Christmas 2009

So how many months do we plan and prepare for Christmas? How many times do we tell the Christmas story to the children and grandchildren so they know the true meaning of Christmas? How many times do we shake our heads saddened by the news of constant attacks by those who do not want to celebrate Christmas and feel neither should we! Yet with all of this activity and hustle and bustle we find ourselves finally sitting around the Christmas tree, some of us are tired from putting the last presents out after the children fall asleep. Others are just tired from playing games with family late into the night. Perhaps a few just can't believe we are getting up before 8am to open presents. No matter how we come to this moment, here we are, sitting waiting for the Mom or Grammy to say "This is how we are doing it this year!" Amazingly the children who have been looking at the ever growing presents that seem to show up day after day under the tree, sit still! Even the littlest child is watching and learning from the older children on how this process works. Then suddenly an adult grabs the first present and says who it is for. Excitement fills the childrens faces as they finally get one of the presents they have been looking and poking at for at least a week! Parents and others sit and warmly smile as they watch the children excitedly rip into each present! They giggle or laugh as they see a child do a funny war like dance as they get some expected or unexpected toy or gift! What seems like a slow process each present is passed out and opened. The excitement slowly ebbs and the cleanup continues from ripped open packages and boxes. Then as the children run off to thier rooms to put new toys away someone looks at their watch or the clock on the wall and they realize all of these presents were opened and touched within an hour or so. All of that planning and purchasing is over in a few shourt minutes! Yet we will do it again, next year! Now comes the decision which parent can sneek back into bed for a few more hours of sleep. While the other "Dads!" lay on the floor and play with the child and thier new toy or video game. Amazingly most Moms are okay with Dads playing video games on Christmas day, as long as they get to go back to bed! Later the Christmas dinner is prepared and we over eat for the second time in two months and tell ourselves we will do better next year!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year, Mamaw came for Christmas! She visited Ricky and Bart during the first part of the month and really enjoyed herself. We also had a huge suprise when Roger Jr, Alyssa and Madison and Little Roger showed up on Wednesday night from Texas! What a wonderful surprise! We sorely missed Micah who had to stay in Wyoming to keep working on the railroad and Leo wh was visiting his dad in Kansas City. Maybe one day we will have them all for Christmas!

Mamaw and Lil' Roger

Grammy and her Lil' Rog

Lee Phillip or "Philly" as Grammy calls him.

Maddie isn't she beautiful!

Taylor James "TJ" and his 1st present.

Triniti and her new Christmas dress!

Chance and his new comforter for his bed!

Lil' Roger

Like Father like Son!

I'm sure I saw this is in the movie "Forrest Gump"!

Just a great picture of Roger Jr! The women folk never like thier pictures on Christmas morning!

Dec 09 and I'm Late!

Okay, okay! I know several of you have checked this blog and wonder why I don't update it with something new! All I can say is I'm sorry and I'll try to do better. It was a crazy few month leading up to today. While I had the chance to get the last few "Outdoor Projects" done before the weather turned cold I had to do that. First was the Storage shed! It's 95 % done. The outside is all complete but I have the inside shelves and perhaps a window for Grammy to look out at her yard to finish it off. The shelves will be so she can do early plantings with a grow light. Of course that takes electricity which I haven't run yet. One thing at a time.

Next is a last minute sidewalk. Grammy has wanted a way for the family to use the garage in the winter to take off boots and coats instead of the front door. Last year the front door was always a mess. So I quickly dug out the sidewalk layout and formed it up and them put the entire family to work. Nathan was a HUGE help! The sidewalk looks pretty good for an amateur! It looks like we have pretty much train everyone to use the side door.

Then there was the shelves in the garage by the kitchen door for Grammy to put her extra kitchen things on. Again Nathan was a big help! Following that I started the repair of the kitchen light area after the kitchen fire. That is not done yet but I have time.

Work has been very busy and I'm quite tired when I get home. Ten hour days followed by a 30 to 45 minute car drive home doesn't leave much room for much except dinner and get ready for bed. 4am comes awfully early!

Of course we have Heather and Nathan living with us now, which makes for a very busy house. It gets mostly quiet around 9:30 pm. They close on thier house in SD this week and if all goes well they will buy the new one before the end of the year. Matha and Leo will move in with them which will leave Sara and the kids here.

