Salvador, Brazil!!!!

Amy & Riley, Jen & Ron, Ryan & Melanie, & Grandma Boyer were on the phones waiting to hear.

Evan got his call at approx. 2:30 and we waited, and waited for him to come home so he could open it. Mom, me, and Jon called literally all his known associates, but could not find him. He saunters in around 4 and excitedly/nervously opened his call...

Recent happenings chez nous

Here are a few recent pix. Anna's blessing day...

We were so happy some of our family could be there!

Ryan was so nice to my kids--they had a blast playing air hockey and basketball with him.

The day before the blessing we went to the Met and saw this very famous painting entitled "Christmas Time at the Blodgetts." As I write this I'm feeling guilty again Janelle that I didn't go to the Statue of Liberty with you and Michael.

Ron's parents stayed with us after the blessing until Thanksgiving. We went bowling,

to the park,

to watch Christian's social studies skit about the Stamp Act:

had a yummy Thanksgiving dinner (except for the raw turkey),

and did the dishes.

The following week Ron and I took the kids to Disneyworld. Ron really hit it off with Woody and Jessie:

We all loved seeing Mickey and Minnie:

Gracie with Buzz wearing her "ears":

Christian and Claire about to get on Space Mountain:

Ron and Joseph on the flying Dumbo ride:

The kids and I at Epcot:

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (the only time Joseph would go on it):

Splash Mountain:

The characters always noticed Anna:

We had a lot of fun. We flew home exhausted Sunday morning and slept for most of the day.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to our dear mother. It was great to hear that all you wanted for your birthday was to have a slumber party with your grandkids. What a wonderful grandmother you are! I hope you have fun with the kids. Everyone loves and appreciates you. Have a great day!

Love, Amy, Riley, and Evelyn

Whenever I mowed the lawn, Dad would always watch. I would make laps around the lawn, and as I turned toward the house, Dad would suddenly be standing by the front door, arms folded, in his garments and pajama bottoms viewing my progress. I would do a couple laps with him standing there. Then on a lap as I turned toward the house, he would have disappeared back inside. Then, after completing a few more laps, he would reappear.

Once, Dad was trying to fertilize the lawn. He was pushing the fertilizer across the slope of our lawn, and I could observe the weariness in his face. His mouth open, gasping for air. I could also see that he was losing control of this fertilizer. His momentum could not be stopped. He tripped and fell over the fertilizer onto the grass.

In the middle of the night, I heard Dad cry out. I rushed out into the hallway and turned on the light. I looked around and I could not see Dad immediately. I looked down on the floor, and there he was, sprawled out on the carpet. I also spotted Montana scurrying away, with her tail between her legs. Dad revealed to me that he had tripped over Montana in the darkness.

A gift

I am going through all our pictures to make albums for my children. I came across this picture tonight on a memory card from Claire's camera. It was taken when Dad came to New Jersey in March 2009. I love it because its my home and my Dad walking into it. I love the grin on his face. I love the memories associated with this weekend.

Dad came that weekend for Claire's baptism. He brought several gifts for her. It seemed to me like he had walked through the "baptism" section of the Far West bookstore and grabbed one of everything. I remember feeling at the time that some of the gifts were kind of random and that I didn't quite know what to do with some of them.

After Dad died, I came home and helped to clean out my daughters' closet. While doing so, I came across one of the gifts. I couldn't believe how meaningful it was and I asked Claire if I could borrow it.

It now sits on my nightstand and helps me to feel hopeful when I am down:

One night, when I was a junior or senior in high school, I came home pretty late. I didn’t expect anyone to be up. I knew it was possible, however, that Dad would be up.

I turned onto the driveway and the headlights lit up at a large person at the top of the hill. He stood in a dress shirt and sweatpants, arms crossed, chin high. His stance was powerful and square. The headlights cast a shadow against the garage door and his hair was combed high that night. As I drove up the hill, I tried to make out his facial expression. His face seemed emotionless and I could not see his eyes because the headlights reflected off the lenses of his glasses.

I got out of the car.

“I was just hanging out with friends. Sorry if I am late.”

No response. Just kept his chin up and kept looking down at me with his arms crossed and in the same stance.

I kept walking to the house, trying to avoid any confrontation. Still nothing. I figured I was in trouble and I’d better stay outside so he wouldn’t have to yell at me inside and wake people up.

“I require…,” he paused and looked away into the sky for a moment.

“…a cream soda and…,” he paused again, looking away.

“…a Mr. Goodbar. Get yourself a soda.”

He gave me his debit card and I ran his errand.

I miss running his errands and seeing him at the top of the driveway. I always laugh when I think about his practice of standing at the top of the driveway to greet us when we drive up. I imagine that late night he had been laying in the grass, looking at the stars, when he saw me driving up Rachel Road in the white Nissan pick-up truck. When he saw me, he probably hurried to get up to stand at the top of the driveway.

Ryan

Dad came to pick me up after my last semester at BYU-Idaho in June 2004.

He drove into the parking lot at Harris Hall with his flip-up sunglasses. We packed my stuff into the car and we drove around to some of the sites that he remembered from his days there.

