Let's Hear It From The Linkenhokers

New Thanksgiving Tradition

2011-11-27T19:34:00.000-08:00

My work encouraged participation in the "Utah Human Race" benefiting the Utah Food Bank. By encouraged I mean they offered not one, but two free t-shirts to participants from the company and reduced fees to those that went with us. Suffice it to say I will do anything for a free t-shirt! So I put out the word that I wanted to do this 5K walk and asked for volunteers to go with me. I got two takers--Alison and Heaven. We were encouraged to be at the race site by 6:30 AM Thanksgiving morning and since it was a one-half hour drive from our homes, that meant leaving at 6 AM (or thereabouts).

By arriving quite early for the 8 AM start meant that we were able to get a close parking spot and sitting room in the little mall where everyone congregated.

We thought everyone participating was waiting inside with us, but when the call came that everyone was to go outside and get ready to begin, we were greeted with quite a sight--approximately 4000 runners/walkers ready to begin!

Just look at Alison strutting her stuff. Both her and Heaven probably could of taken off and run the race and completed with respectable times. But being the loyal supporters that they were, they hung around with me. Hey, we weren't even close to being the last ones to finish!

This is us at the finish line. We decided that next year when we participate, we will make all the others go with us and cheer for us when we cross the finish line. It is a good thing you can't see the clock in the background showing how long it took me to finish. Next year, I need to start training before the day of the race

This looks like it would be another good tradition to begin--having little "elves" help decorate the Christmas tree! They were so diligent in getting all the balls on just so and helping until the project to finish. (too bad I don't have a picture of Sammy helping with the rearrangement and removal of all the decorations that were so meticulously placed on the tree)

SLC's Newest!

2011-11-07T12:17:00.000-08:00

It was a proud day on Tuesday as my son was sworn in as a sheriff. He has worked hard the past three months during the grueling training and is relieved that part of his new job is over. The group learned to rely on each other as was demonstrated with their entrance into the auditorium.

Each was congratulated by Sheriff Winder after he praised their class for their team work and dedication.

Isn't he handsome!!!

Taking the oath

She was so proud of her dad

We are all so proud of him

His niece (where is Sammy) and nephews

Another proud friend

and mom

Good luck to you as you begin your new career.

Brett Keisel Wannabe

2011-02-04T10:27:00.000-08:00

Some of you might ask (as I did) who the heck is Brett Keisel? Well, he is a football player for the Pittsburgh Steelers who will be playing in the Super Bowl on Sunday. On a hunting trip last June he said that he wasn't going to cut his beard until the Steelers made the playoffs. Well, they made the playoffs and are preparing for the BIG ONE. Brett's dad and brother and brother-in-law and many other relatives have not shaved since last June. Now Brett has some local ties. He played football for Snow College and BYU before joining with the Steelers about nine years ago.

Brett (the one on the top) is sporting a beard that has grown to immense dimensions. Ron (the one on the bottom) wishes he had started growing his beard (and hair) in June also. He wishes his beard could also double as a blanket or let small children play in it. Heaven wishes he would use the razor that she put in

his Christmas stocking.

Ron, Weston, Heaven

(probably the last time Ron shaved was for this picture)

Happy Birthday, Chip (Walt)

2011-02-01T17:14:00.000-08:00

Chip and Breana

Chip has turned the ripe age of 33. I keep wondering when he is going to grow up!

He still has his fun-loving, dare-devil, I'll try anything once attitude.

He is such a good son and dad--always willing to help, share, listen, etc.

He is determined to teach Breana to hunt, shoot, ride. She better be as

fearless as her dad, or there will be trouble in their house!

Happy Birthday, Chip

and his birthday dinner was

Tacos (for the 31st consecutive year)

Merry Christmas, Sweet Dreams

2011-01-09T19:31:00.000-08:00

Thanks to my sister, Janice, these kiddos got sleepwear from their grandma.
I spent a day helping her make nightgowns for her granddaughters and she
encouraged me to make some for my grandkids (not night gowns for the boys,
thankfully! We went to the fabric store and chose flannel, she furnished me
with patterns, and off I went home. Like me, I procrastinated and procrastinated,
until finally it was either do it or not. Since I was going to Jerome for
Andrew's birthday the weekend before Christmas and taking Breana and
Weston with me, I decided that would be a good time to give them out so
that is what I did. Breana's was the only one that was the right length, the boys
had to have their legs rolled several times. I am thinking they are probably
going to be good for the next two-three years!
I just have this to say--I have really lost my ability to sew, but they were good
sports and wore them anyway!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-21T12:08:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM

THE LINKENHOKERS

I know this is a cop out to send out a Christmas greeting this way, but it was this way or no way! To all who read this--Merry Christmas. This picture was taken just before Connie left to live in Dubai. I really wish I had an update to give on her, but communication with her has been extremely difficult. Hopefully now that she is finally able to access the internet things will improve.