Of course there is the issue of San Diego. I still haven't heard anything at this point. I will call my friend there after the New Year if I haven't heard anything by then. Again, if I don't get the position that is okay, but it would be nice to get the pay raise. We will see! If it's meant to be then it will happen!

Christmas is fast approaching and we will have Mamaw stay with us thru the holidays. We flew her out here on Dec. 4th. Due to some rearranging with my brothers in Wyoming, I took her to Rock Springs on the 6th and she stayed a week with Ricky and now she is with Bart and his family. I'm really glad she has had the opportunity to go there and see everyone. It's hard to be with everyone all the time but this is the best we can do. I just hope she is happy!

Last night was a strange one! Mondays are normally hard on me as it's the first day back to work and I normally don't get alot of sleep the night before. Makes for a long day! Well due to some extra work taskings I was going to go into work this morning at 8am instead of 6am. That allowed me to stay up with Grammy as she wanted to do some shoppig last night. Well needless to say we got home around 10pm and I saw the heavy snow on the bushes on the side of the house that were possibly damaging the bushes so as we walked in i stopped to clean off as much as I could really quickly. I was close to being done when I started feeling really tired and just generally didn't feel well. I came in and told Grammy and Heather I wasn't feeling well and my heart felt like it was racing! Grammy touched my nech and said it feels alright to me, I think yor just tired! Go to bed and get some sleep! So I started to do just that. However by the ime I rawled into bed I was not feeling good at all. My chest felt like I had one of the grnadkids on my chest! I knew something wasn't right! So I went down stairs and found the little blood pressure machine we have and strapped it on. My BP was like 130 over 83 and my heart rate was around 120 bpm. Martha insisted I they call 911 or take to the hospital but I didn't want to go just yet!. Basically it stayed like that until almost 11pm when I bored down and got it to stop or slow down finally! I know many of you will tell me I should have gone in or called 911. I just felt it wasn't time to do that. However in hindsight, if it happens again I will do just that. This has scared me a bit! I need to stay off the chocolate and stop eating the kid friendly food that we seem to eat around here! I take my vitamins and I need to go see a family doctor for a check up anyway for some regular tests. So I will get things looked at!

Okay, I will do better at updating this thing and I want to say Merry Christmas!

Crazy-Busy-Happy-Life

Okay here is an update so that my two boys will know what is going on, sorry guys I've been a bit busy.

The 1st picture below is of Grammy's last harvest of carrots from her garden. She had Zuccini, cucumber, pole beans, peppers, tomatoes, potatoes etc. plus the back fence is covered in two types of grapes. Needles to say she has been busy freezing, canning and drying all that she can. The picture below only shows what was left of the carrot harvest. I wonder what it will be like when the fruit trees start producing in two years.

What's up Doc! Thanks Grammy!

The next picture is of Leo helping Grammy nail the bottom panels on the new 10x10 shed I built. I had some great helpers, Chance, Triniti, Leo, Sara, Martha and Grammy assisted at various times but in the end it was about 80% me and 20% a great family supporting an old guy. Truth be told the ladies were worried I'd kill myself or something. Leo loved to hammer and hammer and hammer.

Leo the Tool Guy!

The shed still needs a coat of paint and trim done but it will survive the weather now.

Now, I also started a shed (Covering) for the meat factory. Yep, Grammy wanted me to protect the Rabbits so I'm enclosing the existing framework and extending the roof. It will be painted a light blue/green (per Grammy) and have white plastic lattice for a fashion touch. I've been delayed on this project due to weather, a 10x10 shed, the demo of a garage and house painting in Casper and oh yes - "Work". Luckily I'm not on a time schedule here or else I'd get fired. The picture below shows what I've done and how much I have to go.



Now that Heather, Nathan and kiddo's are here let's say it's BUSY around here. I told her and everyone else it's like having 5 kids again but this time they are my grandkids and Grammy and I have 4 other adults to help us out. Oh I almost forgot the three dogs!

I love these two boys expressions. Heather and the boys were making family home evening treats and what do we get? Two totally opposite expressions! If only adults were like this at work I'd know from a distance who I would want to work with today. Gotta love kids! Expecially when they are your grandkids.

Then suddenly the curious one shows up! "Hey when do I get to try this?"

Utah to Texas to see Little Roger and family!

