Sunday, September 21, 2014

Other September activites

There were several other things taking place in September.The first was the 75th anniversary of the LAEP program at Utah State. It was one of those things that brought back a lot of memories as over 150 people attended who had graduated from the program. The classes in the afternoon were interesting to see what people have done with their degree. There are some very important people nationally that have come from USU. When I was there it was one of the top programs in the nation and I did not realize how fortunate I was at the time as the department brought in world recognized leaders in the field of landscape architecture.What added to the event was the fact that many of the professor I had also where there and they remembered your name and something about you. It was a very unique college experience that not a lot of people have. The drawing below shows all the professor in the department when I was there.



We met in the old Mechanical Arts building just south of Old Main. The building was actually condemned. The wood stairs leading up to the jr. and sr. studios had such a worn groove in them that you had to watch your step. Each year the studios were "customized" by the students to have their own unique style. A new building was built and the department moved into it the year after I graduated. A lot of the class would pull their all nighters in the building.
 Rather than do that I was now married and would work on the kitchen table  building models or have the drawing board set up in our little basement apartment and work while Cindy was asleep. Of course we had some field workshops where we went to Little Sahara to design a camp ground or Zions to propose a performing arts campus in Springdale. Meeting everyone again brought back a lot of fond memories.

















The next event of September is Payton's soccer games. They still are a swarm that follows the ball but it is fun to watch them.


The final event was the annual Time Out for Women which Cindy, here sisters and the girls go to in Logan. They enjoy this Friday night and Saturday together.


What made this more special was one of the speakers was Noelle Pikus Pace. She had won the silver medal in the skeleton in the 2014 winter games in Sochi. Cindy thought she knew a quicker way out of the building and it lead right to where Noelle was leaving the building. Shy Shannon yelled out Noelle and she stopped for a moment and posed to have her picture taken. She was off to another speaking engagement but was so kind to give of her time for the pictures. 


Ogden Temple Rededication

Sunday September 21, 2014 was the rededication of the Ogden Temple. It is the first day of fall and also a Sunday. Rather than normal church meetings every stake had a broadcast of the dedication services from the temple. The temple was first dedicated in January of 1972 when I was a junior in high school. Two years later I received my endowments there in preparation for my mission. It was a very modern design and meant to be very functional as well as having symbolism of a cloud by day and fire by night to lead the children of Israel.


 Over the years the temple has been a focal point of the city. A lot of changes happened next to the temple. I came across this photo of the temple in the mid 1970's. It is looking north along Kiesel Avenue and 23rd Street. This was before the mall was even built.



The mall was built to try to change a deteriorating downtown blocking Kiesel Avenue and the view of the temple. The mall lasted 20 years and then it was replaced with the Junction. April 2011 the temple was closed for a major renovation which changed the face of downtown. Never had a temple gone through such a major renovation as this. It was not limited to the temple, it was the entire block.


This summer was a lot of preparations for the opening and rededication of the temple. The ward along with many other wards worked on repairing homes in Ogden and doing clean up jobs. In August the open house took place. Before the official open house Cindy and I got to go through the temple before the general open house because of my position with the city. We got to wander in areas and take as long as we wanted to see the interior. It was fantastic to see the detail and design that went into the building. We went through a couple more times. Once with Maddie, Shannon, Connor and Payton in the day.









The next time we were volunteers in the open house and were the quiet sentinels as people went through the temple. Cindy got to spend a lot of time in the brides room. There were over 500,000 people who went through the open house for the temple.

So many things have changed over time and this was definitely for the better.



 Kiesel and 23rd September 2014





 22nd and Washington -2002











 22nd and Washington -September 2014







Yesterday was the youth celebration prior to the dedication which took place in the Dee Events Center. It was a wonderful event that we watched in the stake center since the Dee Events was filled with youth. Today the dedication service we attended was wonderful. Elder Eyring made it a point for us to worry about the choices we make in keeping our covenants because we can not make choices for others but if we remain faithful there are blessings for our family. Elder Holland made it a point that the most important things we do is what we do when we are away from the temple. Can't wait for the temple to function come Tuesday.  



Park City

We wanted to have some time at Park City besides just doing the slide this year so we stayed a night at the Mountain Resort. We swam in the pool and then went to the hot tubs because it was a little cool in the evening.


 We then had a barbecue and played games. After the games Cameron and Cecelia had to head home as she had to work the next day. The rest of us went to bed.  In the morning the crew is anxious for breakfast.















It was then off to the slides and the coaster. The leaves were starting to change color and part of the fun of going to the slide is the ride up on the chair lift.



 It was fun to watch everyone come down the slide after Maddie and I raced down. 


 After the slides and coaster then it was downtown for the annual ice cream cone and then head back home. 








Progresive dinner

We had our final family summer event which was a progressive dinner. It was raining for most of the day but cleared up when it was time to eat. We started of with appetizers at Nancy's house.














From there we had a salad with Cameron and Cecelia at Jeanne's house.


It was drinks at Aaron and Tawna's















Finally the main course and desert at Nic and Shannon's. We figured it was too mud to walk up to our house for the main course this year. 


Begining of Football Season

On September 11 which was a Thursday, BYU had their first home game. To remember September 11, 2001 they had a special pre-game remembrance and had a flag on their helmets and on the field and a sticker on the back of their helmets with the twin towers saying we will never forget.


It was a great ceremony and then they had a flag that was the full length of the field that both teams held before the game.




During the game they did a card section which hasn't been done for decades and it turned off pretty well. 

 
















Harvest faces

It is that time of year to start harvesting the garden spot. I am always pleased with what it produces so here are a few examples of a happy harvest.