Mark's Words to the World

Pirate for Halloween

2010-11-03T18:20:00.000-07:00

I was a pirate for Halloween, Capt. Jack Sparrow to be precise. It was amazing how many people did not know who I was !!

Chaska Triathlon - Mary

2009-09-10T09:18:00.001-07:00

Mary likes to do the Chaska Tri each year. Here she is in '09 after the 1/3 Mile swim, 16 Mile bike ride, and 5K Run... She took over 5 minutes off of last year's time. Wow, you go girl!

At the Finish Line............................................................................

Family Photos

2009-08-16T04:31:00.000-07:00

We are all together for a short moment; here is our moment...

Funny thing with cell phones…

2009-08-03T09:06:00.000-07:00

I’m cooking outside when I get a text message from a number I don’t recognize.

The message string goes like this:

Text “Hey”

I don’t know who it is so I text a “?”

Text “Whats wrong?”

I still don’t know this person “Who r u?”

Text “Miriam”

I know a Miriam but don’t text with her, so I send “Are you trying to reach Mark?”

Text “Whos mark?”

I text “I am.”

They text “Oh, how old are you?”

Oh brother, I text “Older than dirt”

They text “Haha”

Encampment 2009

2009-06-27T12:46:00.000-07:00

The sun cooked 'em (heat index of over 104)
And burned 'em (everyone had some lobster spots)
The bugs ate 'em (average bug bites per leg over 20)
Mother Nature soaked 'em (rain on Wednesday and Saturday)

On Saturday we brought our burnt, bug eaten, soaked, hungry, tired carcasses home!

Encampment 2009 was "Fantastic"! (as Jack would say).

As the saying goes. "Leave only footprints, and take nothing but memories". We left footprints:

On the Disc Golf courses ["Dude, good times"]
At the range (way to go Robinhood Chris and Tristin)
At the Merit Badge classes [the Deacons each worked on 3-4 MBs, my favorite was watching Matt D. dance his fly fishing rod like a pro],
At the beach watching the cardboard and duct tape boats sink with their passengers
At the climbing tower [but don't touch the black ones, they burn your hands - Daniel]
Footprints in the night to help a neighbor take down his tent while he's a sleep - Matt C.
To the shower that was stuck on the coldest setting - can you say "refreshing"?
At the secret lodge where we snuck in for some air conditioned games of Perudo [you gotta' get out of the heat] and wood carving - Tristin

Wind Power

2009-04-25T15:27:00.000-07:00

Okay, call me crazy but I've been interested in this "going green" thing. So I did some research and looked at ideas on the net for wind power. I didn't want to put the time into making propellers, and I didn't want a sky scraper over my roof. Here is my first attempt. Next I need to connect a DC motor and see if I can charge a battery. Stay tuned. Oh, by the by so far it has cost me $4.00 and 8 hours of time.

The 23 Years

2009-03-24T12:19:00.001-07:00

The 23 Years!

Mary and I will soon celebrate 23 years of marriage.

I love you dear!

Okinawa Japan

2009-03-13T19:32:00.000-07:00

Okinawa has been fantastic! The weather was warm, it rained the first day and today (Saturday). We had an accident this morning on our way to go diving. Rob missed the stop sign and we hit a lady's car in the back end, she fishtailed and hit the other side against a tree. Everyone was okay but, No last dive today.

The glass factory was cool (I mean hot), they have a giant furnace. Rob and I blew glass to make goblets, then as they spun the glass we formed the shape. My glove and sleeve protector had a gap and my arm got a little burn. Ouch. We go back to pick up the glass this afternoon. Rob's kids want to do it too.

My SCUBA dives were neat. The first dive was a short one to get me familiar and comfortable with the equipment. I was nervous, my mask had a little leak so I had to keep clearing it by blowing air through my nose, I also forgot to clear my ears so they were painful until Rob gave the okay hand sign (something divers do to check in with their buddy) I pointed to my ears and Rob pinched his nose and filled his cheeks with air to remind me. Once I cleared them I was good. It was not very clear because of the waves, but we did see a little sea life and Rob played with a sea snake. They are venomous but we wear wet suits that completely cover us, as well as gloves, and boots; so only a little bit of our face is not covered.

Getting in and out was the hardest part due to the weight (20 lbs of weights, 20 lbs tank, wet suit, water weight, and tired legs).

The second and third dives were much nicer, I felt comfortable. I am an air hog, meaning I breath air quickly so it doesn't last as long as Rob and Jim (Rob's friend). Rob and I shared his tank for a while so we didn't have to get out as soon. I saw both hard and soft corals, clown fish, pipe fish, scorpion (lion) fish, jelly fish, sea cucumbers, nudybronk (don't know how to spell - little colorful sea slugs with no shell), crabs, sea urchin, all kinds of star fish, an eel, and a lot of sea snakes. I took some pictures.

