Garry's Family Newsletter Post

Dear Family

I thought we were due for a newsletter. Sure enough, I got the word from Joan today. Get something to Travis. I’ve got my first pressure sore in years and so the Dr.’s are saying stay off it. I tried to type leaning over in my chair but couldn’t do it so I’ll write 5 minutes and then lean over. Oui Oui ?

June was a lot of fun. We had our 50 year high school ( I graduated at 13) reunion. I’d been on the planning committee for two years and all of us were excited to finally witness the fruits of our labors. Fri. night was an all school reunion at the high school where the spotlight was on us youngin’s. Sat. we had a catered dinner and dance (nope, I didn’t try) with a nice program. Sunday was a farewell breakfast which is what I was in charge of. We had almost 400 people attend. It was so fun to reminisce. It had to be one of the best ever. The class of ’59 has got a lot to live up to. Favorable comments came in for almost a month from all those who attended .

July was the Kent Cornucopia days at which we get to see Fran and Walt. It’s their annual Jewelry bazaar that’s closest to us. Actually, they did come just before that just to visit. Walt was restless to go someplace and so they came here. That may have been a part of the last newsletter. We like to “hang” with them. July was also the 12 Stake dance festival at the Tacoma Dome. The Mutual kids had been working on their dances since January. They did one performance Fri. night and two on Sat. Finally on Sat. I picked out Rebekah. She’d been on the front row all the time. She looked so grown up and with her short hair I didn’t recognize her. She can move pretty good. The dances were great. The place rocked from first dance to last. Trina was in the Young Women presidency and so had to chaperone. The last time I saw one was when she participated. A while back, huh?

In August I broke my leg in two places. Piddle Farting around down by the river across the road from my Mom’s. My leg tucked back under my chair while I was zipping along on the rocks. It took a couple days before the swelling made me nervous enough to go get an x-ray. I was kind of sweaty and clammy too. Nice going! It hasn’t been that big a deal. I’ve been wearing one of those boots around . I go in Oct. 17th. If everything looks O.K. I can take it off and get rid of the sweat pants with the cut open leg.

Sept.
Jan’s grandson Michael (Sherry’s boy) died from an over dose of prescription drugs. He was only 25. He was bipolar. It was kind of sad. That was the day before Jan and her girls were going to Rexburg to take Jenice back to college. Trina and I took her instead. It was a lot of fun. Trina showed us the old and new stuff. We met Travis and Misako for lunch at Applebees and googled over the cute baby. I don’t think they like me calling her JazzyMoMo. For a sad reason for being there we had a good time. The long drive is where I picked up the pressure sore. I hope it heals fast. I hate this laying around.

Well thanks again Travis for putting the letter together. Deb is enjoying the break, I’m sure. It’s nice to get Joey’s letters. I’ve got to get to the airport and get some African Money to send him for lunch. It doesn’t sound like his new area has a McDonald’s. I guess Andy and Kyoko are back in Afghanistan. Sorry about your cat Kyoko. Nice getting your newsletters Karen. See you at Christmas. I hope Lori and Joan are doing O.K. I talked to Mom the most. You all keep her moving. I love it… It’s nice to be part of the family.

I love you guys. Garry

In Loving Memory: Yoshiko Saito

Kyoko's mother, Yoshiko Saito, passed away on August 16, 2008, in Tokyo, Japan. She is survived by her four living children, Kazuhiko Saito, Hidetoshi Saito, Harue Shirabayashi and Kyoko Wilson; twelve grandchildren; and three great grandchildren. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her loving family members.

Yoshiko Saito
August 18, 1918 - August 16, 2008

This is my little Photoshop design that I played around with in the hospital. Little boring sitting around doing nothing.
This was in the recovery room about an hour after Jasmine was born.
Misako is pinned down on the table in the back. She didn't get to hold her own baby for about an hour after I did.
This is my new born baby sun bathing trying to get tanned because it's just not cool to be pasty white. Gotta look good for the other baby boys in the nursery.
She's mad because all the other girls in the nursery weighed less the 7 pounds.

Little Baby Jasmine Momoka

Hey Everyone here are some pictures of my little baby. She's doing great. Surprisingly she sleeps rather well at night. A good 5-6 hours of sleep is a blessing to me and Misako. We are both extremely tired. As most of you know She has a c-section. I watched and took pictures of the whole thing. Rather nasty but none the less quite an experience. I'm taking time off work to be with the baby and My wife until she feels she can do the basics around the house by her self. We are having a great time here in Little Rock, AR. The members here are more then anything we could have asked for. They are taking care of meals, They are throwing Misako a baby shower, And even one member gave us a lazy boy rocking chair for Misako to be able to nurse easier. Now the trick is getting it back to Idaho. All is well. I will post the other pictures I already send out in a bit. Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts. We should be back in Utah around the 26th or 27th of August to spend a week there before school starts in September. Love you all
Travis and Misako

Hamlet's enjoy the 4th!

