Spencer and Jonene Scoville

Excercise

Categories: Uncategorized | November 20th, 2008 | by admin | no comments

I did 50 push-ups this morning.  I have tomorrow off and need to do a lot of yard work.  I hope to get out and ride Scorpion’s tale a 2 hour grueling climb that leads into fun fun switchbacks quick descents and adrenaline.  If I don’t have time I’ll do a 45 minuter cottonwood rim.

Another week.

Categories: Uncategorized | November 17th, 2008 | by admin | one comments

Well, I got one run in and did push-ups a couple of days.  We’ll give it another try this week.  I was sore for about 3 days after my short run last Monday.  I finally did it.  I got a truck on Friday.  I can’t believe how long it took.  I was in the dealership for 2 hours.  We had the truck picked and all figured out prior to my arrival, but it still took 2 hours.  I bought a 2008 Tundra.  It is fun to drive a new vehicle.  This is a first for us. 

Jonene is 32 weeks along and has been having a lot of contractions.  Her blood pressure has been creeping up and she does not feel great.  We will be on our toes until the baby comes I guess. 

Old and Fat

Categories: Uncategorized | November 10th, 2008 | by admin | no comments

I am getting old and fat.  I got up this morning and decided to go for a short run.  I was hoping to wet  my excercise appetite so that I could motivate myself to get into shape and eat better.  Two slow miles a bit painful.  I also did 50 push-ups woo woo.  I am contemplating training for a marathon next year, but Jonene is due in January and it just seems like a hard time to dedicate to train that much.  I also don’t want to give up any Saturdays for long runs.  I am hoping to get the girls out skiing a bunch this winter.  Goal for now.  Three runs a week and 50 + pushups a day.  Maybe my stomach will renegotiate its position onto my chest.  I wouldn’t mind getting a famiy/friend excercise group up to encourage us to get out and move.  If anyone knows how to do this on FB, tell me how.

Happy Birthday Dad

Categories: family | November 2nd, 2008 | by admin | no comments

Today is my Dad’s birthday.  I wish he were here to celebrate.  We would have loved to visit and to celebrate one more year.  I did not plan very well.  I have to teach a lesson in Priesthood or I would have gone to Delta to spend the day with my mom.  She is doing great.  She just keeps moving forward.  I can not imagine her doing otherwise.  I think it would be easy to stop and wallow in sorrow and in the hopes and unfulfilled future.  I can see why my mom loved Elder Wirthlin’s talk in conference this year.  I did not get to listen to it while I was working, but read it again this morning. 

“Come What May, and Love It. . . I think she may have meant that every life has peaks and shadows and times when it seems that the birds don’t sing and bells don’t ring. Yet in spite of discouragement and adversity, those who are happiest seem to have a way of learning from difficult times, becoming stronger, wiser, and happier as a result.

How little I knew then of what awaited me in later years. But whenever my steps led through seasons of sadness and sorrow, my mother’s words often came back to me: “Come what may, and love it.”

How can we love days that are filled with sorrow? We can’t—at least not in the moment. I don’t think my mother was suggesting that we suppress discouragement or deny the reality of pain. I don’t think she was suggesting that we smother unpleasant truths beneath a cloak of pretended happiness. But I do believe that the way we react to adversity can be a major factor in how happy and successful we can be in life.

If we approach adversities wisely, our hardest times can be times of greatest growth, which in turn can lead toward times of greatest happiness.

If you would like to read the talk here is a link.

http://www.lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-947-9,00.html

I loved my dad.  I do miss him.  I enjoy wearing one of his ties.  It is a blue and green striped tie.  I don’t know if dad wore it much.  I seem to have been wearing it a lot.  I guess having something that he had close to him gives me some comfort.  I wish I knew how to perfectly express and share how I feel.  I think that in wearing his tie I am physically connected to his earthly presence.  I know he is were he is supposed to be.  I know God lives and loves us.  His watchful care was over our family as we grew up.  Elder Holland talked about the ministering of Angels.  I believe our family truly had the watchful care of of angels as we grew up in the remote area of Central Utah. 

