Not as good as it could have been

The dust has settled, and now I've had time to think about the book for a while. I'm disappointed. Since many of you have not yet read the book, I can't really state my reasons. However, as you finish the book, we can talk about it.

These are the voyages of the star ship Enterprise

"These are the voyages of the star ship Enterprise." When I was a young lassie about the age of fourteen, a new science fiction TV program began with those words. I was totally hooked from the first broadcast and quickly became a rabid Star Trek Fanatic (later called a Trekkie) I morned when the show was cancelled after the second season, and celebrated when because of the huge amount of fan protest, and fan mail they brought it back for a short time. Star Trek quickly became a rerun protege making it so all the fans out there could memorize the lines, the name of the ships, the numbers and titles of the shows, and every single detail. I have to admit I'm not quite that dedicated.

So why do I love it so much? I once read an article in the paper that said Star Trek fans and in fact science fiction geeks tend to have a higher IQ then the rest of the world. Do you think that the article could have been written by a fan? Anyway, I choose to believe that it's my high intelligence that makes me prone to love Sci-fi. The other reason is the total out of this world excitement that I get from Science Fiction. To me it is the ultimate escape, where literally anything is possible. Flying faster then the speed of light, universal translators, technology that can send a person to a different place without the use of a vehicle, not to mention the Vulcan Death Grip (which doesn't really exist). What is truly amazing is how much of it has become reality. Every time I answer my flip cell phone, I think of Star Trek. I think that's why I refuse to get a slider. Wow! I love it all.

My favorite character in the whole entire Star Trek saga and it's off-spring, is SPOCK. With a Vulcan father and a Human mother he was constantly trying to be like his father, all the while fighting the humanity of his mother. Woah! I really am a Trek Geek. Who is your favorite character and why?

Special thanks to Tobi the Great for making the music possible and also saving my sanity.

Megan's choice. Seven of Nine

Rachelle likes the name Riker but thinks Star Trek is not for her.

Tobi's choice. Data, the robot that wants to be a man.

I must admit that If it weren't for Spock I'd vote for Victoria's choice. "Q"

Elizabeth thinks it's a toss up with the before mentioned Seven of Nine, and the intellectual Captain Picard. Make it so.

If it hadn't been for the ever heroic, confident, and charismatic Captain Kirk, the Enterprise would never have left the ground, let alone earth. William Shatner's Portrayal of Kirk, was really the force behind the success of the show. He's one of the few actors from the entire franchise that has continued to act his entire life. I believe he won an Emmy last year for Boston Legal. Right on apis.

Victor J Nelson

Last week my sister Laura sent all of the siblings a note about our Father. He is ninety years old and is nearing the end of the journey. Because of weakness, he has been falling a lot lately; that mixed with increasing dementia and weight loss have caused his family and care givers great concern. In the note that Laura sent, she mentioned that Dad had been sitting in the lobby of the assisted living center more often then usual, watching people come and go, and singing Edelweiss to them. At first this made me feel pretty sad but then I was reminded of all the times that Dad had sung for me.

When I was a little girl I thought that my Dad was the most handsome, brilliant, and talented Dad in the world. It seemed to me that there wasn't anything out there that my Dad couldn't do. He was always the life of the party and would tell funny and interesting stories. He had a lot of friends and our home was filled with the best kind of love and laughter. He had a large variety of interests and pursued many hobbies with great success. Among some of them were photography, woodwork, and music. Because of my Dad, cultural themes were often a topic of conversation around the dinner table, and I can remember my Dad coming back from Europe after having gone on tour with The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and mentioning how moved he had been when he stood in front of an enormous painting by Rembrandt called "Night Watch". His words left me with a burning desire to see for myself. His formal piano instruction lasted only a few months but my Dad could play every song in the hymn book.

His love of music and singing gave him an opportunity to sing in the before mentioned Tabernacle Choir. And sing he did. My Dad had a degree in botany from Utah State University, which I guess made him the perfect man to build homes. That's what he did to feed his ever growing family, but he really lived through music. We always knew when Dad was home from work because he would take a shower every evening and the singing would begin. I think he loved to sing in the shower because his wonderful voice would reverberate off the walls of the shower and sounded better then ever. We could all hear him and it seemed like a normal part of the day to us, it was comforting and sweet.

