Christmas 2011

The days quickly come and go but memories do last. This year's Christmas memories are no exception. Louise and I deeply appreciate being able to spend time with Kristen, Janae, Jared and their families the past few days. I will share a few more photos than I planned but compared with the number that I took, it is OK. It was also a delight to be able to visit with Heidi and Steven and their families. We do wish all a very happy and successful New Year.  Dad.

Each Christmas season starts with a flower from the Stephensons. We appreciate the effort made and the nice effect resulting from the beauty of the thoughtful gift.

Janae and Kristen each had lovely trees to brighten their homes. Janae's is shown.

Kristen has a great touch for creating a nice mood. Thanks Fords for the lovely Christmas Eve dinner.

I am so grateful for the good times we can have with family.

This was too good to pass up. Anson made his list and then checked off the things he received. Looks like Santa still has some work to do! That is a full sized sheet of paper.

A mom and her daughters on Christmas morning. Where love is .....

I don't usually get into the picture but I had to add the hat thing.

The gift of self is best but other gifts are certainly fun and appreciated.

All enjoyed the Old Spaghetti Factory meal. Anders had the disadvantage of sitting across the table from me.

Temple Square at this time of the year is a photographer's delight. I was able to hand hold the camera for the photos (1/10 second exposure).

We warmed up in the north visitor's center.

Eirk was the photographer.

Tuesday afternoon: The teachers had a great time talking shop. Thanks Gillettes for your home.

Jeff proudly wore his sweater -- to each his own.

May we never forget -- He is the reason for the season.

Lunar eclipse December 2011

I find looking into the night sky a fascinating experience. However, when I invite others to view the Perseid meteor shower at 2 a.m. or the recent lunar eclipse at 5:45 a.m. this last Saturday morning, there is a scarcity in the ranks. OK, so it is cold and dark but it is still a worth it. I did, however, get Louise and the Fords to take a quick look Saturday morning at the moon. Enjoy.

All photos were taken with a 300 mm lens at f 5.6. I cropped them in PhotoShop. The earlier ones were at 1/80 sec. but the 6:45, 7:00 and 7:10 exposures were at 1 sec to capture the red "hidden" moon. Enough light comes around the earth to illuminate the moon just a bit.

10 p.m., 9 Dec 2011

5:50 a.m., 10 Dec 2011

6:10 a.m.

6:15 a.m.

6:30 a.m.

6:45 a.m.

7:00 a.m.

7:10 a.m. Full eclipse

Panda umbrella

It has been almost five years since Louise and I toured China. We saw the magnificent centuries old buildings of the Forbidden City, sailed down the Li river near Guilin to view the trademark limestone formations, saw the Terra Cotta warriors, and walked the Great Wall. In the midst of all of those memories, we also remember seeing the great pandas in the Beijing zoo. While passing through the gift shop on our way out, Louise spotted a panda umbrella and said "I have to have it." Well, we got it and she has used it in school and other occasions.

I saw a notice in the paper calling for people to bring in their umbrellas for a special article. Louise took it in and the panda umbrella made a splash in The Herald Journal. 

An eye for ... how about six?

Remember that this post is produced by a guy that has collected product on a slaughter house "kill floor" so don't gross out on me. This is high level science!

A few weeks ago Janae mentioned that it would be interesting to have the kids dissect a cow's eye while they were off track. Well, I still have my HyClone contacts (not for the eye) and used them to reserve some body parts for a Tuesday morning. Prior to that we obtained a plastic table cloth, disposable gloves, and scalpels. Erik and I went to the packing plant. I knew we were in for an interesting time when the employee, blood streaked yellow apron and hard hat came walking into the office with a little plastic bag containing six cow eyes. I about lost Erik right there! I put them in our little cooler and headed home.

Once home I trimmed them up a bit and managed to poke me with a scalpel. Don't worry -- "just a flesh wound." The glove I was wearing kept the sample from getting contaminated with B+ human blood.

We assembled 9-10 eager science students -- OK, some were a bit nervous but they were still willing. One was allergic to latex and since that was the only type of gloves we had she was relieved to be an observer. I started off with going through the following visual to explain the wonderful things about the eye. I even got into rods and cones and color blindness, near and far sighted, etc. We then watched a YouTube video on the eye then it was to the table for the knife work.

I did think more than once about five teams of kids with scalpels but the two moms were still there when I passed out the gloves and scalpels so we moved right ahead. I did a demo with one of the eyes. Note that there is fluid between the cornea and the lens (green in the visual). I was tightly holding onto the back of the eye as I cut into the cornea. As I did, some fluid squirted out and onto the arm of an innocent girl sitting next to me. Yaaaaa! came the scream. I'm setting here laughing as I write this -- at least to me it was funny. Anyway, I got through all of the parts. I found the lens very interesting, quite hard yet it stretches as you focus from close to far away objects. What a marvelous creation. I was amazed how beautiful the inside of the eye socket is. It reminded me a abalone shell (see below).

Once we were done I noticed several lenses on the table not doing anything so I thought we could add some personality to the project and there they are smiling at you from the plate.

It was an interesting morning and the kids did learn something about the world around them. Thanks Janae for the idea.

