Kylie's Benefit Concert

Kylie has been invited to go to Europe next summer with BYU's Ambassador's of Music so she and 3 friends had a benefit concert to help raise money for the trip. She had some priceless help from Tiffiny Reimann and Glen Harrison and such financial generosity from so many friends, Kylie, and really the whole family are overwhelmed with gratitude. Kylie exhibited absolutely heroic courage in her performance. Thanks to Tiff, Glen and Chris Roper for their talents and charity.

It Rained Here!!

So we were minding our own business today and what a surprise, it rained. I quickly took a couple pictures of the clouds before they completely disappeared. It was a short rain storm but something is better than nothing. Here's proof it actually rained.

Garden Week 12

Finally I picked the first tomatoes to eat and they totally rock. And if you look really close in the other picture you can see some really busy bee's in the corn. I think I ate 4 or 5 tomatoes Saturday and I plan on stuffing myself with corn soon. I might be a farmer when I grow up!

Tribute to my photographic hero

I was enjoying Andrea Christensen's most excellent web site and since she is my hero in all things photographic, and since most of her great work is in black and white, I thought these pictures might inspire anyone viewing these to visit her homepage. www.andreachristensen.com.

Skyline Drive At Almost 11,000 Feet

Some more beautiful sights from the tops of the mountains.

Ferron Resevoir is a place I want to camp at soon.

I took a day off work and Marsha and I headed to the mountains. We haven't been up Manti Canyon to Skyline Drive for at least a year. We found some places that we actually used four wheel drive and most of all found 68 degree temperatures!

Garden Week 11

Here we are week 11 for our garden and I picked the first tomatoe today. Sadly a nasty creature bored a hole in it before I was able to protect my precious reward. As hard as it was to toss this little red gem, we have around a billion more ready to ripen! The pumkins are rocking too. This is one we could get to and move the leaves back enough for a peek. You get the scale of the size from Marsha's hands. I can't wait for Halloween !!!!

Calvin's 1st Birthday Party

Thursday evening we had the chance to party with the Christensen's and specifically Calvin Richard, for his 1st birthday. Being simple folk, Marsha and I love these kind of parties. Thanks Wyatt and Andrea for remembering us. And most of all happy birthday to Calvin Richard Christensen :)

Garden Week 10

We had a nice and quiet 24th of July weekend in Manti and I didn't do anything that would hurt the crops. This is like watching grass grow!

Kirsten in Carlsbad

In our letter from Kirsten she had included her sd card so I can finally post some pictures from her mission in Carlsbad. Actually she is in Mission Viejo but we count that as Carlsbad. She is as happy as she has ever been and that makes this experience tolerable for her parents :)

Garden Week 9

Happily the garden is progressing very well as I hope the pictures show. I couldn't resist posting a picture of a pumpkin. I've stopped picking them off the plants so hopefully our crop will explode. The tomatoes are looking tempting too!

Bret in Taiwan

Finally Bret sent his sd card from Taiwan so I can post some pictures of his area. He is in Tao Yuan just south of Nan Kan in what appears to be a pretty nice apartment building. Too bad for all of the South America missionaries that live in dirt huts :)

Garden Week 8

Here we are to week 8 already and I have 10 or so little pumkins and those are tomatoes that you see in the picture. More than I can count even! So far so good, but the scary part is the way the world is going we might really need to live off of our garden this year.

Oh Crap!!!

On Thursday I thought it would be a great idea to help one of my neighbors take down a tree. I've been excited that they moved into the ward and I personally take credit for Jamie being our Young Women's President :) That is a story I won't get into here. So anyway it seemed logical that I should help them in some small way since they have been such a blessing to our family. I enlisted the help of two others that have threatened my life if I use their names, and we proceeded to drop the first section of the 40' tree perfectly. The second section had a mind of its own and decided that the house was a good target. 6 bruises, two cut and bleeding hands and a near stroke later we discovered just minimal damage. All I can say is Ryan and Jamie are living right, and if you are wondering if they want my help again, I think I heard them say "not within 200 yards of our home or family."

A few more photos from the Shaw's party

THE SHAW SNO SHACK CELEBRATION

OK Here's the kickoff party for Kris' new Sno Shack on 8000 S and Highland Dr. That was the best family night I've had for a long time. The pictures tell the story. Go visit her and order Tigers Blood. Best ever.

4th of July 2008 in Manti

We missed the parade but at least the flags are up.

Garden Week 7

My excitment was nearly out of control :) Those are pumpkin blossoms. This could be the best year ever so if you live within pumpkin sharing radius and you love Halloween, plan on carving pumpkins this year! 95 pumpkins were our record crop so we'll see.