Family History Moment

Coincidentally, April and Kevin both have grandfathers who share the same birthday (in February), and fathers who share the same birthday (in July). Today is the birthday of Archie Lee Brown, April's maternal grandfather, and George William Young, Kevin's paternal grandfather.

Archie Lee Brown
born 27 February 1884
died 19 September 1953

George William Young
born 27 February 1920
died 16 May 2002

Anyone recognize the eyes? Megan and Erin both inherited their Great-Grandpa Young's big brown eyes.

The Teaser Trailer is Out!

For those of you who are bigger movie fans and follow Hollywood more closely, this is probably delayed news. I only came across it because I saw the name "Indiana Jones" on the Google News list this afternoon. Yes, confession time: Harrison Ford is Kevin's competition (well...not really, but admittedly he's rather attractive and his Han Solo character can't be beat). John Williams' incredible musical score is featured again too. Of course, knowing us we will most likely wait until the movie goes to the dollar theater or Redbox before we actually see it.

Happy Birthday, Ian!

Ian turned 8 years old today! Where did the time go?

The festivities actually began last night when he got to attend his first ever Cub Scout activity. He was invited to go ice skating with the group at Logan's Eccles Ice Center even though he wasn't officially eight. He had a great time, learned how to fall very well, and made some new friends.





This morning, he got homemade pancakes for breakfast, and then he had to wait patiently while his mom finished decorating his chocolate frog cake with mint frosting. Why a frog? Because he has a giant bullfrog as a pet.























Later this morning, he opened some presents and ate part of his cake before Dad had to leave for an afternoon discussion group. He was most excited to FINALLY get a POCKETKNIFE! (His mean mom wouldn't let him have one until he was old enough to join Cub Scouts.) He also got a scout shirt and belt and a new dogi for Karate. After his weekly Karate class, we attended the 2nd night of the Banff Mountain Film Festival because Ian loves the "dare-devil movies."





Tomorrow he will have a little sledding party with his friends Andrew and Luke, and Sunday afternoon he will be celebrating with grandparents.

2008 Monster Concert

Once again, Megan and Ian participated in the USU Youth Conservatory's annual Monster Concert (for last year's account, click here). This year the theme was "Music Through the Ages." We are always amazed at how well the event turns out. The logistics of coordinating so many young pianists seem overwhelming to us. We present a video of the children's performances along with excerpts from a couple other pieces. Enjoy!

Snow, Snow, and More Snow

Due to the abundant snowfall of the past few weeks, we will have enough water for the coming year-- a contrast from the previous few years. Maybe now we can take showers that last longer than 5 minutes and not feel too guilty?

Sunday morning we awoke to a nice storm which kept snowing and snowing and snowing. We received a phone call around 10:20 from our home teacher saying that church was canceled, so Kevin went back to bed and took a nap. Later he went outside and started the daunting task of shoveling while April took a nap. He did resort to borrowing a neighbor's snow blower, which weighed about 100 lbs. and was very awkward to use.

Meanwhile, the children took advantage of having a free day to play in the snow. Erin didn't stay outside too long, as we all know she doesn't enjoy being very cold. Megan and Ian began to build an igloo and snow cave. They spent ALL AFTERNOON outside working on their projects. Later we enjoyed a delicious crockpot roast and potatoes that we had planned on eating after our church meetings.

Monday morning, we awoke to another 4 inches of new snow which April and the children got to shovel since Kevin had to be to work early. Needless to say, we are running out of space to throw the snow, and those ATVs with attached plows are looking more and more tempting.

From Logan's Herald Journal

Global warming: A religious view

Rev. Carolyn Tanner Irish, 10th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah, talks during a panel at the Eccles Conference Center on campus at Utah State University in Logan, Utah, Thursday, January 31, 2008. Irish was among a panel of religious leaders who discussed the moral implications of not stopping global warming. (Alan Murray/Herald Journal)

By Kim Burgess

Published:

Friday, February 1, 2008 2:11 AM CST

Utah State University biologist Kevin Young believes that a compassionate relationship toward the environment is part of a compassionate relationship with God. That’s why the active member of the LDS Church supports efforts to stop global warming.

“Why can’t conservation be tied to conservatism?” he asked.

Young brought this view to an Ethics and Stewardship panel at Utah State University’s Focusing Cache event. The day-long series of global warming discussions was held Thursday as part of the Focus the Nation “teach-in,” which was held across the country.

While most of the panels emphasized scientific projections of global warming’s effects, the Ethics and Stewardship group took a different approach, looking into the moral implications of ignoring a heating climate.

The six panelists all drew upon their strong religious views. Carolyn Tanner Irish is bishop of the Utah Episcopal Diocese; Paul Heins serves as pastor of Logan’s First Presbyterian Church; David Sakrison, an Episcopalian priest, is also Moab’s mayor; Steve Ritchey is a Protestant who runs Utah Interfaith Power and Light, bringing faiths together to combat global warming; and Ed Redd is a Bear River Health Department physician and, like Young, an active LDS Church member.

Though they come from diverse faiths, all agreed that global warming is occurring through human activity — and they think something must be done. The hotter climate will bring large-scale suffering. Standing aside and watching the world plunge into environmental catastrophe isn’t just foolish, it’s immoral.

Redd emphasized that The Third World is typically hardest hit by environmental catastrophes.

“There are people who are on the edge,” he said. “All of us in this room could probably afford it if gas went up to $10 a gallon. We could get a smaller car or take the bus. There are a lot of people who already don’t have a car and are taking the bus.”

Redd recalled a Boy Scout trip where he spent four days subsisting on a few plants. He thinks of that hunger when he hears about starving people around the world — a situation he worries will become more common as crops die in hotter weather.

The only hope, the panelists said, is to take action by reducing consumption.

“With 7 billion people on the planet, there is not enough to go around,” Ritchey said. “The Navajos said we have to think seven generations down the road. ... I end my sermons by saying ‘I wish you enough.’ You have to start asking yourself, ‘How much is enough?’”

Though he is not religious, audience member Dave Bastian enjoyed that message.

“Throughout history, a lot of the most significant social changes have come from people of faith,” he said. “I’m not seeing that lately, but I think I saw a bit of that (today).” ———