the other or from 4 -8 with homes and almost every house had a swimming pool. I had never seen that before – swimming pools at everyone’s home.

Thursday – I was asked by Ryan McMillian – Director of Golf to give a Clinic for 12 German Journalist visiting Palm Springs. They only had 5 showed up but we had a great time going on the course and hitting some balls. I worked on some thank you notes to those who spoke in the morning of the Teaching Summit.

Friday – I played the back nine of the Legends Course and practiced on the golf course. Vicki Henderson called setting up a personal golf school in May. We went to do a Sealing Session at 6 p.m. I was able to be the proxy for Theodore Myers, Raymond Myers, Otto Shropshire, Harve Shropshire, Archibald Harper McMurphy, Billie Eugene Golden, Mr. Hancock, and Leon Fay Lemmon. What a blessed time in the temple. We were through by 7 p.m.

Saturday – It was Mormon Helping Hands with about 60 members of our Ward cleaning up the Boys & Girls Club in Cochella. We were part of 350 – 400 from our Stake and 10,000 in Southern California helping on this day. It was scheduled from 8 – 1. We had so many people for our project that we finished by 10:30. We did some shopping and then home. I prepared my Gospel lesson and sent out thank you notes to those who spoke in the afternoon of the Teaching Summit.

That was our week and a wonderful week it was and a day with Heather.

Love,

Mom & Dad

Dad’s Weekly Newsletter – 19 April 2009

elwellfamily — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 01:32:22 +0000

Hello,

Sunday – I gave my Gospel Doctrine Lesson today – Lesson 13 “This Generation Shall Have My Word through You.” We have Dave Borrowman over for dinner and Anne went Visiting Teaching.

Monday – I had a couple of lessons today – Lynn Montsin & Gary Matthews. Anne did here Junior Golf Fund Raiser. We got the word from our Tax Man that we needed to send in our State taxes to Idaho – it did not go through electronically. We had a fun time together with our Family Home Evening.

Tuesday – It was a windy day and I had a telephone interview again with Matthew from DreamShot and it looks good for the Fall and I suggested that preparations be made in May rather than September and October when they are getting pressure to open the golf courses for the Season. I had prepared a list of all the Clubs but he wanted to have their websites and zip codes which I did.

I also participated via telephone with our Section Employment Committee. It was a good meeting and we all made some significant contributions. I then finished the DreamShot list of Clubs in the Palm Springs area.

We then had an Al-Anon meeting in the Betty Ford Center in Palm Desert.

Wednesday – We were up early but the wind was really blowing so I moved a lesson to the next day and we went to the Temple in the afternoon. We served as the Witness Couple on the 4:45 Endowment session and I went through for Billie Eugene Golden – (born was not listed) death was 2002.

Thursday – Anne had her Junior Golf Fund Raiser and I had a lesson with Gary Matthews. I worked on more Employment opportunities. I actually talked to Jon Pinardi in the morning about being a Guest Instructor for a couple of weeks at Headwaters Club in the summer.

Friday – Anne had her best day in some time – getting 50 to participate. We had a busy day and I helped some players and was able to practice a little. I had some project to do and then found Anne out cold. She was really tired.

Saturday – I went to work and practiced and did some paperwork then home to get Anne for the Preparedness Fair & Blood Drive – we were 2 of 15 to give blood. In the evening I prepared my Gospel Doctrine Lesson.

That was our busy week and wonderful week.

Love,

Mom & Dad

Dad’s Weekly Newsletter – 12 April 2009

elwellfamily — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 05:18:19 +0000

