Time To Change One Picture

Deserey was the one who brought it to my attention. "Mom, you need to change Seth's picture on the blog." It took me sometime to figure out what she was talking about, but then she took hold of my mouse, scrolled to the bottom of the computer screen and showed me Seth and Goliath's picture on the side."You need to change that mom," she said. "Yup I do." I quickly replied and I was thinking how nice it is to see Seth with a human companion.

After the brief discussion, Des contentedly went back to her book and I prepared to change Seth and Goliath's picture. Emotion sometimes has a way of sneaking right up on me. As I started to remove the picture all of a sudden my heart started beating a little faster, then I noticed the big lump that had formed in my throat and before I knew it my eyes were starting to sweat and I was getting all weepy.

Do you know how long it's been since Goliath has been gone? A couple of years now. Oh how I miss this dog. He and Seth were always together and over the years they rarely went anywhere without the other one present. As dumb as it sounds, it was like parting with him all over again.

So for Journal purposes.

I'm keeping record.

Here's the old picture that hung on the side.

Granted, Haley looks much better sitting next to Seth's side!!! She's much prettier to look at than Goliath with his drool laden smile. I know she sheds less and I am pretty positive she smells better too. She is such a darling girl and I am so tickled not only to add her to the blog but to add her to the family as well. She's the best thing to come along since sliced bread!

I don't know though. Maybe somewhere here on the blog I'm going to have to keep a picture of the greatest dog we've ever owned.  Just for a while maybe. It's a crazy thing . . .

Change!

Everyone Loves Them

This may seem like a strange post. And only the Blanch crowd will drip with emotion when they see the empty glass featured in the picture above. If you're a blood relative to my mother then this little empty glass will produce all sorts of warm and fuzzy feelings inside you! It's true. If you want to feel safe, loved, warm, and secure, if you want to feel peace and a soulful sanctity that puts the world right, just drink from one of these little glasses, and better yet, do it at my mother's house. It's therapeutic I swear!

As long as I can remember my mom has had these little drinking glasses. I drank from them when I could barely walk. Everyone loves them!!! The grandkids can't wait to have a drink when they get to Great-Grandmas and no glass will do but this one. Something about these little glasses immediately fills every human young or old with down to earth goodness the minute you pick it up. The funny part is I think very few people know where the priceless little drinking glass comes from.

Kaedell came over to my house one day and I was putting a little cheese spread on my celery. "Do you like that stuff," she asked me?  "Nope, not really," I quickly replied. Then I told her, "I really only buy this stuff for one reason Kaedell." Then I pulled a little glass from my cupboard and sat it next to the cheese spread. I thought Kaedell was going to faint when she realized what I was showing her. "That's where those glasses come from," she asked? Then I think she repeated herself with the same question about ten times.

I decided I wanted to cary on an amazing tradition, "My mother's little drinking glasses." So now I buy Kraft Cheese Spread like I love it! If you are a grandma, go out and buy about ten of these jars of cheese spread. Feed cheese spread to everyone who comes over until you have empty glasses. Soak the label off and now WHALAAAA! You have the cutest drinking glass on the planet. When your grandkids get their hands on one of these, they'll think you're amazing. And just wait, you'll notice the adults reaching for them too. Drinking from those small clear glasses makes a grown up feel like a kid again.

When my mom finally passes, I'll never be able to look at one of these small drinking glasses without water quickly damning in my eyes.  Everyday when I was a kid she would spread Pimento Cheese on her celery. My mom's a rabbit and she loves celery but not without her Kraft Pimento Cheese. I never concluded as a kid that the small insignificant glass I drank my milk or orange juice from was the by product of her Pimento Cheese! It was not until I got older I figured it out. Now when you go over to my mom's you'll find the little glass filled with Cherry Pepsi. It's funny how one inanimate object can produce so much emotion in me!

Here's to Kraft, the company that hasn't changed their packaging for this product in a hundred years! Hope they never do!

Today's Post Is X-rated, BEWARE!

To me, this is a symbolic photograph! I'll get to that later.

If you are wondering, questioning, could this be Gavin? The answer is yes.  If you are second guessing yourself, possibly doubting the fact that he is standing in the dead of winter by the side of lake stark naked ---naked as the day he was born, second guess yourself no more! You're not dreaming, your thoughts are not bordering on some delusional perception. This is indeed my son. And no doubt about it, he is indeed standing in the sub zero temperatures with nothing on past his semi farmer tanned birthday suit.

