BRAG BOARD

Time to post grades. They did AWESOME!

Kudi did really awesome with her grades. Three A's, two B's and a C+. I don't know what classes correspond to what grades, but she did well especially considering she works 30 hours a week. She's nearly done with her Associates, and plans to start the paramedic program in August.

The boys also did a good job with their grades.

I could just tell you they got straight A's, but check out these percentages! (And as a bonus, check out their new summer "beat the heat" hair do's.)


Ian:
Computer Tech A 100%
Orchestra A 99%
PE A 94%
Lang Arts A 93%
Math A 92%

Jared:
Geometry A 101%
Biology A 100%
Theatre Tech A 99%
Spanish A 98%
Geography A 96%

Lang Arts A 93%

PE A 93%

YOU KNOW YOU'RE GETTING OLD WHEN...

A couple of years ago Scott was on a plane and as it landed at the airport he could see another plane out the window, obviously a corporate jet from Frito Lay, painted to look like a giant potato chip bag. Behind him sat an elderly couple, and he heard the lady say to her husband, "Oh, look at that plane!" After several long moments the gentleman very gently replied, "I'm sorry, Dear. I didn't hear you." There was no response for several seconds, and then he heard the lady answer sweetly, "That's ok, Dear. I can't remember."

That's the funny part.

The sad part is . . . Scott and I have done this.

Guess I'm feeling old today. I had to go to the doctor and have a breathing test. That's what happens when you get old. You have to have a test to tell you whether or not you are breathing.
I was. I mean, I am. In fact, the doctor was astonished at my ablility. He hadn't seen anything like it. I breathe like I'm a "big guy!" (Picture hand motions showing Arnold Schwartzeneger in his prime.)

But it's nothing some good drugs won't fix. That's the other way you can tell if you are old. You have to take medicine everyday for the rest of your life in order to maintain the quality of life you have grown accustomed to.

The third way you can tell if you are getting old is when you have to put your medicine in those plastic organizers, with a little compartment for each day of the week, because you can't remember if you took them or not. You were probably too deaf to hear your spouse remind you to take them. I'm not there yet. I'll let you know.

JARED'S AWARD

So last night we went to Jared's school for an Awards Assembly. Jared received the award for top Science student in the 9th grade. I remembered my camera (surprise!), but the batteries were dead (big surprise!). So here's a picture from today.

The funny story of the evening - very revealing about Jared's personality: Jared was telling us that he probably just got the award because his teacher likes him. The teacher calls him "Oh Silent One." He said the teacher will ask a question and no one will know the answer, and after several minutes the teacher will turn to Jared and say, "Oh Silent One, do you know the answer?" And of course, Jared does.

Scotty's Post

Blog sounds to me like what people do while leaning over a toilet after a long night of binge drinking. Regurgitating my thoughts and feelings all over the web seems similar. I hope I don’t get any on your shoes... but here is my blog.

I’ve never been the best a staying in contact or writing and calling regularly. My guilt over that fact has pushed me to blog. My lovely wife, affectionately known as Mama-Bear, has agreed to relinquish a portion of space on her Ford Family web-site and allow me to post a few words.

As these weekly, monthly or whateverly writings add up, the body of evidence should be revealing to say the least. Fact is... I haven’t written much of or during my life precisely because of the revealing nature of the prose. We’ll see if I can maintain long enough to get rid of this guilt.

46 and a half. That is how old my body is. Its another late night and everyone but me and Paden (our trusty Wal-Mart mutt) is long since sleeping. My eyes are straining to focus on this page but basically things are remaining quite fuzzy. Things are blurry because my eyes are also 46 and a half. We’ve seen a lot, but after a long day, now we’re seeing it less clearly.

I was recommended and interviewed to become a High Priest in church today. To those of you outside the church, that means I will have additional priesthood responsibilities and more opportunities to serve others. Those within the church know it means my body is 46 and a half, my eyesight is fading, my talks are becoming much dryer and enduring to the end has taken on new meaning. Okay, one blog down (or up-chucked) with many more to come forth. Carry on... soldier!

scotty

BASEBALL

(NOTE: If you click on the pictures they get bigger, and you can see Ian's facial expressions.)

