Jenny Jeanette the cutest one yet!

As we waited for Jenny to come into this world we should have known she would do it when she was ready.

We thought she was coming two weeks before she really came into the world. The false alarm helped me get into trouble at the hospital. When we went to the hospital room the nurse gave Joyce a bunch of instructions and then turned to me and said, "Mr. Haws we have a very important job for you...you are going to watch the fetal heart monitor and let us know if there is any major fluctuations." Now I knew a little bit about these machines because they have them in all the hospital television shows, so I sat down and focused all my attention to my assignment because the nurse said it was important. The heart rate would jump just a little from 163 to 165 and I was doing good focusing on the meter.  But after about 20 minutes the meter went from 165 to 0 and I knew what I had to do. So I jumped up and ran out of the room and down the hall screaming, "The baby's dead...the baby's dead." Before the nurses could catch me and calm me down I had all the new mothers to-be on the floor terrified.  I still say they should have explained to me that when the baby moves sometimes it takes a few seconds for the machine to find the heart beat and start recording again.

Then there was her name. We (by that I mean Joyce and her Mother) decided we would only give her a first name which would be Jeannette (after my Mother "Iris Jeanette" and my Grandma Fisher "Nellie Jeanette." But during the 6 weeks from birth to her blessing everyone started calling her Jenny. That shouldn't have been a problem except when I got up to give her her name and blessing I named her "Jenny Jeanette." Now Joyce wasn't too upset with that except she had to do a lot of paper work to get her legal name changed, but if looks could kill Grandma Warren was planning my funeral that afternoon. And for years she never let me forget how stupid I was and what kind of father couldn't remember his child's name. To be honest she was kind of right 24 years later when a 12 year old Mikey opened up his new triple combination set of scriptures, he looked at the name on the front and then read it for all to hear, "Michael John Haws?" He looked at me and said, "Dad my name is Michael Kent Haws." I could feel my ears burning from what Grandma Warren was screaming (if they allow that in Heaven).

But back to Jenny...she was everything we had  hoped for and before we knew it she had taken over. She didn't like to go to sleep early and so she didn't. She didn't like to eat in Restaurants and so one of us walked her while the other ate fast so they could take their turn. To be honest is wasn't so bad because everyone would comment what a beautiful little girl she was. 

                                                                              

When Mindy was born it didn't take her long to fall in line and do exactly what Jenny said. A good example of Jenny's control was Mindy's name. We had decided to name her Emily until one day just before Mindy was born Jenny said very matter of factly, "NO EMILY...MINDY!"    

                                                                                 

She grew up very fast and we have enjoyed almost every minute of it.

My Favorite Son-In-Law

Now some people might question me going public about John being my favorite son-in-law, but they may not know he is my only son-in-law right now. But no matter how many I might have, he would still be my favorite. The first time we met John had driven up from Provo and hesitantly knocked on our door. He was probably shocked to see how many people where living in such a little house...

His future brother-in-laws wanted to make him feel welcome so they took him over to Emerson (our little neighborhood school to play some basketball (the official Haws sport). It only took about 5 minutes and they had almost broken his ankle. So his first night in Idaho was spent in the Hospital emergency room.  He was brave  and married Jenny in spite of her family. I think he really hoped she was adopted but was afraid to ask. We did hide one member of the from him until the wedding day and then we brought out Grandma Fisher.

John, Grandma Nellie Fisher & Jenny

But she made up for being hid by being in more of Jenny and John's wedding pictures than they were in. But Grandma Fisher loved Jenny and John and gave them the piano Jenny used to play for her when she would visit.

John was also very patient when we would come and visit, which usually took their whole months food budget for the 2 days we were there.

He also provided a place to stay for Mike and Greg while they were between apartments at BYU.

Milo & Mikey

Greg & Milo

He is a great father to their 6 children and was very patient with us when we take his children out to eat. It seemed each visit included a visit to Krispy Kreme and various fast food restaurants. He never complained "to us" about what we were feeding his children but we got a hint of how he felt when we came down one time and Max asked, "what kind of JUNK are we going to eat this time Grandpa."

Jonah, Bentley & Maxwell

 

 

 

                       And he has been very patient with Aunt Mindy. 

 She loves the Riggs kids. And loves to spoil them with treats, toys, dinners, rodeo's, horseback riding adventures. Sometimes she can go a little far, but I think they have forgotten when she taught them about cross-dressing Pilgrims.

But the number one reason John is my favorite is that he loves Jenny!
Thanks John for being an answer to Jenny's Father's prayers.

My Best Man

 MY BEST MAN

Not only was he my BEST MAN at my wedding but he was the best friend and grandfather a boy could ask for. Since He and Grandma Fisher had four daughters and my brother Greg and I were the first grandsons many people called us SPOILED, but we considered we were just LOVED.  I always loved spending time with Grandpa, I was his shadow whenever we were together. Greg and I spent our summers in Jackson Hole living with Grandma and Grandpa in their trailer and the old outdoor privy. Some days Grandpa would take me with him and I would be his drag-line greaser and he would always pack a great lunch. I always loved it when people would say I had Grandpa's mannerisms and I loved it when Mom made us matching shirts when we were living in Burbank and Grandpa and Grandma came to visit.                    

Some how my sister Debbie (lower right corner) photo-bombed our "Manly Man' picture.

Even when I was older I still wanted to do what Grandpa did.

He was the BEST MAN I ever knew.

                      I love you Grandpa!

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."