Graduation!

Yesterday was Chantel's graduation from Mountain View High School. It was held at the Marriott Center at BYU. The program was good, the speakers kept their remarks short and it was overall a fun ceremony. When the graduates were presented my wife went down closer to get some pictures. I guess she didn't have all the right settings for her camera because a lot of the pictures were blurry. Oh well. After the program we all went outside and got many pictures of Chantel and her friends. Jenny Robinson was so excited to see Grandma & Grandpa Beckstrand again. 

We then loaded up and went to China Lily for lunch. That was a tasty experience. I love the Salt and Pepper Chicken dish there! We came home full and said good-bye to Grandma and Grandpa who left, pulling their 5th Wheel, to serve a mission up at Martin's Cove. We headed over to see Grandma Verla, who lives at the Seville. She is always excited to see the grandkids.

Well, my dear wife has been on an emotional roller coaster with all of this. She can't talk about Chantel or her future with out bursting into tears. It will be really odd when Chantel leaves to go live at the dorms at BYU in late August. As for now, I am trying to keep it all together. 

It is so weird to think how quick her school years have gone by. Why did MY high school years take forever? And how come no one tells you how you are going to feel and how to prepare for your children growing up and getting older? All I know is how proud I am of all my girls and how much I love them. They are each so beautiful and have their own special abilities. I just hope that all the years of their mother's love and their father's teachings will have sunk deep into their hearts. My girls ROCK!

CONGRATULATIONS CHANTEL!!!

A Memorable Day

So it was wet and at times chilly, and I am experiencing a sore throat (my daughter Chantel brought home a huge shake from Iceberg the other night, let Madalyn and me take a few bites before she exclaimed "My throat has been so sore for the last few days!" Thank you), but Memorial Day was memorable. I got up early and, as I do every day, had Fiber One and a couple slices of high fiber bread. (My friend Kimball Lyman once said, "Bishop, it tastes like DIRT!") I then drove out to American Fork to run a 5K with my brother Carl. His 3 daughters, Serena, Michelle, and Marissa were there with him, commenting on everything and everybody. They are funny. It was cold and raining. The rain quit just before we took off running. The first mile was no problem, the second took us uphill around the cemetery, which kicked my butt. I managed to finish right around 21:55. Carl came through a few minutes later. I'm a bit sore today.

I spent a number of hours trying to clean out my art, drum, and sanctuary room so my daughter Chantel can have her own room. I guess somewhere in the past we said she could have her own room when she started college. She starts BYU in June. Man, it is depressing giving up my space. She will move into Helaman Halls in the fall, so I will get it back, though I can picture one of the other girls saying they want it.

We then had a BBQ with the Clegg's, Wakefield's, and Grover's in the Clegg's backyard. It was fun and cold and wet. Thomas Grover made some of the best baked beans I've ever had! We played Bocce Ball in their yard. We all felt guilty when our balls were smashing their rock walkways or wood bridges. We hung out and had some fun conversations, too. 

I struggled with the thought of going back to work today. It wasn't too bad, but I'd prefer to be hanging out with the family and friends!

It's Memorial Day Weekend!?

Global Warming? It's a giant load of hud. Here we are at Memorial Day weekend and it's so stinking cold outside that I actually feel sorry for all the "picnic-ers" who will be at the cemeteries. 

I had a friend, Hank Ford, whose parents would rent a beach cabin and bunk room at Maresa Beach a few miles south of Santa Cruz. I was invited for the first time in 1980 and went for a number of years. I loved being in the ocean both surfing and body surfing. Mr. & Mrs. Ford would always have a big party with lots of guests and tons of real nice food. It is the only time in my life that I chose to eat a clam. No thanks. That trip was usually the opening of summer.

But here we are, ready to start the weekend, and it's FREEZING outside! Apparently this last April was the coldest in the last 114 years. Global temperatures have been decreasing for the last 10 years. In the 70's the "Brilliant Scientists" and others were desperate because we were heading into another ice age. Oye. Global warming, geeze, hey, Al Gore, I've got my electric blanket on and it's the end of May! For Pete's sake.

