A Neighborhood Visitor

I went to work this morning at 7 AM. And the first thing I dealt with was a visitor in Vernal - a bear!
First he was reported about a block from our house running down the road. Then he was seen in the parking lot of the nearby Smiths Grocery store. Then he was back in the road.
Wildlife officers, deputies and Vernal City police gave chase. The bear ran right up our street in front of our house.
The man who lives across the street walked out to get into his truck and go to work. He didn't even notice the bear until the deputy began honking his horn and hit the siren.
The bear was finally run up a tree in a field north of town. Wildlife officers tranquilized it and returned it back into the forest.
Thanks to one of the deputies I got copies of the pictures he managed to take of the bear. Here's a link to the photo set - Bear Pictures

Andy's Butterflies - updates

Andy just learned that his short film Butterflies has been accepted as part of the International Children's Film Festival! And it has been selected for a showing at this years Comic Con in San Diego!
It was earlier accepted in the Kid's First Film and Video Festival.

There is a website for the Butterflies movie. Here's a link to get information and a trailer: Butterflies website

Comic Con info: Comic Con

Trip to Ephraim

LaRue, Robin and I took a little trip to Ephraim last week. We spent the better part of a week there doing repair work at the houses and playing in the rain.

Because of the tasks we were undertaking, Robin and I spent our nights camped out in a tent. And it rained every night except one. But the tent was dry.

At one point Robin and I had a couple of items to take to the landfill. So we loaded up and headed to the Ephraim dump. Surprise! It's only open 2 days a week and we picked the wrong day. So we had to turn around and drive about 25 miles south to the dump between Mayfield and Gunnison. Thanks to the rain the dump was a mud bog.

I took a few pictures. I have more which I might post later. But for now here are a few to see: Ephraim Trip Photos

I also added a new version of the pictures using different software. Here's a link to the alternate set: Ephraim Trip Photos - 2

Let me know which set you like better.

Old Blue Truck

The old blue truck is once again parked on the street. For the past two years it was been sitting off to one side of the front yard.

Here's the story - a little over two years ago the gear shift on the steering column broke. There was no way to change gears without lifting the hood and manually moving the rod that connects to the transmission. So, when the city decided to re-pave the road we had to move the truck out of the way.
After that I pulled the steering column completely out. The inner shaft was broken in several places and we needed to replace the column assembly. Over the course of the next several weeks we tried to locate one at a salvage yard. No luck. So the truck sat.
One day I was getting a ride home from work with one of the deputies. He is a bit of an automotive tinkerer and asked about the truck. He said he would see what he could do to help. Over the next several months he tried to find a replacement column. No luck. Then he came over and asked to have the parts saying he might have found a supplier of parts. He ordered parts and said they sent the wrong size. He returned it and they sent another one that was still not right. Finally, he managed to do some welding and put the whole column back together.

Now the steering column is in the truck and working once again. Hopefully we can get the rest of the needed items attended to and have it re-licensed and functioning in the next couple of days.

Old blue is back.

Graduation Pictures

I have created 2 photo sets from this last weekend. First is a set of graduation pictures. The ceremony was at noon on Saturday. Robin and family were already at the University so LaRue and I joined up with Gary and Liz and went to the campus.

The graduation was really nice. It ran a little over an hour. Afterwards we all met outside to do pictures and visit. Then it was back to Robin's house to change and eat.

We all went to the Sizzler and had a really nice meal. Then Robin opened a present from Andy. Andy wasn't able to attend and he sent some things with Liz. He gave Robin a DVD of the movie - Where the Toys Come From. We had a copy of a videotape of this movie when the boys were little and Robin watched it hundreds of times. So, he really liked getting his own DVD.

Here are the graduation pictures: Robin's Graduation

When the boys Grandpa Hansen died the only thing he mentioned in his will was that his rifles be given to his grandsons. So, for several years LaRue and I have kept the guns for when the boys could take them. One of the rifles Robin got is a 30-06 that his grandfather used to hunt deer. It's probably been at least 20 years since Paul Hansen hunted with it.

Robin took the rifle and had it cleaned and made ready to use again. Saturday afternoon Robin, LaRue, Gary, Liz, Brighton and I drove outside Logan to a shooting range. And Robin fired his grandpa's rifle for the first time. It was awesome. Then LaRue got a chance to shoot it.

He also had Emily's handgun and let LaRue and I shoot that. It was really quite fun.

So, here's some shooting pictures: At the shooting range

Robin's Graduation

Just a quick entry right now. I am processing the pictures and will have images with more information posted this evening or tomorrow.

Last Saturday LaRue and I got up at 4:00 AM and journeyed to Logan for Robin's graduation. It was quite fun. We all went out to eat afterward followed by another event which I will detail when I get the pictures ready.

Saturday evening Robin, Emily, LaRue and I went to Ironman. It was awesome. However, because of the crowd we ended up sitting about 3 rows from the front. At that range it was a little hard to actually see all the screen at once. So, LaRue and I will probably go see it again and sit a bit farther back.

*Ironman note* - be sure to stay all the way through the credits for an additional scene at the very end.

Andy's Graduation

I have put together a few pictures taken last week at Andy's Graduation. Here's a link to the photos: Andy's Graduation