Kaysville South Stake 5K Family Fun Run 2010

June 12, 2010 by rickety Leave a Comment

This year’s Kaysville South Stake 5K Family Fun Run participation was a little lower than usual, probably because of the weather. With rain, temperatures in the 40’s, and a 12 mph wind only the hearty ventured out. Here’s what the weather looked like from where I stood, nice and dry inside the bowery.

There were plenty of officials on hand. There were official officials — our stake president and one of his counselors.

Then there were race officials like Rachel and Matt, and Lisa Sagers to record the times.

I had family participating — Jake, Jill, and Paul on roller blades. I was asked if I was running. I said, “The Press doesn’t run — only the presses do.”

The bishop of my ward was there ready to run.

A bullhorn was used to get everyone lined up for the race. The athletes listened intently for the starting signal. Then they were off and into the rain, wind and cold. To record the times a laptop is used where the time of a runner is assigned a number which is written on the runners race label when they finish. The label is peeled off and placed on cardboard for the appropriate age group.

Preston Johnson, age 15, with a time of 18:33 was the first runner to finish. Jill was right behind him with a time of 38:12.

Below are thumbnails of a few runners. Click on them for a higher resolution picture (1200 x 900). If you want the original (4000 x 3000) email or call me. Alternatively, leave a comment and I will use your email entered in the form. I didn’t plan to take photographs of the runners, it was an afterthought once the race began.

There are two videos I will post. Check back later after the England v. USA soccer game.

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Green Jell-O Pineapple Rings

May 28, 2010 by rickety 3 Comments

Paul spends a portion of his time constructing arc-welders from microwaves and making green Jell-O treats. Jell-O pineapple rings are easy to make:

Empty juice from a can of pineapple rings.
Mix the Jell-O (use green if you live in Utah), substituting juice for water.
Use the can as a mold, moving the pineapple rings around to allow the Jell-O to get in between.
When set, open the remaining end of the can and push the Jello-O and rings out onto a plate.
Slice between the rings.

Jell-O is the official state snack food of Utah and Utahns have the highest per capita consumption of Jell-O in the world.

Father’s Day Comes Early

May 22, 2010 by rickety 2 Comments

Paul and Jake install the first plywood sheet for the garage shelves

This year Father’s Day came early. No, I’ve not moved to Romania, Tonga, or Germany (they all celebrate Father’s Day in May). It is just that Paul and Jake decided to move up Father’s Day a whole month. I needed help installing shelves in my garage so Paul and Jake decided to give me an early Father’s Day present by helping me all day.

Jake helps to secure the center post

Last week Paul and I had made our 23 foot beam out of nine 2×4’s, glued and screwed together. We also constructed the needed supports at opposite ends of the garage. Today Jake joined us to install a 4×4 center post for support. We went shopping for plywood for the shelves. Home Depot cut the panels for us 3 foot wide.

Rick installing the 2x4 shelf support

While the boys were attaching the first panel, I was installing 2×4’s as supports for the shelves. We are making this up as we go along and we ran into a problem later on. The damaged sheetrock happened when I removed the old shelving.

Jake cuts away some of the beam so the door will open

The idea behind this particular garage shelf is that it is above head height. It is 23 feet long and three feet wide but not quite high enough so that the door will open all the way. Oops. Jake cut away half an inch of one of the 2×4’s in the beam to allow the door to open.

Storing all the Christmas trimmings

The Christmas trimmings had to be relocated to the garage when new attic insulation was installed. I didn’t want a lot of boxes (there really are a lot of boxes) compressing the insulation. Hence the need for new storage. I would like to compress all these trimmings into one small box but that is another story.

The car top carrier fits just right

One thing I did plan for was for the car top carrier. It is not used very often so storing it up out of the way was my plan. I will mention here that building the shelves didn’t take up all of the day. So Paul and Jake continued working by cleaning up the whole garage, which needed it.

One of the new tool holders

Jill contributed to the early Father’s Day by buying me three Rubbermaid FastTrack tool holders. The idea is that the attachments can be moved around as needed. I was planning on building my own but then I would have been in the garage until midnight.

The completed shelf, full already

This is the best Father’s Day present that a Dad could receive. Instead of a gift that I already have or do not really need, I get to be with my boys all day constructing something that I do not have and really want.

Happy Father’s Day,

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Paul’s Birthday

May 17, 2010 by rickety Leave a Comment

This month it was Paul’s birthday so we asked him where he wanted to go to eat. He decided on Dairy Queen, which explains the photograph above. He’s the good looking chap in the yellow shirt.

Aurora’s favorite food seemed to be water, which was in plentiful supply.

Aurora cannot have any milk products so she got to eat just a cone. That’s Adelaide holding Aurora who soon will have a little baby sister.

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Graduation Celebration

May 9, 2010 by rickety 1 Comment

Relatives and friend celebrate Paul and Jake's graduation

I was requested to post a few photographs of Paul and Jake’s graduation on Friday. The invitations were sent out and the relatives arrived with varying degrees of gifts. Paul and Jake’s grandpa gave them each a fifty dollar bill. Paul and Jake had present parents, siblings, uncles, aunts, cousins, a grandparent, a niece, and a sister-in-law. If you can handle a full resolution (4700 x 3303) 10.8 MB photograph of the relatives click here.