Anyway, with the holiday we will remember our military who have served our country. My grandfather served in World War I and II and even was in Korea helping out. We will most likely get together with family or friends for a bar-b-que, though we might have to be wearing a jacket when we are flipping the meat!

Prom

My two older girls went to prom on the 10th of May. This was Chelsea's first official date (I did take her out the night before). She turned 16 on the 6th. She was really excited. Her date was a senior named Braden and he picked her up in his dad's Mercedes! She looked really pretty. Our neighbor Beth and her mother did our girls hair and make up. This was Chantel's last  formal dance before graduating Mountain View High School. Chantel's date was about 2 feet taller than her! No, really. Chantel was wearing the tallest shoes she could find, but it was still funny. 

Teresa and I got to chaperone the dance, which was held at Noah's place out in Pleasant Grove. I thought the room looked a wee bit small, and it turned out to be. It was about 500 degrees in there. We were asked to make sure no one went upstairs, and were seated right by the bathrooms. They were single occupancy each and it was funny to watch the prom-goers fidget and

 do the "potty dance" while they waited.

 I was happy that my daughters both had a great time and came home with "honor" (we always joke about returning with honor). I have some pictures of my girls for you to see. 

I've known my wife since 1981 and we were the typical love-hate high school romance. Well, for my senior ball I took out a girl named Lisa, and my best friend Lance took out a girl named Lisa, too. I rented a tux and we ate at Maxwell's Plumb in San Francisco. My date order a lot of a-la-carte menu items (she must have been used to doing so- her dad was a rich airline pilot). I think I ordered a bowl of hot water (what I could afford!). The dance was at the Fairmont in SF. It was a fun night, but drained me of my meager $3.35 an hour, shoe dying job earnings pretty quick. Literally the next day Teresa called and asked me to take her to her prom. Without any regard or thought about how it would affect her, I just said no because I was financially depleted. 

She has never let me forget it.

So, by chaperoning the dance, I have now officially "taken her to prom". 

I did ask myself when I wanted her home and what my intentions were, etc. I need to talk to the bishop.

Me and Sour Cream

We had a big lunch at work yesterday and as occasion often happens I passed on the sour cream as a condiment. When asked why, I always say I'm not friends with sour cream. Today I had to rehearse the story of how we became enemies-

I was almost 16, had my driver's permit, and would go anywhere anytime for anything for my mom or anyone else if it meant driving! So, my mother says she needs a few items at the store, including sour cream. Well, I was too cool to look dorky pushing a cart and it was before they offered the wee baskets, though, that would be even worse than a cart. As I continue to grab item after item, my arms were getting pretty full. I was just about to the check out counter when the tub of sour cream falls off the top of my stack of stuff. It landed face down on the lid. I reached down to pick it up, grabbing the tub. The lid stayed on the floor with the sour cream, and I was holding an empty tub. I looked at the white mound and saw it was flattening out so I shoved the tub back onto it and flipped it over. Well, there was sour cream oozing all over and me being a stupid teenager and not wanting to ask for help, I started licking all the sour cream that was spilling out! Lick after globule lick. By the time I got to the check out counter I was green and ready to barf. We knew the crew there at Monson's Market pretty well and Lance, the check out clerk, looks at me and just says "Why didn't you just get a new one?!"

So there you have it. I hate sour cream and it hates me. Only when it is disguised in a sauce or dip can I handle it.

Spring Vacation

It has been 5 years since we have had a real "Family Vacation", so with school done for me and my daughters all having Spring Break we decided to drive to Vancouver, WA to visit my wife's parents. My oldest daughter, Chantel, brought her best friend Jenny along, too. The 11 1/2 hour drive is brutal, especially through Idaho and Eastern Oregon, but once you hit the Columbia Gorge, it becomes a bit easier to take.

