Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Christmas Traditions

What better way to celebrate our Christmas Traditions than to have SNOW! This fell on the 17th. You can see Spencer's snowman close to the house just to the right of the front window. Ben did a great job setting up the Christmas lights this year and even found a use for the satellite dish that the previous owners installed but that we haven't used. (Remember, you can click on a picture for a larger view.)


Vicki's family always spent Christmas Eve at Temple Square looking at the lights and then they would head to Grandma's house for soup, potato chips and egg nog with Sprite.

This year we didn't have Temple Square so we just had to do the best we could looking at lights.




Here we are on a little detour through France.


Remember when Vedel pulled faces during the pictures? I love Spencer's solution!


And for our Grand finale, The Hallelujah Chorus.



TTFN
-Ron

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Good News / Bad News

(double click on photo for a closeup)

We've got some good news and some bad news.

The good news is that Green Valley High School Marching Band is going to march and play in the Presidential Inaugural Parade on 20 January 2009.

The bad news is Barack Obama will be the president.

The good news is that Ben is in the band.

The bad news is the band has to raise $120,000 to cover costs.

The good news is that the band has 120 student to split the cost between.

The bad news is that Ben needs to raise another $750.

The good news Ben can go on street corners and play his french horn. (This is Las Vegas)

The bad news is that Ben really doesn't like to play his french horn.

The good new is we will find a way and let him be a part of history.

Make sure you watch your Televisions on January 20th. Ben plays the mellowphone in the marching band. It looks sort of like a trumpet with encephalitis. (The bell on the horn is really big but the rest of the tubing is not.)

TTFN
-Ron

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Game Night

Sunday evening we decided to have game night. I chose to play Rumicube and in spite of being the last one to lay down any tiles, I was the third first place winner. Vicki had gone first and she was the first first-place winner. Ben went out on the same turn and he was the second first-place winner and then I went out on the same turn followed by Spencer.

Spencer chose the next game and it was Twister. Now do you think that that is a sabbath appropriate game? Ben asked Vicki if she was going to change out of her dress and she said no. You see Vicki always does the spinner and calls the moves but, this time Spencer wouldn't let her. Spencer was the caller.

The game started with Vicki and Ben at the far ends and I was on the side in the middle. "Right foot green." I stepped across the mat.

"Left foot yellow." I moved my left foot by my right foot, Ben move his right foot up behind my right foot and Vicki took the spot right in front of her.

"Right Hand Yellow." Much like musical chairs you have to get to the empty spot quickly. I took the one yellow vacant spot between Vicki and me. Ben grabbed the spot behind his left foot leaving the only yellow spot available at the far end of the mat.

I looked back at the spot, smiling and wondering how Vicki was going to get there. Just then I heard a roar and felt myself rolling backwards into Ben sending him (and me) sprawling off the mat. Vicki demurely put her right hand down on the yellow spot and said. "I win."



TTFN

Ron

Friday, November 28, 2008

Ron's list


Just in time for Christmas for those of you who don't have enough stuff already.
Antelope Skin - Gray and Blue Tony Llama cowboy boots.
Size 9-1/2 B but fit tightly on my 11C feet.
Yours for the shipping but act now. In one week they're off to DI.
I just can't stand to see them unhappily ignored in my closet any longer.

Friday, November 7, 2008

I Lived My Mom's Dream


Dad loved going to BYU football games and frequently dragged Mom along. It all started in 1965 when Karen was the "Big Time Twirling Star" with the marching band. (She can post her comments as to the official title if she wants.) Dad would watch the games with intensity and Mom would patiently sit in the stands knitting something while the game happened around her. About midway through the game, lots of people got up and went different places while mom put down her knitting to enjoy the Halftime show. At the end of the show, she would pick up her knitting and continue while everyone else cheered the football game. This procedure continued long past Karen's twirling and graduation and raising 5 kids. Dad would watch the football game and mom would knit.

Well if justice were ever to be served and Mom were to live her dream, it would have happened last night in Sam Boyd Stadium where UNLV plays their home football games. Starting at 1:00 pm and continuing until 8:30, high school marching band after high school marching band from Clark County Nevada performed their halftime show. They didn't even have a football game break out between groups. Mom would have loved it.

Vicki, Spencer and I watched the show from 6:30 to 8:30. Ben Performed in the last group. I still have enough Dad in me that I missed the football game, but the show was nice.

TTFN
-Ron

Thanks for the prayers

I met a couple coming around drumming up support for McCain on the Sunday before the elections. The had moved in from California. Very nice couple and I mentioned to them that our church members we were fasting and praying that their California Friends would Vote to protect Marriage. They responded, I'm not feeling so hungry either. I think I'll fast tomorrow.

TTFN
-Ron

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Stand for Something! Stand for Truth and Righteousness!

California is having a moral battle in defining Marriage. Proposition 8 is on the ballot of this November's election. I have embeded a video that may take some time to download or you can click on the title "Stand For Something" for a link to "Preserving the Divine Institution of Marriage" where you can also see the video,

then join me.

Isa. 5: 20
20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
22 Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:
23 Which the wicked for reward, and away the righteousness of the righteous from him!
24 Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.


FYI - I will not update my blog until this election if over.
This will be my lead in blog post. Join me!

TTFN
-Ron

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Anemia?

I remember Nana once saying that a craving to chew on ice was a sign of anemia. Well, we better have some blood work done on Toasty. He must eat 10-15 ice cubes a day.



TTFN
-Ron

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Fencing

Ben and Spencer had a neat opportunity to go to a fencing gym. This is not the kind of digging posts and stringing barbed wire. Instead, its akin to poking someone in the eye with a sharp stick. Hope you enjoy the videos.

Student of the Month

We received a letter from Thurman White Middle School notifying us that Spencer had been selected as September's Student of the month in Sixth grade science. The whole family got a good laugh out of that because we withdrew Spencer from school the last week of September.

