Thanksgiving...Park City with the Lyons

Heather: Thanksgiving is the time to gather with our families to express gratitude for them and for all the blessings we receive from our Father In Heaven. So here we are gathered around our  daughter Val's beautiful table with Rachel, Laura, and Sheldon, (Dean's brother). Karli, Andee, and Dean were there too of course! Val took two days to prepare a magnificent meal, which we consumed in 30 minutes!

Andee baked her first apple pie all on her own, she even peeled and cut the apples! At age 7 she did a fantastic job! I think she is going to take after her mother and be a great cook!

Friday we all went to the skating rink for some fun on the ice. Jaime and Nate skated around holding hands, while Karli practiced some figure skating moves. They stopped speeding around long enough to get this cute shot!

Karli and Andee are going to perform in an Ice Review just before Christmas. Andee is practicing her one foot glide! She has been taking lessons for just a little while! We had a wonderful time with our family in Park City but we missed being with the Deyholoses, the Ricks, Pettys, and Derek and family. Can't wait until Tam and Nick's wedding when we will see them all!

A Day with Tamra & Nick at the Air Show

Norm: We are now settled into our home at Sand Hollow Resort in Southern Utah for the winter. Las Vegas is a short drive to the south and a great opportunity to spend the day with our granddaughter Tamra Deyholos and her fiance Nick Rich at the Nellis Air Force Base Air Show.

Nick is a student at Utah Valley University in Aviation Science. He has logged over 200 hrs. air time and currently working on his complex ratings in this twin Diamond. UVU was one of the sponsors of the air show.

A simulated bombing run by a A10 Warthog (fast and out of frame) Aircraft of the Thunderbird demonstration team in the foreground.

Thunderbirds in action. IMPRESSIVE TOP GUNS

2011 Great West Tournament Champions

Not only do the UVU Wolverines take the Conference Championship but take the 2011 Great West Championship as well by beating North Dakota 4-2 followed by a win over Houston Baptist 2-1in  hard fought  double overtime. The tournament was held in Newark New Jersey. A great finally to Jamies 15 year soccer career.

A Great Weekend in Provo

Norm: Utah Valley University Wolverines women's soccer take their conference championship. Our granddaughter Jamie Lyons #12 played another fantastic game. As a senior, this was her final home game, and scored the final goal with 1 1/2 seconds left on the clock beating South Carolina 4-0.

It was like old home week visiting with the Garners and Alex Recksiek reminising our missions in Hungary and remembering the wonderful people that we met there. 

Whats Norm Been Up To?

Norm: When you live on a mountain and on the top of a cliff, usable yard is in short supply. Hence the importance of decking. Thanks to modern synthetic materials, refurbishing a 40 year old deck is easy and rewarding. All 1500 square feet of it.

A Canadian made product of recycled tires was an obvious choice for this back yard. We converted an old sunken hot tub into a pleasant water feature.
However, fall is here in Wyoming and winter is but days away. It is time to think about moving down to the desert. Scenes from our desert home will be posted soon.

Indian Summer

Norm: Taking advantage of the dying days of fall, we head for a family day at Lava Hot Springs, a short drive away in Idaho.

It was the middle of the week and we pretty much had the place to ourselves. The Rollingson kids could not get enough of the water.

As for me...the water was just a little on the hot side, but a little solar vitamin D will do just fine.

Later in the week its birthday celebration time. The number on the candle is hard to read.....tooo bad.

Wyoming State Champion 2011

Norm: For the second year in a row, our granddaughter Hailey Ricks is 2011 Wyoming State Champion in women's high school cross country  With the fastest time of the day and the only time under the 20 minute mark in all divisions. Event was held on a sunny fall day in Douglas Wyoming. A great way to finish the running season, and she is yet a Junior. We will be watching with eager anticipation  to 2012 for her senior year.

Plein Air in the Parks

 Heather: Last week was full of family fun and adventure. My brother, Charles, and his wife, Kristin, came from California for a visit. we had not seen each other for over three years so it was wonderful to have them here. We took Charlie to Jenny Lake in the Teton Natl Park so he could do some plein air painting. The day was perfect and the mountains were glorious as usual.

Charlie found a spot that offered a striking view of mountains, the river, and trees with bright leaves glowing in the sun. It did not take him long to capture the beauty of the place! Norm rested in the sun while I trekked down river to take more pictures -- It was a great day! On Sunday we met most of our family at Church to hear Trevor's home coming talk. He did great and we loved hearing his stories and feeling his great love for the Gospel and his Savior. Corena and Kevin had a wonderful meal for everyone after the meetings. I think there must have been 45 people at their house!