Here is Gary talking with with one of our friends Sister Weaver. Enjoying the show. He even went across the street to checkout the competition.

Here are the guys planning the next big bang!

Hanah's enjoying her Waterlemon! Mmmm...

Here is Emma telling Trina she's done with her Waterlemon! She loves Waterlemon (watermelon for the rest of us).

Here are the Hamlet kids (Hanah, Bekah, and Scott) along with our friends the Bradshaw's firing off some of the smaller fireworks before the big show...

Here is a shot of one of our blasts! Good times...

For more fun check out our Hamlet Family Blog!

Lake Qargha Near Kabul

Lake Qargha, near Kabul, is a resevior that collects the snowmelt from the mountains surrounding Kabul. It's Kabul's primary water source. I attended a seminar sponsored by some military colleagues at Qargha Lake.

The green trees and clear, blue water are a nice change from the dusty, brown streets of Kabul.

We enjoyed kebobs made from lamb, beef and chicken. This was a rare opporunity for me to get away from the Embassy compound and enjoy some local food and culture.

In my job, I work closely with Colonel Tony Zabek (right), who is Brigadier General Safiullah's (center) advisor on military prisons. Safiullah is a former Mujahedeen fighter, now with the Afghan National Army.

Kabul LDS Servicemen's Group

We usually have a lot more uniforms in attendance. This last Friday (our sabbath) was a bit unusual. We also have a couple more sisters that usually attend. Our Group Leader, Eugene Wikle, is on the far left of the photo. I teach Sunday School and PH, while Kyoko is the RS Leader.

Your 90th Birthday

Dear Mom,

1963 Who would know how my life was going to change. I’m coming out of the elevator at a Business College. She was going in. We’re both in W/C’s so naturally we said “Hi”. Not long after we are talking in the cafeteria. She’s LDS. So am I. She doesn’t come back to school for awhile. She just had surgery. She’s very ill. I check up on her. She lives with the Building Missionaries. I drop back by here and there to see how she’s doing. Pretty soon we talk a lot. She hates being in a W/C. “You can’t be lady like.” We finish school. I go to work for Boeing. She goes to work for the PNW Bell. We talk a lot. She isn’t very “gutsy”. Doesn’t try many new things. Me, I’m the opposite. Do they attract? We do a few movies and a few dinners. She moves into her own apartment. I’m still at home. We do a few church meetings and I meet her friends from the Tri-Cities when they come over. Next thing I know we are headed over the mountains to meet the folks. I’d never been to Benton City so we drove through on the way to Richland. It was hot and the top on my convertible was down. As we drove through we were laughing and yelling “Judy’s back”. She showed me where they lived and where she got in the wreck. We saw Fran and Walt’s farm although they didn’t live there at the time. We drove to Richland. The folks lived on Cottonwood.

My first visit. (I actually can’t remember if I met them in Seattle before that visit.) Mom was the same then as she is now. I’m not kidding. Laid back and full of stories. She had too many kids with too many things going on to sit and worry about them all. Woodrow ( I tried to call him Dad but no one else did) was into sports. Yeah! We could talk and talk about the Seahawks. The girls all called him Daddy when they talked about him. Deb and Andy got away with murder! “If we would have tried that!” That’s what they all said. I guess I came on the scene when he mellowed out. Our favorite times were our trips to the Tri-Cities. I don’t know what the family thought when she told them we were getting married. Two “gimps”? What can they do? I know my folks wondered how we were going to take care of ourselves. It was 1967. We headed to Oakland with a friend (Gaylen). We met Gram and Amos. My friend Karey showed us where the temple was. Grandma Virgie went through with us. (I was instructed not to let Gram Know). Karey set us up in a nice hotel and had flowers, etc. delivered. Me, I had sunburned lips. They would plaque me (maybe Judy was relieved) until after our two receptions.

Richland and Seattle. I read one time “not to think that when you marry, you don’t marry the in-laws, too.” I’m lucky. I loved mine from day one. I’ve always been shown that I am a part of the family. Marriage was great. It was fun sitting up house. A landlord put in a ramp so that we could rent their house. We both worked. Judy watched me “play” w/c sports. We did some thing fun together. Square dancing and bowling. It wasn’t fulfilling enough for her. I kept playing. She called adoption agencies. After a couple of lengthy home studies, we were dropped. Judy persevered.

In 1971 we got the call. There was a baby waiting for us in Wenatchee. But !!! I was in a sports meet that weekend! How could I not go? We waited until Monday and headed over the mountains. They brought us the blonde, blue eyed, Gerber baby. After a few hours they took her back. We had to sleep on it. Maybe something would rub us the wrong way and we wouldn’t want her. Next day after reassuring the case worker that she would fit in just fine we packed two w/c’s and a baby into the convertible and headed back. The best days of our lives were about to start. I had been laid off for 6 months. Didn’t need a job. I was busy with my sports and Judy was working. I was the baby sitter. After my w/c games in June Judy told me that she had given her two weeks notice. I quit playing and went to work for King County. I loved the job but it wasn’t long before Boeing called me. The company was going downhill and they needed me back! Trina filled our lives with a purpose. Judy knew this before we even had her. There was a special spirit waiting to be placed in our home. We ran back and forth across the mountains to visit family.

