These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

Scenes from Christmas Morning

Opening Stockings on Mom & Dad's Bed - "As Usual"

Wool Socks from Shelly and a Hydroflask from Kim & Nate

 Isla with some treats (not hers)

Not actually from Christmas morning, Christmas Eve. But I couldn't leave it out.

Christmas Lights

David and Mom and I drove out to Toyon Dr. and looked at the Christmas lights. Some of the best shots are below.

The ever popular "Christmas Palm"

A Blue Christmas

My Favorite

Biking Over the Bridge

My good friend Joe Harrison is the Teachers Quorum Adviser in his ward. All four of his YM are former students of mine. Whenever he has cool activities planned (he does this with the specific goal of getting one of the YM more actively involved) he invites me along. I like it not only for the activities, but because I get to be with some of my favorite students again.

The activity this time was riding bikes from the north foot of the Golden Gate Bridge, over the bridge and then along the sea past the Presidio, Crissy Field, the Marina, and on to the Wharf. 

The boys, Joe Harrison, and his sweet wife who went along to keep us out of trouble.

On the way in we unexpectedly had to take a detour through town,

past a few recognizable San Francisco icons - like the Palace of the Fine Arts.

We also cycled past the Hyde Street Pier (familiar to all who come to visit us from out of town,

because we always subject them to our favorite places to visit - and eat), and Ghirardelli Square.

This is where we stopped to buy clam chowder bowls and relax. The weather was absolutely gorgeous! On the way in I wore a light, long sleeved, high neck pull-over. After sitting in the sun for a hour or so, I rode back in just a t-shirt (well, and pants). But I really could have worn my bike shorts and been comfortable.

We stopped here for a brief breather after the long climb up from sea level on the way back. Actually, I've taken a lot of pictures from this point in the last few years. You can see how beautiful it was outside today

. 

Even though I was leading the way at this point, I had to stop and snap

this photo as we headed north back to the cars. Very cool.

As much as I loved the whole day - the weather, the ride, the food, the good company, being with kids I like - maybe the best part was the Instagram message sent out by one of those kids as soon as he got home:

"Took a trip to San Francisco with my quorum today. So grateful for those guys!"

This is why we work so hard with YM. When they start to see their fellows like this, as a quorum, it's a good thing.

Christmas

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her,
that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned:
for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.

The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful,

Counsellor, The Mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field,

keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold,

I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour,

which is Christ the Lord.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him;

 and with his stripes we are healed.

So when this corruptible shall have put on in corruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall it be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:

And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches,

and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them,

heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory,

and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne,

and unto the Lamb forever and ever.

Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory.

 Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up,

ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory.

And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying,

Alleluia

for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.

Thanksgiving Is Over - Here Comes Christmas!

Chris helped me, and I spent several hours today getting the Christmas lights up on the house. It really doesn't take more than an hour and a half or so - if all the lights are working. But that rarely happens, so most of my time is spent fixing light strands and going to the store to replace irreparable ones. And this is not quite complete. I still need to get the white icicles up across the bottom of the bedroom windows, and for the first time ever, I'd like to put a strand around the front room window. 

Of course, some other things have to take place before before the fun starts. I have the annual Christmas Concert with the Barry & Tierra Buena Bands on the 5th. I have HUGE groups this year totaling nearly 200 students between the two schools. And they are doing pretty well.

Then there's Stake Conference on the 7th and 8th. Things are looking good for that too. Though my comments for the leadership and adult sessions are set, I'm not sure just what I'll say in the general session yet. I'm sure the right thing will come.

I've started playing my Christmas play lists in my car and I'll probably be able to do some Christmas shopping before too long. This is the SOP for this time of year.

It's In His Genes

I was watching a video of this orchestral group in Europe who used a kind of "flash mob" approach to performing in public. They did the 4th movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony - with a flash mob chorus and everything. There was a great crowd of people gathered to listen, mostly families. What was really funny though was that part way through the event the camera panned over to street lamp which had a little girl shinnying up it. She stayed there the entire time.

That made me think of Pam's kids, who climb anything, at any time, without provocation. So it's no surprise that Henry follows the family traits. Here he is at the top of a ladder. He stayed there for some time, and was not happy about being lifted down. He wasn't trying to find a way down. He was happy to be up there.

It's in his genes.

Odds and Ends

Just a few pictures that I have on my phone and thought might be worth sharing. These two grand kids are no cuter than the other 9 (in my humble opinion). But then I think ALL of my grand kids are WAY cuter than anyone else's! My standard response when viewing pictures of other people's kids/grand kids is: "wow, he/she is almost a cute as my grand kids."

And to show you where our grand kids get it, here's a photo of their grandma's family circa 1958. I had never really seen too much of Melody in any of our grand kids - until I saw this. Then man.! Several of them were blessed with her good looks.

Cherry (her husband and child), Dorothy, Emmett, Colleen

Ed, Melody

And finally, this is just a fun little video of grant being Grant. What more can I say? It's so just typical of him.

