Bainbridge Island

Spotted this in Walmart today. Made me think of the great fun we had at our family reunion up there. I'm looking forward to the next one!

(Not sure what to make of the "local" label on the shelf below...)

Religious Family History

I asked mom and dad to spend a few minutes with me to tell me the things that they can remember about the religious history is our ancestors. I have heard most of these bits of information in the past, but I couldn't remember which information belonged with which person.

These unedited videos don't represent the entire conversation that I had with them. Mom and I had a much longer conversation about her ancestors based on the information from the George Edgar Buck biography she has in her possession. I will definitely want to extract some of that information as well.

I need your help! The new "stories" feature on FamilySearch is awesome. It lets you put in short or long stories about your ancestors. I'd like to extract some of the information from these videos and put it into the stories of our ancestors on FamilySearch. This is a project that doesn't require any original research. It just requires watching the videos and pulling out some relevant info and typing it up.

Here are the two videos. First mom:

then dad:

Thanks for Coming!

Thanks to all of you for your effort to come out to the family reunion this year. It was a pleasure and a privilege to do so many fun things with you all. I give an extra big thanks to Mom and Kim for hosting and feeding so many people. Some of the activities were a bit of a bust (101 inventions didn't thrill me) and some were surprisingly fun (kickball comes to mind). The printing museum was one of my favorite parts and I'm so grateful you all humored me to participate. It meant a lot.

I'm looking forward to the next round of fun, wherever it may be. I just chatted with a colleague who had his family reunion at the Rockin' R Ranch and spoke very highly of the experience. Some sort of destination like that, or the river trip we talked about, might be fun next time if Nicole doesn't have us all come out to Texas. Whatever it is, I'm sure it will be great.

Love you all!

Ross Family Reunion 2013 (Better Late than Never?)

Okay, everyone, life is crazy, and I am SOOO sorry I am tardy at getting this blog post up.  Hopefully it won't mess anyone up, that it is so late...  :)

Sunday

• 9:00 - Church at Hannays' ward for Nate's missionary talk
• 10:30 - 11:00 ish? - Brunch at the Hannays'
• Rest of the day - hang out at the Hannays'

Monday

• Morning
• Breakfast - Eat at the house you slept at
• 9:30 - Crafts/Pinewood Finishing Touches - Grandma and Grandpa's house
• Afternoon
• 12:00 - Lunch - Grandma and Grandpa's house
• 1:00 - Leave for Trax and the "101 Inventions That Changed the World" at the Leonardo Museum
• Whenever your family is done at the museum, there are lots of other things to do in downtown SLC: City Creek Mall, The Gateway, Temple Square, Trolley Square, etc
• Evening
• Dinner - City Creek Mall (pack sandwiches at Grandma's or buy dinner there)
• 8:00 - Popsicles and (possible) family meeting back at Kim's house

Tuesday

• Morning
• Breakfast - Eat at the house you slept at
• 9:00 - Tour of Crandall Historical Printing Museum (275 E Center Street, Provo)
• 11:00 - Family Pictures
• wear bright colors and a smile!
• Afternoon (Provo Beach Resort, 4801 N University Ave, Provo, #210)
• Lunch - grab something on the way to Provo Beach Resort, or eat at the Pier Cafe there
• 1:00 - Pinewood Derby!!
• we only have the room reserved for ONE hour, so be ready to rumble!
• 2:00 - Play at the Provo Beach Resort
• bowling, golf simulators, way-awesome indoor flowrider ($25 per person, bring your swimsuit, waiver has to be filled out by a parent if under 18), carnival games, etc
• 6:00 - Dinner - at Ross Home (601 E 150 S, Lindon)
• 7:30 - Games - Ross Home/Park
• tetherball, basketball, kickball, trivia games, spelling bees
• 9:00 - S'mores - Ross Home

Wednesday

• Morning
• Deseret Classic 5K (for those who are interested, you can register up until July 21 here)
• After the race, breakfast in the mountains! (Place TBA)

Ross Family Reunion Tentative Schedule

With just a month until our reunion (hooray!!), we thought we'd share with you a tentative schedule.  You can view it here, and if you want to edit it, send us an email with your google account address, and we will invite you.

