So……. First off, I really suck at blogs.  I have to work for a living and don’t have time to spend doing this blog thing like all you other people out there!!  With that being said, I needed to add something to my blog before the end of the year or the Wu’s were going to remove my blog from their blog list, so….. Sorry Will but looks like you’ve got me around for another year.

Now I realize that I can’t catch you all up on everything that has gone on in the past nine months but I am going to make an attempt at the high lights.  If I leave anyone or anything off please don’t get mad at me, after all I am only a Grumpy old man trying to be entertaining.  LOL

So I have had two grand kids in the past few months so a a tribute to them here is some candy for the eyes.

First : The trip to Mexico.  Linda won a trip through her work to mexico and so naturally we had to go down and have a great time here are a few pictures of the trip.  This is the El Dorado Resort just outside of Cancun.

This is Linda and Ray at rest.  It was wonderful and the weather was great the whole time we were down there.  We relaxed, went to the beach, went to Cozumel, etc.

The company was great we spent time playing vollyball on the beach and had great meals at the resort.

Let’s see what else??????

O yea grand kids.  We had two new one’s and they are of course the cutest grand kids in the world.

So there is keija, and JD.  JD was first.  This little guy is Bobbie and Jeremy’s.  And of course he loves Grandpa the most.

Cute HUH?

Then there was Keija, Trish and Michael’s (Grumpa’s) cute little girl.  So Trish will kill me but I can’t resist, you know me alway a glutton for punishment.

And after all that and putting up with her Dad, we have the other Cute one, Keija with Grumpa of course.

What a doll.

So the next thing on the list is BYU Football, Go Cougars!!!

Kay and Harvey where nice enough to envite us to join the ranks of the True Blue Cougar fans this year.  We are loving it.  Not only the great company, but the excitement of ….. BYU 58 UCL…..who? 0 the big goose egg, not points notha.  Oh it was a sweet game.  So here is the candy yest again.

Thats the spirit!!!!!!

Art Steph, Matt Mickie, and the rest of the crew are in the top left corner of the seats here.

Kay and Linda at the First Game.

Art, Steph, Parker, and Brighton.  Go BYU

We went up to SLC cemetary yesterday to visit Grandma’s Grave.  It was her 100th birthday.

The family all got together and spent time there with Grandma and Emily Jane Coombs.  It was a cool experience and it was good to show love and respect for those who have passed on that we will see again.

Now the last Item to cover here and of course the topic of my Title, Yes I am still alive and I don’t think I am going anywhere to soon.

About three weeks ago I finally when in to the doctors to have them run some sleep study tests on me.  My wife has been complaining about my snoring for years and my mother was just diagnosed with Sleep Apnea.  So…. The visit.

Well I found out my oxygen levels at rest were about 89%, and they like to see it at 90-% or above.  So that was that.  We the next day I come home to an oxygen machine being delivered to my home.  I got on the phone and set up an appointment with my regular Doctor (the one the examined me was not my doctor) to see what was going on.  He said let’s get you in for a sleep test and also come in any time this week and get a chest xray.  I did, and next thing you know I am going in for a CT scan because of a mass that was found in my Left lung.  He also said that there were nodules in the lung that looked like a cancer that had manastisized.  Oh that was wonderful news.

Now I honestly think everyone should be told at some point in their lives that they may not have long to live.  It is absolutely amazing, the wake up call that gives you.  I think everyone must handle bad news in a different maner, but my reaction was, I don’t know that I am ready for this.  There are things I would like to complete before I leave this earth, family, friends, and loved ones.

I wasn’t that worried about me, I figured that if it was cancer then the Lord wanted me for other work and we would make the best of it.  But if it was not BAD news then maybe this was a wake up call and I should get done all those things that I have procrastinated for years.  You know, go to the temple more, do geneology, spend more time praying and preparing for Sunday School, Lessons, being more willing to help others.

So stop for a minute and emagine what you would do if you were told you had two months to live…….  Then you will see what I mean about the wake up call.

Now the fortunate thing and blessing from the Lord, was it is not Cancer.  I have a what is called Sarciodosis.  Basically it is an immune problem.  I do have an area in my Lung that is affected by this disease, and there are small nodules that are also in the left lung, (thus that cancer scare)  The disease is treatable, and in some cases eventually goes away, in others you need to be treated with staroids to keep it in check.  But it is typically not life threatening.

