Coronavirus - COVID-19 - March 2020

This may be the beginning of many plagues to come, but this year a new virus started in Wuhan, China, and is rapidly spreading throughout the world.  It causes upper respiratory problems and flu like symptoms.  We flew through LAX international coming home from Costa Rica and self-quarantined for a few days.

What this has caused is all sporting events, concerts, and large public gatherings to be cancelled for about a month.  We are not sure when things will return to normal.  The stock market is in free-fall. 

For me the most disconcerting is that our Church has changed conference in April to a technology event only.  No church meetings for a month or so.  No school right now for at least two weeks.

Toilet paper, canned foods, meats, milk, water are flying off the grocery shelves.  It is panic every time we watch TV and listen to the news.  Not sure what to make of all of this but we are following the prophets advice and ministering to others as we can, having home-centered church meetings and staying calm.

I feel at peace because we do have a sufficient food storage and dry goods, etc.  The house is paid for and if needs be they can take the cars and truck.  However, I don't think it will come to that.

Is this the beginning of the end of days with plagues, earthquakes, floods, and all manner of shaking up the earth?  If it is, my eye is on the prophets.

Janeil Spendlove Tebbs - December 21, 1958 to March 13, 2020

This will be the saddest post I will have to make this year, the death of my sister Janeil.  Last November she was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer that had metastasized to her brain and bone.  She probably had, had this for a long time in that they couldn't figure out why her hip bone would not heal after a hip surgery about two years ago.  My bet, it was cancer in the bone.  In December, she tried some chemo therapy and just could not make it and decided to quit and let nature take it's course. 

Nature did take it's course with a steady dose of oxycodone and continued smoking at Ashley's house.  Finally the first part of February, hospice reported Ashley as unfit to take care of Janeil and she was moved to her other daughter, Kelsey's, home.  Kelsey and her husband Zack were very vigilant in giving her proper care and consistent medication; however, Janeil was a drug addict and the dose they were giving was nothing her body could not handle.  She literally wasted away with her heart going strong.  Finally, the drug dose was increased to cause an overdose and on March 13, 2020, she took her final breath.

I was able to see her and talk to her (she of course couldn't talk back) and prayed sincerely for angels to comfort her and attend her.  I have never seen anyone look so emaciated and fragile.  My heart is still crying.

She will be cremated and her family will bury her ashes in Henefer sometime later this year.

Janeil had a self-made difficult life.  She was quite smart in high school and could easily have gone to college, but by the end of high school she was hooked on cigarettes and drugs.  She married Kim Fowers February 2, 1979 and divorced him in early 1980.  She then lived with David Tebbs for about three years before they were married August 12, 1983.  During this time of living out-of-wedlock with David, the bishop in there ward decided to excommunicate them.  She was never re-baptized.

She was the mother to two daughters, Ashley (born 1983) and Kelsey (born 1986).  She held several odd jobs but each time being released because she couldn't get her drug problem corrected.  After David and Janeil split and later divorced, she lived for almost 6 months in her car; finally getting a little bit of control of her life, she moved into an apartment but remained estranged from her daughters.  Ashley had a child out-of-wedlock (Evie) and is a drug addict herself.  Kelsey has a wonderful family but had Braiden out-of-wedlock until marrying Zack.

David died of diabetes in 2007, so Janeil has been alone for a long time.  I have never been close to her as she is number 7 of 8 children and I was at college and married as she was growing up.  I do know that she really was very pretty and I loved her kind eyes.  She was always trying to buy your love and desperately needed love.  I pray she is receiving much love in Paradise.

This is her obituary:

Janeil Spendlove Tebbs, 61, died peacefully at her daughter’s home in Layton, Utah, March 13, 2020.  Janeil is the daughter of Wayne and Deyon (Eakins) Spendlove of Morgan, Utah.  She was born December 21, 1958 in Ogden, Weber, Utah.  She graduated valedictorian from Morgan High School in 1977.  Janeil married David Stanley Tebbs, August 12, 1983 and they had two beautiful daughters, Ashley Ray Tebbs of Roy, Utah, and Kelsey Dee Tebbs (Zackery VanWormer) of Layton, Utah; her and David later divorced.  She leaves behind her two daughters along with her four grandchildren:  Evie Nicole McGlamery, Braiden David Nestico, Ava Ashlyn VanWormer, and Hazel Lee VanWormer.

Janeil loved to read and work in her garden, she adored her cat Lucy and talked about her often.  She believed in the power of healing through massage, touch and transferred energies.  Her sense of humor and love for her close friends was one of a kind and she will be missed dearly.