Spencer was so frustrated with the kids in general and his science lab partners in particular. His lab partners didn't want to do science labs at all. What's more, Spencer was being bullied only like Jr. High School kids can do so well so that teachers aren't aware. Since we weren't in favor of that kind of socialization, we have now moved him to the virtual academy. He has his own computer for school work, he will work from home, have a regular teacher, attend all sorts of field trips with his virtual classmates. Vicki becomes the person responsible to record his time and help with school work. This should be a good experience.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

A Short Break

Clark County School District Staff Development day provided the opportunity for us to get out of town for a day. We escaped to Mount Charleston on Thursday night and set up the trailer.

Oh how nice to be up in the mountains with trees and the cool breezes. The leaves were starting to change colors and the air was crisp. After dinner, Vicki pulled out a surprise. Huge marshmallows for roasting. Words cannot describe but pictures can. Spencer had two. The second was his Abrahamic marshmallow that he tried lighting on fire. These big marshmallows don't burn like the smaller ones.


One experience that we didn't anticipate was that camping near Las Vegas brings in the Vegas element. Our camping neighbors were up most of the night. Chopping wood for there fire, drinking and talking loudly including vulgarity laced rants. About 3:45 am I went over to there camp and asked them to go to bed that their noise was keeping us awake. They were clueless as they asked if it was there talking or the radio. I said it was the talking. When I talked with Vicki the next morning, she was surprised to hear that they even had a radio. We'll another 15 minutes and they settled down.

We finally woke up in the morning and started to get breakfast, only to find out that the last of the propane was used in keeping the trailer warm. With options running low we decided to have lunch for breakfast and then we headed out for a hike. The plan was to finish the hike head home and have breakfast for dinner. We choose a beautiful hike and with Toasty leading the way we found butterflies, log bridges, Christmas tree shaped pines and shear limestone cliffs.


As we headed home, ignoring the night time antics of neighbors, we felt refreshed by the experience and ready for more time in Las Vegas.

Monday, September 1, 2008

My Summer Vacation by Ben Welch

(As told through the eyes of his Great Aunt De who lives in Cincinnati.)

Ben Spent ten days in Cincinnati this past summer. Yesterday his Great Aunt De sent some pictures and reminisced of the time they spent together.

Tom and I have enjoyed a special summer this year. The weather has been extraordinary, less humid, not as hot as last year. Tom's great-nephew (Gail's grandson) Ben Welch came out to see us for a couple of weeks in July. We took him to see many of Cincinnati's points of interest, including the Krohn Conservatory, lunch on a B.B. Riverboat, The mechanical Pied Piper clock in Newport Kentucky, Cincinnati Museum Center at Union terminal, The Contemporary Art Center, the Cathedral Basilica in Newport, the Eden Park lookout, and the view from the top of the Carew Tower. I have included a few shots to share with you. I am sending the pictures in three e-mails.

The first set will include pictures taken on the river- The B.B. riverboat; the USS Nightmare (a decommissioned riverboat that is used as a floating spook alley at Halloween; the Big Mac/Daniel Carter Beard Bridge. In the picture taken from the top of the Carew Tower. The Carew housed Cincinnati's first television station WKRC. It remains one of Cincinnati's tallest buildings. You get to the last floor via the original elevator. That old elevator is a bit of a thrill in itself. We also attended a pig roast in rural Bethel Ohio, given by a friend of mine from work. Her husband's band entertained us and about a hundred guests. On the way back we stopped at East Fork/Harsha Lake State Park, and took Ben to see a pre-Civil War cemetery. The adjacent one-room church was last used in 1847. It is still standing and in reasonably good repair.

As some of you may know, the Cincinnati Contemporary Art Center museum has a long and somewhat controversial history. When it originally opened in 1939, it was one of the nation's first museums dedicated to Modern Art. Tom and I were at the museum in 1988, when Sheriff Simon Leis temporarily closed it because he believed that Robert Mapplethorpe's photography exhibition was inappropriate for public viewing. The case was taken to court. A jury of average Cincinnatians disagreed with him. The exhibition reopened and continued. To tell the truth, it was kind of fun to be there that day. Simon Leis had all the officers dress up in their best and fanciest uniforms, because he knew it would be a big media event. We knew that he was threatening to close the show, so we went down to see what all the controversy was about before he did. By chance it all happened after we got there. Looking back, it was much ado about nothing.

The new CAC building opened in 2002 and was designed by renowned architect Zaha Hadid. This museum contains a museum for children called The "UNMUSEUME." Designed for children, it is a hit with the adults as well. Tom and Ben took turns conducting an imaginary orchestra. As they waved their arms, the music played. They also had fun poking through a most unusual chest of drawers. Each drawer had a unique surprise inside. A full size 1950's style vacation trailer, allows visitors to get quite rambunctious. By running from one side of the trailer to the other. You can really "rock-out." Thanks to funding from Lois and Richard Rosenthal, the CAC museum admission is free on Monday nights.

Just outside the museum is Fountain Square, where most nights you can watch a big screen TV showing the Reds games, and listen to impromptu street performers.

We also took Ben to see the Cincinnati Museum of Art. This is a conventional art museum located in Mt. Adams/Eden Park. The Rosenthal's have also made it possible to see the Cincinnati Museum of Art admission free every day of the week. Thanks to everyone who buys their magazines, including The Artist magazine and The Writer etc. unfortunately that museum does not allow photographs so we have none to share.

Lastly, I have included a few shots from the Cathedral Basilica, in Newport Kentucky just across the river. This is one of America's most beautiful churches. It was built by European artisans who stopped in Newport and Covington Kentucky as they made their way across the United States in the 1800's. My own great-grandfather Welch stopped here for a couple of years on his way to Utah. Just a short distance from the Basilica, is the Pied Piper clock. This is a mechanical clock that tells the entire story of the Pied Piper acted out by little carved characters, once an hour. This was a favorite stop of grandpa Ross Wilhelmsen whenever he was in Cincinnati.