My third dive was a little freaky. There were jelly fish all over the place, most were not the kind that sting but it was like swimming in soup. Then Rob and Jim had talked about getting 'narked' when you go past 90' and were planning to go to 120 so that had me a bit concerned. As we descended my mask felt like a ton of bricks was on it, I just needed to let air out through my nose but since I was shook up I was not thinking clearly. The decent was faster than I felt comfortable and the bottom looked endless, I was freaked out so I stopped and hung to the side of the cliff (we were at 80 feet down). So we went up to 60 feet and there was a shelf; that took away a lot of my fear as I had a bottom under me. We found a scorpion (lion) fish which was cool.

The 4th dive (my last) the surf and surge was high, when we got in I swallowed two gulps of ocean trying to breath through the snorkel, then the waves were bouncing me all over, my BCD vest was full of air to help me float and squeezing my stomach; needless to say I felt sick. Rob helped me out and then he and Jim did the dive with out me. I bought a Coke to settle my stomach. My stomach felt sick the rest of the day. Even now typing about it brings the ick to my stomach.

The weather was raining and windy so we didn't get to go to the site we had planned, as we were heading to a different spot we had the accident. That messed up our time, and since the weather was bad no last dive.

The first dive

2009-03-09T22:30:00.000-07:00

Rob and I went SCUBA diving this morning at the Sunabi Seawall in Okinawa. It was great! The water was nice. There was a little wind, so the surf was up and the water wasn't very clear but, we did see some fish and a couple of sea snakes. It took a little while for me to adjust and remember to clear my ears.

Rob has an under water cover for his camera so we (I) took some pictures;
Rob took this picture of me.
I have a hat on, so my hair looks strange... but if yooou concentrate and look deeeeep into my eyes you will see - it's me!

Okinawa Japan - Trip to the beach

2009-03-07T00:13:00.000-08:00

Saturday Rob and Steve took me to the beach (it was raining but we got some nice photos). Okinawa reminds me of Hawaii, lots of vegetation including sugar cane, pineapple, and palm trees. Here are some of the photos of Okinawa outside in the rain.

Japan

2009-03-06T15:55:00.000-08:00

I made it to Japan! It is warm and humid (its been raining and you can feel the moisture in the air). Rob and Steph and the family are doing well. We got to bed late (1 AM) as everyone came in around mid night from the play practice.

Rob and I stopped for Curry oh man it was yummy! Rob had a CALPS drink for me right away in the car, it's a yogurt drink that I love and always ask for when ever I get care packages from Japan.

I met some nice people on the flights here. A student at the U of M (Joo-young not correct spelling) returning to Korea for a cousin's wedding. A family going to a wedding in Thailand, their son is getting married, they are American from Illinois. And a man who visits the Asia Seventh Day Adventist schools from Michigan.

I'll work on getting photos up soon.

Jewelry Box in Stained Glass

2009-02-28T14:50:00.000-08:00

My first jewelry boxes were more "box" than "jewelry" though each has its own theme and they turned out nice; I made a leap with my last two jewelry boxes. I designed a_heart_inside_a_heart. I opted to not patina (color) the solder as I think the silver adds to the beauty (and since all my work is lead-free it is safe too).

Some day I'll figure out how to make money with this hobby, but for now I'm having a great time coming up with new ideas. My next project will be to make a drawer in the bottom of a jewelry box.

Let me know what you think...

.....................Closed............................

..........................Open........................

The Hershey's kiss (hugs) help establish the size.

Quote for life.....

2009-02-17T13:27:00.001-08:00

I was listening to MPR (Minnesota Public Radio) and a guest speaker gave me a nugget. She said. "Everything will be okay in the end; And if it's not okay, it's not the end."

This goes well with President Payne's saying. "Nobody gets out alive."

So, keep it real! And keep your perspective!

My miracle - Thank you!

2009-02-02T10:15:00.000-08:00

My little miracle (okay miracles aren’t measured big or little, but here’s my story). I lost my cell phone a few weeks ago. I was bummed, it was new in a new holder; it was going to take a long time to get 200+ contacts loaded into another phone.

I went shoveling at the neighbors who, for age and health reasons are unable to shovel snow. Then, I went to pick up a friend and her child for our family night (her car has bad tires and we just got a lot of snow), while I waited for them to come out, I shoveled a walking path on their driveway. On the way to my house we saw a mini-van stuck in the snow. We stopped and helped the van out.

At home I realize I can’t find my cell phone, I can’t remember if I had it with me or not… It’s a bit disappointing when I look around the house and the car without locating it. I know from past experience winter camping that snow is a thief and there are three or more locations the snow could have robbed me.

I decided there was only one who could help me, the one who knows all. I prayed, Heavenly Father if it is thy will, help locate my cell phone.

