Monday, October 31, 2011

Special Halloween Spooks 2011

As a child I remember always looking forward to Halloween.  It was fun.  I remember the days in elementary school decorating our home room and the fun things we would do and the spooky songs we sang.  As we grew older we did things a little differently, but always with the same goal of having some innocent fun.  I remember my own mother dressing up as a witch and entertaining each group of little spooks who came knocking on our door where they each received a delicious home made treat.  I even remember doing a few tricks to poor innocent people when I was a teenager.  I'm not especially proud of these, but even they were meant just in fun. Being happy, smiling, singing, and laughing are good for the soul and so I believe Halloween is good for the soul too, so long as it is not overdone.  We always look forward to our own special little Halloween spooks who come calling on the eve of Halloween.  Thanks for coming and sharing the fun and making us smile.  We love you one and all.

Batman, alias Tristan.
 Spooky Skeleton alias Micah at the school Halloween parade.
 Some kids never grow up.  Justin and Chalisa smiling and making us smile too.
The A Gang , Halloween visitors, but not very spooky.
Count Dracula, alias Hayden
Ethan, bruised, battered and stitched up, but still very good looking.
 Annika and Micah at the School Halloween Parade.
Is their a cuter witch than Kate?  I doubt it.  Well, maybe it's a three-way tie for first place.  Annika, Ada, and Kate all came as witches this year.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Some of Our Best Friends and Helpers

The grand kids here in Utah had a few days out of school last week.  We tried to take advantage of the good weather and their days off.  I hope they enjoyed spending time with us as much as we did with them.  We do love our grand kids, one and all.

The Bearded One, Ethan playing with some of nature's autumn handiwork.
 Hayden supervising a puppet battle between a frog and a porcupine at the Stokes Nature Center


 Kate posing with some autumn leaves she found along the Logan River Trail.

Annika, Tristan, and Micah helped Grandpa pull up the flowers before the snows of winter cover them. We hate to see them go, but look forward, nonetheless, to the beauties of the winter season to follow.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Cache Valley Before Crayons and Water Colors

There are artists and then there is THE ARTIST!!!


   Along the Wellsvilles
Overlooking Cache Valley from the west

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Autumn Splendors

We live in a very beautiful corner of the world.  One need only go with open eyes into the mountains within a few miles of our home on a beautiful autumn day, of which there are many, to see the magnificence of God's creations in all their splendor.  The leaves in Logan Canyon are turning color, though I have seen them more vibrant than they are this year.  The higher elevations have already received their first dusting of snow, warning that winter is not far behind, along with its own special variety of rugged beauty, and of course catching a view of Bear Lake at twilight can be a deeply moving experience in and of itself, beautiful and ever changing in its moods.  I am grateful to live in this beautiful world and to still have the will and the strength to get out a bit and enjoy some of what is so conveniently near.  I always come home a better man and in awe of what I've been permitted to see.

Just a couple of miles away up Logan Canyon October 13, 2011.
Aspens in their cloak of autumn gold in Logan Canyon.

 A dusting of snow has already come to the area around Tony Grove Lake.  Cool, clear fall air invigorates the soul and stimulates the mind.
Twilight autumn moods at Bear Lake Oct 13, 2011
 An autumn evening comes to Bear Lake.  Panorama Oct 13, 2011

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

At Philip and MEgan's for Libbie's Baptism

As you can see from the following pictures, life is good in Henderson, Nevada for Philip and MEgan and their family.  It is hard to believe that it has already been eight years since Libbie was born.  She is a very special young lady and we were honored to be able to be present at her baptismal service.  She is a very pretty girl and has been taught well.  She is also obviously adored by all her family and those who know her.  Philip and MEgan make every effort to do as the Lord would want them to do and are being richly blessed in their family.  Life is never without a few challenges, but they seem to be coping well and making lots of new friends in the big city of Las Vegas.


Philip and his sweet eight-year old Libbie in their home in Henderson, a suburb of Las Vegas.

Here we have a little closer up picture of Libbie and her mom.  They are very close and share a great love for their family.  Megan can not help but feel proud of her beautiful children.
Here is the entire family just prior to Libbie's baptism.  What a wonderful and good looking family they have.  We are glad they have each other and look to the Lord to guide them in all that they do.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Rainy Days and Mondays don't have to get us down

