Clint's Blog

More pics of Yellowstone

2009-07-10T10:36:00.010-06:00

Since my last post had hardly any pictures of the family, I decided to put up one more web log with pictures from our Yellowstone trip.

Everyone starts out EXCITED for Yellowstone Park!

One of our first stops of the trip to see a Mother and Baby Elk.

Deanna and Katie with the Mom and baby elk behind them. You can just barely see the elk's heads in the grass behind them.

The kids by a herd of bison.

Me and the kids at Old Faithful.

The whole family at the Canyon at Yellowstone Park.

Everyone is POOPED after visiting Yellowstone Park!

Impromptu trip to Yellowstone Park

2009-07-08T09:11:00.001-06:00

Over the 4th of July we made a trip to Yellowstone Park. We have been planning to go to Yellowstone for about 4 years but never got around to making the trip. While Deanna and I were discussing what to do over the 4th, I brought up the idea of going to Yellowstone. She quickly looked up hotels and they were all either full or very expensive, so she looked up camp sites. She found a camp site at the KOA camp just west of West Yellowstone. So, on Wednesday night we decided that Thursday, we would be going to the national park.

I made a video of our travels but when I uploaded it to Youtube, it was too big, so, I made a short vid of our visit to the lower falls at the Canyon in Yellowstone Park. Here is the video.

Coby tried to describe the falls on his blog and kind of challenged me to try and describe it better. Here is my best shot.

"Rushing, stirring, churning, angry water, tears around the corner like a cougar grips the ground gaining speed on its prey. Danger is in the air, the power is overwhelming. You can sense the finality of the falls lurking a few yards ahead. As you see the water dive off of the cliff, you can see the huge volume of water as it shoots out into the empty air. As the sunlight hits the column, you can see all they way though the blue green water.

You can now see the weight of the water as it tumbles like a freight train off its tracks. It feels as if you are watching a never ending accident as box car after box car of water falls to its death. Fear continues to flow through your veigns as you sense the unstoppable and crushing power of the waterfall. The calamity continues every second you watch."

Garage Sale'ing

2009-07-01T16:53:00.003-06:00

Last weekend was probably the first warm and dry weekend we have had this summer. Because of this fact, everyone (and their dog) put there "junk" on their front lawn and hammered a sign on the nearest telephone pole announcing a Yard Sale. With this many temptations posted everywhere, my daughter couldn't help but nag me and nag me to go garage sale'ing. So, with a great deal of reservation, I decided to take her and Andy on a short trip around the block.

I had already convinced myself that we really wouldn't find anything useful and I was trying to decide how to tell Savanna that she didn't need any more stuffed animals. After the first couple of yard sales, we had come up empty. It was late in the day and all of the "good stuff" was already gone. I had my eye on a punching bag but I knew that $50.00 was way more than I wanted to spend on something I would never use.

After just a couple more stops I was wondering up a driveway, minding my own business and almost effortlessly browsing over pile after pile of used clothes when I noticed a bread maker. At first glance it looked very clean. I decided right there that if it was $25.00 I would buy it. I drew closer and noticed the sticker that stated, "Brand New $10.00". Oh no. I was now faced with a difficult decision. The price was less than I would have paid for it and, it was Brand NEW! I walked up to the makeshift checkout counter and asked about the bread maker. I knew that I could get myself out of this jam if I asked for the manual and they could not produce it. Upon the request, the salesman dipped into the house for the search. To my surprise, he exited triumphantly from the swinging door with the manual in hand. My final ditch effort to leave the sales floor with my money in my pocket was to offer him half of what was marked on the sticker. "Would you take 5 bucks for it?" I asked timidly. He immediately said "Sure, its yours!". That is when I knew, I paid way too much. I borrowed the 5 dollars from Savanna and walked home with my new Bread Maker.

We have made 3 loaves of bread so far and everyone loves the warm moist bread. I guess garage sale'ing isn't so bad after all.