Prayer alone is not enough, so I went looking. I went to all the locations my phone could have been and called my number from Mary’s phone. I could not hear a single chirp from my phone, I could tell it was active as I didn’t go directly to voice-mail, but if it was at these locations it was buried.

I continued to pray. I figured if it showed up at the shoveling locations someone would find it and I would get it back. So, the area of concern was the street corner where I had pulled the mini-van out. I drove by the corner and looked for my phone. Soon the snow was plowed back by the snow plow, my faith was being tested, I could just picture my phone smashed to pieces and buried ‘til spring.

I prayed more and hoped for the best. In the mean time I replaced my phone, but didn’t load phone numbers unless I had to call or received a call.

Saturday we had a big melt and I was able to clear a lot of snow and ice from the driveway. After the basketball game I was driving home and felt I should drive by the corner again. I stopped the car. I walked along the street scanning the ground. Guess what I found on top of the snow bank – my phone, still in its case. It works just like the day I lost it.

It was a miracle, and I am grateful God answers prayers. Sometimes He answers “Yes”, sometimes “No”, and sometimes, like this time, the answer is “in time, be patient”.

Not my phone but you get the idea...

FireProof Movie

2009-02-02T09:42:00.000-08:00

We are always looking for good movies. We started renting from the little red box at the golden arches. Saturday the children were all at different locations so Mary and I watched FireProof together. It has a great message. I enjoyed the focus on marriage and working through life's challenges. After you watch it, tell me what you think of "tomatoe juice".

More stained glass

2009-01-23T04:15:00.000-08:00

I wanted to improve the lap shade on my night stand... so using the extra pieces of stained glass I made a new shade. It turned out very nice (don't you think?).

Shawni's First Date

2009-01-19T04:52:00.000-08:00

Shawni and I went out for her first date... we had a lot of fun. We shopped for the "perfect" puzzle; Shawni likes to put puzzles together. I do too, but with my trouble seeing true colors it has to be the right piece shapes as well. Big Ben puzzles are difficult for me as the pieces are too uniform and small. We were tempeted to get an 18,000 piece puzzle but decided against it... Where would we do a puzzle that finishes at 6' x 9' ???

In the end we didn't find the "perfect" puzzle, but it was fun looking.

We did stop at the photo store and took some great photos. Here is one of my favorites:

Somethings just need to be changed!!!

2009-01-16T12:16:00.000-08:00

This little video is a stink!

As Larry the Cucumber says.
"I laughed, I cried, it moved me Bob!"

I hope you get a laugh too...

2009-01-07T11:16:00.000-08:00

When running today I saw a Lion resting in someone’s front yard. Needless to say I increased by running speed. I must have run fast enough; it never caught me. just to be safe, I may change my running route tomorrow.

It was a bit chilly running today due to the wind and 10 degree F temperatures, I don’t know what the wind chill was but it sure felt nice when my back was to the wind.

When the children are TOO quiet... check in on them.

2008-12-17T04:23:00.000-08:00

My co-worker shared this photo he found on line.

It makes me laugh and cry at the same time.

Fortunately, this has never happened at our house.

I hope it never happens at you house either...

Stained Glass work

2008-12-07T05:19:00.000-08:00

I had the opportunity to take a class on stained glass. I have really been enjoying this new hobby. The only downside has been the piece of glass stuck in my foot and a few occasional burns from hot solder.

I have been making Christmas gifts so some of my pieces will not be displayed until after they are given away.

My first project was a panel with a rose, and since I made some jewelry boxes. Yesterday I made a snowman, it took a little over (6) hours, the candy-cane and the star took a couple hours each.

I use lead-free solder so I had to purchase an 800 degree iron tip.

I'm thinking it might be fun to teach a class at the community center some time.

Visit for Thanksgiving A POEM

2008-12-01T10:32:00.001-08:00

We had such a great Thanksgiving Day!
Meshya and my parents came to play.

Dad had Christmas stained glass to work on…
Mom did the big sewing marathon.

Christmas will be a great thrill this year;
With homemade gifts for all to share

We learned a new game called “Curses”;
It makes you laugh at those you versus.

The house was full on our Turkey Day…
Mary’s cooked feast and we sang away!

Christmas carols around the piano;
Some sang low and others soprano.

The puzzle was started on a table;
Pieces were fit by all those able.

Black Friday was peaceful and calm;
We stayed home where it was warm.

We saw Triple Espresso and laughed;
At three guys in the comedy act.

Santa’s workshop was busy Saturday;
Clothes for the Christmas baby were made.

The weather was nice the whole week;
Sunday the snow came in a white streak.

We had such a great Thanksgiving Day!
The thing that came too fast was Monday.

Turkey Trot .... can you believe the gas prices....

2008-11-16T19:01:00.000-08:00

We ran in the Chaska Turkey Trot Saturday. Here is a photo of some of the runners in our group, I'm the one holding the camera.

Then Friday when I bought gas I was shocked at the price in a happy way - wow!

