Grandpa's Pride and Joy

Mikey and Lily came to visit last week and when it was time for them to go home, Mikey cried and cried. "I want to stay at Grandpa's house". Atta boy Mikey! It's always been Grandma's house for all the other kids. While Mikey was still sobbing, Lily wanted to pose for pictures on the front porch. Is that a cute little granddaughter?

On Monday, we shared family night with Angella and David's family. Ben wanted to have his picture taken, but he kept virtually crawling into the lens. I have lots of pictures of his big blue eyes - out of focus. It was only yesterday that he was a newborn baby. Just look at him now. When it was time for Ben to go to bed, he cried for the longest time. It was heartbreaking.

And then there is Sam. Sam always used to pose for the camera with his trademark Cheshire Cat grin. I talked to him about not goofing off and he came up with a nice grown-up smile. You can sure tell he and Ben are brothers. If i could find pictures of the two of them at the same age, they would look like twins. I realized that the little kids aren't getting as much face time on the blog. I will try to be better at that for their sake. I just wanted to share some recent pictures of my precious ones.

It was thirty years ago .... yesterday.

We went to dinner last night with our good friends, Larry and Kay as a belated birthday present for Larry, who just celebrated a milestone birthday. Kay pointed out that it was on this day thirty years ago, that our little family was sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. Heather was the baby then and David was just getting ready to make his appearance. If you look at Janene, you can see that she was already showing him off.

When Janene saw these pictures, she commented " Oh look, two little kids playing house - with real dolls" It does kind of seem like we were just playing grownup then. Little did we know then how important that sealing power would be to us at this stage of our lives.

Janene and I never seem to be able remember this date. We spent a lot of years remembering the day in November before this day came along. Kay has always remembered, and has remembered to send us a card. Lisseth has reminded us lots of years as well. While we look forward to that day when we will all be together again as an eternal family, we try our best to find joy in the journey now. We can look back at what seemed like happier times in our lives, but we have a tendency to forget that many times we couldn't pay the bills. We forget that Janene was buried in diapers most of time and went days without an adult conversation when I was working out of town. We both agree that we would not want to go back in time. We have learned that life is what you make of it. The scripture says "men are that they might have joy". I would add the word "now" to that. It has taken me a long time to learn that lesson, but I try to make the most of it.

On one somber note, we would ask all of you to pray for Kay, who suffered a stroke this afternoon shortly after bearing her testimony at church. It will be a while before she can feel joy again in her life, so she and her family will need our prayers and God's love.

A Trunk Full of Bees

You probably don't want to drive to church with Janene tomorrow. She picked up our bees today and one of the boxes had a hole in it. By the time she got home, about a hundred bees had escaped. There was no way to stuff them back in their box, so they remained in the car when she carried the boxes up the hill. They don't know where they live because the smell of the queen is still lingering in the trunk. We shooed some out of the trunk, thinking they would go find a home. Instead, they hung on the bumper - even after Janene drove the car up to Judy's house. So.... there they remain, unwilling to leave and doomed to die.

The good news is that by nightfall, the other 20,000 bees were safely in their new home on the hill - our new cliff dwellers. This year, we bought a new kind of bees. They are called Minnesota Hygenics. They are supposed to be able to keep themselves cleaner and able to fight diseases and pests like ants and varroa mites better than our Carnolians. They are supposed to be more aggressive, too. We didn't see that as we put them in the hive with their queens. The air was full of bees, but they didn't seem angry or threatening. We put them in a new location at the back of the garden, just in case.

Busy Bees

Next weekend our new bees will arrive. That means that we are busy little bees preparing new homes for the little critters. We levelled a new location on the hill for the hives. That freed up some ground for us to use for more garden area. Last weekend Shon and Joseph helped me haul up some railroad ties so that I could use them to create another level. This weekend we painted the hives and next week we will be working on the frames, maybe building some new ones. We want to have everything spit spot for our new guests by next weekend. What? You don't think we need more area in our garden?

Some Depression Stories

I think the whole family has heard lots of stories about my Grandfather, Al Morton. Most of the stories revolve around his talents as a famous photographer, river runner and cinematographer, and we have all watched and enjoyed his adventure films. But today while talking with my mom, I heard some other stories about my grandmother and grandfather that some of us have probably never heard. Here are a couple of those stories.