Hello again, Sunday – It is a beautiful Easter Sunday. I spent most of the late afternoon and evening preparing my Gospel Doctrine class. I started about 5 and ended at midnight. The lesson was great – The Gathering of my People. Monday – We left about 2:50 a.m. for Cedar City. Anne called Odyssey House about 9 a.m. and we were able to get Jon in. We then decided to stop by CrossRoads to see what it is like – we had a tour and spent almost an hour there. We then were able to get up to Cedar City. Ted was in St. George with Laurie and Esta. I took a nap and Dan Hollister woke me up with a call. He told me about Gary and Mitch parting ways and the store in Sherman Oaks closing for Max Out Golf. We had a good evening with Ted and Laurie. Tuesday – We went down to Santa Clara to Entrada and followed a worker out – about 90 minutes to the wilderness and spent the day with Jon. They had an Introductory Ceremony, some time with Jon – he loved having a strawberry and sharing some with his friends, a meeting with Mike Hench and Jon, and finally a Milan session with everyone and the Entrada counselors. We then returned to Ted’s. We had borrowed his Sequoia 4 wheel drive to get into the off road areas. Jon was very appreciative of a comfortable seat after 8 weeks and 1 day in the wilderness. Jon had not seen the way out as he was blindfolded so he was happy to see the beauties on the way back to the Entrada Office. He was able to shower and we headed for food. We stopped by Marv’s for my hamburger and fries and a vanilla shake for Jon. We then headed for Jon’s dream meal – an In and Out Burger. We then went to Ted’s and Jon shaved his bead down after some good photos by Ted. Jon was really happy to watch Sports Center and have a bed to sleep in. Wednesday – We were up early and Ted had fixed Jon a royal breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast, and cake. We then drove to Salt Lake City and found Odyssey House and made a quick trip to Wal Mart before checking in. We were there from about 11:15 until 2:15 dealing with the Check In process. Shannon, Sarah, and Heather all came and shared their love with Jon. Anne and I left Jon and went to Catherine’s to enjoy some time with Catherine, Madison, Brandon, and Austin. We then went up to Sarah’s and enjoyed beerrocks and home made pizza with Sarah, Heather, Shannon, & Conrad. Shannon helped me learn how to get this Newsletter on the Blog and then Sarah and I finalized my National Teacher of the Year Award. Thursday – Anne and I went over and saw Shannon before leaving Salt Lake City and then off to Ted’s. It was raining and continued until about 50 miles south of Provo. We arrived and I was able to do a telephone interview with a Matthew F with a new Company called DreamShot – a Hole in One Program where I could stay here in the desert. It is a huge step up from the Caddy for the Hole that Anne is involved in. Ted & Laurie went to serve in the Temple. I worked on some projects sending off my Teacher of the Year application and watched some of The Masters. We took dinner over to Esta and enjoyed some time with her. We got a letter off to Jon. Friday – Good Friday – We traveled home from Cedar City and organized ourselves for the weekend. We got a letter off to Jon. Saturday – Easter Weekend – I had a lesson with Zvi Joseph and then one of the Player Assistants – Art Kitzman from Iowa. There was a gentleman staying at the Marriott hotel that was coming but never showed up. I prepared my Sunday School lesson and waited for Anne. She had taken me to work and then had a Choir practice. We arrived home in time to watch the closing moments of The Masters. I then spent the late afternoon and evening preparing my Gospel Doctrine lesson – The Gathering of My People. I started about 5 or 5:30. and worked on it until midnight. It was a real Tutoring of The Spirit. I decided during the evening to see if there was a movie on and I was able to see The Ten Commandments. It brought back memories of seeing it when it first came out in Hollywood as a teenager. It was also Moses who held the keys of the gathering of Israel. That was our busy week and wonderful week. Love, Mom & Dad

Dad’s Weekly Newsletter – 5 April 2009

elwellfamily — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 05:13:33 +0000

Hello again,

Sunday – It is General Conference and oh how the Fire of the Covenant message by Elder Bednar and story of the Sister who walked 1,000 and buried her 4 children along the way by using a Tablespoon. I have not looked at a tablespoon since and not thought of this story. It was a great Sabbath. We made preparations for leaving at 2 in the a.m. for Utah. I called Dick Wood and he got things rolling with Jim Dean.

Monday – I had the first of 3 days with Rusty Ertle. He flew in from Bend, Oregon at the suggestion of Brian Whitcomb, Honorary President of the PGA. We had an Al – Anon Meeting on Fred Waring but no one was there when we showed up a little late. I did not hear from Jim Dean in getting information on Jon. Anne did Caddy for the Hole.

Tuesday – I had the second day with Rusty. It was a good day and we started at 9 and ended at 5:30 with no break for lunch.