The Chase is On! a.k.a. Look out the cops are right behind you!

2008-11-14T09:46:00.000-08:00

Slippery roads can be very dangerous, especially when the police are right behind you!

My co-worker sent this, it is GOOD funny!

Welcome to the Elf Workshop

2008-11-11T04:29:00.001-08:00

Last night, for our Monday family activity we went to Macy's 8th floor display. This year the display was about Santa's elves. It started with the elves waking up and 10 to 12 other places at the North Pole. The picture was taken between the bakery (left) and the workshop (right). These are family and friends – not elves. The display is created using animated and stationary dolls. In the kitchen two elves drape the table cloth and another tries to catch a mouse. The trees in the forest sway as they sing. The mail comes to the North Pole via hot-air balloon, and elves try to teach reindeer to fly. It’s an amazing 20 min walk through a fairytale land. After, we took a photo with the jolly elf Santa. This is one of our yearly traditions. The display changes from year to year. It has been Harry Potter, Pinocchio, Frog & Toad’s Adventures, and many others. Mary said this year was her favorite. I think we all liked it.

Holy Ears Batman

2008-11-10T06:58:00.001-08:00

Ashayl asked me to take her to get her ears pierced this week. We set aside time to do this on Saturday. She waited a year before she was ready. We have told all our girls they could have their ears pierced once they were 8 years old.

I was surprised to see a line at the store of girls getting their ears pierced. One girl had the single hole near the top of her ear, another was getting the traditional single hole (both ears) and started crying once she sat in the chair. She was a year older than Ashayl so I'm thinking oooh this might be hard for my tender Ashayl. I learned long ago it is only as bad as mom or dad make it seem so I kept the jovial face and wispered to Ashayl - she looks like she's afraid, I don't think it's that bad. Ashayl nodded.

Ashayl sat right down when it was her turn, a little nervous but no tears before or after. I held up the mirror right away so she could see everything that was happening up to the spike in the lobe.

She is so proud of herself and likes her earings a lot. She tells everyone to wash their hands (instructions from the person that did her ears) before touching her earrings.

It was special to me that she only wanted dad to go with her.

The World's Best Banana Bread

2008-11-03T18:01:00.001-08:00

Mary and Ashayl made "The World's Best Banana Bread" you know it's a good one if it is on the dirtiest page in the cookbook (it's been prepared more than once).

Here's the recipe:

Mix:
1/2 c. oil
1 c. sugar

Add:
1 c. mashed bananas (or 1 c. zucchini, but then you have to change the name of the bread)
2 eggs
1/2 c. sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla

Add:
1 & 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soda

Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees F. Makes one loaf

Mary and Ashayl made 5 loaves... I am so blessed!

1/2 Birthday and The US Capitol

2008-11-01T18:09:00.000-07:00

Happy Half Birthday to Meshya... Meshya made her own 1/2 Birthday cake this year - since she is 1,300 miles away from the family!!! Way to go Meshya! You did a fantastic job baking and decorating your cake, I wish I could have had a piece - yum!

Taft is in Washington D.C. with his school class. He sent this photo for us to enjoy.

Swim Shawni Swim

2008-10-24T04:31:00.001-07:00

Shawni did well at her swim meet. She has found that she cranks on her 100 meter but hasn't been able to beat her best time on her 50 meter. She swam anchor (last) in her relay and closed the gap her other team mates created. The team had senior's night and dinner after the meet. It was wonderful to see the friendship and closeness the girls have for each another; Hugs and tears were shared as the five senior girls went down the line of freshman, sophomore, and junior swimmers. Mary commented she hasn’t seen the same closeness in any other team sport. I know Shawni has been rewarded in her opportunity to be a part of Chaska Hawks Girls Swimming – GO HAWKS!

Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater

2008-10-22T12:38:00.000-07:00

My favorite Pumpkin...

Happy Halloween!

Fall Colors, Whistle Stop Marathon, Wisconsin

2008-10-12T05:34:00.000-07:00

Mary and Joan - still smiling after running Ashton, Wisconsin Whistle Stop Marathon
Mary took a half-hour off her time. When she came in she was crying (happy) and choked up, I thought she was going asmatic on me.

We stayed at a cabin in Iron River, WI the price was great the beds weren't... they did come with motor boats so I took the ladies for a cruise around the lake.

We stopped at a farm and purchased honey, these Indian Corn were hanging on the side of the shed, the colors were awesome.

Speaking of colors, these pictures don't do justice to the fall display in Wisconsin this weekend. The colors were outstanding and in their peak! It was breathtaking.

A Way to Make the World a Better Place

2008-10-03T08:09:00.000-07:00

One of the activities that I find very satisfying is stopping to help strangers who are broken down or stuck on the side of the road. In the past when I have had a four-wheel drive vehicle I have had a lot of fun pulling stuck cars out of the snow bank.