Janeil is also survived by her parents and seven sisters and brothers:  Shanna (Theron) Schaefermeyer, Washington, Utah; Denzil (Susan) Spendlove, Henefer, Utah; Dawain (Jana) Spendlove, Clinton, Utah; Linda Butcher, Clinton, Utah; Rodney Spendlove, Morgan, Utah; Diane Berman, Redmond, Oregon; and Lisa (Christian) Griffith, Silverdale, Washington.  She is preceded in death by her grandparents and her aunt Freida Sinkinger.

The family will hold a memorial service at a later date.

The family would like to give special thanks to Ashley Tebbs and Blake Larsen for their care for Janeil during her struggle battling cancer; to Lori Sickinger for her determination in keeping Janeil in good spirits; to Kelsey Tebbs and Zack VanWormer for their care during her final few weeks; and a heartfelt thank you to her nurses Elyse, Kylee, and Aspen from Summit Hospice. 

Goodbye Sister, see you on the other side.

Costa Rica - March 2020

Costa Rica, the country we have always wanted to go back to.  A tropical paradise, one of the only countries without a military, active volcanos, and warmth.

Adrian and Todd needed a vacation this year and had some airline tickets to use, so they invited us to go to Costa Rica with them.  Adrian worked very hard for weeks getting us places to stay and planning our itinerary.  She did a perfect job!!!  Everything turned out just right.  We flew from St. George to Salt Lake to LAX to San Jose, Costa Rica.  Adrian and Todd flew from Salt Lake to Orlando to San Jose, Costa Rica.  We arrived first, picked up the rental car and met them at the airport.  After finally figuring out how to exit the airport parking garage - some thing to do with paying for the parking first - we headed right out for Tabacon.
 Tabacon is a resort at the base of the Arenal Volcano that has developed a hot water river into luscious hot water pools, streams and falls.  They are now a 5-star resort, when we were there 12 or so years ago they were just getting started.  We stayed there one night and had access to all the pools that night and the next day.  The drive is not easy - through mountain passes, narrow roads and slow driving - but we made it late afternoon.

Take a look at these pictures and see us enjoy the warmth (103 degrees) of the water and the beauty of the jungle surrounding us.

After Tabacon, Theron, Adrian and Todd went on a zip line adventure, then we hiked the hanging bridges and then hiked around the Arenal volcano.  We stayed in a little bungalow that was quite inexpensive and very clean.  By day three however I was getting a little tired of rice, beans, chicken.  I could never get tired of the fruit we had there.

These guys went to seven different zip stations.  I just wasn't brave enough to hang from a wire, miles (well maybe several thousand feet) above the jungle floor.

 Arenal volcano, this was the best view we had all week.

 See how sweet our little bungalow looks.

 The last half of the week, we traveled to the Pacific Ocean coast side.  Todd tried a little surfing, we played in the water, sat on the sandy beach and watched monkeys from our VRBO house porch.  The airplane is an old Contra plane from Nicaragua and has been made into one of the best restaurants we ate at.

Sad to leave such a wonderful paradise.  Thanks for the memories Todd and Adrian.  It is so good to be able to travel with our kids and have a wonderful time.

Forward to the Future - February 2020

I have watched this happening for several months now, Theron has been researching Tesla, a solar panel, battery and electric car company.  So when he reserved a Model Y car, I knew we were buying a new car; but, I didn't think it would be so soon.  While in Yuma, we traveled to Phoenix one day to test drive a Model 3 Tesla.  This is the newest, greatest, most talked about car since Henry Ford introduced the Model T.

The test drive was amazing and we decided then that we just needed the size of the Model 3 rather than the bigger Model Y.  We placed the order and went back to Yuma.  The timing was now 8 weeks out.  This is a new buying experience in that you order it online and Tesla has no dealerships.  We scheduled to pick it up in their Las Vegas Distribution Center.  Eight weeks, we will be back from Costa Rica and we have all that time to sell the Corvette and the Hyundai.

Well two weeks later, we get an e-mail that our car will be ready in four weeks.  Then on February 25, we received an e-mail that our car was in transit to Las Vegas and we could pick it up on February 27.  Theron had sold the Corvette but we didn't know what the value of the Hyundai was.  We determined to go to Las Vegas and have a CarMax appraisal on the 26th and then go to Tesla the next day.  We also thought, what the heck, let's just go see if we can get the car on the 26th.  Which we could, late in the afternoon.  Okay, we can do a session at the Temple and then pick up the car.  NO SUCH LUCK.

We got the appraisal, went to Tesla got the invoice, went to Mountain America for the loan and (well, long story short after three times and two hours at the bank trying to get all the numbers right, we succeeded) we purchased the car.  It was now past 6:00 pm, dark and Tesla was closing.  They stayed and had the car ready, we finished signing all the paperwork and drove home with a new car in the dark.  So much for a smooth online buying experience.

We are now the proud owners of the car of the future.  It is totally electric, has a 15" monitor for a control for the car, can almost drive itself and we have the "power" station in our garage.