Ok, I know I could bore you with stories and little tidbits about our trip to Texas, suffice it to say that we really enjoyed ourselves. Being a part of Little Roger's blessing was very special for me. He has a great Mom and Dad and Madison will make a amazing big sister!

Enjoy the photo's and the video's at the end!

Well one of us isn't happy! Where is MOM!

Little Roger is in good hands! Very happy Grammy!

Who is that handsome boy with those men! Wow, three Roger's!

Amazing!

Sleeping boy! Remember the days when you could sleep all day and still have someone feed you and change your diaper!

Little Rogers impression of "Dr. Evil". Too funny!

Can't resist this photo of Maddie!

Caption: "Yes, I'm cute so get over it folks!"

Little Roger upset! I think he is hungry!

Just so you know, he is a really good baby! This is the way he is most of the time!

Texas Trip

Ok, lots of pictures and captions!

Grammie and Little Roger

Sparks Family

Great Family picture!

" Papa let's go for a walk!" Look at those shoes!


Maddie's Butterfly and Winnie the Pooh!

1st week of Sept

Chance "Arrow of Light"

On Wednesday September 2nd Chance and two other boys were awarded their Webelos Badges and their Arrow of Light awards. These are the highest award each young man can earn in Cub Scouts. We are very proud of him especially his mom. Scouting is never easy, if it was everyone would get their Eagle Scout Award! Now he has started on the path to earn his Eagle! Chance loves camping and being in the woods! Amazing how they grow up so fast! Of course he is a "Good Looking kid!" Girls better watch out when he gets older.

Chance with his "Arrow of Light" plaque

Golden Spike

Ok, remember where the first two major Railroads met in Utah! History folks, History! It's where they drove the Golden and Silver Spikes to join the first ever continental railroad. It's about 50 minutes away and it's historical! So I decided to take the kids there on Labor Day! The name is Promontory Summit not Point. Promontory Point has been used in history books for years but they were wrong. The point is south of the summit which is way out in the boonies! Of course back then it was all out in the boonies! Apparently the surveyors of the two railroads actually passed each other by many miles before they figures out where each one was. All in all it was a bit of history that the Grandkids can now say they has seen with their own eyes.

Promontory Summit

Sara and Kids at Golden Spike!

At the Lake!

Sara and I discovered that just 20 minutes north of us is a reservoir/lake that is huge! On Google Earth it looks like part of the great Salt Lake until you zoom in. It's called Willard Bay and it's fed by water from the mountains or so I've been told. There were alot of boats and Wave Runner of all types. 3 beaches with lots of picnic areas. Granted the sand wasn't the finest (a bit rocky) but nice place to take the family and it's close by!

Posing? Now I know where the kids get it!

Interesting! Triniti says the cold water didn't bother her!

Triniti pictures

Here is a picture and video of Triniti at the Gateway Mall fountain the kids had a blast.

I tried different settings on the camera but this one was interesting! I think you can tell she was having fun!

It wasn't as dark as the video shows. Hard to take pictures or video at night without an expensive camera.

Grandson Chance

Well today is Chance's Birthday! We celebrated with him getting his Webelos Rank in Cub Scouts and his Arrow of Light this week. This makes him an Eleven year old scout. We want him to do well in scouts, (perhaps he can get his eagle faster than his Uncles) he loves to camp out. Or maybe I should say he likes to play out in the woods! So I thought I would show two videos of him. One he is playing in Logan with his Football team. This is his first year playing full contact football so he is learning a lot. I've seen a lot of progress in his motivation and willingness to push himself instead of being worried about what the other boys are doing. He is the wide receiver closest to the camera. He doesn't play alot as most of the other boys have been doing this for three years! That's okay he is in 6th grade this year and in Jr. High he will get the chance to do better than this year.

Then last Saturday night Grammy and I were downtown on a date when we went to the Gateway mall for a walk after dinner. We saw a lot of kids running through the fountain and so we called Sara and found out they were just south of downtown. We told her about the fountain and so she brought the kids. The fountain is fun to watch but with kids it was a lot better. I never had such a thing when I was growing up. The best I could hope for was a drive out to the river and swimming with the turtles and snakes.