Inside the Basilica

Ben and De on the Riverboat

Ben and Tom looking through a dresser at the CAC

Ben and Tom in front of Union Terminal


Roebling Bridge and The Ascent

TTFN

Saturday, August 23, 2008

A Family Milestone

18 years and 5 months ago, the last thought that crossed my mind would be the day that Katherine would move away from home to go to college. Vicki and I typically hung with the older people in our wards. They would always talk about how these times go by so quickly. I acknowledged their sentiments while thinking to myself that they were a bit dramatic. No more.

Yesterday, Katherine packed all her worldly belongings. When she had finished boxing everything, Ben made the observation that Katherine had less stuff than we had Christmas decorations. Vicki asked if he thought we should get rid of the Christmas decorations. That was a silly thing to say. He thought we should get Katherine more "stuff". She liked that.

Early this morning, with the car full of gas and "stuff", Katherine and Vicki were ready to make the trip to Provo. Ben sneaked outside and waited. Katherine came out a few minutes later and when she looked at him, he waved his hankie and sang "God be with you till we meet again." They laughed, they hugged, and they lipped some secrets word to each other that they didn't want the parents to hear. Katherine climbed in the car, Vicki started it up and they drove off, leaving me at home to deal with mixed emotions of joy for her decisions and emptiness for the loss of her stories given in great detail, her laughter and music.



Sunday, August 10, 2008

School is finally out.

Spencer is finally out of school. Two weeks of vacation and then he is back in school and starting middle School.

I had a conference in Salt Lake last week and missed his participation in a talent show and his promotion ceremony. Thanks to the marvels of video camera's (or camera's that act like video camera's) I was able to participate. Spencer gave his authorization for me to share these.

By the way, the movie files are large 20 & 24 meg's respectively.







TTFN
-Ron

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Spencer's Ponderings

Tonight, I returned home from meetings and found Spencer feverishly working on a math problem. He continued to work as the rest of us discussed other things. Suddenly, he hit us with his findings.

"There is no way that Santa Claus could hand out all his gifts!" How did you come to that conclusion we asked. "Well, if Santa traveled at Mach 3, he could go around the world twice in 22.962962 repeat hours. Santa has to travel in a zig zag path to get around the world and he would have to travel around it more than twice. Also, he is stopping then going, stopping then going it's not like traveling around the world twice in a straight pattern."

Then he really let us have it. "Traveling that fast in an open sleigh, he wouldn't be able to breathe because of the force of the wind so he couldn't survive the trip."

I was flabbergasted, I asked Spencer what he was trying to tell us but before he could reach any conclusion Vicki asked Spencer, "As long as he brings the presents to your house, does it really matter?"

That's why she's the mom!

Sunday, June 1, 2008

01 June 2008

Year end activities (as measured by the school calendar) are always full. Katherine performed in her senior recital, Benjamin won an award as voted by the students for best ________. (Go ahead and take a guess then look at the end of the email for the answer). Spencer is on track break and loving it. The first day he woke up at 6:00 am when he typically wakes about 7:15 - 7:30. I guess there is always something about wasting such valuable break time. However, the most interesting activity of the week came as a band fund raiser.

Green Valley Band parents and students serve as vault security helpers for the annual JCK jewelry show in Las Vegas. Wholesalers from all over the world bring in watches, pearls, diamonds and all sorts of other high priced special jewelry. Each morning, the wholesalers check out there jewels from a "vault" and each evening, they deposit it back in the vault. This show has several vaults. When the jewelry is inside, so are the armed guards. They sleep with these jewels all night. The armed guards are from several metropolitan police forces.

We got to work with Bobby and Mark from New Orleans. These guys were characters and had a million stories of NO and Mardi Gras. For example, Mardi Gras lasts two weeks. If you are a family person do the first week. The second week is too decadent.

Vicki, Ben and I moved bags from the corridor to the vault. As things were slowing down,
I asked Bobby and Mark what they thought the value of the bags would be. With 145 tickets issued, they calculated the value at approximately $1 billion. Funny thing is that you would see these types of bags and boxes in an airport or Fed-ex drop-off and not give it a second thought. One guy had a soft sided briefcase that was filled with nothing but loose diamonds. Another group had taped together five card board boxes on a dolly and another group didn't even bother to put the cardboard boxes on a dolly. We saw plastic containers from home depot with the fold over lids like we all store our Christmas stuff in. These just had a pad lock on them. Seems like a person would go through the plastic instead of the steel.

When we were all finished, Vicki Ben and I went to return our vests. As we walked through the Venetian, I had thought of an older Jewish man and his wife were conflicted because they chose to sell goods on their sabbath. But with a good day of sales, they justified that God would be okay with it because "they had to feed their children."

As we walked, we watched thousands of people inside the casino. The artwork and construction was exceeding fine. As Vicki and I looked at eachother, we felt that we were in "the large and spacious building." We felt that billions and billions of dollars of jewels were brought in so that people could impress other people. Honestly, the amount of jewels had no value to me.

Then I had another interesting thought. If we were to take the volume of jewels in that building, and replace it with water and that was all the water available in the world, What would the value of the jewels be then when compared to the water?

I guess it helps me to understand what really is important. Now if I can just live it.

-Ron

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Tribute to Katherine for her Graduation & Sylvia

For those old enough to remember Dragnet, I blog like Joe Friday. Just the facts M'am. Sylvia blogs like Elizabeth Barret Browning with emphasis on Barrett. Nothing is left to the imagination for all the details are bared and shared in her stories. With that in mind and as a tribute, today I'll blog like Sylvia.

I woke up early on May's fast Sunday 1990. I was feeling anxious as this was the day that I would take my "infant daughter into my arms to give her a name and a blessing". The naming was easy. Years earlier as Vicki and I were cuddling in our Sandy apartment; we talked of our dreams and aspirations, our family and our future. I was sharing how I envisioned our family and telling stories of our family yet to come. I talked of our first child, a daughter. Her name would be Katherine Anne. It seemed natural that her name would be such, because she should have a royal name. Katherine fit so well. Anne would be after her mother.