Published on KMVT

2009-06-29T10:42:00.002-06:00

I was browsing around the cable TV channels one day and I noticed a short ad about posting your own pictures and videos on KMVT.com's web site. The little blurb was about YouNews. YouNews is a section of their web site where anyone can post their local news articles. So, if you catch something interesting on film or photograph, you can post it on YouNews so people can see armature footage and pictures of stuff happening locally. (ok, I think I just said the exact same thing twice but with different words)

I decided to take them up on their challenge so I created a user account and posted a few pictures that I took while in Buhl. If you are a regular blog reader of mine, you may remember the pictures I took of the ice crystals. My article was about the weather and how foggy it had been for several days and then uploaded my pictures. I didn't think anything of it so I checked back once in a while and noticed my pictures were approved. A few weeks passed and while I was talking to my Father-in-Law, he mentioned that he saw my pictures on the news. I took a double take (mentally) and asked "What did you say". He repeated the statement and I asked him what pictures he saw and he described my pictures from Buhl. WOW! What a surprise. My pictures were on KMVT Channel 11 News Twin Falls Idaho. That was very cool. It was too bad I missed it.

I was excited now. I went back home and the next day I posted a couple more pictures of my garden and some flowers. I made a few comments about how much rain we had received and submitted my article. Two days later my Father in Law called me up and said my pictures had made it on KMVT again. RATS! I missed it again. I didn't even think about recording the news to see if my article was mentioned. Here is the YouNews Article I posted.

Now my goal is to post another article and try and catch it on TV.

Katie's Softball Video

2009-06-27T08:09:00.002-06:00

I don't know how many of you participate in little girl's softball but if you do, you know the rules. Everybody hits, everybody plays, everyone's a winner. So, I thought I would take my little flip video out to her game and take a few short clips of her softball game.

Go Katie!

Fathers and Sons 2009

2009-06-22T14:45:00.003-06:00

This year the Twin Falls Idaho Stake decided to host a Fathers and Sons outing to Murtaugh Lake. We have been watching the weather all week in the hopes that we would not see rain. Every day, in the paper, it showed that we were safe with partly cloudy skies. Then, Friday morning, I opened up the paper and what did I see? No, not popcorn, but a forecast for rain. WHAT?

Even with a gloomy outlook, we decided to brave the weather and pack up our gear and head out to Murtaugh. We unloaded our dinner but waited to setup the tent until we knew we were free of rain drops. Unfortunately, the rain did not "go away". I gave my son, and his friend, two options. We could setup the tent and hunker down for the night and know that we were going to get hit with some major wet weather, or we could head back into town and see if we could catch the last showing of Star Trek. You might all guess how the vote came down. Three votes to nothing.

Here is my little video of our experience.

Of course, we had to come back in the morning to help with breakfast and a service project so at the end of the video you will see us huddled in the truck trying to stay out of the rain.

Garden Update

2009-06-20T15:32:00.002-06:00

I just wanted to give everyone an update on my garden. (and to make a few of you jealous, Clark)

Here are a few pictures of how it looks today. Keep in mind, we have had almost 2 weeks of rain so everything looks great. I had better take a picture now while it looks this good so I remember the good old days of rain while in the desert.

Interest Rates

2009-06-17T09:05:00.005-06:00

Well, this morning I was going about my business of paying all of our bills and I noticed something strange. I normally look at the monthly minimum payments that are required on every credit card (even though I always pay more than the minimum) and on one of my credit cards, the minimum payment was much higher than normal. I checked, then double checked and I found out that the interest rate on that card had doubled. DOUBLED! I immediately called the credit card company to see what was up. They said that they had notified me in February about the new interest rates. Of course, they probably did, but I get so many stupid credit card offers that it probably just got shredded and discarded. I then asked if I could negotiate a lower interest rate and they said no. I could either continue with the new rate, or pay off the balance.

It is hard to believe that in these hard economic times, the credit card companies would all be raising their rates to put even greater hardship on the family. It is no wonder that the leaders of the church have been telling us for years now, to get off of credit cards.

I have decided to move off of that credit card and not use it unless there is an emergency.

I hope that all of my readers, (both of them) will double check their interest rates on their credit cards and make sure their interest rates have not doubled.