When I first saw the unedited picture on Facebook, (yes I said unedited and Facebook in the same sentence) my eyes beheld the sight but my brain fought it with every ounce of energy it possessed. My intelligence could not comprehend it. My mouth dropped open so wide the world could easily slip inside. After what seemed like an hour and my jaws could no longer constrain the gape, I broke out into a bold hearted laugh, only Gavin!

Today I was going through my download box when there in the pop up window, the naked picture rudely appeared again. "Good hell, it's come back to haunt me," I said under my breath. I can't get away from this picture. So I did what any good mother with serious photoshopping skills would do. I made it fit for public viewing. I darkened areas that just shouldn't be seen, added a definite blur to the behind, trimmed off a little of Gavin's Mt. Dew love handles and called my efforts good. Now I think the image is down right beautiful. A work of art!

I'm only sad I can't find the picture that follows after this shot. FYI ---just to the left of Gavin, the area not visible in the photograph, there is a giant old fir pine that has stood on the mountainside for at least a century if not more. And I would guess that somewhere down through the eons of time our pioneer ancestors came up with the ingenious idea of hanging a rope from the noble fir. No doubt even the pioneers enjoyed swinging from the rope into the fresh blue lake.

The rope swing has been in existence at Bloomington Lake since I can remember. For years we've been hiking into Bloomington with our swim suits on. I would like to clarify some things however. The rest of us Crows are intelligent people, we usually go in July or better yet August.

The rope swing however, while being in existence for a very long time, has seen it's share of trouble. At one point in time someone tried to cut the rope swing down. Some idiot (for lack of a better word) got hurt trying to hold onto the rope and swing into the water. I think they must of had a nasty drag down the dirt and then tried to sue the city for their lack of intelligence. Isn't that how it goes? Stupid people always want to blame someone else for their incapabilities! This one single act then caused city officials to deem the swing unsafe. Sadly they sent someone to remove it. Doesn't that sound like the government? Five billion people have swung from that tree into the water safely, one idiot can't manage the feat, and now the entire population should suffer! I could go off on a tangent here.

I remember the first time we traversed the mountainside to find it gone. We left the mountain beefing that life isn't fair and perhaps we should sue the city for breech of fun! I guess more people felt like us because not long after we found the rope missing we got wind a pure and undefiled Saint took matters into their own hands and rightfully put up another one. And so the pattern began; the city would send someone to remove the rope and some blessed soul would scale the knotty pine and put it back up, over and over and over again, the ritual took root. I'm happy to report some things never change and I'm tickled pinkalicious the general public made their demands known and the city finally gave up the battle! Thankfully, today the rope swing still hangs.

Most would agree Gavin is somewhat of an anomaly. Perhaps this is what pushed him to take hold of the rope swing in mid April. Gavin made the plunge into this lake just minutes after the above photograph was taken. He boldly hiked his naked soul right up the mountain, his derriere shinning like a full moon on a mid summer's night and approached the huge gnarly pine with solid confidence, took hold of the burly 40 foot rope that hangs from the 100 year old stately fir, and daringly swung out into the knife stabbing frigid air. As his hands bravely let go of his only life support his unclothed body plummeted straight as an arrow head first towards the ice laden water, piercing a small unfrozen hole with not so much as a ripple. That was it, his nakedness disappeared beneath the icy blue.

I would have liked to have seen his face as he blasted out of the water in record time gasping for heat and air! I can envision it. I can see his face. I just know he shot out of that water like a bullet. Crazy isn't it, Gavin diving naked into Bloomington Lake with the ice still on? That's what I thought. In fact I said to him, "Gavin your'e nuts!"

Some people question his motives. Not me. I know this child. I can tell you he didn't do it for money. I know he didn't do it for love. I can assure you he did it because he's Gavin.

This is one of the things I love about this child and this photo is symbolism revealed. Gavin is always his own man. When I look at this picture, Judy Garland comes to mind. She said, "Always be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else." Gavin lives by this creed. As a teen it got him into a fair amount of trouble. Like the time he jumped White Trash. I still remember Glade being puzzled as to why the little Buick had mysteriously died. It wasn't until our favorite mechanic took a look at the undercarriage, announcing to Glade. "This car has been launched," that the entire story came to light.

Gavin was the video king at Fremont. He still is in fact. All of his videos are archived and protected by the student government. It was during one of his movie making episodes he decided he should launch his car into mid air for a spectacular scene on one of his Hollywood movies. In order to get just the perfect angle, he not only launched the car once, he decided two or even three times would be better. Poor White Trash with her 160 thousand mile odometer couldn't take the beating. She went out in a blaze of glory though and her footage can still be seen today!