The family on the left is Alison and Vaughn with Andrew (standing), Sammy (on her mom's lap, and Mason on my lap. Breana (Walt's daughter) is sitting between Walt and I. Heaven is holding Weston with Ron behind her and Connie and Walt (Chip) on the end.

Surprise, Everyone!

2010-11-28T07:23:00.000-08:00

I am back! After being asked by several why I don't blog anymore, my response is always "because I have a boring life and don't do anything." But I guess since I enjoy reading everyone's blogs, I should contribute once in a while. Now that is not saying I have anything of importance to blog, but just need to write once in a while. Also I don't know how to put pictures on with this computer, so will need to figure that out. In the meantime, no pictures are available.

As with everyone in the family, I am saddened by the death of Katie. Sad for me, sad for her family, sad for her friends, but not sad for Katie. She is free of pain and healthy again. How thankful I am for this knowledge and the knowledge that I will see her again.

I am also sad that I wasn't able to attend her funeral. The weather was awful and I didn't feel brave enough to battle the road conditions. I haven't had my car during winter months, so really didn't know how it would perform on slippery, snow covered roads, so I made the decision not to chance it. I asked Kaye if she would put her phone on speaker phone so that maybe I would be able to hear the services. She called me right as the meeting began and I was able to faintly hear the speakers--for the first 20 minutes, then the connection was lost. I got as far as Darcee, Andi and Danna were telling about how Katie met Dennis. I am eagerly awaiting the audio recording that was made to hear the rest of the story!

Later that evening, my doorbell rang. I opened it to find Kendi on my doorstep begging for a place to sleep on my floor! What a wonderful surprise to have the opportunity to visit with her for the rest of the evening and to give her a bed before she left early Thanksgiving morning to return to her family in North Dakota. We had fun catching up on what has been happening in our lives. After I talked her ear off, Alison and Vaughn arrived; and they talked her other ear off before finally going to bed. I am sure she was ready for a nap when she finally got on the airplane.

Since Kaye is here from Puerto Rico, I invited her to come for Thanksgiving and bring Mom. I am so glad she didn't have any plans yet and said she would love to come. Chip and Breana, Ron, Heaven and Weston were also here. It was a wonderful day filled with plenty of food, good company and feelings of thankfulness.

Of course, the day was spent making plans; after all, the paper was filled with enticing bargains in every store and available at any hour you wanted to shop. Needless to say, Friday and Saturday were very tiring. This was really my first year for going out so early. But when you wake up early naturally, the next logical step is to get dressed and get going! Kaye and I bounced right out of bed, but poor Alison had to be dragged out the door (but then she hit her stride).

Well, look at me ramble on. I am just sitting here thinking I could go on and on, but should probably cut this off. Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Blossoms of Blessings

2009-02-18T07:00:00.000-08:00

I've just heard that my sister and nieces have created a very cute blog to help either raise money or to collect donated items to be auctioned off for a great cause. My niece, Katie, is battling cancer and it is obviously a huge financial strain. Check out this blog to find out more about what it is. Click here to see site

TWINS

2009-02-16T10:04:00.000-08:00

When we were in Arizona last month, we stayed at Megan's house. As we pulled into her driveway, her little Marcus was running around in the garage. I thought, "Oh my gosh! He looks so much like Weston." (Ron's little boy) I sent a text to Ron asking him if he wanted me to bring home Weston's twin. He replied that no, he would just send Weston down. I asked him if he even knew who the child was. He replied, "No, do you?"

Marcus

When Heaven got home from work and was looking at the pictures of Marcus, she was amazed at the likeness and then realized that the boys even had matching shirts! (Their pajamas even matched!!)

Weston

piss'n'pan

2009-01-07T09:17:00.000-08:00

So this is what I have resorted to. I really need to get a life(job)! Since Alison is living here, she blogs things that are happening around here. Anyway.......

I have a box of pans sitting in my living room that I need to take to D.I. The kids have had fun playing with them, and the lids make wonderful cymbals. Andrew and Mason have been watching "Dora" on my bed, playing with a pan. Andrew just called me to "Come here, Grandma". Finally after being summoned several times, I went to see what he wanted. He proudly held out a pan to me, declaring "I peed in the pan!" He is now in time out, put there by his mom. It is awfully hard to get mad at him for doing something that we have really been working hard getting him to do (peeing in the toilet) (peeing in a pan really hasn't been an option).

Catching Up

2008-12-04T06:32:00.000-08:00

A lot has happened since my last post. A month ago I was laid off from my job. It totally came as a shock, and left me reeling for several days. Now I am thinking I could get used to not working, but since that won't pay the bills, I am looking for a job. Does anyone know of any?