For example, none of us should probably be alive after the accident with the Honda Civic.  It is mentally challenging to explain how five kids and mom could survive the collision with a pickup traveling 85 mph.  Mom had been quite noble to stop abruptly to see if the bus needed help.  How could a young unbuckled child in the rear hatch survive with no injury?  I remember looking at the rear of the civic dented in so about 6 inches of space was left in the back for Phil.  On a lighter note I remember hitting my head on the roof of the car and being concerned about the impending gas tank explosion as I had witnessed so many times on CHIPS.  Somebody, either Amie or J-P was blindly groping for their glasses. 

As kids J-P, cousin Dave, myself, and others built a fort and tunnel in the sandy soil of Sugarville.  I don’t know why it did not cave in and none of us were hurt or killed.  Recently in Central Utah a young scout was killed  when a cave collapsed. 

I had multiple bike accidents and only once had significant injury. 

I do believe the Lord has sent ministering angels to protect us.

Here is some of the text of Elder Holland’s talk.

http://www.lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-947-10,00.html

Usually such beings are not seen. Sometimes they are. But seen or unseen they are always near. Sometimes their assignments are very grand and have significance for the whole world. Sometimes the messages are more private. Occasionally the angelic purpose is to warn. But most often it is to comfort, to provide some form of merciful attention, guidance in difficult times. When in Lehi’s dream he found himself in a frightening place, “a dark and dreary waste,” as he described it, he was met by an angel, “a man . . . dressed in a white robe; . . . he spake unto me,” Lehi said, “and bade me follow him.”⁷ Lehi did follow him to safety and ultimately to the path of salvation.

 ask everyone within the sound of my voice to take heart, be filled with faith, and remember the Lord has said He “would fight [our] battles, [our] children’s battles, and [the battles of our] children’s children.”¹⁰ And what do we do to merit such a defense? We are to “search diligently, pray always, and be believing[. Then] all things shall work together for [our] good, if [we] walk uprightly and remember the covenant wherewith [we] have covenanted.”¹¹ The latter days are not a time to fear and tremble. They are a time to be believing and remember our covenants.

Referring to his childhood on a large Idaho farm, Brother Barrus spoke of his nightly assignment to round up the cows at milking time. Because the cows pastured in a field bordered by the occasionally treacherous Teton River, the strict rule in the Barrus household was that during the spring flood season the children were never to go after any cows who ventured across the river. They were always to return home and seek mature help.

One Saturday just after his seventh birthday, Brother Barrus’s parents promised the family a night at the movies if the chores were done on time. But when young Clyn arrived at the pasture, the cows he sought had crossed the river, even though it was running at high flood stage. Knowing his rare night at the movies was in jeopardy, he decided to go after the cows himself, even though he had been warned many times never to do so.

As the seven-year-old urged his old horse, Banner, down into the cold, swift stream, the horse’s head barely cleared the water. An adult sitting on the horse would have been safe, but at Brother Barrus’s tender age, the current completely covered him except when the horse lunged forward several times, bringing Clyn’s head above water just enough to gasp for air.

Here I turn to Brother Barrus’s own words:

“When Banner finally climbed the other bank, I realized that my life had been in grave danger and that I had done a terrible thing—I had knowingly disobeyed my father. I felt that I could redeem myself only by bringing the cows home safely. Maybe then my father would forgive me. But it was already dusk, and I didn’t know for sure where I was. Despair overwhelmed me. I was wet and cold, lost and afraid.

“I climbed down from old Banner, fell to the ground by his feet, and began to cry. Between thick sobs, I tried to offer a prayer, repeating over and over to my Father in Heaven, ‘I’m sorry. Forgive me! I’m sorry. Forgive me!’

“I prayed for a long time. When I finally looked up, I saw through my tears a figure dressed in white walking toward me. In the dark, I felt certain it must be an angel sent in answer to my prayers. I did not move or make a sound as the figure approached, so overwhelmed was I by what I saw. Would the Lord really send an angel to me, who had been so disobedient?

“Then a familiar voice said, ‘Son, I’ve been looking for you.’ In the darkness I recognized the voice of my father and ran to his outstretched arms. He held me tightly, then said gently, ‘I was worried. I’m glad I found you.’

“I tried to tell him how sorry I was, but only disjointed words came out of my trembling lips—’Thank you . . . darkness . . . afraid . . . river . . . alone.’ Later that night I learned that when I had not returned from the pasture, my father had come looking for me. When neither I nor the cows were to be found, he knew I had crossed the river and was in danger. Because it was dark and time was of the essence, he removed his clothes down to his long white thermal underwear, tied his shoes around his neck, and swam a treacherous river to rescue a wayward son.”¹²

My beloved brothers and sisters, I testify of angels, both the heavenly and the mortal kind. In doing so I am testifying that God never leaves us alone, never leaves us unaided in the challenges that we face. “[N]or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man [or woman or child] upon the face thereof to be saved.”¹³ On occasions, global or personal, we may feel we are distanced from God, shut out from heaven, lost,  alone in dark and dreary places. Often enough that distress can be of our own making, but even then the Father of us all is watching and assisting. And always there are those angels who come and go all around us, seen and unseen, known and unknown, mortal and immortal.

May we all believe more readily in, and have more gratitude for, the Lord’s promise as contained in one of President Monson’s favorite scriptures: “I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, . . . my Spirit shall be in your [heart], and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.”¹⁴ In the process of praying for those angels to attend us, may we all try to be a little more angelic ourselves—with a kind word, a strong arm, a declaration of faith and “the covenant wherewith [we] have covenanted.”¹⁵ Perhaps then we can be emissaries sent from God when someone, perhaps a Primary child, is crying, “Darkness . . . afraid . . . river  . . . alone.” To this end, I pray in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I am so grateful for the blessing of a loving father who taught by example, lead, helped when he could.  I hope to always remember his love and kindness.  Years after his tie wears out presence will remain through each of us.  Perhaps, he will still be able to comfort us in moments of difficulty.  If we feel lost or alone, I believe the Lord may allow him to swim across the river that separates us and to guide and comfort us.

Returning with honor

Categories: family | May 17th, 2008 | by admin | one comments

My dad passed away Friday morning.  It was quite a disturbing and amazing process.  We have known for months he would die soon.  I gave him a blessing just prior to his diagnosis and was shocked to distinctly feel he did not have much longer in this life.  The blessing simply was of comfort and the Saviors love for dad and commending him on the job he did raising his family and taking care of his wife.  I wanted to bless him with good health and longevity, but that was not correct and I knew it. 

He was diagnosed a few days later.  The first month he did chemo and then decided it was not worth it.  He then had two great months.  He did a lot of visiting.  He got out on a 4-wheeler excursion and frankly looked great.  Two weeks ago we saw him when he was awarded the “Area Giant Award” for his service in the Delta area.  He was tired, but looked good at that time.  We had hoped he would live until September so he could baptize Abbie.  She had wanted him to do that.  One of my grandfather’s confirmed me so I had hoped he would be able to baptize her as well. 

Mom called me a week ago to say that he had been sick for about a week.  He had not been able to keep anything down.  She was worried he was getting dehydrated.  She took him to the hospital that Sunday.  We visited with them on Monday and Tuesday.  Dad was lucid, but uncomfortable.  He vomited about every hour and had difficulty getting comfortable in  between wretching sessions.  He did not want surgery or tubes placed.  He did accept an IV and was rehydrated.  I was able to spend some time alone with him.  He had no concerns about life beyond the veil, but was nervous about the process of death.  He wished to live a bit longer, but had no interest in prolonged pain.  We discussed some few practical matters about selling his office equipment and so forth.  The girls were able to give him hugs and kisses.  He did not really want them watching when he was sick, but seemed to enjoy their short visits.  Hospice was involved and my dad came home on Tuesday night. 

