Seeing Double

You will may recall that we were in San Diego for Christmas visiting Krissie and David. It was a fun time for all of us. There is nothing like spending a few days with our "skinny pregnant daughter" and her attentive husband. Being good hosts they scheduled a variety of fun activities for us. I've already written about a whale watching trip. I posted some of the photos of our whale watching trip on flickr and Krissie said "……" which took me back to another trip and other experiences.

David and Krissie frequently live near water. That's part of being a Marine family. When Krissie was getting married in England JoAnn and I took a cruise to Bruge, Belgium. JoAnn had taken the cruise earlier that year when she visited for 3 weeks.

When the kids were transferred to North Carolina we drove down several times. One of those times we decided we would drive up the Outer Banks of North Carolina to see the light houses and Kitty Hawk. It was a fun day, and a long one. We had left about 4:30 am and returned home about 11 pm, but we also took a half-dozen different ferries. The first ferry was the longest ride - over 2 hours.

Part of a McLean trip always involves photos. It was those photos that drew me to Krissie's comments and made me realize that we do things over and over again that are fun. We have those experiences with each of our children and always enjoy them.

And contrary to most expectations, David did get a photo of JoAnn and I together on the way back in. 

As a side note, when you are on board a ferry or a small ship and outdoors you really can't do a thing with your hair. That's why David and I wear hats - but then neither of us have much hair to worry about!

Whale Watching

This year was a San Diego Christmas. We usually travel to less mild weather, so traveling to San Diego for Christmas was fun and the bonus was to spend it at the Dunn Inn and with our 7.5 month pregnant daughter and her wonderful husband. More on that in another post.

David, Krissie, & JoAnn as we were leaving the bay.

It's been more than a week since we we went whale watching and yet it remains fresh in my mind. After arriving in San Diego on Friday prior to Christmas we took off on Saturday morning to do a little "whale watching." I don't know what I was thinking, as I anticipated a short voyage - which by some standards it was. But I didn't anticipate a 2.5 hour voyage and was surprised after we got on the ship it was that long. However, once we got out on the ocean and started watching for whales the time literally flew by.

Krissie & JoAnn in the cabin just as we are leaving. I'm
the red jacket reflection in the window!

It's been 8 years since I was on a ship of any size for any length of time, and that was a ferry (large) in the English Channel as JoAnn and I went overnight from England to Belgium - and back! That was fun. So was this. This ship was smaller, but still sizable with room for a couple of hundred passengers. And the ocean couldn't have been nicer - just a gentle roll of the ship after we left the harbor and began to "troll" for whales. The captain was quite knowledgable and kept us up to date on all the things that might or might not be seen.

We were rewarded with seeing 3 whales. When I say we saw 3 whales don't get the idea that they were breaching (jumping out of the water) as they were not. Sometimes they do, but today we saw the tales (what I now know are "flukes") which was at the conclusion of the process of breaching (breathing - spray of water shooting up from their blow-holes). We saw a lot of breaching, but only a little of the lobtailing (a display of the whales large pectoral fins. Once out of the water, the whale will either slap the water surface or wave it in the air). It was fun to watch and we shot a few photos. By law the ship cannot get closer than 100 meters, but our captain was experienced enough to anticipate where the whale was going to angle for good views.

We had a great time and followed it with a visit to the USS Midway aircraft carrier where we inhaled lunch and enjoyed a walking tour. Needless to say, by the end of the day we were a smidgen tired.

A photograph of a photographer as we come in
from a morning of whale watching!

A Weekend with my Son!

A week and a half ago on a Tuesday morning  I put JoAnn on an airplane for a week in Boise, ID to visit daughters and grandchildren. I had earlier decided it was a great weekend to visit my Dad. Tim decided he wanted to come too and we talked about travel arrangements finally agreeing he would fly into Las Vegas and we would drive to Modesto, CA with me the following day. He arrived in the evening of the same day JoAnn left for Idaho.

Wednesday morning we went to my campus, dropped off an exam for a colleague of mine to deliver in my class. Then Tim and I were off by about 9:30 am and headed for Modesto. We both agreed the 160 miles from Las Vegas to Barstow had to be the longest and most boring drive you could ask for. However, after we topped off the gas tank - at $4.47 a gallon - Tim took the driving tasks and took us to within 1 hour of Modesto. It was a great drive to have with Tim.

Our goal was to spend as much time as we could with Grandpa and Grandma Ruby. But we started Wednesday evening with a relaxing time with Don and Marti, our gracious hosts. On Thursday we went over to see Dad and Ruby and just to spend time with them. We had also been given an assignments by my sisters, which was to talk Dad into a new television. His old one was even older than my front room television.

We weren't making much progress - Dad can be a tough sell when he wants to stall. We just visited, took them out to lunch at Applebee's. We sat at our tables and realized the baseball Giants were playing the Cardinals. Tim made the comment to Dad saying, "If you had a new television you could see the ballgame that well too." That seemed to be the turning point. Late that afternoon he said, I think I'd like a new television. Tim & I told Dad we would deliver a new TV in the morning.

Tim and I found a great Mexican restaurant around the corner
from Dad's house. Would you believe there are 3 enchiladas
somewhere under there?

Sending 2 guys out to purchase a new television is "dangerous" to say the least. We checked out Walmart, Target, and Best Buy. We had lots of options, but finally made a great decision on a 47 inch television for Dad & Ruby. Yet, we knew we weren't quite done. We decided that Ruby needed her own TV for when Dad is watching sports (which is a lot). We settled on a 32" TV to replace the one that had been in the back bedroom.