Yesterday I put the pet turtle up for adoption, on the way home from Minneapolis I saw a man and his daughter stopped on the freeway with a flat tire. So, I turned around at the next exit and made my way back. By the time I made it back another man had also stopped. Did I mention everyone (except me) is African (probably from Somalia)? Looking at the beard of the father and the covered head of the daughter they were probably Muslim as well.

I enjoyed being able to be an ambassador and provide service for these wonderful people. It is ironic that the news radio (prior to my stop) was sharing a story about Muslims that had lost their jobs because they wanted to pray for Ramadan.

I wish more Americans put God over all else in their lives, I think the problems we are facing as a nation would be far fewer if we did.

Sharing Information Over the Phone

2008-09-18T12:34:00.001-07:00

We all have had to share information over the phone and resorted to spelling a word using the phonetic alphabet.

I have found that not everyone knows the correct words to use when verbally spelling to someone else.

In an effort to reduce the confusion out there I have created a fantastic system to help in these types of situations.

Feel free to use the following words to help your conversations achieve a higher level of understanding:

Mark's Phonetic Alphabet

A as in Aegis
B as in Bdellium
C as in Cue
D as in Djibouti
E as in Eye or ewe
F as in Futtock
G as in Gnome
H as in Hour
I as in Ian
J as in Jalapeno
K as in Knife
L as in Llama
M as in Mnemonic
N as in Ngami
O as in Oesophagus
P as in Pneumatic
Q as in Quay
R as in Roentgen
S as in Sea
T as in Tsar
U as in Ursula
V as in Veldt
W as in Wretch
X as in Xylophone
Y as in Yew
Z as in Zloty

Best wishes in your next opportunity to reach understanding!!!

Hmm, I find this very interesting...

2008-09-15T12:40:00.000-07:00

I have been less than happy with our current options for this year's elections.

I was reading Stef's blog and found a link to an interesting idea:

http://satyagraha.wordpress.com/2008/01/07/why-vote-third-party/

You make your own choice but...

The Constitution Party looks good to me:

http://www.constitutionparty.com/

http://www.baldwin08.com/

Follow the links above and let me know what you think.

Thanks, Mark

Minnesota Temple - Arson

2008-09-11T04:19:00.000-07:00

We were shocked to hear that the temple in St. Paul, MN had been damaged by arson. Here is the story from the news:

Arson Suspected In Oakdale Mormon Temple Fire OAKDALE, Minn. (AP) ― Authorities suspect arson in an early morning fire at the Mormon temple in the St. Paul suburb of Oakdale. Smoke and fire were reported in the front entry of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints temple shortly before 3 a.m. Fire Chief Jeff Anderson says it was mostly out by the time firefighters arrived. The fire was mostly confined to the front doors, but Anderson says some light smoke got into a front room. Church leaders estimate the damage at $25,000. Investigators found no signs of forced entry, and authorities don't believe the case is a hate crime. Anyone with information is asked to call Oakdale police at 651-738-1022. As of early 2007, there were about 28,000 Mormons and 74 congregations in Minnesota. Mormons typically go to Sunday services at churches near their homes and use the temple for special ceremonies such as baptisms and marriages. The Oakdale temple serves Minnesota and part of Wisconsin and Ontario.

Mary and I were planning to go to the temple last week but the families activities forced us to postpone... now it looks like we will have to postpone much longer...

Memory Class - Joke

2008-09-05T12:09:00.000-07:00

An elderly couple had been experiencing declining memories, so they decided to take a power memory class where one is taught to remember things by association.

A few days after the class, the old man was outside talking with his neighbor about how much the class helped him.

"What was the name of the Instructor?" asked the neighbor.

"Oh, ummmm, let's see," the old man pondered. "You know that flower, you know, the one that smells really nice but has those prickly thorns, what's that flower's name?"

"A rose?" asked the neighbor.

"Yes, that's it," replied the old man. He then turned toward his house and shouted, "Hey, Rose, what's the name of the Instructor we took the memory class from?"

Date Ideas

2008-09-04T10:26:00.000-07:00

I was searching the web for date ideas and came across these ideas for a date with my wife…

How about:
- A picnic? Surprise your spouse with the foods they enjoy.
- A walk in a park?
- Go someplace where you can watch the sunset...
- Offering to go with her to her favorite store?
- Roller-skating? Its fun, its exercise and you get to hold hands!
- Enjoying nature and just being together.

- Rent a canoe and go float the lake or river

- Hiking, boating, mountain biking or snow skiing…

- A local bookstore and searching the "local/regional interest" shelves. You are likely to find books on things to do within one day of driving.

- A tour of old churches, a local creamery, a local historic battle site, an old plantation, the beach...

