Sunday, August 24, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
No Child left Behind
I took the opportunity this week to go visit my second oldest Son, where he works at Snow's Garden Center. He stays pretty busy and lives way outside of town, so visits don't happen near enough for me, so when I have a little chunk of time during the day, I try to visit each of my children, as I can.
As Mark and I had time to talk a little, we talked about my BLOG and the things I write about, and he wanted to know why there are never any pictures of him. Now I know there is no partiality in my heart, but I guess with Jessie and Holly being pregnant and the Grandchildren getting spot lights, well I can see where he would feel a little left out. So I have resolved that the next few blog posts will be "Spotlight Posts" of each of my children...and guess who is first....Mark Daniel Brown.
Let me begin by telling you a little about Mark, that I know. With his shaved head, and beady eyes he sometimes comes across as a "Bad Dude". He is anything but a bad dude. He has a tender heart and has great love for children, and animals. He may growl about helping with things, but will always be there when he know you need him, He is a very hard worker...though this week when I visited him he was burning the PC up checking out "You Tube" and reading emails and Blogs. But that is the exception. He is very dependable, kind, and one of the things that I admire about him the most is his sharp and quick "wit". He is not the neatest person, but I think Danielle is helping to re-train him in that area. He is an excellent host and always makes you feel welcome when in his presence whether it is at his home or on the street. He loves his wife and he loves his family. He also has a passion that we both share and that is "FISHING". I know that for both of us there are never enough fishing days in a year. Mark is very good at the sport and will always outfish me, except on those occasions when we both come home skunked, but I am OK with that because my greatest joy dealing with my children is to see them enjoy life and feel good about themselves.
I love Mark Daniel Brown with all my heart, find great joy in being in his company, and admire the young man that is becoming and has become. So Mark this is your Spotlight. There is a lot more that I could write but I want to be careful to not embarrass or cross sensitive lines as I do this. You are always on mine and Kim's minds, we love you, and want you to know we are very proud of you, Son.
Now it is picture time, here Mark is heading up the James River. He always like to drive the boat so he can maneuver himself into the "Good Spots"..??? HUM..maybe that is why he always out fishes me, but at least I get to take the pictures!
Here is Mark and Danielle on their wedding day with all of Mark's family from the "Brown" side.
This is a "Happy Man", fishing rod in hand, a day of fishing to look forward to, and not a cloud in the sky
Makes him happy to get presents too, Christmas 2006. Not sure what he got, but looks like a lot more behind him!!!!
And last but not least, his best present and greatest passion ...even over fishing, Mark with Danielle just after the wedding ceremony....she said you done good Mark, and I second that!
So Mark, I hope you feel a little more loved and appreciated, and know that you are never far from us, nor will you ever be. May you catch many fish, find happiness in where you are while you work on what you want, and always remember your greatest earthly treasure is your eternal companion on your right hand..........love Dad and Kim
As Mark and I had time to talk a little, we talked about my BLOG and the things I write about, and he wanted to know why there are never any pictures of him. Now I know there is no partiality in my heart, but I guess with Jessie and Holly being pregnant and the Grandchildren getting spot lights, well I can see where he would feel a little left out. So I have resolved that the next few blog posts will be "Spotlight Posts" of each of my children...and guess who is first....Mark Daniel Brown.
Let me begin by telling you a little about Mark, that I know. With his shaved head, and beady eyes he sometimes comes across as a "Bad Dude". He is anything but a bad dude. He has a tender heart and has great love for children, and animals. He may growl about helping with things, but will always be there when he know you need him, He is a very hard worker...though this week when I visited him he was burning the PC up checking out "You Tube" and reading emails and Blogs. But that is the exception. He is very dependable, kind, and one of the things that I admire about him the most is his sharp and quick "wit". He is not the neatest person, but I think Danielle is helping to re-train him in that area. He is an excellent host and always makes you feel welcome when in his presence whether it is at his home or on the street. He loves his wife and he loves his family. He also has a passion that we both share and that is "FISHING". I know that for both of us there are never enough fishing days in a year. Mark is very good at the sport and will always outfish me, except on those occasions when we both come home skunked, but I am OK with that because my greatest joy dealing with my children is to see them enjoy life and feel good about themselves.
I love Mark Daniel Brown with all my heart, find great joy in being in his company, and admire the young man that is becoming and has become. So Mark this is your Spotlight. There is a lot more that I could write but I want to be careful to not embarrass or cross sensitive lines as I do this. You are always on mine and Kim's minds, we love you, and want you to know we are very proud of you, Son.
Now it is picture time, here Mark is heading up the James River. He always like to drive the boat so he can maneuver himself into the "Good Spots"..??? HUM..maybe that is why he always out fishes me, but at least I get to take the pictures!
Here is Mark and Danielle on their wedding day with all of Mark's family from the "Brown" side.
This is a "Happy Man", fishing rod in hand, a day of fishing to look forward to, and not a cloud in the sky
Makes him happy to get presents too, Christmas 2006. Not sure what he got, but looks like a lot more behind him!!!!