Katherine's name, already being determined, moved the stress that weighed heavily on my mind to what should I bless her with. I wanted her to have the all blessings of world but they were not mine to give. As I lay in bed staring at the ceiling, I pondered what would be appropriate for me to say, and would it align with what God wished for her. Ideas slowly started to creep into my mind much the way that the sun crept around the earth and over the mountains turning the sky from black to blue to brilliant yellows. And through this progression of thoughts, I felt confident of what I would say, but why were there so few things and why was there not more for me to add to the blessing.

Vicki and I chose to bless Katherine at our new ward in Ogden, Utah. Perhaps with that small act, we would quickly fit in. A new job gave us the opportunity of new adventures and developing a new ward family was one of them. We soon discovered that we had moved into a ward of great diversity, not of ethnicity but of years. Blue hairs and screaming babies seemed to be the ward demographic. The screaming would have been less intense if Sacrament meeting had not been scheduled at infant nap time. But thus it was and those with blue hair really did try to be accepting and not judgmental of the screaming members. However, it just seemed difficult to pay attention to a meeting participant when the pitch of the infant scream was more readily received by the hearing aids than the message of the speaker.

Always a comfort, family members came to support us at Katherine's blessing. At the appointed time I took Katherine to the front of the chapel. She was dressed in the Wilhelmsen baby blessing gown which was a long flowing white dress that was slicker than a greased pig at the county fair. (Sorry for the simile) I secured Katherine in my hands held her out
just like I had practiced with her at home. Those around me each placed one hand under her to give her total support and one hand on the shoulder of the brother to their left. I held her steady as I felt her weight being lifted as hands joined mine. I relaxed my arm to allow others to feel the weight. I don't know from whence it came, I fought the tradition but from somewhere deep down, one hand started "the priesthood bounce." I tried to stop the bounce and concentrate on the prayer at the same time but to no avail. Stopping the priesthood bounce was like trying to turn the Queen Mary Ocean Liner around in a bathtub. It just wasn't going to happen and I had more important things to do.

In earlier years I became convinced that the priesthood bounce was not an authorized part of a baby blessing so I didn't practice that with Katherine prior to her blessing. After years of pondering, I have come to understand that the shock of the bounce on Katherine was so distressing that she started to scream on the first down motion much like we all do when riding down the first hill of a rollercoaster. I was flustered by this sudden turn of events. I panicked. I got through the naming part without much trouble and went on to the blessing. The persistent bounce now resembled a great tsunami in an futile attempt by the brethren to calm her, while her the screaming matched the swells and dips with the force of a hurricane wind. I knew I had to get this blessing done and return Katherine to the safe shores of her mother's arms to stop the screaming. Speaking from practiced
memory, I blessed her to have the ability to love God and to love her neighbor. She would need no other blessings to get her through this life. The blessing ended, the bouncing stopped and as Katherine was raised (much like Pumba) in an exhibit of fatherly pride (is that a sin?) and of course tradition to show the ward members, they too were able to witness her beautiful black hair, her gorgeous dress and the rosy pink tonsils from whence the screaming origniated.

Katherine has always loved her neighbors. Since the day of her blessings, I have witnessed this love and share the following as a sample.

Early one spring morning in Alabama, I drove from the end of the cul-de-sac where our English Tudor home sat, the brilliant pink and white azaleas lining the east side of the home and the dew gently resting on the grass. The sun was a red orb rising through the humidity induced mist that hugged the earth. Little did I know what the day would bring. When I left for work, the family was asleep. Vicki being "great with Ben" was sleeping restlessly and Katherine was by herself in her upstairs bedroom that overlooked Wellington Court. Later that morning, I received a call from Vicki. She reported that she was awakened by the touch of wet feet. It seems that Katherine had
awoken and choose to visit our neighbors and their dog instead of waking her mother. So she ventured off in her silk nighty and binky. After returning from her visit she climbed into bed to snuggle with her mom who received a rude awakening to the pitter patter of tiny feet on her back.

Katherine loved to stay up with Mom and Dad. Her nightly ritual included hearing a story and a song sometimes with impromptu lyrics of her favorite bible stories. Then she would kneel by her bed and say her prayers. The bedding parent had to lie with her until right before she fell asleep which for me was 10 minutes after I had fallen asleep. Failure to follow this procedure would result in the recommencement of the ritual. Better to be patient and do it once than impatient and repeat it multiple times.


One evening after work, Vicki and I had talked of one of my employee's husband who had some spots show up on x-rays of his lungs. My employee, Pat, was concerned because her husband had worked in insulation plants most of his life and this spot would most likely be a precursor to a report of cancer. That evening at bed time, I was the official bedder. Katherine and I walked up the stairway to her room. She climbed into her twin size princess bed with a pink floral canopy
and laid down resting her head on the pillow. I read her a story, I sang the "Daniel in the lion's den" song and then Katherine knelt down to pray. She prayed for all the standard things and then suddenly she said "Someone is sick." This caught me by surprise and I had to think why she would say such a thing. I recalled our discussion earlier that evening, and simply said Pat's husband. Katherine offered up: "Please bless Pat's husband" and then concluded her prayer. Oh the faith of a child who loves her neighbor and pleads for a woman who doesn't know all of her friends.

Two years passed and Katherine, now five, was visiting with us at Nana and Grandpa's home. While her parents visited with the adults indoors, Katherine was outside with the children on the driveway. One neighbor child, who couldn't be a stranger because Katherine knew her name, had fallen on the driveway while roller blading. Another neighbor child was following closely behind and her roller blades ran over the fingers of the first. I happ
ened to be watching just at this precise moment and witnessed the poor child letting out a scream of pain. One of Katherine's cousins looked on in shock, frozen in fear, with a terrified look on her face. Katherine raced to the child's side, knelt down and put her arm around her. Gently patting her back, Katherine comforted her. The young child settled and together, they discovered that the pain was more perceived than real.

