The Schmidt House

Christmas Day 2011

2011-12-26T10:07:00.000-05:00

Well Christina woke up at some ungodly time of 4:30 for Christmas. We have a rule in our house. The stockings are free grabs but you don't wake up Mom and Dad until they come down.

Megan found this little thing on Pintrest and decided to make one. You basically take a loaf of bread and cover it with sugar, cinnamon and butter. Bake it for a while and then cover it with some icing. It's not good for you...but it tastes wonderful. Here is the link to the recipe!

Jessica was most happy. Here is she is clutching her most precious new cell phone.

Adria shipped Drew a big giant man mug.

The Elder's came over for breakfast and so they could call home for Christmas. They always get to call home on Christmas and Mother's Day but now with all the wonderful technology they can Skype or video chat with home. This is Elder Freeman, from Meadows, Utah. He's playing with a magnetic toy that we got him.

This is Elder Scott, he's from Genola, Utah.

Christina completely warn out. We were in the office doing video chat with Adria and Dave.

Wir kauften einen Schrank!

2011-12-04T09:02:00.000-05:00

What is a Schrank you may ask? Well it's a cabinet of sorts from Germany. We've been looking for a buffet or cabinet to go with the dining room table for a while now. And we just haven't found anything we liked. Things have either been to expensive, two small, two small and expensive or needed to much work. We've been hoping to score a good deal like the other furniture pieces we have bought and refinished. Then Drew stopped into this Germany Antique store. He was actually looking for a large German map for his Man Room when he spotted this. A few days later both Cheri and Drew stopped by for a visit and saw it. A few family member antique'rs were called for opinion and soon thereafter the decision was made. For the price and the quality it couldn't be beat.

First, it came in pieces, this is the top piece sitting in the hallway. Imagine Ikea but in oak and all old school quality.

A few side panels, back panels and shelves sitting on a hallway rug. Oddly enough that rug is from Ikea.

The base in place. All oak. Three large drawers. Thank heaven for felt sliders. Even fully assembled we can move it around without hurting the floor.

It's just a big puzzle really, send panels that include one door each go in first. Help in place with wood dowels. You can't see it but the entire door is the glass and oak panel. There is a piano hinge that runs the height of the oak panel piece

Built in screw to secure it to the bottom and top.

Another view of one end piece in place

Both end pieces in place. Next comes the middle door and the top.

The middle door and the top have to go on at the same time.

Finished....And Megan in the picture for size.

A bit taller the Christina!

The carved detail is what is really incredible.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-04T08:30:00.000-05:00

So we had our first Thanksgiving in our new home. First, this is our new dining room table. They dropped it and broke part of it when they were moving it into the house.....also with all the leaves in the table it's a tight fit for the dining room so we turned it a bit. The walls are still pretty bare but we're working on it. And Cheri wants to change out the light.

PIES!! Pumpkin of course. Apple then Shoefly beyond that.

This was a Costco special a few weeks ago. Cheri really liked it. Yeah - - and we're being "WILD" will it filled with water and lemons!

So we made a few small pies to deliver to a few friends and acquaintances we knew that were either working or had to be at work for part of Thanksgiving.

The kitchen! Enough said.

Raspberry Chipotle with cream cheese and crackers. We love Pirate O's Raspberry Chipotle Sauce. We brought a few with us from Utah and we may have even ordered one or two since we've been here. Yet we found a pretty close substitute at Costco

Jessica made some of her Aunt's mints for the table.

And yes, we didn't appear to have taken any photos of anyone! Oh well. We had our neighbors over. They are new to the area as well, also from Utah, and work at the local Cafe Rio stores out here. In fact, they moved from UT to VA just to open the stores. It was a good time. We missed having all the family here or being in UT with all the family...but it was still a good day nonetheless.

Five pieces of furniture for less then $80

2011-11-25T16:48:00.000-05:00

So we've started to frequent antique and thrift stores more and more. Some are really hit and miss. Some are decent. A few weeks ago we found one new place we'll certainly return to. We ended up walking out with 2 end tables, 1 hutch, 1 desk and 1 chair. Total cost was about $80.00. So here are some before and after shots of a few of the pieces.

Desk and Hutch
Jessica has been wanting a desk for her bedroom. We came across this hutch and desk for a grand total of $28.00. There was no real damage, it just needed a good sanding and coat of paint.

Here is the hutch part, we're getting ready to start sanding it.

Jessica working on her own piece - - getting all the rough spots off before painting.

Close up.

The finished project in Jessica's room.

Click on the pictures for a better look. We actually replaced the light under the shelf just to be safe. Total cost for paint was only a few bucks. The new light was the most expensive thing and that was about $12.00.

Next Two Items - Two End Tables
Megan has been wanting some new night stands for her room. We picked up these for $15.00 each. So $30.00 for the two of them. These are solid wood with a veneer top. These were made by the American Drew Furniture Company. We weren't familiar with this company yet their prices seem rather steep. Similar new pieces are selling for over $300 each. So $15 each was a pretty good deal.

We decided to redo this with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. If you aren't familiar with this paint it's a flat paint that can be applied to just about anything without having to strip it first. Texture is actually given by using a brush, a bit of sanding to antique a piece or finishing wax to change the colors of the paint. We actually sanded and refinished the top as bare wood stained dark.

Megan decided duck egg blue for the drawer and old white for the rest. Now keep in mind the two pints of chalk paint cost more then the furniture, yet we have lots left over for other projects now. Megan also added some antique glaze to the legs and probably eventually the drawers to age it a bit more. It's not done yet, but almost.

And the final Piece - - for $20.00 - This chair
Okay, we haven't done anything to this chair yet, but Cheri plans on recovering it. The springs are good, it's comfortable and sturdy. It was made by the Kroehler Furniture Company.

New House

2011-10-30T19:02:00.000-04:00

Okay so we've been busy the last little while. We spent the last month or so cleaning up our old place, getting things boxed up and ready to move. Walking through the new house and making sure things were right and finally, moving! Now we've been busy cleaning and unpacking and taking care of things. Below is a little video we shot right before we moved in. Enjoy!

August 25, 2011

2011-08-25T19:23:00.002-04:00

August 25, 2011, originally uploaded by Schmidt-Family.

I'm thinking of doing a picture and post a day to show what in the world we are doing. We'll start today and see how we do.

Christina was blessed with Schmidt Teeth like all the other kids. Nothing that some metal can't fix. She had the metal installed today!

Adria in Town - - and other bits of fun.

2011-07-31T08:31:00.001-04:00

About three weeks ago the whole group of us ran up to Frederick, Maryland to look at antiques and try out a donut shoppe called the Fracture Prune. I know, this sounds like a crazy name for a donut shoppe, but these are pretty good donuts.

First, you pick your flavors and then they make them while you wait. Some of them are just crazy....like SAND, which is really just Cinnamon and Sugar....go over to here to check out all of their crazy mix and matches.

This is what the inside of out box looked like:

So you may be asking what else have we been up to. Well, Megan had church Youth Conference and Cheri and Drew were asked to help out. So we flew Adria out to watch the rest of the kids and to spend some time with her.

This fun included a little trip to the National Marine Museum in Quantico.

It's a very well done museum with great history and information.

A few days prior to that we decided to go tubing down the Shenandoah River. It would have been a bit more fun if the water was higher and faster.....but it was still a good trip where Drew and the girls had fund, a good work out (from swimming or walking in the slow parts) and a good bit of sun.

Fireflies or Lightning Bugs

2011-06-17T22:58:00.000-04:00

Okay - first of all these little guys don't really exist west of the Rocky Mountains. They are suppose to be in certain places, but not like they are on the east coast. Fireflies or Lightning Bugs are actually little tiny beetles. This is a picture of a tiny one. They grow about 2 to 3 times larger then this guy. But not much bigger.

From what we have read online they can take up to 2 years to mature. Then, in a short 21 days worth of adult hood they flash to attract each other. Luckily for us we have a nice little trail that leads into some woods near a marshy pond area. The sort of area they just love.

This is about a 30 second picture - - the sky looks like day time since the light pollution from the city sort of spoiled the skyline. Do you see the little green dots and a few green lines? Each of those is a firefly.

This is another picture. This was taken leaving the camera open for about 30 seconds. This was taken fairly early in the season and they didn't move or flash much. Just sort of blinked on and off. They are really amazing. And now as we get into June they are blinking and moving like crazy now. You will see thousands in the trees, flying in front of you and all over. They are just sort of cool.

And of course we captured a few - brought them inside in a mason jar and took a few pictures.

Strawberry Festival

2011-05-30T17:20:00.014-04:00

Okay - we haven't been very good about posting here.....but it's not because we haven't been doing anything. So let's start with this past Saturday. We woke up early and took off for the:

Of course - - they had Strawberries....yet at $40.00 a flat - the price seemed rather steep. Especially since there is a U-Pick place just down the road.

This was a typical craft fair place with food, crafts, sellers....and monkeys!

The Monkey is wearing the bandanna and that's Drew in the shirt. In case you couldn't figure it out.

And Megan and a bunch of her friends went to Prom.....

And Megan had a choir thing - - and Jessica had a choir thing.

And......we're building a new house. Yet right now it's just a dirt field.

Busy!

2011-04-10T16:26:00.009-04:00

So we've been rather busy lately and haven't had time to blog much. But we decided we better get something up here and share some news.

Girls are doing well in school and are having fun. Megan is working hard babysitting and at her job as well. Not to mention school and early morning seminary.

Jessica is in Irish Dance and is preparing for a big performance.

Christina just celebrated her 10th Birthday!

Cheri.....? To explain what she's been up to - - let us do a shameless plug and announcement at the same time.

So if you didn't know, Cheri has been writing books for a number of years. She actually has two different series all worked out. Each series contains at least 3 books. The first series has two finished books. One is now published on Amazon. The 2nd is soon to follow. These two will most likely be followed by the 1st book of the 2nd series, since it's already finished and ready to go.

This first book is called Fateful. You can click on that title and go straight to the Amazon page. Currently it is only available on the Kindle yet we will soon be offering it for iPad, Nook and eventually printed copies as well.

If you don't have a Kindle there are plenty of Kindle solutions for your phone, PC, Mac, Ipod. Just about whatever electronic device you have!

Working from Home

2011-03-03T12:16:00.002-05:00

One of the biggest changes for us with this move is that Drew works from home quite a bit now. He supports field engineers at different locations all around the area....but he doesn't have a dedicated office at any customer site or company location. So, the basement corner is where he spends portions of each day.

This is quite often the view that greets him when he comes upstairs.

They can hear him down there.....and they want to spend time with him...but dark barking is not conducive to conference calls.

A Wordle.

2011-01-26T11:01:00.002-05:00

Have you ever played with creating a Wordle? Go to http://www.wordle.net/ and click create. Then feed it a bunch of words or paste a URL of your blog or whatever. It creates a nice picture of the words that are contained in what you post and sizes the words based on frequency.