Time

I find that between my busy schedule at work and the things that must be done at home I forget a lot of the time what I should be doing next. I had a Pres. meeting scheduled last night and I remembered yesterday at work that I had the meeting but by the time I got home and I got busy taking care of taking the pool down I forgot my meeting. How can I keep doing this, I don't know. Thank heaven for MS Outlook at work or else I'd be a real mess. I've taken to using my cell phones (Yes both of them) to put calendar items on them to remind me that I have things to do. Sad! One day I may forget how to get home sometime soon, sure that there is something else I was supposed to do and I'll drive around trying to find out where I'm supposed to be. Scary? I've already caught myself walking into a room knowing I'm supposed to do something but forgetting and them turn around confused wondering "What was I about to do!" or "Why did I come in here!"

Waiting!

Well, waiting for what? Roger Jr. is waiting for the birth of his Son, Little Roger! Alyssa was supposed to go in on Tuesday to be induced but they postponed it until Wednesday last week. Then after they arrived on Wednesday morning they were told that they had no "Beds at the Inn!" The hospital has so only so many beds for this kind of thing so now they are to go in tomorrow! Interestingly, he will be born on August 24th, I was born on June 24th! I'm getting all emotional already! Really! Whew! I can't wait to see that little boy! Sept 10th Gammy and I fly to Texas. Can't wait! Apparently neither can Maddie!

As for Heather and Nate! They are headed here for sure but they are WAITING for the details of the position, like how much will they will pay him etc! Hopefully next week they may hear something. It will be awesome to have them close to us. TJ and Lee are such fun little men! Mom and Dad are pretty cool too!

Grammy has to move to another Walmart store since with Martha as an AP person they finally figured out it could be a conflict of interest for both of them to be at the same store. So Grammy will transfer to another store, hopefully closer. Should know something soon! Yep - Waiting!

I still don't know if the San Diego job will happen or not. The HR system is so buggered up I can't tell if they ever received my application and all my supporting documents. I've talked to the HR Help desk but all they can tell me is "Yes, I believe we have all of your application", however the online dashboard I'm supposed to be able to see any progress is blank! I now have 4 work order #'s trying to get some resolution. Yes I'm waiting!

We are trying to sell one of the rentals, yep! Waiting! Not sure if congress will approve HB 2200 that effects my job in a direct way, did I say I'm waiting for that to happen? Oh they may even approve HB 1881 some day in the future as well. Okay, okay I won't say it!

All in all other than feeling sick for the last three days I'm fine! I am waiting to get over this cold, chest congestion or whatever you want to call it! Can I just say I am grateful I woke up this morning to see my beautiful wife asleep beside me! At least I'm not waiting for her!

I'm such a Lucky man!

Motorcycle Mama!

We were at Sam's club and saw a scooter and a custom motorcycle sitting on the way out. We looked and were amazed at how cheap the scooters were running. $750 to $1,700. Grammy has always talked about how she would like to have a scooter to run around on and save on Gas, etc! Well we left not thinking much else about it and on the way home we see this other scooter store and so we turned around and went in. They were selling a 250 for $2025 out the door and a 150 for $1250 out the door. Plus 1/2 off dealer prep if purchased by Monday. So Grammy says she would like to have it and she has saved enough money to buy one so I want her to be happy and say Yes! It gets 90 mpg and can get up to 50 - 55 mph tops. So no Interstate but around here driving back and forth to work and quick trips to the store for a couple of items it makes sense. Plus if we get the job in San Diego it would come in real handy! At first Grammy was worried about driving it home, so I drove it home. Now after getting her helmet on and driving around the neighborhood she loves it! It has a storage area under the seat and hold just 1 1/2 gallons of gas. There also is two small compartments under the console near where your knee's are. Now, why the impulse? She has always wanted one and if gas prices go back up over $4 a gallon as many experts say it will, this will come in handy. I know what about winter? Well there are many days where the weather is nice and there is no snow or ice. Anyway you should have seen the grin on her face as she came back in from riding it around the area. Wow! Happy Lady! She deserves it!

What can I say it fits her! I have added a back cargo trunk!

Slow Week

Not much is going on, except that Micah is here visiting from Wyoming. Him and Jon S. came up last night from Jon's house and took me to go see "G.I. JOE". It was okay with the CGI graphics and all. It seemed like they used some lines and scenes from Star Wars a bit, like "I'm breaking Up! Agghhhh! CRASH!", Did you know that you can put two Samuri Swords together end to end! Amazing! We got home at 1220 am. Grammy had come home from work so we visited for a few minutes. Well like I said Slow Week! But that's okay!

