New Beginnings

Have a lot to post about the wonderful day yesterday, January 31, 2013.  A big day in our lives--Doug's retirement.  I have been dreading this time in our lives (as I have mentioned in previous posts), and D-Day finally came.  I did my exercise yesterday morning and happened to click on a talk by D Todd Christoperson  --Give us this day our Daily Bread/ --just what I needed to hear.  I am a borrower of trouble--trying to be proactive in planning my future.  but in this talk he shares how living one day at a time is really what we should mostly be doing.  I think that I have looked at retirement as the unknown- a future of getting older, bad health, nothing productive to do now, etc, etc--and trying to project what might happen.  I'm never going to know.  So it really is about living one day at a time.  Enjoying what may come--the Spirit will do some directing--listen for those nudges.  So here we go.  Friday morning, today--we slept in (imagine)--off to a slow start into retirement.  I know--that won't last, we'll find a routine and a schedule of sorts, and projects, and things to do together (looking forward to that).  It will all come together.  I have faith in that.  But I have to share all the wonderful memories of yesterday starting with the latest--this morning......

Doug finally made it out to the barn to feed the horses at about 9:30 am--pulled up the door to find this sign from Megan Larsen (who had also fed the horses for us).  Brought happy tears to our eyes.  Retirement is pretty good. 
Yesterday started out with getting breakfast for Doug (no lunch for the last week because he has had lunch dates with people taking him to lunch). He has been late going into work most of the last month too. He was always out of here by 7:00 am. 

Great picture of me--where did that look come from?  Doug had to show what I looked like--still in my housecoat.  Kay and I had come up with an idea of having everyone meet at the office, and since Doug did not want to have a celebration in the office itself (felt bad about having a retirement party, when there had been others who had recently been fired) we decided that we would meet out at the old drill rig (yes in a ft of snow) and have baloons for the grandkids to send off.  Doug knew very little about what was going to come off.  I had told him that this would be as much of a retirement for the kids and me (especially with Casey's Lawn Service in operation from 1987 to 2011--we were outsourced 2012) as we had worked the office's landscaping for all those years.  Holly and I stopped by to get a dozen baloons and got there a little early.  I drove by the old office and got pictures, and then got out at the new office and got some more pictures.  These pictures are for all you who remember what it was like--although it would be so much more memorable without the snow covering.

 Remember When we mowed, trimmed, weeded, hedged, cleaned gutters--a lot of manhours doing yard work--spent out our days, huh.

 The notorious viburum hedges!  Looks like no one has taken them on since Bruce and Roy did the last cutting.

 The hugh juniper bush out front of the old office

 The birch tree is probably one of the last in the valley.  You notice they have remmoved the old dead pine tree and planted some other trees.

 I personally spent a lot of time around this rig planting flowers, weeding, etc--like some of you.

 Where Bruce and me and ? dug up grass and planted vinca--south side of new office.

 The A G building

The beautiful roses--still there--looking like they need to be cared for (pruned).  Of course no one will care for them like I would have.  The landscaping work provided income for a lot of children to go to college, etc,--including in later years help give much needed income.  What a blessing it has been. It was Alan Lang who first asked if Doug's kids could do the work.  Glad that opportunity came into our lives--and I think all of you who participated will ditto that.  Alan mentioned to me a time or two how impressed he was with our kids--that they knew how to work.  This job contributed to teaching that ethic. 
Then everyone started showing up and Doug figured out that he needed to come outside.  A lot of grandkids and kids hangng out by the rig.   

   Couldn't decide  which picture to use--so just included them all.  Makes you smile huh. 
So then the kids released the baloons--Finn was the only one who should have keep his, because he cried when it floated off.  I told him we would get him another one.  Scott Krug and Bob Johnson took these for us--they had to be out there watching all this.  Fun to share it with these guys who have been such a big part of Doug's work life.

 see those little specks in the sky--the baloons.

 Bob Johnson, Doug and Scott Krug--Bob has worked with Doug since we lived in Colorado--1977, and Scott--the last 28 years.  Good Men that Doug will miss associating with on a daily basis.
Casey, Sean, and I stayed around to visit and help finish cleaning out Doug's desk--then Doug and I loaded up his stuff, including his chair (that he said they would be throwing away) and headed over to Alan Lang's new office building.

Goodby Boart Longyear. 
I had felt that part of closing the door was to go by and tell Alan Lang thanks.  Thanks for giving us a job 29 years ago when we were stuck in Texas wondering how we would provide for ourselves.  He had miraculously come through for us and I've often felt the Lord works through Alan a whole bunch.  Thank you Alan.  It was hard for me to express it without crying, but I did, and I think he appreciated that we would come by and tell him so on the day we were retiring.

 Alan and Charlene Lang with Doug and their dogs at Alan's new dream--Lang Crane and machine shop.  He is such a dreamer--always coming up with a newer and greater--an amazing gift that has taken alot of people along with him and provided countless opportunities.  He is presently thinking of building another house on the property they have on Mt Olympus--was showing it to me.  A victorian style home with lots of bells and whistle.  We left from here to finally drive home, and quess what---The sun came out--bright and shiny--the most we have seen in days and days.  A portent to what is to be I think. Made us smile as we thought of our future--so bright we would have to wear shades.
That night we met at Joe Morleys for dinner in their backroom banquet area.  I thnk we all just enjoyed ourselves--only were missing Jessie and Mike.  Thanks for everyone coming and making it a special evening together.  And thanks for everyone coming to celebrate Doug's retirement.  Now we get to start our next life--a new begining. 

There is a value in looking back--and this is in way of giving the history of Doug's retirement.  I had pulled out our family history of 1986.  It was good to go back and re read of those times--stressful times, when we were laid off and out of work--of the hiring and what brought us to Salt Lake--in the reading it was pretty plain of how the Lord was at work in our lives then.  Hind sight definitely gives you a clearer view of how it all worked out for our good and our children's good.  And now here we are 29 years later,16 grandkids and spouses that are a part of our family and it's amazing to me how God made it come together. Retiring -- to move on to other things --and maybe in 29 more years we will read back to now and see how it all came together for our good and our children and grandchildren's good.  That makes it kind of exciting to think about how this is all going to play out--like it has the last 29 years--and reassures me about Trusting the Lord.