At age twelve, Katherine loved to sew. She won a drawer full of county and state fair awards demonstrated primarily by blue ribbons but interspersed with "best of class", "best of show" and a few red and white ribbons thrown in for good measure. As a new young woman, Katherine wanted to perform a service project filled with good works. She had been with her younger brothers to the local library and witnessed Children's Hour Performances that sometimes included puppet shows. Witnessing a cardboard box for a puppet stage and poorly made puppets, Katherine was inspired as to how she would serve. Working with her father, they designed a puppet stage. Katherine wanted the construction to be her work. She wouldn't let her father make a cut to the PVC pipe or connect a joint. She built the stage herself and sewed the coverings with a fabric that looked like a night blue sky with yellow stars. After sewing multiple felt bodies of orange, yellow. blue and green, Katherine showed a talent for attention to detail by attaching yarn for hair, googley's for eyes, and specially made props for each puppet character for the puppet show. After performing a show for the family, Katherine delivered the stage and puppets to the library. Such a gift was a thrill for the librarians.

A young woman moved into the boundaries of our ward. Because she didn't have friends in the ward, she didn't come to church. As Beehive class president Katherine selected this young woman as one with whom she wanted to be friends. Katherine planned activities to encourage her friend to come. She called and talked with her. She would visit at her home. On mutual night, we would drive to her home in hopes that the new friend would be there and follow through on her commitment to come to the activities
. This continued each week despite the results of the previous week until Katherine's friend moved.

Katherine continues to make friends that seek her out. Feelings are shared and advice is sought. Katheirne does not gossip, mock, or condemn, but invites them to join her, especially as she goes to seminary. She laughs with them and helps them find the high road in having fun and playing practical jokes without malice. Her friends love her and defend her. Even when someone jokingly gossips about Katherine being mean to another, no classmate will believe them. Her love for her friends is returned to her and such a love as she shows to her friends segues into how I have seen Katherine exhibit her love for God.


While living in Bountiful, one of Katherine's and my favorite things to do was to walk over to the school and play on the playground equipment. This school had swings, monkey bars, and a large slide for a four year old. Katherine loved this playground and especially climbing the ladder to the top of the slide and sliding down. After several trips down the slide, Katherine became somewhat more adventuresome. She tried other ways to slide down the slide. Though the details escape me, I remember seeing Katherine sliding down on her belly. I was thinking this cannot be good. As I was running over, she shot off of the slide, into the air and landed on her belly with a thump. "Are you
alright?" I questioned. Her pride damaged, she gasped "I'm OK." I watched her slowly lift herself up, walk over to a bench and sit on it backwards resting her head on the backrest. I sat down at the far side of the bench and watched her. Slowly she lifted her head and noticed the Bountiful Temple mostly complete in its construction. Then softly she sang to herself, "I love to see the temple, I'm going there someday . . ." My heart melted as I looked into her heart and found how she found comfort in a time of pain.

Katherine was always frustrated by people who swore and particularly those who took the Lord's name in vain. While in sixth grade in Kingman, Arizona boys in Katherine's class would try to tease her by swearing in front of her. Katherine would sneak up behind them, grab the fleshy part of the underarm, pinch it, twist it and tell them not to swear. Once during a test, a boy sitting next to her in class forgot about Katherine not liking to hear swearing and he let out some cuss words in frustration. Katherine reached over to his desk and took his test and slid it under hers. Mrs. Gilbert walked by and asked the young man where his test was. "Katherine took it!" he said accusingly. "Well he swore" defended Katherine "and I warned him not to swear." Mrs. Gilbert reported the events to us and in a way, I think that she admired Katherine's willingness to take a stand but, taking another's test could be construed as cheating no matter the circumstances. Mom and Dad had to have a talk about appropriate behavior and although she has never taken another person's test for swearing, I am sure that she has found other ways to protect her ears and mind from profanity.

Not many people can say that they have had a current temple recommend since they were twelve. Katherine has. She has performed baptisms in Bountiful, Salt Lake, Jordan River, Mount Timpanogos, Provo, Manti, St. George, Las Vegas, San Diego, Los Angeles, Oakland and others that I am sure that I am not privy to. This opportunity came about due to the diligence of her Grandfather Heber's genealogy and her parents willingness to camp and travel to out of the way places. I have performed the baptisms at several of these places. It has been a special bond to share.


We were awed at the beauty of the interior of the San Diego Temple. Inspired by the building skills of the pioneers in the Manti Temple. Baptizing Katherine in the Salt Lake Temple brought back wonderful memories of being baptized as a boy and watching one of my friends being baptized for James Welch born July 21, 18XX. I never begrudge that it wasn't I that was baptized for James because I never would have seen that there was a person with whom I shared the same christian name, last name and birthdate. Oakland was an open baptismal font area with echoes of water splashing (including the showers). The font had a stainless steel chair above the water by the stairs where the person being baptized could then move too so they could be confirmed at the water's edge. The Mount Timpanogos temple took Katherine's recommend and cut it down and put it in a plastic sleeve like the regular patrons
receive. At the St. George temple, we met some friends from Kingman who were at a wedding. The memories go on and on.

With all of those experiences, I can still truthfully say that the greatest example of Katherine's love for God, that I have seen, is the way she lives her life.
God's prophet talks of the need of modest women. Katherine is fastidious in her modest dress even by choosing not to wear clothing that, although perfectly covering a body, draws attention to body parts through printed words or pictures that shouldn't have attention drawn to. The prophets say study the scriptures. Katherine studies the scriptures. Her goal is to read the Book of Mormon once for every year old that she is. She is catching up. However, Katherine doesn't read the Book of Mormon, she studies it. She has read the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. She is the one who stops us in family scripture study to say, "I don't get this." I don't have the courage to admit "I've never thought of this." And so we think and converse and search for answers to her questions.

One of Katherine's least favorite things to do is perform and have attention brought to her. I will pay when she finds out about this blog that I have written. However, Katherine understands that when she is in the service of her fellowman, she is only in the service of her God. She will perform if she feels that God's glory will be exhibited through her playing. But don't effusively praise her ability for playing, simply say "Thank you. I felt something special when you played." No other reward is so sweet to her.