No more weekends like this!

So why am I cleaning the ceiling?

To find out keep reading below!

Yesterday started out like any other Saturday, except Heather TJ and Lee were here visiting. Everything went fairly well, I began my day getting up at 6am getting dress for working in the Stake Onion Farm. We need to weed the onions each week to keep it all under control. Our ward has 9 rows and the HP have 5 of those. Of course those 5 rows look pretty good. I can't say the Elders rows look the same. I'm not sure if they are raising onions or weeds, the weeds are taller. They may need help soon. I returned home to find Chance, TJ, Leo awake and playing. I ate some breakfast and had Chance get dressed for some yard work. Chance and I started at 9am, I trimmed some more hedges that needed it badly and Chance started mowing the front yard. I finished the hedges and ran in to take a shower. Apparently the girls were waiting (Grammy, Heather and Sara) for us to finish but then Heather and Sara decided to go on their own. Grammy and I stayed and I finished up the yard on the riding lawn mower. Finally the girls returned and Grammy and I left to go have lunch and do some commissary shopping.

So all in all, every thing is fine. We got back and Grammy and the girls left for more shopping, I stayed with Mr. Lee, Triniti and the boys. Later everyone got home, we cooked some chicken on the grill and had corn on the cob, etc. Good dinner. So why my statement "No more weekends like this!" well here's where we set up for an exciting evening. Grammy starts by boiling down the chicken water to get a good broth and the girls leave for a sister night away for a few hours. (Truth be told they go to Walmart! Do we need to get a life or what!) The grand kids are put to bed for the night. I go down stairs and Triniti joins me on the couch as we watch the World swimming championships. Soon Grammy joins us and Triniti falls asleep. The 10pm news just came on and we were watching when suddenly Grammy jumps up and says "Oh NO!" and runs up stairs. I'm used to this as she occasionally forgets something important and hurries off to get it done. No problem right! I go back to watching the news.

Then from the top of the stairs I hear one word "HONEY!" Of course being perceptive man that I am I knew this was not a Honey! Get the trash taken out! kind of call. It wasn't even a Honey! There's a spider in the kitchen kind of thing. Nope! I immediately knew this was a HONEY! (I need you NOW!) kind of call. So I quickly push Triniti off of me and start for the stairs. As I turn to the bottom step around the recliner I hear a "HONEY! FIRE! Well let's just say I flew up the stairs, faster than I normally go up. As I hit the middle of the stairs a distinct smell hits me right away! Something is burning! At the top of the stairs I see a lot and I mean a lot of smoke in the living room. I rush to the kitchen and I find Grammy standing about 4 feet from the stove where a four foot wall of flames is shooting out of the pot that was boiling down the chicken water to a broth. Grammy obviously has tried something and I quickly assess that getting the correct lid from the lower cabinet next to the stove would take too long I asked where's the fire extinguisher as I turn to the place I knew it to be. Grammy tells me here she has it and I grab it, Pull the pin and squeeze the trigger and put the flames out quickly. Now at this point I'm thinking I can't stand the smoke much longer so I say let's get the doors open and get outside. I tell her to go out the back door and I turn to head for the front door when I see Chance (I say I saw him but really I saw most of him, as the top half was shrouded in smoke) in the living room asking what is going on! I yell and say get back to the bedroom and stay there with the door closed. Triniti is starting to come up the stairs and I tell her to get back down stairs and close the door. I'm think of mitigating the smoke getting into other parts of the house. I get the front door open and start coughing the crap out of my lungs. My throat is burning and I'm trying to get clean air into my lungs. I think to myself I hope the neighbors didn't see any of this and try to call 911. Then I hear the garage door opening up I think why is Grammy still in the house. So I run back in and I find her now out back with the smoking pan and she is using the hose with a sprinkler head still attached as a way to stop the smoking. Unfortunately she put the pot on top of the one extension cord so it melts the cord. At about this time Martha calls me to ask what is going on? I figured Chance had called Sara (which he had) so I tell Martha "Do not come in the house as there is too much smoke!" and I hung up on her. Of course this puts them in a worry! Sorry girls! I wasn't thinking real clear at that moment. I thought the girls may have just pulled up out front. So I was thinking about Martha's Asthma and I didn't want her to be affected. I checked on the kids once more and they were okay. The little ones were still asleep and with the doors shut very little smoke would have gotten to them. (As a matter of fact Leo, TJ and Lee slept through the whole ordeal) Soon the girls pulled up, I was out front with Grammy and of course the mother instinct kicked in, "Where's the kids! Are they alright!" There was a little bit of smoke still clearing out and so after we assured them all was okay and what happened. Sara with no breathing issues checked on the kids, who were just fine! Heather or Sara checked the kitchen and we still forgot to turn the burner off! We spent the next several hours cleaning walls, ceilings, the kitchen of course to get most of the smell out of the house. At a little after midnight we called it quits and went to bed. Yes, we made it to church on time at 9am. Today, we cleaned the rest of the house, the carpets, couch, clothes etc and it smells a lot better!