As an example, below is a link for one for our blog.

And here is an example of Moroni 10 from the Book of Mormon.

CODE RED!!!

2011-01-18T09:05:00.016-05:00

So twice now since living here in Virginia we have experience what we like to call Code Red Days. When the weather gets bad the schools close and if it's really bad, or what they think is really bad, a Code Red is called for all the teachers. Meaning they don't have to come to school.

Our First Code Red

The first time this happened was after about 2 inches of snow fell during the day while the kids were in school. School was let out an hour early that day and then simply didn't open the next day. CODE RED! CODE RED! We can't help but snicker after shouting that.... Now, keep in mind the roads were clear that next day when the schools were closed. And by 11:00, there was no snow to see. Even then the sky was blue and clear. Drew ended up taking a half day off and we all went shopping.

CODE RED #2

Today was another CODE RED day. It started to snow last night....then some rain...then everything froze over night. Today could actually be considered a bad day. There was a thick layer of ice on everything. Our black driveway was white with ice. The back roads were still covered in ice and it was thick and frozen enough that the cars didn't break it up. Yet the main roads are just wet.

The kids love CODE RED days since they get a day off from school....and the weather is usually fine compared to Utah standards. Sure enough - by about noon is was all melted and everything was fine. So? Time for another trip.

Megan took off with some friends but the rest of us went out to lunch then to Skyline Caverns.

Not the cheapest caverns around but from the reviews we have read you need to see this one before you go see the larger caverns in Luray.

This thing looks like an eagle...can you see it?

And these crystals, called Anthodites, only exist in two other places in the world, but where discovered at this cave.

So in our house - CODE RED usually means let's go out and have some fun! It's not like the roads will be bad...ha ha ha.

Printers Chest Refinished

2011-01-03T18:40:00.006-05:00

Drew's company normally takes the week off between Christmas and New Years. He needed to burn a few extra hours and ended up taking a few extra days prior to Christmas.

One of his projects was to refinish and old printers chest that his parents owned. He stripped it all down. Sanded out the rough spots then stained and finished it again. In the process he found a few odd things. First, while most of it appears to be made out of oak the bottom piece in the front appears to be poplar. Drew was tempted to remove it and replace it with a piece of Oak but decided against it. The back of this never looked very nice. Yet a coat of stain and lacquer did wonders and made it look really nice.

Sanding almost done and ready to be stained again. You can seethe bottom piece and how the grain doesn't come close to matching. Yet to preserve it the way he had it, Drew left this as is.

Only the top drawer has the separate spots for type. The remainder are simply big empty drawers.

Finished project. With dog posing in picture. We might just add a few legs to this. Nothing permanent mind you. What we are thinking is making a small tray with feet and simply rest the chest on top. Just to give it a bit more height.

This is a Hamilton Printer's Chest. Original hardware on the handles.

Ben's Chili and Norman Rockwell

2011-01-01T11:09:00.004-05:00

So for the Christmas break our little Christina has been a bit sick. Yet the other day we decided to test out her stamina and run to DC for a quick trip. We started off a little late so we ended up eating lunch first. Over thanksgiving we saw something on the Food Network about Ben's Chili and decided to try it out. We actually missed the real Ben's Chili experience and ended up next door at Ben's Next Door. Same food, yet you get to sit down and relax...which is what Christina needed.

And their chili cheese fries were pretty good as well.

After lunch we jumped back on the metro and ran over to the Smithsonian American Art Museum for the Norman Rockwell exhibit which goes away January 2, 2011.

The museum is a large square building with a center courtyard. A few years ago they built a covering for the courtyard. This is actually where we spent about 30 minutes waiting in line just to get into the exhibit.

We couldn't take pictures inside of the artwork.....but here a few we gathered from the internet so you can see what we saw.

Afterwards we jumped back on the metro and headed home. Christina didn't make it very far before she was out cold.

The on the way home we stopped at one of our favorite yogurt places called Pinkberry. It's a nice replacement for our Utah yogurt stop SpoonMe that we miss.

Neat Discovery

2010-12-20T14:22:00.005-05:00

So we have an old family bible that we have restored. We've kept each and everything in the bible in the same place where we found it. For example, there are pressed flowers, a peacock feather, a piece of paper for a latin lesson. We also had a calling card from John R. Becker.

We have no idea who John R. Becker is. We know of no relative named John R. Becker. Yet we know that for some reason Llewellyn Z. Gehret (Drew's Great Grandfather) kept this card. It has always seemed like a plain and ordinary thing to keep until....

...the other day Megan took the card out of the bible. The light caught it just right and she noticed a slight image was in the card and flipped. She raised the card to the light and found this hidden in the middle of the card:

So we see a man standing on the shore. One hand on his head and the other pointing to his hat floating away down the river. The phrase "Shall we meet beyond the river". And also rather strange a Copyright of K.

So now we are overly curious about these little cards. We've only see one other sample on the internet and they were called "Comic Cards" or at least we think they are. The card is placed back in the bible right where we found it, right between the 9th and 10th chapters of Exodus.

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-01T06:54:00.008-05:00

So here is the short version. Over 1000 miles in five days. Lots of turkey. Lots of fun with family....and let's not forget 2010 Pie Fest!

So this year for Thanksgiving Drew's brother Ray and his wife Mary invited us up to their place in Ohio for the weekend. We left Wednesday and drove the scenic route from Virginia over to Ohio via 28/55 then 32 up to Lancaster.

Being recently settled in Virginia we haven't found any dog babysitters yet. We did find a group of nuns that offer a sitting service just a few miles from our place, yet they were closed for Thanksgiving. So....for this trip, the dogs came with us. But never again!!!

Let's just say...they don't travel well. Well okay...the one pictured above does....the younger one does not!

Thanksgiving was great! Apparently so great we forgot to take any pictures of the spread. Yet soon after dinner we prepared for Pie Fest 2010! What is pie fest you ask? Well it's 9 pies and 1 torte for about 20 people or so.

The introduction of the torte was discussed at length. For example, what else will be allowed if we allow a torte to mingle with the pies? Is torte French for pie? Does the torte feel bad after being made fun of by all the pies?

Pictured above is the ShooFly Pie, Grandpa Schmidt's favorite and the Apple, one of Grandma Schmidt's specialties. The Torte is shown as well.

The following day was cold and windy yet we braved the cold and looked at a few of the local covered bridges. Um, Virginia is much warmer than Ohio for Thanksgiving. Still is--December 1st it was 61.

There was also one musical park right near one covered bridge. Fun but freezing cold!

The dogs quickly learned to sweet talk the correct people. Especially when treats were involved.

Mary's Sister owns a Candy Store. Isn't that every kids dream? So on Saturday we ran over there and the kids were able to grab some treats for themselves.

Then Saturday afternoon we said our goodbyes and traveled over to Maineville Ohio to see Cheri's brother Brandon and his wife. We actually went out of our way and stopped at the Heart of Ohio Antique Center. This place was HUGE! We spent probably an hour there and didn't even make it through the whole place. Yet we were able to pick up a few items for Christmas and ourselves!

When we got to Maineville, Brandon and Prisicla were so kind to take us out for some excellent Sushi! Jess and Christina had a hard time leaving Uncle Brandon because—sorry other uncles—but Brandon is still the funnest uncle. Perhaps it's because he sat on the floor and played with Harry Potter Legos with them...Brandon, keep in touch!

British pub food in Virginia

2010-11-22T12:59:00.002-05:00

Megan now has a job and busy most Saturdays. And this past Saturday was no different. Combine this with the two youngest going off to a birthday party, this gave the parents some time to go have fun on their own.

We ended up driving almost 90 miles and making a large loop from our house, north, west, out into Aldie, through Middleburg and on to Upperville. Yet this post is about the Hunter's Head Tavern located in Upperville.

You ordered food at a little window next to the bar. You were then handed a wooden spoon with a number on it. You placed this in the wine bottle on your table so they knew where to bring the order.

Even though it was almost 2:00 in the afternoon the place was still very busy. The food was very standard British Pub Food.

They actually had two menus to choose from. Yet both of us ordered the fish and chips.

And Cheri got some hot chocolate. The crumbs on the plate came from some nice warm bread that was served on the pewter plate.

The fire place was fake....but the food, atmosphere and decorations were spot on.

There was even an Aston Martin sitting in the parking lot.

Prepare thyself for Merriment! (Part II)

2010-10-27T09:24:00.002-04:00

We posted items about the Maryland Renaissance Festival the other day - - today we have a few more things to add.

The degree of costumes was rather cool. Many of these were the paid performers but some were guests just like us.

Did we mention they had jousting? These were serious competitors that had won multiple competitions here in the US as well as Canada and overseas.

The mix of old and new was fun. Sort of like this sign.....

THERE BE DRAGONS!

And tapestries for sale. Cheri bought a pillow.

Strolling musicians.

One of the guests.....

The youngest two learned how to juggle....sort of.

One of the other guests....with his own son.

Seen at the juggling lesson area.....

And for those of you who have followed up this long.....we put a little video together. If you click on the HD button it will take you over to Vimeo where you can watch it in High Def.

Enjoy!

2010 Maryland Renaissance Festival

Prepare thyself for Merriment!

2010-10-25T14:45:00.007-04:00

This weekend past found the Lord and Ladies of Schmidt manor attending Festival Day in Revel Grove. This was a special occasion since King Henry VIII was to be in attendance. For those of you not familiar with Revel Grove, or the Festival Day......you may want to look for something called. the Maryland Renaissance Festival.

We started our journey early since we knew our ride was long and that Revel Grove is on the far side of our Kingdom's capitol. Scores of carts, buggies and other travelers slowed our travels as we negotiated our way around the capitol district. Eventually we found the grove and an appropriate spot to rest our beasts from the long travel.

To enter the grove you must pay your toll at the gate. We feared that the toll of $70 for the five of us might be a bit steep of a tax...but the banner over the city gate read "Prepare thyself for Merriment!" and we weren't disappointed.

Proper attire for the grove is encouraged so we found appropriate clothing in our wardrobes and dressed for the day.

This being our first visit to this village we enjoyed collection of over 130 shops and artisans that lined the streets. There were blacksmith, leather workers, jewelers, book makers, wood workers, metal shops, tapestry dealers and various arts and crafts of all kinds.

We were also exposed to many strangeth creatures....including giants of various kinds.

Unfortunately as the day progressed both Lady Christina and Lord Drew found themselves in a bit of a problem with the local sheriff.

But soon after serving their time in the stocks they were free and returned to their life of lies and gluttony. Here is Lord Drew enjoying a large turkey leg.

And Lady Christina enjoying corn on the cob dipped in butter.

