Las Vegas, Rain, Grandchildren, Hiking

Dean, Lexi, & Ellen on the steps to
Calico Basin in Red Rock. The steps
are an exception and not the rule.

When we lived in the Midwest we loved a good rain and thunderstorm. Unless it was accompanied by tornadoes. The same is true in Las Vegas. The only exception is that our thunderstorms only occur 2 or 3 times a year. That makes them BIG events. Last week we had almost 3 full days of thunderstorms and heavy rain (heavy for Las Vegas). Because Las Vegas sits in the bottom of a bowl all the rain runs downhill to the lowest parts of town and gains some impressive speeds. It doesn't take much rain to create a flood. They say a 6 inch flow of water will move a car - a long ways. Most of us take our storms seriously knowing that there will be flooding, high water and the like.

Mix all that rain with a house full of grandchildren who want to go to the parks and play and it even gets more interesting. Fortunately that all worked out pretty well and there was enough dry time for them to have a great time at the parks.

Thursday was a moderately heavy rain day. We live almost right up against the mountain on the west side of town. Behind the mountain in Red Rock National Conservation Area, a beautiful area of mountains, plains, and enjoyment. Those mountains around Red Rock channel the storms and they tend to get heavier rain then we do.

Friday morning began with a beautiful sunshine and nice cool weather. I figured it was time to take the two big girls, Ellen and Alexis, and their Dad to Calico Basin. It is in Red Rock and about a 2.5 mile hike that takes 2 hours. It's all up and down and requires some bouldering. Both girls are big enough to engage in the bouldering, so we started out. At the gate I used my new $10 over-65 lifetime pass to national parks, recreation areas, and the like - You've got to take advantage of those over 65 deals!

I took the hike to Calico Basin for the first time last February with Tim. So I was familiar with the trail and knew what to expect. The first thing we noticed was that the rain had widened the channel (see photo). Some of the new cuts were 5 feet deep and looked like a knife had slide the soil away. There were also quite a few uprooted trees. Last time we walked up the wash and used that as our primary trail for about 30%f the hike. This time there was water in the wash so that meant we were climbing from the very beginning.

It was beautiful. The rain had cleared the sky. It was bright, the colors were magnificent, and the hike was refreshing! It was refreshing in February too, but a tad bit cooler that day. The girls kept up with a minimum of complaint and sometimes we had to ask them to wait for us! Well, me, not Dean, their Dad. There were spots where we crossed the wash and got our shoes a little muddy and our socks a little wet, but we lived through those experiences. They are part of the fun.

Ellen, Alexis, and Grandpa enjoying the beauty!

You can see the rugged beauty of Red Rock area, and the clouds that were
beginning to move in.

We even found hail left over from the storm. It wasn't a lot, but it was fun to find
in Southern Nevada.

We got to the top and looked at Calico Basin and saw about 3 feet of water in the bowl. I stuck with the girls while Dean went around to the other side to see the valley. Normally we go through the bowl to get the view of the valley. While all of this was going on we also recognized that the clouds were moving in and they were very dark. We decided it was time to scoot out of there as fast as we could, which isn't very fast when you are trying to be safe. Nonetheless we beat the storm. It just started to rain as we left, we got a little light hail, and later as we were driving on the main highway looking back we could see the rain coming down pretty good. We felt for all those folks who were out on the trail. We had a great time!

The Bake gang about half way through the hike!

Grandpa, Lexi, & Ellen celebrating!

A Granddaughter's Photo of Grandpa & Grandma

The following photo was posted on Facebook back in April, but since JoAnn and I don't get on Facebook as often as maybe we should, so we didn't see it right away. Alyssa, our oldest granddaughter, took this photo while we were at Red Rock Park and Amphitheater in Denver for spring break. We really like the photo and wanted everyone to know how much we appreciate Alyssa taking this photo and sharing it with us and others. Grandchildren are great and we love all 18 of them.

Personal Progress

In March I wrote about attending our grandsons Eagle Court of Honor. In April JoAnn and I attended a "Young Womanhood" recognition program that included our oldest granddaughter, Alyssa. The "Personal Progress" award is the equivalent of the young men's "Duty to God" award. Both are awards focusing on religion and specifically on commitments, actions, and progress in religious education, personal development, morality, and family. To me these 2 awards are more important than the Boy Scout Eagle award. They receive less recognition, but for the individual completing them, they have a more significant long-term influence and impact.

