We're Back

Holycow! The last time we posted something was over a fortnight ago. Well, as an explanation, we have actually been without internet service for most of October. Our router/modem went kaput and we had the dickens of a time getting it properly replaced. But we are now back with service, and can bring you all up to date on our adventures (the positive ones).

Yesterday we went to Apple Hill with Grandma and Pete & Mel. Apple Hill is an area just east of Placerville up Hwy. 50. There are lots of apple farms, flower farms, tree farms, pumkin farms, etc. Some of the older ones may recall having gone there once long ago. The various farms are very different in their approach to wooing the consuming public, so one needs to be discriminating, but overall this is a really nice place to visit. Uncle Peter & I decided to return one day and just go from place to place eating. They have bbq, tri tip sandwiches, German food, and of course everything you can imagine doing to an apple or pumpkin to make it edible. By the time we got around to the place that boasted 15 different kinds of carmel apples, the cars were lined up for over a mile just to turn onto the side road the farm was on. We turned tail & went the other way. So we didn't eat much yesterday, but saw a lot. Here's a sampling:

A shot of a beautiful japanese maple lit by the sun, just right through the trees.
Georgeous mums, hundreds of them, made this place beautiful.

This little guy was "outstanding in his field" watering the lawn, and doing a great job of it.

They had copies for sale, but we couldn't find out how much.

Uncle Peter says he can make one easily enough.

And here is the little guy in action - kinda reminds you of someone, doesn't it?

This was just one of the kind of neat places they have stuff to eat.

Uncle Peter was impressed that they had German potato salad & lots of sausages.

And finally, here's the lovely couple mugging it for the camera. By the way, that is ROOT beer in the steins :)

YOU HAVE GOT TO SEE THIS!

Have you heard of the latest Ken Burns special? Well, I watched the first episode tonight online. I cannot tell you about it as words fail me. But I can say this: I don't have many regrets from our years of rearing our children, but a profound one is that we never made time to visit Yellowstone and Yosemite together as a family. I better do better with my grandchildren.

The Doctrine of the Family

Last evening we had another opportunity to listen to Sister Beck. What a great inspiration she is to all of us, kind of a blend of Shari Dew & Bonnie Parkin. In case you have not listened to her address at the BYU Women's Conference earlier this year, I highly recommend it. She spends the better part of an hour talking about the Doctrine of the Family, and it is great. If you hurry you can still catch it on BYU TV - Monday, September 14, at 10:00 p.m. The address is chock full of great quotes from prophets, and the only downside is that there is no transcription available. Hope you enjoy it as I did.

Breaking Ground in Wheatland

As noted on Peter's blog yesterday, we were thrilled to participate in the groundbreaking for the Wheatland chapel. Grandma & I went down to share in the experience with the good Saints of the area. Most may remember that some time ago Uncle Wes & Aunt Lisa lived in Wheatland. As I recall, back then there was no mail delivery, so everyone in town went to the post office to pick up their mail. Some things have changed since then in Wheatland, but not as many as you might think. Here is the artist's rendering of the new building. It is on the road that runs east/west on the north side of the high school, with the front (that you see here) facing south.

Here's Los Tres Amigos, all leaning on their shovels - nice shovels, eh? We are fortunate indeed to be led by these three, Presidents McAllister, Hall, & Johnson.

As you might expect at a function such as this, there was no shortage of cameras, and here is Brother Richins, complete with bluetooth, contemplating his next shot. The crews operating those rigs you can see in the background were there, and just waiting for the festivities to die down to resume their work. They have a deadline of getting all grading down prior to November 1, and you don't even want to know why.
Just for Tyler, and those like him, here is a better shot of the line up of heavy equipment. As you all know, I am usually taking pictures of whatever else is going on away from the main event. Sometimes you get some pretty good photos that way. I was only on the far front end of the land acquisition process, so I do not know the particulars, but given the oblique references Pres. Hall made to the Nichols family in his remarks, and my knowlege of Wheatland, I am assuming that this parcel was once part of the Nichols farm. Whether the Church acquired it from that family or not, I don't know, but it is a fine parcel. This shot is from the south end of the parcel, next to the street, looking north - there will be lots of grassy area behind the building.

