"...To Be A Dad"

By Kathryn Kay Edwards

That day, my brother went to work, it was nothing new at all.
I went about my normal day until I got the call.

My heart was pounding in my chest as I listened through the phone,
"Your brother's been in an accident and might not be coming home."

My eyes soon filled with tears as thoughts went racing by,
I closed my eyes and dropped the phone and prayed he wouldn't die.

I rushed up to the hospital, I had to get there fast,
My brother's condition was unknown, who knew how long he'd last.

The doctor did not lie to us, he said he might not live,
But in my heart I knew he would, he had so much to give.

I walked down the hall of the ICU, the air smelled of stale breath,
The darkness and the gloominess reminded me of death.

I came upon my brother's room where he was lying in bed,
I took one little look at him and thought that he was dead.

There were tubes connected everywhere, there was blood upon his face,
I wanted him to be awake so that we could both embrace.

It all seemed like a nightmare, a terrible, horrible, dream,
But when I realized it wasn't, I just wanted to scream.

Sometimes that moment haunts me, although it was long ago,
What would I have done if he had died? No one will ever know.

Today, my brother is doing fine, his life has just begun,
He is now happily married and was just blessed with a son.

My brother could have died that day, but he lived and I am glad.
He needed to be here for some reason, perhaps, to be a dad.

Copyright 2002, Katy Kay Edwards

Katy wrote this powerful and inspiring poem in the 8th grade

shortly after her nephew Ammon was born. It recounts that terrible

day in 1999, when Brandyn left us for awhile before God graciously

gave him back. He now has three sons and he continues to bless our lives. Happy Father's Day, Brando. We love you... and Ryan and Jayson also.

Thanks to all my children for making me a blessed father!

Update on British Freedom Ban

Springville Gothic

Is that a smirk on Heidi's face?

Yes. Yes, I think it is!

Summerville Remembers one of the "Charleston 9"

PhotoShop Humor

Ten Commandments of Photoshop

I found this on a Photoshop Blog I enjoy. Thought it might give you all a giggle too.It's called "The Ten Commandments of Photoshop."

1) Thou shalt always work upon a copy of thy original otherwise thou shalt be really annoyed when thou messeth it up.

2) Thou shalt venerate “Undo” as the greatest gift since sliced bread, for “Undo” doth maketh thy stupid mistakes disappear.

3) Thou shalt take time to learn thy shortcuts, for verily, thy shortcuts shall prevent thy fingers from wearing down to little nasty stubs and save thee a whole bunch of time.

4) Thou shalt use thy eraser and, indeed, any other repetitive Photoshop tool, in little bursts. That way when thou doth screw up thy image (and thou wilt at some point) one “Undo” command shall only lose thee a little work instead of a great smoking pile of careful and time consuming labor.

5) Thou shalt keep thy original files in a perfect, unchanged state. Yea, verily, for with this thou hast ensured that thou canst access them again if thou wantest to and will not call thyself a moron for having overwritten them.

6) Thou shalt save two copies of thy work. The first copy shall be thy finished work. The second shall be in Photoshop format with thy layers unflattened. For if thou findest out that there is only one “s” in the word “mistake” thou canst fix it quickly and not be forced to look upon thy error for all time…or startest over from the beginning with great cursing and gnashing of teeth.

7) Thou shalt keep thy finished work and original graphics safe upon an external drive. For in this way, shouldst thou dropest thy computer and wrecketh thy drive, thou shall still have thy work safe.

8) Thou shalt “Save” frequently. For all wise artists doth know that all computers are inherently evil machines that occasionally crash. If thou hath “saved” thy work, thy work hath been saved indeed. If thou hath not saved thou art screwedeth.

9) Thou shalt take time to learn the rules and then thou shalt break them. For in this way true art is created (and also a lot of poop.) Thou shalt seek to create very cool stuff and forgive thyself for thy poop. Thou shalt also keep thy poop to thyself and avoid attempting to talk others into seeing thy poop as art. For yea, verily, poop is poop.

10) Thou shalt have fun. For thou art blessed to be creating art with Photoshop and verily, what’s not to like?
__________________
Always speak the truth...and escape as soon as possible afterwards.

In Which "Flat Stanley" Joins The Adventure

My name is Flat Stanley. I haven't always been Flat Stanley. One day while I was getting ready to go on a trip, a bulletin board fell on me and smashed me flat. I didn't get hurt but sure got flat! So my parents folded me up and placed me in an envelope and mailed me to our friends house in California. Since then, I have traveled all over the world.

Recently, I arrived in Miss Edwards' first grade class. A nice boy named Seth decided to send me to Miss Edwards' parents so they could take me on an adventure in their cool little Mini Cooper. Being flat came in real handy for someone sitting in the back seat!

Our first stop was J Dawgs to load up on some awesome food... this was going to be a long trip!

Then it was off to Yellowstone National Park to see "Old Faithful"... We got there just in time to see it spray!

Then we went east to Mt. Rushmore National Monument. One of the Presidents looked a lot like me... I know there was a President who thought he was a rock star... but, was there a President named Rock Stanley?

From South Dakota, we went to Illinois to see a squash festival. I was elected the "Pumpkin King"... I can't imagine why, can you?

Next, I got to go to West Point Military Academy in New York. This is where Miss Edwards' mom was born and it was really awesome!

