Mma Ramotswe has a cup of bush tea with World Chess Champion

At least that's the way I imagined it.

Candy Bar Triumvirate

1. Peanut Butter Twix
2. Snickers (Ice Cream Snickers are also fantabulous)
3. Peanut M&Ms

That is all.

Peaks vs lakes

In spite of my smile, the hike to Baker Peak was not easy. I have learned this summer that I much prefer trails and lakes to cross-country and peaks!

(Possible?) Bosworth family phobias

The fear of not enough salt
The fear of not being taken seriously
The fear of spending money
The fear of spiders
The fear of getting food on the upholstery
The fear of overcooked meat
The fear of the 8th/17th tee at PGCC in a high school golf tournament

What else?

Stake Conference: Hi-tech and Minor Miracles

This week was Stake Conference, and to address the constant problem of logistics (seating, parking, attendance, etc.) the decision was made to do a webcast to 4 buildings instead of the closed-circuit to only two. We spent around $4K for the equipment, and under the supervision of - who else - Lamont Harris, wired up Riverdale, Clifton, 3/7/10 and the Stake Center. A few trial runs broadcasting sacrament meetings, which went well, did little to keep Pres. Mumford from sweating a few bullets. Our visiting GA was Elder J. Roger Fluhman, secretary to the Twelve, and he helped out by dropping by the library command center, and telling us that, "This better work, or we're all dead."

The minor miracle part happened when Clifton lost electricity before the session started. People scrambled for generators, got the sound sytem and lights going, then realized they had no internet.
They had forgotten to power up the routers. The crisis was averted a whole one minute before the session started, running on auxiliary power.

Funny how things work out.

My Southern Girl

Dresses up like a princessand goes to the races!

Ian and Hallie

We had a fun time with Ryan, April, Ian and Molly last weekend. However, for some reason we only took a few pictures. Here is a cute one of Ian and Hallie!

Cousins Updates

[note: Beatta posted this at our own site, but in case you missed it, I wanted to re-post it here, too.]

While looking for the picture of Salla for the birthday post, I found so many good photos of the kids in the past few years, that I had to just share a few...starting with Henkka about 3 years ago:


Here's my little boy in November of 2007, during our little turn-around in Orem.
Here he is playing with his new friend a little after we moved back... I think either Jan or Feb of 2008.
Salla was born July 25, 2008.
Salla is about three months here.Henkka, Salla, and Hallie in December of last year.
January of 2009.

The Birds

I doubt if any of you are old enough to remember the Hitchcock classic, "The Birds". It's about a group of birds that get angry enough to start attacking people, with a famous scene showing two people in a phone booth getting attacked by hordes of crazed crows.

We are, in a way, living this nightmare. Apparently the population of robins has reached a level where Mother Nature feels the herd needs to be thinned. The past three mornings I have been awakened around sunrise to a solid "klonk" as a robin crashes into one of our windows. Before I got up around eight this morning there were two more collisions. This goes on all day, with at least a half-dozen klonks. I have either buried or dumpstered three in the past week. No end is in sight. It makes no difference if teh shades are open or closed, and one window seems as good as another.

Please help.

hiking

Regarding hiking and mountains: I am so very blessed to have health and energy to do what I love. I have all the equipment I need (camera is not shown for obvious reasons) thanks especially to Tobin, Dennis, and Scott. And I have friends (both geezers and geezerettes)to hike with.
Thank you all for your encouragement. It really means a lot.

Harry Potter?

I'm amazed no one has posted about the new Harry Potter movie, "The Snogfest."

Mom & I really liked it, but I felt the snogging was excessive. Too much snogging, not enough story. And the one between Harry & Ginny was perhaps the worst snog in the history of film making.

USU Update

Family and Friends,

I have accepted USU's offer. I'll join the Applied Economics department in July 2010.

We look forward to moving to Cache Valley, but we are sad to be leaving NC. We'll keep you posted.

Awkward

I...can't....look...away...

Duct Tape

Our library is offering a class for teens called "What can you do with duct tape." The description...Express yourself with duct tape crafts and learn more uses for this miracle tape.

The Schedule

April is attending a workshop this weekend. I'll have the kids on my own.

What we'll do without supervision from April:

Friday Afternoon: Pullen Park!

Friday dinner: Bojangles!

Friday evening: Stock car racing at Wake County Speedway!

Saturday a.m.: Cold cereal and cartoons, what else?

Saturday p.m.: Crying, fighting, peeing.

Saturday evening: Really glad April is home!

New information on an old debate...

The role of gender stereotypes in the ultimate intellectual sport

News that may interest some of you

I have an offer from Utah State's Applied Economics department.
Details forthcoming.

Trip to Fossil Butte

In keeping with a tradition established a few years ago, we took a 4th of July road trip. Previous excursions have found us stuck in the mud in Dayton Basin and at the Golden Spike re-enactment. We have passed Fossil Butte, WY may times on the way to Denver or Rifle, and always said to ourselves,"we'll stop there sometime", not believing it for a second. The thing is, we're running out of day-trip destinations we haven't seen, and I guess it was F.B.'s turn.

We packed a lunch and headed East, managing to negotiate Emigration Canyon without killing a single bicycler. We were amazed by several things:

1. There was no entrance fee.

2. The Visitors' Center was very interesting.

3. The hike to one of the working fossil quarries went through a lush forest of aspens and wildflowers.

4. Vicious mosquitoes were chewing us to pieces.


Once we got to the quarry, a Park Service paleontology intern offered us insect repellent and a fascinating description of the actual fossils - mostly fish- he was extracting. He said that you might find horses, crocodiles, turtles and bats in the area. Very interesting stuff.

We also took the opportunity to go to Evanston for the first time before heading home.

The pictures show the quarry worker and some fossils of various ages.

The things my husband does for me...

Ian says: Daddy putting the pizza on.

I talked Ryan into to grilling pizzas for me last night. They were delicious, if a bit involved. But, we now have a good way to make pizza in the summer without heating up the oven.

The Man in Black would be unbeatable...

Chessboxing!