The Young Women's Personal Progress award recognizes young women for their "worthiness and for completing all the Personal Progress requirements." As a recipient of the award, they show that they have established a pattern of progress in their life. The award recognizes that young women "are prepared to make and keep sacred temple covenants … are committed to keeping the commandments, serving others, and developing and sharing your gifts and talents."

Our daughters participated in this award, and I think they all completed it. I was and am so proud of their efforts. The recognition is completed over a period of time and involves making and keeping commitments, learning to work with others, learning how to plan and carry out plans, and become young women ready to enter the world with a strong foundation in faith and belief in God. There theme explains it far better than I can:

"WE ARE DAUGHTERS of our Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we love Him. WE WILL “STAND as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places” (Mosiah 18:9) as we strive to live the Young Women values, which are:

Faith • Divine Nature • Individual Worth • Knowledge • Choice and Accountability • Good Works • Integrity • and Virtue

WE BELIEVE as we come to accept and act upon these values, WE WILL BE PREPARED to strengthen home and family, make and keep sacred covenants, receive the ordinances of the temple, and enjoy the blessings of exaltation."

I am so impressed with their 8 values and the power and preparation it gives these young women to live their lives. I have watched my own daughters, and now granddaughters, pursue and now begin to receive this award. The requirements have changed over the years to reflect the challenges facing young women as they grow to maturity. What has not changed is the commitment to excellence. I'm humbled by the strength, maturity, and compassion that I see in our own daughters and being carried forth by our granddaughters. I know that working towards the Young Women Recognition award was one of those tangible factors that influenced them for good.

Wordless Wednesday

Hattie just a little on the tired side during our visit
in July.

Family Reunion: SquirtGunslingers (Wordless Wednesday)

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Courtesy of Suzanne

Scanning Family Photos - A Few Favorites

It’s the 4th of July weekend and I’m taking time to scan some old slides from our family. They are on our flickr site. Today I’m sharing some thoughts about some of my favorite photos from this batch of scanned slides. I don’t have time to scan every week to scan, but I’m thinking of following Sally’s “Wordless Wednesday” except using scans rather then current photos. 

First day of school photos are always fun. We had just moved to Ames, IA and our two oldest girls were off to their first day of school in a new town. Donna was going into 2nd grade and Jeni into kindergarten. Of course we also had to include Suzanne in the photo since she thought she should be going to school too. School was just across the street from our home so the girls would walk to school and home for lunch. It was an ideal location for us and the kids.

As I look back on these photos I have such positive emotions. You can see excitement in girls faces. I took 3 photos of Jeni along our back deck and each one captures a little different expression – serious, whimsical, and classic Jeni. You can see the twinkle in her eyes and the excitement behind them. Another memory this photo brings back is that it was my first full-time university position at Iowa State University. I was awfully excited about being an assistant professor, maybe even more excited than the kids. 

My final photo is of my father and Sally. For me it is the epitome of being a grandpa, relaxing with a young lady on my arm (Sally was 3 in this photo). Dad had been reading to Sally and they both went to sleep, Sally first. I remember when I was young I was taking a nap with Dad and he fell asleep. I wasn’t of the age where I wanted to lay there with Dad, however, I didn’t want to him to be lonesome. To solve the problem I put my teddy-bear in the same place my head had been on Dad’s arm. Later I got to feeling guilty and went back, thanking teddy for saving my spot.

Memories are usually fun and the become more fun the older they are, but that’s because they change over time and we reinforce the positive and dismiss the negative. I like that.

Mother & Daughter Look Alikes

Check out this photo of Sally and Charlotte. You can see their similarities and it answers a lot of questions about relationships.


Enjoy!

Granddaughters as Sweethearts

I was going to title this blog "princesses" until I read the definition and decided I didn't want to subject my grandchildren to the potential abuse the word princess could bring upon them, even though one of them continually tells us she is a princess. In fact, under the definitions of royalty, I do consider her a princess. To me they are all princesses and sweethearts, but to a 60 plus grandpa we hold different perceptions of terms and meanings than other people do. Hence, my use of princess is always an endearing one, not one of derision.

I am speaking of two of my eight sweethearts today. One young and one a little older. Our 3rd daughter had a little girl last week - Hattie CeCe. I have waited for what felt like an eternity for a photo. I had finally come to the conclusion that she was either two-headed or 12 toed, or had 3 arms and they didn't want me to see her. The real problem was that I left town without leaving the cables to the camera so my beloved could download the photos. Naturally it's grandpa's fault. I have broad shoulders, I can handle the abuse.

