FAMILY REUNION, BEAR LAKE: 2011

Once upon a time, Jean and DeeAnne had 10 children.

On day in July, they were all together in the foothills around Bear Lake, Idaho.  Why Bear Lake?  Because the mother's father was raised in George Town, which is near the north end of Bear Lake.

Over time, (a long time) the whole family grew to look like this.

The newest addition to the family, Whitney, is sitting next to the patriarch.   The Bruces are missing (Julies' husband and Lorenas').  Also missing are Lorena's Joseph, her oldest two girls, Jesse and Mary; and Darcy is in S. Korea.

One day the Georgians went for a drive under the paradigm of "I wonder where this road goes."  It turned out perfect.  We saw a golden eagle.  I took lots of flower pictures and we eventually found a beautiful view from the mountain behind the hill that served as a back drop to the first picture on this blog.

 This picture shows what I miss while living in Georgia.  While our trees are beautiful in Georgia, they cover everything and we never get vistas like this one!  Matt is missing from this picture because he was on the lake.

Peter and Joseph are facing backwards, Matt is driving.  Thanks to Clark for providing the teenagers' toys.

The picture below shows Lorena's youngest daughter on the far left, Conals oldest daughter in the middle and Angies oldest daughter on the right. 

Outdoors above, Indoors below.

I don't know what Matt and the St. Georgians are playing, but at the big table they were playing Pitt, and yes, it got very exciting.  At the far table, a game of Dominion is being set up.  Dominion - in my opinion - was the most fun new game at the reunion.

Clarissa and her Dad getting ready for the frisbee throw from Ced.

The volleyball game between the Whettens and the Jordans.  Jordans won :(

Volleyball was officiated by Ced.  I liked the way he laid down the rules and there were no exceptions.  Not even Grandpa got a second chance to serve.  And don't mess with the net!

Not shown in these images are the table tennis game put together by Joshua, or the Risk Games.  I don't have any pictures of those.  It's late.  I have to wrap this up.

A year from Spain

The transition from March to April marks the 1 year pre-anniversary of our trip to Spain.  Let me explain that more clearly.  We are planning on being in Spain at the end of March and beginning of April 2012.  As a teaser, my good friend Paco sent me a CD with pictures of Galicia, the province in the North West corner of Spain.

For many centuries, pilgrims have been walking from all over Europe to Santiago de Campostela in Galicia, where they believe the apostle James is buried.  Paco and I will be either biking or hiking the Camino de Santiago in Galicia.

It would be fun to hike the entire Camino from France to Santiago, but I might not be in shape for that just yet.  I know our budget is not and I know my responsibilities at work won't allow it.  Let's try this out and maybe later do the rest.

Michelle is not particularly interested in walking for three or four days.  Paco's wife, Idoya, has graciously agreed to host Michelle while we hike.  They will meet us at an Inn for lunch and then at the next one for dinner and to spend the night.  When I say Inn, I mean the real thing.  They are not like anything we've seen in the US, since they've been around since before the US existed.

Paco is an excellent photographer - I'm honored that he let me show these to you.  His CD also included pictures of the Picos de Europa in Northern Spain.  I'm reserving those for now.  Picos de Europa are the most beautiful mountains in Spain.  Some time soon, I hope to spend a couple of weeks there.

What's going on?

Time between posts is evidence of life's increased complexity.  In March and April I served as part of the logistics staff for Wood Badge Course S9-101-26.  Wood Badge is the highest level of training for volunteers who work directly with the youth in all of Scouting (i.e. Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Varsity Scouts, Ventures, Explorers and Sea Scouts).  It was a great experience:

1. The content of the course has been useful to me not only as the Cub Master of Pack 521, but also in my responsibilities at Motorola Solutions and - most importantly - in my responsibilities at home.  In a separate entry I will share more details of how the contents of the course has affected my life.
2. The volunteers who attend Wood Badge are the cream of the crop.  These are people who are willing to sacrifice their own comforts and time in order to become better for the youth.  The concept of "magnifying a calling" is internalized in them to the point that they're confused as to why everyone doesn't do this.
3. The leaders who present Wood Badge are the creme' de la creme'.  These men and women - all volunteers - are the working embodyment of the principles taught in Wood Badge.

Here is a picture of the Staff.

This course took place at Camp Rainey Mountain in north east Georgia.  The name is right.  It's in the county that receives the most rain in all of Georgia.  Fortunately for us, it was not a serious problem.  It kept the dust down and kept us honest as Scouters: no sloppy tents.

I tried to download the picture with the participants... but it took so long I gave up and cancelled it.