Grandma and Grandpa lived fairly close to the tracks in Salt Lake, and often men we called tramps in those days would stop at the house for food. My mom thinks the house was marked somehow so that they knew it was a safe place to get fed. Grandma always made sure that they got something, even if it was only a peanut butter sandwich when times were hard. Grandma used to bake two loaves of bread every night and then leave them on the counter to cool. One night, she left the bread on the counter, mopped the floor, and Grandpa left his wallet, spare change and keys on the counter before bed. When they awoke the next morning, Grandma found muddy footprints in the kitchen, and one loaf of bread was gone. The money and wallet had not been touched. As we talked about that, I wondered if that would happen now. Back then people stole what they needed to survive. Now it seems to be another profession.

During the depression, it was hard to find work. Grandpa Morton, was not immune to the troubles and had to scrounge to find whatever work he could. He heard there was a job opening for someone to clean apartments, so he decided to apply. When he got to the place, there was a huge line of people waiting for the place to open so they could interview. He knew the job would be filled by the time he could get in. He decided to do something out of desperation. He went to the back and found the coal chute to the building. Stuffing his hat into his shirt, he crawled into the coal chute, dropped into the bin, dusted himself off as best he could, and put his hat back on. He went upstairs where the office was and startled the man who was hiring, scaring him into falling off his chair. "I'm sorry to bother you", he said, "but I really need this job. I have four little girls and a new baby." The man decided that if he was willing to crawl through the coal chute to get the job, he deserved to have it, and Grandpa got the job. "There's just one thing, though" came the response. "You must leave the same way you came in. I can't afford to have a riot here." So that is how Grandpa got the job to support his family and feed my mom who was the new baby.

People complain about how hard things are right now, but I think we have no idea how hard things can really get, or how much our parents and grandparents suffered during these times. We owe them all a huge debt of gratitude for what they did to make our lives better.

Time for Janene to shine

I am always posting pictures that I took or would like everyone to think that I took. Many of our family photos have been taken by my talented (and lovely) bride. I thought today would be a good time to show off some of her photography.

These first two pictures were taken last year on our trip to Colorado. Janene has an artistic eye and a talent for composition that really stands out. She is often very aware of textures and contrasts that I walk right past.

Janene is used to dealing with details, especially as she has been involved in her pottery work. Often, the difference between a beautiful pot and one that goes to DI is a small detail, a double line instead of a single one, a slightly muted glaze instead of a colorful one, or some such intricacy. She will throw stuff away that I think is awesome. That attention to detail, I think, helps her in her subjects for photography. She took the picture below, I am sure, to document the creation of our dining room set , but the placement, shadows, color and texture demonstrate her talents as an artist, not just her excellent craftsmanship. Our home is a beautiful warm place thanks to her creativity.

Hmmm - April Fools Day

I had great plans for an April Fools blog post. First I thought about maybe posting that I had lost my job, but since that could be close to a real possibility with the decline in the construction industry, that wouldn't be funny. Then I thought, "Why not announce that Janene and I had been called on a mission to Mongolia?" Nope, we know someone that went there. That wouldn't be funny. That would be too cruel to our grandkids. Besides, some people at church might believe it since it is one our goals as a couple, and I would have a hard time explaining why we weren't really going.

I remember one time when my mom wasn't feeling too well, sick in bed, and I decided to scare her into thinking I had been bitten by a black widow.....(or something involving spiders). Turned out not to be funny, for me  - or her. Then there was the April 1st that I got up in the morning, put on my nice clean underwear, and then found out later that Janene had sewed up the flap in the front. Again - not funny!

I guess I'm just not cut out to be an April Fools jokester. I would like to hear about some of your favorite April Fools pranks, though. I can laugh at the things other people do to each other. I just  can't bring myself to do it to people I love.

Photo Tag Time

Photo Tag
Here is how you play. Open your photos folder or program.
Go to the first folder that comes up.
Go to the 10th picture in that folder.
Post that picture and tell about it.

One of the things I love about my job is that I get to travel all over the state visitng customers and putting together bids for unusual types of fire protection systems. Last week I visited a power plant in Bonanza (yes, that's in Utah), next week I will be at top secret sites at Dugway Proving Grounds. This week I was up in Cache Valley putting together a proposal for an explosion suppression system in a machine that creates aluminum dust at an electric sign company. While I was there I stopped and took this photo.

I don't know why it is, but Cache Valley seems to have the best barn signs in the state. There is this one outside of Wellsville and several other good ones up by Richmond. I've always wanted to do a kind of photo essay on all of them, but that somehow seems to be at the bottom of my "to do" list. Thursday, I thought it wouldn't take me too long to stop on my way back and at least take a picture of this one.
This will need to be the early spring picture in the photo essay since it's not a very picturesque time of year.

