It Matters to Me

Mr Hobbs, the Meteorologist

2012-01-14T14:09:00.000-08:00

Mr Hobbs, it turns out, is a talented pig. A weather pig, to be exact. See, he can tell weather.

When he's dry, its clear and sunny. When its hard to see him, its night. When he's wet its raining. When he's got snow on him, like today, its snowing. When its light but hard to see him, it foggy. Yep, a talented pig, that Mr Hobbs.

How It Was

2012-01-11T11:44:00.000-08:00

Brombeere (as she and Schwarzebeere were cleaning up after dinner): I'm full.
Schwarzebeere: I'm not.
B: You're not?
S: Nope.
B: Why not?
S: I always breath out and then I'm empty.

Oink

2012-01-07T12:46:00.000-08:00

We have a new decoration at our house. A pig (Sus scrofa domesticus) has come to stay with us. An Essex Saddleback pig, to be exact. Niiiiiiiice. I like him. Yes, we're going to call it a "him" pig. Because I want to. Now I've got to figure out a name for him. I had the perfect name but he turns out to be the wrong breed so we'll keep looking. Maybe we'll call him Mr. Hobbs. Yeah, I like that. Mr. Hobbs, it is. Full name is Mr. Fisher Hobbs.

This pig's journey to our house is fun. After years of going about life and seeing the various things people decorate their yards with I came to the conclusion that the only thing I'd really feel comfortable with in my yard was a cement pig. Over the last several years I've made this comment a few times and I guess people were listening. Last summer Brombeere happened to see one for sale at an antique shop. So she got it. It was pretty sad looking so she enlisted Erdbeere's help and snuck it to her while everybody but me was looking. Erdbeere took it home, cleaned it up and painted it. Then, when she came back up here for Christmas she brought it with and they put it under the tree. Well, not actually under the tree, but behind my chair, which was right next to the tree. And enough out of sight that I didn't even realize it was there until Christmas morning when a couple of the boys carried it out from behind the chair and gave it to me. Pretty cool, uh? So he sat in our living room for a few days so he could be admired. Then the boys moved him outside. Cool. I like him.

A Lot of Stuff in Not Much Time

2012-01-02T12:47:00.000-08:00

The holiday season this year stretched from just before Thanksgiving clear through to New Years. And a lot happened during that time. Just before Thanksgiving our son, Stachelbeere came home from the Marshall Islands. He'd been there serving a mission there and had finished. Its so good to have him home. He's changed so much, grown so much. The beads he's wearing here are actually seashells, given to him by people he knew as he was leaving.

When he came we had almost all the rest of the kids together as well. All but one family was able to make it to the airport to see him in. So once we had our missionary we went into town and had some lunch. We make a big, noisy crowd.

They were probably glad to see us go from the restaurant, not that we were messy or a hassle, just a noisy crowd. It was a good time. Our daughter and her family, who live out west, were able to stay for a week so we had lots of good time with them. One of the other kids lives near by with her family and brought her boys over to the house to make cookies. That was fun.

Making cookies and watching little kids help in the kitchen is so entertaining. They love it. They can be so messy. During these holidays we actually had all four grandkids together for a day. That was fun.

Unfortunately, the week ended and Heidlebeere and her family had to go back home. But it was okay because they were all coming back for Christmas! The day before everyone else got here, Erdbeere and her husband came up. This year she took a stab at making the traditional "candy cane" bread, a yummy treat we make every Christmas. Turned out pretty good, I thought.

The next day Heidlebeere and her family, along with Moosebeere and his family arrived. They actually ended up coming in on the same flight. That was fun.

We're a great group to get together and play card games. We have a pretty good selection at the house so we usually have a couple of them out. Killer Bunnies is a favorite. The Great Dalmudi is another.

Christmas was on Sunday this year so we didn't open presents until after we'd gone to church. What a fun time it was to see everybody open their stuff. Most of the grandkids are old enough to know what presents are about. They're fun to watch. It wasn't always the new presents that were the biggest hit, tho.

In and around all the festivities Brombeere and I both managed to get sick, which was no fun. But no one else seemed to have caught it so that turned out okay. But in the end, because we were both getting over being sick, there were times when we were exhausted by everything going on. Still we wouldn't trade a minute of it all. Its so wonderful to have everyone here. Its been a number of years since we have all been able to get together. We were already talking about when and where the next time will be. We'll have to follow up on that one. It was such a wonderful time.

It was almost like heaven.

How it was

2011-11-26T17:55:00.000-08:00

So I'm sitting here, minding my own business, when Himbeere holds out his finger and says, "Look at this".

I lean in close and look but I can't tell what it is. So I guess "dirt"? After all, his whole hand is pretty dirty.

He responds, "belly button lint".

All I can say is "Did I really want to know that?"

Sunday Scripture

2011-10-16T13:31:00.000-07:00

13 Now when the people had said this, and withstood all his words, and reviled him, and spit upon him, and caused that he should be cast out of their city, he departed thence and took his journey towards the city which was called Aaron.
14 And it came to pass that while he was journeying thither, being weighed down with sorrow, wading through much tribulation and anguish of soul, because of the wickedness of the people who were in the city of Ammonihah, it came to pass while Alma was thus weighed down with sorrow, behold an angel of the Lord appeared unto him, saying:
15 Blessed art thou, Alma; therefore, lift up thy head and rejoice, for thou hast great cause to rejoice; for thou hast been faithful in keeping the commandments of God from the time which thou receivedst thy first message from him. Behold, I am he that delivered it unto you.

Alma 8:13-15

Times getting short!

2011-10-08T16:19:00.000-07:00

This picture of my missionary was actually taken not too long after he arrived in country. I've always liked it. So far, of all his missionary pictures, I think this is my favorite. Its hard to believe that he will becoming home in just over a month. We got his final itinerary the other day. Its exciting. And an added bonus is all the family that will come when he gets home. So far its looking like everyone but Moosberre and his family will be able to be here. I'm looking forward to that. Stachelbeere's plans are to work while he's here and then go to school in January. He doesn't know yet if he's been accepted yet at his first choice. His second choice says he's accepted if there's space (they won't know until closer) and his third choice has accepted him. We'll have to see how that goes. So should we start a big count-down? Nah, we'll just patiently wait. Maybe.

Sunday Scripture

2011-09-11T15:57:00.000-07:00

I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Acts 20:35

2011-07-30T12:08:00.000-07:00

Thursday we had a storm blow through that dropped some pretty heavy rain for a while. According to the weather almanac, about 2.75 inches in about 3 hours. But it was a warm, summer rain. So of course the kids had to go out and play in it. Actually, they went for walks. But we got this picture before they left. Needless to say, they were all pretty wet by the time they got home.

Camping!

2011-07-16T12:57:00.001-07:00

We went camping this weekend at our favorite camp ground. Sissy camping (with water, electricity, showers, flushies, the whole nine-yards). Not roughing it but we like it. We got there, pitched the tent and then set about relaxing. The menus were all planned so that no cooking was involved.

Brombeere got the fire going - she's the best "boy scout" in our family. Then we set up the camp chairs and got out the marshmellows. Schwarzebeere made sure that we ended up with the mega-sized marshmellows.

Some of us are better at cookingmarshmellows than others. Brombeere's, of course, turned out near perfect.

Others prefer theirs a little more cooked.

It was a good time. Lots of relaxing got done. Being the first one awake in the morning means some very peaceful, quiet time. And, as usual, it rained. Fortunately, only a little. It was a good time.

Sunday Scripture

2011-01-09T18:57:00.000-08:00

18 And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.
19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.
20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers:
21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
Isaiah 30:18-21

How it Was

2010-10-24T14:14:00.000-07:00

The other day my biggest grandson was over visiting with his Mom and little borther and as the afternoon was progressing somehow the topic of discussion turned to gardening. I turn to the little fella and asked, "Do you have a green thumb?"

He looked at me like I had suddenly sprouted a second head and said, "No! My thumb is pink!"

Me: "You know, your Mom has a green thumb."

He: "No she doesn't! Her thumb is pink, too!"

Me: "Your Mom is really good at gardening and making things grow in her garden. So we say she has a green thumb."

He: Her thumb is pink! Thumbs are pink, not green!"

We all had a good smile. He's a cutie.

Back to school

2010-08-31T18:06:00.000-07:00

Early morning seminary starts tomorrow. ugh

I Have a New Grandson!

2010-07-26T09:02:00.000-07:00

Now silly me; when my daughter told me a long time ago that she was due on August 19th, I remembered that day. If I ever heard of any update to it I didn't remember it at all. So here I've been thinking all this time that the baby was still 3 or 4 weeks away. Grandma, who was scheduled to be the babysitter for the first grandson when this second one came along, even decided she had time to slip in a quick trip out west to visit some of the kids out there. So Yesterday morning I got up and went to church like a normal Sunday. I was sitting on the stand and church had just starting when someone slipped me a message that Blauberre was having contractions and was thinking that the day had arrived. I thot; no, this is too early. We've been praying that she would stay pregnant a little longer. So I left the meeting, went outside and called Blaubeere. Got her husband (I like him) and he said she was having some pretty good contractions but they were still at home. We talked about me watching their little boy should they decide to go to the hospital and that he would call back if they decided to go in. And I'm thinking this is too early - this kid needs to wait.

But you know how babies can be. No waiting if he doesn't want to wait. So we got thru church and were just pulling into the driveway when he called again. They were going to the hospital. So Maulbeere ran in, grabbed a few things and we backed out back out the driveway and left for Blaubeere's house. A little later we were at Blaubeere's house, all of us doing the waiting game, getting periodic updates from the hospital. And we waited. And we waited. And we waited. You know how babies can be; hurry up and wait. At least that how we were feeling. I'm sure the Mom and Dad weren't seeing it quite that way. Plenty to keep you occupied in the delivery room. But at home we just waited and waited. Finally it was getting late enough that we needed to figure out how we were going to do the next day as I was supposed to go to work and Maulbeere was supposed to be to school and the grandbaby needed someone to keep an eye on him 'til his folks got home. So we got things figured out and arranged and all came back to my house. Where we continued to wait. Only this time we didn't have to wait a whole lot more. About an hour after we got home we got the call that the kid had arrived and everything was perfect! That was good news. And the little guy was well over seven pounds, which meant he really wasn't all that early at all! That was good news!