So there it is. This picture greatly inspires me. Seriously! No matter how naked we feel in this life, we should be our own best selves! We should embrace who we are, no matter the critic! So I leave you with my favorite quote from Shakespeare, "To thine own self be true, and as the day follows the night, thou cans't be false to any man!"

Thanks Gavin, for always being a great example in how to live life as an original! You're quite the kid. Maybe I'll post your speedo picture next. Huh? That's an equally awesome photograph. You standing stately in nothing but your black cowboy hat and your black speedo. Ok, maybe not!

And So The Day Begins

I got up this morning. I put on my Eddie Bauer fluffy pile zip up jacket (there's a chill in the air and I refuse to turn on my heat yet.) After dressing in flannel and fluff, I headed for my cave. Every morning at around 6 am my soul demands that I work on my computer. I love my computer. We have an intimate relationship. I just know when God designed the apple he wasn't even thinking about Eve! And I'm certain if  God works on a giant computer in the heavens, it's a Mac! This is precisely why I continue to reason with Him for some resolve in creating a way in which I can take it with me when I die!

I had a lot of work to do this morning. I had pictures to edit for customers and for a long time now I've been thinking of changing the design of my blog. I want something crisp and clean. I'm growing tired of the flowers with the butterfly. I'm constantly consumed with this yearning to create. I've even been thinking of taking a web design class but that's all drossy information, babble saved for a better day. The point is, after sitting down at my computer, I immediately started to hunt for ideas on how to improve everything I was working on. That's when I saw it ---it was printed boldly. It said FREE! It doesn't matter what came before the word, it doesn't matter what followed after it. What does matter is that when my eyes saw that word starkly printed, something totally different struck my brain! Suddenly and without any warning this thought went pounding through my head . . .TODAY IS FREE!

Wow, I am not dead yet. I'm alive, happily alive, and no one is charging me to breath! It's not to late to jump into the depths of life and drink in every portion that gently reveals itself there. It's not to late to take up living with some zest and zeal. I love life. It's full of every kind of color you want to experience, every kind of emotion, every kind of feeling. It's mine for the taking. So this morning I ask myself, "Is there anything holding me back?" And I answer with a resounding thunderous boom, "Nope!"

It's a great morning. It's a great day to be among the living. There's a constant rhythm and murmur to life. A drone of things to do, people to please, and pleasure to find. There's a million and one things calling for my time today, but amidst all the distant voices echoing their demands for me to come and do are these moments, unmistakeable, undeniable, moments that fill up my life with a serious richness beyond belief. Inexpressible moments, like the one I'm having right this very minute. I love them. They are the substance that sustains my very being and there should be more of them. Every day we should seriously pursue more of them. I'm taking a vow, I'm going to make more of them. Life is to be lived with passion! Life is to be enjoyed, savored and treasured up!

So with a smile I greet the day. It's pulchritude astounds me. Good morning life!

(Today I remember my son Corbin! Happy Birthday! I'm going to live life for both of us. Happy Day!)

Happy Birthday Ali

It's her birthday!

She's 5 today!

The picture below was taken at her pre-school graduation.

Summer has come and gone since then and this little girl just grows cuter everyday!

Ali is a character of great magnitude. 

She is full of personality and spunk.

Energy radiates all around her.

She lights up everything there is in life!

She's a determined little spirit. 

She's not a child you can easily boss around.

She has her own mind and she uses it to its full capacity.

She is no dummy!

I like that in a kid, well, that is as long as they aren't my kid.

Personally I really enjoy bossing my very own kids around.

I'm sad to say however, those days are gone.
They never let me boss them around anymore!

Now my grandchildren, that's another story.

I like these independent thinkers.

That's what Tad Pole is. 

She's an independent thinker!

She has a vivacious personality.

Her enthusiasm for life is almost contagious!

She constantly cracks me up!

I can count on this little girl to always bring a smile to my face 

I can plan on some serious laughing when I'm in her company.

Earlier today we went to Chuck E Cheese.

She was so excited!

After ordering our food and eating

the kids got to use their tokens on all of the fun things that were there.

There was no hesitation on Ali's part to jump right in and enjoy the fun games and rides.

While the kids were playing the adults were conversing. 

We were chatting over the difference between 

Chuck E. Cheese and Fat Cats.

Some of us noted the food at Chuck E. Cheese was less than desirable.

I would have said it was down right pathetic! 

Not only was the food poor, they were pretty chinsy on everything

from how much food they gave you to how many tokens and tickets 

the kids got to earn while they were there. 

After being there, I came away with a pretty sour view of the place.

After the kids collected their prizes

we made our way out to the car.