Yesterday I received 8 emails, each with about 8 high resolution photos. I have photos of Hattie CeCe now and my favorite is below. And yes, she is a royal princess and a sweetheart.

My second sweetheart is an almost tweener (those who are almost teens, but not quite). In fact she is probably better classified as a precocious tweener - not quite there, but a wanna be. She has her own email account and I love getting emails from her. They are usually in large print and every word is a different color. Well, I was a little slow responding to her last email and while I was not reprimanded I got a "vacation note" or what we typically call and out of the office and not available. But her note was the classiest I have ever received. I share it below.

"Sorry if I didn't e-mail you I am probably grounded or gone, I'll e-mail you as soon as I can, bye"

Grounded or gone? That describes life from the perspective of a child. They have a simple perspective and it is focused on levels of independence. As a pre-tweener it has 2 primary levels. Those things I can do and those thing I can't do. Of course the intermediate level is those things I didn't do I should have and those things I did that I shouldn't have - hence I'm grounded.

Ya gotta love them.

Sweetness Personified

I wrote my earlier blog today about Alyssa just before we left for Church. I received the photo last evening, but waited to post. We got to Church and I casually looked at my iPhone for another reason (don't tell the Bishop) and there was a picture of our newest little granddaughter, born July 2. She is sweetness personified - but then all of our granddaughters are. That smile could melt the hardest heart, calm the strongest storm, calm the wildest wind. At least I think it could. So, as I stated in the earlier post, they grow up, but right now we need to take full advantage of Charlotte and her sister and cousins - regardless of their age. They are special spirits.

As a note to the grandsons, you are adorable too, but I just can't keep up with you. I will write about you soon!

Who Let her Grow Up?

One of the great mysteries of fathers is how their cute daughters can grow up, mature, marry, and have children. However, much as we resist it, we somehow adjust to all of those changes when the grandchildren start showing up, especially granddaughters. You know everything will be okay again, because there is another generation of little girls. In my mind I was sure these girls would never grow up. That is until now. I received the following picture yesterday from our 2nd daughter, Jeni, and it is of our oldest granddaughter on her way to a 6-stake dance (that's a church dance with hundreds of youth and you have to be 14).

I received the photo yesterday evening, took one look at Alyssa (on the left) and thought to myself, this can't be happening again. And yet it is. Grandpa's are inherently selfish when it comes to daughters and granddaughters. We love them at any age, but we remember all the sweetness of being young and while the sweetness doesn't go away, it's harder to hold them close and cuddle them. Of course, it's not like this grandpa doesn't have plenty of little girls to hug and sometimes hold, he does, but they too, all too soon become independent and while Grandpa (and of course Grandma) is still important in their lives, it's just not the same. And that is as it should be. We love them at all ages and enjoy, often vicariously, their experiences.

It's great being a Grandpa and watching your grandchildren grow up, being part of their lives, and just watching each family mature spiritually and physically. It leaves a warm glow at the end of the day.

Grandma's Fan Club

This morning JoAnn received an email from Meagan saying "Please email me soon!" I saw the tag line, went into the bathroom where JoAnn was preparing for Church and said, "You have an email from your fan club."

A few moments later JoAnn responded with, "I didn't know I had a fan club?"

My response was, "Yes, and it's pretty big." Then I remembered a photo I had published on flickr and Jeni commented on, "Grandma with all of her granddaughters." (less Charlotte who couldn't be away from her Mom) and I realized my statement was more true than I had first thought. Of course this photo only shows the girls, but they do have a special bond with their grandmother.

The granddaughters with grandma!

The photo was taken in Frisco, CO at an historical center that all of the granddaughters, grandma, Krissie & Jeni went to - via bus. The girls absolutely loved the bus. When they got back grandpa treated them to ice cream. I realize I've got to buy my fan club. Grandma gets her fan club just because she is grandma. But, I'm not above a little bribery.

Sydney & Bonnie enjoying their ice cream

What is it with girls and photos?

Daughter number 2 beat me to putting this photo up on a blog today. I can't believe it. That's what I get for putting it on flickr first. Oh well, the truth is I took quite a few photos of the daughters and daughter's daughters standing on the hill. Some are quite good, and then some are, well throw aways. In fact, almost every photo prior to this one was a throw away. So I started moving the camera to different angles. The result was this photo and the group came alive! Of course this is a group that is easy to come alive.


