An Angelic Blessing

Now everyone is going to think I have flipped my lid. What is Robin doing posting pictures of angels accompanied by angelic voices singing a lullaby? I happened to be listening to this song as I went to sleep last night. It occurred to me that the blessing included in this song is quite similar to the wishes I had for each one of my children when they were little. I never wanted them to experience loneliness, sorrow or heartache. While I never specifically asked that they be wealthy, I never envisioned their lives being dominated by poverty either. Yet as they grew up, some were taunted in school, some struggled to find good friends, and all of our hearts were broken.

Fast forward to today. Mom was over for dinner the other day and offered a blessing at dinner. She prayed for "angels" (not her exact words) to help those in need across the world. As we pray as a couple each day, we find ourselves praying that angels will watch over each of our grown children, especially Chelane and Brooke who are so far away from us now. In reading the scriptures I find that we are entitled to call on the blessings of angels to watch over our loved ones. Heather helped us to understand that angels are real and that angels can take on many forms.

Some angels come from the other side of the veil. They can provide voices of warning and comfort, or peace. Other angels may come in the form of people who have the ability to listen to the promptings of the spirit and the courage to act. A perfect example of this kind of angel is my brother Morton, who dropped everything when David died to care for our family. Still others are family and friends who know us - know us well enough to know when things are not right and help is needed.

I am posting this for our friends and family to know that it is OK to pray for angels to watch over us. The Savior said "Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" Matthew 7: 9-11 Angels are one of those good gifts. Don't be afraid to ask for their help. Our Father wants to bless us, and together we can call down these blessings for us, for members of our family and for those we know who need help.

So you decide if I am crazy - or maybe not.

Mikey Went Too!

 Mikey was at Featherdale too! For some reason, every time I tried to add Mikey to the last post, the system would delete them. I guess the post was too big or something. Dang computers! Mikey taught Lily how to feed the wallabies

 Mikey thought it was hilarious the animals wanted to eat Tyler up.

 

Mikey loved the little babies and was very tender with them.

Featherdale Outing

When you are, in Sydney with kids, a trip to Featherdale is a must.

It is a Wildlife Park for people who have never seen Australian critters. The kids had a great time there feeding and playing with the animals.

Lily was scared at first, but pretty soon she was happy to be around the animals. Of course, when the wallaby started to nibble on her little fingers she backed off quick.

The pigeons wanted their share too.

Tyler wasn't sure what was going to happen, so he never took his eyes off the bird.

Lily fell in love with the bunnies

Tyler and the goats didn't get along so well. In fact, he didn't like them one bit.

 Lily had no such difficulty with goats. Once she figured out that the right thing to do was to share, they got along fine.

 No trip to Featherdale is complete without the Koalas. Lily was a little scared of them. But they are sooo...  cute!

Signs of Australia

People in Australia talk fast. They also just come right out and say what they mean. In the US, we would say "Pick up after your dog". (as if he left his toys on the living room floor or something). Not so circumspect in Australia.
You never see signs like this in America. Of course, we don't have a rampant wallaby, kangaroo and wombat problem. Wombats look like a someone mated a pig with a pug. They are supposed to be the densest animal in the planet (not meaning stupid) and they move fairly slow. If you hit one in a bingle, you are for sure going to be seeing a panel beater.
No - petrol is not 135.9 Australian Dollars per litre, even though that is what the sign says. This was as low as it got while we were there. It is $1.35.9 per litre, or $5.14 per gallon ($5.71/gal. at the current exchange rate). If you put it on your charge card, you can add 2-3% for a foreign transaction charge. Brooke's car (a Kia 7 passenger van with a really powerful engine) was pretty good at just sipping the fuel. When we left, it was at $1.59.9 per litre (you do the math)
Australia is famous for "brekkies" or breakfast. Burger King is called Hungry Jacks in Australia and is good for brekkies, though we never went to one. Half the items on the food menus are not recognizable to someone from Utah. They had meat pies with "mushy peas" on top. Unfortunately, that is exactly what it sounds like. A school lunch might include a Vegemite sandwich (or sandwhich as they spell it) and some bikkies. We bought some lollies to bring back home.
There are quite a few places where you cannot abseil. On the set, we noticed special places on the floor that must be kept open for the electricians and others that work in the upper rigging to abseil down in the event of an emergency. I would never even think of taking the scout troop abseiling.
Most restaurants offer take away. They have these incredible re-useable plastic containers if you want something to go. It goes along with their environmental ethic they seem to be particularly proud of, notwithstanding the inscription I saw scrawled on the back of a truck " You can take your carbon tax and stick it where the sun don't shine". I guess not everyone is an environmentalist there.
Reminiscent of our trip to London, they drive on the wrong (left) side of the road. As a pedestrian, you have to be very careful. Sydney is just as crowded as London. There are lots of narrow streets. The street by Mikey's school is so narrow two cars cannot pass. If a car comes the other way, someone has to back up. Steve got me approved to drive there. If you drive in Sydney, driving occupies all of your resident brainpower. You cannot sightsee or carry on a conversation. Any lapse of attention and you can find yourself turning left into oncoming traffic.* At first, it freaked me out to look over at the car in the lane next to me - and see nobody in the driver's seat.
Oops! No sign here
I would never think of reversing in to any parking spots in Australia. Brooke marveled that I backed into a spot in the parking garage
I never did figure out what a EFTPOS was. It seems nobody has them, though.

