Well, I have more than fallen by the wayside. My cuz, Lorrie, played the guilt card on me so I will try to update the blog with some recent stuff.

I will start most recent and work backwards.

On the 29th of September, I had rotator cuff surgery. They clipped of the end of the collar bone, repaired the torn rotator cuff, reattched a frayed biceps tendon, and made one extra incision. The Dr. explained "Sorry, I went in too low and had to make another incision". My thoughts........gee thanks, Doc!

Hope this didn't gross you out! :)

On the 

On the 10th of September, Marcia and I celebrated our 52nd Anniversary a little early. We went to Glacier National Park so we could see if we could still hike into Hidden Lake from the summit of Going to the Sun Highway. On our first attempt at Going to the Sun Highway we noticed our heater wasn't heating. Then the "Low Coolant"  light came on and off and I immediately did a U-turn and headed back to Columbia Falls, MT. We ended up waiting most of the day while they put in a new water pump and T connector thingy. After $450 and a wasted day we went back to the West Glacier KOA and rested for the morrow. We tried again and were successful. We made the summit, hiked into to Hidden Lake, saw a mountain goat and had a great time.

This is the view down to Hidden Lake

 On the road to GNP (Glacier National Park) but still in Idaho.

More pictures later.

Back the end of March 2012 we went to St. George, UT. They were having a great air show that we really enjoyed but were unaware of its happening when we headed down. It was a pleasant surprise. We then decided to go up to Provo and visit Mike and his family. We had Jonathan and Mike help us with some of Dad's work and then decided to go and see our grandson Mark who was to deploy the first part of April. Mark was stationed in Ft. Drum, New York. On the way we surprised Chris in York, NE and promised we would stop longer on the way back. We were shocked to find gas as high as $4.69/gal in Nebraska, Illinois and points further east. Spent several day with Mark, Michelle, Aidan, and Hope. The ggkids stole my heart. So cute and so fun to be with. 

Aidan, Mark, Hope

On the way back we stopped at Nauvoo, IL and spent a couple of days. Ran into some old friends and even some people from our Ward that were on a mission in Nauvoo. Very small world, after all. Did some more of Dad's work and had a very enjoyable stay. 

Then it was back to York to meet with Chris and his kids and go to Kansas City Missouri for a Church of Christ convention. It was fun to be with the kids. They had drama productions, bible quizzes and some other fun stuff. We then went back to York in time for Easter and the engagement of Chris and Mandi. That was very, very special.

51st Anniversary Pictures

 Paul Bunyon and Babe

 Marcia by the elephant tree

 From top of tram looking down on clouds

 ......and I do!

 Along the beach

 Seagulls rule

 Glass Beach

 Port Arena Lighthouse

 View from top looking East

 View from top looking West

 1st Step in Pt. Arena Light House (only 144 steps to go)

 Looking North

 Camp Spot Near Stump Beach

 Weird Seaweed

 Yuppers, it's us!

 Big Wave

 My MC Club name on sign - Kingpin

 Breaking surf

 Marcia on the beach

Beach Below our campground

Luther 2011 Christmas Card Picture

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.

Gooding Bathroom Remodel

Some pix of the floor and cabinet in the remodeled Gooding bathroom

Zach Luther Article

Zachery Luther

Hot Topic in Rimrock Mall

has a wall devoted to band Ts

and salesman Zach Luther

said he rarely goes a day

without wearing a band or

concert T-shirt. His recent

favorite is a Marcy

Playground shirt he bought at

the Railyard Ale House this

spring.

“Sometimes I buy two shirts

at a show if the opening act is

good,” Luther said. “My

favorite all-time shirt is my

Pearl Jam T. It says ‘Nine out

of 10 kids prefer crayons to

guns.’ ”

Luther said the first two band

Ts that Hot Topic started

carrying were the iconic

Sublime shirt with the sun on

the front and Bob Marley

shirts.

“We’ll never quit stocking

those,” Luther said. “The idea

was to get the shirts for

people who can’t make it to

the shows.”

