Girls Camp 2010 version

Summers are always busy and this year is no exception. We just finished Kylie's graduation and it was time for girls camp. She had a choice whether to go or not because she's 18 and out of high school, but I encouraged her to attend since it would be her last as a young woman. Neither Marsha nor I had to push very hard because Kylie was planning on it all along and even though it infringed on her social life and she had a complete black out on her cell phone, she had a great time hanging with the girls. With some luck she will be back to girls camp in the future as a leader and get the chance to be an influence for good in the lives of young women just like her leaders have been for her.

Kickoff For The Garden

I pulled the water walls off the tomatoes and pumpkins today. As I was admiring the baby plants my mind went back to last June and it was deja vu all over again, if you know what I mean :)

Chilly temperatures and rain, rain and more rain. This June and last. I always hesitate complaining because the only thing worse than chilly temps for the garden is a blazing hot 95. It's bad for me too, yuck, but it's sure to come so I figured it was time to get the sprinklers in good working order.

It was a family endeavor and we got the bushes trimmed, mosquitoes sprayed, garden weeded, sprinklers repaired and lawn mowed. So I guess this is the official kickoff for the garden, wish me luck !!

No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem

Ok Andrea might insist on a shirt, but shoes are completely optional at her impromptu parties. It is a sign that good weather is closing in around us when these unplanned parties erupt under the nicest tree in Salt Lake. I wonder if the tree in some "Lord of The Rings" Treebeard fashion understands how we enjoy her shade and gathering influence?

Maybe not, but it's a sure sign of good times ahead when a gathering occurs in the Christensen front yard. We even sacrificed a gallon of Schwan's Summer's Dream ice cream to participate in the festivities. It's a good thing Andrea is calm and collected in nearly every situation because when chaos reared its ugly head in the form of a thunderstorm we had to migrate into her house for protection. All 20 of us :)

Andrea you rock, and so do your impromptu, unplanned, awesome parties!

Rat Fink Car Show

When I was growing up, (ok ok, I'm still growing up) I wasn't a chop top hot rod or street rod fan, but like most boys I loved muscle cars and a V-8 thundering under the hood. I also loved comic books and in the back pages of nearly everyone were Rat Fink pictures. At the time I didn't really understand the phenomenon of Rat Fink/"Big Daddy" Ed Roth/ street rod scene, but the cartoons were pretty eye catching and interesting.

Sometime later in life I realized how big street rods and classic cars were and the role "Big Daddy" Ed Roth and his Rat Fink creation played in all of that. As fate would have it Ed Roth left the SoCal hot rod scene and moved to little old Manti, Utah and married a local girl. I wasn't sure it was the "real" Ed Roth until I confirmed it with some folks but sure enough, it was him.

Unfortunately he passed away 5 years ago but some of his faithful fans conferred with his widow and started the Rat Fink convention, so in a way he lives on. Now each June dozens of hot rods, muscle cars and newer go-fasts show up in Manti for a few days of Rat Fink celebration. Since I attended this a couple years ago I look forward to seeing the super cool cars of all types and variety hanging out in the city park.

Here are a few shots from that event. If you want a little view of the past glory days of fast cars and hot rods google "Big Daddy" Ed Roth.

Kylie Graduated !!!!

June 2, 2010 ended 12 long years of elementary and secondary education for Kylie. Wow has that gone fast ... at least for me it has:) But, before I go too far with this celebration, I have to explain that high school graduation isn't the end of her journey through formal education, in fact it's more an expectation than a grand celebration of reaching a life long goal.

Many people are successful in life without a lot of education but I don't know anyone who has been hurt by education. My college degree barely qualified me for my profession and the reality is my time in school taught me how to learn more than anything else.

So it is with Kylie. She has come a long way in the past 12 years and I am very proud of her. Under graduate studies begin in the fall at Utah State and I am confident that she will quickly take to college in all aspects. It needs to be a fun journey to keep the spark alive for the desire of life long learning.

I hope she follows her sister Kirsten and ultimately moves on to graduate school to further her formal education. After a few years no one will ask her if she graduated from high school because for most of us it's an expectation rather than the pinnacle of a life time goal. But for now it's all celebration. Congratulations Kylie, you rock!!!