Friday, November 17, 2006

A Tribute to The Glory of Autumn in Utah

There are few places on earth that do Fall better than Utah. In fact, when I got out of the Air Force, I had planned to go to Seattle and live and work there, but we came down through Spanish Fork Canyon in October, and we were hooked. Many places in the United States have a beautiful fall, but few of them have the kind of Autumn that we do here. The mix of mountains, snow, and beautiful fall leaves is unparalelled. Enjoy.



















When the bible says that "all of nature testifies" that there is a creator, I couldn't agree more. These beautiful palettes, these amazing colors, these hues of the autumn of life are a strong witness to the reality of God. Thank you Lord for your stunning show every year.

This is indeed a life unhinged.

Saturday, November 04, 2006

Do we really PAMPER our kids?

My Father-in-law is fond of saying that if reincarnation is real, he hopes he comes back in life as one of our dogs. We are VERY fond of our animals - as if you haven't figured that out by now... But sometimes, I have to say we go just a tad too far.

This is McGwire who was interrupted during his nap. As I look at this picture, I have to ask myself, how did we ever get so lucky?!

Oops... we interrupted Geeter's beauty sleep

Recently, we've had to talk about losing our pets. McGwire has a lump in his neck much like the one that Cricket started out with before she died of cancer. Not that he has cancer mind you, but we have to think about things like that if we're to be responsible pet owners. I read an article not too long ago that spoke of pets in heaven. Many people have the misconception that animals do not have souls. In fact, many bible teachers or pastors will teach this, but anyone who has ever had pets and looked into their eyes HAS to know that there is someone looking back. This article was from a famous Christian Pastor/Evangelist and shares his personal belief that pets will meet us in heaven, and that they will testify about/against us in our judgement. I believe this because the bible says that the Godly treat their animals kindly and take care of them. So, looking at McGwire, should we lose him, I think he'll have plenty of good things to say about the way we treated our pets.

I love our pets... it's part of a life unhinged.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Halloween Fun with Pumpkins!

This year we all got together to carve pumpkins. Chris and the kids for fun, me for a competition at work. My pumpkin didn't win dangit, but I had fun. It was fun having Sadie with us as Linz, Zack, Chris and I got creative with the produce!

Me, holding some delicious "PUMPKIN Pi"

The scene of the crime...

Sadie and her FIRST pumpkin she ever carved!
It was a ZOMBIE pumpkin... and it was HUNGRY!

Chris always does wonderful artwork...

Of course, weird things happen on Halloween!

I MEAN REALLY WEIRD!

(NOTE: No Sadies were harmed in the making of this website. Every care was taken to ensure Sadie's safety and continued happiness!)

Our encounter with a GEN-U-WHINE U.F.O!

The other day, I was summoned from my room to the cries of my family telling me that I "had to come and see this!!" I got up as soon as I was able, and came into the living room to see them all looking out our front windows and pointing at an object in the sky...

A hushed and fearful silence fell over the family. I began wondering if we really SHOULD have bought into that whole 72 hour emergency kit craze, and whether or not I had any fire arms in the house. Then suddenly, a whole new thought entered my mind. What if this was the end?! Was Jesus comin' back to see us in a '59 Ford? Were we about to see the end of life as we knew it?? Was I going to be the next victim, ala "Men in Black" and have an inter-gallactic cockroach try and wear ME like a suit? HOLY CRAP!!

I hollared for Chris to "git the gun, woman!" Then, realizing we didn't have one, I ran for the only thing I knew I could shoot... my camera! Now, ladies and gentlemen, prepare yourself for the first genuine image of a UFO ever captured by your's truly...

The beginning of the alien horde's invasion!

As we stood looking in wonder, we noticed that the craft was hovering! It seemed to be staying in one place, and then we noticed that it was SLOWLY DESCENDING! I clenched my buttocks to keep what was inside from coming out side, and told my family to start looking for anything to defend our humble abode with! We were UNDER ATTACK! Cries of "What is it?!" "What could they want!?" "Where's the damned remote!?" echoed through the house as we watched the hovering "craft-o-death" come nearer and nearer. With trembling hands I lifted my camera and swallowing hard, I ventured another shot:

The Spaceship-0-Death turns on it's axis to align it's Phasers!

Fearing I wasn't getting a good enough shot, and in complete disregard of my personal safety or the fact that I could shortly become the outer rainment of a space bug, I ran outside, set my camera to continuous shot, and fired off a few more images. Sadly, they were blurry:

The spaceship obviously had some kind of cloaking device,
rendering my camera focus uselss. What other
terrifying technology were we facing?

The lower it got, the more afraid I became, until suddenly, I thought I could detect something protruding from the side of the craft. Images of long alien probes began flashing through my mind, sending my heart racing. "Click, click, click" I took more and more pictures. I zoomed in on the ship and the first seeds of doubt began to creep in. Something didn't look quite right...

Wait a minute... what's that there doohickey?

As the realization that this could be nothing more than a rouge mylar balloon, I took one last shot to confirm my growing suspicion. And this is what I saw:

Somewhere, someone is missing their get-well wishes.

Needless to say, my family couldn't quite decifer the angry words that slipped from my mouth as I stomped down the hall bow-legged intent on finding the box of pre-moistened medicated cleansing wipes. That's the last time I fall for the whole "HONEY, YOU HAVE TO COME SEE THIS!!"

This is truly... a life unhinged.