[Billings Gazette - July 9, 2010]

Repost from Laume's Studio Blog about Lorna

If you ever come through Susanville and need a place to stay, you might stop at the Apple Inn, a lovely small motel owned by friends of my mother. The wife, Lorna, runs a bit of gift shop by the front desk and I stop in from time to time to say hello and see what she has for sale as she and I share a love of faeries.




This lovely faerie scene that she created was on display when I stopped in earlier this week!




An encounter between a human girl and a young fae.




Other smaller fae go about their business in their little home set amongst a "woodland" of mushrooms.




Sunlight streams through while the wee folk play and sing and tell stories.

And I have a story for you if you promise to keep it a secret, just between me and you and the faeries, okay? Come a little closer in, so I can whisper it to you....




Lorna made these beautiful mushrooms out of cardboard tubes and garden supplies. The tops of these large mushroom are made from the ready made sphagnum moss hanging pot liners. Hmmm, these look to be made with shredded plant material. There are several different kinds. She found these at the local dollar store. She painted and glittered. The tubes are also painted and glued to little wooden platform blocks, the caps glued to the top.




These smaller mushrooms are made from a variety of paper seed pots. Softened, molded, and dried again and then painted, glittered and glued.

The woodland floor is created with a variety of plants - both silk and plastic as well as real dried flowers and mosses. Butterflies, birds, faeries, and other woodland creatures are tucked here and there.




Most of the tall mushrooms have added faery lights wound up their stalks and popping through in polka dotted brightness.




Here's an "beneath the scenes" view so you can see how simple it is.




A photo taken without a flash to show you you it might look when the sun sets. It would be fun to add a garland of garden lights above the scene to enjoy it after dark.

The only thing stopping me from rushing out to create my own beautiful faerie window is the lack of a proper site free of clutter and safe from cats. But I can dream. A midsummer's night dream. Maybe someday...

Doris Ball Celebrates 91st Birthday

We went down to Brigham City on Friday, the 19th and of course, had to take Doris and Marcia to Smith and Edwards in Ogden. After looking at all the cool stuff, we went on down to Impact Guns to see Craig. There he let Doris hold a $15,000 automatic weapon. The message is: "Don't mess with Doris". On Saturday we went down to Mike and Judy's home and got to spend time with the grandkids and meet a future grandson-in-law by the name of Scott. June will be a busy month. Brent Ball gets married on June 12th, Emily on June 25th, and Ashley on the 26th. There is also a "Girl Thing" and a Ball family reunion. We met on Sunday at the Golden Coral in Ogden to celebrate Doris' 91st Birthday. Present were: Karolyn & Lee, Kathy & Roy, Wendy & Craig, Brandy, Ty, Mellissa, Ian & baby, DORIS, Marcia & Gary, Sherry & Bill, Marc. We all ate our fill and the staff sang Happy Birthday to Doris. Monday we went to SLC and got a new boob for Marcia and then took Doris on a tour of SLC. We had a great time. Tuesday found Marcia giving her mom a permanent. Then it was back home to Jerome.

You'll notice no pictures. I put the battery charger in the car but forgot the camera....so, no pictures. Kathy took lots that we might get later. If so, I will update with pix.

49th Anniversary Trip

We started our "TRIP" by visiting Mike & Family. Our granddaughter is in track so we had to go support her.

She is not too bashful................

Get Ready, Set, ...............

GO!!!!

This is the family in Billings, MT about 1984-1985. It was prior to Mike going on his mission. We lived at 508 Wigwam Trail. Love those hair styles. What is disappointing is that I didn't have any hair much like today. Only a different color.

It's a White Christmas in Idaho (2008)

Well, this year is certainly different than last year. We have had snow and wind and now we are getting more snow and more wind. Tomorrow will be a fun day .......if I can get mom and dad from Gooding and get them over here (Jerome) for Christmas Dinner. We have invited my brother Gerald and Lori to join us. That would give us 6 for dinner. We may also try to get my Aunt Pat over from Twin Falls. There is a neat snowman down on Main Street. I will try to get a picture and add it to this entry. To all our friends and loved ones............Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to YOU.

I-86 to the Utah border has been closed all week. It was opened today but with the way it is snowing tonight, it's a good bet that it will be closed on Christmas Day.