All the kids climbed in Emy's van.

I was discussing my views of the day to Kaedell.

Ali got wind of my trash talk on Chuck E. Cheese

and immediately came to the defense of her beloved establishment.

"Well," she boldly said.

"If you don't like Chuck E. Cheese, 

then next time you can stay home!"

Then she went on to tell me Chuck E. Cheese is just as good as Fat Cats 

and that I had better not be talking bad about her favorite place!

Oh boy, I guess I got told!
That's when I realized,
I had really enjoyed myself. I loved watching the kids!
Emy bought my lunch, and the day was very nice.
I was so glad I got to go.

After Ali's scolding I came to my senses.
How ironic,
It took a five year old to show me I was being negative!

And that's what I love about Miss Ali.

That exuberance in everything she does!
Her ability to stand with
NO FEAR!

You are my little Tad Pole Ali!

You are a blessing to the world and life is so much brighter with you in it!

Happy Birthday little girl!

Nanny loves you!!!

Everyone in the Crow's Nest loves you!

Happy Day!

Meet Rowdy

I wanted to name him Lucifer. Deserey wouldn't let me. Well he is a little devil cat. Des thought we should name him Cribbs. Seth told her no one would understand that name. (Joshua Cribbs is the unstoppable wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns.) I said if we were going to name him after some magnificent person who plays for the Browns we should name him, Hillis, after Peyton Hillis. He's my fav.
As you can see we are the proud owners of a new kitten.
Gage and Missy made the mistake of rescuing a cat from the bottom of their stone well that sits in their front yard. The small black and white cat quickly adopted them considering their noble deed of saving her life.
One thing you can count on when you adopt a stray female cat . . .kittens! Sure enough one day Gage and Missy went outside to discover the little cat they had rescued was giving birth to kittens right in their driveway no less.  She's obviously unexperienced, young, and new to motherhood because most cats don't just drop kittens from their uterus on a gravel driveway and walk off.
Rescue number two was quickly preformed and mother and kittens were locked up and supervised from there on out.

Two out of the three kittens survived and since I had that horrendous mouse incident I decided I needed a cat with claws.
Oh yes, we already have a cat, Sassy, and she's clawless and worthless! Here we saved her very life from the pound and she does nothing to deplete the mouse population around here. Thankless cat!
That's when I got this bright idea to take on Gage and Missy's kittens. Gavin too however wanted a kitten, so the decision was made, he took one and I took the other. He named his cat Cleveland.

I'm not a lover of house cats, so the first order of business after bringing this little guy home, was to acclimate him to the great outdoors. Every morning I take him outside to spend some time on my back porch.
Thursday morning was no different. I got up carried his food and bed outside and left him to play. Immediately after putting him down he ran over to attack my flowers. After watching him annihilate every tiny leaf I remembered Gage and Missy had said they gave me the wild cat. I walked back into the house wondering if my decision to get a cat was remotely intelligent.
Now think back. Thursday was the day we had all sorts of excitement taking place. If you remember right, Des had made the front page of the paper and in all the commotion of her instantaneous claim to being famous, I forgot I owned a kitten and he was presently outside unattended.
After all the buzz died down of Des becoming the newest celebrity in town, Aubree her best friend who had slept over decided to head home. When she walked outside to her car my neighbors dogs came running over. They were sniffing and barking but Aubree paid no attention to them, instead she calmly climbed into her car and proceeded to head home.
Aubree lives about four miles away from us. She lives over on the South end of town. On the way home everything seemed quite normal, but as she pulled her car in the garage, shutting off the engine, she heard a cry for help.
The meowing was coming from the hood and she worried she had run over the neighbor's cat. She stepped out of her car and got down on her knees to have a look at where the pitiful noise was coming from.
That's when she faintly saw a small kitten quivering up inside the engine. She told Des it took forever to get him to come out. For the longest time he just huddled there on the metal all the while moaning for help. Aubree couldn't believe her eyes when she finally coaxed him down. She picked him up and noticed he was covered in grease and his little foot was all cut up. She told Des it took a while to realize the cat had just hitched a ride home with her.

See where his little foot is all bloody? Even a bath with Dawn dish soap didn't remove all the grease.

