Annabelle

Annabelle came to us at about 10 weeks old. They just didn't come any cuter.
Melissa and her had a special bond.

Obviously she was very patient with us, even when we tried to make her into a reindeer.

 

She loved the children and they loved her. She was always so patient with them, but really loved to play soccer and keep away with her tennis ball.

She was so patient when other dogs came to visit or stay.

As each of the Grandchildren came along they learned to love her like the rest of us did and they knew they could trust her as big as she was in their little eyes. Her photos with Avery and with Davis were probably the last ones taken.



She will always have a special place in our hearts.

Happy Birthday Melissa!

 

Big Step

We've been talking about getting something to go camping in for the past month or so.  Mostly so we could go up in the mountains and have someplace to sleep at night and be ready for beautiful photos as the sun went down or in the morning.  We looked at a couple small motor homes and frankly they didn't get us very excited.  Then we went and looked at this super light 5th wheel.  It has to be super light to work with my Dodge Dakota.  So today I got the cart before the horse and went and bought a used 5th wheel hitch and then called the guy who was selling this 5th wheel and told him I'd bring a deposit.  Actually Jeanne took the deposit out to him while I was at work.  Melissa said we could park it at her house so here you go.  Photos of our new mini 5th wheel.  We'll see where it goes from here.  These are most of the photos that the seller posted on KSL.com classifieds.  I did not take them.

Welcome Visitors

Kathryn, Trevor and Davis came by for a couple days as Trevor was out this way on job interviews. It's hard to believe it's only about 9 months before he is out of residency. It was sure great to see them and have them stay and visit for a little while at least. We are hoping and praying that they get close.

As all of the grandchildren have done, Davis had to get acquainted with Annabelle. They hit it off in a hurry.

Attention-THIS IS A NEW POST

In my efforts to save those old posts I may have made a big mistake.  I may have caused you to ignore the posts because they were coming too fast and furious.  If so I apologize.  I'm pretty sure I've done my final "repost" from The World's Best Blog.  But, I want you to know, as I wrote in one of the first "reposts" -  these are my important communications to you.  These are addressed to anyone who cares to read but primarily my children and grandchildren.  I wish I had information like this from my father and mother.  Yes they taught me a lot, but sometimes it would really be nice to be able to go back and see what they thought about certain things.  Well, you have that in the form of these posts. 

Love,
Dad, Grandpa

Happy Birthday Kathryn!!!

New Shocker - Be Sitting When You Read This!

 Originally posted on "The World's Best Blog" on Nov. 3, 2008.

I read on one of the local news channels feed this morning about something that really shocked and surprised me (I don't know what kind of emoticon to use to express sarcasm or tongue in cheek, so I hope you recognize it when you see it.) Are you ready. Here's the shocking headline "Study links sex on TV to teen pregnancy". Some clever behavioral scientist has done a study that shows that sex on tv has lead to increased teen pregnancies. I say clever, because they were probably clever enough to get some big financial grant from the college or the government to figure this out. Now let me see?!?!?! As I grow up do I copy what I see around me? Do I do what I think is normal or acceptable? Sometimes it is shown as risque or even wrong, but then it is shown as even more exciting and enticing. Well, folks - big surprise - teens and even adults want some risk and excitement in their lives. I remember a military school I went to where we were "forbidden" to have any kind of treats of ice cream, candy, junk food, etc, except when it was given to us by the staff as a reward. Well we didn't get very many rewards, but I don't remember a time in my life when I ate so much ice cream, candy, junk food etc. Why? because it was forbidden. One of the best known techniques of salesmanship is called "The take away". Show the customer something they like but then to close the sale take it away, whether it's taking away a special price, or there's "only one of these red ones and someone else was looking at it this morning" or whatever it is. I could go on for pages with examples of the take away... If you want your teenager to really fall in love with somebody and spend lots of time with them, just "forbid" them to see that person. I have a certain granddaughter who, when she was little, would not hug or kiss me when she was leaving, until I started telling her that I didn't want her to. Then I got all the hugs and kisses I could stand. It didn't work with all of them but it sure worked with her.

