Cameron and Tara to Graduate Soon!

Cameron and Tara will graduate from college in a couple of weeks.  Guess which school will grant them their bachelor's degrees.  Congratulations to both of you.

Conference Weekend

Cameron and Tara paid us a visit on Conference Weekend. Cameron and I attended priesthood meeting while Tara and her mother went to Girls Night Out at Deseret Book. Bria, Erin, and Laurel continued cleaning the house and finishing work on the basement that we had started earlier Saturday morning while listening to Conference. On Sunday morning, Tara fixed us all a European breakfast. It was very tasty. After the morning session we enjoyed savory chicken with rice along with all the fixin's.

There were some great talks. I especially enjoyed Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's piercing analysis of the events beginning Palm Sunday and extending through Christ's atonement, betrayal, trial, and crucifixion. I was moved to realize that Christ may have been surprised by what Elder Holland described as "that concluding descent into the paralyzing despair of divine withdrawal" which was "required, indeed, . . .it was necessary that this perfect Son . . . had to know how the rest of humankind would feel--us, the rest of us--when we did commit such sins. . . . He had to know what it was like . . . to die spiritually. . . . One of the great consolations of this Easter season is that because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path utterly alone, we do not have to do so."

Attempting to condense this talk here seems to diminish Elder Holland's transcendent message. Hear the whole presentation at this link: http://broadcast.lds.org/genconf/2009/04/40/GC_2009_04_409_HollandJR___eng_.mp3

See a powerfully visualized video interpretation of a portion of this message produced by a former student of mine on YouTube's "Mormon Messages."   

February Thaw

A beautiful, clear and unseasonably warm winter day.

The Sunday Before Christmas 2008

Mom's finished gingerbread house.

Somebody wants to take a bite of her just completed construction project.

The girls help Gus smile for the camera.

C'mon, grab my ball, I dare you.

Christmas mantel display.

Spartan window decorations

Flash photography shows snow accumulated over the weekend. Much more on the way tomorrow.

Long exposure captures Christmas lighting display.

Colored lights glowing beneath a layer of snow.

More lights shine eerily through snow.

Day After Thanksgiving 2008

On the day after Thanksgiving, Cameron and Tara invited us to go with them and with Tara's parents (Mike and Jackie) to Christmas lighting festivities at the Gallivan Center in downtown Salt Lake City.

Besides turning on the Christmas lighting display, there was a concert at the Gallivan Center hosted by Channel 2's news anchors.

The headlining performer for the concert at the Gallivan Center was Kurt Bestor--here surrounded by hired band members.

The lights finally came on.

George Zinn, a friend of mine since high school, was in attendance. George is the "Where's Waldo" of Salt Lake City. He makes a point of going to everything: movie premieres, press conferences, political events, ball games, all kinds of opening nights. If it is an event covered by radio, TV, newspapers, or popular bloggers; just have a look around, George is probably there.

After the Gallivan Center event, we all rode trax to the Gateway Mall for more Christmas lights and concert performances.

Mike and Jackie Manning, Tara's parents.

(Photo by Cameron)

A "mugger" on trax.

The headlining performer at the Gateway was pianist Jon Schmidt.

Jon is a great pianist and composer. He enjoys performing visual tricks to keep children engaged.

Waiting between performers at the Gateway. Looks exciting, doesn't it?

Jon Schmidt at work on a cold November evening. How does he play so well even with frozen fingers? (This photo by Erin Jo)

After the concert, we went to the Blue Iguana where we enjoyed fajitas on sizzling platters served directly to our table (sorry no images of us enjoying the meal, but, believe me, it did happen.)

Uncle Ben's Passing

Ben Allen 1925 - 2008

Our Uncle, Ben Allen (married to Grandma Gen's sister Rosemary), passed away last Tuesday. He was a great man (see his obituary and video here: http://www.woodfuneralhome.com/ -- click on the link for Dr. Wendell Benson Allen).

He was always very friendly to me. Outgoing and blessed with a perpetual smile on his face, he brightened up any room with his mere presence. He was a veternarian, a church leader, and a great family man.

We are driving to Idaho Falls today with Jeff and Barbara Booth for Uncle Ben's viewing.

Day Before Halloween Dance

On the night before Halloween, we hosted a pre-dance dinner at our home for Bria, her date, and six of their scary friends. Here are some images from that spooky event:
From left to right: Madison Chandler's date, Madison herself, Can't Remember His Name, Can't Remember Her Name, Bria's date--Derek Peterson, Bria Strickland, Never Knew His Name, and Debra McBride.

Bria and Derek. Guess who made the pirate coats for the occasion? That's right, Bria's mom, Laurel.

Erin was a great help hostessing the dinner at our home.