So now there's a new little boy in Blaubeere's family. That's cool. That makes me happy. They're both doing fine and will probably be going home tomorrow. No pictures yet - nobody's had a chance to get them published any where yet, tho I'm told I'll get to see some a little later today when the new Daddy gets here to pick up the new big brother. I'm looking forward to that. Babies are such happy things. So fresh and new and full of promise. Babies are wonderful things. Especially this one - he's my grandbaby.

An interesting Thing Happened Today

2010-07-06T15:30:00.001-07:00

Yea, so I had just dropped Maulbeere off and was heading to work this morning and came to a red traffic light. As I was pulling up behind the pick up truck (a Ford F150, I might add) already stopped at the light I noticed a mouse run from the curb out under the truck under the front axle. It ran to the driver's side tire and hopped up on the tire just as the light turned green. Bad move. Well, now my curiosity was up so as I followed this truck down the road I made sure to hang back enough so I could keep an eye on that tire; I was sure that little mouse was going to come flying out any minute. But as the truck pulled up to stop at the next light that little mouse still hadn't fallen out. I was just beginning to think I may have missed it when it fell out, kinda bounced out onto the road a few inches from the tire, still under the truck. Didn't move much. I suppose that was understandable considering the ride it had just had. Then the light changed and the truck pulled away. I slowly started forward and when the shadow was off the mouse it didn't have any obvious injury but it was still sitting there, just kind of looking around. It was obviously still alive. Well, traffic was moving and I had to go. It was still sitting there in the same place as it passed out of sight under my car. Traffic was too heavy for me to see if it was still there after I passed over it. Man, what a ride that little mouse had.

A Fun Thing to Watch

2010-06-27T15:03:00.000-07:00

Sitting on the stand at church affords me a great opportunity to engage in one of my favorite pastimes: people watching. Today we had a high councilman visiting. His married daughter and her family live in our branch and was a little late to church this morning. So they come in during the opening song, find them a seat and get all settled in. Then she leans over to her two girls, ages 3 and 4, and tells them their grandpa is on the stand. So you could see the intense look of concentration as they look and look and look for him. And then the magic moment; they found him. Their faces lit up like little beacons, you could see the joy sweep across their faces. That was choice. And then the secret little wave to him. And, as discreetly as you can from on the stand, he smiled and waved back. That was fun to watch.

2010-06-19T17:00:00.000-07:00

Wow. April and May have slipped by in an instant. Well, okay. There were some things go on that have kept me busy during this time. I had learned some 22 1/2 years ago that losing a parent is not easy. I got a reminder recently as my Mom passed away. Maybe because my Mom's passing was less expected than my Dad's. Maybe because now both my parents are gone. Maybe because I have always derived a certain amount of comfort from having her around, even if it was hundreds of miles away. It felt so out of place to drive out to her house and be in her home without her being there. I can't begin to describe all the feelings that were flying around in my heart during that trip out. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family - it made this difficult time so much easier. It was so good to see my children all together (except my missionary, who had a good reason for not being there), having a thoroughly enjoyable time being together. That happens so seldom these days. That's the blessing that hides in funerals; good times with family. I'm glad we had time that we didn't have to rush out and right back.

Okay, it's not Sunday. But here's a scripture that has always meant a lot to me: "Thou shalt live together in love, insomuch that thou shalt weep for the loss of them that die". (D&C 42:45). We do that and its such a wonderful way to live.

How it Was

2010-03-21T16:08:00.000-07:00

So this is kinda how it went:

Himbeere was getting ready to go home teaching. He walked in and dropped his shoes on the floor and then sat down to put his socks on. One shoe landed fairly close to where he sat down, the other came to rest a foot or two out of reach. So he says to Quasar to fetch his shoe and bring it over. Quasar, of course, paid absolutely no attention. So he grumps and grumbles for a bit and then goes quiet as he puts his socks and first shoe on. When he was ready for the other shoe he says to Maulbeere, who has been sitting at the computer all this time and is actually farther away from his shoe then he is, “Hey, stand up and get my shoe for me.” Everyone in the room busts out laughing at this point and even Himbeere can’t help but smile at the ridiculousness of what he just said. Yea, so that’s pretty much what happened. That boy is a good source of entertainment.

So who finally got the shoe? Himbeere did. Good for him!

Sure Sign of Spring

2010-03-07T13:32:00.000-08:00

Forget the robin, it was wrong anyway. And the groundhog. Here's the sure sign of Spring.

Notice he's barefoot. Himbeere had to cross about 20 feet of snow to get to his hammock. Brrrrrrrrrrrrr

Borrorwed from my Niece

2010-02-27T14:35:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago my niece posted this mem onher blog. I thought it was fun so I'm doing the same.

*Who eats more: Probably me. She lost a ton of weight over the last while and is looking really good.

*Who said I love you first: Me; I fell in love with her first

*Who is smarter: Definitely her

*Who does the laundry: She does it more often than me

*Who does the dishes: That’s probably even

*Who sleeps on the right side of the bed: How do you tell? If you stand at the bottom and face the bed, she sleeps on the right.

*Who mows the lawn: Isn’t that one of the things kids are for?

*Who cooks dinner: She probably does it a little more often than me.

*Who drives when you are together: Usually me

*Who kissed who first: Both; it was just after we’d agreed we would get married. But before we were officially engaged.

*Who asked who out first: I asked her out on our first date. Took me half an hour

*Who has more siblings: She does

*Who wears the pants: We both make the decisions

*Who is funnier? Schwarzebeere says Mom is funniest but that he is funnier than both of us combined.

They're Here!!!

2010-02-20T09:31:00.000-08:00

Heidlebeere and her little baby came to see us! Here she is seven weeks, almost two months old and we're finally getting to see and hold our newest grandbaby for the first time. Incredible. That's the down side of have your kids live so far away. Oh, well. It sure is nice to have them here.

What a cute little girl!

This kid has a grandmother that is totally enjoying have this little baby here. I had forgotten how small a little infant is. She is so tiny.

Everybody was enjoying the little kid.

Band Concert

2010-02-20T09:01:00.000-08:00

Maulbeere had a concert at school Thursday. She was in the first band that played. First the whole band trooped in. Can you see her?

They sounded pretty good. Her concerts are getting much better than when she was in the younger bands.

She always says she's nervous before these things start. But when she gets there and into it she settles down and does a good job. The band sounded real nice.

A Sunday Thought

2010-01-10T17:42:00.000-08:00

When I see the words “command” and “evil” in the scriptures I think how modern society has vilified these words to make them more harsh than they really are, or at least than they originally were. As you read the scriptures, almost every time we get council from the Lord it is in terms of a commandment. You seldom see a softer word used. But you can frequently tell from the context, and you know from your other study of the character of the Lord, that He does not generally use it in harshness. He sometimes might be pleading with us to accept what He’s offering but could still use the word “command”. He commands us to be happy and accept what He offers us and many of us are repulsed at it simply because of the word “command”, forgetting why we came here. Makes you wonder if the adversary has worked to give that word its repulsive connotation in our time. Especially in American society where so many of us think we’re being individualists as we wear the uniform of our chosen life style and persona. “Evil” is much the same way. We all know and readily recognize that “no unclean thing can enter into the presence of God.” That means a little bit of disobedience will keep you out just as effectively as a horribly gross amount of wickedness. So when the Lord says we are evil, He’s not calling us horrible or incredibly wicked. He’s just acknowledging that we are disobedient enough to be disqualified. Thank goodness for the Atonement! This incredible gift is from a Very Special Person who knew from the start we would need help getting back and has provided a way.

"How great the wisdom and the love
That filled the courts on high
And sent the Savior from above
To suffer, bleed, and die!

"His precious blood he freely spilt;
His life he freely gave,
A sinless sacrifice for guilt,
A dying world to save.

"By strict obedience Jesus won
The prize with glory rife:
"Thy will, O God, not mine be done,"
Adorned his mortal life.

"He marked the path and led the way,
And every point defines
To light and life and endless day
Where God's full presence shines.

"How great, how glorious, how complete,
Redemption's grand design,
Where justice, love, and mercy meet
In harmony divine!"

Eliza R Snow

A Most Glorious Event

2009-12-31T11:06:00.000-08:00

Want to see something fantastic? Take a look at my new grandbaby!

Heidelbeere's first child. She did pretty good for the first time, eh? One cute little girl.

The happy Mom. . . . .

The proud Dad!

A miracle, very nice indeed.

Sitting in her great-grandmother's lap. Thanks to the parents for making these photos available so quickly!

Sunday Scripture

2009-12-13T18:32:00.000-08:00

And blessed are they who shall seek to bring forth my Zion at that day, for they shall have the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost; and if they endure until the end they shall be lifted up at the last day, and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb; and whoso shall publish peace, yea, tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be.
I Nephi 13:37

Big Snow

2009-12-13T14:30:00.000-08:00

Well, winter is finally here and it came in a big way. The storm started last Tuesday night and kept up until Thursday. These pictures are from Wednesday mid-morning.

I got stuck in the end of the drive-way, where the plow had turned the snow into our drive=way. They won't let you just shovel it back out into the street. How is that fair? Anyway, I didn't hit the pile hard enough going thru it and got stuck. Fortunately there were those to help push me out. School had been cancelled Wednesday so I got some help.

Couple of things around the yard, with snow piled deep. We got about 11 inches by mid-morning Wednesday. Then the snow quit falling quite so hard.

So after all the work was done and the drive-way, deck and steps were clear: Hot Chocolate and Cookies!! Yay!! 'Course, we had to make the cookies first but nobody minded that. Some times its a contest around here to get them baked before the dough gets all snitched away. Popular stuff!

