Images of Halloween Past

My sister, Kimberly, emailed a couple of weeks ago asking for some old Halloween pictures. I knew that I had some in my "old" photo album, but with my advancing age, I wasn't quite sure where the "old" photo album was (as Sherrie would remind me, it's too many moves - I think she's right). Anyway, I sent her the one picture that I could find of Ken and I in our matching tiger outfits (when I was still taller than him). But I knew if I could find the "old" photo album, I would have the gold mine, because the best two Halloween pictures I knew of were double-stick taped in there by my very own mother in 1968. Well, I found it tonight. I was so excited to get them scanned and onto the blog so that I could share them with the whole world (well, at least the few citizens of the world that read my blog, and any aliens that might be intercepting earth transmissions...). There is it, proof that my very own mother and father celebrated Halloween. I have yet to don a costume a well planned out as they did, evidenced by the witch and pirate captured forever on Kodachrome (or some kind of Kodak film). Well, look hard and you might recognize them.

Corruption Begets Corruption

This political cartoon I ran into seemed to say it all. It is amazing during economic hard times, the financial institutions (who were so willing to make questionable loans) have been pretty hard on those that owe and yet want the federal government to essentially give them an enormous sum of money when they run out. It feels like economic blackmail. Either you give us back all the money we lost, or we are going to take this country into another great depression. What really amazes me is that the financial crisis essentially appeared like a bad zit before the prom (overnight). How do you get into a nearly trillion dollar mess and not acknowledge and take action much sooner. It's like not realizing you are tied to the railroad tracks until a train is about 100 ft from you.

When I was in Guatemala, I saw an old woman in jail for stealing a chicken while high ranking government officials who had committed far more grievous crimes were allowed to leave when the government was overthrown. This is the same thing. We have people serving time in jails for petty crimes and yet those who literally robbed billions of dollars will walk away scott free. It alarms me to see how Third World this country has become in the last decade.

Jordan is Loving Life (Except When He's Homesick)

It was time to go to bed and I remembered that Jordan had sent me some good pictures from school. He is obviously having a lot of fun and studying hard. In one of his classes the Professor has been using his work as an example for the class. He has one difficult GE glass (geography with a grumpy old professor - everybody has to have at least one of those in college). With the possible exception of the geography class, I am looking for straight A's.

Jordan has been cliff jumping several times. There is some big waterhole south of Cedar City that they go to and jump 30 feet off of a cliff into the water. I have a hard time with a trail that has a 30 ft cliff. I don't think it is the sport for me. He must have gotten the cliff jumping gene from his mother's side of the family.

He made sure to send us a picture of him studying. I can breath a sigh of relief. Actually, I haven't been worried all semester. I know that he has been studying hard.

This is a picture of his cat, Rex. He picked it up at Walmart. It is kind of a girl magnet. The funny thing about it is, it isn't real! It looks real and they move it around the apartment so everybody who comes over thinks it's real - leave it to Jordan!

Jordan has had fun going camping on Friday nights. He did say that their trip this last Friday left him with a sore hip. He didn't take his camping gear down with him when he went to school so he has been sleeping on a blanket on the ground. I guess his age is starting to catch up with him. Isn't it all downhill from 18 on? If so, I must be near the bottom of the hill.

We talk to Jordan several times a week. He is really good to call and has been email his mother which is really nice.

Another Day of Rest - Define "Rest"

I survived another day of "rest". In order to ensure a timely arrival at our assigned worship time, I woke up to my alarm at 7:00. I know that doesn't sound early, especially for those who may have early morning Sunday meetings (I never was sure what was up with early early meetings - is it easier to feel the Spirit when you're only half awake?). At any rate, I coaxed Sarah out of Bed at about 7:30. Well, we did it - we arrived 5 minutes early. Jonathan and I were able to sit through Priesthood opening exercises with the other 5 men who were there in addition to the Bishopric. Most people in our ward arrive about 15-20 minutes late by my estimation. That's why I don't see the problem with arriving late also. It they arrive late and I arrive on time, then I have wasted 20 minutes of my day waiting for them to arrive (well, the logic works for me). After church, Sarah was set apart as the 1st Counselor in the Laurel Class Presidency (the President rarely comes - I've learned in Utah, you have to wait your turn - for a right to work state it has alot of Union mentality - senority rules - well, so much for my ranting). Sarah was also called to serve on the Stake Youth Committee. She is excited for that because her friend is also on the committee. She will get to help plan the Youth Trek this coming summer.

After church we came home and rested for an hour while we waited for the lasagna to cook (I forgot to put it in before we went to church - that's what happens when I get up too early). While we waited, Jonathan and I watched the Speed Racer movie. I remember when I was young my brother, Ken, used to love watching the Speed Racer cartoon (I wasn't as hip on japanamation - I was more of a Scooby Doo fan). It was fun to watch the movie and I was amazed how much the real life actors resembled the cartoon characters.