We got to the house, set up the new television, and plugged it in and Tim programmed the controller. Having Tim there to program the controller and make sure everything was set up right was a blessing. He is so good at those tasks. Dad told us we could take the old TV to the back room for Ruby. That was when we told him that Ruby got a new television too!

Before we set the 2nd television up we turned on the golf channel and Dad was like a little kid! He loved it! And we sure felt good.

We almost had the 32" set up before Ruby got back, but we couldn't find the remote. Ruby and her daughter-in-law Kathy found it in 2 minutes. We got it programmed and when Tim and I left they were both watching the back room television.

Grandpa/Dad with the Grandkids - and yes "in-laws" are automatically grandkids!

Friday evening we got together with all of the sisters and family. On Thursday Krissie had called and said she and David were going to Sacramento on Friday. They met us for dinner at Jeri's home. We didn't tell Dad they were coming and we were lucky enough Krissie & David arrived at Jeri's the same time we did. Dad was surprised when David was there to help him out of the car. David is Dad's favorite Marine. It was a great evening with family. . I almost forgot - we celebrated Tim's birthday and everyone enjoyed it. Thank you to my sisters who put the whole evening together.

Tim receiving his Birthday Ice Cream from Aunt Marti

Jeri and Marti working hard in the kitchen. John worked hard too, but somehow
I missed him in this photo.

Saturday I took Tim to the Sacramento airport to fly home to his family. Krissie met us near the airport and we had a nice lunch. I drove back, spent a short time with Dad & Ruby feeling good about the visit. I went back to Marti's house and had a nice evening with her and Don.

On Thursday afternoon Tim and I sat on the back patio and dad shared his World War II experiences with us for about an hour. I heard some stories I hadn't heard before. I did record this and will make it available to family.

It's not very often I have the opportunity to spend a few days with one of my sons. I really enjoyed it. The time together in the car was relaxing and enjoyable. To just spend that time together was special for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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!

Photo Memory - Cleaning Surprises

Last Monday JoAnn decided to clean out some files that I had dumped (nicely stacked) on the floor in our office. I figured that at some point we would get tired of looking at them. We didn't get far, but we found a wealth of family information that we knew we had, but not as well organized. Included were patriarchal blessings, birth certificates, our now outdated will, our temple sealing certificate and a few photos. One of the bonus photos, as far as we were concerned was of our daughters talken in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1986. We aren't sure of the exact date. But it might be considered our first sisters' weekend photo - even if a all of them were young and living at home. Look how far we have come. JoAnn just told me she made Suzanne's and Krissie's dress and maybe Sally's blouse.

Back left to right - Donna, Suzanne, Jeni
Front - Krissie & Sally
I'll also put this up on Flickr in case you want to download it.

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!

Bonding in Las Vegas

Whether the teen and near-teen grandchildren want to admit it or not, Grandpa really looks forward to putting them to work for a couple of hours while they visit. They should be thankful we don't live in the country or have a farm. Of course if that was the case they probably wouldn't come to visit for fear of all the work expected of them.

The Allen's were in town last week and I invited Mac and Alyssa to help in the dreaded "tree" project. They have never done it before and didn't know what to expect. I was up early walking at 5:30 am, cuting down limbs at 6:30 am and we finally finished about 9:30 am. Mac has only used power tools in the past, so I had to teach him how to use a "hand" saw and he got very good.

Mac and Alyssa were a great help. Once we got Alyssa involved
the work went twice as fast. We just needed someone to stuff
the trash can - and she did great!

Once done with the hard work we had lunch and off shopping that afternoon. By the time we were all done I was exhausted, even if they were just getting started. It was a fun day with my grandkids, daughter, and spouse. It was a lot harder shopping then trimming the tree.

Not as many bags as usual, but that's because we are getting
into a rhythm of accomplishing the work. And bags are bags!

A day at the beach - Las Vegas Style

When you live in Las Vegas and you want a little water - beach style water - you can either go to Lake Mead, which doesn't have real sand on their beaches, or to the local splash park. When you have young children and you don't want to spend all-day in the car the splash park makes a perfect beach. Centennial Hills park is about 30 minutes from our house and there are 2 water playgrounds on site (only 1 of which is featured here) plus there are 2 great playgrounds - and lots of shade. It is the favorite playground of 2 of our families with young children. I'll let the photos tell the story.

The entrance to the playground is spectacular. It makes the kids want to come in. Our grandchildren could see if from a distance and were so excited. Once they got out of the car it was a straight line run to the playground. Note the variety of slides and other play devices. They are all fun and creative.

The playground also has lots of shade structures that are unique - representing flowers and butterflies.

This is all warmup stuff so that when you get hot you will run over to the water playground (or splash park). It is very inviting and the water rotates among the different devices with several being on at the same time.

Of course it's not really a beach unless you have a place to sit, shades (sun glasses), drinks, a shade hat, and a telephone. It looks good to me and now everyone can have fun.

That's right - she has everything the well prepared beach
grandma needs.

But the real fun is for the kids while they are playing in the water, even if they are a little reticent to get too wet - they are still young, but will learn.

Chas hard at work redirecting the water.

The frogs are just too cute not to climb on. Bonnie thinks so, at least.

Sally is trying to show Charlotte how to get wet without
getting wet herself. It almost worked.

And when it's all done we do what we do best - stop at Dairy Queen for a little light (okay, heavy) refreshment. It was sure fun and good and a great morning. The kids crashed all afternoon.