Scenes from a Celebration

2013 marks the 100th year of the partnership between the LDS Church and the Boy Scouts of America. In October the Church produced an extravaganza honoring that long relationship. The event was broadcast and is an hour and a half long. Lots of music and a little acting, mostly from boy actors. Click here to watch it. You won't be disappointed.

To commemorate the anniversary in our stake, we decided to have an old-time Scout-O-Rama. The troops in the stake came together Friday night on our ball fields for a low-key campfire and dutch oven desert contest. The next morning the stake presidency cooked and served pancakes & sausage for everyone for breakfast. Then we all watched the broadcast before delving into scouting activities for the rest of the time.

I loaded up my backpack and spent the night out on the lawn. (I figured, why not? I've spent plenty of nights inside the building.) It was fun, and something I rarely get to do anymore. Below are some photos.

My own set up was spartan, just the way I like it. Oh, I have all the necessities and amenities, but I like to have everything condensed and easily packed up for moving on to the next evening's stopping place, because backpacking in infinitely more appealing to me than camping. So I got this little backpacker's tent after seeing one of our high councilors with one. And that's my big 85L backpack lying next to it. I was snug with my headlamp and Reader's Digest to help me doze off.

Of course, I had planned on waking up early anyway to help with breakfast, but when the trash truck (that reference especially for Atticus and Emmett) came at 4:30 am, it was more than I bargained for. And really, the biggest reason you never want to camp in town is all the noise - All. Night. Long.

Since it was forecast to be cold that night (and it was a lot chillier than most people expected), I decided to make a rare appearance dressed in my buffalo robe and head dress. My good friend Cliff Johnson gave it to me when he moved to Utah. The thing weighs about 25 pounds, but man is it warm! I'm going to have to do some fixin' on the head dress, because it's starting to fall apart. But it was fun to walk around in it.

50 Years

Over 50 years ago my Dad was Assistant Resident Engineer on the I-80 project that cut a new path and laid concrete over the summit past Lake Tahoe. He stayed in a cabin in Blue Canyon. I remember it was very small (even to a small boy). Two rooms, and a toilet in a closet. He would drive up early Monday morning, come home Wed. evening, drive back up early Thursday morning, then home for he weekend Friday night.

His office was in Emigrant Gap and was the coolest cabin I had ever seen. It was an A-Frame style, and during the winter they dug a tunnel through the snow from the outside door upstairs to the front door downstairs. It made a neat slide.

My good friend Stan Richins works for CalTrans, as Dad did. Stan is in charge of highway maintenance in northern California, including I-80 over the summit. He's kind of a big-wig. He bears the main responsibility for keeping the road open during winter storms, and making the decision to close it needs be.

He was at a ceremony the other day where they were handing out these commemorative medallions honoring the upcoming 50th anniversary of the highway's opening. He brought me one. Like I said, he's a good friend.

More Boat Stuff

There's a lot about this catamaran that I'm trying to figure out. I had hoped to figure out how to raise the mast, but ran out of time and daylight.

I did untangle most of the cables today, and threw away nearly all of the ropes. Then I opened the gear box and sifted through the contents.

What was left after more throwing away of junk (including, but not limited to: thrashed life jackets, dozens of thrashed yellow jackets [yes, dead insects], several wasp nests, a broken paddle, and assorted other trash) is what you see below. Actually, there are also two rudders that go on each of the hulls and the tiller, which are not pictured.

The two life jackets look like they might be good ones, and the seat harness looks like what you use to hang of the side of the catamaran in stiff winds in order to keep the boat from flipping. The anchor was attached to a relatively short piece of cotton rope. Not sure why they thought cotton was a good material for that.

These are the sails, and they appear to be in pretty good shape, except that each of them has one fiberglass slat that is missing it's end connector. I'm not sure how important it is to have all of the slats, or how hard it will be to fix/replace the connectors.

Overall, I'd say it will be a long time before I get it "sea-worthy", and will no doubt need some good counsel on how to go about that. But I did download the Assembly manual for this model of Hobie Catamaran, and it looks like it has much of what I need. Perhaps someday next summer.

A Visit to San Jose

Kayla turned 9 yesterday, and we were able to drive down to San Jose to spend some time with Chris and Lorna and the kids. It's probably hard to tell, but that's me with the orange hair. . .

Chris and Lorna have a great tradition of letting their children decide where the family eats out on their birthdays. This is especially good because their children have such good taste in food (I like it at least). Kayla decided we should all go to Red Lobster. Yumm! When the meal was over the wait staff brought her a bowl of ice cream with chocolate sauce. She was thrilled!

After lunch we hung out at home and watched as Kayla opened presents. Chris and I tried to get naps as we sat on the sofas. But for some reason we weren't allowed to be ignorant. We were asked to be sociable instead. What's up with that?!?

A very young looking grandma with one of our very cute grand daughters.

Ian and Kayla get to pet the lobster before we eat him.

Ian and Emmett playing in the fog of some left over dry ice, place in a pan of water. great fun.

We had a great time, and the trip down wasn't too bad. 2 1/4 hours down, and a bit more than 2 1/2 hours back. It was beautiful weather that day too. But mostly it was good to see everyone.