Norm: As a professional artist, Charlie goes by the name of Charles H. White. For samples of his works, google Charles H. White Artist

Star Valley Cross Country Meet

Norm: No amount of photo manipulation can warm up these photos, but spirits were high and the competition hot. It was Star Valleys turn to host the area meet to five of the area schools. Add a little snow to the mix just to stir in a little Star Valley ambiance. Hey ...look at that blond haired girl go....the race has just begun.

Big brother Trevor who started this whole family competition thing watches on. One time State Champion warms up for  a little personal run of his own but soon realizes he has some work to get in shape again after serving for two years as a missionary in the Amazon Jungle. The phone however has started to ring from the Universities with scholarship offers for him to join their athletic program.

And here comes Hailey Ricks to the finish line still in the lead and all alone. Not too far behind came the Nethercot twins who crossing the the finish line in true sister competitiveness, giving Star Valley the one two three.

Hailey receives award in her shorts from the guy in the parka and probable long underwear. Star Valley Team place first in the women's and the men's event. Next come regionals then on to State.  

HE"S HOME!!!!!

Norm: Our grandson Elder Trevor Ricks has returned home with honor from. his two mission in the Peru North Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was a treat to see so many family and friends at the airport to welcome him home. His mother Corena and dad Kevin were hardly excited.

Cousins Taylor, Brad and long time friend Sam Adams shared the excitement. Three other returning missionaries, all from Peru were on the same flight. There was pandemonium in the airport.

Grandma Ricks was overcome with emotion. Sister Cassie, you can tell was somewhat excited as well.

Our friends in Hungary will enjoy this story. We all made welcome home posters. Just for fun Heather and I wrote our welcome home sign in Hungarian. A young man who was at the airport to welcome one of the other missionaries saw the sign and recognized the the Hungarian and asked Trevor if he was returning from Hungary. He explained no, but his grandparents served in Hungary. So we shared our mission experiences with him. He was Elder Forest and served in the Hungary Budapest Mission 1995-1997. He served as a greeny in Pecs were we served our entire mission. He remembered with fondness, the Szabadkia and the Kozska families.

Brother Bradon and sister Hailey get their turn with the hugs. Welcome Home Trevor. We love you. 

Catching the Thermals

Norm: From our sundeck we can watch parasailers launch from our cliff to the north. This particular group of three had a fantastic day. The uphill breezes billows their parachute and propels them upward at an alarming rate.

They launch from about 7,500 feet above sea level and on this particular day they soon caught some super thermals that soon put them at about 12,000 foot elevation. They stayed aloft for a good 5 hours and finally landed in Afton, many miles to the south and didn't return to get their car till well after dark. I talked to them after. They were still on a high and said is was a ride of their life. I believe it.

Road Trip

Norm: We are destined to travel. We would not miss Eliza Petty's (our granddaughter) baptism. All we had to do was drive out to Maryland. With our side trips, we covered just under 6,000 miles. First stop was Swiss Days in Midway Utah.

Next stop was Wisconsin Dells. As luck would have we arrived in the middle of Wah Zah Wah Festival. Saw many old friends at church which happened to be Ward Conference. Our old friends Ann and Mike Craig from Michigan joined us for the weekend and Mike cooked us up a wonderful meal of freshly caught walleye.

Can't visit Wisconsin without a visit to "House on the Rock" We've been here at least a dozen times and I still can't describe it, but it's well worth it, even with the brain overload.

Here we are about to feast on more sea food on banks of the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Susquehanna River.

On the return trip we stopped off in Kirtland Ohio and toured the church historic sites there.

I was particularly intrigued  by the reconstruction of the old saw mill and potash factory which is is an actual working mill. All in all they did a quite an acceptable job on the reconstruction.

The big highlight of the visit was the interior tour of the Kirtland Temple. The Community of Christ Church who own this historic site are doing a great job of restoration and maintenance. Our guide gave a great heartfelt testimonial presentation of the sacred events that took place within.

Here we are on the doorstep of the Johnson farmhouse in Hiram Ohio, where the prophet Joseph Smith lived for a time with many great revelations received. It was here that a mob attacked Joseph Smith in the night. He was dragged down these steps and tarred and feathered.