Excellent Advice

"Beware of fainting fits.....Though at the time they may be refreshing and agreeable, yet believe me, they will, in the end, if too often repeated and at improper seasons, prove destructive to your constitution......Run mad as often as you choose; but do not faint."
Jane Austen, in Love and Friendship

Canadian Adventure

We have just returned from our first ever big road trip as a family. Whew!!!! We drove over 2000 miles there and back. We went directly north, through Utah, Idaho, Montana and then across the border into Alberta. It was a great drive - we took it very easy. On the first night we stayed in Butte, Montana. I had booked us into a fascinating bed and breakfast place called the Copper King Mansion. It was very historical, built in the early 1800s at the height of a copper boom. The town sits on the richest copper deposit in the world. The man who built the mansion was earning 17 million dollars a month at the height of his career. It was a wonderful place, but really, what was I thinking?!
As soon as we walked in our blood pressure went through the roof. There were knick knacks and heirlooms crammed into every square inch of that place. And we had four kids who had been sitting in a car all day! It was truly amazing - even the closets held vintage dresses and shoes and the ceilings were painted with beautiful artwork. The lady who owned the place was very kind. She immediately directed us to an excellent place for dinner. It was a pizza parlour containing a carousel and rides for the kids, air hockey, etc. When we returned I noticed that several items of furniture and certain display items had been judiciously removed from our room. Thank goodness!
The kids had a great time soaking in the ancient bath tub, It was so deep that Josie couldn't see out of it standing up. Then we tucked them in to bed as fast as we could.
The whole time we were there we were so tense that something would get broken that we barely took one photo. Never mind!
The next night we walked into the Holiday Inn Express in Lethbridge, Alberta and breathed a sigh of relief. Very plain. Nothing breakable.
The scenery was wonderful along the way. Lots of mountains, lots of prairie. The thing that is so amazing though, is that this land is just so BIG. Everyone we met was friendly and helpful.
The following day we drove up to Calgary to meet our friend, Vicky, and then went on to Banff. Below are a few snaps from our weekend.
On the way home we took someone's advice and drove through the night. They said it would be easier for the kids. Boy, were they way off! But let's not record that experience here. We'll put it behind us and just never do it again!

Canadian Weekend

We met up with our dear friend Vicky in Calgary, and drove through a nasty snow storm to Banff. It is an absolutely stunning place, with mountains towering all around. The view was great once the cloud lifted, but even better was being with Vicky again! We have missed her so much! The kids were absolutely delighted to see her. Jane ran across the bus terminal when we arrived to meet her shrieking, "Vicky! Vicky!" I was so amazed that she would remember, as Jane was only 21 months old when we last saw Vicky. She definitely knew her. Within 2 minutes she was snuggled up on Vicky's lap telling her all about how she doesn't like floating on her back at swimming lessons. Charlie and Grace were just as happy to see her, picking up right where they left off. I was sure that Josephine would not be very friendly, as she is very wary of strangers, to put it mildly. I should have known that they would be friends in 15 minutes. Vicky has such a gift with children. So we had a very happy weekend, catching up on the year since we saw each other. Vicky is enjoying life in Canada, and hopes to be able to visit us here in Utah in a year or so. We hope she makes it!

Banff Museums

The weather drove us inside for most of the weekend. We found some really cool museums, which the kids loved. Josephine was especially fascinated and solemnly examined every exhibit. Her Uncle Richard was exactly the same when he was a boy. Runs in the family!

We also found a rock and gem shop, and checked out some amazing fossils and geodes. Charlie and Laura gazed longingly at them, but they were way to expensive. We satisfied ouselves by pawing through piles of stones for $1 and picking out two each. We came away with some great agate and quartz samples, perfect for Charlie's rock collection.

We had hoped for a little hiking, but it was just too freezing!!! It didn't really matter, though, as hanging out with Vicky was what we were there for and we all had a lovely time.

Regional Champs

Laura's basketball team won the regional championship on Saturday. She was awarded a t-shirt for her hard work and skills. She managed a triple double for the game, 12-14-11. She came home puffed and chuffed.

Josie

Three Steps

Josie is doing some very good standing and took three steps this week.

Evening in the Park

As spring has officially arrived and the weather is warming up we took the chance to walk around the corner to our local park on Monday evening to swing, slide and run around. It was lovely.

Swim-Cake

Jane did such a good job at swimming lessons she had a swim-cake to celebrate that evening. She put her face under the water and didn't cry at all.

Utah Jazz Game

Last Saturday Charlie and Rich went to see the Utah Jazz play the Seattle Sonics. As they were a little late and there were no more cheap seats available at the ticket office, they had to buy from a scalper (it's legal in this state). At halftime the Jazz were down by 8 but came back and won by 20. It was loud and lots of fun.

Did You Know 2.0

This Youtube video was created 18 months ago for a group of teachers in Colorado. It is stunning.

Easter

This is an Easter video produced for the new Web site, http://www.jesuschrist.lds.org/ . Rich's friend Nigel wrote this commentary for LDS Newsroom, also with an Easter theme. This talk, by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland is a powerful and inspiring description of Christ - and reflects our feelings towards Him. Rich worked on this Newsroom story and video.

We hope that our family and friends had a lovely Easter. We are very grateful for our Savior and all He has done and continues to do to bless our family. He is not only an historic figure. He lives today. He knows our family members by name and loves us. His promises are sure. The power, comfort and love that we feel in our lives and in our home, through Him, are sweet and life-changing.