The second photo was taken a few minutes later, after we rounded up Bonnie to make sure she was in the all-girls photo. There was never a dull moment when all of the kids lived at home and when we have a reunion there are even fewer dull moment - like NONE!

Days with a New Granddaughter

Today is the 12 day anniversary of little Charlotte Ann Bradley. Named for her maternal great grandmother. As Sally said, when I saw her I knew she was a Charlotte.

Each birth is special and even as a grandfather you experience a great wonder with the birth of each child. You realize how special life is, how important family is, and how wonderful it is to have these new spirits as a gift and responsibility. As you hold them for the first time you realize the miracle of life that is provided for our responsibility to raise up and educate them.


The first few days I'm not sure Charlotte ever saw any chance to just lay around. She was held by everyone and when not held she was sleeping. You don't dare put her on the floor since her big brother thinks that a pat (okay, a thump) on the head is sweet. He will learn not to be quite so rough, but he too is young.

It was great to see my daughters, granddaughters, grandsons, and my eternal companion welcome this new young lady into our lives. Leaving JoAnn behind with almost every birth we have experienced reinforces the ideal of motherhood that endures with each generation allowing her to forge that special bond with the next generation. Whether she is holding the baby, playing with the children, or reading ... memories are being built.

Bonnie and JoAnn reading. Note the next book to be read is already in Bonnie's hand.

The Critics Review is In

I just returned from Spanish Fork and Boise where we spent time with children, grandchildren, and the newest grandchild of all - little Charlotte. That is one of the great experiences of being a grandfather.

Since we had some free time (me, not JoAnn) I took Suzanne, the 4 kids, and Mike (our son) to lunch on Tuesday. The girls were all up for McDonald's, but I didn't drive all the way to Boise for a big Mac. So I selected a downtown restaurant, with Mike' help, that is a fast-food Mexican, I enjoy. So we went.

Later in the afternoon daughter Jeni called to say she had received an email from Suzanne's oldest daughter, Ellen, describing lunch, and it was a classic...

"Grandpa took us to lunch today. It was no fun!"

Okay, from now on I will stick to fast food restaurants with play areas. My lesson is learned.

Charlotte Day 2

Suzanne sent this photo from her phone. We aren't sure but we think it might be Ellen holding her. JoAnn says, look how long those fingers are.

Charlotte Ann at About 8 Hours

Isn't she cute! Taken by Mom or Dad with an iPhone. This is as good as the resolution gets, but she is beautiful.

On Being a Grandpa - again!

One of the nice things about technology is you get to know quickly, or moderately quickly, when you have a new granddaughter. That happened today, sometime early afternoon. We are proud grandparents of a baby girl who is 8 pounds 13 ounces and 21 inches long. Small for a Bradley, but above average for our other grandchildren. We have talked to the new Mom and she is doing well, although the hospital was full and she had to wait for a room following the delivery. We are proud of her and new Dad is off to get Bonnie and Chas to see their new little sister. And no, we don't know the name yet.

So, about being a Grandpa, it is great. On Monday afternoon we will see our new young lady. We are excited. I'll post a photo when I get one. It's not the highest priority with the kids right now.

The OCD Connection Continues

I have always known that Meagan was a bit OCD. Okay, her mom would say she is over the top. Jeni hung a box and filled it with wooden flowers in Meagan's room. While grandma was there Jeni gave her one of the flowers to take home. When grandma left Meagan explained to her mother that it just is not right, a flower was missing. Tim and Sally like to point out that a good OCD is a born accountant - good luck Meagan.


However, her true colors came out while the family was visiting in Las Vegas. The kids gave grandma a 500 piece puzzle focusing on quilts - lots of quilts, colors, small, and difficult. At least I thought it was difficult. Grandma, Mom, and Meagan got into the puzzle in a hurry. Grandma got busy with other projects, Mom would come back periodically, but once Meagan got the hang of the puzzle it was all over. By my count she did at least 50 percent of the puzzle. There is some disagreement there, but since it's my blog my number counts.


Meagan was so proud of herself when she was finished. She just beamed. We have an 8-year old puzzle whiz. Is there a TV show for that - there seems to be for everything else.


The best part of being a grandpa is watching your grandchildren grow up and learn about themselves. It is a discovery process that brings back old memories of when their parents were small. I have to admit, living closer to our children is a whole lot better then living far away. We have enjoyed the opportunity to see them more often. And their parents too.