Stand with the Catholics

I'm very proud of the Catholic church for making this message and posting it for all to see.  The issues we face this fall are that critical and I hope we can get President Obama and his team out of office.  They and their ideas and moral standards are hurting our country.  It's time for them to go.  They brought CHANGE alright, just not the kind we want.  Vote for values that will stand the test of fire - life, traditional marriage and freedom of religion just to name a few.

I run the old mill (who knew?)

When we were at the beach a couple of weeks ago, we sang a rousing rendition of an old song that my dad use to sing to us call "I run the old mill." We asked Mom to come prepared to share her life history and to tell us more about her courtship and early marriage to dad.  It was a wonderful evening and everyone enjoyed it and learned a lot about them both.  She shared her testimony and love for my dad.  We ended by singing "I run the old mill."
Turns out that the song was pirated by the folks in Clarkston, Utah to suit their purposes.  Our internet whizzes found the lyrics of the song (Claire) and the original recording (Jake) preserved at the Library of Congress call "Wal, I swan." (or sometimes called Ebenezer Frye) recorded on 12/2/1912 in Camden, New Jersey of all places.  Check it out and listen to it HERE.http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/2962
Way to go Claire and Jake.  Your skillz amaze me once again.

The Magnificant MOON!

I've really been quite fascinated the last couple of weeks with our lovely, interesting and beautiful MOON. Three things have happened:
1.  We went to Oceanside exactly at a time when the "super moon" was in full swing.  Besides the fact that it was larger than normal, it also made the ocean currents more active and the tides were higher.  It made for some great adventures in the ocean.  I even went boogie boarding this year and I got tossed around a goodly amount of the time.  The rest of our crew also felt the power of the ocean and the tide more than usual.
2.  The Eclipse!  I thought it was very interesting to watch an event that happens so rarely.  Those "burning rings of fire" were fascinating to watch. We went over to a neighbor's home who had a telescope on the sun with a side projection showing the moon as it passed in front of the sun.  It was heavenly marvel, that's for sure.




3.  The BYU Planetarium.  For our annual college staff retreat, the theme was on STARS.  As part of the retreat we went to the Planetarium for a star show and a great feature presentation showing more about the size of the universe with pictures from the Hubble telescope.  Wow.  That's all I can say.  It was so interesting and I learned a ton.  I love those kind of activities that are fun and informative.  

 

 It reminds me of this verse of they hymn:  How Great Thou Art

 Oh Lord my God
When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds
Thy hands have made
I see the stars
I hear the rolling thunder
Thy power throughout
The universe displayed

Then sings my soul
My Savior, God, to Thee
How great thou art
How great thou art
Then sings my soul
My Savior, God, to Thee
How great Thou art
How great Thou art

MBA Dave

 Congratulations to a great son  who worked so hard and received his MBA degree!  We're so proud of you son and congratulate you and Courtney on working together to get it done!  Now, on to real life with a job and a career to support your little family.  Hooray!

Little Charlie's blessing

 ~ Uncle Andy meeting little Charlie for the 1st time.  We were happy to travel down to see the little baby boy Charlie receive his name and a blessing from his father.



~ Grandpa Rick meeting the little man.

~ A happy boy in his blessing outfit made my his mother.

~  Taking a little nap before the blessing started.

 ~ Grandma Mary, Mom and Dad with Charlie, Aunt DeNae and Uncle Paul

 ~ Brothers and Charlie

 ~ All the priesthood men who participated in the baby blessing

~ Aunt Jordan, Uncle Jake and cousins L, E & A.

 ~ Proud grandparents

 ~ The sweet little VCR man who we all love dearly.