Graduation

In this life, we never know just what the impact will be as a result of our actions and values.

In about 1918, B's father was in college in Billings, Montana. He lost his girlfriend in the 1918-1919 flue epidemic. We don't know if this is why he stopped going to college or if there was another reason. However, he still had a desire to go to college. He graduated from Montana State College around 1931. He passed on this value of education to his children.

My own father would have loved to go to college but knew it wasn't possible for him for numerous reasons. When his sister wanted to go to nursing school, he helped out some with the finances so that she was able to go.

While growing up, my father and mother, who was a teacher, emphasised the importance of a college education on many occasions. All five of his kids graduated from college. When the youngest decided to become a medical doctor they helped him realize his dream.

Both of these fathers, along with their wives, have had an impact on their descedants. The things that they valued has been passed on, through their children, to their grandchildren. Many of their grandchildren have gained college degrees.

On December 20 we had the opportunity to see our youngest son gain his Ph.D. This is the first doctorate degree on B's side of the family and the second on my family's side. (The first being a MD). I am proud of all that he has done to get to this spot in his life. Equally, I am thankful for his grandparents who placed a high value on a good education that has been passed down through the generations. I know there will be generations to come who will benefit from this also.

My camera hasn't returned from the doctor's office yet but our son shared the ones his wife L took.


We are also very thankful for our great daughter-in-law who supported him in many ways that enabled him to accomplish this.

Thanksgiving 2009

Since it is the middle of December, almost, I think I had better get this posted or forget it. I dropped my camera so it is currently in to the doctor. Collyn graciously took this picture so I would have one to post. (It doesn't look like I will have it for Christmas either.)

Monica, whom Collyn lives with, invited us to join her at her home. We greatly appreciated this. Nephew K came down from LA and also joined us. We all pitched in with providing food and had a delicious meal. It was great to get to know Monica and to spend time with all present. And yes, we all stuffed ourselves.

Thanksgiving

On this day, the eve before the big feast, I know many of you are busy getting things prepared for tomorrow. Or you may be on the road or getting ready to travel. What ever you are doing, I hope that sometime between today and tomorrow evening you take a minute or two and think of all the things you have to be thankful for.

I would like to list a few of mine:

• For all those who have sacrificed and defended our country in the past and who are now doing so, which enables us to have the freedoms we enjoy.
  
• For righteous leaders who have guarded those rights.
• For government officials who have been and are more concerned about what is just for all people in the long run, not just for today, and who are more concerned about fulfilling their responsibilities than the next election.
• For ancestors who had the courage to move to this country, do the hard work that it took to become established here, and then leave it a better place for their descendants.
• For parents who didn't give us all that we wanted, but rather taught us the ethics and rewards of a hard days work.
• For families who are always there for you no matter what turns the road takes.
• For medical personal, and their families, who have put in the years of study that enables them to treat medical conditions that were untreatable not that many years ago.
• For those in research that makes our lives better and more enjoyable.
  
• For the blessings of my own health.
• For our children and their families who bring us much joy.
• For the beauty of the land, no matter where we may live.
• For the opportunity that we have had to travel and see family, friends, things and places that man has made and done, and the wonders that the Lord created.
• For phones and computers that allows us contact with our loved ones in seconds.
• For conveniences that we have in our homes, electricity, running water, heat, etc.
• For a spouse who continues to love and support me.
• For all the delicious and varieties of food that we have so readily available to us; and of which, tomorrow, I will probably eat too much.
  

I could probably keep going on, but if you aren't already bored you would be.

Just let me add that I wish each of you a Happy Thanksgiving.

To Los Angeles

We made a trip into Los Angeles to see our nephew K. It has been about three years since we have seen him.

He is working for a company that edits the sound and picture for productions. They edit the films and also make copies of the originals. He gave us a tour of the business. It was quite impressive. They have a lot of machines.

K also took us up to the observatory. One really has a good view from up there. I thought the most impressive part was the show in the planetarium. At times I felt like we were flying.

K had been wearing his hat all day so he says he has hat hair in this picture.

It was good to see him and we had a great time.

Hoover Dam

While we were in Nevada, we went out to Hoover Dam. It is amazing that blocking off such a small, narrow canyon can back up so much water. The dam could have been even higher than it was. I’m not sure why they didn’t build it higher; too much water to hold back or too much area covered by the backed up water.

They are building a controlled access road in the area and this is the bridge that will span the canyon just below the dam. I thought that this was amazing.
Here is the dam and power house. It is a good drop. Because of time, we didn’t take the tour.

I also thought that the fault line in the rocks was of interest.

Las Vegas

Since we had seen the fabulous creations of God we thought we would take in some of the creations of man. So we went down to the strip in Las Vegas.

Some of the things that we found all the buildings share:

• They are easy to find your way in but not always out.

• Along with the above, you always seem to end up at the casino part.

• They all have lots of shops inside also, like a mall.

• They are huge, taking up at least a block on the strip and going even further in depth.

We saw some of the street productions. The volcano at the Mirage was pretty good. They use lit up water for the eruption along with bursts of flames. You could feel the heat from it. The grounds are very tropical looking with lots of plants and waterfalls.

We took in part of the Treasure Island show, but weren’t impressed due to the dress and context of some of the show. And this is a family show?

We went into the Caesar Palace and about got lost. The ceiling paintings and statues are great.

We also went into the Venetian. There is a ‘canal’ inside and another outside with gondolas that you can take a ride on. The shops are laid out like a Venetian street scene. The ceiling is domed and painted like the sky. With special lighting on it which changes, it looks like the real thing. We also saw some live statues in this area. The eyes blinking gave them away.
Our favorite place was the Dancing Fountains at the Bellagio. These are also outside. We stayed and watched it three times. Each was different with different music.