- Visiting museums, historic sites, zoos, churches, local nature preserves, and other things of local interest provide a wealth of ideas for "dates".
- A hobby together-- be it cooking, recreational tennis, joining a league, etc.
- Miniature golfing- Bowling- Hiking and/or camping at a state park

- Horseback riding

- Archery

- Buying a dart board set
- The art gallery

- A Flea market or used bookstores...

- Joining the local Little Theatre?

- Ice skating, salsa dancing, a few ballroom dancing lessons, a how-to class at a local home improvement or cookware store, a trip to a local big bookstore to browse the shelves

- Are there any decent comedy clubs in your area? A murder mystery can be fun as well.

- A drive with no particular place to go...

- If your town still has an open air street market that makes a great Saturday morning. You can pick up rolls, deli meat and cheese etc for a grab n go snack.

- Take an unfamiliar bus route, follow it to the end, find a place to eat and come back again.
- The zoo or a conservatory. Bring camera and take pictures of beautiful flowers or fuzzy bear cubs.

- Bird-watching

- Drive down an unfamiliar road, you get some great suprises this way: historical sites, parks, rivers, lakes, little shops and cafes, outdoor art and sculpture, a little league game or tournament, carnivals and small-town celebrations and festivals

- College or high school sports

- Craft shows

- Railroad excursions

- Fishing

- Driving range or mini golf, or go-carts, and other games.

- Historical sites such as living history villages or farms

- Cross country skiing

- HS or college student art exhibits

- Old-fashioned hardware stores, great to browse, you find some unique unexpected stuff, one had an antique toy collection, another had a superb depression glass collection, another had works by a local artist who has since become famous as an illustrator.
- Play scrabble and order a pizza. It's a great game to sharpen your vocabulary.

- Go browsing in an antique shop.

- Go to a concert.

Just enjoy being together ...................

Seth is doing fine now that Gustav has passed...

2008-09-02T12:38:00.000-07:00

We received a phone call from Baton Rouge (Seth had been in Houma - and was moved to B.R. before the huricane arrived). Seth is safe, there was a lot of damage in the area and the power is out; so no emails. No damaged occured to the home Seth is in, but the neighborhood has many fallen trees and debris all over. Seth has been helping with clean up.

Labor Day!!!

2008-09-01T18:21:00.000-07:00

We started Labor Day in the garden picking tomatoes, peppers, onions, and squash... We have enough to can some tomato soup and sweet & sour sauce.

We went to the beach and buried our kids...Sorry about the lady at the top of the photo... I took the picture with my cell phone and it was so bright out I couldn't tell what was in the picture.

We biked to McDonald's for ice cream and a Family Night treat. It was a good day.

Up the mountain - Timpanogos

2008-08-30T15:46:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Timpanogos Cave National Monument

Timpanogos Cave is up high in the Wasatch Mountains. The cave three spectacularly decorated caverns. Visitors climb up to the entrance of the cave, on a hike that is over 1,000 ft in elevation. http://www.nps.gov/tica/

Here is a photo of Taft and Ashayl from the trail with a view of the moutains behind them...

We had tired legs and feet after the hike; it was worth it.

The caverns were awesome and beautiful!!!

Seth Rides Again...

2008-08-20T12:07:00.000-07:00

(A.K.A. How to spin wash your laundry)

See Seth.

See Seth ride his bike.

See Seth ride his bike and wash his clothes.

Go Seth go.

MEMORIES

2008-08-20T09:51:00.000-07:00

Everyone needs to play...This is Fun!

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember--it can be funny, weird, awkward, random, etc.!...(but hopefully not bad!)

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you

Tag:

2008-08-11T10:33:00.001-07:00

Name:

First job:

Current job: Manufacturing Engineering

Bad habit:

Maybe you didn't really want to know... I guess I'm not the only one.

Favorite animal:
LiGer ~ well cats anyway

Past love:
Woodcarving

Where I was born: San Fran,

Favorite color: Red

Favorite city:

Traverse City, MI where I ran the 2006 Marathon

3 hours 153 min.

No TAGs back!!

Big Stone Sculpture Golf Course

2008-07-14T13:42:00.000-07:00

Mary, Taft, Ashayl and I had a terrific time at the Big Stone Mini Golf and Sculpture garden in Minnestrista, MN.

http://www.bigstoneminigolf.com/
This is the most amaging golf experience ever... Sitting on a dragonfly. Beautiful day outside.
The first hole is like golfing in a forest of tree trunks after hitting the ball into a hollow log...

Off the ROCK and onto the green...

Stand on the platform, shoot through the hole in the log, hope it makes the gap to exit near the flag.

7th Hole inside
and out...

Concrete pumpkins - steel leaves and vines.
Your ball drops into the lazy stream of water; the stream moves your ball to the hole in the rock...
Picnic anyone??

Developing Talents Activity

2008-07-10T10:04:00.000-07:00

The focus of our church youth activity was developing talents.