Ian has been swinging a bat since he was little. I wish I had a scanner so I could scan in a picture of him in nothing but a diaper and a baseball hat, swinging a big yellow bat. His foot at the perfect twisting position. What a natural.

He hit a double a couple of games ago. His friend's dad is the coach, Marty Zappoli from New York, complete with accent and all. Somehow baseball is more fun wit a eastern accent around.

The coach gave him the signal to bunt. A couple of games ago the coach gave him the signal to bunt, and I think that's when he hit the double. When he got to third the coach said, "Ian, what does this mean?" "It means bunt." "What did you do?" "I swang away." No apology, no remorse. The coach busted up.

Even though this is the Majors, this coach still rotates the kids around to different positions. We don't win every game, but no one is stuck out in left field all the time and that is good. This is Ian's turn to be in the outfield, and he's moving to get the ball. It's really fun to watch the games now because the kids get it. Some of them are pretty good ball players, sliding into third, popping up and stealing home. Ian hasn't had the chance to slide yet. He's such a long lanky thing, I think he'd make the perfect first baseman (he's as tall as I am now). And nothing makes him look taller, and skinnnier than his baseball uniform. What a cutie.

Easter Tradition

Here's a picture of our "Bunny Bread" we make for Easter.

NOSTALGIA

Here are some pictures my mom sent of her family in 1949. LIFE magazine came to Arco, Idaho because of the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. My mom is the littlest child in this picture. Notice the Easter baskets in the background. And I remember my grand parents always put bread on the table.


This is a picture of my Grandpa, Elmer Mackley, at his shop on Main Street in Arco. I think he was a pretty handsome guy!

THE TEMPLE QUARRY TRAIL

Scotty and Jared at the Temple Quarry. The pioneers didn't even use all the rocks!







You can see our house from the Temple Quarry. It is right in the middle of this picture.




The Temple Quarry site offers a view into Green Valley and, in the opposite direction, a view of Southgate.

Ian is on the trail back to the car. What a great scene with Pine Valley Mountain in the distance.

We also saw many, many lizards out that day. They would scatter and run in every direction, like we were in the middle of a giant nest of them. Can see you see the one on the top of this rock?

Here are the drill marks in the rock that they chipped away to make the slabs for the foundation and the basement walls. The rock slabs weighed 5500 lbs. Incredible!

The picture above shows how they transported the rock under the wagon beds.

Monday we decided to check out the trail to the Temple Quarry site. Turns out, it is really close to our house, in fact you can see the trail from our back yard. I thought it was really neat because there were rocks on the side of the trail and you could see the holes and the drill marks in them from when they were sized back in the 1870's. I said to the boys, "Touch that rock! Those marks are old." The boys said, "We touched an older rock when you made us get out of the car in Hawaii and touch the rock King Kamehameha turned over ." I had totally forgotten about that! At least I am consistent in wanting them to touch a piece of history whenever they can.

FOR MOMS ON DAYS WHEN YOU CAN'T REMEMBER WHY YOU WANTED TO BE A MOM

I read this nice article a few days ago about a lady who wasn't feeling quite fulfilled in her job as a mother. A friend gave her a book about the great cathedrals of the world and she found parallels in cathedral building and raising children. She said she found these four great truths after which she could pattern her work:


1. No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names.


2. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.


3. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.


4. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything

TIME, PRECIOUS TIME

Okay, so Jared has been sick and I called the doctor today and they called in a prescription to Target. So, what is it with it takes sooo looong to pick up a prescription. Do they have to call like, the president, to get permission? What's the deal?

His prescription was for 6 pills. It took 40 minutes. That's roughly 7 minutes a pill. 7 minutes. What else can I do in 7 minutes? I can empty the dishwasher in 7 minutes. I can drive to work from home in 7 minutes. I can give 3 pints of blood for plasma in 7 minutes. (Well, 7 1/2. Close enough.)

Heaven forbid I ever have to get a 3 month supply of something.