Deseret, Cactus, & Texas: January 2017

Baked Potato All The Way!

I spent most of the week visiting a supplier in Plano, TX. One night I went with a co-worker to Spring Creek BBQ. We used occasionally went there as a family but I suspect the kids, other than Gordon, were too young to remember.

When you order a baked potato, the order person would grab a potato and toss it down the line yelling, "Baked potato all the way!" We had a scoop of Bluebell ice cream for dessert.

The announcement came this week that the Tucson Temple would be dedicated in August! One of the supplier representatives I was meeting with was from Ft Collins, Colorado and he said his wife was in charge of the cultural celebration for their temple dedication and she had received word to send all the Mexican dresses they had to Tucson for our cultural celebration program.

Things have cooled off here. I went for a ride Saturday morning and many of the puddles in the road were frozen.

Robot Baby Sitter

Remember Rosie from the Jetsons? Perhaps my Great-Grandchildren will have an Android nanny.

In the airport in San Jose this week, there was a display of an android helper for children. It had a video screen in it's chest and it would sing and dance to keep children's attention.

One of these can be yours for $2000!

They haven't perfected the eye-hand coordination in this package yet. Although the robots had blocks, the robots did nothing with them. It will be fun to see where we are in 15 years.

There was also a scale model display of the Winchester House in the terminal.

The actual Winchester House is not far from Pleasanton, CA where we were visiting. It is an amazing large sprawling mansion that was owned by the widow of the inventor of the rifle that won the west. She believed she was haunted by the ghosts of those (mostly native Americans) killed by her husbands invention. She was constantly adding on to the house during her lifetime because she never wanted to sleep in the same bedroom more than two nights in a row to confuse the ghosts. The house has stairways that lead to walls with no openings.

We had the award ceremony in Tucson for my work team. It was held at the Ventana Resort. They gave us these cookies that were supposed to represent hi tech...

... and we got a large chunk of crystal.

I have been working on the Chinese Lego X-Wing that Eric didn't want. I decided it looked fun so I kept it.

Random weird Giraffe head that came with the X-Wing

STAR WNRS

Haley had fun snowboarding this week.

Eric and Krystal went car shopping.

Gordon and Alison and John went to another wedding.

Stake Conference - Jan 2017

We just finished our Stake Conference. Felicia and I sang in the choir again. It is fun to sing interesting spiritual music with talented people. We sang "I Know that M Redeemer Lives" and a mash up between "High on a Mountain Top" and "True to the Faith". It went well.

Our visiting General Authority was Bishop Chris Waddell of the Presiding Bishopric. Part of his reason for being here was to check the progress of the temple construction.

Tucson Temple under construction

Bishop Chris Waddell

Bishop Waddell said the building was ahead of schedule and would be dedicated sometime in 2017 but they do not have a specific date yet.

In the Saturday night session Bishop Waddell said the reason we worship Jesus Christ can be represented by eleven words:

First 5: "Here am I. Send me!" Isaiah 6:8

Next 3: "It is finished." John 19:30

Final 3: "He is risen." Matt. 28:6

I liked that message. It is why we worship. Christ volunteered to fulfill our Heavenly Father's plan during our pre-earth life by suffering for all of our failings. He came to earth and performed that sacrifice which ended on the cross, and then he was resurrected to open the grave so that we can also be resurrected. All of this was to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. (Moses 1:39)" for those who choose to follow him.

Meanwhile in our family, Johnny celebrated his 3rd birthday. He looks grown up in this picture.

Johnny and cousins. 3rd Birthday

Haley is preparing for a Snowboarding trip. Eric and Krystal are going to need a new car.

2016 Ends, Happy New Year!

We were discussing the achievement events of 2016 with Gordon and Alison yesterday...
1) Gordon and Alison sold their house in Houston and purchased a new home in Southern California and Alison was able to get a job teaching at a nearby high school.