A meal was waiting for everyone with an Adelaide baked cake for dessert. It was a motherboard decorated with wafers but no chocolate chips. Click on the cake that Paul and Jake are holding and you will see that on one of the CPUs my brother Mike is wished happy birthday as well as congratulations to the graduates.

Click to view the cake

After the meal a goodly number attended the University of Utah College of Engineering Convocation at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Jill was able to get a photograph of Paul and Jake because they were seated right next to the aisle.

The convocation seemed like it lasted a long time mainly because it did. When the people you have come to see only take up 1/200th of the alloted time, just sitting there can get a little boring. However, one must pay attention because sometimes there are fractional moments that cause amusement. For example, one of the names that was read out was “Charlie Brown.” That caused a few chuckles to ripple around those present.

After the ceremony we went outside and took some more photographs. We were slow getting off the University of Utah campus because of a detour around a TRAX accident. The one piece of education that we got out of the evening was that if you must attend a convocation, make it a two-for-one event.

Family group photo credit: Zaapit
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Paul and Jake Graduate in Computer Engineering

May 1, 2010 by rickety 11 Comments

On Friday, May 7th, at the University of Utah 141st commencement, 7,034 graduates from all 50 states and 76 countries will receive degrees. The same day we will be with Paul and Jake at the College of Engineering Convocation at the Jon M. Huntsman Center at 6:45 pm.

With computer scientist parents and an older brother and sister with computer science degrees, perhaps it is not surprising that Paul and Jake chose a similar career path. But why a degree in Computer Engineering? According to U.S. News & World Report:

If there’s an app for something, there’s a software engineer behind it. From video games to missile systems to, yes, your iPhone, almost every big idea in modern business is supported by software. The work of designing, building, maintaining, and integrating those increasingly complex systems continues to be one the fastest-growing corners of the job market.

The job outlook is promising:

Employment of computer software engineers is expected to swell by a whopping 295,200 jobs, or more than 32 percent, between 2008 and 2018. That rate is well above the average for all occupations, as companies continually integrate new technologies and design their own.

Perhaps you are wondering how this is all working out for our recent graduates. Paul is already working full-time in his chosen field for a local employer and Jake joins him May 10.

Credits: Photography and announcement design by Adelaide of Ada Shot Me.
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Caption Competition #5

February 27, 2010 by rickety 10 Comments

Paul occupies himself during spring break

This photograph was taken during Spring Break of March 2004. My son Paul is the one that appears to be holding up one gigantic rock. It will be interesting to read the captions you come up with because I can’t think of any right now.

Rachel eating Turkish Delight

The first prize (Kaysville and environs only) is a 51 gram Fry’s Turkish Delight bar. Turkish Delight is the addictive confection to which Edmund Pevensie succumbs in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis. Sales of Turkish Delight rose following the theatrical release of the film version of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. This is your chance to find out what Turkish Delight tastes like and if it is really addictive.

Rachel agreed to model the Turkish Delight. After eating one bar she wanted to also eat the bar that has been reserved for first prize. Perhaps these Turkish Delights are addictive after all. Well now, write a caption at your own risk.

The judging of this latest competition passes from Judge Jill to Judge Jake. I expect we will run the competition for two weeks. Even if you are not local we will still be delighted to hear from you. However, we cannot mail prizes because there is no money left in the budget. Turkish Delights don’t come cheap you know.

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Green Jell-O Filled Orange Wedges

June 19, 2009 by rickety 3 Comments

Green Jell-O filled orange wedges

When Paul is not making arc-welders from microwaves he can be seen preparing treats for the Young Single Adult Ward Barbecue. His treat of choice is Jello-O jigglers. At the last YSA party Paul put bacon in his Jell-O jigglers. Fortunately for about everyone concerned Paul is out of bacon and so instead he is making Jell-O filled orange wedges. He got the idea from instructables. The blog Traditionally Modern Designs also likes Orange Jello Slices. They are easy to make:

Cut the oranges in half and clean out the guts.
Place the empty orange halves in 12oz. paper cups.
Fill orange halves with Jell-O and refrigerate (use green Jell-O if you live in Utah).
Place oranges face down and cut in half. Serve on a pretty tray.

Jell-O is the official state snack food of Utah and apparently Utahns have the highest per capita consumption of Jell-O in the world.

Using a gutted orange as a green Jell-O mold

Using gutted oranges as green Jell-O molds

Turn the orange on its face to cut in two

Turn the orange on its “Jell-O face” to cut in two

Closeup of the green Jell-O filled orange wedges

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Past Pictures: Hill Aerospace Museum

October 2, 2008 by rickety 2 Comments

In April 2001 I took my sons Paul and Jake to Hill Aerospace Museum. We had a great time looking at all the planes. Some of the early biplanes looked rather rickety. The admission was free and along with the planes there were a number of displays that taught us about events in history like the Doolittle Raid. Here is what the museum website says about itself:

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