After dinner, Sherrie and I decided to take a drive up Middle Canyon to see the leaves. She hadn't accompanied me when I took Jonathan and Sarah to the top of the mountain to look down in the mine. We drove to the top (Sherrie was equipped with dark sunglasses to help her endure the sunshine). The road was just a terrifying as the last time I drove it. I thought that if I kept tackling my fear of heights I would eventually overcome it. I still had to peel my hands off the steering wheel at the top and again at the bottom. I was able to get out of my car on the road a few times to take some pictures of the leaves. I guess the desire to get a good photo overcomes the fear of heights. If I can get more comfortable with heights I will be able to hike the Lookout Point trail at Zion's Park. I need to hike it at least one time with all my kids so we can get a complete picture. We have a picture with Sherrie, Jared, Jordan and Sarah. I froze up on the trail about 2/3 the way up and Jonathan stayed back to take care of me. I credit him with coaxing me off the wall and starting the trail back down. Anyway, I digress. The view from the top was beautiful today. We could see Utah lake and Utah Valley well past Y mountain. On the north side we could see almost all the way to Farmington. On the west side of the lookout we would see south Tooele. There was quite a bit of traffic on the road today. There were alot of people at the top too. This must be a popular drive for Sunday afternoon. We tried a side road into a side canyon, but it quickly became a 4-wheeler road and we backed out. I would like to go back and hike it. I told Sherrie that I couldn't believe we had such a beautiful Canyon just 5 minutes from our house.

When we got back I still wanted to hike little. I had spent most of the day seated on a bench or in a car so I convinced Jonathan in going with me. He really didn't want to go too bad but I made him feel sorry for his father and he consented to go. We went up to Smelter Canyon and walked up the road to get a better view of the old Smelter. It was a nice quiet walk up the road since there is a No Trespassing sign at the beginning of it (we had it too ourselves). It was fun to walk and talk. We practiced some synchronized walking (like synchronized swimming). Jonathan thought of it so we practiced walking, turning and spinning our arms in synch. If somebody had filmed us they probably would have won the grand prize on America's Funniest Videos! It was FUN. We saw some beautiful foliage, but truth be told, the color and scenery up middle canyon were better.

It is now past my bedtime so I had better tie this up and get to bed. I'm not sure this is a blog or a travel log. Really, I just blog so that I can do something with the pictures I take. I love digital cameras because I can take all the pictures I want to without worrying about film. I really enjoyed the time I spent with my family today, both in church and after church. It is a real spiritual lift for me to go out and see the beauties of this world. I love being up in the mountains. I must live in the perfect place for me.

Fall Color Extravaganza

Sherrie and I took a ride of Settlement Canyon this afternoon to check out the fall colors. It is really beautiful right now. There were actually quite a few campers up in the canyon. This is the time of year to camp up there since there are beautiful fall colors, it is cool at night and not too hot in the day. I was trying to find some hiking trails that I could try out with the kids. It was a nice drive so close to home (with gas prices still as high as they are I look for recreation close to home). We may have to take another drive up there tomorrow afternoon with the kids.

Survivor is Back

Well, my favorite show on TV is back for another season. I have been the only one in my family that has maintained a fascination with the show. I enjoy watching the strategies and impact of personality and interpersonal skills. My second favorite show starts again in October - CSI. It is convenient that they are both on Thursday night. So I only need to watch TV one night a week (except when I have a Simpson's craving). This looks like it might be a good season of Survivor. However, I was disappointed that they voted the oldest woman who I think could have contributed to the team. Well, we will see how it all plays out, that is the nature of the game....

No Witchcraft in the White House!

And we thought Nancy Reagan was a little off center with her astrologist in the White House...

Fabulous Fall

I love spring when the plants venture forth out of the cold ground and begin to show their colors. I admire the plants that are determined to be the first to bloom. It is exciting to see color and life after a cold white (and sometimes brown) winter. Summer brings it show of flowers. These are the fair weather kind. They put out their blooms when the days are long and the frost is far from everyone's mind. However, the fireworks of flowers seems to come in the early Fall. The plants that wait until the fall put forth a vast array of both flowers and color. I think that they have to have more flowers and more color to attract the insects that will pollinate them as they don't have much time before frost bites at them. The fall flowers seem to last a bit longer. All summer long I have had to resist pulling out the mums because they seemed to be taking over the garden (well, in fact they were taking over the garden and killed off other plants in their way), but when the yellow and burgundy flowers came out and covered the bushes, I decided they were probably prettier than the flowers they killed off. The asters took off a few weeks ago and I wasn't sure what to expect, but then came a spray of lavender and yellow. I can just sit out on my patio and look at the asters and mums and life is good. Other perennials are also putting up an additional blossom now that the intense heat of the summer if over. This truly is a beautiful time of year (even before the trees change color - although I am enjoying the color high up in the mountains). I guess my Eden right now is my backyard where I can see the colors of the flowers against the colors of the mountains.