As soon as Aubree figured out the cat had to have ridden home with her, she called Des.
"Where's your cat, She asked?
I was standing in the kitchen when Des put the phone down and asked me where the cat was.
"Outside," I said.
Then it me.
"Oh no, the cat!"
I ran outside and immediately thought the worst. I was a hundred percent sure I was going to find a dead bloody cat lying in the driveway. Tears were already welling up in my eyes!
Des ran out after me. She was still talking to Aubree on her phone and I could hear only bits and pieces of the conversation.  I couldn't see a dead cat anywhere. Finally from everything my ears heard Deserey say, my mind then began to deduct the dead cat must be at Aubree's house. I thought for sure Aubree had carried the new little kitten home and he was now lying dead in her engine, chopped to pieces by a fan belt.
I was a basket case and Des could see I was about to sit down and ball.
"No mom, NO," she yelled at me. "He's alive. He's ALIVE mom!"
That's all it took. Two words, "He's alive." Then I did start to cry!
My mind could hardly believe my ears. As the whole story unfolded we deducted the cat had followed Aubree to her car. It was at that time two Alaskan Malamutes took chase, scarring the cat up into the engine. Aubree, totally unaware of the illegal hitchhiker, and thinking nothing of the dogs sniffing and barking at her car, climbed in and drove home. Once arriving home she discovered the highly distraught passenger.

I think we should name him, "Miracle." And trust me I would if he wasn't so dang rowdy. It wasn't five minutes after we got him home and tried to clean him up he was ripping up the furniture and romping all over the place. The near fatal ride hadn't phased him in the least bit.
I can't believe he isn't road kill. Or better yet dismembered for life! His little foot didn't escape the fan belt, but that didn't slow him down one bit.  We should name him Spartacus!
After the near fatal incident we thought of calling him Engine, or Rev. Kelson said we should call him Rambo!
I told the story to the kids. They all agreed, he's down to six or seven lives. For now, I think we're going to call him Rowdy. Either that or Pounce! Anyone have any better ideas?
No Gavin, I didn't like "Lucky!" Even though this cat is the luckiest cat ever.
Welcome to the family Rowdy! I have no fear you will grow up to catch lots of mice. The angles are looking out for you! You must be some cat!

Is She Famous?

They came running downstairs like a heard of elephants.
They were pumped to the max.
They'd been to Walmart to buy their blue spandex.
"They were only 5 bucks mom," she boasted.
I could see all three of them were mighty proud of their purchase.
They were ready to do battle for their fearless team.
And as usual, the war paint was on!

Every game, Des artistically paints the paw print trail across her face.

Each week the trail gets longer!

The kids at school are funny.

They always ask her if that's a stamp they can buy somewhere.

Des is an artist in training. No stamp for her.

Each little paw print is painstakingly drawn
then meticulously painted.

Now they were all ready for game night. Fremont's last one. 

I did what I always do. 

I got out my camera!

Late that night after the game was all over, Des walked in with some awesome news. Her face painting paid off. Fremont Silver Wolves took home the title! We talked about the game, how great Fremont had done and went to bed.

Thursday morning Des woke up to her phone beeping off the wall. She was getting one text message after another. Her friends said she was a celebrity, famous!

I don't think so.
Just a die hard Fremont fan!
I gathered the paper to see what all the texting was about!
I laughed so hard when I saw the front page!

The article said,

"THAT CHAMPIONSHIP CHEER!"

It went on to say,

"Deserey Crowther roots on the Fremont High School football team Wednesday night in its game against Davis High School in Kaysville. Her cheering was rewarded as the Silver Wolves took the Region 1 title with a 14-6 win."

What can I say? 

I love life with an energetic fun loving teenager! What a child!

Oh and wait . . .

One last thing. . . way to go Fremont! 

Love that school!

We're Adding More Crows To The Nest!

It's Official!
You're going to want to hit song number 12
Over on the side ===>
While you're reading this!
It gives the whole story ambiance!

Big news here at the Crow's Nest!
Are you wondering who this cute girl is?
Meet Haley,

Soon to be a Crow.  (:
That's right!
She's a K E E P E R'

I love her!
Everyone loves her!

The grandkids love her, 

She even won Corbin and Spencer over,

And that took some serious doing considering she stole their number one side kick!

In this crazy clan of ours, she fits like a glove!

And I've never seen one happier boy!

These two kids are kindred spirits,
Almost clones of each other on the inside.

Soul mates of the best kind.

Did I tell you Haley can keep up with Seth in any arena?

And when it comes to throwing a soft ball,

Look out!

Both of them love sports.
And if you can believe it,

Seth found himself a girl
Who actually loves to watch football with him!
Now, she's a Cleveland Browns Fan too!

I think it was on the first date, Seth knew Haley was the one!

Usually when Seth would take a girl out I'd ask him after it was all over,
"Did you have fun?"
"Yup,"
He'd say.
Then I'd carefully serve up the next question,
"Are you going to take her out again?"
It was always the same answer,
"Nope!"
"Why not?"
I'd plead.
"She's not the one, mom!"
That's it, that's all he would say ---end of discussion.
It was exasperating!!! 

