I watched it all on my radio

If one song could describe my life growing up it would probably be:

"I WATCHED IT ALL ON MY RADIO" by Lionel Cartwright



"I had a six transistor when I was kid,

under my pillow I kept it hid.



When the lights went out and no one could see,

over the air ways the world came to me.



I'd go through the stations till I found a game,

I knew how they played by the sounds of their names.



The sluggers hit homers...those pitchers threw smoke,

and I watched it all on my radio.



At the crack of the bat I knew how far it goes,

and watched it all on my radio.



When the ball game was over and the wrap-up complete,

I'd search throught the static till I found me a beat.



The Beatles and Credence, the Stones and the Byrd's,

You should have seen all the groups that I heard.



And I had a seat on the very front row,

and I watched it all on my radio...



...And there was that test at the sound of the beep,

it was only a test the voice would repeat.



And the national anthem would sing me to sleep."

I Love You!

Yesterday it was slow at work, I was the only one there and the phone wasn't ringing. So I decided to watch the video Mindy made for me for my birthday.




. Homely: The Movie from Mindy Haws on Vimeo.


My first thought after watching pictures of me from a baby until now was, "Why did they wait until I was 16 to start calling me Homely."

But the most important thing I realized is what a great lady my wife is and how much I love her. 

 
I wanted to tell her right then, but I didn't want to wake her if she was taking a nap so I sent her a text...

                                       I Love You!

Just a few seconds later I got a text from her and I was sure it would say "I love you too."   So I opened it up and read....
                                               
                                    WHY?

I guess after being married to me for 41 years  she has every right to be suspicious. I have been known to mess up and she was just waiting for me to explain what I was guilty of. All I could respond was...

                       I Just Do!

                  And then I got almost the answer I was looking for

                OK. Right back at you! 

          Not the most romantic moment in our lives, but I'll take it.
 

The "Good Humor" Truck Ride

My grandson son Milo has had some trouble the last couple of weeks understanding how his Grandpa Haws could fall out of a moving "Good Humor" ice cream truck and get ran over. 

Milo

Well in my defense I was only 4 and not nearly as smart as Milo. It was a hot August day and we lived in a trailer park in Burbank California. Anciently trailer houses didn't have bathrooms so when the need arose to go to the bathroom you had to go to a community public restroom built in the middle of the trailer park. So this hot summer day a friend and I jumped up onto the "Good Humor" truck's running board to ride for awhile (this was against the rules) but we didn't think about rules. "Good Humor" trucks didn't go very fast and after a few minutes we decided to jump off. My friend jumped first and had no problem. Then I jumped, but as luck would have it, just as I jumped the truck happened to drive next to the public bathroom. I was looking back towards my friend and didn't notice how close the truck was to the building. So when I jumped, I jumped right into the building and bounced backwards under the truck. It all happened so fast that the truck driver couldn't stop and the truck ran over my legs. It didn't break anything but hurt me enough that I couldn't walk for a couple of days. It wasn't the smartest or dumbest thing I have ever done but it has been a great excuse for my "Good Humor!

It's not because of you Grandpa!

Our 6 year-old grand daughter Kenna was having a tough first week as first grader. So I thought I would invite her to go with me to help her Grandmother take tickets at Sandcreek Junior High's girls volleyball game. She was excited to go help Grandma and so off we went. After the volleyball game we decided to go to McDonald's to get something to eat. Grandma asked Kenna who she wanted to ride with, Grandma in her van or with Grandpa. When she said, "Grandpa" I was shocked because she is a 100% Grandma's girl.   So just before we got to McDonald's I said, "thank you Kenna for choosing to ride with Grandpa. She quickly replied, "It's not because of you Grandpa, it was the car."

He is no longer...only a boy a mother could love!

On Friday June 21, 2013 at 10:02 a.m MST Kristina Kunz made Gregory Bryce Haws the happiest (and luckiest) man on the earth. They were sealed for Time and all Eternity in the Salt Lake Temple.

We are so happy to welcome her to our ever growing (in numbers and size) family.

Thank you Kristina for wanting to marry into a family with its share of "oddities" or is it "odd balls?"   

 
She had the opportunity to get to know all her future nieces and nephews and still said, "Yes."

                                They are such a cute couple  

  I'm sorry I tried to insert Greg's picture instead of the puppy's.

Thank you Kristina for loving our baby and may Heavenly Father always bless...Gregory & Kristina Haws

Mom loved me best?

My Mother was unique and fiesty, but she was a great Mother.  She wasn't much on hugs and stuff but we always knew she loved us and that I was her favorite of her five children?  Maybe I felt that way because one of the last times I was with her she communicated to me how she felt about me. One evening I got a call that they had rushed her to the hospital and that I had better get there as fast as I could. When I arrived at the emergency room the doctor took me out into the hall and told me that Mom was bleeding internally and they were going to do a rectal exam to see where the blood was coming from. I asked if that uncomfortable procedure was necessary. At this point my Mother  weighed less that 60 pounds and didn't speak or even give any indication she knew what was going on. She just laid on the gurney staring up at the ceiling with her arms crossed on her chest and covered by a hospital sheet. But the doctor said it was important to find out if she was in any pain.  So I decided to tell her what was going to happen in case by some chance she could hear me.  I went back into her room and stood beside her and across from the nurse and said, "Mom...I have arranged for an early birthday present for you"...there was no response so I went on..."I have arranged for you to have a rectal exam. Happy Birthday"....... There were no signs that she understood what I said, but then there was a little movement under the sheet and the nurse surprised by any movement pulled back the sheet and  observed my sweet Mother with arms still laying on her chest  flipping me the BIRD with both hands. I can't imagine how hard it must have been for her to summon the strength to let me know that I was #1.  I love you Mom!

The Call from the Prophet

On Friday February 10th, 2006 after picking up Idaho Supreme's mail at the Firth post office I stopped by the local gas station (Hard Times) to buy a couple of bottles of water. I was standing in line to pay when my cell phone rang. The caller identified herself as Elaine President Gordon B. Hinckley private secretary. She said the Prophet had a couple of questions for me...(my whole 13 months as Bishop of the Idaho Falls 9th Ward flashed before my eyes). I immediately asked, "am I in trouble?" She answered, "not yet." I explained to her where I was and asked if I could call them back in 5 minutes when I got back to my office. She said that would be fine and started giving me the Prophet's personal phone number. I stopped her and told her I didn't have a pen or piece of paper and if she could wait just a second I would find something to write with and something to write on.  I frantically looked around and saw nothing on the counter by the cash register but then I saw some paper at the other end of the counter with a pencil laying by it so I grabbed them and wrote down the Prophet's phone number. I told Elaine I would call as soon as I got back to my office. When I got to my desk I pulled the paper from my pocket and immediately realized I had written the Prophet's personal phone number on the back of a lottery ticket. When I got Elaine on the phone, I told her what I had written the phone number on and asked, "am I in trouble?" She said she didn't think so, but then paused and asked, "is it a winner?"  When I answered, "no" she said I was probably in trouble now. The reason for the call was a beautiful sister from my ward Ann Staker had passed away and she was the mother of President Hinckley's personal physician. And since I was conducting the funeral he wanted to ask me a few questions about Sister Staker so he could write a letter he would like me to read at the funeral. Later that afternoon the letter was faxed to me and I began to have a lot of anxiety about reading such a beautiful letter with the dignity it deserved. The Prophet or Elaine probably never thought much about it, but it was the greatest phone call I ever got...and of course I handled it in the normal Homely Haws fashion...