Mostly about Utah
Bryson rolls his truck down the hill
Bryson returns to Utah. Sarah flew from Texas and dropped him off with Jill in Salt Lake City. She then got back on a plane and flew back to Texas. Tomorrow she leaves Texas again to drive one of her cars to Utah.
Just to put Sarah’s mind at ease I am showing these photographs and videos of Bryson playing in the driveway and rolling his truck into the street.
Bryson carries his truck up the hill
If you cannot see the videos click here.
Derek, Bryson, and Sarah
Perhaps the title of my post is somewhat over done but to me it seems like Derek, Sarah, and Bryson have been in exile. However, the part that says return is right on. Yes, Derek, Sarah, and Bryson are returning to Utah. Derek has found work in Salt Lake City and the family will be here by Memorial Day.
When Jill heard the news she was just ecstatic. Jill is not an emotional women (sounds contradictory, I know) but this once she was a whoopin’ and a hollerin’ all over the house. You could not find a happier woman in all of creation.
I am just glad it has finally happened, a lot sooner than I supposed. I admit the last month I have been praying every morning for them to return. Why am I then surprised when prayers are answered? Lack of faith I suppose.
One thing is known for sure. We won’t be letting them get away so easily the next time, if there ever is a next time.
Welcome home!
Photograph by Adelaide
My wife shot this brilliant sequence of photographs of my granddaughter Aurora. Now we have proof that we have a hooliganess in the family.
Click on the photographs to enlarge.
Aurora, here play with this plastic toy
No grandpa, I want to play with those
Grandpa, you play with the plastic toy...
...and I will play with these glasses.
Grandpa, what's this piece for?
Bryson and Kangaroo
This photograph of Bryson was taken in March at the Fort Worth Zoo. I know it’s a jungle out there but don’t be timid — jump right in and see if your caption can captivate us.
Adelaide with a Cadbury's Fruit and Nut bar
The first prize (Kaysville and environs only) is a Cadbury’s Fruit & Nut 3.5 oz milk chocolate bar. I will pick a caption judge later. Remember, anyone can submit a caption and win first place but only locals will be awarded the prize.
I remember watching advertisements on television in England in the 1970s that used the theme “Everyone’s a Fruit and Nut-case.” Below is a 1975 United Kingdom advertisement featuring a number of Fruit and Nut-cases.
Facebook readers, if you cannot see the video click here.
Previous Caption Winners
1. Sean
2. Ken
3. Sean
4. Janay
5. Shauna
6. Connie
Last month we caught up with Bryson getting ready to go to Galveston Beach. Byrson is the author of the famous tour guide book Bryson Picture Book of Fort Worth Water Gardens and so we asked him to pass on a few tips for the first time beachgoer.
Hello there! My name is Bryson and I will be showing you around Galveston Beach. But before going it is important to get a good breakfast. Once you start playing in all that sand you might just want to stay there all day.
Here we are at Galveston Beach. It is virtually deserted today as it is a little cold. You know Galveston attracts 5.4 million visitors a year so we are lucky that most of them are not at the beach today.
Sand and sea, sea and sand. Find yourself a spot away from the crowds, which should be easy to do today, and I will tell you a little about Galveston.
Much of Galveston's economy is centered in the tourism, health care, financial, and shipping industries. Shipping involves ships, as you can see. The Port of Galveston covers 850 acres of port facilities.
There is plenty to do at the beach. You can watch the birds hunt for food...
...or you can collect some seashells...
...or splash in the sea like Grandma.
But if you really want to have fun, you'll grab your spade and follow me.
With your shovels and buckets you are ready to start building. Fill up your bucket with sand and turn it over.
Like magic you will have a sand castle. Make it as big as you want, there is plenty of building material. You can never use it all up. Building sand castles is very popular with more than 516 billion constructed every year around the world.
To finish up build yourself a moat to keep out the heathen hordes. Well, enjoy the beach, I have to go find my Mom and Dad before they get into mischief. And who knows what Grandpa is up to.
I caught up with my Mom and Dad, they were just taking pictures with the Gulf of Mexico as a backdrop along with Grandma and Grandpa. They never did build a sand castle.
Sarah has Cowboys Stadium tickets
Why is Sarah smiling? Because she has Cowboys Stadium Tour tickets. One each for Derek and herself and her parents. Bryson gets to go in free. Tours of Cowboys Stadium allow fans behind-the-scenes access to several areas including the Cowboys Locker Room, Cheerleaders Locker Room, Playing Field, Private Clubs, Media Interview Room and other areas.