It seems that every important building (and some not so important) was dedicated by some member of Britain's royal family. Who would have thought that would happen? I suppose the Queen has to do things like that to keep her subjects content.


Who would ever think of using the word "rubbish" as a verb. Nobody knew what I was talking about when I asked where the trashcan was. Most surprising of all was not the Australian accent. It was frightening that I had no idea what so many words meant. "G'day mate, how ya goin" threw me off more than once. Of course, they looked at me weird when I responded "Howdy!"

Dictionary
bingle - car accident
panel beater - body shop
petrol - gasoline
eftpos - ?
take away - take out
abseil, abseiling - rappel, rappelling
bikkies - biscuits, or cookies
lollies- candy
Vegemite - obscenely disgusting fermented yeast spread


* Thank heavens I only did that once!

Report from Down Under

Here is what it is like to go exploring with Brooke and Steve and their family. Everyone is in their seatbelt and we are all on the lookout for Wallabies, Kangaroos and Wombats, well not Tyler - he likes to sleep. I shot this through the fisheye rear view mirror.

I have several poses for this clever young fella. He is enrolled in the Coogee Public School and is on holiday right now. He misses school and wants to go back soon. He has a keen eye and can pick out blue bottles (jellyfish), sting rays and sea snakes before anyone can. He is pretty good with the flying foxes too.

Lily is amazing. She can go from unhappy to to cheerful in about three seconds. It takes about eight to go the other way, but when she is happy, she is a little darling. Lily has been working on her letters and sounds. She will be reading in no time. She worries about the family staying together and doesn't let anyone get separated.

Tyler is pretty sure-footed now. If we slid a surf board under his feet, he could surely handle it. He is quite even tempered right now and lets Lily mother him and carry him around. In all, the family is doing fine experiencing all that Australia has to offer.

General Store - Lonetree, Wyoming

 Along the road to Flaming Gorge Dam is the "town" of Lonetree. The only feature of a town is the general store and a garage to house the fire truck. This just happens to be the place you turn off the road to go the King's Peak. Notice their mail box 30 feet in the air. This is the first time I have ever noticed the mail box.

I have always noted the parking meter. Alone on a desolate dirt road wirth tons of other parking is the only parking meter in all of Wyoming - I think. Just kinda funny.

Just Lying on our backs - in the middle of the road....

The other night, Janene and I went to Flaming Gorge Dam. We got there about 10:00 at night. Once we got checked in to our motel room, we jumped back in the truck and drove a little ways up the road where we pulled over, turned off the lights...... and looked up! I almost fell over. I lost my balance and thought I was falling into the sky. We decided to lay down in the middle of the road and look up at the night sky. The Milky Way was incredible. There are no big cities anywhere near here and the moon was over the horizon. With no light pollution, we could see stars everywhere.

We stayed there (in the middle of the road) for over half an hour, watching the sunlight glint off satellites for brief moments, trying to count all the shooting stars, and feeling really, really... small. We marveled at God's handiwork and at the fact that in all the universe, He knows each one of us. He knows all our fears, our joys, - our secret thoughts. I was reminded of the eighth Psalm...

"When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and has crowned him with glory and honour."

It was a powerful moment. A brief moment when I think I understood a little bit, however tiny, of the Love that Our Father has for us, that He would offer us all that He hath, and why he sent His Son to redeem us. It's a little bit strange that I felt what I did, especially when the natural man reaction would be to say that "we are nothing but a speck in the cosmic dust of eternity".

I was grateful for that small precious gift. After half an hour, we heard a car approaching and had to get up before getting squashed.

Eating Chinese Tonight .... and just about every other night.

Ping and Haiyan have been cooking up a storm in our house. They go up in the garden and pick what they want and then they work their magic in the kitchen. They have raided our stash of garlic and added spices brought from China.

Here is just a sample of the fare. It may look strange, but it tastes great!

Sam calls his Grandma

Mikey is not the only one who calls Grandma. Sam calls a lot. Sam is able to make all sorts of things out of paper, especially super airplanes and helicopters - with missile launchers and all. Here he is with a new present for us.