Now it's your turn ... I tag Brooke, Heather, Crystal and Chad, Lisa and Jesse and Joe and Marie.

A Wolf, A Racoon, and an Angel

Max earned his Cub Scout Wolf Award yesterday too. He is serving as the Assistant Den Chief and was awarded a bunch of arrow points. He got to pin the award on his mom right there in front of everybody. He then got to lead the "sneeze applause" given by placing your hands in front of your mouth in cupping shape, sneezing loudly, and then because you have no place to wipe your hands, you rub the deposit into your hair.

Mel would have nothing to do with it and rubbed hers in Max's hair! Shon, Mel and the whole family were especially proud of Max and his achievements. Max wrote a nice thank you note for the help he got working on the rocket written on special "I Love Grandpa" stationary. There was a lot of waiting time while others raced their rockets.

Jake spent his time playing with the elastic bands that were used for the rocket motors. He fired them off at just about everyone and even spent some time pretending to be a propeller blade for a while and a racoon with little beady eyes.. I'm not sure that he knew his brother was racing a rocket in the middle of all his fun.

Isabel was an angel the whole time. We asked her if she wished she could race a rocket. She said she didn't go for those boy things. She got several chapters of her book read while she was there amid the pandemonium. Hmmm - sounds just like a Phillips girl.

We love being able to be involved in the lives of our grandkids. Last Sunday, we walked over to my Mom and Dad's house. Along the way, we stopped at Heather and Joseph's home and picked up Elsie, Cy, Andrew and Caleb and all eight of us went to visit Tammy and Mom and Dad. As we were walking the last part back to our home, Janene and I commented on how happy we are to be surrounded by our children. We know that very few American families are so blessed. Angie and her kids were here today along with Brooke and her two and a half children. Chelane was here yesterday. As parents, we feel like we don't see each other enough, yet we know many families see each other only one or two times a year. We thank the Lord for these blessings in our lives.

"Ground Control to Major Max"

Grandpa and Max have been hanging out in the garage working on a project together. Max had a Cub Scout Space Derby coming up and asked his Grandpa to help him, so we have spent a few nights working on the thing. We couldn't figure out at first how to sand the bulky block of wood they gave us, but we came up with the idea of putting it on the drill press. With it on the drill press, Max was able to wrap sandpaper around it an give it the sleek shape he wanted.

It was like having a lathe. It made it super easy to paint too! Just turn on the drill press a push the button on the spray paint. Max decided to name it the Max 38 Rocket. When I asked him why he wanted "38" he said, "I like it". It was a good enough reason for me.

Last night was the official race over at Max's church. Max was really proud of his rocket and Grandpa was surprised to see so many other gold colored rockets. We both thought his would be the only one there. He got to race it three times and it performed well each time.

Here it is at the start leading all the other rockets. It went so fast that I couldn't catch a picture of it as it went by. They changed the rules so that each boy had chance of winning and set an arbitrary point about 2/3 of the way down the course. The boy who came closest to that point was the winner. Even though we didn't win we had a lot of fun with Max's whole family.

Phillips Campmobile

Janene and I have been watching the Ken Burns series "National Parks - America's Best Idea" . It has brought to my memory the way my family used to go camping. My grandfather said that we didn't need a lot of money to see the beauty of our country. My family consisted of five kids and Mom and Dad. The first time we all went to Yellowstone, we went in our blue and white ford (seen below). My dad rigged up a couple of sheets of plywood that he laid from the rear deck across to the front seats forming a second level in the back. My brother and I slept on the top with the windows (lucky us) and from this viewpoint, we could watch the bears destroy our camp.

Vikki slept on the back seat, with Tammy and Julia curled up in the recesses on each side of the "hump" in the middle. Sometimes Vikki traded with Morton to get a turn on the top level. Mom and Dad each slept in the front seats sitting up. I don't know how they ever got any sleep. It seems unbearable now, but all I remember was how fun it was to see bears, and elk and geysers with my family. We had a great time. One night, we got to sleep in a park service cabin because a couple of park service employees saw our sleeping arrangements and felt sorry for us! I now own a motor home that I never use and at least four tents, but nothing can compare with that first trip to Yellowstone. In the years to come, we would go on to visit all of the National Parks in the western United States ranging as far away as Olympic National Park in Washington and the Grand Canyon and Mesa Verde. It truly was a great idea, this national park thing.

