Victoria BC - 25 Years Later

Here are some shots that you may (or may not) find interesting from our short trip to Victoria. Below is the bridge and forward compartment of the Kingston Ferry (which is just exactly like the COHO Ferry to Victoria, and all of the other ferries in those waters for that matter), then the view coming into the Victoria Harbor

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Mom wanted a picture of a sign or something the said "Victoria Harbor", but there wasn't anything like that, so I took this picture of the "Welcome to Victoria" hedges down by the harbor. It was early morning and the light wasn't very good yet.

Mom always does a great job or booking our hotels when we go places, and this was no exception. We expected to have a view of other hotels around us, but were pleasantly surprised with a view of the harbor. (One photo during the day and one at night.) Mom was thrilled!

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Here you see Mom on the ferry as we're leaving (with the hotel in the background). The rooms included free breakfast (here's Mom enjoying the second day's repast). It was pretty good food - but awful slow service. I think they attend to the paying customers first...

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There were lots of fun sights (and sites) to see. On the left is the Parliament building all lit up, and on the right is the Empress Hotel, where you can have "high tea" for a mere $80 per person. The funny story here is that 30 years ago when I first took the YCHS Band to Victoria for the Queen's Birthday Parade, Mom and I went into the Empress just to see what it looked like inside. When we got in, we found ourselves in the main dining room. I think everyone in the room turned and stared at us. Funny now - not so much then.

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One of the big events of the day was visiting the BC Museum. On the left is the Woolley Mammoth (which made sounds and everything), on the right is Mom and me in the museum gift shop.

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Did I tell you it rained nearly the whole time we were there? Well, we got soaked walking around seeing things like the harbor and auspicious looking buildings, but we had lots of fun. We walked across the drawbridge, "up street and down alley" (and if you know what musical that last reference came from, you have my respect because it's probably my favorite one).

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So we were walking past this place called the Market Square, and I saw this incredible yellow bicycle. I mean it was YELLOW! Turns out it was an advertisement for a little hole-in-the-wall eatery called "wannawaffle." We had already eaten, so we didn't stop - but that bike, man!

More photos to come. Maybe next week.

We had a blast.

Shadows of Christmas Past (not long past)

Our Christmas Day started in the Butchart's living room with the beautifully lighted tree (and the gate around it to keep the twins out). The snow flakes on the windows were actually made years ago by Trevor's sister, then preserved in contact paper for future enjoyment.

This was the one and only attempt at a family photo. It lasted about 3 seconds.

Jane and Elizabeth playing with the makings of their shopping carts (which had

"some assembly required") and getting into the spirit of playing with their gifts.

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Atticus' FAVORITE present was the garbage truck (he's in to all things trash) and playing with his Pez dispenser.

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Jane and Lizzie playing with stuffed toys. Eliza has Elmo, who sings and talks louder depending on how hard you squeeze his tummy (talk about irritating), and a baby that says "I love you" when you put it's hand to it's mouth (slightly less irritating than Elmo).

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Mom getting excited about her gift from Michelle - hand knitted Norwegian style mittens.

This was the clear winner of all presents. The cardboard castle! Rick Butchart and I put it together in about 30 sec. It's white so that the kids can color on it (which they have taken great joy in doing). Two windows, two doors, and four turrets (does that qualify for a syndrome?)

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This is my favorite photo from Christmas morning. Lizzie found a candy cane (this is actually a special "War Heads" extra-sour flavored candy cane. She just couldn't get enough of it and kept wiggling it up and down to show her joy. Ah, the simple pleasures!

And finally, all my attempts to get a good picture of the twins (who were so cute in their Christmas dresses) were mostly futile. Here are the best of several really bad ones: Jane and Elizabeth.

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The Marsipan Pig

Another Scandinavian tradition is marsipan! Marsipan is almond paste mixed with sugar, and formed into animals or fruit or whatever. On Christmas eve all the kiddies get a small bowl of rice pudding - and hidden in one of the bowls is an almond. The child who gets the almond wins the pig made out of marsipan.

So last week when Mom and I went to IKEA we bought a bar of marsipan, and today I formed it into a pig, painted it pink with food coloring, and brushed on an extra coat of sugar to make him sparkle. Oink! Oink!

Christmas in Seattle p. 2

Today to get the kids (and ourselves) out of the house for a while, we took them up the street to a wooded park with a half-mile path. It was cold and damp, but we had fun. Elizabeth walked the whole way - Jane didn't walk at all, and Atticus was all over the place.

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To be fair, Jane doesn't walk well yet (she's talks much better than Liz) and today was a rough day for her from the very beginning. But we made the best of it. It was nice to get out.

Christmas in Seattle pt. 1

This is the quaint little Bed & Breakfast place we stayed in while in Port Ludlow. The string of lights around the eaves, the warm light glowing through the bay window, the Christmas tree, the veranda that wraps around nearly the whole house - it's really a nice home.