The center-hung video display board is the largest high-definition television screen in the world
Jill and Bryson watch the big screen
Cowboys Stadium is a domed stadium with a retractable roof in Arlington, Texas. It serves as the home of the National Football League’s Dallas Cowboys. It replaced the partially-covered Texas Stadium, which opened in 1971, and served as the Cowboys’ home through the 2008 season. It was completed on May 27, 2009. The stadium seats 80,000, making it the 3rd largest stadium in the NFL by seating capacity.
A football in the ceiling
Some words of encouragement
The stadium is the largest domed stadium in the world, has the world’s largest column-free interior and the largest high definition video screen which hangs from 20 yard line to 20 yard line. The facility can also be used for a variety of other activities outside of its main purpose (professional football) such as concerts, religious ceremonies, basketball games, college football and high school football contests, soccer matches, motorcross races and rodeos similar to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
Derek, Jill, Bryson, and Sarah, on their way to visit the private suites
Derek, Sarah, and Bryson would be enjoying the game in luxury, if there was one
Cowboys Stadium was designed by the Dallas-based architectural firm HKS. Originally estimated to cost $650 million, the stadium’s current construction cost was $1.3 billion, making it one of the most expensive sports venues ever built. To aid Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones in paying the construction costs of the new stadium, Arlington voters approved the increase of the city’s sales tax by 0.5 percent, the hotel occupancy tax by 2 percent, and car rental tax by 5 percent. The City of Arlington provided over $325 million (including interest) in bonds as funding, and Jones covered any cost overruns. Also, the NFL provided the Cowboys with an additional $150 million, as per their policy for giving teams a certain lump sum of money for stadium financing.
Bryson and Derek by Tony Romo's locker
Bryson at the cheerleaders lockers
A pair of nearly 300 ft-tall arches spans the length of the stadium dome, anchored to the ground at each end. The new stadium also includes more than 3,000 Sony LCD displays throughout the luxury suites, concourses, concession areas and more, offering fans viewing options that extend beyond the action on the field and a center-hung video display board that is the largest high-definition television screen in the world. Glass doors, allowing each end zone to be opened, were designed and constructed by Dallas-based Haley-Greer glass systems.
Bryson makes it to the 10
Jill, Bryson, Sarah, Derek, and Rick are in the end zone
The retractable roof was designed by structural engineering firm Walter P Moore and the systems were implemented by mechanization consultants Uni-Systems. These Kinetic Architecture fundamentals will be employed in order to create quick conversions of the facility to accommodate a variety of events. When the design was officially unveiled on December 12, 2006, it showed that, from inside the stadium, the roof will look very similar to the Texas Stadium roof, with its trademark hole. However, it can be covered by the retractable roof panel to protect against the elements.
Cowboys Stadium
Tom Landry, head coach 1960 to 1988, career record 270 - 178 - 6, Super Bowl Champions 1971 and 1977
Photos by Rickety. Text by Wikipedia.
My granddaughter Aurora turned one this month and the family gathered at Steven and Adelaide’s home for a celebration. In the video of Aurora she is sitting on her mother’s lap opening presents. Her great grandfather is sitting under the flash umbrella and Steven, her father, is the one in the green T-shirt. Grandmother Jill is operating the camcorder. Grandpa Rick is filming the video. Click on the photographs for a larger image.
Happy first birthday Aurora!
Aurora opens presents
Adelaide presents Aurora her cake. Connor is to the left
Aurora enjoys a piece of birthday cake
Aurora demolishes her cake
Test your caption writing skills on this photograph of me with my granddaughter Aurora. I will update this post with the winning captions. For the last caption competition there were no prizes. However, this time the first prize (Kaysville and environs only) is a box of Haviland Orange Creme Thin Mints. 
The mints were originally intended for our New Year’s Eve party but I spirited them away for such a time as this.
OK people, let loose with your humor and originality.
Photo: Mike Willoughby
As judges, mine and Jill’s captions were excluded from the competiton. Thank you all for the funny captions.
The first place winner, Ken, I do believe is not local so the prize passes to the second place caption. However, Derek, who lives in Texas is not local either so the prize goes to the third place entry. And Darrell is definitely local — he lives in the same ward as I do.
First — “Grandad, I don’t want to frighten you but there’s a Giant Shredded Wheat right behind you.” Ken
Second — “You stole the Thin Mints?!” Derek
Third — “Grandpa, I can’t believe how bad our outfits clash!” Darrell
Aurora, my granddaughter, has had a great many videos taken of her lately by her grandfather. I still haven’t learned to keep my distance when using my camera around Aurora. As you can see, she still knows how to take care of the grandpaparazzi.
If you cannot see the video click here.
