Some Disney Pics

Elizabeth entering the park for the first time. Gale is seen off to the left side flying it looks like. :)








Here is Grandpa (Bob) entering the park. A bit of a long walk from the front gate.











Clara and Bob. Clara is the oldest of four kids and Bob is the youngest of the four. Not hard to see they are siblings.












Goofy walking with Elizabeth and Emily. Way cool!










Grandma and Grandpa with the kids on the park train.












Elizabeth and Emily riding Heimlich in the Bug's Life part of California Adventure.







No we are not just sitting around doing nothing. Bob and I are on one of the Bug's Life rides called Flik's Flyer. It is a hot air balloon made of leaves. Way cool. ;)










Disney Castle. Not as big as I thought it was on the Wide World of Disney. Bummer. No one in particular you know in here.






More to come later.

Disneyland!

Wow, we got back at 2am this morning from our trip to Disneyland. It was a good, if not tiring, time. Not only did we spend pretty much 3.5 days at Disney park along with Gwen's parents Bob and Gale but we got to spend several evenings with Gwen's family who lives in Southern California. Gwen's Aunt Clara (Bob's sister) and Uncle Riley drove up from somewhere down around San Diego area. Both of them are in their 80's. We also got to see three of their five daughters....Susan, Linda, and Robyn (I hope that is how it is spelled).

We stayed at the Castle Inn which is strategically located near the Park entrance and had a suite of rooms so that Bob and Gale could stay with us in the same room. It was a nice place to stay. Nothing fancy but it was nice and clean. We ate a lot at the Denny's right across from the Park entrance. It was convenient and had food we all would eat.

Of course Disney is pretty much magical. Most of the time all I could think of was "The Wide World of Disney" that came on when I was a little kid somewhere before or after The Mutual Of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. Most of this before DisneyWorld got going. Disneyland motto is "The Happiest Place On Earth." Of course that is true as long as you don't run out of money. ;)

Yesterday we did the early entrance to the park which started at 7am. We got over to Fantasyland and rode alot of rides with Elizabeth. No long lines. Emily and I ran over to Mickey's Toon Town and rode a small train rollie coaster. Not only once but three times. We could have rode more but we had to get back to Gwen and Elizabeth who were in line to see the Princesses.

At the end of the day Robyn came over to our hotel and visited us then we went to Disney Town, which is nothing more than a shopping strip mall, to shop. After that she took us to Newport Beach so the girls could play a bit at the beach and then we ate at Ruby's a hamburger joint out on then end of the pier there. Very good hamburgers.

We did have one star sighting outside of the normal Disney character sightings. I looked up while making our way out of the park and there was Barry Bonds walking right next to and past me. I looked up into his face and was surprised to see him. He is a tall drink of water that is for sure.

All in all it was good to get away. The girls had a great time...all three of them. Gwen's parents seemed to have a good time too. It was great to see them and spend time with them. Thanks for coming Bob and Gale.

I will have to post some pictures soon. The one above was on Thursday right after we got in the park. We ran into Mickey.

My Childhood Favorite

Though one of my absolute childhood favorite books (yes I can say I did have a favorite though I did not read much), I had forgotten about it until one day while walking through a bookstore in NZ. They had a brand new copy on their shelf.

I was surprised that I had forgotten about it until then. After that time I noticed it in bookstores more and more.

In 2001 I bought a new copy for Emily. And recently I pulled it out and looked inside it.

Turns out that it was first published in 1967 (about right) and then reissued (reprinted) in 1995 just about the time I was walking through the NZ bookstore. No wonder I noticed it more. :)

Elizabeth saw it today here by the computer and asked about it. I offered to read it to her. And she quickly said yes.

I have to say that some of the storyline is a bit disturbing to me now that I am reading it as a Dad. When I was a kid I noticed just the part about the digging and digging and undigging and undigging. But now I notice the parts where young boy owner and the other friend dogs turn their back on Duke for digging so out of control. I looked in the amazon reviews and yes there were at least two poor reviews who pointed this part out. Luckily I explained to Elizabeth what they were doing and it that it is wrong to behave in this way.

Sadly the book is now a bit of a disappointment due to this sad behavior of Duke's friends and the possible wrong message it might give a young kid. But it still brings back a lot of good memories.

Elizabeth Joy

Elizabeth has so many joys that are so simple that I wish our joy and contentment was as easy.

Recently she wanted to buy a book at the Otowi Bookstore here in Los Alamos. She saw this one and had to have it.







Turns out it is just a illustrated book to the words of Jesus Love Me. She was very excited to look at the book. Her excitement carried over to picking out a BD gift for Julie Nolen. When we mentioned we needed to get Julie a gift then Elizabeth knew exactly what she wanted to get Julie. She was so excited to give it to Julie.

