Photo Memories - What will the baby look like?

I partnered with JoAnn to create this photo memory. There are so many possibilities that we almost don't know where to begin. As of right now we officially have several hundred (if not thousands) photo memories.

Just a little teaser of what we could have shared.

However, as we were looking at our flickr photos we noticed we have a lot of baby photos of both the parent and their child(ren). At some point we will do a set showing "baby parent" and "baby child" and let you match the parent and the child.

For today, however, we have been wondering what David & Krissie's little bundle of joy will look like in February. Maybe this photo of Krissie might give us a clue as to what their baby could look like. Come back in 6 months and see if we are close.

Artist at Work

A number of years ago I was invited to a workshop in Eugene, Oregon and as part of the workshop one of China's premiere artists (he was considered a national treasure) was present. One evening several of us were together in a smaller group watching this artist work with ink and brush. He would draw a brush stroke followed by another brush stroke, and then a squiggle, a short linking stroke which suddenly looked like a mountain, then he did a fish, then he did a flower. It all seemed so easy! What I realized was that he could see (or vision) what he wanted to paint. In other words he could see visually what he was going to paint even before he began and the resulting painting allowed us to see what he saw. It was a creativity.

Watching JoAnn make quilts is a lot like watching this artist work through the visioning process of creating a masterpiece. From my perspective, all of her quilts are masterpieces, but I am biased. I've since watched other artists, especially with paints and pastels and realize that they are constantly tinkering finding just the right colors, moving lines, creating within the creation. I see JoAnn doing the same thing when she is planning and making a quilt. She calls it refining the vision. Recently I watched her spend hours going through her magazines looking for just the right pattern. She already knew who was going to receive the quilt, but finding the right pattern for that person/family was the difference between making a quilt and creating a masterpiece. She won't accept just any pattern - it has to be the right pattern. And she will take almost as much time finding the right pattern and materials and colors as making the quilt.

She often talks with me about colors and matching fabric she is looking for or at. On one recent project we debated all Saturday morning about the right material and colors for a moderately simple pattern. It really doesn't matter if the pattern is simple or complex, matching the fabric to the quilt pattern is the difference between a great and just a good looking quilt. After a morning's discussion I finally suggested we go to the fabric store and look for what she wanted. On our way to the store we kept talking about the colors and fabric and realized exactly what material was the right fit for the pattern and that she had it at home.

One of my roles is to provide feedback, critique, and most of all support. As I write this she is in the other room working on a quilt where we talked colors, found the colors together (read that as she found the colors and I concurred) and now as I see the quilt coming together I can see in her sewing what she saw in her mind. We've worked out a pretty good process. She quilts and I'm her champion. I love that role.

Once the colors are determined my next role is to take photos. I usually don't take photos throughout the process, but at the end. However, in the case of one quilt I took photos throughout the process. It just seemed that it needed to be a photo project. The photos below show the progression of a quilt she made for our nephew's wedding this past summer. It was a lot of fun to watch the quilt come together. It's not very often she uses the whole floor to lay out a quilt, but in this case it allowed me to watch her organize, experiment, and finally decide on what the quilt would look like. Work your way down through the photos and see a creative mind at work.

By the way. She has nurtured 5 daughters with the same wonderful skills. What a creative family!

Photo Memories

"Fav Photos" lasted all of one post. I realized that "Photo Memories" was what I am really talking about. Today's post is the first of Photo Memories and one many more I think you will really enjoy. I'll try to keep it balanced, but I'm not sure what balanced is. Just enjoy the moments as you read and remember!

All of our daughters and both of our boys are above average cooks. I'm a little biased, but when you look at my cooking skills you have to be impressed with what others do. I am learning, but am light years behind my sons and daughters - and always will be. The girls tend to excel and our oldest daughter loves to cook more then anyone else in the family. We are constantly amazed at her cooking prowess and how effortless it seems. Even as a teenager she could make perfect cakes and pies from scratch. Well, I found this photo and now I know where those skills came from. She is almost 2 years old and helping JoAnn/Mom make a cake. How do I know it's a cake - Because Donna is making sure the frosting doesn't go to waste. You might also notice that JoAnn is using a handheld electric mixer and powdered milk (in the container). If you see the green measuring cup by the milk, it's the same set of measuring cups we are still using. I think we may still have the green mixing bowl too, but the milk container and the mixer are gone. I'll also bet it was chocolate cake - it was our favorite! It's gone too!!!

July 24th - Utah Style

We have lived in a few states and none of them celebrate their founding as excitedly as Utah does. July 24th is not really the day that Utah became a state, or even a territory. It is the day the first settlers arrived in Salt Lake Valley - of course there wasn't a city, a hamlet, or even a place then. But, no state seems to embrace their beginnings better then folks in Utah. When our children were small (Donna and Jeni) we would participate in Pioneer Day (that's the official state holiday) when we were at BYU. The kids would dress up and ride their tricycles around the Wymount Terrace Quad. Our married student housing was organized with 4 building all facing each other in a rectangle. In the middle was a large grassy area, playground, picnic tables, and the like.

This year we went back up to Spanish Fork for the 2nd time to observe July 24th. When you've been away from Utah you forget how much fun it is - and especially in a small town. It's even more fun when you can do it with family and have a grandson in the parade. There is a festival all through the downtown on Main Street focusing on the city park. Yes, Spanish Fork is one of those wonderful towns with a city park right in the middle of the town. It's not big, but every time I've ever been there it has been busy. The day before the parade people start going down to stake out where they are going to sit and watch the parade. It comes by 2 sides of the park. Chairs and rope and strung so families can have their spot saved. Can you imagine doing that in Las Vegas? I can't, but in Spanish Fork no one bothers your stuff. I didn't realize the science of selecting a spot until Donna explained to me that we were sitting in the best location for maximum shade. She was right too! And even sitting behind families in front of you, there was no problem seeing the parade.