So lessons learned! Do not leave the kitchen with a pot on the stove! Don't forget the fire extinguisher and have it near the kitchen not in the kitchen! Check the smoke detectors (they didn't go off!), and perhaps the most important is to listen to the promptings from the spirit as we are convenced that thats what reminded Grammy of the pot on the stove and we caught it in the nick of time and nothing is majorly damaged! Just some smoke stained cabinets, ceiling, melted overhead light parts and alot of worried people! Metal appliances helped as the microwave is good as new. Amazing!

Check out the pictures below!

Days of 47' Parade

I felt it was important to go to the big Days of 47' Parade in SLC this year. It was to start at 9am and so we left at 6:50am to get there. Martha went ahead to get a spot as all the news talked about the crowds and how people camp out the night before to get a good spot. She found a spot at 500 South and 200 East. It was just wide enough for two chairs across. Of course we were facing east and at first there were overcast skies. But that all changes just before the parade started and so the picture above shows how we were coping. Next year we go or send some one earlier and we must face West not East. Hats or an umbrella would have been a smart thing to do as well. Maybe we will just do the Ogden parade next time.

American way of life - Our Blessings!

Interestingly since living in Europe I've always been thankful for America and how we live. The spaciousness of our country, the ability to move around state to state without having to get papers or approval to do so. Our ability to have relative peace in our lives, free from dictator style oppression with mass murders because we disagree with a leader whether elected or not. No worries of a coup from the military or a rouge general regardless what Hollywood would make us believe. Basically, we are free to live, travel, explore or not and worship or not as we see fit. Sure there are safe guards built into our government through federal and state laws that provide for order and general safety for all. So that one person(s) cannot take unfair advantage of another person(s) without some type of justice that satisfies the Rule of Law! Is America perfect no! Can we accept that change has and will take place yes!

So why the diatribe above? This past week I attended a conference that was put on by our state law enforcement folks on issues that may and do affect us here in the US. What struck me as significant was having these experts who have lived in these foreign countries explain the history of why these trouble spots are so volatile and why we need to be aware of these areas of the world. When they explain that for many who live in these areas violence and starvation, age old hatreds created by well meaning people or governments or some times created by self serving and in I believe in some cases "Evil" people will never go away. No matter what we do as a nation or as a people. Many for these people have had conflict all of their lives. They understand what it means to truly survive day to day.

So this morning I commented to Grammy how fortunate we are that we don't live in Russia with the corruption that according to Business weekly tells of the issues IKEA is having with local regulators. She said doesn't it make you wonder how out of all of God's spirit children we were chosen to live in America. Then during Gospel Doctrine we talked about the Priesthood in D&C 84 and why those who accept the Priesthood have certain obligations to use it righteously for the blessings from Heavenly Father to take hold. So how do we that have this blessing in our lives come to have it. It's because we have been selected or "of the elect" of Heavenly Father to be here at this time. What an awesome responsibility and trust! Makes me wonder when the time comes to meet him again what will he ask us of the trust and the "Talents" he gave us while we lived in America. What good did we do while we had the opportunity? Did we say kind words to others? Were we nice to others? Etc.

I wonder?

The way it's been lately!