Simple joys.

Shorpy - Historical Photos

Shorpy is one of the coolest sites I know about. I just love looking at all the old photos.

Shorpy

Interesting Column by Baxter Black

I have signed up through google news anytime "Elmer Kelton"'s name is used in the news. This way I get up-to-date info about my favorite author. It provides some interesting articles that basically have very little to do with Elmer Kelton. Here is one that came out yesterday by Baxter Black (cowboy poet and writer) in the Portales News - Tribune Online. It mentions Elmer Kelton once but is still an interesting article.

Some things in life reliable, some not so much

By Baxter Black

January 31, 2008 - 10:11PM

As I weave my way through life there are things that I count on. They are stepping stones in my path that I don’t worry about, including:

1) Where I am going to spend eternity.

2) That my wife will always love me.

3) That the airplane pilots know what they are doing.

I get on an average of 175 flights a year. But if I had any concern about whether the pilots stayed up all night partying or were visiting on their cell phone while we were trying to land, I think I’d start packing a parachute!

I have a friend in the entertainment business who could fly commercial, but doesn’t. He’s not comfortable putting his life in their hands, I guess.

I’m philosophical about his fears. Then again, I don’t eat Italian food. I’m not sure if that’s a phobia or a preference.

Maybe some Dramamine would help us both!

4) I count on my best horse bein’ steady on the course. He’s good around cows, cars, cameras, kids, corrals, dogs and wire. Though I follow the admonition to “always be ridin’ your horse,” ’cause rattlesnake “shys” and backfire “bolts” can happen to even the best of horses.

5) I count on certain politicians, broadcasters and public figures to be there to lend continuity, whether I agree with them or not … Barbara Walters, Ralph Nader, Orion Samuelson, Mayor Daly, Sean Connery, Cotton Rosser, Bennie Butler, Wayne Vold, Tony Bennett, Fidel Castro, Elmer Kelton, Wally McRae, Paul Harvey.

6) I count on America’s resilience. If I ever doubted that the United States has been the greatest contributor to the cause of good (as in good vs. evil) on Earth for the last 100 years, I would move …but where would I go?

7) I even count on the stupefying, partisan political process to continue governing us. As an old cab driver in Washington, D.C., told me once, “I voted for Reagan. Next time I vote for Mondale.” I asked why. “Never let ’em get a foothold, son; never let ’em get a foothold.”
In contrast, there are some things I don’t count on:

1) Rain

2) Bureaucratic efficiency, from the local motor vehicle office to the Federal Drug Administration. If you ever get your question answered or your problem solved on the first phone call, you should bronze your speed dial!

3) My dog. He’s trained about as well as I was when I was 3, and he has the attention span of a Bartlett pear!

4) My vehicles. I’ve got a ’47, ’69, ’74, and ’05. I always buy used cars so I expect them to break down. I never leave home without checking the spare, and throwing in my jumper cables, flashlight and tool box.

Oh, one other thing I count on:

8) You, the readers of this column — to keep me honest, to hold me responsible for stepping out of line, when I need it, and to continue sending me stories about your wrecks and near disasters that compose the content of my cowboy ramblings. I couldn’t do it without you.

Baxter Black is a self-described cowboy poet, ex-veterinarian and sorry team roper. He can be contacted at 1-800-654-2550 or by e-mail at:
headcowboy@baxterblack.com

Been awhile since last post

No excuse. We just have been tired and lazy. The girls do something everyday that I could post about but by the time I get around to it I have forgotten what it was that I wanted to blog. I need to write it down immediately to blog later.

It has been a cold January...usually our coldest month in my opinion. Yesterday I was colder than normal and was wearing coats and stuff. I think I picked up a bit of Elizabeth's cold she has now. At least I think it is a cold. Poor kiddo. Runny noise, sneezy, and a bit of a cough. Doctor said she had an ear infection now too.

Who know what it means for me. Gwen and I were both up last night helping Elizabeth. Gwen took the bulk of the work in the end. So she is still sleeping this morning.

Hopefully we all will be well one week from this coming Wed since that is when we headed to California to Disneyland. :) Both girls are excited. Bob and Gale will meet us there for a few days. Gwen's aunt and uncle are having health problems and will not make it up from SD.

Today is my Friday off. I hope to do several chores like dishes, trash, sweeping, and laundry. We will see how it goes with Elizabeth being sick. Hopefully she will want a nap soon.