So there you have it.  Sorry Will you can’t get rid of me or my blog that quickly.

“I’m not dead yet, I think I’ll go for a Walk”

I will repent and try to blog more often,

See you real soon.

Ray.

Well Christmas has been great and I have been working on my Guitar Hero III skills and just having a good time with family.

But… since I haven’t blogged in like forever so here is another great blog from Grumpa.

Oh and Kay gave linda a sweat shirt with I’m with Grumpy on it and I have the one that says I’m Grumpy.

Nuff said here is the greatest gift a Grumpa can get for Christmas… or at any other time……..

His name is Michael Ryan Huntsman born Dec 26 at 11:43 pm and is 9 lbs 1 oz.

And boy is Braxton in for a suprise.

So I have been told I am not good at this blog thing because I don’t spend all my time updating and putting stuff in here. Well tuff my name is Grumpa and I can do what ever I want to do….. so there!!!!!!

Now on to Thanksgiving, I know I know it was two weeks ago and already old history will again tuff. Here is the skinny on what went down at the football game.

First things first “after review of the pictures Eric was down and the ball was called back…… nuff said.

So this is mostly syrup, and I hope you enjoy.

Ya Kay always has to come out on top. Way to pile on there Kay!!!

The long bomb by Jeremy, and….

The reception.

Crazy Ninja Football player!!!!!!!!!

Dolfin boy and his little wanna be’s……. LOL.

And the whole crew. Ya !!!!

So there is the Thanksgiving Turkey Bowl 2007.

Oh but wait the most important game of the day was……….

Matt Art Ray Parker and Will….. and the Frizbee Golf game.

All in all, it was a great Thanksgiving and thank you all for coming.  We enjoyed having you all over to the house and it was great to have Mom and Dad Coombs home to enjoy their family.  We love you all and hope you all have a merry Christmas and Happy new year.  Love the Maxwell’s.

Well Saturday we all helped move Mom and Dad Coombs stuff into their house in Cedar Hills. This in preparation for them getting home from the Mission on the 15th of November. Art Coombs did the coordinating and hiring of three young men from Central and South America to help with the moving of the heavy stuff. He also provided the big horse trailer and moving truck to get all the stuff from the two storage units to the house.

The Coombs, Braggs that are here in Utah, and Maxwells all pitched in to clean, move in the kitchen, patch the walls, paint and generally try to at least get boxes into there correct rooms. At least mom and dad will have a place to sleep and eat

Art, Linda and I then went all over Utah Valley trying to find a matched set of Washer and Dryers for Mom and Dad. We finally ended up at Cosco and were able to purchase them there. We got them into the Horse trailer and back to the house but, when we unboxed the Driver we realized they had charged us for the model we wanted but given us a cheaper dryer. So… then the long conversation with management, trying to get them to bring out the right dryer and the long and the short of it was Art got them to give back 150 dollars and he took back the dry and got the right one.

Everyone worked hard all day and got a lot done, but I am betting it still takes mom and dad a while to get moved in and settled.

Here is some syrup for all to see. Sorry for the poor quality from a professional photographer but… all I had with me was my cell phone.

Of course Zany Bragg and Kelly Coombs are having a great time they were both so happy to be at Arts house a 7:00 am so they could get to work. lol. You can see Kelly was going bonkers by 11:00.

And here is part of the happy ???? Kitchen work crew.

Sorry I don’t have more pictures but I didn’t realized how good the pictures turn out from the cell phone or I would have taken more.

As a side note the Woo’s were planning on being there but….. Kristen was in labor and Will was running a fever. So I guess we will excuse them for that.

Paul Potts Audition

Semi Final

I have never been much of an Opera fan but this guy sent chills up my spine.

He went on to win the British, “Got talent” contest and has a new album that I think I’ll get called
“Last Chance”

Oh yea…. and I double dare you to listen to him just once. 

So… Mom and Dad Coombs are going to be home around the 15th and the family got together Yesterday Nov. 10, 2007 to move all there stuff from two storage units, back into there home by the Timpanogos Temple. I, being the old and falling apart person that I am was delegated as part of the, “Minor cleaning” crew. So we got to the house about 8:00 and started cleaning. I vacuumed for 1.5 hours. Base boards, window seals, storage areas carpets etc.