However, I have been able to do things that wouldn't have been possible had I still been working. Alison and I with her two boys, spent an afternoon visiting Grandma Bingham. Drew and Mason thoroughly enjoyed the time spent in Weston. The weather was gorgeous and of course the swing set kept them occupied for quite some time. Then we all sat on the glider and glided! What a lot of memories and fun times that swing set has provided.

Last weekend I was able to go to Jerome and be there for Robert and Ilene's farewell. What a wonderful meeting it was! Robert's talk came from his heart. He spoke with conviction as he bore his testimony. Ilene shared her testimony as she spoke on faith and how her faith has grown over the past three years. The spirit was very strong throughout the whole meeting. They are going to be awesome missionaries.

Grandma went with me to Jerome. Aunt Janice brought her down when they came to the airport on their way to Hawaii (I am SO jealous). Grandma thought we would be going home on Sunday, but my plan was to go home on Monday (no need to get back to work). She was a good sport about spending another day there (thanks, Debbie, for opening your home to her). Anyway, Sunday night as Malita and Alison were talking, they decided that since Monday was Grandma's birthday, it wouldn't be a good idea to take her home and leave her to spend her birthday alone. So a surprise birthday party was planned for all the "Jeromites" for Monday night. Aunt Roberta graciously agreed to host the party at her home. Grandma was told that I wasn't going to be going home until Tuesday (Alison got the blame for making me stay an extra day). About 7 o'clock that night, Uncle Garth asked Grandma if she wanted to go for a ride. You know Grandma--she is always up for a ride, but it was dark outside! But being a good sport she decided a ride would be fine. They brought her over to Uncle ElRay's house, where she was really surprised there was a party underway. A fun time was had by all! I did finally get her delivered home on Tuesday. She was glad to be home and there were 25 missed calls on her phone! I hope everyone who tried to reach her on her birthday was able to get a hold of her on a later date.

That brings me to yesterday (Wednesday). Robert and Ilene are moving to Salt Lake City, YEAH! I told them I would help them move in, so Ilene called me when they were in Layton and Alison and I met them at their apartment. Chip also was able to go help. They had a few heavy things and we were glad for his strong arms. ElRay and Roberta drove a truck down loaded (and I mean loaded) with their stuff and their van was packed. They moved into the same apartment (condo) complex that Paul and Linda live in, and they were there to help, also. It was actually fun helping. Now I don't usually look on moving as fun, but this was. Cami also came to help, and you know the saying "many hands make light work" or something like that! We got most of the boxes unpacked, so they should be good to go. I asked Ilene if she left anything home and she said not too much. They will have most of the comforts of their home! The neighbor people were so friendly and one brought crackers, cheese, meat, cheese ball, and veggies for them to enjoy. I think that my two brothers and wives are going to have too much fun down there. I hope they remember to do a little missionary work once in a while!!! Just remember to invite me when the fun starts! I have always wanted to live downtown, now I know where I can find a bed and pretend that that is where I live.

Weston

2008-10-29T14:10:00.001-07:00

This is Weston, Ron and Heaven's little boy. He is 20 months old and is quite the charmer. Because he is being babysat by Grandpa Walt, he comes most mornings before I leave for work. I am usually eating breakfast in the kitchen and he walks barely into the room and stops. He doesn't say anything, just stands there and stomps one foot. I don't look at him and stomp my foot back. He will stomp twice, I stomp twice. This goes on until he tires and then we laugh and I can look at him!Next on ritual mornings is the "getting beautiful" segment. As you can see, this is desperately needed by Grandma. He likes the electric toothbrush stuck in his mouth, but only for a very quick brush (if it is under 5 seconds there are no germs exchanged, right???)
He likes hair products put in his hair and the shiny wax really makes his hair behave, but Weston is really waiting for THE MAKEUP BAG! He likes to pull everything out and hand it to me. He is so smart, he knows I need it all

His favorite is the mascara, but he never gets that put on his thick, luxurious, black eyelashes! Why are these kind of lashes always wasted on boys? So after the powder, the blush, and the lipstick, he is done.

I have had enough, Grandma. Read me my truck book!

Grandma Bingham

2008-10-21T13:22:00.000-07:00

I had a nice visit with Grandma Bingham on Saturday. She loves company and I know she would love to see each of you if you are ever in the area. She is doing well and is enjoying still being able to live in her home and take care of it.

Since she knew I was coming (and thought Breana was coming with me, but ended up not going), she knew she had to have some cookies in the cookie jar. Of course I didn't complain--they were delicious. She had made chocolate chip cookies with double the chocolate chips. Usually she doubles the recipe and uses one bag of chips. This time she didn't double the recipe and used a WHOLE bag of chips--yummy!! I am sure you all remember Grandma's cookie jar never being empty. This is a tradition she still keeps going!