Early in the day we noticed one minstrel with a strange enchanted bag. It reminded of the Green Man that we are familiar and fond of, but different.

It wasn't until in the day when we discovered a shop with many of these unusual creatures.

While there we discovereth that they were not Green Men but a creature called Grichels. We acquired a few of these to decorate our manor.

At many times it was difficult to tell the locals from those visiting the village. The attire was diverse.

Lady Megan found a man that was tall, quiet and never complained.

Lady Jessica and Lady Christina painteth their faces.

FOOD AND ALE!

One of our readers mentioned that we always seem to talk about food. Well this village over runneth with food and ale. Yet since we did not partake of the ale, we can only speak of the fine food. Not only were there roaming vendors

There were vendors of all types with many fine establishments.

Until next time we bid you adieu.

A Day in Plains

2010-10-14T13:59:00.006-04:00

So another city around here is called Plains. They had a little celebration too, calling it “A Day in Plains.” We decided to check it out.

The girls being goofballs posing in front of old classics.

Of course we had to pose in front to the red bug!

Is Christina “smizing?”

Definitely “smizing” like a model...

Jess modeling that new ring she got at the fun little craft booths.

Christina got one too, but hers matches her eyes. Not that you can tell.

Purple!!!

A moment of fame...

2010-10-14T13:53:00.002-04:00

So Jess had mentioned that a lady at Haymarket day has asked if they’d be her little models. They of course said yes...I must have been shopping for cute earrings or something, and missed it...Drew and Megan remembered when the shot was taken, but hadn't expected to see it printed either...Anyhow. Then when I was looking through the Haymarket Lifestyle magazine which came in the mail, I paused on this page thinking, “Yes, there are my girls...Wait, those are my girls in the city magazine?”

Such cuties!!! Am I proud much? Yes I am...

And, no, we don't know who the girl is standing next to them.

Restaurant.com

2010-10-04T10:55:00.006-04:00

Have you tried Restaurant.com? We noticed the Utah selection of restaurants leave something to be desired, yet in Virginia, these guys have lots of places to try.

So this past Friday Cheri paid $1.00 for a $20.00 off coupon that enable us to take the entire family out to dinner for $17.00. Not a bad deal.

We tried out Virginia BBQ in Manassas.

Funny shot, Drew. It looks like Megan is wearing the paper lantern as a hat.

Our review...Great food, though we were a little surprised that it was so good. It was very fast-food-ish. But the ribs were so tender they could be eaten with the plastic fork provided. The coleslaw was perfect, the corn muffins were fought over and the pulled pork sandwich was also delish! Yeah, we'll be back.

(Um, can you tell we like to go out to eat too much? Sheesh, embarrassing...We promise the next post will not be about food.)

A hole in a wall - - - literally.

2010-10-04T09:15:00.012-04:00

We've been looking for those hidden gems of a restaurant. That little hole in the wall that make a great sandwich, excellent fries or some other treat.

The Vance Evergreen Center actually fits the bill. Literally. It's a gas station, repair shop, small convenience store with a small garden center and a small pet food treat store at one far end. There are a few picnic tables under a small patio.

Inside you'll find a small selection of just about everything normally found in ordinary convenience stores, such as potato chips and soda. Yet in the back corner is this small hole in the wall where you can order pizza, sandwiches, fries, onion rings and a few other things.

You place your order at the window. Pay up front and then take your food home or sit out at the picnic tables.

This little store also carries Cheerwine. This isn't wine. It's a Cherry soda of sorts. The girls now like this and will go to the store just to get a few bottles. It's from farther south then Virginia so it's not normally carried in the stores around here. Truckers that were travelling through started requesting it so the store started to carry it. Cheerwine even has their own song. If you want, they even have a current campaign to win a Cheerwine Van. If you win, you'll have to pick it up in North Carolina.

So now back to the Vance's Evergreen Center. The food - Well, it's simple yet good. Sorry, the photo actually makes it look pretty yucky, but it's not and we've been back 3 or 4 times.

They're always busy, which is a good sign of good food. We love the rings, the sandwiches, the pizza and the fresh brownies sold in the front.

Haymarket Day

2010-09-19T15:52:00.005-04:00

So Saturday, September 18, 2010 was Haymarket Day! We decided we needed to check things out. We missed the parade but took time to walk down main street (closed to traffic) and check out all of the booths of vendors and crafts that were out.

We brought the dogs - - -

We saw some Alpacas.

There was a train for the kids

And even some free horse rides for the kids

Wegman's had a little booth where you picked a token out of a basket and got a free corresponding fruit! Christina has a plumb....Cheri had a cucumber.....Jessica got a banana...

There was free face painting.....

And even a little Civil War demonstration -

Overall it a was a pretty good little town day. Plenty of food, lots of people, some free stuff. In the end the dogs and kids were all worn out.

Then, Cheri and Drew got their second wind and decided to drive out to Front Royal, Virginia. Why Front Royal? Well because it's there...and they heard it had some antique stores. They followed the GPS on the way out and came across a little place called the Apple House in Linden, VA.

This is one of those country stores with quilts, gifts, and a little cafe. There were a few Moose heads hanging on a couple of the walls, quilts in one part and a little seating area for the cafe. The cafe was serving up apple donuts that were just incredible. A dozen to go and we were off to see the antiques.

The old downtown was short and lined with nice antique stores and a few other places. One shop specialized in old house restoration pieces. Anything you could want from an old house, doors, windows, knobs, etc. We took their card and will go back once we settle down.

On the way back home they took the road less traveled. Wished for the Jeep instead of a Jaguar. But arrived back onto paved roads without getting stuck or hitting any deer or squirrels.

And while they liked the name of this road....they didn't travel down it....

The British Pantry

2010-09-16T08:16:00.010-04:00

Cheri and Drew had lunch the other day at the The British Pantry and Cafe. A little British grocery store and cafe in Aldie, Virginia.

Yes, Drew is a very manly man and likes his greasy burgers, but he also knows when to sacrifice and spoil his wife with lady food.... They both ordered the M’Lady Tea, which included—a round of Tea Sandwiches, scones with Devon Cream and strawberry jam, and a pot of Tea.

They earned a raised eyebrow and perhaps a curled lip for ordering herbal tea instead of black. And then when they actually put milk in that dreaded herbal nonsense, which was yummy if you ask them, the woman (who was from England and had the appropriate accent) said that was practically sacrilegious. She was teasing. Sort of.... Then when she was explaining what creamed tea was to another couple, she said—loud enough for Cheri and Drew to hear—“Some people even put cream in their herbal.” There was no criticizing tone in it until she turned around and smirked at Cheri and Drew. When they laughed and said, “We heard that,” she chuckled, waved her finger, and said she said it for their benefit. Cheri replied with, “If we weren’t supposed to do it then why bring the cream?” The lady said, “Well, because the cream and sugar bowls come as such a cute little set.”

When the Schmidt’s went to England and had herbal tea at the Ritz in London and Little Betty’s in York they were never criticized for doing it, and cream was always served along with the pot of tea, even if it was herbal.

The sandwiches at the British Pantry were tasty and consisted of: egg salad, ham and butter, cucumber with cream cheese, and Irish cheddar with chutney. All pretty good, however, the Schmidt’s will tell you that the best afternoon teas they’ve had so far is a close tie between Little Betty’s in York and My Dear Lizzie’s in Highland, Utah.

Little Betty’s served the best herbal tea with a delicious honey instead of sugar and Dear Lizzie’s has the best scones by far. They both recommend trying the lavender white chocolate with a good slathering of lemon curd at Lizzie’s. Delish!!! A mix like it can be purchased online here, or here. The key is making the mix with cream instead of water.

Here is a recipe for homemade scones made with cream:

Tender and Tasty British Scones

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Whole whipping cream to moisten

Mix dry ingredients. Slowly pour in whipping cream until you have a nice dough consistency. Knead dough a little. Press out into a rectangular shape. Using a pizza cutter cut into long strips then cut those strips into triangles. Place on a baking sheet. Bake in 450 degree oven until fluffy and golden brown. About 10-12 minutes. Note: it does seem like you have to add a lot of heavy cream while making these. You could add some half and half so you don’t have to put so much heavy cream in. But the secret to the nice flavor of these scones is the heavy cream. Add dried fruit, such as cranberries or blueberries, for variety.

Meeting a Plestiodon

2010-09-16T07:01:00.000-04:00

So Cheri and Drew ran off to have lunch the other day and saw this little creature by the garage.

This is a Plestiodon. Part of the family of skinks, basically a lizard. There is no Photoshop trick here or anything like that. His tail is really that blue.

Saturday Fun

2010-09-11T02:01:00.000-04:00

So today was a quick trip down to DC to visit the Natural History Museum. We drove part way then took the metro the rest of the way in.

Violence on the Metro?

Drew, Megan and Christina waiting for Cheri and Jessica. Is that a poma-dactyl? You know, a Pomeranian and Pterodactyl mixed together?

Afterwards we ran over to Sweetwater Tavern. This is one of Cheri's favorite places to eat and they just have good food. One of the joys is their Ozzie Rolls. A picture from a camera doesn't do justice. Imagine a small scone about the size of a golf ball.

And some lobster bisque soup...

The bruschetta was also very, very tasty.

We were talking with our waitress and we explained that we just recently moved. As a result she bought us desert as a welcoming gift to Virginia. That was pretty nice of her.

After getting home we went on another walk - - and came across some of our fine furry friends again. There are some nice trails that interconnect with the roads and the different neighborhoods. This loop is just about a mile. We stop at the pond to feed the fish and turtles....then it's around and through the woods and then back up to the neighborhoods to get home. Perhaps we'll have to make a little video of this trip.

Udvar Hazy

2010-09-07T18:29:00.003-04:00

So the girls humored Drew this past Labor Day and went with him to the Udvar Hazy Air and Space Museum. Drew was much more impressed then they were. And this was his third or forth time there.

Yet Christina did try the simulator with Drew and she really liked that.

Cheri teased Drew by calling this airplane below the black bird thing. Cheri should know better....this is an SR71 Blackbird!

Some of the girls in the Observation Tower at the museum

Yes.....it's a shuttle....inside...

For lunch we went to Todai...and all you can eat sushi place that is actually pretty incredible. Really good sushi.

In the hunt for good Mexican food we tried Chipotle Mexican Grill this past weekend. We weren't that impressed....but we are ecstatic to find out that a Cafe Rio is scheduled to open in Manassas in December.

Twice now on our way to one place or another we have come across a sickly looking fox. Click on the picture below to go to Flickr and see the picture larger. This was taken on the way to church and with a camera phone....so not that great.....and the fox was just hanging out.

If you have every tried Photosynth go and click here and look at the Photosynths we did at the museum. Here is a small example below.