Our first destination was the Oregon Coast. We left for Tillamook to visit the Cheese Factory! We walked around,had samples of delicious cheese, bought a bunch (and squeaky cheese curds) then had ice cream. My wife had a goal for the trip- to eat a different type of Tillamook ice cream every day. She missed only one day of ice cream. We proceeded to the coast, stopping at different places for photos and to run down to the water, and hit a number of surf shops for stickers and t-shirts.

We proceeded up to Astoria. That is where The Goonies was filmed. It is a cool, old Victorian looking town. We headed up to the Astoria Column only to find that they have ripped out the 144 step spiral staircase to replace it with a modern one. (The previous one was built in 1921). Still a beautiful view of the river and ocean, though.

The highlight for the girls all happened on the day we went up the Gorge to see all the waterfalls. We started by heading up to the Vista House then proceeded down the old highway. Each of the waterfalls is so beautiful in it's own way. Well, when we came to Multnomah Falls, my wife noticed some trucks that said something about Twilight. It started raining pretty hard as we were walking up to the falls. There was a film crew there and and a few little canopy tents. I ducked under one for a moment, then we noticed under the next one were the stars for the movie Twilight that was being filmed. (My older 3 daughters are way into the Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse books). I guess the star who plays Edward, the main vampire character, was in the 4th Harry Potter movie who was killed at the tournament, Cederick Diggory I think. My wife suggests the girls go stand next to him for a photo. We asked and they said it was fine. He asked why weren't the girls wearing coats and then looks at my youngest daughter, who didn't go over, "Aren't you a fan?" to which she just shook her head and stayed put. So, we got a few pictures. Jenny was freaking out the rest of the day. It was hilarious. 

We traveled to Lake Oswego to visit the Portland Temple. It is beautiful, as all temples are, and even has an atrium inside that we went in and sat for a minute. It is so great to feel the Spirit and be calm for just a moment.

We stopped at Powell's Book Store in Portland. It is huge! We bought a couple books, and we even went back to buy a Shakespeare bobble head, an Edgar Allan Poe miniature and a small Mark Twain figure. I was within inches of buying the perfect white-elephant gift; a Jesus bobble head, but my conscience wouldn't let me do it.

Another highlight was visiting my friend Mitch Baird. Mitch and I went through the Illustration Department at BYU. He has a small home and studio in West Linn. I am so pleased to see him painting and doing well. He and I have at times during school laughed so hard we thought we literally would die. Check his work out at www.mitchbaird.com. 

These are just some highlights from the trip. It was very nice to see the in-laws and spend time with them. They are preparing to serve a 3 month mission at Martin's Cove in a month or two, so we "helped" them get rid of their excess food! Marilyn, my mother-in-law, cooked for us each night and everything was always delicious. And we kept on eating ice cream! (I did run every morning around 3 or 4 miles each day to feel better about the ice cream consumption!)

The drive home was helped along by season 3 of Seinfeld being played on the laptop. People probably thought we were nuts laughing so hard as we drove by. My wife didn't hassle me as much this time about going 90 mph. Anyway, it was a lot of fun and I loved spending so much time with my family.

Feel the Burn

Saturday morning I woke and was determined to get out on my road bike. I get up early every day, so a major sleep-in is about 6:30. When I first got up there was no wind at all. As the morning progressed, the wind really picked up. Well, I took off riding, determined to get a good hour in before the day got into gear. There is a HUGE difference from riding the stationary bike to being out on the road! My legs were feeling the ache, but it was the cold wind that really had my lungs feeling the burn. A couple times while waiting at stoplights I swear I was experiencing "ice cream headaches" the wind was so cold! I kept thinking how stupid I am going to look passing out while standing there.  I managed to have a long hard ride and made it home completely conscious. Trying to walk downstairs was pretty funny, though. I just wish we could have nice enough weather so I could be out every day.