We drove it one day and left for Costa Rica the 28th.  Theron could not wait to get back from this trip.

We have since taken it to Salt Lake and learned the range it will go on a charge.  We stopped and charged in Beaver and in Nephi, but we really only needed to stop in Nephi.  It will go about 320 miles on one charge unless you do the Tesla tickle - 0-60 in 3.2 seconds.

We have since bought Tesla stock and are totally invested.  Welcome to the future.

February Birthdays - 2020

February is our family's birthday month.  Taylor is February 3, Brittney is February 13, Ali and Tyce are February 18, and Melanee is February 27.

Taylor - Sweet 16 this year
What happens on your 16th birthday?  Yup, the driver's license.  Does this smile tell it all?  Happy day Taylor.
















Brittney - The middle of her 30's
Brittney is a sweet daughter-in-law that has a big heart, a strong testimony and lots of energy to keep her vibrant household going each and every day.  I love the way she likes to celebrate every occasion.  A marvel.

Ali Jo - 9 this year
Brittney always writes a wonderful tribute to each child on their birthday.  I'm taking the liberty of capturing this, this year.
"Happy 9th Birthday to Ali! Ali is our household comedian. She is always saying something funny or trying to make us laugh. She loves animals and loves art. She took some horse riding lessons in the fall which she loved. I pushed her into junior jazz basketball this year and she has enjoyed that too! She is really good on her Hover board and she got some new rollerblades for her birthday. Ali is our beach and sun kid, so winter is hard for her. We definitely see a lot of what we call "grumpy gator" this time of the year but we know it's short lived. She has been a hurry to grow up  but I think she is content being 9. She came home from school last week to me making my own birthday cake. She asked "Are you making your own birthday cake?" I said " Yup! That is what happens when you get older...you grow up and have to make your own birthday cake!" She said "Uh..that is sad. I am fine turning 9." 
We love you Ali-gator! Enjoy being 9!

Tyce - He captured 7

The year of losing teeth and preparing for baptism.  Brittney's thoughts for Tyce this year.

"Happy 7th Birthday to our Tyce! Tyce is a force to reckon with!  He gives everyday his all and crashes in bed every night because he finally sat still for 2 minutes.  He still takes things apart like a 3 year old. (I blame Marc)  He still gives the best hugs and still likes to hold my hand.  Tyce has grown a lot this year both physically and intellectually.  He is still on the smaller side but jumped up 5% on the growth chart!  He is making some great progress in school with some help from some special teachers and wonderful aides.  (It takes a village folks)  Tyce is always keeping us on our toes.  He knows how to push everyone's buttons and isn't afraid to rial you when he isn't getting his way.  He is enjoying learning to read and ride his motorcycle Santa brought him.  He is looking forward to baseball in the Spring and tried basketball this winter.  He didn't love it but he loved playing with friends once a week.  We love you Bug!"

Melanee - early 40's going strong

Melanee is magnificent.  She works out every morning, runs around three 4-year olds all day, and crashes at night.  This year she received a piano for her birthday and is learning to bring music to her home.  Way to go girl.  We love you.

We love all our family members and for the month of February -

Happy Birthday to All and to all a good night's sleep!!!

Yuma, Arizona - 2020

I suppose this is becoming a yearly event for us in January and February.  I regret February because we have so many family birthdays and we are always gone.  I wish I knew how to do everything and be everywhere all at once.

This year, we only stayed until mid-February because we are still serving at the FamilySearch Center and also because we had a Costa Rica trip planned with Adrian and Todd.  Next year, we have no Church commitments, so it will probably be January, February and into March that we will stay.  I get a little bored with the same place, but it's where friends meet and where we stay warm.

This year was the first "riding" of the new RZR and ooooh aaah everyone was impressed.  We had a very nice lot to stay in this year and will probably stay there next year.  Again, the superbowl party was the big occasion and gleaning the grapefruit trees for the food bank.  The Branch is great and very social.  The rest of our Yuma trip was pretty much the same as last year - street tacos, Mexico, movie, golfing, riding, and walking.  We took a little side trip over to Oatman to see the donkeys and walk the southwestern town.

This was superbowl this year, a screen hung on the wall with cardboard under the speakers for the sound system; redneck all the way.

 The sun was shining, the food was great and mucha lota of everything.

 This picture is a re-creation of a almost event.  One of the guys came up this hill very fast and Theron and I were at the top and saw this huge hole.  I just knew he was going to go right into it.  This hole is wide enough to swallow the RZR and deep enough to get lodged in.

Wendy and Rich got a new dog this year and brought Mac along to Yuma.  Everyone knows me and dogs so the group bought us a stuffed dog we have named 'trailer'.  I can pet this one and then he makes wetting sounds.

If I could have take a closer picture, you would see this was a military drone flying right for us.  At the last minute, it veered to the side and did a touch and go.  A little disconcerting.