And last but not least, his best present and greatest passion ...even over fishing, Mark with Danielle just after the wedding ceremony....she said you done good Mark, and I second that!
So Mark, I hope you feel a little more loved and appreciated, and know that you are never far from us, nor will you ever be. May you catch many fish, find happiness in where you are while you work on what you want, and always remember your greatest earthly treasure is your eternal companion on your right hand..........love Dad and Kim
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Astronomical Easter Eggs found!!!
AS most of you who would even go to our blog know, one of the recent hobbies that has been re-kindled within me is the love of and search of the Night Skies" At the age of 12 my Mom, (Louise DiFiore), bought me a Meade 60mm refractor telescope. Much like the ones you find today. Pretty inexpensive pretty basic, pretty poor for real sky study, but the 1st time I saw the craters and seas of our Moon, I fell in love with the things of the night sky. Time and responsibilities caused a drifting from this love for most of my adult life. But one Christmas Kim bought me a similar scope to the one my Mom bought me, and the love of the sky was re-kindled again, with one major difference......Pres. Bush said we would get an "Economic Stimulus Check" this year. So with a re-kindled desire and the check in the mail I upgraded to a 150mm 6 inch Celestron Reflector (uses mirrors instead of lenses). Well that drastically changed my capacity to study the skies and I found and continue to find things that both fasinate and amaze me.
This past Friday Kim and I (Mainly Kim) got the idea to go down to Jessie and Tanner's on James River Farm, and do some star gazing. Jessie has been wanting to see Saturn (which has already disappeared over the horizon for the year), and I was excited about actually having such a wide field of view and some really dark skies. In the city the light pollution really disables us to see as acutely as we would like, but at the farm....WOW!!!!! I saw into "forever" and figured out that is a long ways out. We got to see Jupiter with it's four moons all lines up in a row, I found the Globular Cluster M$ in Scorpius, we saw 4 meteorite shoot across the southern sky, found the double stars Mizar and Alcor in the Constellation Ursa Major (where the Big Dipper is located), and for the 1st time in many years actually saw the Little Dipper with all its designing stars. Around the house here I am lucky to see Polaris much less the asterism. We got to see the Teapot in Saggitarius, and the infamous fish hook/Scorpius. And the list continues and I can not remember it all because I was like a little kid on an Easter Egg Hunt. I just put the eggs in my basket and after a while had so many I did not know where or what I had found. And on top of it all I got to spend the night and part of the next morning with 3 of my favorite people....Ki, Jessie, and Tanner, and got to share with them many of the things I hold in wonderment. What an awesome night.
And not to forget on top of all this, when we got to Jessie and Tanner's ...Kim and I got to listen to the heartbeat of the baby Jessie is carrying inside her right now. Not really sure which was more exciting, but certainly the heartbeat was by far the most important and fulfilling for me. Jessie had borrowed my MP3 player to make the recording, so I hope in the near future to be able to download it to the blog and share with each of you.
Below you will find pictures of many of the things that fasinate me in the night sky. As I talk to some of my astronomy friends, many see only and can not except anything other than the things which are scientifically proven, but for me when I look into the sky my testimony of the reality of a greater power is reinforced. I have very specific feelings and thoughts on this matter, and stand in amazement that others when they see the things I see in the skies and very often see much more...see only stars, planets, nebulae, galaxies, etc..... where I see the crative forces of a loving and all powerful Heavenly Father and that His creations are here for our benefit and his purpose..."to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of Man (woman)." I am absolutely convinced that there are other worlds and other creations that exist because of the omnipotence of God, and his eternal purpose of life. There is a recent picture taken by the "Hubble Telescope" that has taken a picture of the cosmos' as far as any has ever been taken. In that one miniscule area of space...that picture showed literally 1000's of galaxies much like our own. What is the possibility that at least one (and probably many) do not host others just like us, with the same wondering as they look back in our direction. I know there is so much more to life than we can even comprehend, and so much to living that we enjoy at the hands of a loving and caring Father in Heaven. And that he has much more prepared for our eternal jouney that we can not even come close to comprehending! Not trying to sound "Preachy", but stop, reflect, and even take the challenge to pray and ask your Father in Heaven if this is not a real possibility...and I know you will understand too. We are not alone, nor have we ever been, someone has always and will always watch over each of us personally.
OK, enough of that,,...let' get to the really cool pictures that will help you understand my excitement...As a disclaimer...we did not take these picture Friday night a Jessie's, but these are many of the things we found in the night sky at James River Farm on August 8, 2008.
This 1st Pic is actually the closest galaxy to our own, and belongs to a group of galaxies near to us. It is M31...The Andromeda Galaxy, and on a dark night can be seen with the naked eye...that is how close it is to us
This is M4 found in Scorpius. It is one of the new Messier objects I found at Jessies. I have been looking for it for weeks, but only in a big sky could I find it becuase it lays low on the southern horizon. My trees on the back porch allow me to see "NO horizon!!!!
