Birthday Trip 2017

Often for my birthday, I ask Robyn for a trip rather than presents.  I've found that I generally enjoy the experiences and the memories more than the things.  So she indulges me and lets me plan a small trip.

I was undecided about where to go until Robyn pointed out that there was a new temple in Wyoming.  That became the obvious answer as to where we should go.  So I planned a trip to Afton, Wyoming.

We also have another annual tradition where I take a half day off of work and go meet Robyn's students.  We decided that this particular day would be a good day to do it because then we could leave from Robyn's school and get a head start on our trip.

Then it turned out that Robyn's school had their end of year faculty party on the same day.  It meant that we didn't get off on our trip quite as quickly as we had planned, but I got to mingle with a few of Robyn's coworkers which was fun.

One of her coworkers was making balloon animals as part of the event.  I told her I wanted a pikachu.  I mostly meant it as a joke, figuring that she only did real animals and not pokemon.  But she totally made me a pikachu!

I think she did a pretty good job.  It was a great beginning to my birthday extravaganza.

After the elementary school festivities we began our road trip.  Afton is about a 4 hour drive, so we were able to get into town in time for a dinner that was only a little later than normal.  After dinner I told Robyn I needed a picture next to the most important landmark in Afton.  It's the world's largest elk-horn arch.

I'm not sure how many elk-horn arches there are in the world.  But apparently they are all smaller than this one.

I know it kind of looks like I'm getting a picture with that red car, but you're supposed to pay attention to the arch made out of antlers.

There's also a smaller bonus arch that you walk through to cross the street.

After that it was time to go to the hotel for important activities like sleeping.  The next morning was my actual birthday.  When I awoke, I got to open a card custom made by my niece.  I openned it up and laughed for a solid minute.

How great is this?

The morning activity was to go to the temple.  It's a tiny little temple, and they didn't have room for us to do an endowment session, so we did some sealings instead.  We got to sit and chat with the sealer for a while.  I love visiting temples in small towns, they just seem so much more personal.

The obligatory picture of Robyn next to flowers ar the temple is very important.

After the temple we had some lunch and then explored some of the great outdoors.  We wanted to hike to the world's largest intermittent spring.

This car was in the parking lot at the trailhead.  People in Wyoming just get it.  Am I right?

Cute little hiker.

Less cute little hiker.

Wilderness selfie

The sign explaining the intermittent spring.

So I've watched videos on youtube.  The river basically turns off and on when the spring turns off and on.  I wanted to experience the off and on nature of it, but it turns out that this early in the season there is so much runoff that it just keeps flowing.  We hung out at the spring for probably close to an hour but it just kept flowing.  Nevertheless, it was a really pretty area.

You can hike up to where the spring comes out of the rock, but we didn't want to hike over the ice.  So we just watched the river flow down from it.

I was a little disappointed to not experience the on/off nature of the spring, but the internet had warned me that labor day weekend is not the best time to go.  I actually was glad that we got as far as we did, because other years you wouldn't have even been able to make the hike because of so much snow.  So we got to see some pretty nature and that was good enough for me.

Sunday morning we departed back for home so I could celebrate my birthday with my parents and siblings.  But that morning I took walk around town to just see what there is to see.  Early morning walks in small towns are great.  These pics won't capture the quiet serenity of my morning walk, but they're kind of fun.

A random bear that was asking for a selfie.

The Star Valley Stake Tabernacle.  Why doesn't my stake have a tabernacle?

Just a park at the edge of town.  I loved that this town was nestled in wilderness.

All in all, it was a great birthday.  I couldn't ask for anything better.

Birthday Festivities 2015

My birthday was last week.  I turned old.  That's a lie.  I was already old.  I turned 34 which is definitely a new level of old.  It's over 3% older than 33, so that number right there tells you I'm pretty old.

We didn't do a lot of celebrating on the actual day of my birthday.  (Robyn did take me out to dinner that night, though.)  Much like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, I celebrate my birthday the Monday before the actual day.  Most people call this day Memorial Day.  I call it, "My birthday observed."

