Band Camp

The American Fork High School Marching Band and Color Guard gets away for four days every year to work on their field show.

The guard is big enough that they get a whole bus to themselves.

And off they go . . . .

  They go to the Intermountain Power Plant near Delta.  There is nothing there, cell service doesn't work well, there is no internet.  The kids eat, practice, eat, practice, eat, practice, and go to bed, get up in the morning and it starts all over again.  It is hot there, no tv, no distractions, only band.  The group makes great progress on their show and they come home as a "unit". 

I took a day off of work and went there to help, watch, take pictures, and enjoy the camaraderie.

  The friendship developed there are not only among the Band Mom's and Dad's who give of their time to help the kids.

Here's to hoping that next year that Richard and I are spending the whole 4 days at Band Camp with 250 high school kids.

Tour of Utah

WHAT A FUN RACE!!!!!! Six fun filled days of officiating bike racing.  I was lucky enough to be asked to be the Chief Judge. 

Day 1 was a Prologue up at the Ski Park.

Day 2 - a Circuit Race around Ogden

Day 3 - a Road Race around Utah Lake

Day 4 - Time Trial at Larry Miller Motor Sports Park

Day 5 - Circuit Race around Downtown Salt Lake City

Day 6 - Road Race starting in Park City and finishing at Snowbird.

I had a GREAT time being a part of this event.  I have been a part of TOUR OF UTAH, since it started as a 3 day stage race on the local level.  It progressed to a Cat 1 only race, then to a Pro/Cat 1 race on the National Racing Calendar, and now a Pro Only UCI race. 

Richard and Rachael were able to come to the Salt Lake City Circuit Race as guests of the event.  They had VIP passes for the finish line.  They were in the VIP tents, watching the race, eating lunch, having a good time.

On the final day, Richard and Rachael rode in the CHIEF JUDGE car.  They don't get to see much of the race, but it is a BLAST.

Rachael didn't get Levi Lepheimer to look at her.  He was the overall winner of the race.  This picture was taken as he left the sign-in area.

I had to score the SPRINT line in Kamas.

Then we moved to the KING OF THE MOUNTAIN at the top of the Alpine Loop

We were able to jump into our car and get on down the road right after this group of riders.  In between the first guy that came by the King of the Mountain and this group of riders, we had a tree fall down on the road.  Lucky it didn't hit any of the racers.

Another picture of the race leader, Levi, as we headed thru Alpine.   We worked our way around this group of 7 riders and headed to the top of Snowbird to prepare for the finish.  The excitement is building, will Levi hold onto his lead or will someone else take it away from him.  We got to the finish line to find. . . .  . . .

Yes, that is CADEL EVANS - the 2011 winner of the TOUR de FRANCE.  He was in the back of the Finish Line Trailer.  He was there watching his teammate, Jeff Louder win the "Best Utah Rider" Jersey.

I don't know how many times, one of my National Officiatiing Assignments will include the Tour of Utah, but I'll take it any time I can get it.  Officiating one of the best races in the United States right here in my back yard, how lucky can I get!

He just keeps growing up.

Another Birthday!!!!!

Our Grandson, Sean is growing up.  We had a BBQ to celebrate his 9th birthday.  

 

Sean got to eat his dinner on the "Happy Bithday" plate.

Of course there was presents.

Grandma wants to see him in his new clothes.

The smile on that face has to do with the money he got from Grandma and Grandpa Anderson.  He also found money in the pockets of his new pants,, and he got some money from the Keller's.  Lookout Walmart - that money will soon be burning a hole in those new pockets.

Of course there was cake

And blowing of candles.

Sean then ran in the house and washed off his special plate so that he could have his birthday cake on it to,

Happy Birthday, Sean!  We are so glad that you are a part of our family.  We Love You!

Our Summer Obsession

Our friend Kathy has a beautiful family.  A boy named Tommy, and little girl, named Kyla and a  baby girl named Macy.  Macy was born with a little something extra, Trisomy 21 Down Syndrome.  We follow her family Blog and enjoy seeing a small glimpse into their life.  On day on her blog we saw a post that didn't make much sense to us, but got us interested and wanted to find out what she was talking about.

That lead us to THIS.  The Cox family in the Ukraine adopting a 4 year old girl with Down Syndrome.  Rachael and I were instanly hooked.  We checked this blog every day, multiple times waiting for an update on their daily visit with Mia Kareen.  Rachael would call me at work and say "New Post" and I would be trying to pull it up on my cell phone or run home at lunch to check it out. 

From there we went to the "Blog's I follow" on Kareen's page and have followed some of the other families who have a child with down syndrome.  Rachael has always had a soft spot for children with down syndrome, when she was in Head Start a little boy in her class had down syndrome and she wanted to learn sign language to communicate with him.  We picked up a basic sign language book and learned some sign language.

This is the best video ever - Mia Kareen - one less orphan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbUo3F-t8GM

It is great that Rachael and I have such a fun thing to share with each other.  We don't know any of these people, but are so thankful for the love that we feel for them and the children that they have brought into their homes. 

Many of these families have shared this story on their blogs and it is one that we now treasure:

A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement.

She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!”

The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied,

“Well, I made a difference to that one!”

Thank you to the Cox family for making a difference not only to Mia Kareen, but to us.  We are better because of you.

The Farmers Market

You never know what you'll find at the Farmer's Market.

Yes, this piano is on wheels and hooked to a bicycle.  Have piano - will travel.

They even have a person "monitoring" the bike area, to keep them all safe.  You get a "ticket" when we leave your bike, and turn the ticket in to get your bike back.

All I know is that we had a GREAT time wandering around.