The youth activity last night was really good. Scott S. created activities for the youth. These activities were focused on improving their talents and team work. This could be done for young men and or young women activities as well as a combined mutual. It could also be improvised to be done by primary ages and at Birthday partys.

ACTIVITIES:
1) A game where large (3 inch diam.) metal washers were tossed about 6 feet - the object was to get a washer to drop into one of three holes in a carpet covered board. Each team member had to make it in order to move to the next activity.

2) Make a basket with a basketball from two previously marked locations inside the free-throw area. Each team member had to make one of the shots.

3) The most difficult. The youth had to roll one of three balls across the floor and get it to stop inside a 2’ x 4’ taped rectangle on the floor. The ball had to be rolled from behind a line on the floor about 6’ away. When they were able to get one of the three balls to stop on or inside the area they could move to the next activity. [Balls used: beach ball, small super ball, and a larger super ball; any type of ball could be used.]

4) Find a scripture that names an animal. Each group member had a Book of Mormon and once a team member found a scripture the timer was stopped.

There are many other activities that could be substituted; we timed the teams to select a winning team. Prior to announcing the times we talked about what they learned; how team work helped them improve, and rewarded them with a treat.

The first team was given a 3 min. deduction from their time to help offset the learning curve.
The fastest team finished in 4 min. the slowest in 8 min. The activity lasted about 45 min.

Seth's Gator

2008-07-02T12:56:00.000-07:00

My son Seth wrote from Louisiana:
So, if you don’t know about the alligator I’ll tell you the story. We were fishing yesterday and our investigator’s son yells out ”there’s a gator”. We laughed because we were in part of the bayou where you never see one. Well sure enough inside one of the culverts he was chillin’. So, we grabbed a fishing pole and put shrimp and ham on the line. Well, the first time he grabbed and broke the fishing pole so we set up another one. Finally he bit it and we set the hook. We scooped him out with a net and jumped on his back and held him by his head. He started death rolling. Man he was strong but, we got him in finally, and tied his mouth, shoved him in a box and took him home. We fed him this morning. He eats hot dogs and fish. His name is Rex. He’s like a dinosaur. He was crawling around our apartment last night and I didn’t sleep too much. It’s scary at night with those things.lol

Canoe Trip down the St. Croix River

2008-07-01T13:12:00.000-07:00

The canoe trip was awesome. We got in up by Hinckley, MN off of HWY 48 (Thayers Landing) at the same place I put in when Seth and I went a number of years ago. After a couple hours on the river the boys stopped to swim and found fresh water mussels, some as big as my fist. The water was calm and except for a little breeze from time to time paddling was more for course correction than forward movement. Jon P.'s GPS indicated we were doing 3 to 3-1/2 MPH which is average for the river.

Some of the boys tried their hands at fishing but I didn't hear that anyone caught anything. One of our campsite neighbors was up early Saturday morning and said he had lost a bass and a northern as they snapped his line. We did see a few big fish jumping and a lot of turtles sunning on logs and rocks. Some of the boys saw deer. Jon P. saw a bird up close - he was lucky he didn't have any damage to his car.

We planned to go to the group camp site at Nelson's Landing 6 hours on the river (19 miles) but a storm came up. We were blessed we came to a campsite (which are as far as 30 - 60 minutes a part or more along the river) so it was a blessing to be coming to a site just as the storm appeared. If we had gone down river as much as 10 min. earlier or stopped 10 min. longer at our play break we would have been in a fix, the wind was strong and the rain relentless. Did I mention it came without warning? We did hear a sound in the distance like an airplane which turned out to be the wind just as it got to us. As it was we had just enough time to get off the water move the canoes onto the bank and locate a site.

We put our tents up in the downpour, I was so wet I could wring water off my clothes after I changed to dry stuff. The mosquitoes must have been really hungry as the rain didn't even phase them; we were under the trees which blocked the wind but, not the water. After waiting for the heavy rain to slow we setup a plastic tent liner over the picnic table using canoe poles to support the plastic, and bungies to tie the poles to the corners. We cooked chicken on the camp stove - the original plan was to cook over the fire, which Jon P. started by using his stove fuel. A couple boys had wet sleeping bags (not covered in plastic) the bags were so wet there was no hope drying them, even over the fire, by sharing extra dry clothes and bedding everyone had a "mostly" dry spot to sleep.

Well once I got food in my stomach my thinking brain started up (it was in survival mode prior to this) and I started thinking about the car we had parked at our pre-determied campsite an hour down the river [left there so we could have mobility the next moring to move a vehicle at the "out" location]. So, since it was getting late I decided running was better than taking a canoe in the dark. I had put a fine plastic skirt on (white kitchen garbage bag) over my last pair of dry shorts, and a jacket. This maybe more detail than you want but, I wrote this for Seth's Monday letter and didn't delete it...