When my boys were young we sometime, probably not often enough, I would take them fishing.  We went to Ovid Creek or up below the Lyme Hymas place in Liberty, or to Little Valley, or Cottonwood Lake, or close by at Montpelier Reservoir or Montpelier Creek or sometime just up at the Rearing Pond in Montpelier Canyon.   These were good times spent with my sons.  Sometimes we caught fish and some times not.  It mattered little.  We were together and we were out in Nature, which God has created for us to enjoy.  We talked about small things and large.  Most of all we felt a togetherness all sons and fathers should experience.  I taught them the fundamentals, but most of them soon out paced their dad in fishing as in most other aspects of life, but mostly for all of them, it's not really so much about fishing as it is about being together with each other and close to our Maker.  When times are tough, when were feeling blue, and when we are not, there is someplace we can go and leave the troubles of the world behind for a few hours and remember who we are and what life is all about.  Monday Justin and I went fishing.  It rained some off and on for most of the day.  We caught a few fish.  We came home tired, but refreshed.  It was great to spend some time with Justin. We love him and his family and know there will be many good days ahead with them.  He's been tested a lot of late, but he will be alright.  He knows who he is.  He knows who made him, and he knows we love him.  There is peace to be found.  Rainy days and Mondays don't have to get us down.

 This painting by Star Valley's A. R. Kennington reminds me of the the days when  my boys were growing up and learning how to fish.
Justin in his float tube enjoying a Monday fly fishing between thunder showers.  We love the autumn season, the cool, fresh mountain air, the peace and solitude, and the challenge of catching a wily trout.
The autumn moods leave us filled with gratitude for "this wonderful world Heavenly Father created for us."

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Conference Weekend

Find a word in this "Wordle" that might be of interest to you.  The Lord spoke to you and others on that subject through his apostles and prophets during the General Conference concluded this afternoon.  If you didn't listen to all of the sessions, it's not to late. They will be available on the Internet very soon and will be published in next months Ensign.


     For many years I have looked forward to the weekend of General Conference in Salt Lake City.  As a young child I remember listening to it on the radio long before anyone in our small farming community ever had a telephone or a television.  I do not remember all that was taught at these conferences, but I do remember the voices of  President David O. McKay  and  others, and how I felt, as they gave their sermons to the growing number of church members.  One thing that impressed me especially, at my young age, was that my Dad and Mom thought the words of the prophets and apostles were important for us to hear. 
     I remember during the time I served on a mission in Germany, we did not have access to the conference broadcasts and how I wished we had been able to hear the leaders of the Church every six months.
      I remember as a young father with a growing family in Montpelier, Idaho, I often sought to combine my love of family, the outdoors and the leaders of the Church by packing a lunch, and sometimes a kid and going with as many of my children as were willing up to the summit of Midnight Mountain above Lanark and spending the  beautiful fall day there with my children listening to conference on a transistor radio I had purchased when I was a missionary in Germany some years before.  After I was called to the bishopric in the Montpelier Third Ward I travelled to Salt Lake City for Conference nearly every time for six or seven years.  We would usually stay with Ellis and Jeannine in Bountiful.  I had generally been able to get tickets from the Stake President or our ward bishop and would then arise early on Conference morning and drive into Salt Lake City where I would find a parking spot and then go the Temple Square to await the time when the doors would open.  I wanted to be at the front of the line so that I could be on the first few rows in the Tabernacle for conference.  I was usually successful.  I remember some of the General Authorities would come down off the stand before conference began and shake hands with some of those on the front few rows.  I remember shaking hands with President Hinckley, President Kimbell, Ezra Taft Benson, and others and having short pleasant conversations with them.  I knew that they were men of God and I rejoiced in being able to see and hear them at the same time.  Later when Televison reception and coverage of General Conference were improved, I began to stay home and enjoy the Conference messages from the comfort of our home with the family.  It sometimes bothered me when the children were less than thrilled with the long conference sessions, but then I remembered my own younger years and must admit I was not a lot different.  I just didn't have as many alternatives as kids do these days.
     I now look forward to not only the conferences, but also to the published versions of these which soon follow in the Ensign and on the Internet.  It has become a habit to read and reread them every six months.  How fortunate we are to have prophets and apostles among us today to teach us and guide us as we find our way through the difficult challenges we face in the modern world.
     I recently spoke with a young man about attending the Priesthood Session with me.  He just kind of laughed at me and declined.  I couldn't sleep very well that night.  I was saddened by this response.  As I sat  on the couch in the living room reading about two o'clock in the morning, I came across the following line in an article in the Ensign. "Those who ignore or treat lightly the word of God do not have access to that divine compass which points the way to the Savior."  These are the words of David A. Bednar.  I know that they are true.  When we seek for answers in the scriptures and in the words of the prophets, the Spirit will guide us through the storms of life.  When we do not, we are left to our own devices, which will certainly come up short of the goal we all should have, to return to the Father and be as He is.  My wish is that all of our family will feast upon the words of the Lord and deny themselves nothing that He so much wants us to have and know as we struggle along the pathway of this life.