Townhouse

2010-09-04T22:56:00.003-04:00

So we are renting at the moment. It's actually a nice little townhouse that fits us just right. Just down the street from our place is a little fishing pond. The neighborhood surrounds the pond on a few sides and then there is a walking trail around about half the pond. The pond is full of fish and turtles. We've seen rabbits, deer, bats, fish and a few turtles. Some of the turtles are the size of a large pizza pan and just huge! We've been making it a habit to walk down here at least once a day.

Our new area from Schmidt Family on Vimeo.

Country Drive....

2010-08-31T21:21:00.006-04:00

Within 4 miles of our house is a nice little road called Waterfall Road....or State Road 601. This little road starts off rather nice and quiet.....and then gets smaller and smaller and a bit more windy. Let's just say it's a fun road. After about 8 miles you end up in a place called Plains. A little town with a few shops and from what we hear, a few great places to eat.

After picking Megan up from a school orientation we took her out to get her bike which was stored at a friend house. Drew bought the bike back in May when Drew and Cheri were out exploring the area. We took Waterfall Road and Megan took the camera and braced it on top on the car through the sun roof. We then increased the speed by 2.5x and this is the little result.

You may want to follow the link, watch it in HD and larger in size.

Virginia Country Drive from Drew Schmidt on Vimeo.

Leaving Utah....

2010-08-25T16:47:00.012-04:00

August 23rd started with Cheri and I waking in a hotel. Sort of strange to be sleeping in something other then your own home when you are in the same general area as one of your house.

First thing for the day was to go and wash the van. I pulled into a the local Lehi car wash and thought there was just a bunch of dirt. It turned out to be hair....lots of hair.

See what I mean....? HAIR!

How did this get here? Well here is my opinion. Late in the night, bigfoot sneaks down to the valley, uses the carwash as a shower and this is the aftermath.

Next we ran over to the pet store for some last minute supplies for the dogs. When we came out we noticed a unique parking job on the edge of the Walmart parking lot.

Within a few minutes a young woman ran out of the pet store and was somewhat shocked to see her car parked here. It apparently slipped out of gear and the parking brake doesn't work.

Yet a few guys (me and someone else) helped get her out of the predicament and on her way.

Eventually we ended up at the airport....we tried very hard to wear the dogs out and get them ready for the flight Yet for whatever reason Prudence thought the whole airport was a traumatic experience and starting yipping right away.

Her yipping is more like some kid scuffing their heals along a well waxed floor and making that little squeaking noise. In fast, that is what most of the airport thought was making the sound.

Now, once we got on the plane Pru almost got us kicked off the plane. She started yipping so quickly that most people thought something was wrong. We should have video taped this experience...but we didn't. We were way to worried about being asked to leave or spending four hours with an entire plane ready to toss us and the dogs off. To give you a bit of an idea....it sounded something like this...

Pru yipping! from Drew Schmidt on Vimeo.

After some magic from Megan and at least 5 individual prayers from each one of us, Pru settled down for long enough for them to shut the cabin door and take off.

We arrived late in Virginia and our good friend Mike picked us up and took us to our hotel. He was kind enough to also drop our car off at the hotel so we had it in the morning.

Tuesday, the movers were a bit late but started unloading the house and were finished by 5:00 pm. This started a long week of getting girls registered in school, unpacking, unboxing and cleaning.

KAP - How it's done

2010-04-24T20:16:00.009-04:00

Here is a quick introduction to KAP or Kite Aerial Photography. Well, at least this is how we are doing it.

First we have a SUTTON FLOW FORM 16. The kite measures 3.5 feet by 4.5 feet. You use 125 lb line and I think we have about 500 feet of line. You can buy this kite for about $100.00 or make it yourself if you are feeling adventurous.

We are realizing today that with less wind and non-steady wind it would be nicer to have a large kite. We're thinking of either making our own Cody Kite or a Rokkaku. A Sutton Flow Form 30 would be nice - yet twice the cost of the 16. Rokkaku's are known for being very steady kites.

Next we needed a camera. We have an old Nikon Coolpix L1. Today you can pick this camera up for about $50.00 if it's refurbished.

Then you need a rig. You can make your own but we went the commercial route and bought one from BROOXES.COM. We went the expensive route here and bought the one that had just about everything included. We bought the Broozes Deluxe KAP Kit that includes all the pieces and the three servos. You just have to put it together.

The final product looks like this on the kite lines...

And this picture below is on the ground ready to be stored. The string on the top is used to suspend the rig from the kite while keeping the camera level and steady. The is call picavet suspension. The top servo below this will rotate the entire rig 360 degrees so you can point it in any direction. Just above the camera is another servo that when hit will hit the shutter. To the left of the camera is another servo that will rotate the camera 90 degrees. So it's either looking straight down or even with the horizon. Or of course anywhere in between that 90 degree arch. The only problem with this arrangement is that the power button the Nikon is just under the servo. A little to tight to reach with a finger but a pen works well.

The rig itself with the camera comes in at 1 pound 9 ounces. So you need a kite big enough to lift at least that much weight.

To attach the rig to the kite you use these little things that came with the kit. There are many different choices you can use here. Even a carabiner works well. You just need to wrap the kite string around it a few times so it doesn't slide.

Finally you need an RC until to control the RIG. We bought an entry level one at our local RC store. We paid under $100.00 for it. You can also find these used for less.

First we launch the kite and get it up high enough so it can find steady wind. The wind near the tops of houses will usually be a little rough. Next we attach the rig via the picavet system and leave it all suspended about 5 feet of the ground. We turn on the camera. We then turn on the receiver on the rig and then turn on the hand held transmitter. We check everything one time to make sure we can pan left and right, up and down and take a picture. It's also a good idea to check your knots and for any loose screws or bolts.

I'll admit - it's a bit hard when the rig is really high to know exactly where it's aiming. There are solutions to this...but we haven't tried any of them yet. The other key to a good shot is not to go to high. You want to be higher then the roof tops but not as high as say an ultralight. The idea here is to get a slightly different view and angle then people are us to.

Yup - me in the middle of the street.

Here you can see me walking backwards with the kite.

Megan is holding the RC unit and snapping the pictures.

KAP

2010-04-23T16:26:00.006-04:00

Okay, if you know Drew you might know he likes kites. Well he also likes photography. So if you combine these two hobbies you get what is called Kite Aerial Photography or KAP for short. He came across this years ago when he found the website of Charles C. Benton. About three years ago Megan and Drew tried a short quick attempt. They suspended a kite and just set the camera to take video and they put it up. The pictures grabbed from the video were enough to know we were going to do more of this.

This is one of the pictures taken from the video 3 years ago. Notice the blur on the edges since it's a capture of a frame of the video.

Now...about a year ago Drew purchased everything he needed to make a full remote controlled KAP rig. Using RC airplane servos we can spin the camera both vertically and horizontally. Most important we can also hit the shutter to take pictures. No blurry video images. No we can get nice clean shots limited only by the megapixels of the camera.

Here is a picture of the completed KAP Rig. Drew can't take much credit for the design. He purchased the kit from BROOXES.COM.

So today - - after having the rig built for just over a day and having no wind yesterday....we got the kite up today. Here is the first picture taken from the rig....

And the 2nd picture -

Do you want to see ALL THE PICTURES? CLICK HERE

Daiquiri Ice - Part II

2009-09-10T23:08:00.006-04:00

Okay - so a little more info on the Daiquiri Ice. We found about 3/4 of a teaspoon seems to be about the right amount of Citric Acid...at least for our tastes.

Tonight we made a double batch. It takes about 5 minutes to follow the recipe and make the liquid. We then placed it in the fridge for about 90 minutes with about 15 minutes of that in the freezer. (We aren't the most patient with our deserts!)

When the liquid is ready - it looks just like this. It looks a little darker yet lightens up when frozen.

Now we cheat and use an automatic ice cream maker. This was a gift from Drew's parents years ago and has been well used in our house. They cost under $40.00 now and are well worth it. We also have an extra freezer bowl for when we are making two different types of ice cream.

The doubled recipe fills the Cuisinart full. Almost to full. After about 40-50 minutes it will look like this...

As this point it tastes about right - but is a little to slushy. Pack the frozen mixture in your favorite container and freeze until hard.

Daiquiri Ice

2009-09-07T21:58:00.005-04:00

Drew's favorite ice cream flavor from Baskin-Robbins is Daiquiri Ice. We would drive whatever the distance is from home to the nearest BR just for this treat. Well, they recently discontinued the flavor!!! Why? Who can even imagine!! Well - - after a quick Internet search we found this recipe....

Home Clone Version of Baskin-Robbins Daiquiri Ice

2 cups water

1 cup sugar

Juice of 1 lime (we used the concentrate 2tbs = 1 lime)

1 tsp imitation rum extract

1 tsp citric acid powder – you may need to go to a health food store or online for this, but it is a necessary ingredient. (we found this at the health food store in AF)

1 drop green food coloring

Heat sugar and water just until sugar melts. Remove from heat and add citric acid. Stir until dissolved. Let mixture cool until lukewarm, then add rum extract, lime juice and food coloring. Refrigerate until chilled. Churn in an ice cream machine for 25 minutes. Spoon ice into freezer-safe bowl, and move to the freezer for an hour before serving.

Note: The recipe only makes a little over 2 cups, so you may want to double the ingredients.

When finished...pack the ice cream into some sort of container and allow it to harden for a few hours. When ours came out of the ice cream machine it was good - but a little slushy still. It also came out a bit more tart then we would like....a little more research on the net suggests that the tartness can be controlled by the amount of citric acid....we might have to try this again.

Chocolate in 5 minutes

2009-07-06T22:43:00.006-04:00

So we say this on the Internet and decided to try it out. Yes, it takes about 5 minutes. Ours was a bit longer since we also made some homemade frosting.

Ingredients:

4 Tablespoons cake flour

4 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons cocoa

1 Egg

3 Tablespoons milk

3 Tablespoons oil

1 Mug

The Mug we used were large soup mugs from Tai Pan Trading. We knew that the contents would raise a little and we wanted it all to stay in the cup.

Instructions:

Mix flour, sugar and cocoa

Spoon in 1 egg

Add milk and oil and mix well.

Microwave on high for 3 minutes

Let it sit for about 1 more minute in the mug

Take a knife and loosen the cake from the cup.

Dump cake out on a plate

We found that the top looked a little better then the bottom so we turned it over. We then created our own chocolate frosting.

Frosting Ingredients

1 cup powdered sugar

3 tablespoons of cocoa

3 tablespoons of butter

2 tablespoons of milk

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

Mix well.

Results

We didn't like the cake. It was mediocre at best. It was even a little tough. The frosting is a family favorite so that helped...but not much. Bottom line - if you are really craving a some chocolate go an get a few of the Warm Delights from Betty Crocker and keep them in your pantry. They fulfill the need with more ease and taste better!!!