Now for the real shocker. And for this one you probably really should be sitting down. At the bottom of the story it talks about critics of the study. Critics? There are people out there who don't believe that there is a link between sex on TV and teen pregnancy?!?!?!????? Now that is a shocker!!!!!

Wag More, Bark Less

Originally posted Sep. 13, 2008

Today I attended the funeral of a dear cousin (Elna Law Otteson). She was someone who I was always happy to see. She had such a sweet and warm smile. She made you feel like she was happy to see you also, or maybe even happier to see you than you were to see her. On the way home after the funeral I saw a bumper sticker that has officially become my favorite bumper sticker of all time -until a better one comes along. The bumper sticker was only four words, but those four words say a lot. They described Elna very well and also described something I have been thinking a lot about lately. The four words were “Wag more, Bark Less”. If everybody would live by those four words what a happy world we would live in. It would be the ultimate win win. So as you go about your daily duties complete with trials and troubles, as you interact with coworkers, clients, patients, neighbors, business associates, store clerks and checkers, and above all, enemies and family members, remember these four words and try to “Wag More and Bark Less”. I promise you that your life will be happier and more fulfilling and at your funeral they will talk about you the way they talked about Elna today.

Back to the Future

Originally posted May 1, 2008

A little over 20 years ago, more like 23 (It seems like 40), I wanted a video camera so badly my teeth ached. Of course it could have been poor dental hygiene. But either way, I was like a little kid wanting his first bicycle. I could just picture all the wonderful things I could do with one of those cool things that not only gave you color video that you could just watch on your TV and not have to have developed and drag out a screen and projector to watch in a darkened room. And, it also had audio. I mean it was cool. I get goosebumps now just thinking how awesome it was. Somewhere I scraped together about $1300. And I drove back and forth from R.C. Willey to Stokes Brothers to get the best price and make them match or beat the other guy. The compact VHS had just been introduced, so the camera was much smaller than the full size VHS, and who cared that the little cassette only took 20 minutes of video. Most video events such as birthday parties or games or whatever were actually only about 10 to 15 minutes of actual video time anyway. And the cost of a cassette at around $10 or $12 was still a huge amount cheaper per minute than buying film (no sound) and having it developed. Super 8mm film was only 3 minutes per roll and an hour of film with cost of film and developing was probably over $100. And you had to wait until it got developed before you could watch it. With a camcorder you could watch it instataneously, with no developing costs. So back to the price matching game. Willey's and Stokes Brothers both had exactly the same camera, except Willeys had it in black with the Zenith name on it and Stokes Brothers had it in red with the real manufacturers name on it - JVC. I got Stokes Brothers to give me the red JVC for the same price as Willey's black Zenith. I was cool!!!!! If you ever watch the original Back to the Future movie, Doc' Brown is using the exact same model camera that I bought. I got some wonderful video over the years with that camera. It allowed us to capture many memories that we still treasure today. The phrase "I don't have to Kathryn" has become a part of our families favorite quotes which would not exist if it weren't for that camera. We have video of family reunions and loved ones long passed as a result of that camera. Was it worth the $1300 I paid? Absolutely, every penny of it. Oh, by the way, as I was running back and forth to compare camera's and negotiate price I burned up probably at least a dollar's worth of gas at about 35 cents per gallon. Since then I have spent many thousands of dollars on video equipment. I don't remember what ever happened to that little camera, I probably sold it for a few hundred?

Today I opened the paper and here is a Compact VHS with a lens at least 5 times better than the one I had, a color flip out view monitor and a hundred other features they hadn't thought of on my first VHS-C. I'll let the ad speak for itself.

Happiness

Originally written  Feb. 20, 2008

If you want to be happy for the rest of your life always under promise and and over deliver. In every part of your life, your work, your church, your family, and so on.