Sunday Scriptures

2009-12-06T19:03:00.000-08:00

And now I say unto you, who shall declare his generation? Behold, I say unto you, that when his soul has been made an offering for sin he shall see his seed. And now what say ye? And who shall be his seed? Behold I say unto you, that whosoever has heard the words of the prophets, yea all the holy prophets who have prophesied concerning the coming of the Lord - I say unto you, that all those who have hearkened unto their words, and believed that the Lord would redeem his people, and have looked forward to that day for a remission pf their sins, I Say unto you, that these are his seed, or they are the heirs of the kingdom of God. For these are they whose sins he has borne; these are they for whom he has died, to redeem them from their transgressions. And now, are they not his seed? Yea, and are not the prophets, ever one that has opened his mouth to prophesy, that has not fallen into transgression, I mean all the holy prophets ever since the world began? I say unto you that they are his seed. And these are they who have published peace, who have brought good tidings of good, who have published salvation; and said unto Zion: thy God reigneth?
Mosiah 15:10-14

A Good Worker

2009-11-14T11:19:00.000-08:00

This summer has provided plenty of opportunity for service for our kids. Himbeere has been real good about going and helping for pretty much all of it. The Stake had a service project for the quarterly activity earlier in the summer. Out west of the stake house a ways is a garden park where the stake youth put in a good Saturday's work pulling weeds, moving bark and generally doing spring clean up.

That one had some perks that Himbeere didn't object to at all. He has a way of working his way into the cushy-jobs but he still gets the work done.

A few weeks later there was an eagle service project for one of the other boys in the troop. They removed an old boat house that had fallen down and was a real eye-sore. That day it was all rainy and a little cool but he still was there, working along until the work was done.

A little later there was another eagle service project. This time they were splitting logs and building a rail fence. Himbeere got some experience running a post-hole digger. Heavy machinery? Maybe not, but they got the job done.

The batteries on my camera died before it was all done so we didn't get any pictures of the finished product but it was a pretty nice looking fence.

Just last Wednesday the Elders and Young Men went out to the house of one of the members to move firewood for the family. They heat with wood and had been cutting it all out front so it needed to be moved back around behind the house, closer so it wouldn't be such a trek to bring in wood all winter. That one got done after dark. They had a generator and lights and all but we didn't end up getting any pictures.

Then this morning the troop had arranged to help out a retired guy who had some trees across the street from the church that had become diseased so some of them needed to be taken out. All the cutting had pretty much been done before today. The work today was just loading it all up and hauling it off.

He confided in me that he enjoys this kind of physical work. That's a good thing because life is full of it. Himbeere can be a good worker.

Sunday Scripture

2009-11-01T12:49:00.001-08:00

"Love. Healing. Help. Hope. The power of Christ to counter all troubles in all times - including the end of times. That is the safe harbor God wants for us in personal or public days of dispair. That is the message with which the Book of Mormon begins, and that is the message with which it ends, calling all to "come unto Christ, and be perfected in him." That phrase - taken from Moroni's final lines of testimony, written 1,000 years after Lehi's vision - is a dying man's testimony of the only true way."
Elder Jeffery R Holland, October Conference, 2009

So Very Far Away

2009-10-25T09:11:00.001-07:00

Clear way back in June his mission call came. It seemed like an incredibly long time between then and when he was supposed to enter the MTC. He was anxious to get going but they had to allow plenty of time for him to get his visa and all the other stuff he had to get to be able to do. He had to take a bunch more medical test, even a letter from his bank. It was amazing. But now all that is in and sent off. Then it was just waiting around. So he continued attending institute and spent a lot of time with the missionaries here where we live. That was a good thing. Then, finally, the time was getting seriously close. He ended up speaking in church twice, giving a sort of farewell. Remember, we don't do farewells anymore, but the ward we used to live in wanted to have him talk. And then the branch we live in now also wanted to hear from him. I told him it was okay to give the same talk in both places.

Then, the Sunday before he left our stake president came to visit our branch so we didn't have to travel clear to the northern end of the stake to get him set apart this time. That was nice. So he was set apart right in our own building. That was a good time. And it was a good blessing. To have words spoken in a blessing seems like such a simple thing but When you stop to realize the Lord's promise and strength are behind it you begin to get a vision of just how well the Lord arms you when he sends you on an errand. And there were a lot of things in the blessing that were comforting to his parents, too. This kids is going out to spend the next two years on a group of tiny little islands way out literally in the middle of the biggest ocean on earth. His mission president called it a "high adventure" and it certainly will be. So we can't help but worry about him.

Then the next day it was off to the airport to begin the journey. We purposely put the flight leaving late in the day so we could all be there. This was the big send off. So first it was get checked in. . . .

And then get through security. They were actually pretty good to him. Had to take off his shoes. Unless I missed someone, it looked to me like there was only him and one other person on the airplane. That's all I saw board.

So after all the goodbyes, he was gone. It has felt really weird to have only the three youngest kids at home any more. Each time someone has left it has felt like someone was missing every time we'd get together for meals or anything. We're going to miss that boy. Personally I hope he spends most of his time on the main islands. Missionaries on the outer islands don't have access to the Internet (no emails) or even regular mail service. They get visited from the mission home at least once every six weeks and thats when they get and send mail. It occurred to us that if we want a Christmas package to get there any where near on time it needs to go in the mail right away. I haven't checked on the postage rates for airmail yet but I'll bet its pretty steep. And slow-boat takes so long.

I was at the stake center yesterday where they have a map of the world showing where all the missionaries from the stake are serving. There were all the names clustered around North and South America. And then, way off to the far right side of the map, clear out at the very edge, was Stachelbeere's name. He's going so very far away.

Sunday Scripture

2009-10-25T08:44:00.001-07:00

Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.
D&C 123:17

How it went

2009-10-17T13:39:00.000-07:00

So this is sorta how it went:

Himbeere: Which socks should I wear? The brown ones or the grey ones?

Me: The brown ones.

Himbeere: Okay, thanks. I'll wear the grey ones.

(but then a few minutes later he came out with the brown ones on.)

Sunday Scripture

2009-10-11T12:44:00.000-07:00

61 Wherefore, go to, and call servants, that we may labor diligently with our might in the vineyard, that we may prepare the way, that I may bring forth again the natural fruit, which natural fruit is good and the most precious above all other fruit.
70 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard sent his servant; and the servant went and did as the Lord had commanded him, and brought other servants; and they were few.
71 And the Lord of the vineyard said unto them: Go to, and labor in the vineyard, with your might. For behold, this is the last time that I shall nourish my vineyard; for the end is nigh at hand, and the season speedily cometh; and if ye labor with your might with me ye shall have joy in the fruit which I shall lay up unto myself against the time which will soon come.
72 And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their mights; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them; and they did obey the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard in all things.

Jacob 5:61, 70-72 (Italics added)

"ounnized"

2009-10-06T18:40:00.001-07:00

So, I just posted a comment on a blog. You know how it has you type in the goofy letters so it can be sure you're not some spam program throwing out some unwanted advertisement? Well, the letters I had to type were "ounnized". That almost looks like a real word. I wonder what it is to get "ounnized"?

Sunday Scripture

2009-10-04T17:08:00.001-07:00

4 For he said: Thou art merciful, O God, for thou hast heard my prayer, even when I was in the wilderness; yea, thou wast merciful when I prayed concerning those who were mine enemies, and thou didst turn them to me.
5 Yea, O God, and thou wast merciful unto me when I did cry unto thee in my field; when I did cry unto thee in my prayer, and thou didst hear me.
6 And again, O God, when I did turn to my house thou didst hear me in my prayer.
7 And when I did turn unto my closet, O Lord, and prayed unto thee, thou didst hear me.
8 Yea, thou art merciful unto thy children when they cry unto thee, to be heard of thee and not of men, and thou wilt hear them.
9 Yea, O God, thou hast been merciful unto me, and heard my cries in the midst of thy congregations.
10 Yea, and thou hast also heard me when I have been cast out and have been despised by mine enemies; yea, thou didst hear my cries, and wast angry with mine enemies, and thou didst visit them in thine anger with speedy destruction.
11 And thou didst hear me because of mine afflictions and my sincerity; and it is because of thy Son that thou hast been thus merciful unto me, therefore I will cry unto thee in all mine afflictions, for in thee is my joy; for thou hast turned thy judgments away from me, because of thy Son.

Alma 33:4-11

How it Works

2009-09-30T15:43:00.000-07:00

On our trip out west last month we did "sunshine hours" to help the kids get thru the long drive. This is a long and history rich tradition that any of the kids would be deliriously happy to tell you about if you asked. The idea is simple. They behave for an hour and they get some kind of prize. Himbeere got a prize and demonstrated how it works. Hold it thus. . . . .

And squeeze!

School looks

2009-09-27T12:56:00.000-07:00

This afternoon Himbeere was showing me the faces he uses at school.

And this one is when the bell rings at the end of class.

Another One in Marching Band!

2009-09-12T17:26:00.001-07:00

Its been a few years since we had one in high school marching band. Heidelbeere was our last one and she graduated a while ago. But Maulbeere has been in band for the last couple of years and this year is a high school sophomore. That means when she signed up for band this year she automatically ended up in marching band. She wasn't too thrilled with that at first but I think after last night's game, which was the first one she had to go to, she may be a little more warmed up to the idea. I think she actually had a little fun. First the band stood in front of the home side stand and played some opening numbers, including the national anthem. That was cool.
When they were done with the pre-game music they took their place in the stands. She found a couple of friends to sit by and seemed to enjoy herself. It was nice to have a guaranteed seat. The game was well attended; it was against their rival. The crowd was so big that some of the late home fans ended up sitting on the visiting side.

Then, just before half time started, they all went down to the side lines and lined up to go out on the field during half time.

Maulbeere had actually sprained her pinkie in gym the day before the game so she wasn't actually playing. When she had asked the band leader about it he said to take her place and just fake it.

So out she went and faithfully stood in with the band. No one was the wiser. And it the end everything was okay. The band sounded great and the team won.

High Adventure

2009-09-08T18:30:00.000-07:00

It was a holiday and everyone had been pretty good about getting their chores and stuff done in the morning. But the clincher was Brombeere needed to get some homework done and needed the house to be quiet. Besides, this may well have been Stachelbeere's last rock climbing expedition before leaving for his mission. So we piled in the car and headed to Castle Rock. I don't know if that's the official name of this rock formation but that's what we call it. It is at the north end of the Castle Rock flowage on the Wisconsin River, on the Juneau county side. The kids like it. Its not the most challenging of the different rock formations we climb on, but it is the tallest.