In all, it is impressive. I could do without the card passing out along the sidewalks, the adult shows opened up onto the sidewalks, and the dress of many of the people on the streets. (We stayed out of the casinos with the exception of when we got lost and funneled into them.)

Maybe the reason I liked the fountains was because it wasn’t trying to appear to be something it wasn’t. All the others were created to look like something else or to deceive the onlooker. It sort of reminded me of Satan’s enticements. So I have to say, give me God’s creations any day to savor and enjoy.

Zion Park

As we entered Zion we saw some interesting formations. I didn't get a picture of them but it looked like someone had built a wall using blocks that decreased in size. After a few layers like this, they reversed and went the opposite direction, again starting with larger going to smaller. It was strange looking.

We also stopped along the road where the whole hill was just sand stone. You could see where the sand had drifted before it turned to stone. You can also see where stone has collapsed to form an arch. There are a lot of these throughout the park.
The next pictures are in the same area and show another part of the hill. You can really see the sand stone layers.

This just shows some of the colors up close.
On some of the sandstone in this area are black spots. B thought that these may have been iron deposits. It is the iron that has oxidized that gives the sand stone it's red color.
There was also a lone rock with markings or deposits on it that looked like the formations that we saw in the Wind Cave in South Dakota. In the cave they were called box formations, made from dissolved limestone seeping through. It was only on this one side of the rock.
We drove through on the highway until we came out on the other side. Then we took the shuttle up into the park. The majority of the park is seen by shuttle.

Zion park, compared to Bryce, is just majestic. The cliff walls are much higher and steeper. They go almost straight up. Since the road is in the bottom along the Virgin River, it is hard to get a picture of a lot of it because you can't get back far enough.

We did get off the shuttle and hiked up to Emerald Pools. Then we hiked to the next stop on up the road. There wasn't much water going over here at the lower pool. As it was, we got sprayed as we followed the trail around to the other side. There are some people on the lower right side.
For size comparison, note the people at the bottom of the next picture.
We saw this while hiking to the pools.
There are lots of trails here to hike also. If they aren't right in the bottom, they are on the rim or going up to the rim. We took this while we were on the trail going to the next shuttle stop.
The shuttle route ends at the Temple of Sinawava. This picture was taken just before this area.
From the end of the road, we went a ways on the trail that goes on up the bottom. We saw a deer and her fawn. They are smaller than a white tail.
The next two pictures were taken along this trail. We didn't go all the way because it was after four o'clock at that time.
It gets dark early down in the canyon.

Bryce Canyon

I can now say that I have been to the steps of the Colorado Plateau. The first step is Bryce Canyon. It's base, some 600 plus feet, is the same formation layer and height as Zion's rim. The floor of Zion is the same to the rim of Grand Canyon. Each has it's own special sites.

The Colorado Plateau covers most of Utah, about one fifth of Colorado, about half of Arizona, and one fourth of New Mexico. The first step includes what they call pink and gray cliffs. The second step has white, vermilion, and chocolate cliffs, and then the third step with all it's colors. The geology of this whole area is interesting and can be looked at on the internet.

We first drove the rim of Zion and stopped at some of the lookouts. These are some of the things we saw.

The first stop was at the southern end of the rim, from which one has a good view of the amphitheater. They call these pink but I call them red and orange with white or gray layers.
Our second stop was at Rainbow Point. We were greeted by the welcome committee leader. Note the elevation. The previous stop was even higher.
This is the view looking east. Highway 12 goes through a valley out there before the distant ridge.
This shows some of the Hoodoos. I'll let you look that up.
Looking down into the bottom.
More formations from other view points.
From here one looks back to the area where we were on the second stop. Note the small hole in this picture.
At Bryce, approximately 200 days a year, ice and snow melt during the day and refreeze at night. This works on the cracks that were formed from uplifting and faulting. Monsoon rains remove the debris, helping reveal the fins. When frost wedging cracks the fins, holes or windows open. These in turn are broken by water freezing and collapse, forming hoodoos. There are some interesting shapes.
I think this is the one they call Thor's hammer.
Do you see the lady in white holding a baby.
In some areas one can look down towards the bottom.
When we reached Sunset Point we decided to stop and not drive the rest of the rim as it was getting around noon. This is were we wanted to enter the canyon to do the Navajo and Peekaboo loops. It was 12:45 when we entered. As we entered on the Wall Street side, there were switch backs and it dropped into a crack. See the people in the bottom.
The walls showed not only the red color but also some yellow. You have to look close to see it.
Looking back up at the switch backs.
Looking back from inside a crack.
The crack narrowed but wasn't as steep. I wouldn't want to be here during a flash flood.
There are trees growing down in these cracks. One wouldn't think that there was enough water for them.
Looking back up was a different view. It was hard to keep track of just where we were.
There are lots of shapes that make you think of different objects. This one made us think of a lady with a lion on it's hunches towards her back.
This is an area that has two 'bridges' left from erosion. They are made of a harder rock that got left behind. We saw this on the trail we took when we hiked out.
Some of the rock 'melts' and flows with the water. It looks like formations that you find in caves. They refer to this as slip. That is also what you call the very watery clay when you throw pots on a wheel.
This shows the rim from down on the trail. It shows some of the color. We hiked around in those points sticking up.
See the two and a half large urns in the top left corner? There are even some plants growing in them. After spending four hours hiking the almost five miles of trails we returned to the top. We went back to one of the southern view points to try and figure out just where we were hiking. If you look at the center right side (above) you can see some of the trail that we hiked. We came to a junction with a one mile trail that went to this lookout. Instead we took the two mile trail back to where we entered. It would have been an eight mile hike back to the truck from this stop. What a pretty hole.