The unknown side of Katherine. I had a friend in college who was very quiet. I once asked some underclassmen if they knew my friend and what they thought of him. They said he seems to be very quiet. Not much fun, a sober sort of guy. Well, still waters run deep. I didn't have a better or more fun friend and so it is with Katherine. Her demeanor
is not the splash and show and excitement of the rapids. She is not the flirty, noisy, "notice me" type. Katherine is still water; quiet and reserved. She watches and observes. But under that calm water runs a deep sense of humor that is worth the wait to discover. It is the depth of the humor and her love of laughter that not many see. But this laughter, which because of her talent to observe and her capacity of empathy towards others, is without guile or harm and it will fill a lifetime with joy and happiness.

And now at the end, I want to quote Theodor Geisel who said, "Oh the places you'll go . . ." and so, Katherine will go places and lift people because she loves God and she loves her neighbor.


Happy Graduation Katherine and remember that the root of the word commencement is commence, "to start", and graduation from high school is merely a start of great things you will do in the service of your God and His children

Love,
Dad

P.S. How did I do Sylvia? (I only embellished an little bit.)

Saturday, April 26, 2008

26 April 2008

The school year is winding down for Katherine and Ben. Spencer, being a year round student this year, is just going strong. K&B have finished their last PE credit. They finished their BYU tennis class. Katherine has been officially accepted at BYU, has her class schedule, her housing, and her club. Now all she needs is money. Wal-mart contributed $1000 dollars. (Thanks Sam.) She should have half tuition from BYU, is looking for a full-time summer job and a part time job while at BYU. Hopefully she will see some funds from the A E Hinckley family scholarship and then she should be able to make it.

Spencer's school had its fund raising carnival. Our family hung out at the raffle booth since that is what Vicki volunteered to run. It was 1-1/2 hours of peace followed by 30 minutes of chaotic greed. We saw some people their with five rolls of tickets that they had purchased in hopes of winning the Grand Prize which was a Wii. After all the
prizes were drawn, the winner of the Wii was a seven year old little boy whose Grandma had bought 5 tickets. It had that Charlie Bucket feel to it.

Vicki has started making Christmas presents. I could tell you what they are but then I'd have to kill you. I am amazed at how she can start these things in April but she is a planner.




I was going through some more pictures and wanted to share one more from Death Valley. I'll tell you what, when our family sees a sign that says "Sea Level" we get excited!


TTFN
-Ron


Wednesday, April 16, 2008

13 April 2008

Our Children are Angels

Last week Katherine and Ben performed in the Henderson Nevada Anthem stake's presentation of Savior of the World. My favorite part was in the balcony of the set where actors represented angels. Every now and again, you would see an angel reach out when some character on stage was struggling. Ben seemed to be especially kind in his reaching out. Katherine was probably a little more leary about getting to close to the edge. In an earlier practice, she had dropped her sandal (from 15 feet up) onto the stage. The overall performance was wonderful.

Katherine and Ben have finished up their BYU Tennis course. When the kids signed up for BYU PE credits, they thought it would be easier than doing it at high school. They were wrong. I drive by high schools and watch kids walking around a track. BYU tennis required performing skills at higher and higher levels for the grade desired. For swimming, they had to swim multiple times each week for 3 months. That got tough in October.

Spencer was one of ten students from his school chosen to sing with 100 other students at a staff developmental day. He really enjoyed it, once it was over.

TTFN
-Ron

Monday, March 24, 2008

23 March 2008

Some busy weeks have kept me from up dating but I will try to get things back in place.

23 March 2008

This week includes activities from the previous week since we went to Death Valley on Friday 14 March. It was a great time to go since the temperature was moderate and the spring flowers were blooming.

We left Friday afternoon. The kids spring break started with the last school bell of the day and our trip started as soon as I got home from work. Death Valley is only 2-1/2 hours away and we made decent time. We got the trailer set up and Spencer's tent set-up so he could start earning camping days for his camping merit badge. I was banished to the Tahoe because my CPAP wouldn't work off the battery in the trailer. I was able to use a converter and make the CPAP work in the Tahoe.

Saturday morning, there were lots of complaints of the the wind blowing. I never noticed. After a quick breakfast of syrup-less pancakes, we went to Mosaic canyon, the sand dunes and Scotty's Castle which really wasn't Scotty's Castle but you'll have to go on the tour to figure that out. The elevation difference between the dunes and scotty's castle was 3000' We didn't notice the difference much while in the car but with a cold front developing at the same time as we were changing elevations, it felt like we had lost 30 degrees.

As you look at the pictures, you can see how Ben jumps the dunes, Katherine has a difficult time navigating the busy streets of Death Valley and
Spencer hikes on slick rock.

Sunday we went to church in Beatty, NV. The branch had about 40 people attending. Spencer was the 6th child in primary. The Elder's quorum was the young mens group because they had no young men. Katherine went with Vicki to RS because they had one girl in YW and Katherine is so close to turning 18 (March 30 greetings can be sent to 12smile4 at mstar dot net) she figured she would just go with her this time. I liked what they learned in RS. The canning leader was talking about food storage and encouraged the women to can wheat with the reminder "The whiter your bread, the sooner your dead!" Share that quote if you like.

Sunday afternoon, Vicki and Katherine headed back to Las Vegas because of a previous commitment to perform in a Women's fireside with a promise that they would be back at 11pm. 11pm came and went. 7 am came and went, and we marked each passing hour. Finally, I hiked to a pay phone to call Vicki (no cell service in Death Valley). She told me that they had developed a radiator leak 20 miles outside of Death Valley and were just finishing getting the radiator replaced.

Vicki and Katherine made it back by 3:30pm and we were off again. We visited the lowest point in North America called Badwater Basin, the Devil's golf course, and Artistic loop.
We made it back to the campground and had baked potatoes, dutch oven pork chops and freshly baked dutch oven rolls. As night turned into really dark, the kids made smores and marshmallow torches.