Wednesday – I had the third day with Rusty – 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. so he could catch his flight back. Anne had her Nanny job and got a ride with her friend. I had a webinar with Dr. Brad Reedy. I had a PGA Teaching Committee Conference Call and then off to pick up Anne.

Thursday – Anne did Caddy for the Hole. I stayed home and did all of my paperwork. We called Mike Hench at 5 p.m. It was more preparations for leaving early Monday a.m.

Friday – Anne did Caddy for the Hole. I worked on employment opportunities after Tahquitz Creek.

Saturday – General Conference Weekend – I had a lesson with Zvi Joseph and helped a lady after Zvi’s lesson and then went and got Anne from Nanny job. We were going to go to Conference but I had loaded the car and we went to the storage unit and then some shopping and then I went to Priesthood meeting. We worked on getting ready for our trip and trying to decide which place was best for Jon in his after care program – CrossRoads in St. George or Odyssey House in Salt Lake City..

That was our busy and decision making week.

Love,

Mom & Dad

Spud Harvest–Potato or Potatoe?

elwellfamily — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 05:47:58 +0000

I headed up to Shelley, Idaho to the Hanny potato farm for a weekend of potato harvest. Melanie Hanny is my long-time friend from graduate school way back in the day. We’d always talked about it (for 8 years to be exact) and I finally bit the bullet and drove up. Shelley, Idaho is about 15-20 minutes outside of the thriving metropolis of Idaho Falls. It is COLD in the winter, perfect spud weather. I drove past the high school, home of the Russets. Apparently, those potatoes can be fierce.

So, Melanie taught me how to drive the potato truck (9 speeds) and I made circles in the potato fields with my erratic driving. We started in the fields and once the potatoes were out of the ground, we drove the potatoes to the cellars. They do everything with machines, so the potatoes are dug out of the ground by a huge machine that covers about 8 rows and brings the potatoes into the truck. They unload them from the truck onto conveyor belts where rotten or damaged potatoes are picked out (along with rocks, dirt clods, potato vines, and anything else non-potatoish). We helped the hired Mexicans as they pretended not to know much English to get out of doing a lot. Things broke down a couple times, so things came to a halt.

Anyway, Bishop Hanny has about 5 cellars and they fill them totally full. As we were in the cellar, they turned the lights off on us and so we were scaling potatoes trying to get out. There are huge fans that blow cool water to keep the potatoes cold and then they keep the lights off once they’re finished. It was amazing! I will never look at potatoes the same. Next time you’re biting into your french fry or baked potato, you will think about the wonder of the Idaho potato.

The harvester loading potatoes into the truck.

Standing on about 40 feet of potatoes

The cellar about halfway full.

Potatoes that made it through inspection…

Pumpkin Carving

elwellfamily — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 04:07:50 +0000

For Dad’s last FHE with us in Utah, we decided to celebrate Halloween and carve pumpkins. Creativity was encouraged, so we came up with some more interesting, non-traditional pumpkins. We got to roast the pumpkin seeds and watch a movie. Sarah and I will not be there for the trick-or-treaters this year but we decided to be festive anyway. The weather is turning cold, as Utah always does in October. We love to celebrate fall, but aren’t excited that it means winter is around the corner. We’ve already had a few days of snow. It hasn’t stayed, but is a teaser that it’s coming.

Mom & Dad Update – Family Visit

elwellfamily — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 01:57:48 +0000

Hello again,

We had just Sacrament Meeting as the Stake Center was to be prepared for the Twin Falls Idaho Temple Dedication. I was going to go but we decided to have lunch and take Jon up to Targhee Resort.

Jon and I played golf most afternoons.

I had some lessons and Jon, Anne & I did some Club Repair on Friday. We got home to have dinner as Sarah and Heather arrived.

Saturday, Jon and I finished up some club repair work. We then went and practiced – some lessons for Heather and Sarah. Anne played some and Heather, Sarah, Jon, and I played 5 holes then Heather some more. We finished 18 and then home for dinner. Shannon and Conrad arrived at about 10 p.m.

That was our week.

Love,

Mom & Dad