Dinner-time

At dinner time we have two stories. The first is from 365 Bible Stories. Our hunch is that this book will keep us going for a year. The second story is made up on the spot. Most nights, as soon as we sit down, say the blessing and start eating, a little voice will ask, " Scripture story?...Made up story?" The improvised tales feature the same characters each night or some combination of the usual suspects. Mogadon the relaxed princess and her forgettable parents. Mogworthy, Mogadon's cousin. Hairy Mary the childish hair dresser. Craigy Hunna, the bad guy and Andrew Spiller the spoonerist. By far the most popular characters are Ted the cross-eyed gardener and his faithful side-kick, Ernie the shouting dog. Ted has irritable vowell syndrome (ie he mixes up his vowells, to the puzzlement of others) and Ernie, well, shouts all the time. All these folk intersect in increasingly ridiculous circumstances as each evening it is important to top last night's adventure. Body parts magically turn into items of food, unicorns battle bionicles and Barbies, and hiccuping, fire-breathing dragons take on sleepy dinosaurs. Sometimes, when listening is taking precedence over eating, characters and plots are left dangling until the next fork-full is shoved in. Makes for interesting meal-times at our place. You're always welcome....but be prepared to tell a tale or two.

How I Ate My Way Out of a Mid-life Slump

The last 12 months have been interesting for me. I have found out that I have a bicuspid and leaky aortic valve (instead of a tricuspid and non-leaky one) and will most likely need a replacement valve in the next few years (the pigs in the neighbourhood are getting nervous); we moved our family of six, including eight weeks old Josie, from Asia to America, via Australia; we had a pretty high number of minor to moderate health issues affecting everyone in our family; I turned 40; I stopped exercising and was expanding my 'horizons'; and I was transfered from a demanding and satisfying position in Hong Kong to a very different assignment at the headquarters of my organization.

For a week, as we visited in Australia in between Hong Kong and Salt Lake City, I went through what I will call a mini-midlife crisis (not to be confused with the 'midwife crisis' that we went through when Grace was born). Getting sick with a severe stomach ailment hours before our flight to Brisbane, having to pack, close an apartment and move children and bags 4,000 miles, and what ever else I was feeling at the time combined to create a weird cocktail of high anxiety and a low like I have never felt before. All I wanted to do was go to bed and sleep until life was sunny again.

Well, my family were amazing. They helped me through these few days, that felt like an eon.

We made it to the US and here we are today, almost a year on. That low continued on for several months to varying degrees, for the reasons stated earlier. But am I still slumping my way through mid-life? Absolutely not. Life is wonderful. Relationships are rich and the future is as bright as the twinkle in Josie's eyes.

So what changed? I did. And here is how I did it. I ate my way out of my mid-life slump. Now this has nothing to do with food or eating. The "ate's" I am talking about are these three simple words: activ-ate, rel-ate and cre-ate. Something clicked in my mind and I realised that sitting and waiting for bad things to happen would probably work.

I needed to activate my mind, body and spirit. I started reading more, including books that would help my career, my family and strengthen my faith. I began to run, cycle, play golf, tennis and do other exercise. I prayed with more energy and purpose. As I endeavoured to activate myself, I found that I wanted to relate more to my wife, my children, other members of my family and those I associated with. Even people on the train. I wanted to listen to their stories and laugh more, discuss important and not-so-important subjects with more of my attention. I found a stronger urge to connect with people, especially those who were eternally significant to me, including family, God and Christ. As I opened the door to more activating and relating in my life, I noticed a swelling desire to create. To make things, and to make them well. I wanted to create better relationships, friendships, work projects and outcomes, and health levels. Poetry started coming out of my head. Family history and other writing projects sprung up. I even set a goal to get a golf handicap.

This pattern has blessed my life these past few months. I share it with you, for what it's worth (and out of a genuine feeling to relate and create). You may have already learned this lesson, or perhaps you see things differently. That's fine. It is working for me and that means the world to me - because truly enjoying the people and things I love, with purpose and passion, is worth more than anything. I call it living deliberately.

Rich

Laura's Birthday

Several of Laura's friends dropped around cakes and other goodies on her birthday. She also received some lovely messages, phone calls and gifts from those who love her, here and abroad. We love Laura!!!-

Pah's Hands

The following is a transcript of an interview with Janny Say.

The first thing that comes to mind with Pah's hands is blessings, priesthood blessings. Of which I have had many. And there were so many times when I was very sick or sometimes almost dying and as soon as those gentle hands went on my head he sort of just moved them around my head and then he'd settle and he'd give me a blessing. As soon as those hands went on my head I knew that all would be well because I knew he took the priesthood seriously and that he was my link to Heavenly Father. So that was my first thought. The second one is, one time in Townsville we'd gone up there for a conference and I was pretty sick. I collapsed in the chapel during Sunday morning session and he carried me. I must have been about fourteen or eighteen, I don't know how old I was, I was in my teens. But he carried me out and he kept saying, "Oh Jane, Jane." I think it was Jane - Jane or Janny. He called me Jane often. Anyway he kept saying my name over and over again as he walked through the courtyard with me in his arms. I thought, "I woundn't mind staying like this." Because he wasn't a demonstrative man. He did things but he didn't say much. So when he was saying my name over and over again I just thought, "I could stay in his arms forever.' Another one is the time he gave we three girls a belting. He asked us to put our hands out and with his hand he gently tapped our hands as softly as he could. Then he said "that was your belting, never do it again." These are some of my memories of his hands.

Jane's First Swimming Lesson

"I'm so proud", she said, as she was getting out.

Myths and Reality Video

Rich's friend Mike produced this 10 minutes-long video for the 2002 Olympics when there was a lot of media interest in Utah history and culture. He has recently updated the video which responds to a few of the concerns raised by some about Mormonism. The man in the picture is not Mike. He is former San Francisco 49-er (ie American football player), Steve Young.

Josie's First Birthday Party