Happy Anniversery

Today is Joel and Tobi's Anniversary. Or as we fondly call them Toel and Jobi.
Happy Anniversary kids. I love you.

Name That Foot

Here we all are. Every year as the sister's gather we take a foot picure. You might notice that we had a stranger with us this year. Can you identify the other seven feet?

A hard climb

A couple of weeks ago I climbed a mountain here in Colorado. This past weekend I climbed a different type of mountain; I said farewell to my brother Kirk. It's so hard to say goodbye to someone that you have adored, played with, teased, loved, been mad at, laughed and cried with, shared a room with, and taken trips with. Someone who knows the very best, and the very worst about you, but still loves you. When I reached the summit of Mount Democrat it seemed like I could see into eternity. I felt the same way when I looked into my brothers face and we expressed our love for each other. Kirk, I will see you on the other side of the mountain. I love you dear brother.

What a summer!

Here are some of the highlights from the summer of 2009, and it's not over yet.

Megan and Megan.





July 4th at BYU Stadium of Fire


A Surprise visit
from Tobi, Cora, and Alec.


















Sylvia and Laura posing
as Forest Rangers.



One of the kivas at Mesa Verde.
The kiva is the hole in the ground
and not the person standing next to it.



Another vacation with Laura and Bill
where we failed to play Johnny Cash music.



This picture was taken just to prove we were really there.


This train is bound
for glory, this train.












Two men and a train.

Tomorrow I'm climbing
a mountain and possibly jumping off
because I've done something very wrong and I can't make this blog work.ARRRGGHH














Yes we climbed the mountain and I didn't jump off. Here we are heading up the path. You can see Kite lake in the distance.



Democrat Peak fourteen thousand and some odd feet. On top of the world looking down on creation.


Riley there really is snow on the mountain even in summer.

Recipe of the day

In between visiting my kids and grandkids, I work, go to church, read, dance with Kevin, and make baked beans. There is a chance that I do more then just these few things, but I can't think of what that might be. Here is my favorite baked beans recipe.

Old Settler’s Baked Beans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

½ LB sliced bacon, cut into small pieces. (I use precooked bacon)
1 onion chopped
1 (15 oz) can of red kidney beans
1 (15 oz) can of black beans
1 15 oz) can of navy beans
1 (28 oz) can of baked beans
¼ cup of packed brown sugar
¼ cup of granulated sugar
¼ cup ketchup
¼ cup barbecue sauce
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
2 tablespoons molasses
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp chili powder

Lightly grease a 4 quart baking dish. Fry the bacon until crisp and then sauté the onion in the bacon grease. Remove from the pan and drain. (I completely skip this last part because I’m using precooked bacon and the onion seems to do just fine without being sautéed) Combine all the ingredients and stir well. Turn into the prepared dish. Cover and bake for 1 hour.

I hope you enjoy!

Carlsbad + Wilkinson Reunion

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The Enterprise is still flying at warp speed.

Yesterday I finally had the opportunity to go and see the new Star Trek movie. I have to say that it was great! I give it four big stars. Seeing it on the I-MAX screen was the best, and I would highly recommend this movie to most of you.


Kevin and I went with a couple of friends named Bonnie and Mark. These two friends must have been born on the same planet as me. Science fiction is what brought us together, and it has taken us to places beyond the bounds of this earth, where we have cheered for the heroes and prayed for the destruction of the evil-doers. Every time they cancel a Sci-Fi show we mourn and then start watching the re-runs.

it started for me with those cheesy but great Flash Gordon shows that were made in the 1940s or 50s. Flash Gordon's ship was a little model that was lowered on a wire and had smoke that floated straight up when it came out of the engine. it was cool, and I loved it.

From there I went to My favorite Martian. Bill Bixby was the hapless human with Ray Walston as the long suffering Martian stuck on earth. You guessed it. I loved it.




The show that really phaser burned Science Fiction into my heart was Star Trek. I was so caught up in it that I recall having a major tantrum when my grown bother Pete had the audacity to bring his friends down into the basement to turn on the STUPID High-fi, thus making me turn off Star Trek.

I know this is shocking but we only had one sad TV and it was in the same room with the Hi-Fi. I was so mad that I threw my eye glasses on the floor and broke them. I think that might have been what started the great eye glass destruction war that is still going on with me today, but that's another story. I'm happy to say that due to reruns, I was able to see every single episode of Star Trek, including that fateful broken spectacle episode, I've even forgiven Pete.

My love of Science fiction still goes on, from Herbert's Dune to



Azimov's Foundation and on through Star Wars, Firefly and Gattica, just to name a few. I see worlds without end and stories without number. I'm currently listening to Kevin J. Anderson's Saga of the Seven Suns.



Live long and may the Force be with you.