And here is a crowd shot. It is the best shot I could get of Grandma. I kept trying, but there always seemed to be someone in the way, or else everybody was looking like we were there to bury someone rather than dig footings. Just to the left of Grandma is Sister Elliott of the Wheatland Ward, one of the finest folks. To the right of Grandma is Caroline Nichols Shumway, one of the descendents of the original. And behind Grandma is one of the Capps family, daughter of the current bishop of the Wheatland Ward.

And here is Dallas Haymore, who should be known to you all. What a delightful (not so young anymore) man. He now resides in the Wheatland Ward, with Dale & Toni (who you can see just at the right edge of the picture. In the foreground are Brother & Sister Aiono, more great Saints of the Wheatland Ward. Each of these families holds special meaning for me from my service.

And speaking of Saints - here are a couple. On the left, Sister Ardeth McDonald and on the right Bishop Irvine Harreld. Words cannot express what I, and all who know them, feel for them. If you ever need a visual of what a Saint as described in the scriptures looks like, here you go.

In support of my next blog (stay tuned) in which I set out to demonstrate that family is not just "something", but everything, here is perhaps the greatest photo of the day - the Grummert Family, all digging in for the chapel. From the parents to the newborn, this is a no.1 family.

Now we're down to the photo op crowd. Here is Pres. Hall, Bishop Takahashi, and Bro. McKee (standing in for Bishop Capps, who was with his family on a trip), all looking good for the camera crowd. It was really nice weather, with a cool little breeze, but obviously suit coats were optional.

Here's a shot of three of my favorites: Pres. Hall, Bishop Bradbury, and Pres. Johnson. Bishop Bradbury was the bishop of the Wheatland Ward during the end of my service, and was released when he decided to return to night school to study law. What a blessing he will be when he gets out. He is among the top of his class at McGeorge. When he moved into our stake (in his 30's) he had already been a bishop in Logan, UT. He followed one of the best bishops we had in the stake, and didn't skip a beat, being a natural for the calling.

And finally, I'll direct you to Peter's blog for the picture of some guy in a really nice Panama talking to Bishop Bradbury. The most important thing in that photo is one Logan Bradbury, who is looking directly into the camera. I had the great opportunity to visit with Logan, who is about 18 months old, while he was being held by his mother (another one of those Saints indeed in Wheatland). This is a special young man.

Yard Update

I thought I'd let you all know how our home improvement projects are coming - but first a word about today. Today we went to the Camptonville Branch, and what a nice day that always is! I was asked this past week to do their semi-annual audit, and jumped at the chance. There are great people there and we have some really great friends among them. Among them are Pedro "Pete" Villarreal and his wife, Sandy - who just happened to be the speakers today in Sacrament meeting. They spoke on maintaining strong families, families grounded and rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ. They did great. Bro. Villarreal loves to tell stories, and one of them he told today was about their recent visit to grandchildren in Minnesota. Since his retirement, he flies out there often to visit, for varying amounts of time, so upon his arrival, his grandson asked how long he would be staying. Wishing to impress him, Pete said, "For 30 days." The response was that he couldn't do that. When Pete asked why, he was told, "Well, you're old, you don't have that long."

Well, I suppose it loses something in the writing, but it was funny as he told it.

So on to our yard. Yesterday was a perfect day to work in the yard as it was not too hot, and there was ample cloud cover all morning, and early afternoon. The first photo is of the little border I put around the front flower garden a couple of weeks ago. It adds a nice touch, and now that we are getting used to it, I no longer trip on it.

Next we have the wide shot of the retaining wall and the raised path along-side of it. As you can see, it really isn't much of a retaining wall at all, except along the south edge. Mostly it is just a single row of blocks that will keep some of the dirt from getting out, and allow us to flatten out the dirt. But in order to keep them in place, and to make things work out, we had to raise the path about 4-5 inches. That is what took the most work.
Here is a close-up of the south side of the "wall" - the only place it really resembles anything approaching a wall. As you can see, the wall is level as the patio slopes for drainage purposes - hence the need for a couple of levels of bricks.

I ran out of steam mid-way through the raising of the paving stones on the north end of the garden, and as they come out of the shed. This photo shows where the old path was, and although the last couple of paving stones are not set yet, you get the idea of where the new level will be.

Finally, here is a broader shot showing the north end of the path along-side of the "wall". As can be seen by the level of the old path, the old needs to be raised to meet the new. We are quite excited about how it is turning out, and are already looking forward to getting the whole thing tilled up so we can put in our winter garden. We are hoping for better results this year. Stay tuned.