Next, I got to go to a very special place in Kentucky called Bardstown. This place is very special to Miss Edwards... you will have to ask her why.

In Louisville, Kentucky, I went to the "Louisville Slugger" bat factory. I got to try my like luck with one of "Babe's" bats... I look pretty good in that uniform, don't you think?

Next we drove all the way to Texas where Miss Edwards' dad was born along with another very important Texan!

This is a photo of me and Miss Edwards' mom standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon... I sure am glad it was not a windy day!

On our way back home we stopped at Crater Lake National Park. It was almost dark and it was very cold but it was very beautiful.

Then it was on to Mount Hood. It was a very sunny day on the mountain and lots of people were snowboarding and skiing.

Miss Edwards' dad said she would like this one because he loves her "to the moon and back". This was one of the best parts of my adventure!

When I got back, I got to get my picture taken with Neil Armstrong... the first man on the moon!

When we got home, I got to go to a BYU Baseball game. Here I am standing with Coach Law.

After all this traveling, we got real hungry so we stopped at Izzy's for a pizza... my favorite food... can you guess why?

Then it was on to Miss Edwards' grandma's house. She was very nice to me and I liked her a lot!

Out in her backyard, there was a horse. I kept my distance because he looked hungry.

Grandma has a huge backyard and I got to mow it with this awesome John Deere!

On the way back to Miss Edwards' parents house, I asked If I could see where Miss Edwards went to first grade. This is me standing in front of the school with her mom.

Before I was folded and put back in the mailbox, Miss Edwards' mom asked me if there was anywhere else I would like to go? I told her that Miss Edwards had told me to go to a very special place before I come back to school... so...

We went to Multnomah Falls in the Columbia Gorge. It is over 600 feet tall! I knew there was one more thing I needed to do before we went home...

Yep! That is me up on that bridge!

Well it has been an awesome adventure. I will see all y'all back in school (I learned that in Kentucky!)

Nikon D200's Rock My Face Off!

I found an awesome used lens today! An old school Tamron SP 200-500mm with an optically matched doubler! This is some good glass! I set the tripod up and took this quick shot at 1000mm (1500mm effective) 1/80 sec at f11, ISO 1000. I think I am going to have some fun with this one... and oh yeah, NO MORE LENS ENVY!

After I get everything that I want, I will post the awesome photo store where I found this lens!

Grandma is 83 years young today!

Marcella Emilie Rudolph

(I will put the original on SmugMug if you want to print one.)

In which we get a new visitor to the pond...

This morning, I heard Deb call from the bedroom to look out the window at a beautiful bird that had landed in the pond. After recognizing that it was a juvenile falcon, I ran downstairs to grab my camera. Carefully opening the blind in Tyler's old room, I was able to get a couple photos before it flew away. The quality is not great because I did not take time to mount the camera on a tripod because I was afraid the falcon would fly away before I could do it... that and the fact that I am shooting through a window that has not been cleaned on the outside since last spring, contributed to the not so tack-sharp results.

The falcon flew from the submerged rock to the Japanese Maple that overlooks the edge of the pond...

What was the falcon interested in... long time returning visitors (5 years now I think), Donald and Daisy. Fortunately, they proved a little bit too much for the young raptor.

BYU vs. U of Portland Pilots - Season Opener and Double Header

February 22-23, 2008

Coach Vance Law discussing the ground rules prior to the season opener at University of Portland's Joe Etzel Field on a cold and damp Friday afternoon.

Kent Walton (#9) scores the Cougar's first run of the season.

J.T. Musso (#10) scores next...

Bringing the score to 2-0 in the top of the 5th inning.

The Pilots answer...

with a couple...

in the bottom of the 5th, tying it up.

Sean McNaughton (#15) scores for the Cougars in extra innings...

followed by Jonathan Cluff (#8) in the top of the 11th inning...

clinching the win for BYU!

Coach Law has High Fives for everyone... but the high did not last for long...

Saturday dawned a beautiful warm sunny day - a perfect day for baseball!

But in the end, BYU did not have a lot to cheer about...

In game one of the double header, Steve Parker (#5) scored the only run that the Cougars would see this game!

The Pilots blew them out of the park with a 12-1 disaster.

The second game started out much better with Kasey Ko (#22) scoring first in the top of the second inning...

followed by Brysce Ayoso (#11)...

and Jonathan Cluff (#8)...

Making it 3-0 after two.

Steve Parker (#5) added one more, the season's first out of the park Home Run, when he sailed one over the 360' right field fence...

The Pilots answered with two in the bottom of the 6th and the bottom of the 8th tying the score at 4-4.

Things looked hopeful when Jonathan Cluff (#8)...

and Dan Vargas (#13)...

and Kent Walton (#9) all scored...

closing out the top of the 9th with BYU leading 7-4.

Then the clouds came out as the Pilots loaded the bases with a very fast substitute runner on First Base and a designated hitter driving a ball deep into Right field, which dropped just inside the OB line...Sending the game into extra innings one more time!

BYU was unable to score in the top of the 10th and Pilot CJ Cullen (#35) ices the game...

Ending in a heartbreaker...

Cougars 7 - Pilots 8

A fun game to watch, but not the results we were hoping for in the end.

I'll bet it was a long ride home tonight for BYU.