Picasso Paisley

Today we had painting day. I painted a bunch of bowling pins for an upcoming craft and Paisley painted some art for her bedroom. She loved to paint and I will have to get some water colors so we can do this more often. She enjoyed making her own bedroom decorations and is very proud of the end result. We will frame it and hang it in the next couple weeks and be sure to include a picture of my little Picasso's finished piece of art.

Can you say OUCH?

The ward had their AP/YW beach day Saturday while we were in Park City. They went and I had counciled Jon and Cait to LOTION UP. Both of them have been on the receiving end of second degree burns before and I have bought heavy duty lotion. Its a sunblock forget tanning for the two of them. SPF 70!! Caitlin didn't get her chest to well and got abit of sun there but thankfully NO BLISTERS. Jon lotioned everywhere but the tops of his feets!!!!! I am posting the picture of them. I want you to keep in mind that I took the picture today, that means Thursday, FIVE DAYS after he was burned. You can see on his left foot the yellow crustys from the popped blisters. We kept him home from school on Mon, Tues and Wed, but he had to go back today, he was just going to be to far behind. The picture makes me want to cry. I did all I could, but I still cringe to look at it and to know how he must have suffered and still is in fact uncomfortable as the swelling isn't all gone. Sigh.

Headed to Texas

Many of you know that I have looked at jobs in Texas for years because of the cost of living, but I haven't actually ever been to Dallas or Austin for that matter which is where I have been looking. So, Jen and I are taking a long weekend this weekend and are flying to Texas to see if we like the area and to look at houses.  We won't be buying one, but we want to see if we like the area before we flood it with resumes.  We fly out today and will be back Tuesday night.  I hope you all have a nice long weekend yourselves.

Layne and Jen 

New Time of Life for Us

This is James and his friend Brittany. We had an opportunity while in Utah for my marathon to visit with James and meet her. She was very nice. The bad news, her missionary just returned this past Wednesday and she returned to Logan for school yesterday. Its a new chapter for us now that we have children (seems odd calling James a child when he is a man but he is our child) that are of a marrying age. The choices our children make in spouses is HUGE. Its their eternal happiness and the future of our yet unborn grandchildren. Families are also influenced by the infusion of new blood for bad or good. We don't have much of a say, we can only sit back and hope that all that we have taught and lived is now embraced by our children and used in order that they might have happiness like we have.

We love you James!!

Shelley is running St George

Being the humble runner that she is, I thought I would let you know that she is in for St George this year (I wield just a little bit of power, very little). She ran a 20 miler yesterday in 3:15. She is running smooth, fast and strong. This is her year. Sub 4 here we come!!!

Happy Birthday, Dad!!

For your birthday, I'm giving you the largest diamond in the world. It's called the Cullinan Diamond, named after the owner of the mine in South Africa where it was found. A supervisor of the mine was walking around and saw it and picked it up. It weighed 1.3 pounds, or 3,106 carats. There was an imperfection in the middle of the diamond that threatened to shatter the whole thing if it was not properly handled, so the decision was made to cut it into "smaller" stones.

This first stone, the largest of nine cut from the original diamond, is called Cullinan I, the Star of Africa and is in the old Royal Scepter for Africa.



The next largest, Cullinan II, is set in the British Imperial Crown of State. As a side note, the stone above it is a brilliant ruby called the Black Prince Ruby. The Black Prince was the eldest son of Edward III of England, and was acquired in the late 1300's during the Invasion of France. The Black Prince had taken hostage an important Frenchman who gave him the stone as ransom for his release. The Black Prince did not survive the Invasion, due to illness, of all things, so the crown went to Richard II, and thus the seeds were sown for the Wars of the Roses.



Cullinan III and Cullian IV (top to bottom) are set as a necklace and are part of the British Crown Jewels. South Africa was a British colony at the time, so all the good stuff made it back to England. Queen Elizabeth II will wear this on occasion.



She will also wear a brooch from Cullinan VI and Cullinan VIII.




WARNING:

1. Diamonds will shatter if struck with a hammer. Diamonds are 58 times stronger than the next heaviest mineral, but are brittle.

2. If a diamond is put into an oven and heated to 763 degrees Celsius (1405 degrees Fahrenheit), it will simply vanish, without even ash remaining. Only a little carbon dioxide will have been released.


Happy birthday!!

