Family – Page 2

I Love to See the Temple

January 6, 2012 by rickety 1 Comment

Aurora and Cassandra at the Salt Lake Temple

Aurora and Cassandra in the grounds of the Salt Lake Temple

Last week my granddaughters Aurora and Cassandra went to the wedding of their mother’s cousin Alyse. This photograph was taken in the grounds of the Salt Lake Temple while Alyse and Adam were getting their pictures taken.

1 I love to see the temple.
I’m going there someday
To feel the Holy Spirit,
To listen and to pray.
For the temple is a house of God,
A place of love and beauty.
I’ll prepare myself while I am young;
This is my sacred duty.

2 I love to see the temple.
I’ll go inside someday.
I’ll cov’nant with my Father;
I’ll promise to obey.
For the temple is a holy place
Where we are sealed together.
As a child of God, I’ve learned this truth:
A fam’ly is forever.

Photo Credit

“A Place of Love and Beauty” by Ada

Song

“I Love to See the Temple” #95 Children’s Songbook of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Words and music: Janice Kapp Perry.

Happy New Year

January 1, 2012 by rickety 2 Comments

Happy New Year!

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Lesson Learned

December 31, 2011 by rickety 2 Comments

Lesson learned on this last day of 2011:

When crawling in the attic don’t lean on the sheetrock!

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Graduate Nerf Wars

December 29, 2011 by rickety 4 Comments

A friendly photograph before we started shooting each other

Rachel graduated with her Bachelors degree in Child & Family Studies and Derek with his M.B.A. To celebrate we ate out, waged Nerf War, and finished with cake. So on Wednesday it was off to Cafe Rio and then to Jake and Rachel’s basement.

We divided into two teams with total annihilation of the opposing team the goal. A player was considered killed when he or she was hit in the head with a Nerf bullet. Each team had LED rings in their team color for identification.

I spent most of my time as a Nerf War correspondent, taking photographs on the front lines. Yes, it was a war out there…

Adelaide

Aurora

Dan

Derek

Jake

Jill

Megan

Paul

Rachel

Steven

In the end we all ate a Congratulations Grads cake

Father Christmas In Kaysville

December 24, 2011 by rickety 2 Comments

Father Christmas visiting the grandchildren

Father Christmas came to visit
My grandchildren this year.
But when he loudly Ho Ho Hoed
They refused to go near.

So Father Christmas skillfully
Made candy canes appear.
And with this very tasty treat
He overcame their fear.

Jill and grandchildren with Father Christmas

Jill holding Bryson and Aurora

Bryson and Santa

Photo Credit: Bryson and Santa courtesy of Jill

Train Around The Christmas Tree

December 18, 2011 by rickety 2 Comments

Train around the Christmas tree

I set up a train set around my Christmas tree so my grandchildren could play with it when they came to visit. The controller is hidden between two houses near the rear but Bryson soon found it.

However, things do not always work out as planned…

Then And Now

December 5, 2011 by rickety Leave a Comment

Rick and Jill 1980

Paul and Megan 2011

Kaysville Windstorm Part 2

December 4, 2011 by rickety 14 Comments

Kaysville 14th ward members turned out in force to clean up

It is not often that the Governor warns the citizens of Utah about the weather. But he did just that Saturday night when he urged residents along the northern Wasatch Front to prepare for another windstorm, forecast to begin at 5pm Sunday.

After Thursday’s windstorm, most residents have not had time to completely clean up.

In preparation, our stake president instructed wards to have their priesthood organize to remove branches and other debris that could become airborne in the approaching high winds. Accordingly, in our ward at church this morning the priesthood were asked to assemble in work clothes at 1pm. There was no asking for volunteers, it was just assumed that all able-bodied men would respond — which we did.

We collected all the green waste and took it to the Central Davis Sewer District where it will be converted to ground wood waste and mixed with biosolids, then composted and sold to the general public. It was quite the operation (follow the link for photographs), with armadas of pickups and trailers.

There were large tree trunks to deal with as well as branches

Chains saws were the weapon of choice

Sister Blair handed out hot chocolate

Dan and I, after we had finished within our ward boundaries, drove to my daughter’s home for a branch meeting. There we removed part of a tree that was entangled in the power line to her home. The power is still out from Thursday’s winds. When we had finished cutting down the branches we asked Sarah’s ward members if they would take away the debris and they immediately dispatched ten men to her backyard.

With the power still off it was a good time to clear away the branches that were stressing the power lines

Dan did most of the work under my skilled supervision

Sarah's ward had an efficient operation in progress

Ever wondered what was inside those Mormon steeples? Nothing, at least now there isn't

Mmm, I was wondering where that chair of ours ended up

Normally, Mormons view a Sunday as the sabbath day, a day to be kept holy. Occasionally, and this is the first time for me, members have to work together on a Sunday to secure their communities.

Update

The high wind warning was cancelled but some gusts did hit 40 miles per hour.

Davis County Windstorm Cleanup

December 3, 2011 by rickety Leave a Comment

Working on the roof Saturday with my four sons

Yesterday we only had two hours before dark on Steven’s roof. After helping pull out two tree stumps at our neighbor’s homes, we headed back to Layton to finish the repairs to the roof. We nailed the last shingle by 4pm.

Steven with his roof, good as new. The new shingles don't quite match but they will keep the rain out

Earlier in the day it seemed like the whole of Davis County was on the move. While driving to Layton we saw truck after truck filled with broken tree limbs. The line to the landfill, or rather the Green Waste Recycling Facility, was quite long.

A common sight all day along Highway 89

Notice the truck on the left carrying what looks like power cables, no doubt needed for repairs

Several trucks headed for the Green Waste Recycling Facility

As we headed towards the landfill there was a convoy of vehicles leaving, having shed their loads

A long line at the landfill entrance

Mark Reporting from Bountiful

Our power was out from 8am until 2am the next morning. Luckily the temperature was in the low 30s during the day and low 20s at night. We have experienced other East winds when it was below zero. I spent much of the day [Thursday] on my ham radio with emergency responders in the area, sharing information and keeping up to date on what was happening.

It was a good opportunity to test out emergency preparedness plans / equipment. Serious enough to warrant their use, but not life threatening. The Davis County Amateur Radio Emergency Service was the main communication system for cities, police departments, hospitals and other emergency responders. These are hobbyists volunteering their equipment and skills and they did a fantastic job. At one point one of the Centerville Emergency Communications Center responders was heard on the radio saying:

A big spruce fell on a neighbor’s house about 20 minutes ago. The whole neighborhood is there cutting it up right now. I love this community. In some places in this country, we would still be waiting for FEMA!

Connie surveying the damage in Bountiful

A dead tree in the cemetery

This tree was snapped off at the truck