Deseret, Cactus, & Texas: January 2016

California Bound

Alison and John with Chelsea helping spent one night here on their way to LA County. They will be staying with Alison's brother's in-laws while they wait for the closing on the Condo they are buying.

Here are a couple of picture of John while Felicia was entertaining him.

Achieving the Natural Unnaturally

A big change at the house was having a new floor put in. Felicia wanted the wood look in a dog-proof way. Luxury Vinyl Tile by Karndean was the result. It sticks directly to the concrete so the floor had to be prepared and made clean and flat.

The result looks pretty good but close examination can detect the repeating pattern.

Kirby now is a big fan of the rug

While banging and chipping on things to clean the floor they chipped a tile piece near the fireplace. Fortunately I saved some extra of the original tile.

The install foreman did a good job replacing the broken tile.

All the grinding and banging knocked a piece of plaster off of a nail head. This is a patch job I can handle.

I had to work some on Saturday because Friday was spent watching the installers while Felicia played tennis. I did get to ride some trails through cholla that afternoon.

I like the woops on this trail

Gordon and Alison had their offer accepted on a new house. They have closing set for Mar 10.

Gordon and Alison's hoped for new home in Glendora, CA

Stake Change

We had two visiting authorities come to change our Stake Leadership, Elder Von Keetch and Elder David Warner.

Von G. Keetch, First Quorum of Seventy

David T. Warner, Fifth Quorum of Seventy

As you know, President Polley was released because he was called as President of the Texas San Antonio Mission. Pres Polley, Pres. Whitaker, and Pres. John Haymore were released. President Steven Broadbent was called as Stake President with Joseph Winfield as 1st Councilor and Jess Haymore as 2nd Councilor. As I was privately speculating before the meeting Brother Broadbent and Joe Winfield both came to mind. I did not think of Jess but I was not surprised either. They are all great men, incoming and outgoing.

Felicia and I performed in the Stake Choir led by Sis Karen Moss. The songs we performed are in the links below. Well, it turns out that Elder Warner is the Chairman of the General Music Committee for the Church. He recognized the arrangements and complimented us on how well we sounded.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ea-3Icnnl4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Up5xBUYA_IA

Elder Keetch told of when he was a new Stake President, a 24 year-old young man came in his office and said he found the girl that should be his wife but she wouldn't pay attention to him. He said that his plan was to become twice as spiritual as he was and then he believed the girl would begin to notice him. Elder Keetch asked how he would do that. He answered he would pray 4x per day instead of two, he would read scriptures twice as long, he would go to the temple twice as often. Elder Keetch told him that instead he should keep doing the good things he was doing at the same level and use the time he saves by not doubling it to do service to others. Thirteen months later the young man and the young lady came to his office for the interview to be married. He asked the young lady what caught her attention about the young man. She said that she notice he was always willing to help others.

Felicia and I are very pleased with our children and their spouses. All of you are actively seeking to follow the Lord. All of you persevere through adversity, holding on to the iron rod in the midst of darkness and confusion. We know you will all be blessed with the righteous desires of your heart as you continue to look to the light of Christ.

Catching up

Here is an update on our children:
1) Gordon and Alison sold their house in Houston and are now able to truly shop for a new home in Southern California.
2) Eric and Krystal have started their final semester in Rexburg. Eric is working and studying for the GRE. Krystal is studying Business Administration.
3) Haley is preparing for some work conventions in Florida and California.

I have been selling off my KLR650 piece by piece. The sales have slowed as I have gotten to the parts that aren't often broken in crashes and don't often wear out.

Happy New 2016

Haley was supposed to fly back on Monday but the first leg of the flight going to Phoenix was weather delayed so she couldn't make the connection to the leg to Salt Lake City. I tried to call to tell them we would drive to Phoenix and put her on the plane there but there I couldn't get through after spending an hour on hold. I called Monday morning only to discover that she had been rebooked to a Tues flight by the computer. Haley had to stay an extra day so we went on a hike to Romero pools.

We had to cross the CDO River. We jumped across it.

Here is a picture of the river from higher on the trail.

We took the short detour to Montrose pools on the way.

The weather was nice for the hike.

Great views,

We met lots of hikers on the trail.

When we finally reached the pools, many people were there. I thought the pools were a little over 2 miles but it turned out to be a 3,3 mile hike one way.

We had a snack while enjoying the pools.

This is the deep pool people jump into in the summer.

After over 6 miles of hiking we were feeling a tired but with a sense of accomplishment.

The next day we decided to skip the Tucson flight leg and drive Haley directly to Phoenix to make sure she got on the plan to SLC. We got there in plenty of time, checked her luggage, and decided to have lunch a Smashburger before she went through security. At 1:55 we put her in the security line. Boarding was to start at 2:10. At 2:10mshe texted us sayin the line was not moving and she was going to miss her flight. I told her she would make it and not to worry. No security line takes 30 minutes to get through. Well this one did. She and others got to the gate at 2:30 and found the doors were closed and the flight had left. She had to wait 3 more hours for another flight that she was able to get on in standby.

The next day, I took a motorcycle ride in the evening. The sun was setting. I came around a corner and the sun was right in my face temporarily blinding me. I got off my line and went up a loose hill and crashed, bending my shift lever making it very difficult to use.