Greg and Kelley

Kelley coached the Fuego to total dominance over the Panthers today.  Erin had two goals and two assists to her teammate Christian who punched them in.  Sarah cheered, "Go, Erin, go!"

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Kelley and Adam and I just got back from a weekend in Yosemite.  We stayed two nights in a nice cabin in Wawona, inside the south gate of the park, about 60 miles from our house.  (Kelley's mom and dad stayed with Erin and Sarah.) 

Friday night we had dinner in the Wawona Hotel.  Saturday morning, we drove to Glacier Point for the views of the domes and Yosemite Valley.  Perfect weather.  Adam enjoyed riding in the back seat of the Jeep with the top down looking at the tall trees.  In the afternoon, we explored the Historical Pioneer Village in Wawona, including its very nice covered bridge.  Early evening on Saturday, we went to Mariposa Grove to inspect the 500 giant sequoias there.  We saw eight mule deer, including two bucks near Wawona Meadow with large, velvety racks.  By the time we returned to our cabin in the failing light, all of the sourthern part of the park had lost power.  We still managed to make a pretty good dinner on the Webber grill by the light of an oil lamp, a Petzl headlamp, and a large wood fire in the fireplace.  Power came on at 10:22.

We had fun.  Click the pictures for a few more.

After dinner Erin and Sarah and I went for a Sunday drive with the top down and blankets on their laps.

Erin said, "Dad, I know these are the foothills."  I said, "And how do you know that?"  She said, "Because they are not too big."

We got back after the Sun had set and the light was failing.  We were gone only for about an hour.

Adam is almost three months old.  Here he is:

Erin and Dad slept in a tent in the backyard on Friday night.  It was Erin's first night in a tent.

First, we looked at Jupiter's moons:

Then, to sleep:

In the morning, Sarah came out to see how we did.  After seeing how cozy Erin looked, Sarah decided to try it out:

It was a big success.  Erin is ready to go up to the Sierras before the snow comes.

Erin took these most of these pictures with a disposable camera on a trip she and I took earlier this month up the trail alongside the Kings River.  The last 8 miles were unpaved. 

Click the pictures for more.

Here is where we ended up before we turned around to be back by lunch.

Last Saturday, Erin, Sarah and I drove the open-top jeep up to Shaver Lake and rented a boat for a picnic on the water.  They both had turns driving the boat, and then we ate our lunch in the middle of the lake.  Erin took most of these pictures with a disposable camera.

Click above for more.

We then went to the Renaissance Fair (or Faire, if you prefer) in the town of Shaver Lake.  No pictures as it was far too depressing.

On the way home we drove down the unpaved and somewhat rough Musick Farm Road a little ways.  The girls were clamoring for a "bumpy road," which is one of their favorite Saturday activities.  Mine too. 

They slept on the way home, heedless of the buffetings of the wind in the back seat of the open truck.

I seem to remember that when we were kids, mixed in with our regular daily flatware was a single spoon with a slender, tapered, dark hardwood shaft for a handle.  And that the spoon was an object of desire and envy among us kids.  If you were tasked with setting the table for dinner, you would try to put the wood spoon at the setting that you expected to use.  Underhanded methods would be used to secure the spoon for oneself at the upcoming meal.  

Am I making this up, or does anyone else remember this?

by Erin Taylor

Harbor Hills Ward Primary

27 July 2008

I would like to share a story about my Uncle Seth.  When he was 19, he was a missionary in Mexico.  But even before then, when he was a little boy in Primary, he was already great missionary.

When Uncle Seth was a boy in Bakersfield, he belonged to an elite youth paramilitary group called the Cub Scouts.  He invited Neil, his friend from school, to go to Cub Scout meetings with him.  Neil was not a member of the Church.  Neil and Seth loved to go to Cub Scouts together. 

Later, Uncle Seth invited Neil to go to Primary with him.  Neil had never heard of Primary and didn't know what it was.  Uncle Seth told him that it was a fun place that he went with other kids on Sunday where they sang songs, played games, and learned about Jesus from very nice teachers.  Uncle Seth told Neil that he would like Primary, just like he liked Cub Scouts.  Neil's mom and dad said that it was OK.

Neil liked going to Primary with Seth.  Neil's parents liked the things that Neil was learning in Primary, so they began to go to Church too.  Soon, Neil's whole family was baptized into the Church.  They were later sealed in the temple.

When Seth went on a mission to Mexico, Neil went on a mission to Venezuela.  But even when he was just a little Cub Scout, Uncle Seth was already a great missionary.

I will try to be like my Uncle Seth and invite my friends to Primary.  I will do this because all kids are children of Heavenly Father and he wants us all to go to Primary.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

We didn't manage to get any strong photographic evidence, but we did see Uncle Justin today in and around Newport Beach and Irvine.  He sat next to us at church, had dinner with us, and then went for a walk on which Sarah was only slightly wounded.

Though she prefers the Warren Zevon solo version--this video is a duet with Jackson Browne.

We wanted to give mom and Adam some time to rest this afternoon so we went on an outing to Balboa Island (where one finds Bluth's frozen banana stand) and Balboa Peninsula.  The girls' favorite part is taking the 3-car ferry from Balboa Island to Balboa Peninsula.  (In a miracle of modern geography, you drive on to the island but have to take a ferry to the peninsula.  Go figure.)  We had milkshakes on the roof of Ruby's diner at the end of Balboa Pier, and then drove home with the top down.

Click above for more pictures.

Born today June 23, 2008, at 10:31 a.m.  He weighed almost 8 pounds, and measured 20.5 inches fore and aft.

He had a bit of a rough time coming, apparently having wrapped the umbilical cord around his neck, a tree, and the bumper of a truck.  He also managed to arrange his shoulder such that you'd think he didn't want to come out.  But out he came, a bit shaken.  (You can see, in the first picture of the gallery, taken just minutes after he was born, his original grayish color.  He is holding his own oxygen mask.)  But he snapped back admirably in no time, turned a nice pinkish color, and immediately ate his first lunch. 

Click the picture above to see a gallery of Adam with his parents, his sisters, and Kelley's parents.

UPDATE: Now with ø!

Here's Erin and Sarah watching the Rockettes TV special on Christmas Eve (2 videos):

And 5 videos of them playing with new presents:

Here's Erin showing me how to use her new soccer ball and goals:

After Christmas we went and spent a few days in Santa Barbara.  Here we are at the beach in parka weather: