Spring Get Away

It seems to get more and more difficult to get a post in once you get out of the habit. Katherine, how have you managed to keep it up? I know it was a NY res, but congrats, you have done it!

Life has been pretty full. We've had missionaries in our home on Monday nights to teach a young lady and her mom. We've been to Colorado, on some of its slopes and back, all over the state on business, down to Austin to testify on eminent domain--all in all, very diverse and very fulfilling. Here are some pictures:

Sounds like, from Julie's blog, that aquarium visits were a popular item! We found it so too. This is in Denver:



I think the shark is running from Kenedi...they both have their mouths open baring their teeth...
We have learned that running from her is the best course some times, right toot?!



They have great parks in Denver and surrounds. The weather is beautiful most of the time. Ahh, lunch at the park!


Here we are at Winter Park, what a studly group!




We had the good fortune to have Dennis & Suzanne along with Brandon and Jessica come up to Audrie's for a few hours. We had a great time. Chance and Tristan became fast four year old friends too!



Monday Zac Dustin and I went to Copper Mountain. What a place! More trails with more variety than anywhere I've ever been. It got up to about 50 degrees! What fun. Of course, watch out for the yellow snow...





We pulled off a slope, pulled out the food from my camelback, and had fun putzing around in the snow!



All good things must change venue, so we brought the crew (except Craig...) back to Texas. We love the road trips in the van! Oh what fun it is to ride in a 300 HP van. Really, we did not suffer any of Scott and Julie's fun. We enjoyed the ride!

Unibomber

So Zac was trying to identify his interests today. He revealed that one of them is blowing things up. Accordingly, he built a suicide bomber out of tongue depressors and dog pillow stuffing. Here is the video of the event:

Very educational stuff!

Courage

What did the lion (in this case "lioness") want from the wizard? Courage! Well, this one's already got it for sure--she married me, that proves it! New Beginnings in YW tonight has some sort of skit acting out the WofOZ. Call her for the details. Isn't she cute in her lionesse getup? I told her she needs to put some of those lioness moves on me:-) She still has to put her whiskers on...

Awards at Scout Camp + Pinewood Derby

We had a nice campout at Cedar Hill State Park. The weather was reasonable, a bit cold, but reasonable.

We seldom camp at a real camp ground like this one, but since we had electricity, we took advantage of it to have waffles along with the standard fare of eggs and bacon.

Since all of the boys truly struggle to beat Syd (the Sloth) at fire building unless large quantities of gasoline are employed (referenced in bold print in "The Guide to Safe Scouting", though not in a positive light), we thought it would be educational to review firebuilding techniques then have a competition. The contest was to build a fire, started with no more than 3 matches, sufficient to burn through a jute string tied across two stakes 18" above the ground. Sounds simple enough, right? This is what it looked like:

As the boys contemplated the challenge, what tinder to use, how to compensate for the gale-force winds, and so forth, I considered appropriate awards. Candy can always work for kids right? But alas, they had been eating candy and junk all night! We did not need more sugar crazed boys running around with fire. As I promenaded myself about the camp ground pondering this enigma, I happened upon a small baby pacifier lying on the ground. It was in pristine condition. My first thought was, some baby and his parents are missing this! My second thought was, I can use this for an award! The notion of always awarding a prize to the winner had begun to set in my craw, and as it did, I had one of those Eureka! moments: we would make an award to the losing team, and having just acquired the necessary paraphenalia, we would give it a very special name, to be disclosed ONLY at the awards ceremony!

The three teams set about making fires. Some used small dry reeds. Others found cardboard and lit it off. One of the teams found that lowering the string might facilitate a rapid burn-thru(remember the scout law??).

So the fires were built and strings were burnt...

and whose team would come in last you ask, the dubious "winner" in my backwards event? Yes, you guessed it, my own son Zac and his two young teammates. You can imagine the eager anticipation as we made a big to-do over the heretofore "secret" prize to be given. This is all the boys lined up in Olympic podium fashion, eagerly awaiting the coveted (but as yet undisclosed) prize:

We made a great to-do over the award, then announced that the last-place team would be the recipient. Great dissatisfaction was voiced by the fastest teams until we held high in the air the prize pacifier while simultaneously announcing the the name of the award: the YOU SUCK award! There was but a very brief moment of disbelief, followed by a vociferous melange of various emotions, including though not limited to disgust/anger/angst/violence/vocal outcry/etc. by the winning loser as well as taunts, catcalls, mocking and derision from the losing winners. This pandamonium was immediately followed by Zac slamming into me with all his might, just the way a linebacker would attack a running back trying to get past him. OUch! After a brief tussle, here is a photo of the "winning" losing team. Notice Kayden (the one in green) had no issues with the new award:

The following week was what may well be the FINAL running of the pinewood derby for this Young family. Here is Dustin being issued his drivers permit for the race:

Last year Dustin was the pencil car. This year he is the guitar car, which you can see at the lower right of the photo.

While his car was not the fastest, it was not the slowest. There were many admirerers of the most unique guitar car (mostly Led Zepelin fans).

The end.

HOWDY-We're Back!

So, after a lengthy hiatus from the blogspot, I figured I better throw one out there before the month is over. We got up this morning to the site of lots of ice! The news said that it was the most since 1980 this morning, but that must have been somewhere north of here. For sure, it was icy, but not historically icy. Of course, since this is Texas, schools were out and businesses were closed. Dustin and I got out pretty early so we could enjoy the 19 degree morning and slide around a little. We jogged over to the old Walter Stephenson road past the bypass bridge. We could slide down the road great just standing on our feet! What was really fun was trying to run back up the hill in the clear ice spots-hahaha--we just sort of ran in place. It is good exercise, but don't be in a hurry. Then we took a short cut across the hwy 287 since there were almost no cars, slid on it some, then found some more good ice over by the Temple's old place. What a crack up. I am good at being a kid. I could do it every day. It sucks having to be an adult...
Here is a short video of our first attempt at riding the inflatable sled down the driveway. See you next post : )

My Christmas Story

I had a very cool experience this Christmas season that I want to tell you about. I’ve been going to the temple more often, like every Tuesday at 7 AM. This Tuesday, after the session, I came out and checked my phone. I had a message from a business client and associate who lives in Rockwall. We had been trying to get together on the phone for a few weeks without success. His message suggested that he would call again between 9 and 10 AM (I got the message at 9), and that he had a funeral to do at 11 (he owns several cemeteries and a funeral home). I had a feeling to go and talk with him. I was thinking it might be about church, particularly Prop 8, but knowing him to be sincere, I wasn’t worried to talk. It was a little of a long shot to drive out and chance to catch him, but I did it. When I got there, before I got out of the car, I saw him running to his truck to leave. I called out to him and got out to try to catch him. He got out, came over, and gave me a strong embrace, which was quite the first. He was very glad to see me and though he didn’t have much time, he took me back into the funeral home to a private room to talk. Immediately he began talking of the troubles of the world. I told him we (the world) needed a change of heart due to the gospel of Christ (as opposed to Obama’s change). He told me he was a Christian Baptist. I told him I was too (no, not Baptist). He said, “but your Christ is not the same, is it?” I told him that our Christ is the only name given under heaven whereby men can be saved” and that He was my personal Savior. I told him that His name was on our church. I told him that our church is all about the atonement of Christ. The spirit was powerful between us. For sure, he felt it. He was excited about it. So was I. He was going to meet with a prominent LDS businessman later that week from SLC who is the 2nd largest funeral home operator in the country and wanted to know a little before he met him! As we continued to talk, he asked how my business was doing. I told him that the retirement community in Burleson that we have worked on for more than 2 years had unraveled due to the economy. He said he was having lunch the next day with a gentleman in a related business who might have some interest and invited me to come back the next day to lunch with them.
Needless to say, I was pretty excited, both at the prospect of continuing a discussion with Dewayne about the church, but also a possible sale for the retirement development. So I went back to Rockwall on Wednesday. I was first to arrive at the restaurant. Dewayne got there shortly after. The other gentleman was late to come, which was a good thing. While we waited, we talked more about the church. We covered a shotgun of topics, including the Word of Wisdom, Families, the Book of Mormon and more. When we finished, just before the other guy arrived, he said, “you know, I should probably be a Mormon!” Of course thought I, I could help him with that! The meeting with the other man was not a success as far as Burleson was concerned, but wholly worth the time and effort to have the conversation with my friend. One neat thing about him is that he is extremely prominent in Rockwall and respected by many, many people. I am going to put together a package of items, including a Book of Mormon, The Testament, and a copy of the Family Proclamation and take it to him for Christmas.
Isn’t it amazing that when we talk to people about Jesus Christ, the spirit is there to testify of His divine mission, and not for any eloquence or ability of ours. That is his (the spirit’s) most important role. He is good at it!

Air like Shrek's Swamp

Some of you may be aware of the air quality issues that exist here in Midlothian. USA Today conducted a significant survey of over 120,000 schools nationwide. It listed Mt. Peak Elementary, where Dustin attends, as in the 1st percentile of all offenders, together with all the other schools our children attend being in the top worst 5 percent! Here is the link to the recap on WFAA (channel 8 here): http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa081211_mo_airpollution.53f937f9.html#slcgm_comments_anchor
In apparent attempt to asuage concerned parents, although completely unqualified, JD Kenedy, Superintendent the MISD, issued a statement to the community that he had inquired with the TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) and all is well (...in Zion). Here is his statement:
http://www.midlothian-isd.net/_misdnews/archive/misd-air.html
I decided to post replies through several media, and here is a copy of my comments:
The influence of big money seems to be penetrating every level of government and politics. That it should also affect the course of public education is bewildering to a trusting public. My wife spoke to the attendance person at school the other day and asked her what she thought about this alarming news. In response, she recited Dr. Kenedy's statement and parrotted his feelings, exclaiming that she had been here 30+ years and everything is fine to her. Maybe, but what about everyone else?! The problem is that not everyone reacts to these toxins the same way. For example, I am allergic to Benadryl, commonly used to help with allergic reactions! For whatever reason, it makes my heart race at an alarming and life-threatening rate. The toxins being unnecessarily spewed out of these factories, like a game of Russian Roulette, are killing unsuspecting citizens while the EPA, TCEQ and now, MISD stand by, in the face of ever-mounting quantities of evidence, and offer lame statements endorsing the offenders. The scriptures speak of those in the latter days who call evil good and good evil. While some may live healthy lives with no adverse reaction to the proven and known toxins, others will surely suffer. How can we turn this blind eye?! I hear the words from pro-cement advocates, "Midlothian needs TXI. Midlothian needs Holcim. Midlothian needs Ash Grove." "There are too many jobs, too much money and too much power to make them comply with clean emissions standards and lose them." I ask, how is this point of view really different than the selling of Senate seats, with comments like, "...it's worth too much #$%^& money to give it away"? The bottom line is that it is wrong! Do we want a legacy for our children that reads, "Big Business over Young Minds?" Will our ephithats read, "Rest in peace, uh, no, scratch that--I mean Rest in cement kiln dust!" It is time to do as the Boy Scouts and live the Scout Law, being Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent. It is time to do as Jesus taught, to do unto others as we would have them do unto us, NOT before they can do it to us.

Crazy what goes on in this little town...