On My birthday observed, Robyn told me to wake her up 30 minutes before I want to eat breakfast.  I actually thought that meant that it would take her 30 minutes to do her hair and other such womanly activities.  What it actually meant was that it took 30 minutes to drive there.  She took me to The Original Pancake House in Draper.  I the most delicious breakfast burrito known to man, as well as some fantastic pancakes.

Before I tell you the next activity Robyn had planned for me, I should tell you that Robyn takes her students on all sorts of field trips, and I always tell her that I'm jealous and I want to go on a field trip.

So she took me on a field trip to the Living Planet Aquarium.

Field trips are so great!

We took selfies with sharks

I got to touch a ray.  (I've done it before, but it's super cool so clearly I did it again.)

I took a selfie with the arapaima.  (If you don't know what an arapaima is, you need to watch River Monsters.  It's the only fish that really scares Jeremy Wade.)

We had selfies with penguins.

I even got to pose with the napping otters.  (Incidentally, a little kid 3 or 4 years old was put in this same spot by his dad.  When he saw the otters, a look of pure terror came over his face.  It was precious.)

There were also important things that happened that weren't captured in selfies.  (I know.  You wish there were more selfies in this post.)  The first is that when I saw the octopus, I got up really close to his little tank and whispered, "Cthulhu fhtagn".  Doesn't that just seem like something an octopus would want to hear?

The second was when we watched the guy swimming into a giant tank filled with sharks and rays.  He had food with him to feed the rays.  The rays would come up and eat out of his hand.  The sharks knew he had food so they kept swimming up and trying to get it from him.  He would just grab them and push them away.  I kept thinking, "That guy is totally fighting off hungry sharks.  Best job ever!"

I hear you have to have a degree in marine biology to be the guy that fights off sharks.  I guess I'll just have to stick with my computer programming job.

Happy Birthday President Monson!

President Thomas S. Monson, Prophet and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints turned 86 on Wednesday.  I know I'm a little late to the party.  I hope he won't mind that I wrote this a couple days late.

He's been a good looking guy for all 86 years.

You probably think I'm going to write something about the wisdom he has shared over the years.  That would be a good thing to do.  He has taught many great things.  Unfortunately, I'm too geeky for that.  Maybe next year.

It turns out I was thinking about his age and I just got to thinking about how much the church has grown in his lifetime.  I was curious, and you all know how much I like numbers.  I thought I'd look some up.  And since I was already compiling some numbers, I thought I'd share them with all of you.  Personally, I think these numbers are fascinating, but if you don't, you are welcome to skip this post and come back at a later time.  (Just promise to come back, okay?)

President Monson was born August 21, 1927.  There weren't any statistics published on that day, but there were some a month and a half later at General Conference.  So, don't be offended that these numbers don't reflect 100% of the church growth in his lifetime.  Any new growth between August 21, 1927 and October 7, 1927 totally won't be reflected here.  My apologies.

My main sources for this data were the statistical information given at the October 1927 General Conference, the statistical information given at the April 2013 General Conference and Wikipedia (naturally).


Temples
1927: 6
2013: 141

My wife and I at the Manti Temple, one of the 6 temples that would have been standing in 1927.

At the time of the October 1927 General Conference, there were 6 temples in operation: 4 in Utah, 1 in Hawaii and 1 in Alberta, Canada.  There was one set to be dedicated later that month in Mesa, Arizona for a total of 7.  It's funny to read the talks given at that conference.  I noticed several references to the "Canada temple."  Canada is a big place that currently has 8 temples with a 9th under construction, so it's funny to see them reference the singular Canada temple.

Membership
1927:  644,745
2013:  14,782,473

Little baby Tommy Monson could count himself among the first million to join the church.  At 644 thousand, the church had already come a long way from the original 6 members when it was formally organized on April 6, 1830.  In President Monson's lifetime, another 14 million made the decision to join as well.

Wards and branches
1927: 1,005
2013: 29,014

A ward building in Hawaii that my Grandpa helped build.

