HGH, back when it meant something good

Here it is - a week and a half late. Grandpa Hall's grave marker in the Sutter Cemetery. Grandma keeps the flowers on it at regular intervals, and the cemetery puts out the flags for Memorial Day. I've also put up a couple of other photos of interest from the visit to the cemetery.

Later in the day we met at Uncle Richie's house for a bit of charred meat. Actually, James cooked up some tri-tip for us that turned out really well. But we did tease him a little about the "burned offering." That's Emily and Sabrina watching the fire.

Below is a little clip of Emily learning to "crack the whip." Since it was a celebration of her 18th birthday, Rich got his whip out (the one he got on his mission in Brazil) and showed her how to get started.

We are in AZ visiting Grant and Lucy (not Pam and Rob, they're in Washington) so I'll have some more fun stuff to post later this week!

So here's the deal...

Sorry for not updating the blog for a while. There are a couple of excuses (no good reasons) I will offer:

First, this past week was the last week of school here - a week that really needs 6 days instead of the usual 5 for me to accomplish everything that needs to be done, but in fact only had 4 due to Memorial Day. (Who's bright idea was it to end school the week of Memorial Day? Oh yeah, the union was involved).

Second, this was also the week prior to stake conference, which as you might guess is fairly busy for a stake president. I'm not complaining at all. It was a WONDERFUL conference! However, one member asked me: "Since you're in charge, why don't you just change the dates?" Of course, I'm not in charge of that - Pres. Packer makes those assignments - and I have not felt at all comfortable with going to him and saying: "Gee, I'm kind of busy that week, how about if you pick another weekend for us?"

Anyway, I have photos and information from Memorial Day that will be kind of fun for you to see. We're going to AZ tomorrow to see Grant and Lucy (Pam & Rob who?) so I should have time to post them this week. See ya in the funny papers.

Fathers and Sons

This year the stake organized the annual Priesthood Commemoration activity. We wanted to do a fathers and sons camp out at Zion's Camp. It was great! We stocked the lake with fish (pretty good sized ones, too) and the kids were just pulling them out right and left. I've posted a few pictures here that will now doubt bring back a few memories.

Fishing at the lake.

You know the raft. . .

Stan Richins fixes up some poles for kids to use.

The Barrows take apart one of the pigs we roasted (there were two). Together with rice and beans on tortillas. What? No salad? Nay, this was a MANLY meal! Well, we had salsa to pour over it all. Does that count as vegetables?

Mom's Garden Revisited

Mom wanted to show you that her garden is doing well. Her roses are looking good and the rest of the various plants are blooming. You see what a talented gardener she is.

These California Golden Poppies (the official state flower of California) were a present from me to Mom for her birthday, Well okay, I bought them because I've always wanted some, but Mom is the gardener here. The bottom photo is of one of her irises. Beautiful.

Denio's Farmers Market and Auction

These were some of the most beautiful looking grapes I seen this year - but we already had grapes at home.

Oranges, peppers, cabbage, and the large round white orbs are actually coconuts. We bought one. I'm hungry. . .

REI . . . Whoa!

After visiting the auction we drove down to Recreational Equipment Inc. I love spending time in that store. Everything you could ever want - and very little I can afford. The stated purpose for the trip was to buy a bunch of food for the 50 mile hike this summer - they were having a big sale. Of course, I also took the opportunity to pick up my annual gadget. (I usually get to buy one new outdoor sports "toy" every year). This time I bought a Steri-Pen, which is a device that purifies water with ultra-violet light. 45 sec. to do 1 litre. No more pumping, no more filters, no more heavy, bulky item that is a "must carry." This little guy is slightly larger than two ink pens and weighs 2-3 oz. It even comes with a solar charger so you don't have to buy batteries. Very cool.

Anyway, if any of you want to get me a Father's day present, I would gladly accept one of the items seen below. They start at around $3,000, so if it doesn't happen this year, I'll understand.

El Chorro: The video explained

I got the information below from a travel web site:

El Chorro is a place in Spain very popular with climbing enthusiasts. It has some very steep cliffs. They are 180 meters high. The original trail was built in 1901, but to get an impression of the astounding size of these cliffs, in 1921 a walking path along the cliff was made, the Camino del Rey (King's road). All the travel books (including the information in the nearby village) suggest you can still walk over this path. It apparently led to water gates that could be opened in dry seasons.