COMING SOON TO A TV NEAR YOU

9/17/09

BORIENTAION:
(noun) Linguistic portmanteau combining "boring" with "orientation," i.e. a boring orientation meeting.

YOUTH CONFERENCE 2009 DONE!!

We just got home from our Youth conference. We went for 3 days of camping in the Spruces campground. It was a great time and no one was killed either on purpose or accident. It is always a success when you can come home with the same number of youth as you left with.
We had an amazing geocache search on Friday morning; we divided into 4 teams and went searching for clues. Each set of clues had reference to different scripture story, so the teams had to identify the story and then tell us about it at a fireside Friday night. The geocaching took a little longer than we planned because some mormon/moron had 2 sets of coordinates that where 5 miles North of where they really where hidden.
Of course the weather had an uncanny ability to dump rain on us everytime we started to get food out. And Saturday morning was a steady down pour from about 6 oclock on. So we cut it short and headed for home with car loads of very wet youth and leaders. But all in all it was a successful time.
Thanks to all that helped.

CAMPING WITH GRANDSONS

A few weeks ago we went camping for a couple of nights with Michelle and Jana and their boys. We had such a good time playing games, eating and taking hikes fit for a 2 year old, which consists of walking around the campground. As we would walk around the campground Zane had to stop at every sign or numbered post so he could tell me what they said. Of course he can't read so they all said the same thing "Wa, ree, sick." translation: one, three, six.
Zane was also the one that spotted a place off the road where we could throw rocks in the creek. Small boys can find nothing more fun than throwing stuff in the water to watch it splash or float, or throwing stuff in the fire to see it burn. I think this comes from our base instincts as cavemen. It of course was the only real form of entertainment for many years, next comes clubbing women on the head and dragging them back to camp. Thank goodness these guys are to young for that yet.

PIONEERS

This week is the anniversary celebrating the Mormon Pioneers arrival to the Salt Lake Valley.
This is the oldest picture I could find of the first home built in the Valley. It is now located between the Church's Family History Library and the Church History Museum.

The cabin was built in 1847, soon after the Saints arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. Six people—Osmyn M. and Mary Whiting Deuel and William H. and Eliza Whiting Deuel (the Deuel brothers married sisters) and William and Eliza’s two daughters, Minerva and Mercy Ann—lived in it from October 1847 to May 1848.

It is hard to believe that six people (two families) lived in this cabin that looks to be about the size of a single car garage. I am so grateful for the sacrifice of these early pioneers that gave so much for what the believed in and made things so much easier for those that followed.

It is likely that when the Deuels moved, they rented the home to other settlers. In 1849, they sold it to Albert Carrington, who placed skids under it and, with ox teams, moved the cabin to his property at West Temple and First North. (this is the location where the picture was taken) In 1852, Christopher and Maryann Riding and their five children were living in it. Brother Carrington gave the home to his daughter, Francis, and her husband, Zebulon Jacobs. They lived in it briefly, and years later offered it to the Church as a historical relic.

The cabin was dismantled and moved to the Deseret Museum, where it was displayed until about 1919 when it was moved to Temple Square. I remember always going to see the cabin when it was here, I thought it was kind of a creepy looking place. It stood on Temple Square until 1976, then was put into storage. In 1984, the cabin was placed on the plaza in its present location.

BACK HOME AGAIN

After 3 days of camping with with family, we are now home again. It is nice to be clean and setting in a air conditioned house again.
But we sure had fun, playing games, eating Dutch oven chicken, laughing, hiking, eating Dutch oven Mexican (thanks Jana), making crafts and just having a great time with family, and eating of course.
It is crazy fun watching grand children running all over the place. Watching Zane, Drake and Quinton splashing in a puddle and Zane laughing so hard about it that he fell down in the puddle, and Drake went playing in the dirt after the puddle incident (yes that makes mud) so gramps was in trouble.
There is nothing that is more satisfying than to be with family.
I love my family so very much and am glad that we could be together for a few days.

AMERICA - THANK HEAVEN

I thank my God that I live in a land that is truly “choice above all others”. Each of us is a very fortunate person, thank heaven. Thank heaven for America! Despite our weaknesses, despite our problems, despite our challenges, this is the greatest nation on earth. Someone once said “we haven’t done badly for a nation of immigrants.”
But we haven’t done it alone. We have done it because God helped us do it. Our gratitude for this great country should be to Him. At the conclusion of the convention at which the Constitution was adopted George Washington said, “We have raised a standard to which the good and wise can repair; the event is in the hands of God… who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be, that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks.”
Several years ago I had the opportunity to visit a very large military installation in California, it was a language training base that was shared by all branches of the military. Twice a day as the flag of our great country was raised or lowered every single person on that base would stop what they were doing, salute and face the flag. Weather they were jogging, studying or shopping, even cars would stop in the street as the occupants would get out of their cars to give respect for the symbol of this country. This daily event never failed to touch my heart and bring a tear to my eye.
Let us all take pause during the coming weeks to give thanks. Not just for another holiday or an extra day to our weekend. But give thanks for the greatest country on earth. And pray that the leaders of this land will continue to seek the inspiration of that creator that inspired and guided our founding fathers.