Christmas 2010

We had too good of a Christmas not to share it in some way. It seemed that everyone made some sort of sacrifice to make this event happen and I believe all of us appreciated the opportunity of getting together. People talk about the not so pleasant family gatherings but that is not what we are about. We shouldn't think about "forever families" unless we start that process here on earth and I think we have a pretty good jump on the process! We had a great time and I want to share it mostly in photos but I will add some commentary.

It was a bit foggy buy beauty comes out of trying to find our way. The trees taught us that lesson one morning.

While Heidi spent a few days with the Stephensons, DJ and children spent three days on the mountain with base camp in Hyde Park. It is always a delight to have them around and the ever present discussions with DJ are always appreciated. The sunglasses reminds me of a Joshua comment to his sunglass wearing female ski instructor. It was something like "it looks like you have blue eyes behind those glasses". What a jump that kid has on the guys around him!

Louise has been away from her class since mid-November because of her surgery but that doesn't mean that they have forgotten about her. She was presented with this very nice card by one of her students. Each hand print had a child's name by it.

We all shared in the nicest gift of the year with Steven coming for a most welcome two day visit prior to his deployment. We got him into the living room without Brynn seeing him then took her in for her "big surprise" from Salt Lake. It was a sweet, tender moment that we all shared. Thanks to Steven and Lindsay.

What would Christmas be without treats and fun projects? I made the gingerbread dough and rolled it out for the kids to decorate. Louise supplied the fun stuff (decorations) to liven up the cookies and (next photo) the houses. Some were nice little works of art and others were clusters of candy to be consumed -- it was fun either way they were used.

We so appreciated Tre's direction for the Christmas Eve reminder of the gift of the Savior. He commented that no director has ever worked with any cast with a shorter attention span! Tre knew his Luke 2 very well so the event was reenacted in spite of a few cast substitutions and smiles along the way.

 I also enjoyed the carols that we sung to Lisa's capable assistance on the piano.

I considered each person's presence a gift. My parents are doing remarkably well and their attending the evening was appreciated. Dad brought his traditional Philadelphia cream cheese chip dip to make it an official family event.

We laugh as a family about lining up on Christmas morning to go to our presents. Well it is now going into the next generation. Notice the "Joy" sign on the wall. It is most fitting as I look at the faces of the children.

As I reviewed my many photos of Christmas morning (what a crazy, noisy sixty minutes from 7:00 to 8:00!), I captured the joy of the moment in Janae and her daughter's faces. I also liked the reminder from my Norwegian message just above Megan's head of "God Jul" -- Merry Christmas.

Again -- thanks to all of the family. We missed having the Fords us but thanks to Skype, we were able to visit with them. It was nice to relax and wander in our PJs and Levis.

To our grandchildren, Louise and I sent our love and appreciation. The older ones do such a nice job of helping with the little ones. Thank you for your good examples to your friends, for doing so well in school, and for giving all of us hope in the future as we see that you are grounded in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010

Thanksgiving 2010

Yesterday, Thanksgiving 2010, dawned very cold (-13F) but that did not freeze my thoughts on how very thankful I am for a multitude of blessings. I looked back over some of the photos I have taken this Fall and some express my feelings of thanksgiving.

How more traditional can one get than to be thankful for the work of our hands -- whether it be in the garden, from our orchards, from the office and factory, or from the work in our homes. We had a marvelous apple harvest this year of twenty three bushels of our five varieties. I dried them, had cider made, processed them for pie apples and apple sauce, and gave many away. Our squash also produced a good harvest. I particularly like winter varieties and we now have 125 pounds stored in our basement.

I am thankful for the beauty of our world. The trees in our front yard put on a nice display especially in the morning sun. Once they fell, some were put on our garden and the rest I bagged and gave to a friend that raises goats that help him backpack in the mountains. He said the leaves are a treat especially when then start to decay -- hmm, does that mean ferment?

I am thankful for families. We took a hike with the Stephensons around the temple granite quarry at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon. The granite used in the Salt Lake Temple is a wonderful reminder of the solid foundation that families give to our society. May all of us remember that families are certainly forever. We are so thankful for each of our children and their special spouses and families.

I am thankful for grandchildren. They can learn from me and I have certainly learned from each of them. They are precious and each is a gem that blesses our lives.

I am thankful for our freedoms in our wonderful United States of America. It had an inspired beginning and I trust that the freedoms we so value we be supported by the citizens of our country. Louise is representing the past veterans (wearing Gilbert's navy uniform just prior to going to school to celebrate Veteran's Day) and Steven represents those currently making sure each of us can enjoy our freedom today and in the future.

I went with Erik and Claire to the Hill AFB museum to enjoy the wonderful display of aircraft. The displays of bombers, fighters, and yes, Erik's favorite SR-71 spy plane reminded me of the investment and effort we must make to preserve our freedom.

 I am thankful for our home. It helped us to raise our sweet family and gave them a place to come home to at the end of the day. It continues to protect us from the physical elements (note the drifts on the south eves as a result of the Blizzard of 2010 the night before). I feel it also helped to protect our children from the harmful elements of our society.

I am thankful for my wonderful wife Louise and our eternal relationship. I am determined to call her my "sweetheart" forever. I am thankful for our health -- even when it requires some adjustment as in her hysterectomy just days prior to this photo (reason I only got a photo of her hands as she laid in her "control center" of drinks, food, TV controls, and telephone).