Just a little bit up the trail, looking back down to where we parked the car. You can just barely see it peeking through the trees.

Starting up the trail.

It didn't take too long to reach the top. And the view is pretty nice.

Lots of trees. Most of the area around the flowage is undeveloped. Nice.

On a clear day you can see forever.

It was a very good time

2009-08-30T14:25:00.000-07:00

Well, as usual, I'm real slow getting to this and a number of others in the family have also posted stuff about the recent marriage in our family. So I'm only going to put up a couple of pictures and comments. It has now been three weeks since the marriage and life has pretty much returned to normal. All the festivities have finished and are over. But the warm, pleasant glow lingers. This was a real good thing - I really love this kind of wedding and celebration. So many of the weddings we've been too that aren't done in temple are so lacking. They feel like . . . well, I won't go there. Let me just say I couldn't be happier to go to this kind. These two did it right. A song comes to mind.

My love must be a kind of blind love
I can’t see anyone but you

Are the stars out tonight?
I don’t know if it’s cloudy or bright.
I only have eyes for you, dear.

The moon may be high
But I can’t see a thing in the sky.
‘Cause I only have eyes for you

I don’t know if we’re in a garden
Or on a crowded avenue
You are here, so am I

Maybe millions of people go by
But they all disappear from view
And I only have eyes for you

This was a good day.

Wuss Camping

2009-07-26T17:58:00.000-07:00

The other day, back in the middle of June, we got looking at our schedule and realized that the only weekend we would be able to go camping was the second weekend in July. Summer filled up way too fast and we wanted to get a camping trip in so that had to be it. So we made reservations at a campground near where Brombeere works and made our plans. We decided to take it easy this year and this campground had just built some new cabins so we booked one for a couple of nights.

It was nice. No tent to pitch. Didn't have to bring so much of our camp gear since the cabin had a kitchen, including stove and fridge. This really was easy-street; the cabin had a TV and A/C. The TV we could have done without but the A/C was sure nice.

Some of the time we ate out on a picnic table out front. Other meals we took inside the cabin. Pretty comfortable, I have to admit.

They had a small swimming hole with lots of swim toys in it. The kids liked that part. So we spent plenty of time in the water.

While we were there we celebrated Stachelbeere's birthday. We started outside for that but when it came time to light the candles the wind was too much, even tho it wasn't real bad. But it was enough that we couldn't get the candles burning. So we had to move inside to finish up.

That went lots better. We sang, had cake and opened presents. It was a good time.

We lit a fire and cooked marshmallows. We had all the stuff for somores. Those are always yummy. The kids played lots and really enjoyed themselves. At the end of the second day everyone was more than happy to go to bed.

Family Night

2009-07-20T18:51:00.000-07:00

Tonight Blaubeere came over and brought the little feller. For family night we did "toe painting". That's like finger painting only you use your toes. So we spread a big sheet of plastic, hoping to contain the mess (ha!) and got started!
Some also did the traditional finger painting but most of the activity was with the feet.
The little feller is growing up enough that he wanted to pour the paint himself. We concluded that "a little" is a relative term, based on age. His definition of a little was quite different than his mom's definition.
When all the painting was done those that survived were hung on the clothes line so they could dry and end up flat and straight. There were some that didn't survive. They would get so wet with paint that they would tear.
And then the other thing you have to watch. There were some hanging over the rail on the deck and a certain someone backed into one without noticing. Something of an occupational hazard, I guess.

A Delightful Dilemma

2009-06-25T17:18:00.000-07:00

Our dear, sweet little Himbeere has this hockey stick that he plays with in the winter and often, using tennis balls, in the summer too. And then his friend went to a hockey camp, the same kid that got him interested in hockey and gave him the hockey stick. So Himbeere gave him the hockey stick and asked him to see if he could get it autographed; sometimes they have famous hockey players come to these camps. So hockey great Joe Pavelski was the famous hockey player at this camp. So now Himbeere has a hockey stick autographed by Joe Pavelski that he figures will be worth some $200 or better some time after Pavelski retires (he's only been playing in the NHL since the 2006-2007 season). Be that as it may, Himbeere is pretty excited to have this great piece of memorabilia! But the only problem is, this now leaves him without a stick to knock pucks around with. Pavelski signed it on the stick and on the blade. Bummer.

So Very Far Away

2009-06-21T18:50:00.000-07:00

The long awaited day has finally come! Stachelbeere's mission call finally came. It actually came last Friday but his Mom, sister and brother were away at youth conference and really wanted to be there when he opened it. So he was kind enough to wait until Saturday when they got back. So we packed everyone up and headed to Perkins for a celebratory dinner. Blaubeere and her whole family came over and went with us. And his sister, Heidelbeere, had said she wanted to be on the phone when he opened it so we got her on the cell phone, on speaker phone, and then he opened it. We tried to get Erdbeere on the other phone but he was too quick. This was like waiting to hear the winner of a big contest announced; "and now the winner and luck country that gets to have Elder Stachelbeere serve for two years is . . . . . . " The Marshall Islands! Wow! Everyone's first reaction was, "where's that?" Fortunately the call came with a map that showed where it was. Its out in the middle of no where, out in the ocean; longer than wide by far. There are some spots where you can stand on one shore and throw a rock clear across the island into the ocean. The highest point on any of the islands that make up this small country is 30 feet above sea level. Pray there are no tsunamis there for the next few years. He won't enter the MTC until in October so he can get all his shots and papers lined up. Wow - Marshall Islands. Every body had their guesses in but nobody guessed Marshall Islands.

Opening the letter - the moment we've all been waiting for!

Ready to go!

2009-06-06T09:49:00.000-07:00

Guess what?! One of the hardest parts of getting everything ready to submit was the picture. But we got it done and everything has been submitted. Stachelbeere has been working on this for a while, now. So now the waiting game has begun. We're hoping his date to enter the MTC will be in mid-August. That would be perfect timing. Then we could see everybody, see our new missionary off and be back in time for the beginning of school. Yeah, that would be great.

Stachelbeere has been working with our Branch President to go on a mini-mission before he goes on the actual mission. That will involve a couple of weeks staying with full time missionaries, doing what missionaries do. That will be an adventure.

A Small Water Problem

2009-05-22T09:50:00.000-07:00

Almost a month ago we had a small water problem at our house. Water in our home is a very nice thing, as long as it stays where it is supposed to. We had some that didn’t. So we had three rooms upstairs and every room downstairs that got wet. Two bedrooms and the laundry room were unaffected. That was enough that we’ve made an insurance claim for it. So first, the day it happened, we cleaned up all the water (and it was a lot) and hauled out tons of wet stuff, out to the garage to dry out. Then the insurance had an outfit that came and dried the walls and floors out. We had eight or nine industrial fans and two great big dehumidifiers going for about a week. Talk about noise. You practically had to yell or be standing next to the person you were talking to if you wanted to be heard. These blowers chain together (i.e., you can plug one into another so they put some of them together on each other) and then just plugged them in to the closest outlet. Well, of course that would trip circuits so the first day or so we had to rearrange how they had them plugged in so we didn’t keep tripping circuits. That was an interesting experience. At one point our freezer downstairs went all night without running. Fortunately it never got opened during that time and everything in it was fine.

As things were drying out the service also began tearing out stuff that was damaged and ruined by the water. We did some of that, too. One nice thing about all this is that the insurance let us do some of the work and considered it compensable so we were able to take care of our deductible that way. Anyway, carpet, paneling and ceiling tiles went out. It was like moving again to pack up all the stuff so we could move furniture and stuff out of the way to be able to get all the wet stuff out. Because the dining room got wet flooring had to come out. That meant our kitchen table went out to the garage. So we’ve been without a kitchen table for almost a month now. I had never realized how central a kitchen table is to so much of what goes on in a home. We haven’t been able to have a comfortable sit-down meal at home for almost a month now. Or think of all the other stuff that gets done at the kitchen table; homework, other study, family games. All kinds of stuff. Downstairs everything got ripped out pretty much clear to the studs. So you could stand over by the fireplace and see clear into the back corner of the back bedroom. Nice wide open feeling.

I really haven’t been taking pictures at the various stages of all this uproar. I have had no desire to do that. This week they began the reconstruction. The first thing that happened was our stair well got patched and painted. Right at the foot of the stairs a little bit of drywall went clear to the floor and so it got wet. A chunk not quite a square foot had to be taken out and patched. And to have it all match the entire stair well had to be painted. That matching principle is working to our favor in all this. Now they have started putting up paneling in the family room. We got to pick the paneling, ceiling tile, laminate flooring and carpet. That was nice. They did some analysis on the stuff that had been taken out and gave us the price range, based on the quality of materials that was damaged. So we got to pick the new stuff. We went with lighter paneling in the family room. The stuff that was in there before was pretty dark so this new stuff will lighten up the room quite a bit. The new carpet down there will be a little darker, too. I think the ceiling tiles will be next and then probably the carpet installation.

At one point I had hoped they would do the dining room first so we could get our kitchen table back but if the downstairs gets done first that’s okay, too. That room has been the most work because it’s so big and has the most stuff in it. Once they finish that room and we can put everything back it will really reduce the chaos in this house. The kids whose room is down there have basically been living out of suitcases all this time. It will be nice for them to be able to get back to some sort of normalcy again. And while the carpet has been out some ladies from church offered to come help paint our bedroom since we’ve never been really happy with the green walls in there. So that got finished yesterday and it looks so much nicer in there. We’ve been very blessed by several of the people at church who have been willing to come on short notice and help us at various stages of this mess. It’s been amazing. It’s really true what they say, “Many hands make light work.”

It’s so nice to see the reconstruction finally getting started. They are not moving at a real fast pace but every day they do work things get looking better and it just cheers the soul to see the house getting put back together. In some ways this actually has been worse than moving, if you can believe that. But this has been another example of the Lord helping us thru the adversity. It’s unrealistic to expect the Lord to spare us from all adversity but time and time again He shows his mercy by giving help to get through the adversity. It’s a marvelous principle once you begin to see and understand it.