Then the moving started. I was in the back of the Horse trailer putting boxes into stacks for, Kitchen, Office, Bedroom, and downstairs to the family room. While Art, and crew moved stuff in the house.

The it was on to going out to get the mud, tape and a gallon of matching paint, to start with the repairs to walls and banisters. I got all the holes in the wall patched and the first coat of mud on the banister wall that had been broken out by the tenant.

I will need to go in Monday (for family home evening ) to finish up the mud on the banister and paint all the patched areas in the walls.

Then it was out with Art, Linda and I to find a Washer and Dryer for the house. After three hours of running from RC Willeys, to Best Buy, to Cosco, we finally found a matching set. We loaded them on the Horse Trailer and got them into the house. Upon taking them out of the boxes we discovered they had given us the wrong dryer. After a little negotiation with Cosco Art said he would bring back the Dryer and pick up the Correct one for 150 less than what we originally paid. (I guess Cosco doesn’t like to have to deliver and are willing to negotiate to get you to bring back the idem.

Linda and I rolled back into our house about 6:30 Saturday evening.

Another successful day.

I’m writing this because I want to start a journal about conditions and fishing technics that are used when I go fishing. Harry, a friend of mine has been doing this for years and it is amazing how closely the fish follow the same patterns year after year. So if you are not into fishing this may be boring and you can just skip it.

I took the day off yesterday and catch up on my fishing. (pun intended) We went up to Strawberry with Harry Mc Cormick, who is my fishing buddy. Linda says he is a bad influence on me because he is retired and is always trying to get me to take time off work and go fishing. We were on the lake by 7:30 am and fished all morning with very little success. I caught two large Cutthroat Trout (about 20-21 inchs and 2-3 lbs) on a white Zonker minnow fly in about 20 to 30 ft of water and fishing deep, then switched to an orange and brown woolly bugger and caught two small rainbow in close to the shore. (About 8-10 ft of water)

At 1:30 we were pretty fed up with the whole thing because we just couldn’t figure out what they were interested in. Kelly and I actually went into shore and were taking the motors off our float boats when Harry calls us on the radio and tells us to come back out, he had figured out what they were hitting on.

For a fly fisherman this may sound bad but they were hitting on rubber tube jigs. They are about 1.5 inches long with lead on the hook which causes it to sink quickly in the water. We used a light green. In the course of the next 2 hours I caught 9 more Cutthoat the biggest was about 23 inches long and about 3-4 pounds. (Dinner). We were fishing them right off the bottom in about 30 ft of water and stripping in slow then letting the line back out. I was using a 1 speed on my motor or just stopping in locations where I saw fish on the fish finder. It worked pretty well and I ended up with 13 fish for the day and Harry had 14, poor Kelly, we keep trying but can’t figure out why he can’t catch any fish, he only had 4 for the day. All in all it was a great day to fish and as they say,”Even a bad day fishing is better that any good day at work”.

It was a beautiful day at about 55 deg. and sunny. Unbelievable to this time of year. The water temp was about 46 degrees.

Where theres a Will there’s a died guy. (Or in one case I know a Wu)

On the other hand, are five more fingers.

I been ta school and I been learned.

Grounds to hard to plow

Indians won’t dance.

”Even a bad day fishing is better that any good day at work”.

And on a more serious note, from Olive Coombs:

“Nobody is intentionally out to hurt you so don’t take offense at what they say, And if they are out to hurt you, that is their problem, so don’t take offense at what they say. Let it be their problem. “

Grandma Coombs also had a sign that she said she had hanging in the Shop when they ran the Dry Cleaning business. It went something like this:

“Don’t complain about how hard your job is. If it was easy to do ten other people would be able to do it for less pay”

And my last little words of wisdom are:

“Always be thankful for what you have been given in life. Because when you stop being thankful, life looses meaning and you set yourself up for a hard fall”

Oh yea and the last one, “Hey Kay it’s Syrup” (This one is actually a picture I took of the DR Temple when we were down there a few years ago.)

OK and I liked this one,”Harvey says….”avoid the very appearance of the outlet!””