Tuesday we went to see how borax was mined and processed got the Boys their Jr. Ranger badges and went to see the Pup fish which are only in Death Valley. With that we were headed home.


16 March 2008


Spencer went on his first official boy scout camp-out. He told me in no uncertain terms that I was not
sleeping in his tent. Amazing how a four man tent can barely fit two 11 year-old boys and all their gear. This camp was organized to help the 11 year-old scout progress towards rank advancements. They did orienteering, first aid, indigenous plants and animals and knots and lashings.

Spencer's scoutmaster was having trouble making a shear lashing look like the finished illustration in the book. Meanwhile, independently, Spencer was tying the lash and making it in look exactly like the finished illustration in the book. Come to find out, Spencer had found that the book had a wrong illustration for an intermediate step. We encouraged Spencer to write the national scout office to inform them of the error, but he's not interested.

TTFN
-Ron

Sunday, March 2, 2008

2 March 2008

Spencer started his track break by getting the flu. Talk about wasting a good vacation. He was so sick on Monday and Tuesday that he just laid around and didn't even get out of his jammies. By Wednesday he started feeling better and Katherine got the same sickness on Thursday. With school pressing in on her, she could only afford one sick day and then back to school on Friday. Spencer will be out of school until the Monday after Easter. So he still has some time to play.

Katherine and Ben continue their practices in Savior of the World. They will perform on April 10, 11, and 12 at the Henderson outdoor Pavilion. We printed off our tickets today.

Vicki was prepping the soil yesterday to plant our garden. She asked Ben for help and Spencer for help but Toasty was the only one to volunteer. I guess we shouldn't be mad when he harvests the garden even if he only waited one day to start pulling up the strawberry plants.

Today, Vicki, Katherine and Benjamin had gone to choir practice. Spencer was working on making a game on the computer and the dog was asleep on his pillow. I thought the dog had a great idea so I lied down on the couch in the family room. I hadn't even dozed off and the dog came up and started licking me on my eyes and nose and mouth. Yuck. It reminded me of when Katherine was small and would lift my eyelids up to see if I was a sleep. Well I wasn't asleep anymore. Either time.

TTFN

-Ron

Sunday, February 24, 2008

24 Febraury 2008

A week of visitors. Vedel spent the night with us Thursday evening. Friends from Kingman spent Friday night and Vicki's Aunt Ruth, Uncle Ray their son Eric, his wife and four children spent Sunday morning and afternoon.

Vedel had a conference in town Friday morning and we always love having him join us.

The friends from Kingman came to hear Katherine play her keyboard in Cats' Las Vegas. What a spectacular performance. We had a pancake breakfast Saturday morning and the friends were off by 10:30.

Sabin's come down on occasion when their grandson, Mark has a gymnastic competition in St. George. Eric works in Las Vegas in doing contracting documentation for Big D, and heads home most weekends but on these occasions, he stays here and we enjoy having them over.

Last night (Saturday) as part of my High Council duties, Vicki and I went to a appreciation dinner for a group called Friends in the Desert. Started by St. Timothy's Episcopal Church 15 years ago, volunteers from Henderson provide approximately 30,000 meals each year to homeless people or struggling families. This has become a multi-faith outreach program. Our stake participates by providing 80-100 meals on the first Tuesday of every month. What a wonderful opportunity to meet such neat people who are so kind in reaching out.

Today at church, we had the new family search program introduced to us. This will be a very cool program that takes the work of doing a family name in the temple from 16 to 5 steps. In the process, people who have a strong desire to not do repeat work will have an easier time finding duplicates and also know which names are already in the queue. The part Vicki really liked was that when you first sign on, the family search program will automatically show what your pedigree chart looks like and as you focus on one person, you can open a "google" world map that will show you all the important spots on the earth for your life or the life of the person you are researching.

The program is being rolled out one temple at a time and our temple is supposed to be live on February 26. There have been delays. The rumor is that there is so much interest in this new method that the system has been overloaded and additional servers are needed. Makes you kind of wish you lived in Las Vegas, doesn't it?


TTFN
-Ron

Sunday, February 17, 2008

17 February 2008 (Happy Birthday Mom!)

We found out this week that we have a dog that's a digger. Vicki was upstairs working on a sewing project when she heard toasty barking downstairs. When she came downsairs, she found that the windows needed a wash job. Toasty had found his way into a flower bed when the drip system (which has turned into a full fledged shower since he has chewed all the tubes) was running. Water plus dirt plus puppy equals dirty windows.

We started planting the replacement plants this week-end
and will finish up tomorrow. We have included a couple of pictures for you to review. One of the cool things is that now we have our own Brady Bunch fake grass back yard. I never thought I would see the day but with the concrete about 6 inches under the "grass" it had to happen. Should be good for the water bill.


Katherine and Ben continue practicing for the "Savior of the world presentation on April 10th 11th and 12th. They are really enjoying the time spent in preparation. We are looking forward to the presentation.

TTFN
-Ron

Sunday, February 10, 2008

10 February 2008

This week reminds me of a talk when President Hinckley quoted Jenkins Lloyd Jones:

“Life is like an old-time rail journey—delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed.

“The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride” (“Big Rock Candy Mountains,” Deseret News, 12 June 1973, A4).


And though most weeks seem to be filled with delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust cinders and jolts, we have seen some of the beautiful vistas this week.

Katherine is playing the piano in her high school's (LVA) Broadway version of Cats. The royalty company has encouraged different locations to use indigenous settings. The setting LVA chose was the Las Vegas neon sign graveyard. (If you haven't seen it, it really is something.) They have done further adaptations with the different cats taking on Las Vegas personalities including Sigfield and Roy, Liberace, The Rat pack and current Mayor Oscar Goodman. Vicki and I have our tickets for the 22nd of February. Katherine told us it took three nights to finally get good. I have seen these kids production. If Katherine says it finally is good, it's great. These kids live for the arts. The newspaper said that production costs are close to $100,000 (a good portion for royalties) but that is what the theater department puts into it to make a great production.