I don't ever remember my Dad mentioning an interesting football game. He couldn't tell you anything about basketball. He probably knew something about baseball, but I don't remember it. I do remember the singing. As I sat in church I could hear my father’s powerful voice above all the others, maybe it was because I was sitting right next to him, but I don't think so. I remember people turning around to stare at him and feeling a huge sense of pride that my Dad could really sing well. He would often gather all of us around the piano and we would have family sing-a-longs. Most of us know all the songs from "My Picture Book Of Songs". When I became sick, Mom would take care of my physical needs, and then Dad would hold me in his lap, rocking and singing to me. He would let us all know when he thought someone had done a good job of singing in church, and why they weren't so good if they had, in his opinion, failed. I still like songs sung in church to be done a certain way, and yes, it's the way my Dad taught me. He had a couple of blind spots when it came to music. He hated rock-n-roll, Jazz, and only liked a handful of pop artists. OK, he was a music snob. One of the best parts of our Sunday was watching the weekly broadcast of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. There was our wonderful, photogenic, TV star Dad, singing his heart out. One week the choir sang a song with words by William Shakespeare, "Who Is Silvia". He told me that they had sung it just for me. As always, I believed him. "He was a man, take him for all in all, I shall not look upon his like again."

I love you Dad.

Tobi's Fan Club

Memorial Day is the day that we honor our fallen soldiers, men and women who have given their lives in defense of this country. I however, want to honor those who are left behind when soldiers go to war, most particularly my daughter-in-law Tobi.

When Tobi's husband (my son) Joel was deployed to Iraq in August of 2006, Tobi and their sweet children, Alec, and Cora were left behind. Not having lived in Texas for a very long period,I'm certain that they felt like strangers in a strange land. Tobi was terrified at the prospect of twelve months as the sole parent and caregiver of two kids living far from her family.

Despite this and the constant worry about a husband living in a war zone, Tobi rose to the occasion. I'm so proud of her for facing those many months, and numerous challenges all by herself. We tried to give her as much support as we could, but when it comes right down to it, she had to do it herself.

I know that she had many long periods of loneliness and depression. She had to deal with all the little things that come with cars, homes, children, far away husbands and poopy cribs. She was a great support for Joel while he was gone and talked with him on the computer almost every day. Sick kids, potty training, care giving are what she did day in, and day out. When the army increased Joel's tour of duty to 15 months I really worried for her. I know that they were both devastated when this happened, but Tobi bucked up and carried on.

As I look back on those months it seems obvious to me that a loving Heavenly Father kept his eye on Joel and Tobi. For that I will aways be grateful.

Tobi is one in a million. She would give you the shirt off her back if she thought that you needed it. She is lots of fun and extremely bright. She is also very beautiful with the most amazing eyes. In other words, I'm Tobi's #1 fan ( I suspect her Mom might not agree with that) and she's something very special to me.

Thanks Tobi, I love you

A few of my favorite things.....

Raindrops on roses and
Whiskers on kittens
Here are my grandkids,
Better then mittens.

Last summer we took Riley and Kaiya to the zoo. When my brother saw this picture, he wanted to know who the weirdo in the hat was. Crazy Granny of course. I kinda look like I'm in pain. I think I scared the tiger in the background too.







This is one of the greatest strollers in the world. Rachelle takes the babies out every day for a walk. This was my lucky day, I got to go with her. People are amazed.





How about that, a grandma who can make balloon swords.





Miss Cora gives me lots of love.






Blowing bubbles is great. Especially if you have Alec to help you out.






Five for the price of five. Ohhhh I love those babies.





The kids are in the sunlight and I'm in the shade, just as it should be.





Andrew and Easter eggs, Just don't turn your back on him.





Doesn't Trevor look great in red?

Well, these are just a few of my favorite things. I haven't even started on Star Trek yet.

About Rock Trolls

My niece Audry asked me the question "What is a Rock Troll?"

Last summer Kevin and I went to Amarillo, Texas to pick up our grand kids, Kaiya and Riley.

We had this great plan to play movies for the kids on our portable DVD player. When we were all settled in the car and ready for the seven hour journey to Denver, we inserted the first DVD, and nothing happened. Much to our dismay the player was broken. Faced with seven hours of children in a confined area ,we resorted to imagination. We started telling them stories. Let me tell you, we came up with some good ones. The very best was Rock Trolls. In case you haven't noticed, rocks are one of the things that you can find in every state and every nation on the earth. In fact, they're even floating in space. What you may not know is that they are really Rock Trolls. Many Rock Trolls spend hours, days, and even years in hibernation. They are actually very shy and only come out when there's a full moon and then they dance by the light of moon under the stars. This mostly happens in the land of enchantment, which would be New Mexico. (yes, we drove through a part of New Mexico and saw a lot of Rock Trolls) The story goes on and on, in fact seven hours. Some of the Rock Trolls are famous. I included pictures of a couple of our favorites.




Can you see the eye of a large Rock Troll?

If you check out this web site you can see more, absolutely amazing Rock Trolls.

http://www.needlesports.com/rockfaces/rockfaces.htm

The other Cowboy

I guess that most of you don't know that I married a real life cowboy. To prove this to you here is his picture. He's very cute and full of spunk. He looks just the same as he did then, and hasn't changed a bit. Well, the horse is gone, he's a little taller and a wee bit older, but I love him just the same. Ride em cowboy.