Summer Time's a Comin'

2009-05-07T18:56:00.001-07:00

This morning it was rainy and cold when we got up so I wore a jacket to work but by the time I got off work and left for home it was 79 and sunny. Niiiiiice. So when we got home I cooked hamburgers (nope, not on the grill, just in the oven) and ate out on the deck. That was nice; very pleasent. Afterward, after the food was cleaned up, a game of catch got going out in the back yard.

Look whose still got it! Note the hunt for the ball going on over the back fence.

Everybody was in on it

Yep, everybody.

Bop It, anyone?

2009-05-02T10:39:00.000-07:00

A few years back we got a little toy called a "Bop It" for Christmas. It's innocent looking enough but it has proved to be a great source of fun around here. So last weekend we had company over for the weekend and the Bob It was out. We actually have two; a regular Bop It, which has three actions you have to do. The other is a Bop It Extreme, which has six actions. When you turn it on and start to play it will tell you which action to do and you have about a heartbeat to do it. Otherwise it yells and the game is over. Then it will tell you your score. Very intense. The highest score in recent memory is 252.

People can get pretty serious about playing it. They will find a position that allows them to do all the actions quick enough and then start. You can set it so it either says the actions you need to do or just makes a noise for them. It makes a noise back when you do the right action in time. It can be a noisy game. Maulbeere here didn't need it in this position to be able to hear, its plenty loud enough. This is one of her playing positions. Note the look of concentration.

Our grandbaby and his mom were over and he had to get in on it, too, tho his scores were a little lower than some of the others were getting.

Blaubeere was playing and guess who was watching oh so closely.

Everyone was getting into the act.

Then the grandbaby decided he had shared enough and was ready for another turn.

Patience triumphs in the end!

A Few Birds

2009-04-25T13:38:00.000-07:00

We were out gathering up bags for the second half of "Scouting for Food" this morning and saw these two ducks. We would call them "puddle ducks" as they were standing in a puddle at the end of a drieway.

A little later in the day today Maulbeere took my camera out and just wandered the yard, looking for stuff to take pictures. She saw this little bird sitting in a bush out back, near where we have a bird feeding up right now. I thought it was a cool effect how the camera focused on the buds right in front of the bird.

This cardinal was sitting on the fence out back, too. We have seen qutie a few of these this spring.

Some of the pictures she gets are pretty cool.

Some days are harder than others

2009-04-13T12:54:00.001-07:00

As you may have guessed, Sweet little Himbeere has a penchant for sleeping out in the back yard. I'm not sure I understand this. After all, we provide him a perfectly good bed in a bedroom all by himself inside the house. Nevertheless, he likes to sleep out in the back. And some days he's harder to get up than others. So yesterday morning, everyone else was up and about and he was still in bed. Time to leave was drawing nigh and he was still sawing logs. So we formed a committee and undertook to get him up. Hollering out the back door hadn't done anything up to this point so we got a little more intrusive.

The shake and the rattle didn't do much, either.

But the roll proved effective.

Ta da! He was out of bed!

Oh, Happy Day!!

2009-04-11T13:26:00.000-07:00

You know how it is? You have a son get a mission call and you steel yourself for two years of not having him around, not being able to see him any more than letters, emails and a few phone calls on special holidays. You tough yourself for two years to be able to get thru it and then suddenly, its done! Amazing! Whooooa, he's home! And home he came! So we had almost everyone there at the airport, a welcoming committee, if you will. It was way cool.

Then came the hugs and tears. Two years can be so long and it feels so good when its over.

Soon as we were done at the airport we headed up to the stake center so he could meet with the stake president and have his "exit interview".

This at the map that is on the wall at the stake center. He's pointing to his name. He said that was an unusual experience. That was when the release came. When that was over he was no longer a full time missionary.

The "welcome home" cake, courtesy of his two younger sisters.

Lots of signs all around to help him feel welcome. But there was one that said it all.

So now his calender is booked with speaking appointments; stake conference and two sacrament meetings. He'll be speaking every weekend until he heads out west. Its so good that have him home!

Is it Summer Yet!?

2009-03-08T16:53:00.001-07:00

Remember last summer and all the camping out in the back yard that went on? Well, with all the warm weather we've had in the last week quite a bit of the snow melted off the back yard, enough so that the back corner of the yard had a pretty good sized spot of bare grass showing. So of course it needed to be camped on. And Himbeere and Schwarzebeere were just the guys to do it.

This was Friday, March 6th. The high that day was 42. That's warm enough, right? So up went the tents. Long about 9:30, when they went out to go to bed, it had dropped down to 30. Around 2:00 am, when they both came in for another sleeping bag it was only 28. That's not so bad, is it? Around 6:00 am, when they gave up and came inside, it was starting to get warm again; clear back up to 30.

Once inside they both slept until 10:00. Sleeping when you're cold is hard work. Later on Saturday the tents came down, which was a good thing. Today (Sunday) it has been snowing all afternoon. We have about 4 inches on the ground now and its still snowing. No more bare spots in the yard to put a tent on.

A Bit of Excitment!

2009-02-15T13:52:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the boys had a scout activity, put on by the local council. A Klondike Derby. Among other things, they had worked a few nights ahead of time to build them a dog sled that the troop pulled in timed races at the derby. That's Schwarzebeere in the white had and Himbeere at the sled.

They also had show shoeing races. Some kids were better than others.

One event they had was fire building. They had to lay their wood, get it started and let it burn big enough to burn a string that was suspended from two sticks over the flames.

One of the last events of the morning was an inter-tube relay race. There was a small hill with a beach at the bottom and then a lake beyond that. The lake was frozen over but its been warm enough this last week that a lot of ice and snow has melted away and they didn't want any kids out on the lake. Plus, since it was a relay, the idea was for the boys on the team to stop the tube at the bottom of the hill so the next kid could grab the tube and head back up the hill as quick as possible. Schwarzebeere was the first one on his team to go down the hill but it didn't go quite as planned.

Instead of a smooth transition between boys there was quite a collision. Himbeere had gotten down into a football crouch and Schwarzebeere had managed to turn as the tube came down the hill so he was coming head first. The scoutmaster later described it as the meeting of two pile-drivers. Himbeere ended up with a sore arm, shoulder and jaw. But Schwarzebeere got the worst of it. We're not sure whether or not Schwarzebeere lost consciousness but he was definitely out of it for a while. He doesn't doesn't remember those few minutes right after impact. He was in pain and in shock so they called the EMT that was on site over. Then they called 911 and soon there was an ambulance there. When they found out about this neck condition (his Mom was there as a chaperon) they immobilized him and called in the helicopter.

The helicopter couldn't land right there at the bottom of the hill so they loaded him in the ambulance for a ride the few blocks to where the chopper had landed.

Then he was off on the 60 or so mile ride to the hospital where his regular doctor for his spine is. That worked out well. It took us a little longer to make the trip to the hospital in the car. Had to get ourselves together for the trip, too. And any time you go in through the ER it seems like you can plan on being there for hours, at least. At the hospital he got a CT scan and a full neurological exam. He was pretty drugged up for the pain by the time we got there but it was such a relief to see him moving his legs and arms. But all the tests came back okay, no damage, no lasting injury. So they sent him upstairs to spend the night in a room so they could keep an eye on him.

So he got to stay the night, eat hospital food and sleep. Sleep is about all he did the rest of the day. But today, after one night there, they let him go. He was glad to be out. One thing he wasn't happy about? They had to cut his brand new shirt off of him.

Kinda made him wish he'd listened to his mother that morning when she had suggested he wear old clothes to the derby. Oh, well. We're just glad he's okay.

Jamberry!

2009-02-10T16:32:00.001-08:00

I have been looking on line for more kinds of berries because I do, after all, have 3 sons-in-law whom I’m very happy to have as part of my family. But I keep finding that to a surprising extent many of the different kinds of berries are really just different names for other berries I already knew about. With eight kids I’m beginning to think I’m going to be hard pressed to find eight more different kinds of berries. I think I have enough to cover the three sons-in-law but when the next one gets married I may be in trouble.

Science?

2009-02-08T12:09:00.000-08:00

So this is kind of how it went.

Me: Want to try some tapioca?

Maulbeere: What’s that?

Me: It’s kind of like pudding.

Maulbeere: Really?

Me: Yea, only I have to tell you it’s got things in it. Little balls.

Maulbeere: Little balls?

Me: Yea, you drop all these little balls in and cook it. Then you end up with yummy pudding, which you like. And little balls.

Maulbeere: That sounds icky.

Me: No its not. You should try it. The flavor is worth the little balls.

Maulbeere: What's it made of?

Me: Tapioca.

Maulbeere: What's tapioca made of?

Me: It's not made of anything. It’s a basic element; nature's kitchen. End of story.

Maulbeere: Uh-uh.

Me: Yes, ma'm. You look it up. Its right on the Periodic Table; "Ta". Go look.

Maulbeere, coming back with her agenda from school, which has a copy of the Periodic Table in it: Okay, there's a Ta but its "tantalum", not tapioca.

Me: That's its scientific name. You know? Like, you and me, we call them wolves. But their scientific name is Cannis Lupus. Trust me. You’ll like it.

Maulbeere: Suuuuuuuure.

So then the big question is: did she try it? Yes, actually. And she liked the pudding but not the little balls.

A Thought for Today

2009-02-01T13:21:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, for family scripture reading, we read in Alma 42. That was Alma’s counsel to his son, Corianton, and included a concept I have always liked; “… whosoever will come may come and partake of the waters of life freely, and whosoever will not come the same is not completed to come; but in the last day it shall be restored unto him according to his deeds.”

I really like how it’s said in Helaman, chapter three; “Yea, we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a strait and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked – And land their souls, yea, their immortal souls, at the right hand of God in the kingdom of heaven, to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and with Jacob, and with all our holy fathers, to go no more out.”

