Hannah at the Office Window

Hannah came to the window of my home office while I was working the other day. She was so cute, I just had to stop for a few photos.

Best Bush Impersonator Ever!

Welcome JD Taylor to the World of Blogging

I hung out with JD today for a bit, and he showed me his new blog taylormadetimes.blogspot.com.

I knew it was only a matter of time.

Greg Melchin Annual BBQ

We attended Greg's annual BBQ on Saturday (see the flickr photo set here)-- held next to the Bow River at the Shriner's park. Basically the same thing as years past, but the attendance seems to grow each year. Several of the PC leadership candidates attended and spoke to the group.

Certainly the highlight for our family was the face painting. Grace and Matt had thier faces paited by a very talented face painter.

The Peacegiver

I recently re-read portions of "The Peacegiver" and was struck again by the depth of this statement,

"Being mistreated is the most important condition of mortality, for eternity depends on how we view those who mistreat us.”

Remarkable!

Appreciate What You Have

What if the popculation of the earth was reduced to 100 people (keeping the same demographics, ethnicity, socio-economic status, religion, culture etc...)? This brief slideshow attempts to answer this questions, and presents an interesting perspective along the way. Though I'm not big on the dramatic effect slideshows like this try to create, the information is interesting, and the final message, "appreciate what you have" is good.

Tuscany Ward Corn Bust and Chili Cook-off

We had a nice time at the 1^st Annual Tuscany Ward Corn Bust and Chili Cook-off today. It was an excellent day, and a very well attended event. There were lots of games for the kids, and of course who doesn't love corn on the cobb.



There was also a chili "cook-off" -- I'd guess about 20 people prepared entries, including Erin and I (that is, my contribution was to sign us up, Erin's contribution was to make the chili).



Richard Young performed a magic show, which was very well recieved by all the kids. My hat goes off to anyone who can hold the attention of 75 kids aged 2-18 for 40 minutes. The guy is simply amazing.



After the party, we came home and decided to meet the my folks and Erin's folks for some Dairy Queen. Matt brought his "purse" full of change and bougth pony rides on the mechanical pony for all the kids.

Big day tomorrow -- Gracie's first day of grade 1.

Spread FireFox

Another reason why I prefer FireFox.

August 26, 2006

What a day. It started off like any other Saturday... Matt up at 7:15 AM, Hannah and Gracie not far behind. I had to go into work for a couple of hours to get a project done before Monday and so after watching some Saturday morning cartoons and having breakfast with the kids -- then I went off to work.

Erin had a Wal-Mart photo session scheuled for the kids at 12:00 which she went to alone -- hard (with a capital "H"). Gracie was quite uncooperative and they spent the first 20 minutes trying to get the kids to stop crying and look at the camera. When they finally calmed down and posed -- the camera broke, and wouldn't take any photos. Erin went home without getting a single photo.

About the time that Erin was battling the kid's, Steve Miller called and invited us out to ride in his carriage. He's been training two of his horses to drive a carriage, and he had them out for a 15 km ride. Erin's cell phone is broken, so I drove to Wal-Mart to find her and try to go out to Cochrane. I couldn't find her car in the parking lot, so I drove home and sure enough she was just pulling in. When I rolled down my window I met with a very frustrated mother. Nonetheless I convinced her to come along, and we all ended up having a really great time on a Saturday afternoon carriage ride.

Hummer Ride

Dr. Miller came into the office this afternoon and told me to drop whatever I was doing, and come for a ride... in a Hummer H3. Fortunately I always have my camera with me. See the photos.

August 22, 2006

It rained for most of the afternoon, so Erin and the kids were quite bored when I got home from work. We ate dinner quickly and then decided to walk over to visit the Shipley's (Jeff got a new motorcycle). Of course I took some photos...

August 20, 2006

Had a nice day today.  Morning meetings went a big long, so I ended up attending the Rockyview ward.  After church I took the kids for a long walk in the ravine (even Hannah came along in the snugli).  All three of the kids haven't slept very well these last few nights, so Erin didn't come on the walk, instead she had a nap.

We went for the longest ravine hike yet!  Matt was excited to keep walking south toward the river, so we pressed on for about 10 mintues further south than we normally do.  I regret not briging my cameral because the ravine was so green, but I just couldn't manage it with Hannah strapped to my chest.

Later we went over to Rick and Cathy's place for a delicioius dinner (steak and Tabler corn on the cobb).  We had one of my favorite deserts -- vaniall ice cream and strawberies.

Melchin Family Photos (March 2006)

In March, all the Melchins from the Rick and Cathy clan gathered in Calgary. Everyone came to Calgary to be with Rick as he was released after having served 18 years in the Calgary Alberta West Stake Presidency. Here's the Flickr photo set...

Can!

I saw this video at work today, and was really touched. I can't belive how hard a thing this man undertook for his son -- it makes me feel pretty small. I'm giving you fair warning... you may want to get up and get some tissue paper now.

Tom (my boss) was telling me that the son highlighted in the video told his father that he didn't feel pain when they were competing.

UPDATE: I bothered to do a little bit of investigation on this, and as it turns out the son Rick Hoyt, said he doesn't feel "handicapped" when they compete. Here's the full story of Dick and Rick Hoyt.

Speedtest.net

This is the nicest Internet download/upload speed test yet! The image above is the test I ran from my computer at work. Click on the image to do your own Internet speed test.

August 15, 2005

I golfed in a corporate golf tournament yesterday -- though I went in feeling like I didn't want to be there, I ended up having fun. I'm starting to make more consistent contact with the ball, and that makes the game a whole lot more fun. The biggest difference has been that I've started to use the Taylor Made driver Networc gave me for Christmas a couple of years ago. It treats me very well (VERY WELL). Somehow I'm able to drive long and straight with that thing, and that makes it a whole new game.



The tournament organizers invited the 2006 World Long Drive Champion (Gerry James) to sit at one of the holes and tee-off for us. When my foursome arrived at the hole, Gerry gave a nice long 400 yard drive, and put us just a hundred yards from the pin -- right down the middle of the fairway. When it was my turn, I pulled out the Taylor Made, and knocked a respectable 300 yard drive, also down the middle of the fairway. After my stroke, Gerry Says "Scott, you're the man". How sweet is that!

I could like this golf stuff -- if it didn't take 4-5 hours out of my day.

The First Step in Recovery is Admiting You Have A Problem

Ok, I have a problem. I'm addicted to Flickr. I can't stop uploading photos.


We went to Peters' Drive-in tonight (slideshow). It was a bit chilly for this time of year, but we ate outside on the picnic tables anyway. The kids threw french fries (pardonez mois... "freedom fries") at the seagulls, as many generations have done before. Pete still makes a mean burger and milkshake.

Weekend At Bernie's

Several weeks ago, my boss invited us out to his tree farm for a day of fishing and a BBQ. We had lots of fun. The kids especially liked casting off the doc, and marveld at the fish that were caught.

I caught a fish, which we brought home and ate that night.

Erin

Hannahs Baby Photos

I know this is now almost a year old, but I thought I would post Hannah's newborn photos.