So… a few months ago, about 4, I was told by Novell that my product line was being shipped to India and I would be out of a job once iManager 2.7 shipped. But…. they really wanted me to stay and help with the transition. Nuff said. I went out and within four weeks had three job offers, for more money, in better positions and the same benefits. It was a tough choice to make but I went with the Church. I am now employed by the Corporation of the President (grin, the LDS Church) I ride the bus into SLC and work at the Triad Center, across the street from the GateWay mall.

I like the people I work for, and the funny think is my manager at Novell came to work for the Church and is Managing me here. It is an interesting experience when you go to an all hands meeting for the ICS department and Elder Hales is the speaker. (You don’t get that in Corporate America). I was hired as a Build Manager for product lines but I was given a major project to complete once I hired on. I am working with the Bug tracking system for the Church and have come to realize over the past two months that this is a high profile project that is being scrutinized at the highest levels. It was a year into the project before I took it over and I am pushing to get it completed by Jan, 31 2008. It has actually been a fun challenge and I will hit the target.

The bus rides are OK and I get to Read, Listen to the Scriptures, take a nap, etc for the Hour in and Hour back each day. The nice thing is the Church pays for the bus pass, all but 10 dollars which I pay a month, so I am saving more money on gas than if I switched my insurance to Geico. Ya.

Linda is now working for new management at Phone Directories Company. The original owners sold and Linda is working with the new executive team to implement their new ideas. She is busy with her job but I think she likes the new owners, they listen to what she has to say and I think they really appreciate the ability Linda has to solve problems.

We have a house full again, the Maxwell Hotel is in full swing and we now have Art, Steph, Parker, and Brighton downstairs (In place of Micheal, Trish and Kailye who moved into their own home in Orem). We also have Bobbie, Jeremy, and a half kid (bobbies pregnant) living upstairs. We always knew that the Lord had blessed us to be able to build the house we did but never dreamed it would be such a blessing to the whole family. Now some of you may think that we a little Nuts, others that we are certifiable and still others have already called the funny farm to come and take us away………..but, we love having so much family around. If they were all gone then I wouldn’t be able to live up to my name, “Grumpa” and we wouldn’t have anything to complain about. lol.

So to make a short blog longer, we are doing great. We are amazed at the blessings we have and also very thankful.

Today is Sunday and I had some thoughts about life and what we are here to do. I was setting in church today and saw a little baby, probably only a year old, trying to put her finger in an electrical outlet. Her mother would pull her away and say no, but a few minutes later the baby would be back at the outlet trying to put her finger in the socket again. Finally the mother in exasperation picked up the little baby and carried her away.

The thought came to mind that this is what our Heavenly Father does with us every day of our lives. We are tempted by some small thing, and the Holy Ghost tells us that it will cause us pain if we continue. So we stop, then the temptation comes again. and we again are warned and stop. This process, if we listen keeps us out of danger. But if we do not listen then eventually the Lord will have to let us suffer the consequence of our actions and we will put our finger in the electrical socket and get hurt.

This made me think, what are the long term effects of pushing boundaries with the Lord. Satan is so devious with how he gets us to do wrong. He will start with little things, that first drink, that first smoke, that first candy bar stolen from the store, that first ty joke. Then he tells us that wasn’t so bad, we aren’t hurting anyone.

Then it is the second time, and the third, pretty soon we are comfortable with what we are doing and he moves to the next step, a pack of smokes, money from the till, the pictures on the internet, the fifth of Vodka.

Before we know it we are doing things that we never thought we would do. Satan has, through he devious ways gotten us to come back to the electric socket for more. Until finally we are setting on the brink, of addiction to those things that we alway thought we could avoid.

The terrible thing about this is that by the time we reach this point we are no longer in control of our lives, Satan controls us.

Then it is a long hard climb back up out of the pits of despair that we have fallen into.

This is what Nephi was talking about when he exclaimed, “Oh the wicked man that I am”. It wasn’t that he was a wicked man per say but, he was weak in the flesh. “The natural man is an enemy to God and has been from the beginning” and we need to strive to “Put off the natural man”, and draw closer to the Lord.

No matter how large or small the sin, We need to always strive to listen to the Spirit and avoid the electrical outlet at all costs. Because the cost of failure to do this is pain to us, our families, and those loved ones around us.

As a Grandpa, I hope some of the wisdom I have gleaned through the years will help you all. Thus the rattling on of a Grumpy Grandpa.