And finally - - the little ones decided that a snowy ice would be better - yet the sour green apple apparently stains anything it touches.

From http://schmidt-house.blogspot.com

Chinese Marble Cookies

2009-07-04T18:09:00.003-04:00

For the 4th of July we decided to make some Chinese Marble Cookies. These are an old family favorite and Drew's family use to buy them when he lived in NY. Eventually one of his brothers figured out the recipe and shared it with the rest of the family. They are a little messy to make....but you'll end up with sort of a crunchy cookie that takes really good.

This is the mess just before you place them in the fridge to cool.

This is the final product. Yum!

Chinese Marble Cookies

The recipe is a little strange since it was created from a really huge batch and slimmed down to only make a few dozen.....one of these days we'll need to adjust the amounts...yet these work.

Ingredients:

1 ¾ cups + 1 ½ Tbsp. sugar (14 oz.)

1 ½ tsp. salt (¼ oz.)

2 cups +3 Tbsp. shortening (14 oz.)

5 cups cake flour (20 oz.)

1 ¼ tsp. baking soda (scant ¼ oz.)

2 eggs large

½ Tbsp. vanilla (¼ oz.)

¾ tsp almond flavoring (c oz.)

Directions:

Put dough on plastic wrap. Flatten out. Drizzle with ½ cup chocolate chips melted. Fold dough over and over to slightly marble chocolate. Roll to shape into 2-2½" roll. Refrigerate 2 hours. Slice ½" thick slices. Let come to room temperature. Bake 350 for 14-18 min. Makes 3 dozen. These are an absolute favorite of ours.

http://schmidt-house.blogspot.com/

June Family Fun.....(for one saturday at least)

2009-06-28T22:01:00.005-04:00

So Adria was mentioning that we haven't put anything up for a while....so since she is gone to Denver for a few more days....I thought I better put something up.

Saturday we made a trip up to the Farmer's Market in SLC. We dragged our dog Sophie along. Whenever we take her out she gets a bit of attention. People wanting to spend time with her is a common thing. Her getting a chance to socialize with other dogs is the bonus for us. Over the winter she found her voice and seems to have become very protective of us. Everything appears to be a threat to her now. Luckily the market forces her to socialize with so many people she calms down quite a bit.

Cheri and Megan found some jewelry. Drew didn't think they had to look very hard.

While Cheri and Megan shopped a little Drew, Christina and Sophie hung out in the shade and Jessica practiced her camera skills.

After the market we ran up to the Air Force Museum up at the Hill Airforce base.

After that it was down to Five Guys for a burger then home. After that....there was a the lawn to mow, the garden to tend, the weeds to pull, the trees to water, the house to clean and a bunch of other stuff. All in all---a pretty good day.

Don't Drink, Don't Smoke, What do you do?

2009-04-22T16:00:00.002-04:00

So often when on the road it's hard to find something to do at night. So for this business trip Drew dragged along his camera and tripod and took some pictures.

At least it keeps him out of trouble.

Drew's Birthday

2009-03-24T20:03:00.012-04:00

Some kids never grow up. And I'm no exception. I love kites....big kites. I mean really big kites. What is fun about these kites is that you can stack them. You connect one to a 2nd one and so on. One kite is fun and fast. Two kites pull more and slow each other down a bit. Three - even slower. Four - not really that much slower - but a bit more pull. A single kite is sort of like a sport car on kite string. Four of these feel like a big truck at the end of the kite strings. They have enough pull that I need to lean back to keep my feet on the ground.

You know that feeling you get when you are just about ready to loose at tug of war? Yeah - it feels like that!

Oh and yeah - it was 41 degrees outside. And windy (of course) and cold!

KITES!, originally uploaded by Schmidt-Family.

We have a few others like these - a few four foot kites. A ten foot version and a twelve foot version. The twelve footer rarely sees the light of day. It needs very little wind to fly. And anything more then a light breeze will rip your arms off.

I have to thanks Megan for taking pictures and videos. An no - I didn't hit her - but I came close.

The kites coming in for a landing.

Alpine Utah

2009-03-02T22:45:00.002-05:00

Alpine Utah, originally uploaded by Schmidt-Family.

New toys. We're getting ready for a trip and I really, really wanted a new toy for the camera. The toy is a little tiny GPS that fits on top of your camera and adds the latitude and longitude to pictures as you take them. So, Friday I went out and took some shots. I wanted to know if I could do a panorama in Photoshop and if it would then preserve the information when all the photos were merged! Needless to say - yes - it worked - and I'm a happy camper.

Oh, and why would you want to do this? Well then when you post your pictures on Flickr or other sites - the sites automatically map exactly where your photo was taken. Not very cool for personal party pictures but for landscapes - very cool. I plan on using this a lot next month.

Get Over It!

2009-02-20T16:25:00.002-05:00

So while having lunch with a few friends today we were talking about dealing with life and everything. I mentioned the song Get Over It by the Eagles. I love this song. I think everyone should take this to heart. The world would be a better place.

I turn on the tube; what do I see,

A whole lot a people cryin' "don't blame me"

They point their crooked little fingers at everybody else

Spend all their time felin' sorry for themselves

Victim of this, victim of that

Your momma's too thin; and your daddy's too fat

Get over it

All this whinin' and cryin' and pitchin' a fit

Get over it, get over it

You say ya haven't been the same since ya had your little crash

But you might feel better if they gave you some cash

The more I think about it, ol' Billy was right

Let's kill all the lawers- kill 'em tonight

You don't wanna work you wanna live like a king

But the big bad world doesn't owe you a thing

Get over it

Ya don't want to play then you might as well split

Get over it, get over it

It's like going to confession every time I hear you speak

Your makin' the most of your losin' streak

Some call it sick, but i call it weak

Yeah yeah yeah

Yeah you drag it around like a ball an' chain

You wallow in the guilt; you wallow in the pain

You wave it like a flag, you wear it like a crown

Got your mind in the gutter, bringin' everybody down

Ya bitch about the present and blame it on the past

I'd like to find your inner child an' kick it's little ass

Get over it

All this bitchin' and moanin' and pitchin' a fit

Get over it, get over it

Get over it

It's gotta stop some time so why don't you quit

Get over it, get over it

Get over it

I'm Done.....Sort of...

2009-02-18T16:03:00.002-05:00

So since Mom passed we've been rather busy. Then 9 weeks later Dad passed. So for the last few months my life has been one big todo list. I'm not normally a todo list type of guy...but between work, church, my own home, my own family and taking care of my parents estate has been sort of crazy.

I've been thinking that everything is coming to a nice conclusion. Their house is on the market, most of the life insurance is in process and will let me pay things off....the estate is getting settled. Then today I found this quote -

There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. Yet that will be the beginning.

Louis L'Amour

LOL - should I cry or laugh? For the time being I'll laugh because I find it funny....but I think there might some truth to his quote.

It's been a tough few 10 weeks

2009-02-04T22:27:00.007-05:00

This is a picture of my parents taken August 3, 1945 at a Bible camp called Pinebrook. This was the week they met and the week Dad proposed to Mom. They were later married August 2, 1947. What followed was 61 years of marriage. Six children. Twenty-one Grandchildren and Eight Great Grandchildren.

Mom passed on the day before Thanksgiving last year, November 26, 2008. Dad passed last week, January 27, 2009. We've all joked that perhaps Mom order Dad's presence in heaven. That perhaps at some point God just gave in to her constant nagging, realized this man must be a saint and his probationary time on earth was done.

January 27th started off a little different. After about four and half hours of sleep I woke up and looked at the clock, it was 5:00 am. A little early to get up but I thought what the heck....I need to drive to Salt Lake, the roads had been bad the previous day and perhaps by going early I could avoid all the idiots on the road. I showered, dressed, went down stairs at the computer. After a few moments the phone rang. Not wanting to wake anyone up I grabbed it quickly without even looking at the caller-id. I said hello, the guy on the other end asked if it was Drew. Strange I thought, since I didn't recognize his voice right away and who calls you at 5:30 in the morning? It was Dad's doctor, Ian McMaster and he had bad news. Strange how it hit me...strange because I didn't know even what to do. It was unexpected yet so expected. We thought we would have lost dad every since he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure 4 years ago. I sort of expected him to pass ever since then...but for some reason I also didn't expect it. I was confused....I asked what they needed me to do...nothing was the answer.

I told Cheri....she was shocked...I called some of the brothers and delegated the rest of the calls. I sat there with nothing to do...in a bit of shock...yet wanting to do something. So, I wrote his obituary. That may seem strange. It may seem rather cold....but I knew the chores that were before me having just gone through this process with Mom. And I knew that a wise use of time would keep my mind off of things.

I used my phone to text my boss. I knew he was on the west coast and being an east coast guy he would most likely be up. He told me today when he saw that text asking if I could call it couldn't be good.

Eventually I went upstairs and woke Adria and Megan. It was hard to say. They took it hard. But then how can you break news like this easily? I certainly haven't learned that trick very well but I doubt you ever can.

We purposely didn't want to tell the little ones. We wanted them to go to school and have a normal day. We needed them out of our hair for a bit so we could attend to the chores at hand.

Adria, Megan and I went out for breakfast, and grabbed a bite for Cheri. We then decided to try the Facebook experiment. What would happen if we made an entry on Facebook. I'll admit, there was a bit of the geek in me coming out - but I knew it was also a good way to get the word to lots of friends who would want to know. Within minutes people responded. It was touching.

The next few days sort of blended together. To be honest the chore of planing a funeral was so recent in my skill set that it wasn't hard to plan that appropriately. It sucked.....but yet it was somewhat easy just to do the task and remove myself from the emotion of it all.

All the brothers made it to Utah. A few brought their spouse. One nephew came. The viewing was Friday evening. Dad looked just like Mom. He was a shell, that was all. He didn't look like himself and you knew he wasn't there. Even our youngest two new it.

The youngest two had a knack during these days. There were fun. They were young. They were entertaining. They made everyone laugh. They helped take the edge off of the events of the viewing and the funeral and all the heavy feelings that the rest of us felt.

The Day of the funeral was very touching. Ray gave the eulogy and did an excellent job. Ray and Doug also sung "I Believe in Christ." Dad was an active scouter. A scout of one sort or another for over 70 years. Many scouters were there dressed in uniform to show their respect. That got me....the honor...the thoughtfulness. It was very touching. Up to that point I had done pretty good....but the kindness of others truly touched me. On our way out of the chapel with the six of us being the pall bearers, we were greatly touched at the site we saw. The Bishop of Dad's old Ward had arranged for all the Boy Scouts to line the sidewalk with scouts holding flags. They stood at attention in solute.

Then at the funeral two Eagle Scouts, gave another fitting tribute. After the dedication of the grave they played taps. They did an echo of sort.....one playing near the grave...the 2nd farther away in response to the first. It was a very nice and touching honor to a great man.