Cheese?

2009-06-16T15:12:00.003-06:00

This year Andy has again decided to play All Star Baseball. This will be his 3rd year. The team is really going to be relying on him a lot this year because he is one of the oldest boys. (and one of the best if I can be so bold) He has already had a few games and he has pitched in almost every game. This is the first time that he has ever been used as a regular pitcher.

At the beginning of every season, Andy is required to come up with some money to help defray the cost of the tournaments. Each year he usually finds a sponsor or two to help. This year, we asked Glanbia Foods if they would be able to sponsor him in his endeavor. The word came back that they would not be able to donate money, however, they would be able to donate cheese. Cheese? How will that help? Well, he was given 100 pounds of packaged cheese. Each came in a 2 pound block size. The idea being that he would just take the cheese that was donated, and sell it to people willing to support him. There were some skeptics in the house but I was confident Andy could do a good sales job.

So, I stopped by Glanbia Foods, picked up 100 pounds of cheese, and headed home. This is what our fridge looked like that afternoon.

That very evening we stopped by a number of friends and family to see if they would be willing to buy some cheese. Without much effort at all and in about an hour and a half, Andy was able to reach his goal.

Thank you Glanbia for supporting by son's All Star Baseball Team in 2009.

What happened to that guy?

2009-06-15T16:14:00.003-06:00

I remember when I was a young Dad (not that I'm an old geezer) and had by first little boy. One of the first purchases for Christmas was a baseball bat and mitt (glove), basketball hoop and ball. I was so excited for this chubby little blob of a boy to grow up and play catch with me. I would sit and roll a ball over to him in hopes that he would understand my playful banter and push it back to me. All too often the ball would tumble across the floor and hit him smack in the nose and topple him over onto the ground. I'm sure we have all done this when we had small little children.

Now that I have kids that are old enough to catch the ball, throw the ball and make baskets, where is that Dad that wanted to play so much? He's sitting on the couch trying to make sense of the day. He doesn't want kids jumping all over him the second he walks in the door. He just wants some quiet time. He is watching TV trying to get his brain to settle down after a long stressful day at work. He is worrying about a job and money and the future.

What happened to that guy? I've been trying to remember that guy that I was 15 years ago, excited to see my kids grow up so I can play with them. It is so ironic that now that they can play, I just want them to leave me alone. (kinda)

Dentist

2009-06-12T12:32:00.002-06:00

I had to post something about these 2 videos I found on Youtube.com This first video is about a little kid named David and he is coming home from surgery and he is still a little groggy. His dad has a flip video camera and does a quick little video of his son.

You have to watch the first video before you play the second one. After watching the first video I didn't think it was that funny but after watching the second video, I couldn't stop laughing.

Enjoy.

Muggled

2009-06-02T19:42:00.008-06:00

In the world of geocaching, there is a word that has been adopted from Harry Potter. That word is muggle. In the Harry Potter series the word muggle is used to describe a non-magical person. In the Geocaching world is used to describe a non-geocaching person or someone that doesn't know what a geocache is nor how geocaching works. Those of you that are muggles (in the geocaching sense) may not know that a geocache is a treasure box for a person with a GPS to find. Coordinates are posted on the internet that point directly (within about 10 feet) of where the cache is hidden. When you find the cache, you are to sign the log, trade anything you find in the cache with something of equal or greater value, and then put it back. Muggles, which don't understand what the rules of geocaching, will steal the items inside and possibly move it to a new location rendering it unfindable.

I have personally hidden 4 geocaches to date. I am sad to say that last week I discovered that my 4th geocache has been "muggled". All four of my geocaches have been muggled over the years. I must say, in the Muggle's defense, that this geocache was first hidden 11/12/2005, so it has lasted quite a long time without having problems.

I'm not sure if I'm going to replace the cache or just let it drop off the map of geocaching.com

It is too bad that we live in a society that doesn't respect other people's property.

Drivers Ed?

2009-06-01T16:16:00.003-06:00

There is no way that I am old enough to have a son that is ready to take Drivers Ed. I didn't realize how much trust and faith my parents must have had in my to allow me to drive their cars. I am now starting to feel the full weight which drops precariously on my shoulders now that I have a teenager.

June 8th will be Coby's first class at Professional Driving School. I'm pretty sure that he can sign up for driving times that very same weeks. Therefor, I will be sending out notifications to all of my friends and family declaring which days Coby will be rampaging out of control around the streets of Twin Falls. Hopefully you will all be able to manage your schedules correctly so that you will be out of harms way.

As my keys jingle in my pocket, I realize that the day will inevitably come when Coby will be driving me around town. It's the same feeling I had when I was told I would need to get my teeth pulled, but the surgery was scheduled in 2 weeks. The anticipated stress and anguish will probably be much worse than the actual trip around the block with Coby at the helm.

Wish me luck and I'll keep you posted.

Garden

2009-05-29T08:24:00.009-06:00

I have been trying to think of something interesting to post about my life lately and sadly, I have come up with zilch. I have decided to report on something just as exciting as watching grass grow. What might that be? How about watching my garden grow.

This year I have had great success in growing my garden. I have planted radishes, peas, carrots, beans, corn, potatoes, flowers, pumpkins, tomatoes, lettuce, strawberries and peppers. Everything that I planted came up and is flourishing. Unfortunately the weeds are growing just as well as the vegetables. I ran out this morning and took a couple of nice picture to show just how green my thumb is. I also could not miss out on the opportunity to use my camera in "macro" mode to get nice clean closeup shots of my plants.

Strawberries that I planted last year.

Lettuce from ground level. These look awesome.

Here are my radishes which I have already started to eat. I'm not a huge radish fan but they are fun to grow because they are the first to sprout. It really boosts your confidence at the beginning of the season.

Being from Idaho, I had to try my hand at potatoes. Here is my row of red potatoes.

Memorial Day

2009-05-25T18:32:00.001-06:00

I thought I would take you along with me on our Memorial Day outing. We stopped by 3 grave sites before heading to Castleford Idaho to visit Balanced Rock.

Enjoy!

musings

2009-05-15T08:15:00.002-06:00

Here are some things that I have thought about lately.

Things that seem like they should go together, but don't.
-Toothpaste and Orange Juice- They are both used at breakfast but are horrible together.
-Root Beer and Chocolate- They are both brown and sweet but do not taste good together.

Things that shouldn't go together but are great.
-Chocolate and Cinnamon Bears- One is soft and chewy, the other hard and sweet.
-Peanut Butter and Chocolate-
-Peanut Butter and Mustard-

If you can think of any more, please let me know and I'll add them to the list.

Savanna Clogging

2009-05-13T19:49:00.002-06:00

Many have requested a video of Savanna Dancing. Your wish is my command!

This is a video of Savanna at the Spring Fest put on by American on Stage. She dances 4 solos before the judges. The video isn't that great because we are a few rows back and the Flip Video doesn't do a very good job with long distances. This is the best I could do for the moment.

This Saturday, Savanna is headed to Lagoon for the "National" competition. I'll have more video at that point.

1st Place Finish

2009-05-07T15:57:00.007-06:00

Congratulation Savanna on getting a first place ranking at the Spring America On Stage competition in all of her 4 Solo Dances!

This qualifies her for the National Competition next weekend. Wish her luck as she dances before the judges a week from Saturday at Lagoon. Go Savanna!

Cooking Video

2009-05-06T08:00:00.002-06:00

I have been watching a bunch of shows on TV about cooking. I know, cooking is not very exciting but for some reason, I can be caught up in a cooking show. I decided to try my hand at making a cooking video. My inspiration is a guy on The Food Network called Alton Brown. He has a show called, "Good Eats".

Here is my very amateurish cooking show on how to cook Macaroni and Cheese with Hotdogs.

I also did a video of Savanna baking a cake.

Ghosts on the Computer

2009-05-03T22:13:00.007-06:00

I was reading a column in our local newspaper by David Cooper that reminded me of a story that happened to me.

I was called out to work on a computer in our neighborhood. The owner was very concerned that someone had gained access to their computer and had somehow taken over the controls. I was very skeptical that someone could actually take over a computer from the internet without their consent, so I was willing to go out and investigate.

When I arrived, they showed me to the computer in question. I went over all of the normal operations of the computer and found that they were all in working order. I checked their Anti Virus and Anti Spyware and they also seemed to be functioning correctly. As the people emptied the room, I decided to take a couple of spins around the internet to see if there was something weird going on. After a few minutes, the mouse began to move. Not just a regular malfunctioning mouse movement but intentional, directional movement. The mouse moved over to the side of the screen and actually clicked on an icon on the desktop. I quickly looked around the room to see if someone was behind me, messing with my mind. I checked the mouse, checked the keyboard and was baffled. How in the world could someone gain access to this computer? My brain started to think up possiblilities. Could someone really have taken control of the computer? Maybe they can also see the screen? Maybe I was on Candid Camera! I actually looked around the room for some sort of camera in the corners.

After the mouse made a few more specific movements, I decided to confront this phantom computer user. I opened up a blank word document and started to type, "Who is this?", and I waited, no response. The mouse bounced around again. I typed, "Hello, is someone on this computer?". No answer. I decided at this moment to figure out how they were gaining access to this computer. If it was by use of the internet, I could disconnect the computer from the web and the connection would be severed. I reached back and grabbed the network cable. I removed it from the computer in hopes that I would catch this intruder red handed. No way! I said under my breath. The mouse continued to move and click. At this point, I am totally shocked. I was sure someone would come in at any moment pointing and laughing that they had caught me in a good practical joke.

My last thought was to unplug the mouse and keyboard to see what would happen. I discovered that the mouse and keyboard were both wireless. So, by unplugging the receiver, I would disconnect the mouse and keyboard from the PC. Once I did this, I was presented with the answer to this supernatural conundrum. The mouse and keyboard both stopped moving. It was then that I decided to ask the question, "Is there another computer in this house?". The answer, with a surprised expression, was "Yes". I asked if it had a wireless keyboard and mouse. Again, with a hint of excitement the answer was "Yes, and it has the exact same keyboard and mouse as this one". With a huge grin on my face I asked the owner to direct me to the other computer. I walked down the hall and was guided to a room where there was a young men mousing and clicking on his computer screen. I looked at the owner and said, "Here is your poltergeist! The wireless signal from this mouse and keyboard is being picked up by the receiver down the hall on the computer I'm working on." Some smiled, some giggled and some laughed out loud at the solution to the "ghost on the computer". I recommended they buy a different brand of keyboard and mouse for the second computer so that this issue would not happen again and headed back to the office.

Andy gets a hit, or gets hit.

2009-05-01T15:13:00.002-06:00

I attended Andy's baseball game this last week and brought my flip video along to take some video. I sat right behind home plate to try and catch the best view of Andy up to bat.
You will see that I almost got hit by a foul ball. The best part is right at the end of his "at bat". I replay the moment so you can see what happened. OUCH!

Favorite Websites

2009-04-29T16:36:00.006-06:00

I have a few websites that I go to every day for news, information and technology. I also have a few websites that I go to just for fun. I decided to start a list of favorite website and share them with the millions of blog viewers that come to my blog every day.

Free Translation Website: http://www.freetranslation.com/

Low Price electronics: www.NewEgg.com

Common Errors in English: Common English Errors

Cool Website Tools: http://www.dynamicdrive.com

the Drudge Report: http://www.drudgereport.com

Wordle: http://www.wordle.net/

Aaronic Priesthood/Scout Room

2009-04-28T08:37:00.015-06:00

I was in a church meeting the other day and the speaker was talking about the different rooms in the church buildings. If you walk down the hall in a typical Mormon church, you would walk into a room with padded chairs, doilies on the table, artwork on the walls depicting women from the scriptures. You would know that you are in the Relief Society Room (the room that the women meet in for classes). If you continue down the hall you would find a room with small little chairs, pictures of Christ with children, children's music and you would quickly identify the room as the primary room (where all of the children under 12 meet for classes). Continue around the building and you would easily pick out the nursery room with toys and mats and treats. On around the building you would find a room with lace and themes on the wall about young women values and personal progress. Pictures would also adorn the room with thought provoking quotes and the Young Woman's theme. Again, it is easy to see that the young women of the church meet in this room (ages 12 - 18). However, I would challenge you to find the room where the Aaronic Priesthood meets (young men from 12 - 18). If you walked into our building, the rooms that the Aaronic Priesthood meet in are void of any pictures, statements, quotes, or themes. I never thought about it before this talk.