Those passages sum up the concept of our agency. It is entirely up to us what happens to us in relation to our final resting place in the next life. Our Father has set up a myriad of things to surround us and help us improve the outcome of this life’s test we’re living thru but in the final analysis, it’s up to us. We can blow off some or all of the help He’s given us or we can hold on tight to every bit of help the Lord offers. Like Alma told his wayward son; “… my son, do not risk one more offense against your God …” I like the phrase that Isaiah uses several times, “For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still”

When the subject comes up of why the Lord allows suffering we always trot out the scripture in Alma 60 about the Lord allowing the righteous to be slain so that judgment may come upon the wicked. Sometimes, when you bring that up, you hear back about how a loving God would not allow suffering even for that reason. Their sense of fairplay just doesn’t allow that kind of justice. But if God is going to give us agency then he has to allow us to use it if it’s going to mean anything. Otherwise he hasn't really given us our agency. The terms are laid out in plainness before us. We can either accept or reject them. They are not open at all to negotiation. And that’s okay. As imperfect humans we miss too many things to bring any kind of "after the fact" justice. But God is capable of doing that.

Another Monday, another FHE

2009-01-31T13:48:00.000-08:00

So, way back on the 15th I had surgery on my left foot. They sent me home with a splint of plaster held to my leg and foot by something akin to an ace bandage. Then, after 10 days, I had to go back in to get a regular cast put on. That ended up being on a Monday so I'm thinking that maybe we could parley this into some kind of fun family night activity. So when they asked me what color cast I wanted and listed off several bright and fun colors they almost seemed disappointed when I said white. So later than evening, when it was time for the activity, out came the colored markers and we got started.

Schwarzebeere worked long and hard on his and came up with a very novel piece of art work. He was quite pleased when he was done. He is an imaginative kid.

Maulbeere got to work on her's.

Among other things, she did a portrait of our little pooch, SID - I mean Quasar. Quite artistic.

Himbeere's art work is always interesting, leaning a bit toward the abstract. This time he decided to showcase some of what he's been learning in his German class at school.

I'll let let you figure out exactly what he was trying to say.

And then Stachelbeere. He can actually be quite artistic when he wants to. He's turned out some pretty incredible artwork in the last few months.
But this time he opted for something simplier and a bit sci-fi, as well. And he signed his work with his new moniker.

But, like the old saying goes, "last the best of all the game."

This one is my favorite.

Technological Marvelings

2009-01-22T10:57:00.000-08:00

Oh, the marvels of modern technology. Today a friend 1,500 miles away had lunch delivered to my door, all while sitting in her office at work. She called to see how things were going and make sure I was up to it, after having just had surgery. Then she ordered pizza and 20 minutes later it was delivered. Took longer to cook than it did to order and deliver. And it was yummy, too! I find that amazing. Having lived most of my life before the internet, back when just finding someone to deliver the pizza would have been a major undertaking, I think it’s cool that this kind of stuff is now so easy.

Ready for the Polar Bears Club?

2009-01-01T11:20:00.000-08:00

Soooooooo, for New Year's Eve the youth in the branch decided to have a New Year's party at the home of one of the members that lives a little ways out of town. Among the festivities they planned was a dip in the hot tub, which was out of doors. Now to truely appreciate this you have to understand that all day the tempurature was way down. It never got above 10 (that was at midnight, as the day began) and by the time of evening they decided to get in the tub it had dropped down to -9.

Stachelbeere was the first in the water, followed soon by Schwarzebeere.

Didn't take him long to settle in. But then came the real fun. They would get out of the tub and take a roll in the snow.

Himbeere; seems a bit crazy to me.

Stachelbeere was every bit as crazy. This is the same kid that did the official Polar Bear plunge in the lake a few years ago. The water was 101 so I suppose that once they got back in they got warmed up pretty quick. He said the hardest part was getting back into the tub. You'd be a little cold while in the snow but when you'd get back in the water it would burn.

And then there was Himbeere's walks around the back yard. He had said he wanted to go sit on an old, broke down snowmobile that was parked out in the back yard but we talked him out of it. We were afraid he'd freeze to it and be stuck. It was amazing how the steam would rise off them when they were out of the tub. Burrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Betcha didn't know . . . . .

2008-12-30T18:46:00.000-08:00

Wanna hear something profound? Tonight, our sweet little Himbeere shared this little gem of wisdom with us "You can't call 'em 'pits' until they got hair in 'em." Now there's a thought to ponder as you drift off to sleep!

Goodies, Goodies Galore!!!

2008-12-26T07:15:00.000-08:00

I always hear the ladies work and church, when Christmas time comes around, talk about how busy they are because they have to get their holiday baking done. Wow. We don’t normally go all out with baking but this year we certainly did more than normal. The first bunch of cookies we did were kind of an experiment. The picture in the cookbook looked all cute and pretty. Ours didn’t quite turn out as nice. But they were still pretty yummy. They're supposed to be cute little teddy bears.

The next bunch we did were candy cane cookies. We even flavored them with peppermint. They turned out much better.

Then the art work really began. Blaubeere and son came over with all her equipment and we made some really cool looking cookies. Yes, those are paint brushes they were using.

They had bags of frosting, sprinkles to scatter on them. They were using “Royal Frosting”, which sets up a little harder when it dries. In the end, they made some fantastic looking cookies. I took some to work for a treat day and they got all kinds of compliments, ooohs and aahhs.

The next bunch we made have a little story to go with them. See, we wanted to double the recipe so we could have a few extra. But when it came time to add the sugar we accidentally quadrupled it. What to do, what to do. So, like any sweet-loving American family, we quadrupled the rest of the ingredients. So we certainly did end up with lots of this kind.

Then there was the cookie exchange at school. Take in a plate and bring home a bucket, a real assortment of all kinds of cookies made by everyone participating in the exchange. We ended up with not just cookies but fudge as well. That was great!

The goodies weren’t limited to just cookies, tho. We got some really yummy candied apples from Nicole. And we had a bunch of candied popcorn we’d bought from the scouts during their popcorn sale at the end of November.

So with all that, along with a few goodies we brought home from the store we ended up with more than enough Christmas goodies this year.

It all reminded me of when I was a kid and my Mom would do her holiday baking. She’d end up filling a couple of 5 gallon cans, with tight lids, full of every kind of cookie you could imagine. Then the cans would sit out on the back porch, where it was nice and cold to help them last. The nice part was that she was liberal as to when we could have some. Between the tight lid and the cold porch (you could only stand to be out there so long!) they didn't go too fast. We had all we wanted, certainly more than we needed. It was great. This is how great Christmas memories are made. Cool.

99 Things

2008-12-24T07:05:00.000-08:00

Ritsumei (Blaubeere) had this meme on her blog, it looked like fun, so I swiped it. Here goes! Things I have done are in red.
1. Started your own blog.
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (trombone & baritone)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Tokyo
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (started up it but didn’t go all the way)
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s Pietà (It had traveled to the World’s Fair in New York, where I saw it. Never been to Italy)
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies (taken my girls out while they sold them – does that count?)
62. Gone whale watching (Seen dolphines chase along side the boat, but no whales)
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book (Wrote a fiction novel once but couldn’t talk anyone into publishing it)
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House (We were in town but didn’t get to this one)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury (I was summoned once but the case settled out of court)
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee (and a wasp and a hornet – ouch!)

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!

2008-12-21T17:15:00.000-08:00

We woke up to -14 this morning. All day yesterday and all night it had been snowing and blowing so there were drifts all over the place. We had shoveled out the driveway yesterday but more snow had fallen and then the wind had blown it around. Made for some really nice drift patterns in the driveway.

Church hadn’t been cancelled but was limited to just Sacrament meeting. And sparsely attended at that. Later in the day we hopped in the car (trusting it would warm up) and drove around delivering plates of cookies to our home and visiting teaching families. Fortunately the car did get nice and toasty warm so it wasn’t a bad drive. The branch boundaries are most of two counties so we ended up making a about a 40 mile round trip but it was fun. When we got home we noticed the snow had even drifted up on this little bear we have hanging out on the garage. He looked cold.

Ouch!

2008-12-07T20:19:00.000-08:00

Then there was the time my little Himbere was walking from the car into the garage as the door was still opening, but looking back at the car so he didn't notice that the door hadn't quite got open enough for him to walk in . . . . . . . .

A Season Ended

2008-11-13T17:40:00.000-08:00

You know what terrible thing happened to me the other day? Actually this goes back farther than just the other day. Some time ago I stopped at the cheap hamburger place here in town only to learn that they no longer sold jalapeño poppers. Ruined my day, to say nothing of my lunch. I haven’t bought anything there since then (that’s not entirely true). So I had to look around for another place to get them. Then I discovered Arby’s. Life was good again. But then, just the other day, I stopped there for jalapeño poppers and they told me they no longer carry them! I couldn’t believe it! They said they were a seasonal item and their home office had told them the season was over and it was time to carry something else. Ruined my whole day, to say nothing of my lunch. Now I have no where to turn.

It's the Most Favorite Time of the Year

2008-11-01T08:55:00.000-07:00

I really like this time of the year. The Fall is probably my favorite, if I were to have one. Around here the leaves get really beautiful. That's a real nice thing about living here; all four seasons are distinct and definite. The weather begins to cool off, no more hot, dog-days of summer. The leaves begin to turn. It comes on gradual, with the color building until it reaches peak in early October or so. This picture was taken out a north-facing window where I work. Nice shot north, out across the trees. Makes it look like forest wilderness as far as the eye can see but there's houses and farms scattered all throughout the trees.
Sometimes you'll be walking along, engrossed in the myriad of things running thru your mind, pressing on you that need to get done, and suddenly the beauty of the place will intrude on your senses so that it can't be ignored. Those, I think, are among the tender mercies of the Lord Elder Bednar spoke of a couple of years back. If the Lord felt to take us far from family to live, He was gracious enough to put us in a really beautiful place. There have been a lot of real nice things happen while we've been here. So the other day I looked out the front window as evening was coming on and saw the sun setting thru the tree by our drive-way. A simple sight, but the long, evening light thru the tree as its leaves were well on their way turning from green to yellow, struck me as quite marvelous.