Dad helped over 2000 Scouts in Springville and the surround area get their Eagle. He worked at the local hardware store for over 20 years. While having dinner in Spanish Fork before the viewing Cheri, the kids, and I ran into someone who recognized us. When they asked why we were dressed up and who the funeral was for, they immediately knew George...he had helped their boys get their Eagles. This was a common event over the next few days and it was nice to hear from everyone.

Letter

2009-01-26T18:14:00.002-05:00

Letter, originally uploaded by Schmidt-Family.

My Dad ended up in the hospital this weekend. It's turning out okay - and not that huge of a deal - we hope, but so far he is looking good. While visiting him he fell asleep and not wanting to bug him I decided to walk the hallway a little. I found this board full of thank you notes from different patients. Smack dab in the middle was this one. They had blocked out the last name but the first name and address gave it away. This was from my mom. It might be silly - but this actually got me. When I realized it was from her I looked at the date and I realized that exactly two weeks later from when she wrote this - she would pass. Man that got me. I would like to think that I'm this big tough guy - but then something like this makes me cry.

And I will be honest - the staff was incredible. I didn't deal much with them in her previous visits but for her final visit to the hospital - they were simply incredible.

Really? Come on Really?

2009-01-15T17:21:00.004-05:00

So Cheri and I went out to lunch since it's her birthday. And like so many of our dates we did a little bit of shopping. In the parking lot this car pulled up with this on their back window. No come on - - really? I don't think cats or dogs know how to be faithful to each other. Heck, I've seen dogs that even seemed confused as to what another dog even is.

Now I see a lot of problems with this....for example, from their website I quote one happy customer that said - "Within minutes of visiting the site, my 'kids' were hitched" Whoa - - I think that is incest.

And this raises lots of other questions. What about same gender pet marriage? If my pets of the same gender get married in California will Utah recognize it? Are their prenuptial agreements? What do I do if the pets later want to have a divorce? Am I on the hook for the legal fees of said divorce? Who pays for the honeymoon? My pets got busy before they were married, do the puppies now have to be adopted? If the parents split, who gets custody of the puppies? Ah, so many problems.

Well - - at any rate - here is their website - Pet Weds.com. And if you marry of my dog Sophie to the neighbors dog without my permission I will make sure my dog craps in your lawn.

And yeah - I realize it's all a joke and just for entertainment purposes....so was this entry.

Strange Finds

2009-01-05T08:55:00.003-05:00

I found these in a very old suitcase - within another suitcase - within another suitcase at my parents house. They are about 3 inches long. They are made out of glass and as you can see - they are sitting on an envelope to give some scale. They are apparently perfume samples. The ends are sealed with glass. We broke the end of one of them - and you can smell the perfume - but you still can't really get it out. Not sure what these were for or how they worked.

Strange Finds, originally uploaded by Schmidt-Family.

And then finally I found this book on my mother's bookshelf. I'm rather confident it has never been read.

And then finally - this little creature - a BABY CAT! It's just creepy to me. It looks like it belongs in some scary movie.

Current Goals

2008-12-27T22:02:00.002-05:00

So I have a list of short goals - - - here is the current list -

1. Clean Mom and Dad's House

2. Sell all the stuff in Mom and Dad's house

3. Sell Mom and Dad's House

4. Build Extension onto my house.

5. Keep the old man alive between now and then.

Wish us luck!

Fun things heard from Grandpa

2008-12-08T09:00:00.000-05:00

Having your Dad move in with you is an experience. And yet, so far it has been rather easy. And sort of fun. Here are some of the fun things I've overhead - -

Grandpa: "I've never seen a woman with an eye patch" - After the teenagers get him to watch his first episode of Pushing Daisies.

Grandpa: I like movies like this.
Grandpa: (a little later) I like movies like this.
Christina: Grandpa, you already said that.
Grandpa: What, can't I repeat myself. Fine....I won't saying anything. (In a teasing sort of voice)

Pictures and more pictures

2008-12-07T12:10:00.001-05:00

More Pictures

All the Boys

2008-12-06T10:54:00.001-05:00

All the Boys, originally uploaded by Schmidt-Family.

After the funeral we had the little family dinner at the church. Then it was time for pictures. Probably one of the last times all the boys will be in picture together with Dad.

I Grieve - Part II

2008-12-04T00:12:00.005-05:00

Okay - the rest of the I GRIEVE song by Peter Gabriel goes off into a whole other part that is more upbeat.....more happy. That really didn't fit a few days ago. I actually feared that the song would be sort of ruined for me forever. The first part of the song cane still make me cry....if I let it...but the rest of the song fits more appropriately now. Here are the rest of the lyrics -

let it out and move on

missing what's gone

they say life carries on

they say life carries on and on and on

life carries on

in the people I meet

in everyone that's out on the street

in all the dogs and cats

in the flies and rats

in the ashes and the dust

life carries on and on and on and on

life carries on and on and on

it’s just the car that we ride in

the home we reside in

the face that we hide in

the way we are tied in

life carries on and on and on and on

life carries on and on and on

did i dream this belief?

or did i believe this dream?

now I can find relief

I grieve

There is so much to this song that makes me sort of laugh today...yeah...laugh...well the first part can still make me cry - - but the bottom can make me laugh today.

I got to see a lot of old friends today....many old, old friends. It was nice. I got to see all five of my brothers. It's been years since we've been back together.

life carries on.....in the people I meet

When the ambulance came to pick up Mom to take her to the hospital last Monday one of their cats got out of the house. A big red Persian that was recently shaved because it had matted hair balls. Now over a week later - we were sure the cat was dead. Then tonight, when coming back from the funeral, we saw the cat in the backyard. We haven't caught him yet...but he is alive. When we came home today our little puppy was overjoyed to see us. She didn't like being left for so long.

life carries on.....in all the dogs and cats

I rode with Dad and his brother from the church to the cemetery in the limousine. There was a big fly in the car. It was 45 degrees outside an a fly found a happy home in a mortuary limousine. The driver was an old friend of 25 years of my fathers. My Father proceeded to give him a good old tease about the fly in the car.

life carries on.....in the flies and rats

Okay - no rats....but one fly.

After the funeral we went back to Dad's house. We all started cleaning up different parts of the house...in a dusty sewing drawer we found a love letter from Dad to Mom. Date, January 5th, 1948. 3 cents for the stamp. When Dad and Mom got married Dad sent mom back to school in Philadelphia to finish nursing school while he continued to live in New York. It was really cool to read. Perhaps I will share it later.

life carries on....in the ashes and the dust

When I got home I discovered I had a small leak somewhere in my kitchen...I think...so I went down stairs to see exactly where the water was coming from. In the process, I ripped out a few studs that I had recently framed up. I've been trying to finish our basement. Well, I missed one of the nails....and I stepped right on. And yeah - it was one of the nails that has had water on it from the leak. So now I need to get a tetanus shot within the next 3 days...just to make sure nothing new is living in me!!!!

life carries on....in the rot and the rust

And these aren't recent pictures - - but here is what their red Persian looks like.....

And here is what he looks like when he has been shaved because he is all matted.

Don't think this is abuse or anything....but the cat won't let you brush it. He will bite and scratch your hands off if you try. So they try to brush him...but eventually the hair mats get so bad they'll just get him shaved. Now imaging a cat looking like this surviving for the last week outside - pretty cool. Life carries on.

Dad

2008-11-28T01:29:00.001-05:00

Dad, originally uploaded by Schmidt-Family.

Having fun with Dad at Thanksgiving.

I Grieve

2008-11-27T02:43:00.002-05:00

I love music....it sets the mood...it tells a story. I probably have more songs in my collection then most. I love lyrics. I love lyrics that tell a story.

I've always loved the song "I Grieve" by Peter Gabriel. It is an interesting song....and about halfway through the song it changes. Deals more with moving on....healing. I'm not there yet. But this first part of the song sums things up for the day.....and it somewhat accurate...but not entirely.

I Grieve by Peter Gabriel

It was only one hour ago

It was all so different then

There’s nothing yet has really sunk in

Looks like it always did

This flesh and bone

Is just the way that we are tied in

Now there's no-one home

I grieve for you

You leave me

It’s so hard to move on

Still loving what's gone

They say life carries on

They say life carries on and on and on and on

The news that truly shocks is the empty, empty page

While the final rattle rocks its empty, empty cage

And I can't handle this

I grieve for you

and you leave me

Let it out and move on

Missing what's gone

They say life carries on

They say life carries on and on and on

Flickr Cover Flow

2008-11-25T15:27:00.001-05:00

Found a cool thing on Flickr today. Well, it uses Flickr photos....but it's still cool. You point this webpage to collection of photos on Flickr and it will then create an ITunes like Album view of all the pictures.

Check our our Halloween Pictures to get an example.

To make your own - - go here.

Saturday

2008-11-22T15:00:00.001-05:00

Saturday, originally uploaded by Schmidt-Family.

Cheri, Jes, Christina and I went out for some lunch and shopping. And while out I took a few pictures.

Star Trails

2008-11-18T16:25:00.001-05:00

Star Trails, originally uploaded by Schmidt-Family.

Another attempt at long exposures. I went up on the mountain behind the house and took a bunch of photos with a tripod then meshed them all together in Photoshop.

Guess where we went to lunch?

2008-11-15T22:40:00.000-05:00

There are now two of these in Utah - you have no excuse for finding one and eating there.

Startrails

2008-11-14T10:19:00.003-05:00

Camera - night - stars - what could be more fun? This was 15 separate images combined in Photoshop. For each image the shutter was open for 30 seconds. It was rather windy. It was rather cold. I was dumb enough to be wearing shorts. For this series I just sat on the porch in a rocking chair wrapped up inside a blanket and hit the remote every 30 seconds to get the shots. The full moon lit up the sky a bit more then I would have liked - but it is still a cool shot. I believe I can use Nikon Capture to automatically do it via laptop control - but I don't have a copy of that. I'll have to see if they have a limited use version.

Utah Valley

2008-11-13T10:40:00.003-05:00

Utah Valley

Megan and a few other kids decided to run to the temple this morning to do baptisms. I volunteered to wake up at 4:20 AM to drive them to meeting place. How can you really say no to that? There is another father who then drives from the grocery store the rest of the way then drops the kids off at school.

Afterwards I decided I really didn't want to go to work yet so I ran down to Saratoga Springs and shot some pictures of the lake. I really like the way this one came out. I like long exposures and recently bought a new camera, tripod, remote and decided it was time to give them a test run. This came out better then I had expected. Yet I need to add gloves and those little hand warmer things to the car if I'm going to keep doing these night time shots.

Glass Faces

2008-11-12T21:52:00.002-05:00

So I saw this on Flickr on someone else's photostream and showed our two youngest how to do it. They thought this was incredible fun!