Ben turned in a biology project that included a DNA Model with a select portion that was supposed to represent a protein within the DNA. He found a way to build the model using items we had in the house including a coat hanger, clothes pins, corks, small spools, wire, paint and hot glue. It is amazing what he did.

Spencer celebrated his eleventh birthday. Although he loved the gifts from his Grandparents and siblings, he we crazy for the "electronics learning lab" circuit board from his parents. He is now learning of transistors, resistors, capacitors, wires, diodes, batteries and STUFF. He has spent every last minute moving wires and pieces around to learn how they interact. He even found that different family members generate a different pitch when the complete a circuit di to the amount of water in each system. (Spencer has the highest pitch.)

Vicki and I continue to facilitate the learning. Its great to have a family.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

03 February 2008 "Y" my Daughter

Well now we know why Nana always makes Swedish Pancakes when we come to visit. With a full 60% of the votes, our favorite dish that Nana makes is Swedish Pancakes!

"Y" my daughter? That was the conversation Vicki and I were having this past Friday. Since Katherine was accepted into BYU, she now had to find a way to pay for her college. That included writing three 300 word essays. Once those were completed, we had about 20 minutes before the deadline to look for additional money's that were available in the BYU comprehensive scholarship fund. It was reminiscent of when she completed the early admission filing deadline by 15 minutes and she remarked, "I was 15 minute early." Well for scholarship applications, she was four minutes early.

Spencer "crossed over" from cub scouts to boy scouts on Tuesday night. Wouldn't you know that on his final night they had a pine wood derby race. That was Spencer's fourth pine wood derby race in cub scouts and one too many as far as I am concerned. This year, he did the majority of the work so the car was much more his than Dad's or Mom's. His average speed of 4 races was 61.7 mph and he took fourth overall. The grand prize winner was 62.8 MPH. To give an idea of how close the race was, the close up picture shows Spencer's car in the 2nd from right lane and the winner in the 4th lane. The other second and third place cars were clocked at 62.8 and 62.7 MPH respectively. Spencer's car was second fastest in the ward and he got a very nice 2nd place trophy.

The video shows Spencer's Car in lane one and the grand champion in lane 3.



TTFN
-Ron

Sunday, January 27, 2008

27 January 2008

Thanks to everyone who voted for their favorite comfort food that Nana makes. You can encourage your children to cast their votes as well. Remember, voting ends on January 31st.


I asked Vicki last week if she would let me post a picture of a quilt that she designed and made for Ben's room. She said she didn't need it posted that she would be satisfied for her mom and Nana to see it. When Gail saw the picture of the quilt, she asked Vicki why I didn't post that on the blog and move away from the wall dribble. With that kind of support, today I brag on Vicki and we will do one more wall post next week and be done with the wall. Hallelujah.



Vicki has been absolutely swamped with goodness activities. She teaches early morning seminary, which is like being a Sunday school teacher every day of the week. Each day when she returns she preps for her next lesson while baby sitting a dog and trying to do all the parental service activities at school.

In the midst of all of that, she has a goal to do one service project each month. This month the service was for Ben's room to get a quilt. I have especially enjoyed the quilt because it breaks up the overwhelmingness of Ben's room. Each child when we moved here was allowed to
design and paint their own room. Ben like's green. His room is three shades of green. I like green too but Ben's room is so green that it makes me blue.

Vicki has refinished the bed in the picture which is a beautiful piece of solid wood furniture left over from when her mother was a little girl. The nightstand was completed by Ben for one of his merit badge requirements but supervised by Vicki. Add to that, a black Papa San chair that Ben got for Christmas last year and now the room is pleasant to be in. It needed the quilt to top it off.

Since moving here, each child has recieved a bed spread that Vicki has quilted for them. She does a great job of keeping them warm physically and mentally.

TTFN
-Ron

Saturday, January 19, 2008

20 January 2008



Caucus week in Nevada. Our family did our part. We went to a Romney rally on Thursday; Made sure our Romney sign stood out at night on Friday, participated in the caucus on Saturday and Katherine volunteered at caucus central on Saturday afternoon.



We in Nevada did our part for Mitt. And remember, chewsy puppies chews Mitt!

Sunday, January 13, 2008

TWIR Returns 13 January 2008

No great and monumental occasion. I just decided to do a TWIR and whomever want to read it can without the email.

Ben has a new puppy that was delivered on January 4, 2008. He had a
tough time coming up with a name but decided because the dog is so sweet and is white with just a touch of golden on his head that he would call him Toasted Marshmallow and Toasty for short. The puppy lounges in the house and races when he is outside. He loves Ben and Katherine and Spencer. He likes Vicki and he tolerates me. Sometimes. Thats OK. I don't have to clean up after his messes and take him out to the bathroom. Ben is training him to go potty.

Our falling wall has been replaced. The family
has worked diligently to take the grade down 4" so we can extend our driveway and get rid of the dirt. With the removal and rebuild of the wall and the concrete pour complete, we now have a 16' wide side yard.

Spencer is on the cusp of receiving all 20 of his Webelos activity pins. He has just a few more activities to complete.

Katherine continues to be heavily involved at school. She is defacto leader of the key club (even though she isn't president) and treasurer of the Conservative Civics Club at the Las Vegas Academy of International Studies and Visual and performing Arts High School. She says the civics club is the smallest club on campus because they just don't have that many conservatives at that arts school. She will be involved in counting returns from our caucus this Saturday.

Our neighbor across the street put up an OBAMA 08 sign yesterday. I guess they are trying to counter act the "Romney for President" sign we have in our yard. I turned our sign around after I saw him put up his sign. The other side says "Romney, True Strength for America's Future"

Sweet Vicki, Is feeling like a new mom all over again with a baby puppy. In addition to the million things she has on her plate, she now runs after and plays with the dog during the day. Sometimes I wonder how she gets it all done.

Well that about sums up the week.