But it's not a B&B, it's Rick & D-Ann Butchart's home. The inside is just as nice as the outside - mostly because it's full of grandkids. Trevor and Michelle are quite at home with them in this place. It's been very nice staying with them. Their hospitality knows no bounds, and keeping company with them is very pleasant.

POULSBO

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Yesterday we took the grand kids into Poulsbo, which originally had a large Norwegian population. The old section of downtown has a lot of Scandinavian shops, mostly the kind you can't take little kids into. But up the street were a couple of photo-opp's that worked out well. I parked Jane and Elizabeth in front of a mural with a Norwegian miss, and Atticus is on the same corner with Michelle next to a red phone booth - which are common in Scandinavia also.

The Beach

One morning we took the kids to the beach near the Butcharts. Not much of a beach really, mostly just the place where the water meets the land. Atticus and I walked a ways down the beach and found this little fort made out of driftwood. It's built up against the side of a hill, and Atticus kept referring to the incline as "stairs." it was some of the best weather of the trip that day.

Christmas Scenes

Mom and I both had a REALLY busy week. Yesterday alone there was a baptism, a funeral at which I spoke, a trip to the hospital to bless and visit a friend, and two receptions. Today with meetings and other Church work seemed like a day off.

So to lighten the mood I took some pictures of our home traditionally and festively decked out for Christmas. For those who grew up here - you'll recognize the placement of the tree, Mom's mini creche exhibit (which grows yearly), the stocking hung over the archway with care, the Christmas bells (yes!), and the piano with a variety of Christmas time trinkets and gifts from others over the years, our favorite being the pig that oinks Jingle Bells, with a well placed squeal at the end.

Notice the CHRISTMAS hanging from Pam - Mom's favorite gift so far.

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The singing chipmunks, the nutcracker, the sax playing reindeer, the
colored lights snowman, the Christmas house, the candle in a cupcake,
the incense smoker - these are a few of my favorite things.

Deck HALLS and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
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Stake Conference

Yesterday and today we had one of the best stake conferences I've ever been a part of. Each session was absolutely tremendous. Saturday evening and Sunday we heard outstanding remarks from three outstanding women in the stake. My counselors did a wonderful job, as always.

My 2nd counselor (Courtney McAlister, probably a distant relative) is an attorney and gave a masterful discourse on why others should feel comfortable calling us Christians. One of the great moments is quoted below. I really love this guy.

"Misguided attempts to label our view of the Godhead as non-Christian remind me of a joke that actually originated in a self-deprecating way in Trinitarian churches. In a slight revision to a well known scriptural exchange between Jesus and His Apostles, Jesus asked, “Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, “Thou art the Logos, existing in the Father as His rationality and then, by an act of His will, being generated, in consideration of the various functions by which God is related to his creation, but only on the fact that Scripture speaks of a Father, and a Son, and a Holy Spirit, each member of the Trinity being coequal with every other member, and each acting inseparably with and interpenetrating every other member, with only a subordination within God, but causing no division which would make the substance no longer simple.”

And Jesus answered and said, "Huh?"

Fun Photos from Last Year

At the Saturday Evening session of our stake conference one of our stake YW leaders gave each member of the stake presidency a photo album of them from our pioneer trek last year. I include mine here for you to have a laugh at.

My favorites are the ones of me fixing the handcarts, and me with my mouth open (as usual). It really was a fun trip.

A Day at the Cannery

Mom had an assignment to work at the cannery doing Marion Berry Jam. I went down to see if I could help without getting in the way. They let me dump the 60lb bags of corn sweetener (3 each batch) and 25lb bags of sugar (7 bags) combined with 8 five gallon buckets of berries. I used a paddle to help it mix in, then I sat around until the next batch started.

Mom spent some of her time making sure all of the jars were full enough, but not too full. Spoon it in or spoon it out - they were all made perfect. Later she sat and tightened lids. We both looked cute in our hairnets and flimsy plastic aprons.

When the 3 hour shift was over they let me work one of the high pressure hot water (180 deg) hoses to clean everything off. Then they coated everything (even the electrical panels) with disinfectant and I hosed it all down again. Then I got to mop the front lobby. I actually kind of like mopping floors. It's easy to do and makes an obvious difference.

Afterward we drove over to IKEA and ate Swedish meatballs. That was a good way to end the day.

Yes, I'm in the Christmas Spirit

Even though I have the big Christmas Concert on Thursday, I only have one night of interviews this week, so I'm felling pretty easy. I've taken my dancing chipmunks and sax playing reindeer to school for the kids to laugh at. It should go well.

Best thing of all? That's my new favorite Pandora Station: Christmas Blues. It's all Christmas songs in the jazz/blues style. I sit here listening to it and nothing else - thinking about days gone by when I had time to play in jazz groups. I enjoy that so much. But I'm so lazy that if I didn't have the demands of normal life I'd sit around and that and nothing else all day and all night.

So for now I just listen and enjoy. BB King, Ray Charles, The Dukes of Dixieland, Eartha Kit, Ella Fitzgerald. Yeah. . .