Bible Man and a Gorilla

Jared is really good about sending an email each Wednesday (hasn't missed one yet). It is interesting to hear about his experiences. This week he and Elder Lee met "The Jesus Man". This man travels all over the world evangelizing. He wears no shoes and only his white robe. He carries a Bible with him. They ended up having almost a 2 hours conversation him. After that they met a couple of Catholic Nuns and had a conversation with them also (where are all the baptists). It sounds as if they have some more promising people in their teaching pool. They are hoping to have a baptism soon. I hope that are able to have a baptism before Elder Lee goes home (which must be in just a couple of weeks). Jared and Elder Lee did a special musical number in their Ward Sunday. Elder Lee played the violin and Jared the piano. Sherrie had sent Jared several duet books. I guess everybody in the Ward was impressed. They helped one of the families they are teaching put up their Halloween decorations and counted it as service hours (maybe I could get the Elders to come over and put up our Christmas lights). Well, enjoy the pictures - I do.

Wednesday Again So Soon

Sitting at my desk I realized that it is again Wednesday (I was relieved that it wasn't Thursday I had forgotten to take the trash can out - I am still holding out on getting the second trash can). I should be seeing a letter from Jared shortly. I look forward to hearing how his week went. They are more exciting and adventure filled than mine. Jordan's friend, Austin, received a mission call this week, but we don't know where he was called to, except that it is outside of the US. The weather has been nice and is starting to feel like fall. Yesterday Sherrie got her fall decorations out and put them up around the house. Jonathan helped by stringing the Halloween lights (orange and purple) around the yard. He told me that he likes decorating for Halloween better than decorating for Christmas. Other than that it has been a fairly routine week. Sherrie is still waiting for her eye to finish healing. It continues to be slightly swollen and red/irritated looking. I don't expect any permanent damage, but it has been a slow illness to recover from. I repaired the Ford Explorer last night. While Sherrie was driving home from work last week, it lost the belt tensioner. It wasn't hard to replace (although it was tight trying to get the bolt out with the cooling fan in the way). I test drove it last night after figuring out how to thread the serpentine belt. Seemed to work okay. I better get this posted so I don't fall alseep herre in my office chair.

SKULL VALLEY - Sunday Afternoon Drive

It was such beautiful weather when we got out of Church today that we decided to go on a little family outing. With Halloween fast approaching (it is the second biggest retail holiday after Christmas - that should make it a legitimate holiday with a day off work and school even - I think my sister, Kimberly, would agree)(I have to apologize every time I call her Kimberly since I just can't get used to calling her Kim. I guess it could be worse and I could call her what we did when she was little, Kimberly Ann) we decided to go to SKULL VALLEY. We headed south to Rush Valley (used to be known at St. John where my Uncle Lynn is from). We then headed up over Johnson's Pass which is a nice windy road with a small campground partway up, Clover Springs. We stopped there to eat some lunch and see the sites. There is a fairly substantial spring that bubbles up from the ground and flows into a good sized stream. A couple of men came down to get a drink out of the spring while we were there. We opted not to since it was apparent that at least one cow had visited the spring and left a reminder behind. I don't think the men saw the cows pie on the spring. A went up and over the pass and down into SKULL VALLEY. It is really quite a pretty valley with not much in it. We went through the Town of Terra, but only saw one house (I think there might be more). We took the road out to the entrace of the Dugway Proving Grounds. There is a good-sized LDS chapel situated just outside the Dugway gate. That was kind of weird seeing a large church building sitting out in a desolate valley with no signs of community anywhere around it except a gate to a military (weapons research) facility. We drove north up the valley to Iosepa and stopped to see what was left of the community. There is a cemetary and a pavilion. It I had come from Hawaii and settle in Iosepa I would have been anxious to return to Hawaii! The kids fell asleep about the time we left Iosepa and started the "are we there yet?" just outside of Grantsville. We did manage to make it home before anybody got to agitated. I enjoy the drive and seeing the sights, but when you are younger it just seems boring. I guess I should finish up and spend some quality time with my family this afternoon (I don't think they consider the time in the car "quality"). Until my next adventure.....