I'm a walking nightmare, an arsenal of doom!

2008-11-05T12:33:00.005-05:00

I have been known to buy an entire CD for a single song. I didn't necessarily buy this entire game for one song - but it was close. In our house there are a few bands the children must be exposed to. Sting/Police, Rush and Pink Floyd would be high on the list. Here is Megan trying her hand at Demolition Man by Sting on Guitar Hero World Tour.

Oh - and this was taken with the new Nikon D90 - a very cool camera that does pictures and video. The original video is hi-def quality.

"Must I be a man in a suitcase?"

2008-10-30T05:36:00.000-04:00

I woke up at 2 am Utah time today to catch a flight home from Virgina. The positive side is that I should be home in time for lunch with the wife. Yeah!

Rambutan or Lychee?

2008-10-27T23:28:00.003-04:00

So according to Wikipedia this is not Lychee - - but the tag says it is. I'll be honest, I've never seen Lychee look like this but it does taste the same. My business partner for this trip called it hairy monkey balls. I'm no expert on Monkey Balls so I'll take his word for it.

I'm on yet another business trip and our hotel is just around the corner from a Chinese Market. My business partner wanted some fresh fruit so we paid the store a visit.

That is where I found these.....and I love Lychees so I bought them. They taste about the same. A little pricey but tasty. I use to eat these fresh from a members tree when I served my mission.

And this is what the fruit looks like on the inside. Yum!

Brigham - HDR

2008-10-16T13:50:00.006-04:00

Brigham

So Cheri and I started reading about HDR photos. HDR stands for High Dynamic Range Photos. Basically you take a bunch of the same photo at different exposures and then blend the exposures together. You can read more about it on the net - but here is one link - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_dynamic_range_imaging

This was a little test shot we took in Provo the other day.

It should be noted - I should have used a tripod. I don't like the way the building looks. A tripod may have fixed that - I'll need to play some more.

"I’ve had the Time of my Life, And the Life of my Times, In the Company of Fools"

2008-10-12T01:39:00.007-04:00

So Friday night Megan, Jessica, Christina and myself went to see Great Big Sea in concert. Who are they you ask? Well a rockin lit

tle bad from Newfoundland. I found them years and years ago by watching a video for Consquence Free. I love lyrics, and the lyrics of that song just spoke to me. It didn't take me very long to get hooked on these guys. Overall - they simply know how to have fun and put on a really entertaining show. Most of their songs are about life in Newfoundland or out on the sea or drinking in a pub.....and I like them.

The concert was held at the Murray Theater....a little theater in Murray Utah that only holds about 300 people. The place was half filled, which was somewhat sad to see, but great for us. We ended up 4 rows back from the stage. Very close, very friendly. The crowd ranges from a few young people to old white haird grandmothers. A rather strange mix.

It was good fun...that was really the bottom line.

Here are the girls just before the concert started. It was a little tough to get a good picture of them at the time.

Afterwards we stopped at the Cheesecake Factory for desert. Why you ask? Well because there is always room and time for Cheesecake!!!

"Our first stop is in Bogota"

2008-09-11T17:03:00.003-04:00

Yeah - that's right - I've been in Bogota for the last week. It's been an interesting ride. I flew down on Monday, a nice 9-10 hours of flying. The ride from Atlanta to Bogota was sort of bumpy as we tried to fly around Cuba and around Hurricane Ike. I will fly home on Friday.

The work has been fun. The food has been good. And I have felt like a fish out of water since my Spanish consists up counting 1 thru 6 and random other words that don't do you much good.

The hotel is nice - here is a quick view from my window - the neighborhood is okay.

I also found a new little toy. It's called PhotoSynth - you basically feed this website a bunch of photos and they make 360 or partial 360 degree views of what you post. It's sort of cool. So I posted a couple - and on the site are two from Bogota. One is the view from my window. The other is the room itself. I think you will need to use IE or Firefox and download a little player to watch them - but it's cool - My Photosynths!

Vampire Dogs are REAL!

2008-08-31T12:49:00.003-04:00

THEY ARE REAL! I thought you couldn't take a picture of a vampire - but perhaps Vampire Dogs break this rule. Here is the proof - a blurry picture of a vampire dog hiding it's teeth.

She's actually teathing at the moment. She's loosing all of her baby teeth one by one. For whatever reason she likes to sit and chew on her teeth as they come out.

The Basement

2008-08-26T10:17:00.005-04:00

I should have started this years ago but we just never did. So - the work now begins. I've started to finish the basement. We'll end up with two bedrooms, one bathroom and a Family room.

This is the view from the corner of the family room towards one of the bathrooms. I'm standing roughly where the entertainment center will be.....yeah!

I am about 1/4 or almost 1/3 of the way with the basement being framed. Yet, these are the easy rooms so to speak. The other half will have a bathroom, utility closet and a bunch of other walls that will take a bit more thinking.

This view is from the one bedroom back towards the family room.

I was hoping to be farther along by this point - but I've been on the road 2 out of the last 3 weeks so I guess I shouldn't complain. I hope to have this half done by this weekend...even though I'm on the road until Thursday morning. The other half will be somewhat easier and somewhat harder. The one bedroom is pretty straight forward. The other rooms, like the bathroom and such will be a bit more difficult to frame in and decide exactly where everything is.

Birthday!!!!

2008-08-14T00:41:00.003-04:00

Today Jessica turns 10!!! She decided she wanted to have a late over with some friends and just play and have a good time.

She also decided that Cheesecake is the way to go for her birthday cake! Can you really go wrong with Cheesecake - no we don't think so either.

Wordle

2008-08-07T18:01:00.004-04:00

So I have three business trips coming up. Three or four big things I need to handle....and the Jeep died today. I thought it was the starter...but maybe the alternator...maybe the battery. I hate car repairs. I would like to call it a day but I can't do that. In fact - once I get home I will probably need to spend a few hours working on some of the big items and getting things out of my head and down on paper just so we can move forward with some things at work. Yet - I'm so done for the day that I needed a break. So, I took a break, surfed around and found Wordle. What is a Wordle you ask. Well - this is a Wordle.

And this was made from all the words on this Blog. Check out The Wordle Site and make your own. I think they are sort of cool.

I Want Them!

2008-08-04T20:40:00.002-04:00

A friend blogged about these Very Cool Street Lights! I want a set. They don't exist yet....but I want a set.

Another Day - Another Road Trip

2008-08-02T01:59:00.013-04:00

Took the three youngest (Adria had to work) out to dig up some trilobite fossils today. We woke up early and Jessica, Christina and Megan and I all went for a nice long drive.

We took one quick break in Eureka to look at the head frame there.

Megan looking good in the front seat of the Jeep.

We spent a while at U DIG Fossils and the girls had a great time. We didn't find that many, but right near the end, Christina walks up with this nice rock with an excellent trilobite right on it. She just picked it up off the ground.

After the fossils we drove a little bit farther up the canyon. Where there is the huge cliff looking off into the west desert.

Just a little ways from that the canyon turns and offers a great spot to hear your echo repeat and repeat. We spent some time there screaming at the top of our lungs just for fun.

The next stop was the Hermit's Cabin. This was occupied by Robert Stinson from 1920 to 1945. He was a native of Iowa and WWI Army Vet. He suffered from what was then called "shell shock." He hitchhiked to Delta after his discharge in search of peace and isolation. He worked for the state highway department removing rock from the old highway that ran through Marjum Pass, and in spring 1920 he made a home for himself by turning a small cave in a side canyon into a one-room stone cabin.

After leaving the cabin we headed south and out and around Notch Peak....some day I need to hike to the top of that baby....

We stopped for a quick lunch in Delta and then headed back home. We made one more stop in Eureka to check out this mine shaft.

I'm not sure how deep it is but there was a small rope tied to one of the pieces of rebar that was tied to a rock. We pulled and pulled and it took quite a while for the rock to come up......I'm guessing at least 100 feet if not deeper.

"I stood at the top of the mountain"

2008-07-31T22:03:00.022-04:00

This was the goal for today. This is the view of Camel Back Mountain....at least that is what the locals call it, from my parents home. For over 25 years we have enjoyed the view from the back porch but neither myself nor my father have ever been up on top. Today it was the day to take my Dad up there. You can actually see the Camel, just right of the arrow. The point just behind the arrow is actually Camel Pass according to the Topo Maps.

I picked my Dad up around 9:00 and headed up the canyon. He's doing pretty good for an 81 year old man, yet the Jeep was a bit of a pain for him to get into. His shoulder has some nasty arthritis and he felt every bump....but no matter what...he wanted to keep going. At one point he told me to hold his shoulder as he moved it and you could feel the bones clicking inside the shoulder. Nasty. Therapy isn't helping so he's going to try something different.

After a rather short drive we started to get a glimpse of Springville, Mapleton and Spanish Fork in the distance. The weather was perfect, and even though the temps hit 100+ today it was still rather cool up on top of the mountain.

After just over an hour of driving and almost 15 miles of pavement and dirt from Dad's house we came to a small turn off. We put the Jeep in 4WD and drove the next quarter mile or so rather slow. This was the first my father had ever really been off-roading in a Jeep. I think he was somewhat surprised. Finally we came out on top of the Camel and we were greeted by this wonderful view. The elevation was just over 7600 feet.

Dad had a hard enough time getting into the Jeep that he stayed in and enjoyed the view from the comfort of the front seat. You can see him waving his hand in the image below.

My teenage childhood home is down there....and that is still where Mom and Dad live. In fact, the first picture of this blog was taken from their backyard after the trip was over.

This is looking back at the hump of the camel. You can see the 4wd road that go from the main road to the point that overlooks Springville.

Little Rock Canyon and Springville in the background. The Three Sisters can be seen below. Taken at just about 8000 Feet.

The road goes - and keeps going. You can see Mount Timpanogos in the middle of the frame. Cascade on the left....and the road cutting through the trees.

Rock Canyon - - from on top. Crazy Rocks.

At one point I turned on my Ipod and switched to the Glenn Miller Band for Dad. While I know some of the songs...while I know some of the lyrics...he knew them all. He was singing along to a bunch of them. The trip was great. Story after story came out of my Dad. Many I have heard before....some that I haven't. The stretch from Camel's Back to Provo Canyon was a little longer then I planned but the drive was great.

After hitting Provo Canyon we drove up to Midway and then I took the road up to Guardman's Pass. Once there, down Big Cottonwood Canyon we went and a quick lunch at Five Guys. I figured if we came this far he needed to have a good hamburger.

Total time driving was almost 7 hours from the time I left home to the time I returned. Total miles were 211. Well worth the time. Dad repeated thanked me for taking him up there. He even made me fill up my tank when we got back to town and had to make sure I let him pay for it. Funny.