Emily has been going ice skating a good bit lately. She had not been since she was in preschool and she went with the Schmidts and Lisa said she was doing great without any help. Emily has since been back with Tali and once by herself with one of us watching her. She is doing it like she has practice a good bit. Maybe the rolling skating practice helped her. :)

She has also been reading a bit more than normal. She has been taken with the Left Behind series for kids. It is more for teens I think but she has read the first two books. Though she has read other "books" I think this is the first one that I consider to be of book stuff. I am proud of her because though she can read ok to well, she has not had a real interest in reading away from school. She has started the third book but has sat it down for a bit. I have read the first two after she did just to help with conversation about the books and about topics from the Bible.

I am working with her to read the Louis L'Amour book "Down The Long Hills" which is about two kids that get orphaned in the West and have to take care of themselves. I thought it would be a good intro to a slightly different and longer book than she has been reading. She also has a bunch of books from family and friends that need attacked. They look really good. Who know I may start reading them myself.

One thing about LL books is there are several adult themes in them that make them at least PG but more PG-13 so to speak. The Indian massacre in Down The Long Hills had to be edited when I read it to her (we share the reading). Not so pretty and a bit graphic on the indian massacre. The more I think of LL books there is usually something in it that is not really suitable for young kids in my opinion. Lots of shooting and killing along with just mean folks and every now and then a bit of sexualness (Is that a word?) but not a lot. Down The Long Hills maybe the best if there is any of LL books to start a 10yr old on if they are interested.

Often she used to read the Magic Tree House books. They are very educational too. Once I read a biography of Washington and she had read the MTH one on Washington crossing the Delaware. I was amazed how much she learned about that topic and how accurate her comprehension was when done. She does not have a reading problem just motivation to do it. It is not her favorite thing to do at least not now that she is used to reading. In the beginning she really took to it for a bit then the new wore off at some point. Reading does take time away from playing. ;)

I just realized this April 1st will be our ten year ann. (1998) for living in LA. Emily was just about six months old at the time. Time flies. Maybe we will have a party to celebrate. :) Interesting enough this summer will be a 20 yr ann. of my first visit to do experiments at LAMPF. Time really flies. Amazing how much my view of LANL has changed too...along with the real changes.
Actually this month is my 20 ann of starting Graduate School. Wow. That was an interesting experience to say the least.

I guess I need to plan for the LSSO this year. I hear it is the first Sat in April. Hmmm do I have the energy to get ready for it.

Well that is all for now.

Bible In Public Schools

It seems that on HDNet that Dan Rather's reported on Bible in Public Schools. Turns out they filmed at my high school San Angelo Central HS. In recent years Central has been offering as an elective the Bible class. The piece is interesting in how it got started at Central, or even better how it got reintroduced at Central. It was once an elective back when I was in HS, now over 25 yrs ago, and I took two semesters of the class. I do not how long it had been at Central when I got there and I do not know how long it lasted after I left.

I do know that it was taught, usually, by different ministers who volunteered to take turns every year or so often. It was not a theology class but just a class on the history and facts of the bible.

Anyway, here in the first ~15minutes of this piece is the report from Dan Rather. Just a side note I do not remember anyone ever calling Angelo a 20's oil boom town. A ranch and farming town yes but oil not really. Turns out Los Alamos High School also offers a Bible class too.

HDNet - Dan Rather - Bible in Public School (first 15 minutes).

Sir Edmund Hillary passes on at age 88.

(taken from the AP)

Hillary on the left.







While we were in NZ we saw him on TV often and there was an interesting commerical that used a scene from their climb as part of the commerical.

Sir Edmund Hillary passes on at 88

Kiwi's are very proud of him. Rightly so.

NZ Apron

A New Zealand Apron decorated with NZ wildflowers.

A gift from Tony Burrell's Ph.D. Advisor, Penny Brothers (think that is her last name.) Penny and her family have been here, from NZ, for about 6 months I think on sabbatical as a visiting scientist. We loaned them some stuff for their rental and in return Penny gifted us this apron. We were excited.

Pretty Picture by Emily

Looking down the street (Southish) from our house yesterday.

Elizabeth First Jig Saw Puzzle

With Emily's help Elizabeth did her first official jigsaw puzzle.








Not long after they did another. Elizabeth is very proud of her puzzles.








Both pictures taken by Emily.

First Snow 2008

The ole trash can measure of how much snow we got since yesterday evening. Most of this came down this morning. The sun finally came out but has since gone back behind the clouds and it is snowing again. Not as bad though.







Here is part of the snow I shoveled off the drive with the other part in back of my truck now for weight on the rear end for traction.

Varmints In The House

Emily has the pleasure of taking care of this little rat called "Chippy". Rat is an extreme word in this case. Chippy is a guinea pig. A pretty long one too.