Things That Go Bump in the Night

2008-10-31T20:53:00.000-07:00

Since before we moved, way back 14 years ago, and now back, our community has regulated the celebration of Halloween to the weekend. At first they would put it on either Saturday or Sunday, depending on which day the real holiday was closest to. Then they began putting it on Sunday every year. Well we've always felt that the celebration of Halloween was not really a sabbath appropriate activity so all those years we had to tell the kids we weren't doing Halloween and find some other way to enjoy the season while still keeping the sabbath. So we were particularly pleased this year when our community decided to just celebrate it on the actual day of Halloween. How refreshing. So each of the kids decided what thy wanted to be and set about making themselves a costume. Now this on - he seems like he may have been confused about exactly which holiday was being celebrated.

They actually did quite well. We didn't have to spend hardly anything on costumes. They mostly put together costumes from what we already had. This young lady did rather well, I thought.

Our youngest and his friend got away without being photographed. He can be a toad that way sometimes. But his outfit was equally cute and imaginative. So here's the whole crew (almost), all decked out and ready to go.

More Wedding Prep

2008-10-11T17:51:00.001-07:00

Today's big project (at least for me) was to get some significant work done on the decorations for the open house coming up in just four short weeks. It was the best day we've had for a couple of weeks for painting. Unfortunately, we didn't get so far along as to get any painting done today. But Maulbeere was a great helper and did a fantastic job at getting the backdrop ready. This is the back drop that is planned for behind the cake and some other stuff that will be nearby. So we set up shop in the garage and used the trailer as our "work bench" and went to work.

We had these 4'x8' pieces of lattice wood that we wanted to put some edging on to make them a little stronger. So we laid the lattice across the trailer and fastened some wood strips around the edge of the stuff. Some we didn't have to cut.

Some we did have to cut. An old friend who was a really good carpenter told me once, "measure twice, cut once."

So we thought we'd give it a try. Maulbeere did really good - she only had to recut once. Pretty good for her first time with a skill saw.

We got quite a bit done but not as much as we'd hoped. And when we got all three pieces trimmed we decided we needed to do more to make them a little more sturdy. So we had to go get more wood, along with the paint, and will work on it again during the coming week. But it was a good time, nonetheless.

A Berry Good Time!

2008-10-07T19:11:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago some friends asked us if we could feed and water their dogs over a weekend while they were out of town. To sweeten the deal they offered to let us have a picking at their raspberry patch. That was sweet! So we went over and gave it our best. We didn’t get over there as early as we would have liked to so it was getting dark fast as we picked. But we still managed to give the patch a good going over. Mom was the best darn picker of the bunch. Maulbeere (and in all honestly, others) picked but kept missing the bucket. But we still managed to get quite a few home. So they went in the freezer. Yum Yum!

Nesting?

2008-09-26T20:17:00.001-07:00

So there's this little boy that lives at our house - soft brown hair, cute little brown eyes, and a nesting instinct like you've never seen. Try as we might to encourage him to keep his “nest” clean, neat and orderly (like any parent would prefer) he nests. So in the morning to get to his bed to wake him up I have to dig a path thru the nesting material. One day he got stuck in his nest and needed help getting unstuck. But man, he has cute dimples that show best when he’s laughing. And since they were showing the whole time he was stuck and getting unstuck its hard to be really unhappy with him. Light brown hair, dimples and soft, brown eyes. What you gonna do?

A Change is as Good as a Rest

2008-09-21T19:59:00.000-07:00

This was an interesting day at church. I didn’t have to teach a lesson for sunday school. I actually got to sit next to my wife and listen to a good lesson. That was interesting, too. I extended the call to the new sunday school teacher. It reminded me of a call I extended to someone years ago, to be primary president. She was awe-struck. Almost overwhelmed. But she did just fine. She (the sunday school teacher) mentioned today how she’d agonized over it all week. She was a young married and this was basically her second call as an adult. She’d been primary secretary for over four years and had always thought there’d be some other calls between that one and teaching Gospel Doctrine. Some kind of progression. She thought it was a big jump. But she did just fine; I thought she did really well. It was nice to be able to listen from the congregation and hold hands with my wife. That was nice.

Oh, What a Day!

2008-09-07T17:10:00.000-07:00

August 30th was the day of the big bridal shower so what's a guy to do!? Go golfing, of course! So we did.

So with the guys out of the way the ladies were able to get down to the serious partying. It was a good time for the guys to be gone. Some 30 ladies packed into the family room. Nobody got a picture of the whole crowd, that I'm aware of. I'm not sure that kind of crowd could be photographically reproduced adequately. There were ladies there from the Adams Ward, the Stevens Point Branch and friends of the bride from high school. And, of course, the bride herself.

We had borrowed 20 chairs from the church and those and everything we owned that you could sit on were occupied. But they had a good time. Lots of games, lots of talk, good food; all the stuff that ladies like in a bridal shower. We marked our house with balloons on the mailbox out front. Note the festive bouquet.

Now look on the right side of the road and find the balloons. All these cars were people here for the shower. Filling our double wide driveway three cars deep and parked in front of the houses two doors in both directions from our place. On the west end, at the corner, they were two cars deep.

"And behold, I was about to post other pictures from that weekend but lo, I am forbidden that I post them not. Therefore I post them not, for they are hidden from the world." At least until after the wedding.

The Summer's Last Adventure

2008-08-28T17:37:00.000-07:00

Its summer time and the living is easy. Yeah, that's how it goes. Apparently the summer didn't hold enough camping for the boys so they've been camping in the back yard. Pitching tents, sleeping out. Not every night; their mean old dad makes them move the tent every couple of nights to give the lawn a break. So the first couple of nights it was a village.

Aug 17, 2008

The next time they got kind of a late start and were putting up the tents in the dark. Fortunately we have a couple of lights that light up the back yard pretty well.

Aug 20, 2008

While the tent was right off the porch we had a couple of warm, humid days and the lawn got a little steamed by the time they moved the tents. This time the went for the back corner of the yard.

Aug 28, 2008

Kinda like a bear crawling out of hibernation, uh? But each night they've been real good about getting up when we called them for family prayers in the morning. And they're having lots of fun. Can't blame them for wanting to sleep out; school starts right after Labor Day. Will they get to sleep out after then? Who knows. Seminary starts awful early. We'll see how it goes.

Getting Ready

2008-08-16T10:43:00.000-07:00

Now, me - I had never heard of Gerber Daisies before my daughter decided she wanted that flower for her wedding. So this is new to me. So to help everyone become familiar with this kind of flower we got some the other day and put them on the kitchen table. They're not exactly the same color that the ones at the wedding will be but they're close enough to do the job. And they actually look pretty nice. And they have staying power, too. This picture was after we'd had them a couple of days. Still looking pretty good. So there they are, making me think of my daughter. Now that's the best part.

Scout Camp: the next installment

2008-08-02T11:08:00.000-07:00

Well, the boys are off to scout camp this morning. After all the agonizing over what they need that they don't have (this in spite of being asked numerous times during the preceding week) that they remembered as its time to get in the car and drive to the drop-off point. All the things they chose not to take because it wasn't cool or they couldn't possibly see a need for it (like the rain poncho they almost left behind - yes, rain is predicted for a couple of the days they'll be at camp). And so far we've found that Himbeere forgot to grab his fishing pole on his way out the door.

But finally we got them and their stuff in the car and off to the drop-off point. Then everyone else (they all came in the same car) was half an hour late and all the while we waited it was "we missed them" or "they're not coming" or "we got the time wrong". Yea, so anyway, the rest of the group finally did arrive so they could load up.

At the parking lot they had to load a bunch of troop gear in, too. But it went good because everyone helped load up. So we got the boys' medical forms, permission slips and all the other stuff to the scout master and finally they were about ready.

Putting in a couple of tents and stuff.

Then a picture and a prayer and they were ready to pull out. So they have a 2 1/2 hour ride ahead of them up to the camp and then nothing but fun for the next week, right? Riiiiiiiiiight. Bugs, dirt, campfire soot & ash all over, animal proofing camp sites, sunburn, feeding the raccoons, and all the things that make camping so much fun. Remember them in your prayers.

Getting the Scouts to Camp

2008-07-26T14:41:00.000-07:00

Our scout troops is going to camp in a couple of weeks and has been having fundraisers to help pay for it. Today was a brat fry at one of the local grocery stores. Our boys went and helped out pretty good. Here's Schwarzebeere , checking out the goings on at the grill.

Himbeere was there helping out, too. They have to attend these fund raisers to be able to use a share of the money raised. This was the second our boys have attended this summer.

Schwarzebeere likes working inside the booth, which is fine. During the lunch rush it can get pretty busy there but he does a good job keeping up.

One of the things they both like is that the troop lets them each have a free brat for helping. Have to feed them lunch anyway since they're usually there from around 9:00 until 1:00 or 2:00. And they're welcome to buy themselves more if they want.

A fun time for a good cause. They're both looking forward to going to camp.

Little Things that Creep Around

2008-07-25T15:34:00.000-07:00

The other day my daughter and I were out stolling around the back yard and came across this little fellow fixing his dinner in the little corner of the back of the house and the deck. Got to get it all seasoned with this juices so it can age properly before he eats. Looked to me like the little guy had everything under control. Is it soup yet?

The Process of Discovery

2008-07-19T17:08:00.000-07:00

We moved into this house last October, at the end of the summer. Into the fall, actually. While the yard looked pretty nice we really only saw it from the front. In August we walked thru the house for the first time, and that included a peek at the back yard. But by that time all the landscaping was shutting down for the fall and winter. Nothing was blooming or in flower any more. So we could see that there was plenty of greenery around but we had no real idea of what it all was at that point. So this spring and summer has been interesting as all the stuff in the yard has come in bloom and we’ve been able to see what everything is. Does that mean we recognize and can name everything? Nope. But here’s some of the things that have bloomed around the yard this year.

This is out front, right at the street. Our yard has a little ditch all across the front of the yard that runs a foot or so from the street. Every few yards,down in the bottom of this shallow ditch, there was a clump of something growing but last fall we couldn't tell what any of them were. This is one of them. We will probalby move them all to somewhere else in the yard.