Happy Birthday, Brad

I wasn't sure what to get for you, but then I decided on something I like, which is birds. I can't have any because of my allergies, and I'm certain your dear mother would have an opinion about that, also, so I settled on outside pets. In order for you to garner the awe and respect that you deserve from your school friends, I give you the world's largest and the world's birds. I'll leave it to you to decide which one is which.








The male ostrich from Africa can rise up to 9 feet tall, which is I believe to be about where the bottom of a basketball net is, and can weigh 345 lbs, a weight that your Uncle Lew was approaching until recently.

The bee humming bird comes from Cuba. It is 2.5 inches in length and weighs .06 ounces. That means that for every one ostrich, you can get 92,000 bee humming birds. I would suggest that this far exceeds the total number of such hummingbirds in the their habitat, and thus the entire world.

I know of a couple restaurants that sell ostrich meat hamburgers. An ordinary herbal tea bag weighs more and is larger than this hummingbird. Excellent food for those us on a low carb diet.

Have an enjoyable day!

Happy Birthday Brad

Happy Birthday Brad!! I can't believe that I beat Lewis to a Birthday post! Be sure to post pictures of birthday activities and tell us all about it!!!

Pretty, Pretty Princess

When Leslee came to visit she brought us some of her old games and toys. Today we decided to play pretty, pretty princess. Paisley and I played this afternoon and then when Jason got home he played with her. She was so cute all dressed up in her jewelery and Jason didn't look that bad either.

Our Corn Wall

Well our corn is coming along. Some of it is taller than me! Based on when we planted it, we should be able to harvest it in the middle of September. We hope this goes well because we sure love corn on the cob!!!

Family History Quiz

Here are a few more answers to the family history quiz. Answers 1,2, and 12 are attached as comments to the original quiz. I loved the jaunt through family history I took with Mom and Dad!

Answer for 3:

False. I thought Grandmother only had the three other siblings, but she grew up in a family with five children. The children of Minnie and Clyde Johns are: Marion, Lily, Elsie, Richard and Elva. I think that is the correct order oldest to youngest, but I'm not sure. Marion was 7 years older than Elsie and 7 years older than Lily. When he was a young teenager, he was killed in a tractor accident. I believe he was driving the tractor. I saw many pictures of Lily, Elsie, Richard and Elva, but not any with Marion. Aunt Janice and I questioned Grandmother about a picture of Elsie and her siblings all dressed up in white clothes. Grandmother was about eight years old so Lily would have been 10+ and Marion was not in the the picture. He would have been between 15-17. Grandmother said he had already died before the picture was taken. I asked Grandmother why he wasn't in any of the pictures. I think she was trying to tell me he was so much older than the others and had been killed before many pictures were taken. I'm wondering if Minnie just took more pictures of the children after Marion died. We did have one picture of him. He was riding a horse. When Dad showed that picture to Grandmother and asked her, "Who is this?" she responded right away, "That's Marion and Paint." Paint was his horse. This accident must have happened in Smith Center, KS before the family moved to Emmett, ID.

4. True. The family did move to ID when Elsie was 10. I didn't ask why they moved, but I know that Grandma Nichols did come out to visit them (or maybe lived with them?) because we had pictures of Elsie with Maxine and Minnie Johns and Grandma Nichols at the Emmett, ID house in town. And Grandma Nichols looked very old. I don't know how she would have traveled much. Maybe she lived there by then.

5. True!! The Johns family has a main thoroughfare named Johns Avenue that runs prominently through town and intersects with Main Street.

6 and 7. True/True. When Clyde Carver Johns died, Minnie divided up the 40 acres into four 10 acres parcels, one for each of her surviving children. This is a picture of part of the 40 acres. The buildings in the background are not on the original 40 acres.Richard, Lily, and Elva were given their parcels, but the farmhouse, Minnie's home, was on the last parcel of land designated for Elsie. Minnie kept control of that parcel and stayed in her farmhouse until (don't know when) she decided to sell the parcel and farmhouse and move to town. She used the proceeds of the sale of land to buy her home on Maple Street near the town's Ice House. Lily built a home on her parcel which she lived in and this is it. Richard and Elva eventually sold their parcels, Dad didn't think they ever built homes on the land. When Minnie was very old, she moved in with Elsie and Harold Carver Whelchel living somewhere in Oregon by then (I think)and died while with them. Her town home was sold and her estate was divided up again among the four children when she died.