Chippy has been here since before Christmas while his owners were off to Hawaii. He left today for home. He may get to visit for a week at a time once a month. I am sure you can hear me cheering. ;)






The girls decided they need a picture with the cat. CandyCane looks like he is as big as even Emily. Little good it does to have a cat. He seemed to make friends with Chippy. Normally outside Chippy would have been toast like the pocket gophers and chipmunks. ;)








Report on my sickness is that I have a scalp infection. After a hair cut I usually get pimples on my scalp and I have to doctor them. It seems that they got infected and that caused my glands to swell and make my scalp sore. I have to say I have never experienced this sorta problems before. It is tender. I tested negative for strep but due to the exposure then I got a batch of antibotics to knock out the scalp infection and to head off strep if it is coming. Oh joy.

Sickness...

Well we held out as long as we could for the year. Gwen got sick New Year's Eve but it did not really hit her until after New Years.

Today she was probably worse than she has been the whole time. Guess what? She has strep and pink eye. Yikes!

Guess who has swollen lymph glands in the neck and base of the skull starting this evening much like Gwen was when she started this? Yep me. Oh well. I can only hope that I do not get it as serious as she has gotten it.

We will see. So far the girls are ok but I doubt it will last.

New Year's presents

Em got a remote control indoor helicopter.

She has spent a lot of time trying to get it to land where she wants it to land.










Chippy the remote control worm. "This is fun!", says Elizabeth.











We usually hold back a present for New Years for the kids. Elizabeth and Emily were very pleased with their presents.

"Security Of Course"

In a recent article in our local newspaper, The LA Monitor, they report that the Protection Technology Los Alamos, or as we all call it the PTLA, which is the Labs security force has changed it name to SOC. They report that SOC is not an acronym and does not stand for anything:

"SOC is not an acronym - it's the name we're branding our government security division," said Maureen Omrod, director of public relations for PLTA's parent company Day & Zimmermann Inc., (D&Z).

Upon telling my in-laws about the name change, my mother-in-law Gale says, "Security Of Course." We all thought that was a good name for the SOC. :)

Elizabethism

A few weeks back all of us, except Emily, were seated down for dinner. Emily had went off with the Schmidts to climb on the YMCA climbing wall.

Elizabeth offered up the fact that she now had a bike helmet, Emily uses a bike helmet to climb, and asked if she could go rock climbing too? We were a bit sad to tell her we thought she needed to be four years old to get a pass at the YMCA and to climb the wall.

Immediately she asked, "Is there some other place that would sell me a pass NOW?"

She is always working the angles is all I have to say about that. :) LOL

Not Your Father's 25-20 WCF

Here is my modern version of the 25-20 WCF chambered on a Ruger No.1 (single shot) action.



With this strong action and Lil'Gun powder then the little 25-20 WCF gets a nice little bite to it now. A 70 gr spitzer bullet will move at 2600 feet per second. My love affair with this cartridge started when I was little.



Left to Right: TK and myself each with our first deer. We both used the Remington M25 25-20WCF with open sights. I still have this little rifle and it is one of my favorite. Being that it is on a pump action then only factory or mild loads can be used in it. So it has limited power not to mention it low accuracy.

"Trash" !

"TV snack" or by today's more commericalized name "Chex Mix".

As far back as I can remember, which is about 41 years, my family has been making "Trash". No telling how long before my memory they have been making it.

The usual suspects are mixed nuts (peanuts, cashews, almonds, pecans, and Brazilian nuts), Cheerios, pretzel sticks, Chex (corn, rice, and wheat). I forget the other details but two other ingredients are Tabasco sauce and bacon grease. :)

Yum. Of course this batch is mild but Aunt Essies' had to be "hot or it did not taste good."

Mom has been making this and sending it to me ever since I moved away from home. A good size jar of this showed up every year in Lubbock, New Zealand, Pittsburgh, and Los Alamos.

This batch showed up the day before Christmas this year. Thanks Mom and Aunt TK!

Another Elizabethism

Colorado Grandpa asked Elizabeth, "Can you use 'What' in a sentence?"

Elizabeth smartly replies, "What is a sentence?"

More Christmas Pictures

Emily with his plaque of Shadow the Lab. Shown in the inset pictures is the 42' Ford Jeep I sold right before heading of to NZ.






Elizabeth is much happier with this kitchen than her expression.












A common sight of the male Adamses at most Christmas get togethers. Just carrying on the family tradition.







A little juggling for your entertainment. :)

Christmas 2007 Morning

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2007 Everyone!!!!!!!
AMEN !!!!!!