I returned Tuesday to work and called frequently to discuss dad and any changes.  I was quite shocked on Thursday when we arrived home to find my dad significantly worsened.  He spoke words, but I did not make any sense of them.  Their was an hour of panic when my mom expressed dad’s desire to live until mom was 60 so she could get his survivor benefits from social security.  After reviewing the paperwork it became clear that this was not correct.  The family all gathered and prayed for him.  J-P gave him a blessing of comfort.  J-P sat with him for several hours then Phil sat with him for several hours.  About 4:45 I went in to sit with him.  He was very restless for 1 hour.  Every 5 minutes he would roll over and change position.  Then he became more restful and laid on his back.  He did not respond to my talking to him. 

I wondered who he could see and what he felt.  They say the veil is thin at birth and death.  Was his father, his son sitting with us in the room.  Were they able to comfort him where I could not seem to communicate.  I hope so.

My dad loved music.   About 6:00, I felt like singing a couple of hymns.  I tried to sing softly, but kept the 1st floor up I am sure.  His breathing changed.  At one point, I checked his pulse as he had a 10 second pause in breathing.  These periods became more frequent.  About 6:30 Amie came up and sat with me. She asked if we should go get mom.  I said not quite yet.  She was so tired I liked the idea of her getting a little sleep.  20 or so minutes later, we decided she should go and get mom.   As my mom walked in the room, she embraced him.  He was no longer breathing. It was very clear to me that my dad was not in his body any more.  I have no doubt that he is not gone forever, but is separated from this mortal realm for now. 

I am so grateful his suffering was not prolonged.  It is so amazing to think of the joy he is now experiencing.  He is with his brother and son and parents.  I am sure there are many many people who are celebrating his return with honor.  It is just a little painful for those of us here with our limited sphere of existence.  As Paul said, we see through a glass darkly.  I look forward to seeing him clearly again.

 

March in like a Lion and out like a Lamb

Categories: Uncategorized | April 2nd, 2008 | by admin | one comments

      This month has been very busy.  Moab 1/2 marathon the 8th to celebrate my Birthday on the 11th.  Then to Island Park and Idaho Falls a week later to have some fun snow mobiling and visiting with John and Jenny and cousins and Brian and Jessica and cousins. 

 

The end of the month on Easter we went to Delta and enjoyed Easter with mom and dad.  I enjoyed dad’s comments on the Holy Ghost.  Also the bishop’s invitation to read the Ensign was a blessing.  The spirit was very powerful in the articles I took advantage of reading. 

We have been a bit crabby so we are making a push to read the Book of Mormon every day.  President Benson promised greater peace at home with daily reading.  For the last 3 days that we have done it well it has definitely helped.   We will keep pushing on.

 

I have been trying to get the yard tuned up and ready to get growing.  First I turned the water on to the yard and got confused as to which direction was off and on on the valve.  Long story short Ann Filmore our real estate agent from a year and a half ago came over with her husband and they were able to clue me in.  The trouble I had is that I was watching the pressure on a hose that was actually on the house system.  So when I turned the water on the pressure would drop as new lines opened up.  And when I turned it off it would go up so I thought I was turning it on.  I am sure greatful for kind people.  Phil and I changed a valve on one of the back lines and did not fix our continuously running sprinkler.  A couple days later I saw that we had put it in backwards in the dark.  I turned it around and “walla”  we had action.

I have been pruning fruit trees this last week actually in to the first of April.  It is fun.  I cut them back quite a bit as they had overgrown a ton.  Jonene’s dad gave me some tips and came over for a few hours prior to teaching.  I also went to work on our willow which was also overgrown.  I took down some branches growing onto the garage.  I was having too much fun with the chain saw. 

You know how it is when a kid gets a hold of a set of scissors and goes to town on his hair and ends up shaved.  Well I will post a few pictures. The view from up in the tree was not as good as I thought.  I had the feeling that less might be more and I should spare a few branches.   Now I am trying to decide if I should by a mulcher or not.  I hate to fork out the dough, but it would be nice to get mulch from all the branches.

We have also been remodeling our bathroom and have started to make some progress.  Tile and shower should be done in the next few weeks.  I hope to get painting done this week.  It always seems like there are a lot of projects.