We drove up Viking Drive to Rigby Hall, the men’s dorm where he was a Resident Assistant after his mission.

We drove by the apartment/housing area where he had met Mom on a blind date. He watched it fondly as we drove by.

We left the town and were driving somewhere between Idaho Falls and Mountain Home. Out in the desolation, there was a solitary home on top of hill off the side of the highway. It had been silent in the car for maybe a half an hour when he pointed to the house and said:

“I would go crazy if I lived out here.”

“Why’s that?” I asked.

“Isolation.”

I don’t know why I remember that comment. I am sure we talked about many other things in the car, including my future, church doctrine, or politics. Maybe because it was ordinary yet unexpected. Dad has a knack for saying something ordinary but making it memorable and funny. I think the comment about the clever rainbow jello probably falls into that category.

Ryan

Positive Image

This is a post to create a positive atmosphere in our family. I feel like talking about dad. I just want to share a memory of him that I have.

Dad came out to Utah for Kyle and Carrie's wedding. The day after the wedding, dad graciously paid for Evan, Jon and I to go to Lagoon, which is an amusement park here in Utah. A new ride had just opened called "wicked," which is of course pictured on the left. Dad decided he would ride with us, so we waited in line together. It had just opened so we had to wait about an hour before we got to the front, but we finally did. It was hilarious, Jon kept insisting dad sit next to him and ride by him but dad refused. He feared what Jon would do for some reason, maybe taunt him relentlessly. Dad rode next to me instead. We sat down in the seat and of course dad struggled with getting situated as he often did in many circumstances. He got frustrated with the metal harness that had to be clamped down over our chest and stomachs. As the technician went through the rows to make a final safety check, he had to push dad's down further because dad didn't have it clamped down far enough. The second the technician did this, dad was immediately uncomfortable and made a face of anguish and was struggling to pull it up slightly. I had to tell him that once it's clamped down, it wouldn't come back up. The next stage was delay. Right before it was our turn they had to stop the ride for 10 minutes and make an adjustment or two. All the time dad was complaining and making faces at how uncomfortable he was. "I can't stand doddling service." He kept grasping at the clamp trying to get some relief on his massive physique. We finally had our turn. He place his glasses in his shirt pocket and off we went. He yelled so loud out of fear and sealed his eyes shut. I never heard him gasp for breath, he had just one long yell until the ride stopped. Needless to say, he did not ride on anymore rides that day. Anyway, it was hilarious.

Any memories you wish to share about Dad, please feel free. It's therapeutic.

Love, Amy

HUFFS

go here to see the huff's halloween!

http://huffblodgett.blogspot.com/2010/10/my-halloween-2010.html

Here is the list for secret santa this year.
The person in black is giving to the person in red.

Jen-Amy
Ron-Jon
Janelle-Ron
Michael H. -Riley
Mike B. - Evan
Ryan - Mike B.
Melanie - Michael H.
Jon - Melanie
Amy - Janelle
Riley - Jen
Evan - Ryan

Happy Halloween from NJ!

Secret Santa?

I was wondering if people were interested in doing secret santa again this year. If people have strong feelings against it just let me know or else I will draw names for everybody and post it. I'm happy to continue with the tradition if that's what everybody wants. I am thinking about my Christmas shopping early this year and would like to be on the look out for a good gift for whoever I get.

By the way, Evelyn's blessing was great. Riley gave her a fantastic blessing. It was a wonderful day. Thanks mom for coming down, it meant a lot to have you there. We also had Jon, Grandma and Grandpa Boyer, Kathy, Mike, Ben, Deeann, Billy, and Ashley as well as Riley's family. After the blessing we had a brunch at our house. It was a great day.

Thanks, Amy

Infestation

One of these has made itself comfortable in Somerset 103. I was sitting at our kitchen table, talking with my roommates. I noticed tiny jerking movements out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head, and there on the stove, was that. It crawled vertically, pricking its little claws into the cheap metal for grip, down a pipe and into the oven. We opened the oven, only to find the thing not in there. It was gone. We opened all of the cupboards below the counter, and found the holes. The holes it had been using to travel between its hoards of food (my roommate's food). It had, without a doubt, already been spreading plenty of disease on this food. My roommates had put this food into their mouths for sustenance. It had done the same. And it will continue to do the same, until we find it and squash its little brain onto the kitchen floor. And where there's one, there are very likely more.

NJ trip

I do love the city...it makes me think "big" things!

oh, this was a fabulous old mental hospital...just tucked away in a million trees on the hillside..

(This reminded me of "Save the Clock Tower!" from Back to the Future)

the old eery train stations at liberty state park

pieces of the twin towers...

gracie's bunnies

I had such a fun trip! I loved, loved, loved being back in NJ. Jen and Ron have a beautiful home, nestled in a beautiful grove of trees. Everything has history and is so unique. I loved it! Thanks for letting me stay with you guys!!!

Check out this great pic of Evan I found on facebook. Striking resemblance to young Bob Blodgett.

Ryan