This is growing along the back of the house. Pretty when it blooms but the flowers don’t stay and then its just low greenery. Not bad but not something I wouldn’t have put in. We had these at the old house, too.

This is the one we’ve been watching with the most interest. We figured they were some kind of day lily all spring. The big question was what color. We had lots of orange lilies around the old house. These are a pretty bright yellow. Kind of nice. They also don’t stay in flower very long but they’re sure pretty while they are.

We weren’t sure until they actually bloomed, but we had suspected these were irises. Lots of different kinds of irises around. My Mom & Dad’s yard had lots and lots of irises, too. They bloom a little early so they were part of what we always took to the cemeteries for Memorial Day. These are a little small. They were in a planter in the back yard, up fairly close to the house but we moved them to the back corner of the yard. They can go hog wild back there, if they want to. We wanted the space for other stuff.

Interesting, huh! I like flowers. I suspect this yard was professional landscaped. Its a nice yard. Know what else I like about this yard? Automatic sprinklers.

All on a Saturday afternoon

2008-06-29T14:20:00.000-07:00

Saturday my son asked if I would help him work on his bike. What he really meant was “Dad, would you fix my bike?” So we worked on it for a while. We had bought a new innertube that he wanted put in. His old one had a slow leak and he was irritated that he had to keep pumping up his tire every couple of days. Well, I was mean and made him go thru the effort of checking his old tube for leaks. And what was worse, I made him do the majority of the work. So he turned his bike over, took off the rear tire, pulled out the tube and got the bucket of water. We have a little tool for taking tires off the rim but we couldn’t find it so I helped him do it with a screw driver. Have to be extra careful not to damage the tube when you do that. He pumped the tube up so we could run it thru the water but he didn’t get enough air in it so I put some more in. He got pretty excited because he was afraid the tube would burst. But we didn’t put that much in it. Still, we never found a leak. But he was insistent so we changed the tube anyway. This is where it got frustrating. We put the tire back on and he rode it around but it only took half an hour or so before it was going flat again. He made a big fuss and wanted to do something so I asked him what he wanted to do. “Put the old tube back in.” So we did. But not before checking the new tube for leaks. I was amazed that we were unable to find any leaks in it but I had seen it going flat. So we put the old tube back in. By that time his brother had joined us so we now had a “peanut gallery”. So we got the old tube back in and his bike all put back together. Then I was mean again and made him gather up the tools and put them away. He was actually pretty good about the whole episode. And in the end he was happy because the old tube held the air the rest of the day. I should ask him today if its still holding the air. Then again, maybe I won’t.

His fickleness (is that a word?!) reminded me of when he was younger - old enough to want his shoes tied but not old enough to do it himself. He would ask to have his shoes tied but it had to be just so. I can remember retying his shoes three and four times until I got it done to his satisfaction. Took me a little while but I finally learned that what he was looking for what having them tied tight. If they weren't tight enough he'd want you to do it over.

Me, too, Charlie

2008-05-16T18:11:00.000-07:00

I saw where my daughter posted some answers to some questions my other daughter sent to her. She invited anyone who wanted to respond to the questions so I thought I might, even tho she didn't tag me. So here goes.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
I asked my Mom once – she said not particularly. They just liked the name.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
It hasn’t been that long. It was sad.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
I’d have to say yeah, I do. Its not as good as it was when I was younger – I don’t write by hand all that much any more. See what computers have done to me!

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
Good, thick, warm pastrami. There was this deli in Los Angeles, just around the corner from where I worked on Wilshire Blvd. Ummmmmmmmm, I remember them to this day. Haven’t had anything that good for a long time.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
Yes, I do. A quiver full of wonderful children.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
Well, of course.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?
I try not to but sometimes it’s so hard.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS
Nope. There's some other stuff missing, too.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
Don’t have to think about that very long. Of course not.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
That’s a tough one. I’ve been eating cold cereal for breakfast for years. It’s my favorite breakfast. For a while Wheaties was my favorite. Then Lucky Charms. Then Captain Crunch. Then . . . . . . Well, you get the idea.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
Nope. Too far away.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?
Not any more. I have sons to remind me of that, too.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
I like ice cream. Must be hereditary. My Dad and Granddad always had ice cream around. I like chocolate but not with big stuff in it. Rocky Road is good – I like the marshmallow in it.

14. WHAT DO YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
I tend to watch mouths while people talk, too. But that’s out of necessity – I’m slowly losing my hearing. I like to watch their mannerisms – you see some of the funniest things if you have time to watch. I like to people watch. But you can’t get caught staring. Bad form.

15. RED OR PINK?
Blue

16. What don't you like about yourself?
We’ll not get into that.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
I have a son and a son-in-law that I don’t get to see near as often as I’d like.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU?
Nah, just post your stuff on your blog.

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
Tan slacks. Moccasin slippers. Black socks (the kind that never get dirty).

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?
Well, ice cream, of course!

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
Well, the TV is on. And my youngest daughter is laffing at America’s Funniest Videos. And that’s a pleasant sound.

22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
I’m not sure I’d be a crayon. I think I’d rather be a water color. But who knows what color. It would depend.

23. FAVORITE SMELLS?
I like the smell of cooking bread.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
My sweetheart

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
Most definitely.

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH
Whatever my son’s have on is okay. I’m not fussy. Left to myself I’d probably not watch sports.

27. HAIR COLOR?
Brownish, with a smattering of grey.

28. EYE COLOR?
My driver’s license says they’re hazel, whatever color that is.

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
I tried it once. I wear glasses.

30. FAVORITE FOOD?
That’s a hard one. It changes from time to time. Right now I don’t have one – it all tastes pretty blasé. Fortunately that will change in a little while.

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
Is suspense the same as scary? Then suspense.

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
Sahara

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
Dark blue

34. SUMMER OR WINTER?
I’m okay with winter, long as I don’t have to be out in it too long.

35. HUGS OR KISSES?
Who's asking? It makes a big difference...

36. FAVORITE DESSERT?
A generous serving of chocolate pudding.

37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
Couldn’t say. I’m not forwarding this.

38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
Yeah... see #37

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
I just finished Le Miserables. Now I’m working on the Bathroom Reader I got for Christmas.

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
Wonderful polar bears. Cute and cuddly, with appropriate respect, of course.

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT?
The kids had Without a Trace on.

42. FAVORITE SOUND?
My family makes a myriad of sounds that I like.

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
Oh, definitely the Fab Four; late Beatles. They and the Beach Boys were always on the cutting edge and turned out some mighty fine music. The Rolling Stones? They were an "also ran".

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
Germany

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
Hard to say. I have a couple that I was not wise enough to develop when I was younger so who knows whether any of them would have qualified as special. But as I am today, not particularly.

46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
Fort Lee, Virginia

Sunday Afternoon

2008-05-04T16:02:00.000-07:00

This afternoon my sweetie drew a smiley face on Himbeere's toe. Then we got looking at Sam's toe and realized he has hair on his toe. So we drew a smiley face on it, positioning it so the hair made a moustache. Now that was nice.

I was asked a while ago to be a long term substitute for a Sunday School teacher who is having some health problems. This is interesting. Today's lesson was from King Benjamin's address to his people that was powerful enough to convert the entire people. That was actually last week's lesson. Today was a continuation of that lesson, into some of the things King Benjamin taught after the people had expressed their conversion. Today's lesson was on retaining a remission of sins. All the things the prophet king laid out in Mosiah chapters four and five was teaching the people how to live in order to retain the remission of their sins they had received after the first of his remarks. Teaching the Gospel to our children, helping those in need, keeping the commandments. He covered them in that order. While I have long recognized in these chapters some simple and important truths about putting Gospel principles into action, I had never thought of these principles in terms of things to do to retain a remission of sins. The things you learn when you teach. That's one of the really cool things about the Lord's spirit - even the teacher learns. If you can teach with the Spirit you don't have to know it all before hand. A fantastic thing about modern revelation.

watching the rain

2008-04-20T14:39:00.000-07:00

I like to watch the rain. Sometimes its almost hypnotic. Friday I ended up with a little bit of time between appointments so I parked the car in a small park on a quiet street and watched the rain for a while. I like how after a minute or two the rain gets the windsheild wet enough that the drops don't splatter on it any more. It sheets over and flows down, gentlly. It wasn't a heavy rain. What they call around here a good "soaking" rain. Once the water begins sheeting you can actually see thru it pretty good, just a bit of distortion because the water is flowing over the glass in a thin layer. Drops land in it and make little circles that begin flowing toward the bottom. Fun to watch.

Conference Weekend

2008-04-06T14:12:00.000-07:00

Well, it hasn't turned out entirely like we'd planned. We ended up helping a friend move and missed all the Saturday sessions. But today we've been able to listen and it has been so good. Reminds me why I like General Conference. Got to listen to Pres Monson this morning and the newest Apostle, Elder Christopherson. Elder Holland spoke earlier on continuing revelation. It is a bold doctrine but what I find amazing is that so many Christians reject it. How can they love the Savior and not want to hear from him today? How can it be enough to just read what he said thousands of years ago? Modern Christianity is such a mystery to me some times. I get the impression Pres Monson has been trying to let the church see a little more of the personal side of him. That seems like a good thing to me. His concluding story of his wife's recent injury was touching. Sometimes we see such a limited side of our leaders, especially those of us outside the intermountain west. Its nice to see they do have a humorous side, and be reminded that they also have their life's moments. Elder Packer has said a number time recently that they are just normal people with extraordinary callings (my words). They have lives, too. To me, that makes exaltation seem a little more within reach.

A Sunday afterthought

2008-03-16T19:38:00.000-07:00

My kids have been blogging and I've been following what they're posting and it looked interesting. Makes me wonder if anything I say could be of interest to others - who knows. Today I read one of the kid's "Sunday Scripture"post and her plans for celebrating Easter. Three cheers for her and her efforts to keep Easter centered on the the Saviour. Got me thinking. We tried to do that, as our kids were little and growing, with Christmas and Easter. So many influences make that difficult. Not impossible, just a challenge. So I hope they can see it through over the next several years as their kids grow up. Its certainly a worthy goal.