The other day, he was at home while his dad was in Washington, DC. He and his brother Ben were not being very good. They had not gone to bed when they were supposed to the night before - and it looked they were not going to bed any time soon. So Grandma did what grandma does best - she bribed him! She promised to give him a treat if he went to bed early.






Busted again! Kids have minds like steel traps. They never let go and never forget.

A Phone Call from Mikey

On the first day of April, we got a phone call from Mikey. You have to hear this to believe it.







It took us a while before we realized that this was an April Fools Day joke. I was soooo disappointed. Little did we know that it might actually happen now.

Hang up? he said after it was all over. It seems someone put him up to it.

Some Like it HOT!!!

I have always liked my water hot. I love to hang a towel up over the opening to the shower, turn up the water, and have a steam bath. It's good for my sinuses. I even ordered a special Scald Guard faucet for our kid's bathroom so that it would be hot in my shower, but not in their bathroom. After Lily got burned, Brooke has been on a crusade to get me and everyone she knows to turn their water heater down. See her blog below

http://freebairnfamily.blogspot.com/2011/07/burn-clinic-update.html

About a month ago, I made the ultimate sacrifice for my grandkids. I have turned my water temperature down so far that I can now stand in the shower with the water on full hot. You can see from my water heater knob that the temperature is where I used to set it when we went on vacation.

No kids will get burned at my house!

Nose, Nose Anything Goes

When I saw Andrew yesterday, I thought he had a huge bonk on the head. I was just sure that he had taken a tumble or was drop kicked by his big brother. I was wrong, On closer inspection, I found that he was just......

    
GROWING A NEW NOSE!!! 

Tribute to a Hero

Attending the funeral for my friend was quite the experience. Steve earned a place in history as the fire department really put on a show about his passing. Besides the incredible funeral procession, the fire department erected a huge flag on the procession route.
Hundreds of firefighters from all over the state came to pay their respects, here lining the street to the cemetery.
Steve's body was loaded onto one of the fire trucks draped in black with all the pall bearers riding with the casket. If you look closely, you can see Steve's turnout gear and helmet on the front bumper.
I wish I had taken this picture. This was taken by a professional photographer as the fire truck passed under the draped flag.
Fire trucks from all over the state were there in the procession. I have no idea how much money this must have cost. The fuel costs alone must have been staggering.
There was a full motorcycle escort through the entire route. At the cemetery, there was a lone firefighter demonstration, the worst bagpiper I have ever heard, Steve's last call on the radio, a presentation to his widow and a helicopter flyover involving the Life Flight choppers and others including KSL TV's Chopper 5.
As I watched all this unfold from Grandpa Blaine's and David's grave sites (Steve was buried about 50 feet away), I couldn't help but think of all those I have known who would have merited a better show, but received none. Both of my grandfathers are heroes in my eyes. I remember when Diane's dad died, there was a choir made up of all the Eagle Scouts he inspired. He was a hero. In all that was said and done at this funeral, I wish that all the humble and valiant men and women I have served during my time conducting and helping to conduct funerals over the last four years could have been better recognized for their efforts. I will remember Steve, but this final salute may be what I remember more than his service to our community.

Farewell to a Friend

A friend of mine passed away last night after having some health problems at work. Steve Cox served as the South Davis Metro Fire Marshal and I was able to work with him on several projects in the South Davis area including the Bountiful Recreation Center. I had talked with him just this month. We joked a few times about the time his crew responded to our home and ended up saving my life. If he thought I was being difficult to work with, he would say something like " Do I have to send the paramedics to your house again?" I guess that would be to teach me some humility. It hardly seems real that someone as vibrant and caring could be gone from your life in a moment, but I know from experience that is exactly how some leave us. As I have watched several people I know return to Our Father this year I am reminded that I need to take the time now to let everyone know how much I love and appreciate them. You never know when it will be too late.

Night on Bald Mountain

We had a few hours to kill, so we headed into the mountains to show Ping what the Uintas are. Our first stop was the meadow at the foot of Bald  Mountain. Ping wanted this picture for her family back home in China.

As the storm clouds gathered, we thought we might be in for a re-creation of Mussorgsky's fearful tone poem. Lightning was striking the peaks and basins surrounding us. From the top of Bald Mountain we had a great view of Hayden Peak and Amethyst Basin.


Ping and Janene scampered to the very top of the mountain, daring the lightning to strike them. I was just a little nervous carrying my aluminum tripod. When the hair on your neck stands up, its time to get away from the camera. We made our normal phone call to Dad from the top of the peak just to prove that the phone worked. (Can you hear me now?)

Even with the lousy weather - Man, was it cold!- we still got to see some incredible sights. Right below this picture was a herd (is that what you call it?) of mountain goats. I was wishing I had carried the telephoto lens up to the top. As it was, I carried all my fishing tackle instead. Go Figure!