I don't think my Dad has a bucket list and I wasn't going to ask.....but in many ways I feel like I helped him cross one of the items on his list off. Hopefully the bucket kicking won't come for a long, long time.

No Shakes!!! Just a good burger and fries!

2008-07-26T19:32:00.002-04:00

A rather uneventful Saturday. Helped the neighbors move the rest of their stuff out. They moved to Colorado a few months ago and have been trying to sell their home. No luck in the current housing market so they decided to rent it out instead. Luckily we had a good group of people helping so it went fast.

For lunch Cheri, Megan, Jessica, Christina and I went out to Five Guys for lunch. Adria was working this afternoon. Five Guys is the best. There is really no argument here. They have great burgers....great fries. Period.

Here is Jessica enjoying her burger!!

Not a very cool day. Saw the car temp hit 105 more then once. Yuck!

Girl's Camp & the Police!

2008-07-20T10:37:00.007-04:00

Girl's Camp!
On Monday Adria, Megan and Drew left for Girl's Camp up at Heber Valley camp. Drew was serving as one of the two priesthood leaders. He came home Tuesday and then went back up for the rest of the week. Everyone came home Friday after a great week up at camp. The weather was perfect. The camp is incredible and the Young Women had a great time. Cheri stayed at home with Jessica and Christina. There was one slight road trip for Cheri, Drew, Christina and Jessica to see some friends in Brigham City on Tuesday....but other then that, it was an uneventful week while everyone else was at camp. Want to see some pictures? Well I will leave that up to Adria who has already posted a bunch here.

"You will see light in the darkness. You will make some sense of this"
The weekend finished up with Drew and Cheri at the Usana Amphitheater in SLC. The event was the Police Concert. Elvis Costello opened for them. We are no Costello fans so there isn't much to say about that. Drew was somewhat surprised that Costello was opening for The Police. Near the end of their set Sting actually came out and sang along with Elvis for one song.....but not much else that we found thrilling. Now, the Poilce on the other hand.....WOW! The old Police boys can still rock the house. They played all of their favorites and quite a few of them with different arrangements and harder guitar riffs. A very nice change. Prior to the concert we probably wouldn't buy a live album if they came out with one, but some of the arrangements were different enough that it will have to be added to the collection if they release one.

The concert was very cool. Sting looks rather buffed for a man his age. Andy looked a little weathered but could certainly still rock. Stewart looked rather cool sporting a cool Ghost in the Machine shirt. He switched from standing to sitting more then once which offered a different view. They even had one camera mounted below a drum and shooting up through it at Stewart.

Cheri picked up a shirt for herself. Drew picked up a couple of shirts and a signed copy of Sting's book called Lyrics. A very cool insight into the songs he has written over the years.

The play list for the concert was the following, or at least I think so, if my memory serves me right.

Message in a Bottle

Demolition man
Voices inside my head
When the world is running down
Don't Stand so Close to Me
Driven to tears
Hole in my life
Every little thing
Wrapped around your Finger
Do do do dah dah dah
Invisible Sun
I Can't Stand Losing You

Roxanne
King of pain
So lonely
Every Breath you Take

Next to You

Overall? A rather great concert. We really enjoyed it. The boys could certainly still rock the house and it was just fun!

Salt Lake City Farmers Market

2008-07-12T22:07:00.008-04:00

The older two girls went rock climbing today so Cheri and I with the little ones went up to the Salt Lake City Farmer's Market. It was a bit busy but larger then the last time we came. More crafts, not as much fruit quite yet this early in the summer. We'll have to go back up when the fruit season is in full swing.

As we were walking around I saw this sign that just made me laugh. I actually hate the taste of coffee but I liked the concept of this guys marketing idea. You have to give him some points for originality.

DOGS! DOGS! Every there were dogs. It's one of the reasons I actually wanted to go. I wanted Sophie to have some interaction time with other dogs and get use to the crowds. She has grown use to the car rides but not use to other dogs or crowds. So while Cheri was picking out a bracelet Christina, Jessica, Sophie and I hung out with some new friends....

The girls bought umbrellas. They were actually rather nice and rather inexpensive. They were only $7.00 each. Christina started getting a blister walking back to the car so I did what Dads do and helped her out. Cheri thought it was rather cute and had to take a picture of us.

And of course there were musicians at the Farmer's Market....this guy was playing this long flute link thing. He was pretty good.

Gettysburg

2008-07-09T08:53:00.004-04:00

I'm current in PA on business for the week. Flew in Sunday so we could do setup on Monday. We are training some students on how to use our product in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. As a result I took a little time to run down to Gettysburg. I remember coming here once as a child and thought it was BORING. As an adult I have a much different view then I did as a child. There is a spirit to the place. It's hard for be to describe. Sad. Sorrowful. Cheerless. I can't really find the word to describe it. I would not say it was depressing....it was more sorrowful then anything else. It was a strange feeling. It's an interesting place. We showed up just as the sun was going down. I had the GPS with me so I looked up to see if there were any geocaches in the area. First I found this one - - http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=d0384723-04b4-43b2-863b-9d5ec4fd134b which was rather cool. And then we found this one - http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=07538fda-4a5a-4231-bac8-6d462cd7029e which was very cool as well.

This picture was taken from the top of the 2nd cache. It was dark - - and getting really dark...but it fun. Apparently there once were five towers that were placed and over 650 up. A bunch of steps - and you have a great view of the battlefield.

Fireflies - - Ah - I miss them. As we were driving through the battlefield I started seeing fireflies. I really miss them. It made me think of Cheri and I tried to take some video of them - - but I don't think it came out. We'll see

The Fourth of July Boom Boom Boom Boom

2008-07-05T01:59:00.002-04:00

So it's the 4th of July......2008. And the Bowen's came down to spend the day with us. And like kids will be they came up with their own little song. A song that for some reason had to be repeated over and over and over again. It's pretty easy to learn - - here - take a watch and listen.

Video Courtesy of Adria

We have a good time. Just hung out, ate food, flew kites and of course fired off some fireworks at night.

Mondays

2008-07-01T01:30:00.002-04:00

The only thing I really, truely enjoy about Monday is that my day starts with a conference call at 7:00. I have learned that if I take this from the car on my way into work I kill two birds with one stone. First, my day starts a bit early. Second, I can do something somewhat productive between home and which ever office I go to.

"Hot metal and oil - The scented country air - Sunlight on chrome - The blur of the landscape!"

2008-06-16T23:08:00.014-04:00

I needed a break today. A good break. I woke up early and headed out. Cheri was going to a writer's conference so she couldn't come. My goal was two fold. One, I wanted to see some Indian rock art in a certain location of Utah. I also wanted to geocache in a few counties that I haven't been to before. I was gone before 7:00, a little later then I hoped but still at a descent hour. At 7:30 or so I passed the new wind farm in the mouth of Spanish Fork Canyon. These things are huge. Actually amazingly huge. They weren't moving that fast this morning. I would like to see them when the wind is really blowing.

8:00 AM found me close to the next county line and I started caching. Finding a couple in Utah County and then a couple in Sanpete County.

9:00 AM and a few more caches under my belt, a few travel bugs of my own dropped off in distance lands and I found myself in Fairview. Stopped to get something to drink, make a few phone calls. Work never seems to end even when you take the day off. I should get my own personal phone so I don't have to use the company one when I'm suppose to be off for the day. After about 30 minutes going around town, shooting a few pictures, doing a few caches, I headed up Highway 31 towards Hunington.

The road up the canyon was gorgeous and the road topped out near the summit just over 9500 feet. It was a little cold and there was still some snow in the shadows. I stopped and took a quick panoramic shot of the area below. Of course, like the rest of these photos, click on it for my flickr page and a bigger image.
It somewhat amazed me how quickly you end up going from a gorgeous lush canyon in the dry desert on the west side. It's hard to explain. There is a also a beauty in desert that is hard to describe, hard to explain. I'm sure it helps to be enjoying it from the comfort of a car instead of the back of a horse or on foot.....but there is still a beauty that can't be beat. After hitting Huntington I headed south. Stopped in Castle Dale for some gas and water and made a few quick calls.

A little farther down the road I found the turn off for Moore and headed out. The road eventually turned to dirt but was so hard and free of dust it was like driving on pavement. A short while longer I came across the first piece of rock art for the day. This piece was a large snake on one rock and a few other pieces on another rock. As an extra bonus there is also a geocache at this same spot. The one thing I missed was a few dinosaur prints in the rocks.

From here I headed east and then took another minor dirt road north towards Short canyon. Eventually I found the turn off towards Short canyon. It was certainly a 4wd drive road. Nothing at first that required 4wd but it was certainly nice to have a high clearance vehicle. After get a fair distance up the canyon I almost got stuck in some deep sand. Not the smartest move since I was alone....so I backed up and parked it. I walked a little farther up the canyon looking for rock art and two caches in the area. Nats were flying every where and would rush me the moment I stopped.....which caused me to end the walk a little sooner and head back towards the main road.

Back past the snake art I found the road to the Rochester Creek Art Panel. My goal was to see if my Dad could make the hike to the panel. I really would like to bring him down this way and let him enjoy it. Unfortunately the hike, while only .5 of a mile from the parking area, is rather rocky with a descent change in elevation. While ruling this little hike out for my Dad, I still found the visit fun and enjoyable. A Monday afternoon found the spot deserted and I had it to myself. I spent a good time looking around, shooting pictures and enjoying the art. There is a side of me that wonders if some of this art was simply Indian graffiti. The panel itself is huge. It's been somewhat damaged over the years but is still very impressive in it's own right.

After the hike back to the car I got in and took off. A quick drive down to I70, a cache or a two and a stop at the rest stop to wash off the dust and grime from the drive up short canyon and the hike to and from the panel. It was getting late, it was already 4 or so in the afternoon and I sort of wanted to get back to the Provo/Orem area and have dinner with the wife.

Finally around 6:00 ish or so I pulled into Outback for a quick dinner with the wife. We haven't been to Outback for a long time and it was a nice change. She had been at her Writer's Conference the entire day and had a good time. Hopefully something will come out of it for her.

For more pictures - - Just the Rock Art or all the posted pictures of June 16th

My GPS batteries died just outside of Payson - - but up to that point I had driven 335 miles for the day. Average speed was 23 - but that includes some hiking and walking around. Max speed was 87 at one point. Not bad for an old jeep.

Chocolate is good for you.

2005-11-11T16:43:00.000-05:00

I stopped into a natural food store on the way to work. They had zucchini chocolate chip muffins. This seems like a huge dichotomy to me, but I'm okay with it. I can get my chocolate fix and yet vegatables in the same meal. All in all that has to be pretty healthy for you. Right?

Everything Must Have a Beginning

2005-11-10T17:57:00.000-05:00

Everything must have some sort of beginning and this is the beginning to this blog. Just a place for family and friends to keep track of the happenings in the schmidt house.