Let us know what activities you'd hate to miss, what activities you don't really care for, or anything that you'd love to do that we don't have written down.

Also, we've got the Skip Ross family coming in Monday evening/night.  Will the Gillelands be leaving early? We'll want to make sure that our picture time is when as many people as possible are present, so let us know!

The Way Back

While listening to an episode of A Way With Words, titled "can of worms", a caller asked a question about what people call that furthest back area of a station wagon. The caller said they called it, back in the '60s, the "way back."  

Do you remember calling that area the "way back"? The hosts said it was a rare expression. I seem to remember that was our phrase. 

As a bonus in that episode, there was a question from a five-year-old from Bainbridge Island about the meaning of "cats" in tic-tac-toe.

Reunion Date Drift

We originally planned June 18-20 for the reunion. Then the wedding switched our plans to July 22-24. Now that we aren't scheduling around the wedding anymore, I think we should consider switching back to the earlier dates. The Gillelands have a houseboat reserved during the July dates that they don't want to lose. The Skip Rosses could save money by coming in June. Both dates are equally good for the Brad Rosses. How about Weston, Kim, and Nicole?

Are there other reasons to weigh as we decide for or against switching the date back to June? Please be candid and let us know how you're weighing things.

Extreme Pinewood Derby, Ross Reunion Style

We are getting very excited about the family reunion.  Although nothing is set in stone yet, we have some fun ideas and possibilities.

Something we are almost positive we will be doing is the First Ross Family No-Holds-Barred Pinewood Derby.  You can use old Cub Scout cars, you can make new ones, you can have a family car or (recommended) one for each member.  The only rules?  It has to be standard size to fit on a regular pinewood derby track.  Other than that--sky's the limit.  No weight or height limits.

So...start thinking about what you want to do!  You can buy Pinewood Derby kits at the scout office, Hobby Lobby, Home Depot, Lowe's, etc.  Bring your car(s) finished, because we won't have time to do much during the reunion.

See you at the races!

Family Reunion Dates

As far as I know, we are waiting to find out what date Nate's "farewell" is.  If it is July 21st, then we'll plan the reunion for Sunday the 21st, Monday the 22nd, and Tuesday the 23rd.  We'll take Wednesday the 24th off for Pioneer Day/wedding prep whatever, and then I think Ty's wedding is the 25th.

If Nate's farewell is the 28th, then we will do the reunion on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, July 26-28th.

Just got a call from Mom saying that Nate's farewell is July 21st, so the beginning of the week it is!

How does that sound?

We're still deciding on Jebb's baptism--we'd love to be there, but don't know if it will work.  We'll let you know, Michelle!   

Jebb is Turning 8

Jebb will be turning 8 on June 8th.  As is our tradition, we are planning his baptism on that day.  It just happens to be on a Saturday which is grand.  We wanted to let you all know so you could plan to attend if your calendars allow it.  Let us know if we should save you a room. ;)

Ross Reunion Questions

I heard that the Reunion might be changed from the June dates.  Is this a for sure thing?  We are excited to have a wedding this summer!!! YEAH TY!! Rumor also has it that we might do reunioning on Mon and Tues of that week???

Mercy's Baptism

We know not everyone can come, but we'd love to see anyone whose schedules and location make it possible.  (Edited to add:  I didn't put the time down!  It's at NINE in the morning.)

Aging can take its toll

Although the joys of grand-parenthood are many and wonderful, along with it comes the reality of aging.   Both Mom and I are feeling our age… at times.  Yes, we are only in our early 70's and other seniors are still steaming along youthfully.  But we are who we are and from time to time must take an assessment of our physical resources.  What I am getting at is that we need to let you all know a few things: 

Mom has recently had quite a bout with her eyes and the retina area.  At one point during one of her exams she went virtually unconscious and the doctor and I were almost panicked… yes the doctor too.  He was moments away from calling for an ambulance.  It all started when she received an injection of a radioactive liquid to allow them a view of the veins in her eyes.  She has also been suffering many incidents of dizziness and disorientation, so much so that she is often not comfortable with driving herself.