Even before the morning started we were up early - Chris was off at his 10k - and the boys and I went out and put flags in people's front yard. The Scouts have about 40 neighbors who ask them (pay them actually) to put the flags out for holidays. Each boy has a route, picks up their flags from the Scoutmaster, and they are off. In the photo Clayton is in front with Cole catching up. Neither one of the were very awake.

It can't be an official parade if it doesn't have a fire engine and this one was a beauty.

A trick rider on a horse. It really is Spanish
Fork and these girls were great!

10K shoes - maybe smelly

I've been to a few small town parades, but I've never been to one that lasted almost 3 hours. It had floats, bands, big trucks, little trucks, children, adults, roller bladers, clown, cowboys, politicians, and on and on. It didn't feel like it was ever going to be over. For us, the big event was seeing Cole with his Karate group. They were on a big flatbed truck, but he was walking and demonstrating various Karate moves.

Earlier his Dad and I had walked to the start of the parade, which wasn't far from Donna's house, but it was from where we were already sitting and then when the parade was over Chris and I walked to pick him up. It became pretty evident he was a little over heated, but like any good 11 year old he wouldn't drink water, so we poured some on his head and neck and he was fine. We got him back and to sit down.

Like I said, they had floats - and some pretty good ones too!

Cole looks pretty fierce!

When the parade was over I was all set to head for home, but no, there was a quilt show just a half-block from the where we were and the girls all went over there while Chris and the boys went to the blacksmith to watch him work. I sat around and relaxed, picked up all of the chairs and blankets, folded them up, put them in their bags and was ready to go when everyone got back. Bad idea. Donna informed me we weren't done yet and they promptly opened the chairs back up. I clearly don't know the etiquette of small town parades and festivals.

It was a great day and we finally got home. We can hardly wait to go again next summer. Maybe we will decide early to go so we can get Rodeo tickets. We will skip the demolition derby. It's just not our thing.

The next morning it was time to get up and be on the road. I had a meeting down the road, so we didn't leave before dawn - for a change - and JoAnn was glad. I did get to see the sunrise coming over the mountains. It was a great way to start our trip home to Las Vegas.

Fav Photo Day

I'm starting something new. Wordless Wednesday served its purpose and everyone enjoyed it, but I find Wednesday comes and goes before I can get to a wordless photo. And, I have so many photos that are my favorite that I've decided to create Fav Photo Day and it can be any day of the week and as many times in a week as you want. Heck, I don't care if I'm the only Fav Photo contributor. I can even talk about the photo. I know a photo is worth 1,000 words, but sometimes feelings about photos are important and we all see those fee 1,000 words differently. I can even do more than a single photo. So enjoy the photos!

I picked my favorite subject to start with - JoAnn. This was taken in November, 2004 in Brugge, Belgium. JoAnn and I spent the night on the ferry crossing from England to Belgium, then the tour bus to Brugge. We did a lot of walking and enjoying the scenery, plus you can see by the bag that we did a little purchasing too. It's hard to believe that we've been married for almost 45 years - just a few more days - and still loving and enjoying each other. Happy Anniversary (a week early) to my sweetheart!

As a bonus, it's the 2 of us cutting our cake on August 18, 1967 in Modesto, CA. It was 109 degrees that day and we didn't feel it!

G-DAWG!

I'm sitting in the Denver airport waiting for my aircraft to board following a quick 48 hour trip to visit a couple of students working in their final internships and to spend time with my daughter and her wonderful family. It's always a bonus when I can include time for family on my trips. That doesn't happen very often,but then I don't travel for business like I used to, and I enjoy the reduced travel. JoAnn and were trying to remember the last time I left her at home for business travel, and it has been a while.

Prior to arriving in Denver I discovered I could not get a car at the airport. The state has 4 vendors for car rentals and none were available. That has never happened to me before. So Jeni picked me up at the airport and took me to a car rental location. From there I went to her house and was amazed to find the driveway all festooned for my welcome. Mac explained to me that "G-Dawg" was my text message handle he had assigned to me. I was flattered and the kids love it.

I love the "welcome" emphasis. And yes, visiting families
is a stairway to Heaven.

Spending time with the family was a wonderful bonus to my trip to see the driveway festooned with decorations was just plain fun! JoAnn and I really enjoy visiting family, and that seems to take the bulk of our travel time, but it is so rewarding to see our children and grandchildren grow, mature, and blossom. And each one is an individual in their own right and watching each child and grandchild develop their personality, from the time they are a newborn until - well none  of the grandchildren are adults yet, regardless of what some may think - they get to where they are today. I have great hope in our grandchildren, in what I see in them, in how they conduct their lives, of how they embrace family values and life itself.

The greatest joy in life is family, and together JoAnn and I have embraced our family as the most important focus of our lives.

Oh yes, and the trip, after a couple of business meetings that were very positive we finished off with a late afternoon at the reservoir beach and later that evening a daddy - daughter - granddaughter date to Sonic Drive-in for a little ice cream - and yes it was good, but what was better was to have 3 generations together enjoying one another. It was a great business/family trip and much was accomplished.

Just as I got to the front porch, the kids couldn't resist a little humor at Grandpa's expense - but I do love their humor.

I really wasn't too late, but every time I left and returned
I was reminded by my grandchildren that life is also about
having fun!

Thanks kids for hosting your Dad in such a wonderful way.

PS - Watch for my next post on the 24th of July celebration in Spanish Fork (and yes, I know these are going to be out of order, but I’ve been busy on other projects.