We spent a lot of time with the computer. Aunt Janice had set up a bunch of blogs on Grandma's favorites, but there have been new ones added since then. I got those added so she would have a current favorite list. We practiced accessing blogs, making comments, and reading older posts so hopefully she can read all about each of you and enjoy knowing what is going on in your lives.

She helped me with a music piece on the piano that I was having a bit of trouble with the timing for our Primary program. I remember many Sunday afternoons growing up when she would play for hours. Sometimes Grandpa would play his saxophone and Uncle Paul his cornet. Aunt Janice: did you also play the clarinet, I can't remember.

It was a beautiful day in Cache Valley and we spent some of it outside on the swingset just talking. Grandma shared some of her delicious Golden Delicious apples with me, Aunt Janice dumped half a bag of snack-size Snickers in my purse (I didn't object too loudly). It was a very good visit with my mom and my sister.

Andrew"isms"

2008-10-16T07:59:00.001-07:00

One day when I was watching Alison's kids, they went outside to play. The day was on the chilly side and they stayed outside long enough to get cold. When they came in, I was trying to warm up Andrew. I wrapped him up in a blanket and held him tight. He didn't want to be so confined so he wriggled free of the blanket. I decided to show him how to get his hands warm using his armpits. First we lifted one arm and tucked a fist in the "pit". Then we lifted the other arm and tucked another fist in the "pit". Andrew immediately bowed his head and said, "Heavenly Father....".

I was driving home the other day with Andrew and Mason. First we were stopped for at least 20 minutes by a train that couldn't make up its mind whether to go forward or backward, but we enjoyed watching the process. Further on down the road was construction and we were stopped by a cement mixer in action. Again the boys enjoyed watching the show. As I was heading up 80th I came to a detour. I said, "Shoot, I have to go on a detour!" Andrew immediately piped up, "I want to go, too!" I really don't know where Alison got him!!!

There is a "Gene" lurking

2008-10-07T10:15:00.000-07:00

Because most of you reading this share my gene pool, I want to alert you to a "gene" you might want to be aware of.

A couple of months ago I endured a weekend of muscle spasms that were extremely painful and made me aware that something was not right. The following Monday I had a visit with the chiropractor and after examining the x-rays, informed me that I had scoliosis and had had it for quite sometime, possibly since adolescence. He told me that I was very fortunate that it had not bothered me before this (considering my age), and he was also quite surprised that it had never been diagnosed.

So, since that time my life has revolved around a 3-month chiropractic therapy schedule which includes multiple weekly visits, short walks (10-15 minutes) , stretching exercises, and heat and ice on the back all several times a day.

He said it tends to show up in girls more than boys and usually skips a generation. I just wanted you all to be aware and watch for signs in your children or yourselves.

SCORE

2008-09-10T11:29:00.000-07:00

Breana (Walt's little girl) has been going to church with me regularly for the past nine months. She loves her primary class and her teachers are awesome. However, she has been petrified when asked to give a talk or scripture. We have tried a scripture--she had her arms wrapped around my neck so hard and her head buried in my shoulder, I could hardly breathe. We tried a talk--she could still couldn't get any words out. On Sunday they asked her to give a talk (the others she volunteered for). We practiced the talk at home and on Sunday we found the primary room empty and practiced standing at the podium and using the mike and she said she was going to be brave. Well, she was brave and did an awesome job with her talk. Way to go, Breana! I am so proud of you!

Screw Up

2008-09-09T10:55:00.000-07:00

This morning I went to check Alison's blog as I do every morning. I saw she had posted a notice about my new blog saying "Grandma Bingham has a new blog". I thought oh cool. I kept going back to her site, I guess just checking out the awesome (not) photo of myself. After about the 4th time of checking it, I thought, "Wait a minute, I am not Grandma Bingham." I called Alison and said. "You put Grandma Bingham has a new blog." She said, "I know, I put that there for my kids." I said, "But I am not Grandma Bingham!" It took her about two seconds to change that title! She is much too young to be losing it!!!!

Everybody Else Is Doing It!!!

2008-09-08T12:58:00.000-07:00

Well, the time has come to start blogging. I so enjoy reading everyone's blogs and feeling a connection with you and your lives. Maybe I can let you share a little in my life, although as a disclaimer, it isn't nearly as exciting as yours! If only my kids were still growing up, I could share stories of their lives. I don't know if they would appreciate me telling stories of them now, but maybe a few might slip in. I have got to figure out how to do pictures, and then actually take a few so they can be added also. Another warning--you will probably get your fill of my grandkids, they are my lights and joys.

A challenge to the Aunts (you know who you are)--if I can do it, so can you! Give it a shot!!!