He didn't say that after his first date with Haley.
Hot diggidy-dog, Nosiree!

We've known Haley forever.
I was born and raised with her father.
Been in the same ward with him, my entire life!
Haley is no stranger to us.
We've watched her grow up.

I have to thank my niece Caitlyn,
She gets the pulitzer prize today!
She put these two together.
Haley is her best friend.

Everyone here at the Crow's Nest held their breath
When we got the news Seth was going to take Haley out.
I think we all loved her before he did!

I would have called a family fast if I'd known sooner
Exactly when the date was taking place!

After it was all over, Des and I couldn't wait to get the low down.
Questions were burnin' in us somethin' fierce!
I had Des do the asking.
I didn't dare.
We crossed our fingers and every single toe.
"Did you have fun Seth?"
Des asked as non-chalauntly as she could.
I thought she gave an Oscar winning performance in casualness.
We held tight on the inside, tried not to pass out from anticipation . . .

"Yup!"
That's all he said.
Just Yup!

Like a stealth bomber, Des flew in low for the next question. . .
"Are you going to take her out again?"
I turned around as if I wasn't even interested.
I couldn't let him see my face.
There was serious grimacing.
I was waiting to hear if we had a chance at winning the lottery.

"Yup!"
(I'm beginning to think that is the only word he knows!)

It didn't matter, even without details yup is still a YES!
 I ran outside and did jumping jacks!
I was as happy as Martha Stewart
In the middle of an all out Azalea spring bloom!
Des was clapping when I came back in.
I think after Seth went upstairs, we danced, slapped hands,
And silently had a mini cheering session!

That was it, from then on out Haley slowly started
to appear with Seth at every function.
All of us were down right giddy!
For a while every time I saw them together,
I had to look twice.
I'd go to bed at night and ask Glade to pinch me.

So after some serious dating,

Seth decided to pay our Stake President a visit.

Our Stake President is Haley's dad. 

He was a little nervous when he drove out of the drive way.

I wasn't worried, Dee loves Seth.
Haley's entire family loves Seth.
Sure enough, he gave him his blessing and said,

"Son, move forward!"

So Seth along with his many accomplice's,
 Came up with a plan.
Oh what a plan!
The Crow's bank on borderline genius,
And we flock together in times like these.

It would start with a romantic horse back ride in the mountains.
Ending with a romantic dinner in the woods.

Seth and I had so much fun hunting the hills for the big exciting event!
We went through a tank of gas in the red jeep,
We traversed every single peak and valley!
You should have seen Seth,
He was better than Daniel Boone or Lewis and Clark!

I swear we had driven the whole mountain that day.
Hiked to heights I'd never seen before.
Finally after several hours we stumbled onto this little spectacular winding road.
I was driving along enjoying myself, when Seth ordered me to stop.

Suddenly he flew out of the jeep like a condor on the hunt.
In a flash, he disappeared into the oak brush.

I parked the jeep and jumped out to follow.

"THIS IS THE PLACE!"
For a minute I thought I heard Brigham speaking!
It was perfect!

A beautimous little clearing in the middle of the forest.
No one would know how to get to this pristine spot!

It was so pretty in there,
Made me wish I was 20 and starting out in love all over again!
 So we traced our way back  to the jeep,
And Seth marked the trail with some big rocks. 

Seth had to wait forever for the ring to come.
He designed it himself. 

That's a long hilarious story.
Who waits for a part to come from Switzerland when they design a ring?
Only Seth.
He was determined nothing but the finest for his girl!

When the ring finally arrived Seth loaded up my truck for the big event.

He sent all his brothers and sisters a text message. 

Excitement was in the air!

There was a secret decorating crew.
(Sworn to secrecy they were! They had to take a blood oath.)

All the indispensable items were packed in;
Pumpkins with cute pictures of Haley and Seth pinned to them,

Candles everywhere with battery operated twinkle lights,
Chocolate kisses and rose petals!
And of course a bottle of fake champagne!

Seth bought a beautiful bouquet of flowers for Haley,
Then he ordered up her favorite dish,
Sticky Chicken salad from Wingers.
It only took 72 double "A" batteries,
 And one Sears power-pack to softly light the place!

Haley loves a camp fire and she loves to roast mallows and make smores'
No problem! One fire pit hauled in and stocked with wood.
Seth thought of everything, and all things were carefully prepared.

There was one single beautiful white rose,
laid out for symbolic reasons.

And a pretty porcelain replica of the Logan Temple
All wrapped in a big fancy box.

The undercover operation went off without a hitch.
Finally it was time.

Seth and Haley made their way  down Mustang Flats on their knightly steeds!
(Thanks to a spectacular horse crew.)
I'm sure Haley felt like Guinevere in "Camelot!"

I and my accomplice personally got to hide in the bushes as
Seth left Haley standing in her rightful spot.
"I'm going to go tie up the horses," he told her.
"You wait right here."
Then in the quiet of the night he led them straight to me.

He handed me the horses.
I handed him the ring.
I gave him a big hug.
He gave me a big hug back.
I told him how much I loved him.
He told me thanks in more words than one.
That was it, he turned.
I pushed back all my happy tears,
Then watched him disappear in the dark.
Isn't love grand?

(I climbed on my horse.
That was the second best part of the night.
I got to go on a horse back ride too.
I haven't done that for years.)

By orders
I had hidden the red jeep for Seth and Haley.
Hid the key too and left a flashlight so he could find it.

Seth truly thought of everything!

I wish I could have seen Haley's face
When Seth walked her into her very own personal romantic grove!
The whole night makes for one awesome romantic tale!

Haley ask Seth at the end of her beautiful evening,
"How did you know?"

"Know what?" he replied.

"How did you know that this is just the kind of night I always wanted."

By the way . . .she said "YES!"

When they showed up to spread the good news.

I don't know who had a bigger grin,

Seth or Haley!

And of course . . .
When I saw her sparkling with pure joy,
You know I cried!
They were tears of great and everlasting happiness!!!
Can I say Whahoo here?

Seth has waited a long, long time for this little girl to come along.
Oh how he loves her!

I just know,
It's a match made in heaven!

Dr. Seuss said it best!

"You know you're in love
When you don't want to fall asleep
Because reality
Is finally better than your Dreams."

Welcome to the Crow's Nest Haley!
You are one little bird worth keeping!!!
Yup,
It's Providence!

Birds Of A Feather Stick Together

We're the Crows. We live at the Crow's Nest. We have long declared ourselves bird people! I'm not joking with you. I'm being serious. The birds know about this declaration and it is my bird brained assumption that they love us for it. How can I tell of their undying love for us? Because they flock to my house as if I'm having a party and I invited them all, like they can't wait to come. For instance yesterday I looked out my kitchen window and there must have been at least a hundred birds sitting on my shed. It was birds gone hippie, they were having a full fledged sit in right on my roof. I want to know how word spreads in the bird world. How do they all know to show up at my house together? Maybe they read my blog, after all it does say, "For the birds!"

All these birds behave as if they are my children. Well, I am the head Mother Bird around here. I know they have this idea they belong to me because they keep moving in with me. I told you about the Woodpecker who took up residency on my satellite dish. And the Killdeer birds come every spring to nest in my tree rings out front or along side the driveway so they can get run over. There is an Owl that lives in the big tree across the road. I love it when he calls to me in the dead of night. Numerous birds fly in and out of my place all day long. I run a regular flight zone here! The Magpies have set up a subdivision in the pines out back. I have to fight with the starlings to stay away from my front porch. And on the East corner of my second dormer some little sparrow has made her permanent home under the eaves.

This spring the Robins came in droves. I walked out my bathroom door one day to shake my bedspread and this little mother bird swooped at my head like a F16 Fighting Falcon global aircraft. After her courageous attack on my gnarly morning hair, she landed on the branch in my Flowering Crab Apple tree. Look at her. She's glaring at me. You can barely see papa bird in the background keeping watch as well.

As I watched these birds I had to laugh at the behavior of the mother verses the father. It wasn't the father that was threatening to peck my eyes out for coming too close to their future family. After I shook the bedding that morning I turned around and to my surprise found they had built their beloved home right on top of my porch light. Glade kept telling me to rip it down. I didn't have the heart.

Over the course of hatching her young, Mother Bird and I got to be good friends. I'd check on her every morning and she'd hop out of the nest to the closest branch and watch me work. We'd converse about all sorts of things and I really got so that I loved our early morning visits.

Just as I got use to Mother Bird living with me down home, I drove up to the cabin one day and found her distant cousin had also taken up free room and board on top of my weed eater. See I told you they are just like my kids. Now they vacation with us too.

Lucky for this mama bird we have nothing to weed eat at the cabin and our weed eater is nothing more than a rusty cabin ornament. 

I too am referred to as Mother Bird. . . I let her build her house.