Wards and branches are congregations within our faith.  Wards usually have their own church building to meet in and are generally a few hundred people.  Branches are smaller congregations located in more remote areas.  They may or may not have their own building to meet in.  In 1927, there were 930 wards and 75 branches, but the current statistical data lumps them together, so I lumped both numbers together as well.  Interestingly, they actually announced at the October 1927 General Conference what new wards had been formed since the previous conference.  That would make for a long meeting today.

Missions
1927: 27
2013: 347

Me with my grandparents, when I was a missionary and they were too.

When members of the LDS Church choose to serve a proselyting mission, they are assigned to a geographical area (also called a mission).  This area is presided over by a Mission President who will give individual missionaries assignments to serve in a particular city.  Today there are 81,951 missionaries serving in 347 missions.  I couldn't find any data on how many individuals there were serving in 1927, but if we assume the same number of missionaries per mission, there would have been 6,372 missionaries in the 27 world wide missions.

It's amazing to think that in 86 years the church membership has grown by 2200%.  It's almost like it's some sort of stone cut out of a mountain without hands filling the whole earth.

I'm sure President Monson is thrilled to realize how many people have come to Christ in his lifetime.  I can't imagine a better birthday present than that.  Happy Birthday President Monson!

I'm Feeling 32

Sometime early this morning, I turned 32 years old.  I don't know the exact time, but if you'd like specifics you can call my mother.  The word on the street is that she was present at the time, and surprisingly enough, played a fairly central role in the proceedings.

I've been 32 for less than 24 hours, so I admit that my sample size is a little small.  But, from what I can tell, 32 is pretty awesome.  Based on my limited experience today, here is what you can expect when you are 32.

1. When you're 32, you don't have to go to work
.
2. When you're 32, you get breakfast in bed.

3. When you're 32, things like this will magically appear in your wallet.

4. When you're 32, you get to see a rattlesnake.

I know it's not a great picture.  Perhaps when you're 32, you won't be a good photographer.

5. When you're 32, you still have to watch your wife shop.

I told her I was documenting this, so you all know that I love her enough to go shopping on my birthday

6. At least when you're 32, your wife buys you a DVD in exchange for going shopping with her.

7. When you're 32, your wife will scream when she sees a lizard.  (I think it's a vocabulary issue.  She describes the lizard as "wiggly" which she appears to believe is a synonym of "scary".)

8. When you're 32, you get to see a pretty waterfall

This is Grove Creek Falls

9.  When you're 32, the river above the falls is even prettier than the falls.

Sorry the beauty is ruined by having me in the middle

10.  When you're 32 you get to have a picnic with your super cute wife.

11.  When you're 32, your wife will scream when she sees a rock.
        In her defense, she was a little jumpy after such scary things as a rattlesnake (potentially scary) and a lizard (not scary, but "wiggly"), and she insists there was something more than a rock, but I saw nothing.

12.  When you're 32, you receive great amounts of love on facebook.

13. When you're 32, this happens.

14.  When you're 32, your wife does her best to make you feel special every second.

As you can see, being 32 is pretty awesome.  I highly recommend it.

People Love Me

It's true. There are lots of people that love me. Do you know how I can tell?

 This

If you don't know what the above picture is, I feel sad for you.  You are missing out on one of life's greatest joys.  You see, Amazon has a feature called a Wish List.  It allows you to tag items for future purchase.  You can purchase items off your wish list or you can make it public for others to see.  (Mine is here)

I am an avid user of the wish list, it makes it easy to remember that book I wanted to read, or something else I saw.  It also eliminates the "you're difficult to shop for" complaint.  I feel that every person on the planet should have an updated Amazon Wish List.

Another fun thing is that you can also view items that have been purchased from your wish list.  But there's a handy dandy feature that hides newly purchased items right before your birthday or Christmas (basically, during the purchase freeze period.)  You can click to reveal the items, but why would you ever want to ruin your own surprise?

I happened to logon today and saw the beauty above.  My birthday is in 2 weeks and already so many people  have loved me.  Birthdays are great.  I'm feeling the love.