Not to be outdone by your Mom, this Wednesday I will be going into the hospital for some tests on my heart.  Recently, in a routine test deposits of calcium were discovered in one of my coronary arteries.  Thus the extra tests.  I am pretty sure all will turn out fine but the whole thing has made me aware of my mortality.  My energy level has been in the tank lately and the doctor decided to do the tests which could result in anything from a stent to a new pill… or who knows.

Please do not be worried.  We are both doing fine (for a couple of 90 year olds).  I just thought this note was important so there would be no hurt feelings when you ask certain things of us.  In the recent past we have been asked to help out in (for us) challenging ways.  In years past we took great delight in “babysitting” and doing other things for you all.  But our capacity to do such things is not what it used to be.  So, if you need us to do things for you, please ask, but don’t be hurt if we must decline.

2013 Reunion

We're putting a stake in the ground and designating June 18-20 for the summer reunion in Utah county. That fits in between the travel plans of the two farthest travelers  so hopefully it will work for the rest, even though it isn't over a weekend.

Of course, we leave the planning somewhat vague in case other joyful events should overtake us and trump the reunion plans. In the meantime, reserve the date.

Mercy's Baptism

We are so excited for Mercy to turn eight and be baptized.  (She is SOOOOO excited that she practically levitates everytime someone mentions "March".)  We know not everyone can make it to her baptism, but we wanted to tell you all the date and time.

Mercy is going to be baptized on March 30 (day before Easter) at 9am, in Lindon.  She is the only one in our ward that is getting baptized that day, so we are combining with the Fourth Ward (I think), who also only has one baptism that day.  We would love to invite anyone who can come to come by the house afterwards and join us for a brunch.  We love you all!

Happy Birthday Mom!

On Tuesday I went to the Jordan River Temple and did my mom’s initiatory work along with five other ladies from the 1800’s. My mom, Dorothy Amalia Buck, passed away on January 3, 2012.  I decided to wait until today February 7, when she would have turned 95 to do her endowment.  I hope she is pleased and ready to accept the work done for her in the temple. It was a privilege for me to do it for her. I love that we can be bound together forever.

Eye Update

I went to the eye doctor today for my follow up after the bad experience of my last visit in January. Dr. Mehr said he will not use the dye to take pictures of my eye again because of the bad reaction last time. He said he can find what he needs in other ways.

I had two questions for him today. Does he have and AED in the office and the answer was no, but he made a note that he will get one for the new office downstairs. He jokingly said he will name it "Eva". The other question  was,  does my condition have a name? Dr. Mehr said that I have a branch retinal vein occlusion. However, he said that the Lord must want me on another mission because the one in the right eye appears to be healing itself. He had to do laser surgery on the one in my left eye. He didn't mention the progress of the cyst that is growing in my left eye.  I go back in two months.

The pressure in my left eye has been normal since returning from our mission. Previously I have had shots two different times to re leave pressure in the left eye. The vision in that eye has not gotten worse, but I notice some depth perception problems with threading a needle and playing pickleball. The left eye is affected by bright lights.

I have a testimony of priesthood blessings. Dr. Mehr mentioned another time that I must have been blessed because of the mission at Cove Fort when he found the high pressure in the left eye had not returned. I had had a priesthood blessing shortly before that visit as well. I am grateful for a righteous husband who can administer them. Thanks for your prayers in my behalf.

2013 Reunion Planning

The rumor on the street is that we want to have a reunion in 2013 and that the Brad Ross family may be in charge of planning it and letting the Martin family tackle it in 2014. To that end, I've sent out a bunch of invites to a reunion calendar to put in the dates that are bad for your family for a reunion. Will you please add your events to that calendar so that we can see when you are doing summer camps, trips to Italy, or undergoing emergency appendectomies?

We are thinking that a lot of the cousins are the right age to enjoy a river trip. I had a great experience with a group that does river trips for scouts. They only charge $175/person for scouts on a four-day trip that includes all the meals. I suspect family pricing would be similar. They depart out of Moab. Do you guys think this would be a worthwhile type reunion trip? How many days would you want to do? Would you want to do other activities as well, or just stick with the river?

Of course, we can do something a bit more traditional in the Salt Lake/Lindon area as well, if that is preferable to everyone. I'd love to hear your thoughts! Don't forget to check for the calendar invite email and add your blackout dates.