Judy loved hanging around her Mom, Dad, and Sisters. (O.K., and Andy) As much as she hated driving the mountains during the winter, we still went for the holidays. One year we got caught in a snowstorm and had to stay in a motel in Ellensburg. They wondered why two people in a w/c with a baby were traveling in this kind of weather. For the most part we had good experiences. We had those neat dinners down in the basement. Gram played the piano upstairs and Amos sang. Judy was so excited when Lorraine moved to Benton City and when Karen moved to Seattle. She had all of her family around.

One year Mom and Dad (Woodrow) came for Thanksgiving. A rare treat because as we all know, he doesn’t like “socializing” and especially sleeping at relatives. He decided to build a fire in our nice fire place but forgot to open the flu. Needless to say, Mom spent a few hours scrubbing down our walls. Nice Thanksgiving! Judy had her share of illness while Trina was growing up. Mostly bladder and urinary problems. There were mostly good times though. Trina took dancing, piano and sax. She loved school. She jumped back and forth to friends houses when her Mom did her hospital stints. We all rolled with the punches.

Trina left for Ricks college in Idaho not knowing that her Mom was infected with HIV. It was the way she wanted it. Why make her worry. More than anything Judy wanted Trina to finish school. We drove her down and helped get her settled. We left feeling so comfortable. Finally we had to tell her. Our last Christmas together was 1990. We went “home” to Benton City. Judy was pretty sick but still loved being around everyone.

In February 1991 Judy died. Even when things were bad at the end she was happy that the family was there. She went around the room and told each of us what we meant to her and that she loved us. It was sad but she was ready. Like I said earlier, “she never liked being in a w/c”. Trina dropped out of school and went on a mission. She came home with her future husband. I now have five grand kids. Judy was so right. There was a special spirit waiting to be in our home.

Now as we celebrate your 90th birthday, I say thanks to you for what you brought to my life. I’m part your family. I always will be. You have longevity in your blood. I won’t be surprised if I see Judy before you do. There are no words to say thanks. I hate your being so far away and wish that I could just dart over the mountains again but I’m glad you are happy. Like your daughter said. “The best times are with family”

I’ll keep calling. Happy 90th,

Love Ya Much,
Garry

Paintball with the kids

Above is the Before photo
Above & Below - After. As you can see Kate and Bekah both got hit, Scott got hit in the face so he didn't want to pose, (he was tired). And then lucky Nolan didn't get hit at all.... Can you believe it? Next time I say.... Next time...

Trina was still in Utah enjoying the festivities and I took the kids and their cousin Nolan (black hair) to play paintball in a field near us in Graham. Here is the before and after photos:

Kate's first Soccer Game of the year at the YMCA

Kate at her first game! She was pretty excited!
Thes coach is getting ready to send her out as a forward!
Kate's watching the "purple" team put the ball back into play
After a long hour playing she's done! Kate did really well, didn't hurt that she was also one of the tallest kids in her group. The coach had her play forward most of the game and she did pretty good at keeping the ball in the other teams side.

HAPPY 90TH BIRTHDAY GRANDMA ANNE

Getting Hard drive fixed

Hey there folks. So I was having lots of hard drive situations in December and so Best Buy replaced my hard drive. It took me a while to get help getting the data off the old one because the geek squad said that is was all lost. well little to their knowledge their are ways of getting some if not most of the information off the drive. Well I found a great electronics store here in Atlanta called Fry's and found a little chip that would help get the info off. Anyway last Christmas I was playing the some old pictures at gram ma's house. With the little that I know of photoshop I colorized one of Gram pa's pictures I'm sure everyone has seen this picture before. Now in color. Anyway let's not for get about May's family news letter I would be more then happy to do it again I have some new Idea's of design. let's try to get everyone (including the cousins to contribute to May's FNL. love you all and hope the beginning of the summer is grand for all.
Travis and Misako

crazy hamlet family

So here we are in Orting with nothing to do so we decided to get a new puppy and then install some new flooring.

Thai Silk King

Former OSS (forerunner to the CIA) agent Jim Thompson came to Thailand after WWII and single-handedly set up the Thai silk industry--still arguably Thailand's most important industry. He loved Thai art and built a magnificent traditional Thai style home in Bangkok and furnished it with many precious Southeast Asian historical art pieces. His home today is a museum. Jim Thompson silk is Thailand's best silk and his name is a household word in Thailand. We visited the Jim Thompson museum. Here we are sitting on his doorstep.


Here Kyoko stands in the main entrance way to Thompson's home.



Here I am standing next to a huge (and valuable) jade statue of the Chinese god Guan Gong, carved by hand. We visited the Museum of Jade, which was actually a very high-end store to sell jade jewelry. I was impressed with the size and quality of this piece.

Later.