Happy Birthday to My Love

Thirty years ago today, a very important event happened in history. When Robyn asked me if I remembered what happened today, I told her that I remember that her mom got sick and had to go to the hospital, but I couldn't remember what was wrong. That made her cranky, but I remember now what it was. Thirty years ago my beautiful wife Robyn came into the world. (She wasn't my wife at the time. I was like 6 months old, that would be awkward.)

We were both this precious thirty years ago, but our preciousness was separate.

To commemorate 30 years of Robyn, I have decided to write 30 things I love about her.

Warning: possible mushiness ahead. Proceed at your own risk.

Robyn,

1. I love that you always want to do what is right.
2. I love that you always sound cute when you sneeze. (Readers of the blog: I will try to get you audio or video, but I have not yet achieved that.)
3. I love that you make such a cute face when you're cranky

How can you not love that cranky face?

4. I love that you're always willing to have fun
5. I love that you make amazing food
6. I love that you love to learn and grow
7. I love that you help me become a better person
8. I love that you do the most humorous things while sleeping

Reading while sleeping is a special talent

9. I love that you're fun and creative
10. I love that you make our home beautiful
11. I love that you're a hotty
12. I love that you like to surprise me
13. I love that you love the Lord
14. I love that you think I'm funny even when I'm not.
15. I love that you think you're funny even when you're not.
16. I love that we have great and exciting experiences together
17. Did I mention your cooking?
18. I love that we're just so precious together

Our precious level is off the charts

19. I love that you always follow your heart
20. I love that you know when to seek counsel and when to follow what you know
21. I love that you have amazing empathy for others
22. I love that you have a gift with children, you bring out the best in them

23. I love that you have awesome hair

It's oh so fun to play with

24. I love that you truly are my best friend
25. Oh Whoah Dang! (See reason #11)
26. I love when you do the cold run (I wish I had pictures.  When Robyn is cold, she does this run where she tucks her arms in and does a cute little waddle.)
27. I love that you are a creative thinker and have brilliant ideas.
28. I love that you came with an awesome family that has welcomed me and made me feel loved.
29. I love that you love reading and value knowledge.
30. I love that the last 3 years have been the best in my life.

Robyn, I love you so much!  I love you more than bacon.  I love you more than chocolate milk.  I love you more than Blu-Ray discs or books.  I hope you have the most amazing birthday of your life.

P.S.  As you pass into your thirties I hope this post was sufficiently loving as well as embarrassing.  I love you!

The Purchase Freeze

Every year at this time of year it is a very difficult time. You see, my birthday is in just over a month. (May 27) This is, of course, a happy time but it's also very difficult. You see, there are those that would say that I'm difficult to purchase presents for. This is probably due to the fact that whenever I want something I buy it (obviously within reason, but someday I'll be wealthy enought to abandon reason.) This leaves me in a position where if I really want something then I have already bought it.

So, 4 or 5 years ago I came up with a brilliant plan to serve those who want to buy me birthday presents. (For the record, this plan also happens around Christmas time.) The plan is what I call the purchase freeze. It means I am not allowed to buy anything for myself for a month or two. Also, when I go into this mode I make sure that my amazon wishlist is up to date. In this way, I can fully support anyone who would desire to get me any sort of gift.

For those of you who are scoffing at the idea that I need to go into a special mode, and especially for those that are looking down on me for the fact that I'm writing a blog about my own birthday and my own presents I want you to know how difficult it has been historically to refrain from buying things during this time. It's significantly easier now that I'm married since we've put ourselves on a stricter budget, especially since I can now just tell Robyn anything I really want. But I want you all to know that I go to great sacrifice to allow you to have plenty of options in what you can buy me.

At any rate, I just wanted to announce that I am officially in purchase freeze mode and my amazon wish list is fully up to date. Also, I have setup my amazon wish list so that it doesn't tell me what people have bought from it during this time as well. You are now fully empowered to buy me birthday presents, early Christmas presents or happy Thursday presents.