8. True. Granddad grew up in Caldwell, ID on a farm that Dad says was way out of town. We did not drive by the farm, but we drove through Caldwell which is now a thriving suburb of Boise. His father, Authur Monroe Whelchel, was a dry farmer in Caldwell. I don't know what he grew, but I know dry farming means no irrigation; you wait for the rain to come. Authur, to suppliment the farming income, built several homes in Emmett, ID which we drove by and are still standing close to Johns Ave. In Caldwell, is the College of Idaho, where Granddad met Elsie Johns who was also studying there. Granddad father was studying to teach music and Elsie (I think) was studying piano. She was very good as we all know.

9. No one knows for sure what happened, but Carver Whelchel entered the college of Idaho known as Harold by all of his family and Caldwell friends. But when he emerged from that institution of learning everyone there called him Carver including his wife. Seems to me he wanted to change his name just like many teenagers do. Was Carver a less unfortunate name than Harold? Who can say. But let me remind you Layne's middle name is Carver not Harold.

Well, that's all for now. Here are a few photos I know you'll want to see. This is in front of Aunt Janice's house, which is the most darling house you have ever seen. It is a short walk away from Historic Baker City which is just wonderful.

Grandmother was not doing well and doing her very best to be just as she ever was. We had a wonderful visit though it was sad for me. Mom and Dad will be posting her mailing address. I would recommend sending her cards now while she will be able to enjoy them. I love you.

Martissa

Update on our family

Lauren has moved back home. Wal-Mart wanted her but the regional guy here is NOT approving any transfers so she is looking for a job. They are very hard to come by. She did apply at Chuck E Cheese as they are hiring. She thinks that would be a fun job. She has applied to Victor Valley College and is registering for classes today. Caitlin, Lauren and I are running a half marathon tomorrow up at Crestline (Lake Gregory). I work about 2 hours after, so lets hope it goes well. Weather is supposed to be perfect.

James has a girlfriend (don't know if he would call her that yet) but they spend what ever time they have available together. Her name is Brittany and she is a senior at Weber State in Communications. She intends to be a marriage and family counselor. She will be heading north to school in a week or two. Poor James. Her family had him over for dinner last night to "officially" meet him. Tonight the two of them go out again. We haven't met her, just seen pictures and heard lots of wonderful descriptions of their time together. We have approved her, but it remains to be seen what the future holds for the two of them. LOL.

Daniel is still working at Appleby's, still contemplating going to VVC as well. Not sure what will happen with him yet.

Caitlin and Jon are back in school, today is the last day of their first week. Monday seminary starts. I have been taking them in the mornings but they take the bus home in the afternoon. We hope to carpool with someone for seminary. I would like to do the early morning run and then let someone else grab them from seminary and take them up to the school. We shall see. They both seem to like it alright. Jon has met a girl from germany (Jon loves all things german, we don't know why). She is an exchange student, her name is Vanessa. She is in his german 2 class and also in one of Caitlin's classes. They both like her.

Lewis should be getting the official letter offer from Nutro any day now, so they claim. Then we get to find out how much of a pay cut he gets. We are set on staying here and making it work. We will try to get our present landlady to reduce the rent come renewal time or we will move to a cheaper place. Rents here have dropped dramatically and we are on the high end now. I am doing my homework and will show her documentation of what rents are presently (in February) and give her the option of reducing the rent and having us stay or us leaving and her having to find someone else and fix the house up again. Not sure what her financial situation is but she is going to be hard pressed to find someone to pay rent for what someone could pay in a mortgage.

I'm busy working at Wal-Mart and getting ready for the race in November. I have a full marathon coming up in Park City on August 23rd. We will be headed up there on Thursday, stopping in Overton, Nv to take care of some race business, then stopping in St George that night. Hoping to spend some time on Friday with James and perhaps meeting Brittany before she heads north then heading up to Park City on that evening to bunk down before the big race on Saturday. Plans are to take a good ice bath after the race and then get in the car and drive all the way home.


That is it for us, what is happening with the rest of you?

We're having a heat wave!

A while back when we still had a dirt backyard we bought a fun little blow up pool for paisley. Since our sod has now taken to the ground and isn't as fragile, yesterday we decided to blow it up for the first time and have some fun cooling our 103 outside temp with some cold hose water. Paisley loved it of course. While Paisley and I were swimming Jason made some yummy snow cones. It was a fun hot afternoon with some cool treats!

Jason is off to Nevada for a business trip tomorrow. We'll see if Kansas beats them in temperature!