Pre Christmas in Salt Lake

Well the weekend before Christmas we all got together in Salt Lake City. Grandma and Grandpa went Friday Night on our 39th Wedding Anniversary. The rest came Saturday Morning. Lots of fun getting together.

Pretty Hot Stuff!!

Then there was swimming.

We did some gift exchanges on Saturday Night following a big day of fun.

Saturday Night also brought visiting the lights and pictures on the Main Street Plaza.

Grandma and Grandpa are having FUN! Can you tell?

Sometimes the FUN is too much.

Even Carter with his Hockey Jersey. Oh what a kid.

Have you ever spent 3 hours at the Discovery Center with 8 kids? It is a good thing that the 4 older ones could take care of themselves.

Even a helicopter ride.

Then we worked at being a Store Keeper.

Giddy Up Horsey!!!

A climbing wall can be lots of fun. Go Grandma you can make the top.

Are we having fun yet?

Construction at work.

More swimming.

Is Oakley having fun? I think so.

What a cool Dad.

Even pizza around the pool. What a great lunch.

Then we travel to the Gateway on the Trax Train.

It was a great Christmas Celebration with our family together. Next time will be New Years Eve together in Star Valley.

U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree from Wyoming

This is the first time that the State of Wyoming has been able to provide the US Capital Christmas Tree. It was taken from the Bridger Targhee National Forest near Jackson Hole. It was selected several months ago and a landscaping company from Jackson has been nurturing it. They have fertilized and watered it to make look its best. Before cutting they sprayed it with a waxy substance to keep the needles. It has been a major process to cut and ship it. Last Friday it was in Rock Springs. Joyce took her 3rd Grade to see it. It was enclosed but below you can see some plexy glass windows with holes to view and feel it.

It was on an exta long trailer. It has been traveling in Wyoming and left today to make many stops throughout the US before making it to the capitol. They event tracking the travel of the tree by satelite on a website www.trackthetree.com It is pretty fun to watch the progress. You can learn more about the tree at the Casper Star Newspaper at http://trib.com It is pretty exciting for Wyoming as it is the first time in history that we have provided the tree.

Leadership Wyoming

Five years ago I participated in a Leadership Wyoming Program. We traveled to several places around Wyoming learning about natural resourses, education, legislative aspects, medical and social aspects in the State.

Each fall we have an Alumni Institute further learning and reviewing many of the things we experienced. This year it was in Star Valley. It was a great experience even after living there for 7 years. Star Valley is still an amazing place.

The pictures below are of an outstanding natural feature. Intermittent Spring is the world's largest cold water intermittent spring. Afton as applied to make this a Wyoming State Park. The following is a link to a video web page of the spring

These next pictures show spring as the water fall is finishing up at the bottom.

The water is gone above. Watch the pictures below as the water starts from the top.

It is really amazing to see the water stop and the canyon get quiet. Then the water starts up again and has a loud roar.

What a fantastic natural wonder of Wyoming.

Even beautiful colors in the Swift Creek Canyon.

Another amazing fact about Star Valley is that they have had aircraft manufacturing for 50 years. Originally they manufactured agricultural spray planes. They have been manufacturing Aviat Husky's bush planes and Pitts acrobatic planes for the past 20 years. It was interesting to hear how much 9/11/01 affect a small manufacturer in Star Valley Wyoming. Their employment and production is still down one third since then. It is interesting to see them create a tubular aluminum frame.

Then cover it with fabric and several coats of resin to make it as hard as metal.

What a beautiful finished product and built in downtown Afton Wyoming.

We also visited the Freedom Arms manufacturer of the 454 Cassull Pistol. It is one of the most accurate pistols made and hand manufactured in Freedom Wyoming. It was really good to be in Star Valley again.

Fall Colors change every year

The colors are different every year. Check out the dates on the first 3 pictures taken last year. They came earlier this year and left sooner. They did not seem as vivid.

Fall is still one of the most beautiful seasons in Star Valley.

Labor Day in Star Valley

Everyone was in Star Valley for Labor Day. We all had a great time and here are a few pictures of the Worlds Greatest Grandkids.

Later in the summer

Just in case you have not noticed, I have not done any blogging all summer. Not just because of having 2 yards to take care of and Joyce surgery recovery, but my computer has not allowed me to do a new post.

I did not have any pictures from the 4th of July but all the kids came to Star Valley. We did fireworks, swimming, playing ball, games and lots of good food.

Joyce is recover to the point we could play in our Lions Sight Foundation golf tournament in Jackpot. She brought the term handicap in golf to the max. She wore her boot brace, used the crutch to go from the golf cart to the ball. Then she hit the ball and hobbled back to the cart. The embarassing part was that we used more of her drives than mine.

All Frank and I could do was just stand and watch.

The most exciting part was that we tied for low gross and won low net in our flight. We had a great time again with our great friends the Chadwicks. What a great weekend.