Gift of Music Concert

After the family reunion Sherrie and I rushed home to get ready for the Gift of Music Concert at the Conference Center. Sarah and Jonathan decided against going since they weren't sure they would like the style of music. Sarah opted to hang out with her friend, Carly and Jonathan decided to stay home and play video games (can you believe that a 13 year old boy choosing video games over a music recital). We were assigned to park at the Triad Center parking garage, so it was a 4 block walk. I wasn't sure Sherrie was going to make it. Her feet were bothering her and there were alot of people walking up to the Conference Center. We eventually made it there and up enough escalators that I lost count. I'm not sure why we were given tickets at the top of the nosebleed section when there were many unclaimed seats down in the lower concourses, but it really didn't matter because the music filled the hall and it was beautiful. They had the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Utah Symphony, guests artists Brian Stokes Mitchell (Tony Award Winning Broadway singer) and Denyce Graves(a critically acclaimed opera mezzo soprano), along with guest conductor Erich Kunzel (director of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra). The theme was "An American Songbook". One of the great moments of the evening was when the choir and orchestra performed all five the armed services anthems. They had all members of the audience stand who had served in the military when their respective anthem was played. We got to see President Monson solemnly stand when the Navy anthem was played. I was very impressed with his graciousness and solemnity so that his high profile status did not detract from the other members of the audience who had also served in the Navy. At the end of the concert, Maestro Kunzel had the entire audience join in singing "God Bless America" with Ms. Graves, Mr. Mitchell and the choir. It was probably one of the best concerts I have ever attended. I look forward to attending next year.

Family Reunion

My Aunt Nita (Mom's sister) and Uncle Bob hosted the annual Elmo Taylor Family Reunion at their home in Murray, Utah. It was fun to attend again this year. All my Aunt's and Uncles were there along with my cousins Wendy (Nita & Bob) with her husband and three children (little Annie is just too cute for words!), Krista (Kay and Lynn) with her husband and children, Portia with 2 of her daughters, Laura and her beau, and Sammie and his wife (Dan & Sandra). Val (Kay & Lynn) and his family didn't make it because they had a baby a couple of days ago (that is an adequate excuse). We also heard that Mark (Allen & Beth) and his wife has just had a baby (in fact it came so fast it was delivered at home - good thing Mark is a physician!). My brother, Eric, and his wife, Natalie, brought their new baby, Tateym (hope I spelled that right). That was the first time I saw her. What a beautiful little girl. Holding her got me all ready to be a grandpa (well, actually I can wait a few years, but maybe we will have to babysit a few times). There was plenty of good food. Nita had plenty of fried chicken. I ended up just grabbing some food at Macey's on the way out of town. Too may things happening and I didn't have time to make anything homemade. I was glad that Mom had time to make her oatmeal cake. I think that is the only time we have that is at the annual family reunion (a very difficult, time-consuming dessert to make). We were glad to see Sione's mom there. It is difficult for her to attend these kinds of activities because she doesn't speak English very well. But it was nice to have her there with the rest of the family. This was the 20th anniversary of the death of Grandpa Taylor. It is hard to believe, but he did pass away the first year Sherrie and I were married. Time has really gone by fast. Now I have 2 children flown from the nest and only a couple of good years left before they stick me in a nursing home (they'd probably like to do that now since my clean the kitchen obsession becomes worse every year). I've posted a slide show of the reunion pictures below. Enjoy - I did.

Another Week, Another Letter, More Pictures

Jared is doing great. I always look forward to his Wednesday email and pictures. It is so nice to have the technology to communicate so readily. As a missionary, I had to send things through the Guatemalan mail system, wondering if they would ever arrive. I don't remember ever sending pictures home unless they were postcards. Jared continues to maintain his positive attitude. He says they have a "golden contact". This lady is a friend of a member of the ward. She had attended Church and believes the things she has been taught so far. She told Jared and his companion that she wanted to be baptized (wow, that's big in the South). I hope that they are able to baptize her before Elder Lee goes home. They went to a parade (as seen in one of the pictures). I'm not sure what was being celebrated. Jared was impressed with the High School marching bands. He said bands are big in the South. I seem to remember that from Tennessee. He said one of the bands was bigger than BYU's. Ya gotta have good music while yer eatin yer fried foods. As of today, Jared has been out for 134 days which is 18.4%. We are just about at the 1/5 mark. That is hard to believe. I continue to be proud of his service and that manner in which he is rendering it. (Just popped a button and don't know whether it is pride or all the weight I've gained.)

Wednesday Eve

It is now late Tuesday evening which means tomorrow is Wednesday. We get to hear from Jared. I enjoy the Wednesday emails and knowing each week that he is doing okay. It does seem that the Wednesdays are coming faster than they did. I received a really nice birthday card from Jared this week. It is neat to see the positive changes that are taking place as he grows and matures as a missionary. I know that Sherrie and I are really proud of him. I guess I had better get to bed. I try to get too much done every day by staying up later. I am feeling the effects this week. I am really tired and know that I need to sleep more. I guess I just need to figure out what I'm not going to do each day.