Back to work after the Fourth! It was a strange day. I couldn't get in the groove yet I pushed through as always. Last week Mamaw flew home with her new cell phone and she is enjoying having it. It should make it easier for the family to stay in touch with her. I drove to Casper in my truck with Sara and the kids in her car. The trip was to bring back the last of her furniture etc, the sale of the house fell through so she is in a hard way. I wish we could help her out but we are doing all we can to hold on as well. I stayed Thursday night and had dinner with Micah and we then went to see Transformers 2. Good movie, loved the military aircraft scenes especially the B-1 dropping ordinance, felt that in my back side. Micah like the Megan Fox scenes, I don't blame him. It just isn't right for someone to look that good and not be married to Micah. Yep, I'm pulling for a hottie for Micah. Gotta find a way to get that son of mine to SLC. I stayed the night and was gone at the crack of dawn. Grammy and I unloaded the trailer and paddle boats all by ourselves. Not bad for folks in our "later" years. Saturday Grammy had to work until midnight so Martha and I drove to the base and found a spot that must be fairly popular with the base folks as we were able to see the entire valley and fireworks from the base to SLC. Pretty cool. Sunday was different as it was just Grammy and I. No kids to watch after. We were able to hear every testimony.

Now on to something I promised Micah I would do. For the past few months Micah has been telling Grammy that he is learning that the commercial side of the economic downturn will be the next thing to hit. Then a month or so ago a short article from the Business Week magazine we get said the very same things. I can only hope that things will turn around but I will leave that discussion to Micah. I spent Thursday night with him showing me YouTube videos and talking about the economy. Yes, he educated his ol' man a bit. I'm grateful he is interested and wants to learn and track this stuff. I hope he can put it to use some day soon. Anyway I wanted to give Micah a chance to tell us all some of what he is learning. So here you go Micah explain away - educate us! Please respond to what he says if you are interested.

A day at the Beach

It's Saturday and before Grammy had to go to work this afternoon we took a drive south to Saltair. It used to be a famous place for folks to swim in its hey day. Apparently it has been rebuilt and after less than better years it is a seldom used place. We took Mamaw out so she could say she put her feet in the lake. It's the first time we have done this and it was a small walk out to the waters edge from the shore but we all made it. Mamaw had to stop a few times but she said it was worth it. Apparently it is quite shallow for a long ways (just above the ankle) out into the lake. Later we drove into SLC and got lunch and as we were driving around on State St. we saw a Greek restaurant and Grammy said "That looks good!", Chance answers and says "I don't eat Greek food, but I am a Greek God!" We all laughed pretty hard over that one.

What's next?

Well this has been an interesting week. I turned another year older and it was a nice week all in all. My family didn't forget me which was great! For fathers day I got a new radio for my office. I keep hearing about HD Radio and so I wanted one. Grammy and I found one at the BX and so we bought it (since it was the last one) then Grammy gave it to me on Fathers Day! I really like it. It's fairly small (12x6) and the sound is great. I can put my headphones in and my MP3 player if I want to. The cool thing is HD Radio works like this: normally there are radio channels out there and you only hear the those broadcasting i.e. 96.1 or 107.3 or whatever. HD Radio lets the broadcaster split the same band into two channels. The one you normally hear and another one that you can't hear unless you have an HD Radio. It looks like this: 96.1 1 and 96.1 2 or 107.3 1 and 107.3 2. It seems so far they are offering less commercials and more radio from what I hear. Nice thing is there is no subscription fee, you just have to buy the HD Radio. Mine cost less than $100. As for my birthday the family got me a Lowes gift card. That allowed me to buy a variable speed bench grinder that I've wanted for some time now. You should see me try to sharpen the mover blades with a drill and a grinding stone. I start by trying to hold down the blade with one foot while balancing with the other and grinding with both hands. Uncomfortable at best, slow and not very efficient either. Now for the what next part. Sara had a buyer for her house, but there were issues with the appraiser for the FHA loan. One apprasier said no problem with the floor the other said it had to be fixed. In the end the buyer backed out. We will still go and get everything moved but I'm nit sure what she can continue to do finacially. I think we will still go next week to get her stuff but I know she is really bummed out. I wish I could sell our other houses.

Webelos Camp

This was Chance's Webelos overnight campout. We went to Camp Kiesel which is in the mountains east of Eden UT. We had fun.

Entrance to Camp Kiesel

Chance and his camp buddy - Corbin Asay

Heading out - Dry!

Heading back in - Wet!

Check out that form!

Ol' Dead-eye

View from the top above camp. Who is that old man with all of those young guys!

View of hill we climbed on Saturday after the hike!

Actually, I'm grateful I made it to the top and back. I turn 53 next week and they had a part of the hike called Cardiac Hill! Well all I can say is it lived up to it's name.