The animal kingdom loves us. This year nearly the entire Bear Lake Pot Gut populous showed up at my cabin. At first I thought they were so cute. That was until I noticed they had built holes everywhere moving mass amounts of dirt to places I didn't need or want dirt. Then there was my neighbors beautiful grass, they ripped that up like a corn maze. After spending a few weeks watching these little varmints, I soon learned they were anything but cute. They had no respect for the fine place I'd built and they had no regard for anything or anyone who got in their way. When I saw how they were threatening to literally take over, I worried the birds had told them we are friendly people.

One morning I went out back to check on my little cabin bird family. Mother bird was going nuts and I discovered in sheer horror something had made it's way to the top of the weed eater and had eaten two of her little blue eggs.

After seeing how distraught the mother bird was I immediately declared war upon the Pot Gut world. I just know it was one of those fat bellied moochers that stole her eggs. I called up my friend and borrowed his high powered B'B' gun and put a bounty on some little brown heads.

We are not law abiding people. We shoot first and ask questions later. You can figure out the end of this tale. We protect our own!

Goose wanted me to post his trophy pictures. I must admit they are great shots of the hunt. However, I told him my blog is "G" rated and I don't want to upset any tree huggers and animal activists that might be blog lurking! But when I print my 2010 blog book, I'll add the pictures just for you Goose! I think you should have made yourself a Pot Gut hat!

I just know word of our protective services in the bird world is going to get out now.  Oh well, it can't be helped. Us birds of a feather have got to stick together!

Photoshopping Life

The difference between a good image and a great image in digital photography often centers around an amazing little program Adobe created called "Photoshop."
When it comes to Adobe Photoshop, there are several different level programs you can purchase. You get to decide if you want to spend a little money or a lot!
When it comes to Adobe and all there is to choose from, you pay for what you get! My philosophy is "Go BIG or Go Home!" And yes, Adobe is a cousin to Apple, in that they are always designing newer and more improved versions to empty your wallet!
I want to make it clear. I love Adobe and there is not a better program! You can agree with me or you can be wrong!
Gavin asked me if I would photoshop a couple of really cool images he and Caroline took on their trip to the Grand Canyon. Gav said he'd like to blow them up and hang them on his wall.

Above is the original and below the enhanced image.

Both pictures were taken with a little point and shoot. The composition is awesome (way to go Gav) but the light is poor, (dingy and flat) and obviously the lens quality on the point and shoot isn't great.
Adobe to the rescue!! Sharpening the image alone enhances the color and brings a new depth to the photo. A little tweaking here and there and the image that was taken with a little point and shoot now takes on dimensions of having been shot with a good DSLR! Like I said, "I love Adobe!"

Again, above is the original and below the enhanced. I think I should lighten the trees a little more.

I love this image! Nice picture taking Gav! The colors are spectacular.

When ever I work on pictures for some reason I feel the spiritual in me take hold. I think that's why I love photography so much. I am a firm believer that photos do record the spiritual as well as the physical. Not only can I see it, but I can feel it in my soul as I'm working on the image.
After spending some time on these pictures, I got to thinking about trying to live my life without the spiritual element present to enhance it. I decided that would be like owning the best digital camera on the market and having no Adobe photoshop program to bring out the best in almost every shot. And while you can surely take a great picture right out of the camera, and that is every photographers goal. Most photographers rarely always shoot a perfect shot. That's where Adobe comes in. Adobe can always take a great picture and make it a little better.
I'm a photographer who is learning photography. I'm an amateur.  I'm on the bottom of the learning heap! Even when you get to the top though, and you get that chance to talk or learn from the finest men and women in photography, they will all tell you the same thing, "I'm still learning." I don't know any photographer no matter how good they are that won't tell you there is always something new to learn and improve upon in the realm of taking pictures.
This is why I love Adobe. Adobe always fixes a good share of my mistakes! While I try as hard as I can to get a good image straight out of the camera. I often mess up! But many times I'm thankful I can plug a photo into Adobe and fix quite a few of those little blunders. Hum, what does that remind you of?
Conference was this past weekend. I watched every session. Conference is an amazing spiritual experience that I can't get enough of. In every talk God personally delivers instruction, thoughts, and ideas that are meant personally for me. It's as if God Himself is spiritually photoshopping my life!
Living life with the spiritual wrapped around it brings out the best image in me! It is forgiving, uplifting, and brings to my life a deep fulfilling joy. And like the subject of photography. Learning how to improve myself and seeking to live my life on a sound spiritual plane is as overwhelming as learning how to take a great picture and develop it to it's maximum capacity!
Photography is the recording of light.
Living life spiritually is the recording of light in my soul!
Here's to enhancing the best in both!