Farewell, Tom

Our dear friend, Tom Ure, returned to his Father in Heaven tonight. He got up from the table after dinner and collapsed. By the time he arrived at Lakeview Hospital, he was no longer living. Apparently, he suffered an aneurysm similar to to the same thing that killed his youngest son, Justin several years ago, and almost took Jenny as well. Well we remember Tom's wry sense of humor and his excellent singing voice. He and Judy were diehard Utes, and all their boys, Tom and Daniel have followed in their footsteps. Judy will need all of our help in the coming days months and years. Help us pray for Judy and her family. Our prayers will be with them.

100 Years of Scouting Gala

Scouting began in the United States 100 years ago. To celebrate , we attended a gala dinner with 2500 others in the Salt Palace. Joseph was able to get us tickets through a neighbor in his ward. The ceremony began with a choir of Eagle Scouts conducted by Michael Huff. Pretty impressive. Did I mention that I want an Eagle choir at my funeral? Then a young man was awarded a special lifesaving award for trying to save his mother's life after she fell a thousand feet off of Mt. Olympus.

Little Caleb was an angel through the entire night. We sat right up front. The only problem with up front is that we were also right next to the loudspeakers. There was a keynote speaker who just happened to be the president of the Boy Scouts of America. Lt. Governor Greg Bell spoke and got a laugh when he said that BSA headquarters may be in Irving, Texas - but Utah is the capitol. Utah, with only 1% of the population of the United States has more than 10% of all Eagle Scouts.

We were entertained by a group of former scouts from Utah named Eclipse. They also performed at the 2002 Olympics. It was a little weird to hear scouts really sing out.

Joseph and Caleb enjoyed the evening - and so did we.

Is San Rafael Next?

A memo is floating around in the Obama administration indicating that two locations in Utah may be being considered for designation as National Monuments. This news infuriated members of the Utah State Legislature who are still smarting after the designation of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. But I wonder, why all the fuss? The San Rafael Swell has some of the most stunning scenery in the world.

The view from the Wedge Overlook is something someone never forgets. The campground is right on the rim, something that would probably change if this was a National Monument.

The view of Bottleneck Peak from the San Rafael River is only one of the incredible vistas from this single point. To the north is a view up a narrow winding canyon, to the east is the rugged Mexican Mountain and the eastern ridge of the Swell, and the southern view is one of Assembly Hall Peak.

Hidden throughout the Swell are Barrier Canyon style petroglyphs, many of them still untouched by vandals. We have enjoyed hiking in the Black Box, exploring the slot canyons of the Bell and Little Wild Horse drainages and watching the stars of the Milky Way from one of the most remote areas in the country. If this doesn't qualify for monument status, I don't know what would.

On the Road Again

From the day I bought my first car, I wanted to use it to explore the wild areas of Utah. Janene and I drove our 67 Mustang through the dirt roads of the Uintas, even once going to the shore of Haystack Lake. That trip resulted in a hole in the oil pan. I longed to own the kind of vehicle that would allow me to truly explore. Shortly before Angie was born, we bought this 1951 Willy's Station Wagon. It cost $900 - a small amount that was dwarfed by the money we (I should say "I", because Janene was against it from day one) would eventually pour into it. It was in this vehicle that we first explored the Burr Trail, the Fisher Trail, and the Murdock Basin Road. Unfortunately, this was also the vehicle that broke down on just about every scenic road in Utah.

One trip on the Burr Trail with Julia and Tammy was particularly memorable because the rear leaf springs broke after we loaded up with petrified wood. Janene was badly sunburned, pregnant and miserable and she felt every single rock on that rough road. When we arrived home, it was time to repair the vehicle. While I was working on it, the vehicle fell off the stands with me under it, badly crushing my left hand. Janene and the neighbor came out to the sounds of my screams. Our neighbor picked up ( yes, I said "picked it up") the car while I scrambled out. Miraculously, though my hand was as big as a basketball, no bones were broken. I have since had to have three or four cysts removed from that hand. Maybe connected, maybe not.

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For several years, every weekend was a new adventure for us. We went often to the Uintas with Steve and Sherry Kubisch in their 56 Ford truck. We used the CB radio to communicate with each other and to talk to people all over the world using the "skip" that we could reach from the high mountain peaks. We never camped in a campground, but instead searched for remote sites where we could be alone. Janene was truly a good sport about this. For a man, the whole world is his urinal. For Janene, with two kids in diapers, it must have been a great ordeal, an ordeal that she endured for my sake. I loved this car, but eventually we could no longer afford to maintain a vehicle that was older than I was, and we sold it to another young family for $1000.00. It was a steal for both of us.