The speaker continued so say that young men are very susceptible to visual images. Why don't we try to fill their heads with positive visual images and quotes. Why don't we try harder to combat the visual images they see on TV, Movies, Magazines by promoting our own religious images and values.

As you might have guessed, I have started to do this in our ward building. I would ask you to keep this hush, hush. I have talked to someone in authority about making some of these changes but haven't heard back on how to procede. So, I just started to add things to room. I posted the article about return missionaries that play for Utah State. I posted an article about a local leader being called as a mission president. I also printed a copy of the "Purposes of the Aaronic Priesthood" and my wife (bless her heart) bought me a very nice frame to use. I'll be posting this framed document on the wall this Sunday. I was able to post some of these items quickly and easily because there is a cork board just off to the side of one of the chalk boards. I don't know if anyone is noticing but at least it is making me feel better and giving me a chance to be creative and (a little sneaky). This week, I am working on a small picture with the Scout Law on it. I wasn't sure what I was going to do but last night I decided to make a "Wordle" out of the law and see how it would turn out. This is what I was able to come up with. I think it is pretty awesome. I'll be posting it in the "Aaronic Priesthood" room this Sunday.

Stop by and take a look if you would like. Maybe you will get the bug to start adding spiritual, faith promoting pictures and quotes to the Aaronic Priesthood Room in your building.

ISAT's

2009-04-23T08:56:00.006-06:00

Yesterday at Sawtooth Elementary they had their ISAT tests. I don't know much about the ISAT test but, from what I understand, the test is taken on a computer. Each student starts answering test questions at their own grade level. As the student answers questions correctly, they continue until the computer determines where their ability stops. Theoretically, if they keep answering questions correctly, they can continue into high school level questions. Again, I don't know but I think that is how it works.

The reason I explain that is, that after school, my daughter came up to me and told me that she got a good score on her ISAT's. I don't know what a good score is so I just congratulated her on her accomplishment. Then, she paused and stated that she received the highest score in the school. A little skeptical, I asked, you mean in your class, or in the 4th grade? No, she replied, I received the highest score at Sawtooth. Still a little leery of her statement, I asked Deanna and she confirmed, Savanna had the highest ISAT score in the whole school. Higher than all of the 6th graders scores. Needless to say our 6th grader, Andy, was not happy to hear about this little juicy fact.

CONGRATULATIONS Savanna on getting the highest ISAT score in her whole school. I can tell you one thing, she didn't not inherit my test taking abilities, that gene came from her mother.

Shoshone Falls

2009-04-21T12:18:00.004-06:00

The Falls have been running at full power this last week and there are tons of people rushing down into the canyon to see the falls while it is at its best. Sunday afternoon I was reading some blogs and found one of my friends had posted a few pictures of the falls from their trip. I quickly jumped up, gathered the kids and piled them into the car for an afternoon hike down to Shoshone Falls. As we made the turn to head towards the canyon, I could tell that a thousand other people had made the same decision. The cars were stacked all the way back to the little church on the corner. I, being an impatient person that I am, decided to turn around and head back home. Either we would have to find another way down, or we would go home. I wasn't about to wait hours in line to go down to the falls. As I started back home, I decided to take a quick detour down by the Lyman's house to see if maybe we could pickup the walking trail down at the end of that street. We crept around and stuck back as far was we could and then parked the car on the side of a private street. We got out of the car and started hiking to the canyon rim to see how far we were from the falls. I turned on my Flip Video and the rest is history.

Enjoy the video.