Grandpa

April did indeed bring showers to our home, in more ways than one. We are greatly saddened by the loss of our grandfather Roger Blaine Allison Jr. No matter when you lose someone, it is always, always too soon. We will miss grandpa every day--his loving smile, kind words, and especially sharing a box of cookies.

ROGER BLAINE ALLISON Jr. PhD

Roger Blaine Allison, Jr. Ph.D. 1925 ~ 2010 Roger was born in Ogden, Utah March 6, 1925, son of Roger and Golda Allison. He died at home April 2, 2010 after a struggle with Alzheimer's.Three days after graduating from high school, he was drafted into the army and served three years in World War II. He married Helen Hill on December 21, 1943. Their marriage was a beautiful bond that lasted sixty six years and produced five cherished children, 16 grandchildren, 24 great grandchildren and three great, great grandchildren. He and Helen traveled frequently in their motorhome and shared a love of Indian country, mountains, deserts and the sea coast. Roger lived a life of learning, caring and giving. He valued knowledge, education and research and his published papers led others along the trail of new beginnings. Roger enjoyed math, statistics and anything related to psychology and human behavior. He earned degrees from Weber College, University of Utah and received a PhD from Princeton University. While in Princeton, he conducted research on human learning as a Research Associate with the Educational Testing Service supported by the Office of Naval Research and National Science Foundation. The results of these studies appeared in numerous publications and yearly presentations at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association. For the next twenty nine years he was Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Utah Medical Center. For eleven of those years he was also Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University. He was the author or co-author of numerous articles on human learning, schizophrenia and others. He went into private practice in 1964 and spent time as President of Utah Psychologists in Private Practice. He was also a consultant with Primary Children's Hospital, Comprehensive Mental Health Planning Project, Junior League Juvenile Court Research, the Abbey of the Holy Trinity in Huntsville and the Tooele School District. Roger is survived by his wife Helen, children Linda Kirby (Mike), Scott Allison (Emily), Janet Thomas (Craig), and Brent Allison (Sarah), grandchildren, great-grandchildren, sister Lou Jean Nilsson (Dick) and brother, Jim Allison (Bev). He was preceded in death by his daughter Joan and granddaughter Leisha. His family will lovingly remember him for his delightful sense of humor and wonderful "lectures." Funeral services will be 12:00 Noon, Wednesday, April 7, 2010 at Wasatch Lawn Mortuary, 3401 Highland Dr. where friends may call Wednesday from 10:45-11:45 a.m. Interment will be at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alzheimer's Association . http://act.alz.org/goto/rogerallison. Condolences may be sent to www.wasatchlawn.com.

Time for a shower!

I got home from a run today to find Max sitting on the counter. I told him to jump to me and I would catch him. After jumping to me he immediately wiggled to the ground and exclaimed "Mama! You is disgusting!" I had to laugh! I'm not even sure where he learned that word, but it cracked me up!

Got Sole?

*My friend Anne wrote this on her blog. I figured I couldn't have said it better myself!

Lake to Lake Relay 2010...Sole Sisters!
What a beautiful day! It began at 6 am with a nice alarm clock going off. After we all got ready for our first leg, we headed to the starting line. All 5 of us Sole Sisters were excited to see what the day had in store for us, since it was a first for us all. After a few turn arounds we were headed to the right place. We rolled into the starting line...hurried and colored on the van so we could claim some kind of team spirit, took a few photos and left Laura for her starting leg. We drove up ahead a mile and a half and waited to cheer on Laura! We continued to high five at the exchange points ... give support where we could with water and gatorade ...giggle...sweat ... eat yummy pasta salad ... and exchange more high fives. Each of the sisters ran two legs total and the distances varied but were pretty close to 5 miles each. We had a beautiful day in St. George (beginning temp at 40 degrees and warmest temp 65 degrees, it did start to get overcast and rain right when we were done, so hurray for us...we were outta there). We ran through all the trails and saw a lot of St. George we hadn't seen before. From Gunlock Resevoir to Sand Hollow, 50 miles total. The trails were awesome and the scenery, you just couldn't help but smile.

It was fun to share a day with the Sole Sisters! Laura a.k.a. "Gunlock & Loaded" & "Trails, Trails, and Llama Tails", Kristin a.k.a. "Red Rock & Roll" & "Expedition Virgin River", Kelli a.k.a. "Navigational Nightmare" & "That Washington Dam Hill", Anne "Dixie Stampede" & "The Dirty Climber", and Lindsay a.k.a. "Man-O-Warrior" & "Sand Finale". Everyone did great, only ached a little, and most importantly had FUN! Our team crossed the finish line in approximately 7 hours 57 minutes and 57 seconds. It went so fast for us.

After showering at the recreation center, we headed to Texas Roadhouse for some Real food! Yummy! Food always taste good after a exciting day like that. After switching drivers a few times on the road...we rolled into town and were home just in time for Sunday.

Kelli, Kristin, Lindsay, Anne, Laura (After the race)
Wahoo! Under 8 hours!

Lindsay, Kelli, and Laura

Exchange between Anne and Lindsay

Laura, Lindsay, Kelli, Anne, and Kristin (Before the race)

Snow (and Mud!)

After several months without snow, we finally had some last night and today! The boys were thrilled! They were excited to build a snowman after church. We went onto the trail behind the house to gather some sticks for the snowman's arms. The boys quickly located the nearest puddle and began jumping in. They were covered head to toe in mud by the time we got back to the house!

Down the Mountain We Go!

Tate had his first skiing lesson! He did awesome! He loved it, and was able to go down the mountain by himself. We were so impressed! Grandma and Grandpa came with us, and we all went down the mountain together after Tate had his lesson. He did great! We just need to work a little bit on turning (he tends to go very fast and very straight, which works great until there is a bunch of trees in the way!)

Tate is 5!

Tate had an awesome 5th birthday! He wanted a construction themed party. We decided to get some big cardboard boxes, and let the kids go to town with paint. The only hard part was finding big cardboard boxes--did you know no one will let you have them anymore? Or even buy them? Seriously! After many phone calls, I finally found a furniture store willing to let me have theirs---if I was willing to dig through their dumpster. Dutiful mommy that I am, I went "dumpster diving" and we found some great boxes!

Tate loved having all his friends over for his party. They played some fun games, and ate an "excavator cake." The favorites seemed to be painting the houses and building towers with blocks and then doing "demolition" with a tennis ball hanging from a long string. They all had a great time!

Uncle Kevin has the same birthday as Tate, so we decided to all go out to dinner to celebrate. Happy birthday to two awesome guys! We love you!

The February 26 Birthday Boys! Uncle Kevin and Tate!

The best construction crew around!