We estimated it was 5 miles to the car, but I could not be sure which roads to take, I started out with a jacket and my skirt, a hat and a light that goes on my head like a miner. It ended up being 2 miles to the main road straight south in the dark. The air was so heavy with moisture water was gathering on my arm - I would have drank it but the bug spray I was wearing would have killed me (50% deet). When I got to the main road HWY F (Wisconsin names their roads with letters) I turned West which I knew "should" lead to the campsite road. I couldn't be sure it was HWY F as it was not labeled (I should let you know we had driven F that morning to drop the car off, but I clearly was not paying that much attention to know if it was the same road.) I continued running glad I had done some running over the past months.

The first car I saw slowed down but not long enough to ask directions, etc. I think the skirt scared them off. I ran an other mile and there was a house near the road, there was a sign "Grandma Parking Only" so I figured it would be safe to knock on the door - I'm sure I could outrun Grandma... When Grandpa came to the door, he told me I was on the right road and had 3/4 miles to go, he was partly right after running some more I came to the turn off and the sign said 3/4 miles. I wish he would of also told me his neighbor a few farms down had a big dog, fortunately he wasn't interested in me past the front yard, I was a bit worried - it was a big dog and I didn't figure I could outrun him as easy as I could the grandma.

By the time I got to the 1/2 mile point in my last 3/4 mile my sandels had wore holes in my ankels so I slowed down a bit - but not too much or the mosquitoes would have taken me out. I honestly gave blood Monday to the Red Cross and didn't figure they'd have interest in my empty tank - but they did.

The car ride was intersting - the windows would not defog with all the moisture and my body heat, I was constantly wiping the window - poor Jon P. he'll wonder how he got such a smudge on his front windshield. I only drove 40 MPH to ensure I safely stayed on the road.

Back at my tent, sleep was slow in coming as I was so wet, sticky, and stinky... plus my face was touching the tent, as were my feet.

Morning came early, but the weather was so much nicer. I was able to dry my shirt on a sign post (I only had one - who wnats to over pack... not me.) We setup the stoves for breakfast. We opted to move too the clearing (away from the shade and mosquitoes) and put the stoves on the cooler and on a tub to get them off the ground. The boys doing the cooking got to sit on lawn chairs, it doesn't get much better than that. We had pancakes and eggs, with sausage in the eggs. Yum, it was sooo good. Not any food left so the boys must have liked it too.

The sunshine was nice too. Our next leg of the journey was over the rapids - just "class I" rapids so mom's no worries, the worst that could happen is a canoe tipping over in waist deep water. One canoe was haing trouble going down the river straight - We switched spots so we had leader and boy for both canoes. It turned out to be good as the rocks were big and some covered with just enough water you couldn't see them.

We realized the canoe didn't have much keel and this was most of the steering trouble. I know the canoe I was in shined a few rocks, I told the boys I had made an agreeement with the local rock shop to polish all the rocks in the river. Two times we got high centered and the current spun us on the rocks like a basketball on a players finger. What a ride! All of the young men did really well and I think they will have good memories of the activity for years to come. I hope we get to do it again next year.

How to save gas - an article I wrote for the Herald

2008-07-01T09:25:00.001-07:00

Saving money on GAS – You might say it’s in my genes, why? My grandpa, Stanley Olsen, won his Utah town’s race which was to see who could drive their Model “T” Ford the farthest on a gallon of gas.

Grandpa won, and so can you!

Have you seen the emails going around telling you how to save money on gas (fill-up in the morning, pump on the slow setting, keep a half tank to avoid evaporation, etc.) and then of course “forward this to everyone you know”. Some of these may have some truth, but the savings are miniscule at best.

If you really want to save money you have to do what grandpa did, here’s the story. Grandpa set his throttle on the lowest setting possible, every Model “T” in the race passed grandpa’s car, but they ran out of gas early and when they did, grandpa passed them.

Grandpa’s Model “T” went further than all the others because he: 1) Accelerated slowly, 2) Maintained a steady speed, and 3) Minimized braking.

How does this apply to you and me? How much can we save if we accelerate slowly, maintain a steady speed, and slow down without braking when possible?

“According to the U.S. Department of Energy website http://www.fueleconomy.gov/, "Agressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration and braking) wastes gas." Changing our driving habits we can "improve fuel economy up to 33 percent at highway speeds and 5 percent around town.”

Watching the way we drive in MN, many of us could use this advice. What does this mean? Instead of going 0 to 60 in 10 seconds reduce that to a city street pace of 15 seconds. Leave a little early; drive the speed limit or 5 mile per hour under; cruise control can help you when traffic is pulling ahead, it reduces the impulse throttle pushing. Brake lightly to a full stop; these means watching for and anticipate slowing the car before you have to stop.

Is it worth it? The benefits are using 1/3 less gas, that’s like taking a $3.00 pump price down to $2.00; not to mention reducing my blood pressure.
So the next time you pass me...

I’ll just “Smile and wave!”