Steven

Davis County Windstorm Cleanup

December 3, 2011 by rickety Leave a Comment

Working on the roof Saturday with my four sons

Yesterday we only had two hours before dark on Steven’s roof. After helping pull out two tree stumps at our neighbor’s homes, we headed back to Layton to finish the repairs to the roof. We nailed the last shingle by 4pm.

Steven with his roof, good as new. The new shingles don't quite match but they will keep the rain out

Earlier in the day it seemed like the whole of Davis County was on the move. While driving to Layton we saw truck after truck filled with broken tree limbs. The line to the landfill, or rather the Green Waste Recycling Facility, was quite long.

A common sight all day along Highway 89

Notice the truck on the left carrying what looks like power cables, no doubt needed for repairs

Several trucks headed for the Green Waste Recycling Facility

As we headed towards the landfill there was a convoy of vehicles leaving, having shed their loads

A long line at the landfill entrance

Mark Reporting from Bountiful

Our power was out from 8am until 2am the next morning. Luckily the temperature was in the low 30s during the day and low 20s at night. We have experienced other East winds when it was below zero. I spent much of the day [Thursday] on my ham radio with emergency responders in the area, sharing information and keeping up to date on what was happening.

It was a good opportunity to test out emergency preparedness plans / equipment. Serious enough to warrant their use, but not life threatening. The Davis County Amateur Radio Emergency Service was the main communication system for cities, police departments, hospitals and other emergency responders. These are hobbyists volunteering their equipment and skills and they did a fantastic job. At one point one of the Centerville Emergency Communications Center responders was heard on the radio saying:

A big spruce fell on a neighbor’s house about 20 minutes ago. The whole neighborhood is there cutting it up right now. I love this community. In some places in this country, we would still be waiting for FEMA!

Connie surveying the damage in Bountiful

A dead tree in the cemetery

This tree was snapped off at the truck

Give Your Tree A New Look Videos

September 26, 2010 by rickety 4 Comments

Steven visited yesterday evening and with his brothers gave my tree a new look. We made three short videos so that you can see how it was done. Slash and Drag would be a good name for the process. The first video shows Steven and Jake Slashing. Next we have me Dragging the branches away for later disposal. Lastly Jake (he really likes to pan) illustrates on film our handiwork, ready for Jill to see in all its glory.

If you cannot see the videos, click here.

Give Your Tree A New Look

September 26, 2010 by rickety 7 Comments

Steven visited yesterday evening and with his brothers gave my tree a new look. Above are before and after photographs. The women were safely occupied with General Relief Society Meeting so we wouldn’t be disturbed for two hours. Fir sprucing up my conifer I wood need tree handsaws and three sons.

Aurora said it would be OK to prune the tree just a little

Steven said that if we do it wrong it will grow back in ten or twenty years anyway

Paul didn't say anything

Jake said you all will need a drink

I said this will look really different

The tree said this is not a good thing

The Visiting Teachers will probably say they have some shade while they wait for Jill to get home

Paul still didn't say anything

Collateral damage

Too bad this is not covered under lawn care

Later in the evening we began to drag

Mission accomplished

I had a request to post any videos I had of this project. I will publish them in a few hours. Jill walked past the tree in the dark four times last night to help load Steven’s car. She didn’t notice that we had given the tree a new look. This morning while Jake and I were watching the tree videos she heard “Tree” and “Chop” in the same sentence. Jill went outside and saw the results of our efforts.

Jill said she was astonished by our work.

There is Plenty of Sound in an Empty Barrel: Part 5

September 4, 2010 by rickety 3 Comments

My son Steven went with the crew of the Good Raft Paul to photograph the launch at Causey Reservoir. Now I don’t know what the raft was named, or if indeed it had a name, but I will refer to it as Paul for now (not to be confused with Paul the captain). Steven reports:

It was already dark when we launched so we didn’t have much of a chance to take pictures. I suspect you’ll be able to get some better photos from those that stayed up there. The vessel floated very well, as expected.

I will add any more photographs to this post as they become available. Stay logged on.

Go to Part 6

So they loaded up the truck and they moved to Kaysville

August 15, 2010 by rickety 1 Comment

Derek and Sarah have been back from Texas since June and staying with family. Yesterday it was time for them to move back into their own home. We loaded the truck and trailer with their belongings that were stored with Steven and Adelaide. The photograph of Paul reminds me of a television show I used to watch a few years ago.

Loading the truck and trailer. Steven is the one with the hat.

Loading the piano. Left to right: Derek, Paul, Jake, and Steven.

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Cassandra Is Blessed

August 8, 2010 by rickety 2 Comments

Last Sunday the family gathered to the Lakeview Ward for the blessing of Cassandra Willoughby. For my readers unfamiliar with the naming and blessing of children I will explain. Under the direction of the presiding authority (in our case today it was Bishop Macrum), brethren who hold the Melchizedek Priesthood may participate in the ordinance of naming and blessing children (see Doctrine & Covenants 20:70). When blessing a baby, brethren gather in a circle and place their hands under the baby. Normally the father follows these steps:

Addresses our Heavenly Father.
States that the ordinance is performed by the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood.
Gives the child a name.
Adds words of blessing as the Spirit directs.
Closes in the name of Jesus Christ.

After the meeting we relocated to Steven and Adelaide’s home to eat. Following are a few of the photographs taken by Steven and Adelaide. Click on the images to enlarge.

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Wasatch Mountain State Park

August 7, 2010 by rickety 3 Comments

I wanted to take my grandchildren camping so I made reservations for two campsites. I then invited the parents to go and before the day was out they were ready for the trip. So last weekend we went to Wasatch Mountain State Park. We camped overnight at Little Deer Creek Campground.

Here are a few of the photographs and videos taken by Steven, Jill, and Rick. Click on the images to enlarge. If you cannot see the videos, click here.

We unloaded and pitched the tents. We were only staying overnight but it seemed like we had food for a week. That’s Jill by the picnic table. The campsites were large, had running water, and some had shade. We had quite a view.

I brought plenty of wood for a fire to cook our hot-dogs.

Aurora was ready to eat…

…just about anything.

After we ate Bryson and Aurora put to good use the local materials that were lying around. Aurora used her truck to level the ground.

We had lots of adults to go around when the grandchildren needed to be held. Here is Sarah with Aurora.

Steven with Cassandra. Steven is the one on the right.

Derek with Bryson.

And me.

We retired to our tents while Jake slept out in the open.

In the morning, before breakfast, Derek took Bryson for a walk.

Jake is a handy guy to have around when you are hungry for some ham.

Sarah appears to be enjoying her breakfast.

Any left for me?

Before noon we broke camp and drove a few miles onto federal land to visit Cascade Springs in Uinta National Forest. The trail through Cascade Springs consists primarily of a raised boardwalk which crosses over a series of clear shallow pools. Calcite mineral deposits accumulated and formed terraces over which the water cascades.

Adelaide holds Cassandra, who didn’t really want to see running water just right now.

Jill loves the outdoors…

…while Cassandra has yet to make up her mind.

I do believe we will go camping again. There is no better way to spend the weekend than with family.

The water coming from the springs has made a long journey from limestone caverns deep within the earth. Forced through cracks and fissures, the water emerges here as “travertine”. The deposits have gradually accumulated to make the terraces for the pools at Cascade Springs. Approximately seven and one-half million gallons flow from the springs each day.

A Sister For Aurora

June 28, 2010 by rickety 3 Comments

At 3:49 am Jill received this text message from Steven:

Six pounds eleven ounces. Nineteen inches. Born at three twenty eight. We’re all doing well.

We went to see the new baby for a few minutes. Adelaide said that they went to the hospital at 12:30 and because three other women arrived at the same time, she wasn’t in her room until 1:30 am. Two hours later a little sister for Aurora was born.

Congratulations Adelaide and Steven!

Update Her name is Cassandra.

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Caption Competition #3

January 24, 2010 by rickety 13 Comments

There are a lot of possibilities for funny captions whenever there is a photograph of Steven. Here Steven is at his parents’ home for Sunday dinner with his wife Adelaide. Submit your captions and I will update this post with the winning lines.

First prize are Sweetheart Cookies, beautiful model not included

The first prize (Kaysville and environs only) was going to be a big bar of Hershey’s chocolate. But that got ate. Jill came up with a one pound bag of Stauffer’s Sweethearts Cookies as the prize. Just in time for Valentines Day.

Caption Competition #2 Winners

As judges, mine and Jill’s captions were excluded from the competiton. Thank you all for the funny captions.

The first place winner, Ken, I do believe is not local so the prize passes to the second place caption. However, Derek, who lives in Texas is not local either so the prize goes to the third place entry. And Darrell is definitely local — he lives in the same ward as I do.

First — “Grandad, I don’t want to frighten you but there’s a Giant Shredded Wheat right behind you.” Ken
Second — “You stole the Thin Mints?!” Derek
Third — “Grandpa, I can’t believe how bad our outfits clash!” Darrell
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