"Mommy Is Not Allowed To Have A Cell Phone In Prison"

Words I never dreamed I would have to say to our children.

Elizabeth asked if we could call Mommy. But Gwen is off in prison singing Christmas Carols with our church. :)

Our Beautiful Girls

Self-Portrait










Silly Girl Elizabeth








Kitty Time!







Have a great and safe trip Aunt TK!

Art By Elizabeth

A Dolphin by Elizabeth. She was very excited.
Gwen added the Initials and Date.

Tree Decorations

Still not finished but the girls are working hard on it.









Here are a few closeups of our ornaments.


From our first Christmas married.












In Lubbock on 50th Street there used to be a green house that had tons of trees with ornaments that you could shop for. We got alot of ornaments every year there. I am not sure where this one came from other than Texas.




Hard to get this one in focus but it is from New Zealand since this is the Kiwi flag. A keychain really from our time in NZ.








Here is an All-Black one from NZ. A keychain actually.












One from our time in Pittsburgh.











We got this one in Oakmont the town we lived in near Pittsburgh.









Gwen and I each have one of these. Kinda fun.











Go Tech!









This one is make of burnt wood from the Cerro Grande fire in 2000. Just a reminder of that time here in Los Alamos.










Go Red Raiders.









No matter how hard I tried I could not get this one in focus.










From I trip to England last year in 2006.












One of two crystals that Gwen and I put on our tree.










A Chili Pepper.

More Elizabethisms

Lately (way more than normal) Elizabeth has been whinning and crying when she is not getting her way or what she wants. We have been talking to her about it and punishing her when she starts doing this when she does not get her way.

I say to her, "You are not the boss and you need to stop crying and whining when you do not get your way or you will be punished."

Tonight while laying in bed being punished and as she talked to by me...I say again to her, "You are not the boss and you cannot have your way by whining and crying."

She says to me through soft tears,

"But I want my 'way' back."

Happy Birthday Texas Grandma!

Happy Birthday Grandma !
We Love You Very Much


Sorry about the lighting

More Elizabeth Quotes

Gwen has the habit of using a saying her folks use, "Thank you and have a nice day." One day (about six months or so ago) she said it to Elizabeth one too many times. Elizabeth comes back with,

"I'm NOT having a nice day. I'm having a very bad day."



In more recent times while visiting Texas Grandma, Elizabeth was playing a game with Emily and grew tired of it and decided to quit but before she did she verbalized her bordem with,

"This game sucks."

Oh boy. That caught us off guard....and reflecting on what is said by us adults.

Elizabeth Cracks Us Up

After the Christmas parade tonight we drove through McDs. While sitting at the window getting food loaded in the car and paying, Elizabeth calmly said,

"When I grow up I want to work here (McDs)."

It was really cute.
Gwen told the clerk what she said and he said, "We could use the help."

Elmer Kelton News: New Short Story Online

AuthorLink has setup up the posting of new original work of authors for download. They have a new short story about Hewey Calloway by Elmer Kelton called The Reluctant Shepherd.

If you like Hewey or just Elmer Kelton then it is worth downloading for a good read.

News From Los Alamos

County councilor on sinking cruise ship off Antarctica

By CAROL A. CLARK Monitor County Editor

Forced to abandon their sinking cruise ship and travel on lifeboats in sub-zero temperatures, Los Alamos County Councilor Robert Gibson and wife Lori Heimdahl Gibson survived and are due home today.

___________________________________________

Immerse yourself

By ROGER SNODGRAS, Monitor Assistant Editor

SANTA FE – A town that not so long ago had to live without any movie theaters may be about to make up for lost time in a big way.

Los Alamos is a front runner to become the location for the world’s first Immersive Visualization Theater.

_______________________________________

Comments on target but bit late

By Ralph Damiani

We have to agree with Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., when he said that Los Alamos National Laboratory has a bright future.

However, it will not be due to any effort on his part. The congressman has been an opponent of the lab for some time, voting time and again to gut the facility and its budget. It is a bit disingenuous to come forward at the 11th hour with ideas and suggestions.

To be fair, he does dispute this, saying he has been a big supporter. We just have not seen it.

The Snow We Missed

It snowed pretty good while we were in Texas. Elizabeth and Gwen got out in the backyard and played in it. They made a snowman and here is what was left of it before I found. It was melting away slowly.

With yesterday's rains all the snow has competely gone for now. So I was lucky to get this picture.

More Tree Time 2007

Hard to get one in focus. But Gwen helped the girls get the lights on Friday so they could start putting on the ornaments. They were excited. Elizabeth keep saying, "Thank you Mommie," for every ornament she got handed. She starting crying when we had to stop for the evening. :)