Benjamin Franklin Farrer

Nancy and I recently went to Texas for Benjamin’s blessing.

We flew into Houston and arrived late on Saturday night. I had reserved a compact rental car and when we picked it up we got a silver Mustang. Nice wheels! We had been driving in the dark through the Texas countryside for about an hour when some guy in a SUV started tailgating me. We were the only cars on the road for miles and I thought I could hear the Dueling Banjos theme from Deliverance in the background. I realized it might “the law” and started to slow down. (I was driving about five mph over the posted speed limit.) Just as I started to slow down the lights started flashing. Well, I’d rather it be a county sheriff than some inbred hillbillies looking for trouble. It turns out it was a very polite TX State Trooper who wanted to let me know my taillights were not working. Since we were driving a rental car he let me off with a warning. I found out later that there was nothing wrong with the taillights—they worked just fine if I turned them on. (Our vehicles’ lights come on automatically and I never even thought about it.)

After another half hour of taillightless driving we arrived in Bryan and found Clarke and Bethany’s apartment. It was great to see them again. Benjamin was sleeping and as much as we wanted to hold him we know you should never wake a sleeping baby.

Their church meetings started at 9:AM the next morning so we got an early start and got over to the church just before the meeting began. Vic and Shauna Mitchell (Bethany’s parents) met us there and Vic and I stood in the circle as Clarke blessed and named Benjamin. Clarke did a good job and Benjamin was awake and alert but remained quiet.

Clarke wanted to drive the Mustang so after the meetings Clarke gave me a nice tour of College Station and the Texas A&M campus while the ladies prepared lunch. A&M is a beautiful school with a huge campus. I guess I should have known, because everything is bigger in Texas. I was very impressed with the tour and the A&M spirit—everywhere we went students were wearing maroon and white A&M clothing.

Nancy stayed the week and spoiled Benjamin while I flew to Phoenix for a National Camp School director’s meeting and a Top-20 Scout executive conference. Nancy and I both flew into the Salt Lake Airport on Friday afternoon and then on up to Idaho Falls and home again home again.

How 'bout them Apples?

Almost everywhere we have lived we have had apple trees in our yard. I'm not sure why. I guess we like apples, or at least houses with apple trees. We had three apple trees in Pleasant Grove, ten apple trees in El Paso, (none in Alaska), and we have two trees in our Idaho Falls yard--a Golden Delicious and a Gala (I think).

The weatherman was predicting below freezing weather over the weekend so we decided it was time to harvest our apples. We invited our neighbors over to take as many apples as they wanted and they picked about two bushels. Saturday morning Nancy went to work on the Golden Delicious tree, which looked more like green delicious and was heavily loaded with fruit. By the time I got home to help she was about done. I climbed up the tree and picked the fruit on the highest branches. The cold and snow added a nice fall feeling to the day.

After we finished the first tree I went to work on the Gala tree. It has some kind of fungus problem and didn't produce near as many apples as the other tree. The trees were badly overgrown when we bought the house and I did a two-year pruning project to bring them back under control. We only got about one bushel from the Gala tree but the other tree more than made up for the shortage.

So, for the past week Nancy has been busy canning apples. She has forty quarts of apple pie filling, a dozen jars of apple jam, and is now working on applesauce. We are only half way though our crop of apples. She ran out of canning jars and can't find any more for sale anywhere in town. She just worked trade with a neighbor for two-dozen quart jars in trade for a bag of apples.

We still have plenty of apples, so if you want to come over and get some you are more than welcome. Just bring your own jars.

Punkin'head

For as long as I can remember the Farrers have been carving pumpkins at Halloween time. I can remember as kids we would go to pumpkin patches and we were allowed to pick our own pumpkin. The rule used to be "if you can carry it you can have it." That worked until I was a teenage athlete and could carry a pumpkin that weighed more than I did. Even in the days of dirt-cheap pumpkins that one broke the bank. Dad was a good sport and let me buy it anyway. When I got it home and started to carve it I had to about climb inside to clean it out. It took the full reach of my arm to reach the bottom.

On Saturday Dan, Sarah, Amanda, and Derek came over and spent the better part of the day with us. I was busy installing baseboards in Shawn's room and by the time I finished the kids had gone out and bought five big pumpkins and were ready to start carving them.

Over the years we have progressed in our carving skills from the basic circle and triangle shapes to more advanced shapes and techniques.

Sarah got her inspiration from a "How are you feeling today?" chart we have had for years. It has thirty cartoon faces depicting different emotions. She picked "Hysterical."

Amanda went with type casting and carved a singing pumpkin.

A pumpkin singing very loud.

I carved a pumpkin with two faces—a boy and a girl—in love with each other. It's the best I could do on short notice.

Dan went with his favorite superhero and carved the Batman logo on his pumpkin.

Derek cheated and went to the Internet and found a website (carvingpumpkins.com) that had dozens of patterns to choose from. He chose Gollum and started carving. It took him all night and part of the next day but the finished product was amazing. It takes pumpkin carving to a whole new level. It also raises the bar for the rest of us mere mortals.

And what about Nancy? Well, she is carving impaired—or so she thinks. As the family advanced in our carving skills she tried to keep up but kept messing up her creations. Several years ago she got tired of us laughing at her masterpieces and quit carving altogether.

I think the world is a lesser place because of it.

50s Blues

Nancy’s surprise birthday present worked out wonderfully. We drove to SLC for a Boy Scout art show/reception that was held in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building downtown. Derek and Amanda went with us. (We later dropped them off at the airport. They flew from SLC to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and then got on cruise ship to the Bahamas. Derek earned the trip as a bonus for his summer job.)

The art show featured original paintings by Norman Rockwell and Joseph Csatari. We arrived at 5:30 and found out that the First Presidency came at 4:15 and visited with the early birds. I felt like one of the foolish virgins who arrived late for the wedding feast. After the reception we went upstairs to the Legacy Theater and watched the "Joseph Smith, the Prophet" movie. It was excellent and we all felt the Spirit testifying that Joseph Smith is a prophet.

The next day (Friday) Nancy wanted to return to Idaho but I convinced her to spend another day in Utah. She had the great idea of going up to Park City. We had not been there in years and we spent a wonderful day together. It was a beautiful fall day and we had great fun riding the Alpine Slide and the Alpine Coaster—we laughed our heads off. We drove back to Salt Lake and had a birthday dinner at Benihana’s with Nancy’s parents. I tried to get Nancy to stay up and watch the BYU vs. Utah State football game with me but she is old now and the busy day had worn her out and she went to bed early.

I stayed up reading until her birthday presents arrived. My brother Doug had been out of town on a business trip and flew in at about 11:PM. Stacey was there to pick him up and they waited for Clarke and Bethany to arrive at about 11:30. They all came to the Davises together. I took Benjamin and slipped him into bed with Nancy and started quietly singing “Happy Birthday.” She woke up from a dead sleep and at first she was startled and confused but then she saw Clarke and realized what was going on. Then she started to cry—good tears. It was a sweet reunion and Benjamin is perfect.

After things settled down (~1:AM) Doug and Stacey took Clarke and Bethany to a hotel downtown and then went home. (A thousand Thank Yous! You guys are always there for us.) The next morning we watched Conference with the Davises and then Mom Davis served us a nice lunch. We then drove up to Idaho Falls—listening to Conference on the way. We arrived home and Dan and Sarah were there to meet us. The two Farrer cousins got to meet each other and we all compared babies. Wyatt is bigger, Benjamin is quieter, and they are both unbelievably cute!

We spent Sunday watching Conference and holding babies. Bethany’s brother and his family came over for dinner and we had a houseful. It was a great weekend. On Monday morning I drove Clarke and Bethany back down to Salt Lake to catch their flight back to Houston. That night I picked up Derek and Amanda at the airport and drove them home. It made for a nineteen-hour day—most of it driving. They had a great time on their cruise and came back with lots of great photos and sunburns. You’ll have to check out their blog for more details.

Having our kids together and meeting Benjamin helped Nancy get over the 50s Blues.

Grandsons

Grandma & Grandpa Farrer
with Benjamin







Four generations with
Grandpa Davis and
Benjamin









Four Generations with
Grandpa Farrer and
Wyatt

The Farrers are in mourning. Well, Nancy is in mourning, I’ve gotten over it. Today is Nancy’s last day of being forty-something. Tomorrow she’s officially old.

I have been officially old for half a year now and am starting to get used to it. Nancy has been having great fun (at my expense) ever since I started receiving mail from AARP. Last week her first AARP letter arrived and all of a sudden it wasn’t so funny anymore.

On Sunday we had a Birthday Wake for her. The kids came down from Rexburg and we had a nice dinner in the backyard.

Amanda decorated the house with black balloons, black tissue paper, and sarcastic “You are really old” jokes and quotes. Nancy wasn’t amused—but she was a good sport about it. I gave her a cane for her present.

She has another present coming but I didn’t think of it soon enough so it won’t arrive until after her birthday. More about that later—I don’t want to spoil the surprise.

So, send Nancy a sympathy card (or email or text) and let her know you love her and her life is only half over.

Here's a new photo of Benjamin in his Sunday best.