Ella’s skin has been  awful.  Her eczema has been going out of control.  We had to start her on steroids, but hate to do it to her again.  We are worried about long term side affects if she continues to need them.   

Abbie’s asthma has been going bonker’s as well.  She has not been this bad for at least a year.  We have her on Medrol also and azithromycin as her asthma is often related to her sinuses. 

Jonene is tapering off of the chemotherapy medication Cyclosporine and is back on Medrol.   Her kidney function went down and she started to become anemic as well.

 

Love these pictures from Gary Milner’s Flickr account

Categories: Uncategorized | March 6th, 2008 | by admin | no comments

 

This picture encapsulates that time so well.  I love the retro clothing and our goofiness as kids.

Distracted

Categories: family | March 6th, 2008 | by admin | no comments

 

           I think it is probably useful for me to continue the discussion with myself about how I feel.  I am happy to be in Richfield.  It is hard going to work every day when I want to be grieving.  On the other hand I have to keep on working.  I want to move to Delta and just hang out with mom and dad.  I don’t understand my lack of feeling and ability to just keep on going.  I hate to think that I am a cold soul.  I don’t want to be a blithering sentimentalist either.   I just want everything to stay the same.  I want mom and dad to be their for a very long time.  I love the peace of having watched dad making self-sacrificing and good choices while growing up.  Memories of dad when I was growing up include– being pulled behind a snowmobile on a sled in Idaho after the moving trailer crashed.  I happened to be in the truck with Jim Davis (I think) when it crashed.  I remember riding on dad’s back.  I remember him cursing at a Mexican restruant in Provo when he had forgotten his wallet.  He was outside and we were walking in when he realized it was missing.   He probably said hell or damn it.  I don’t remember.  I was shocked. I was probably 12 at the time.  I remember him getting angry at the refs during a water polo game because he thought they were being unfair.  The Christmas when we got the bikes I remember how happy he was watching all of us.  This just may be a memory of how happy I was.   The vacation to kodachrome basin was also a fun memory as well as Waterton the first and subsequent times. 

March update

Categories: family | March 3rd, 2008 | by admin | one comments

  I thought I would write down a few thoughts and let everyone know how we are doing. We are struggling with the reality of dad’s pancreatic cancer.  It was quite surreal giving dad the info after I ordered the CT of his Chest and Abdomen.  I knew he had cancer, but I wanted to get the Radiologist’s formal report before talking to them about it.  He has a 5×7 cm mass of the pancreas and metastasis throughout the lungs.  He has been started on Chemotherapy.

When I spoke to mom and dad right after the test, it was fine.  I was a Doctor consoling a patient and his wife.  It was natural to shift into the working mode.  Mom and Dad like me were not necessarily suprised, but definitely in denial.  Occassionally, I am caught unaware and allow myself to relax and I cry.  Most of the time I feel distant and perhaps distracted.

It seems that most the time, I just keep on going forward.   I go to work spend time with the kids.  Jonene and I went out with Eric and Michelle on Friday.  Macaroni grill was fun.  I loved the Mushroom Ravioli.

Henry’s baby blessing on Sunday was great.  I loved sitting around and visiting in Mar and Phil’s living room. Ella’s allergies went crazy this weekend.  Not sure if it was something she ate, something in the air or the Brady’s rabbit, but it was a painful night and drive home with her itching and screaming.  I will post some of the pictures of her recent reactions.

Kenzie had a fun Piggy party last week.  Check out the pictures on Flickr.  Jonene went to a lot of work to make a great day for Kenzie.

  

Abbie is really getting good at reading.  It is fun to see her excited and very protective of her Junie B. Jones books.

My training for the 1/2 marathon has stagnated for the last 2 weeks.  Work was out of control with my partner gone and I did not get out once.   I also think I was fighting off the flu. I am hopeful I will feel good enough this weekend to finish.  I have no realistic interest in a fast time.  If I feel terrible I may switch to the 5 mile run.

We’ve had some fun snow days, too.

  

Categories: Uncategorized | August 30th, 2007 | by admin | one comments