WHO AM I

Probably one of the longest living mascots in advertising history is this dog.
commonly called the RCA Dog. He was first used in the US by Thomas Edison's company the Victor Talking Machine Co., which later became RCA Victor and finally just RCA. It is all the same company just the evolution of the name.

The slogan that was used for many years with the image of the dog was "His Masters Voice".

For a short time he had a companion standing at his side in many ads.

So here is the contest. WHAT ARE THE DOG'S NAMES. You have to get both names.
(clue: the names rhyme with each other.)

yes you will win something. I just don't know what yet, maybe some old RCA vinyl, dinner out or who knows.

ALIEN LANDING STRIP

This is a picture of an ancient alien landing strip. It was built billions of years ago by a civilization of giant brine shrimp that came from another galaxy to inhabit this part of our planet. They were mistaken in their theory that the entire earth had the same brinish atmosphere that surrounds the Great Salt Lake. Thankfully for us, they were wrong.

Yes the brine shrimp are still here, they are the only living thing that survives in the Great Salt Lake. However in a very strange phenomenon of reverse evolution, never imagined by Darwin, the shrimp have actually gotten much smaller than they were when they first arrived eons ago.....

.............Actually
I think this is all that's left of the grand boardwalk of the old Saltair resort, the boardwalk ran from the railroad spur out to the resort. It looks like rocks neatly lined up but is actually the salt encrusted wood pylons. It is hard to believe visiting the Lake today that there was ever anything this grand that ever existed out there.
In the photo it looks like the ground is all dried and cracked mud, but when we walked out here the top layer was dry and underneath was still muddy so it gave you the sensation of walking on thick foam rubber.

IN DEFENSE OF MINERVA 1888-1976

"In heaven,
there will be red"

One of the most prolific painters in church history, was Minerva Teichert. She painted early pioneer life and western history she also did an entire series of work depicting Book of Mormon scenes but could interest no one in the church to purchase them. In the end she donated most of the series to BYU.
Minerva's work is very stylized and can be recognized long before you find her signature. Her work has appeared often in Church publications and as cover art for many books.
One of the crowning achievements of her life occurred at the age of 57, when she was called on a mission and with one assistant painted the murals for the world room in the Manti temple.
Minerva Kohlhepp was born in North Ogden, but grew up homestead farming in the vicinity of American Falls, Idaho. Her father encouraged her childhood sketching and she soon developed an "indomitable will to succeed and excel in the field of art." She taught school to raise enough money to go to Chicago for her art studies. When she had raised the money, her father would not let her go alone. It was arranged for her to be "set apart" as an LDS missionary so that she could travel with a church group.
She became the first known female artist to pursue her painting lessons with the specific and official blessings of the LDS hierarchy. When money ran low in Chicago, she put together a roping act for the New York stage. This is when she began her custom of wearing her distinctive head band. She became very good friends with her teacher, Robert Henri. He encouraged her to go home and "paint the Mormon story." And this is what she determined to do with her life. Here is an excerpt from her own autobiographical life sketch, written in 1947:

"I married my cowboy sweetheart, which was right. My first son was born while my husband was serving in France. I painted stage scenery to pay for his birth. I painted what I loved for the Pocatello Tabernacle "Not Alone", and got thirty-eight dollars for it. . . .For the next ten years I helped in the hay fields. My first three little boys grew up beside a haystack. . . .When the American Falls Dam went in I was the last white woman out of the Snake River Bottoms. . . .I spent most of the mornings for the next fifteen years in the milk house. The children must be educated, etc. I painted after they were tucked into bed at night.......

I must paint. It's a disease."

NEW TEMPLE

Today I had the opportunity to visit the new Oquirrh Mountain temple. I went with my staff at work to inspect the fine art that is hanging throughout the temple. some will need to be redone before the open house but for the most part they are beautiful. One of the managing GA's did not like a particular artists work, so several of her paintings are being replaced.
If you went to the Draper open house so you think you don't need to see this one. Don't be mistaken, it is unique and beautiful, with gorgeous marble and wood work, cut glass and beautiful furnishings. Don't miss the chance to see this great work before it is dedicated.

Open House Reservations will be made available to the general public starting Monday, May 4, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. by contacting the reservation call center at 1-800-521-5105, 801-240-7645, or online at www.lds.org/reservations.