This next Pic in M41 is a open Cluster with a diameter of approximately of 25 light years (that is the distance light travels in 25 years at the rate of approx. 196,000 miles a second), is this giving you any idea of the space you live in????
This is NGC 5139 the brightest globular cluster in
OUR" sky. there are thousands of stars in this one cluster that occupies a little speck of space.
Below is "the Whirlpool Galaxy"...37 million light years away from us!!!!!!
Well I hope you found this both interesting, educational, but most of all thought provoking. If you ever want to have a star party,,just give me a call...I'd love to be there.....kjb
This past Friday Kim and I (Mainly Kim) got the idea to go down to Jessie and Tanner's on James River Farm, and do some star gazing. Jessie has been wanting to see Saturn (which has already disappeared over the horizon for the year), and I was excited about actually having such a wide field of view and some really dark skies. In the city the light pollution really disables us to see as acutely as we would like, but at the farm....WOW!!!!! I saw into "forever" and figured out that is a long ways out. We got to see Jupiter with it's four moons all lines up in a row, I found the Globular Cluster M$ in Scorpius, we saw 4 meteorite shoot across the southern sky, found the double stars Mizar and Alcor in the Constellation Ursa Major (where the Big Dipper is located), and for the 1st time in many years actually saw the Little Dipper with all its designing stars. Around the house here I am lucky to see Polaris much less the asterism. We got to see the Teapot in Saggitarius, and the infamous fish hook/Scorpius. And the list continues and I can not remember it all because I was like a little kid on an Easter Egg Hunt. I just put the eggs in my basket and after a while had so many I did not know where or what I had found. And on top of it all I got to spend the night and part of the next morning with 3 of my favorite people....Ki, Jessie, and Tanner, and got to share with them many of the things I hold in wonderment. What an awesome night.
And not to forget on top of all this, when we got to Jessie and Tanner's ...Kim and I got to listen to the heartbeat of the baby Jessie is carrying inside her right now. Not really sure which was more exciting, but certainly the heartbeat was by far the most important and fulfilling for me. Jessie had borrowed my MP3 player to make the recording, so I hope in the near future to be able to download it to the blog and share with each of you.
Below you will find pictures of many of the things that fasinate me in the night sky. As I talk to some of my astronomy friends, many see only and can not except anything other than the things which are scientifically proven, but for me when I look into the sky my testimony of the reality of a greater power is reinforced. I have very specific feelings and thoughts on this matter, and stand in amazement that others when they see the things I see in the skies and very often see much more...see only stars, planets, nebulae, galaxies, etc..... where I see the crative forces of a loving and all powerful Heavenly Father and that His creations are here for our benefit and his purpose..."to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of Man (woman)." I am absolutely convinced that there are other worlds and other creations that exist because of the omnipotence of God, and his eternal purpose of life. There is a recent picture taken by the "Hubble Telescope" that has taken a picture of the cosmos' as far as any has ever been taken. In that one miniscule area of space...that picture showed literally 1000's of galaxies much like our own. What is the possibility that at least one (and probably many) do not host others just like us, with the same wondering as they look back in our direction. I know there is so much more to life than we can even comprehend, and so much to living that we enjoy at the hands of a loving and caring Father in Heaven. And that he has much more prepared for our eternal jouney that we can not even come close to comprehending! Not trying to sound "Preachy", but stop, reflect, and even take the challenge to pray and ask your Father in Heaven if this is not a real possibility...and I know you will understand too. We are not alone, nor have we ever been, someone has always and will always watch over each of us personally.
OK, enough of that,,...let' get to the really cool pictures that will help you understand my excitement...As a disclaimer...we did not take these picture Friday night a Jessie's, but these are many of the things we found in the night sky at James River Farm on August 8, 2008.
This 1st Pic is actually the closest galaxy to our own, and belongs to a group of galaxies near to us. It is M31...The Andromeda Galaxy, and on a dark night can be seen with the naked eye...that is how close it is to us
This is M4 found in Scorpius. It is one of the new Messier objects I found at Jessies. I have been looking for it for weeks, but only in a big sky could I find it becuase it lays low on the southern horizon. My trees on the back porch allow me to see "NO horizon!!!!
This next Pic in M41 is a open Cluster with a diameter of approximately of 25 light years (that is the distance light travels in 25 years at the rate of approx. 196,000 miles a second), is this giving you any idea of the space you live in????
This is NGC 5139 the brightest globular cluster inOUR" sky. there are thousands of stars in this one cluster that occupies a little speck of space.
Below is "the Whirlpool Galaxy"...37 million light years away from us!!!!!!
Well I hope you found this both interesting, educational, but most of all thought provoking. If you ever want to have a star party,,just give me a call...I'd love to be there.....kjb
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
The Blessings of Grandchildren
In each of our lives we rarely consider or think about grand children...until the day that we realize...wow our children have grown up and some of them have gotten pregnant!!! Then they start. Our first thoughts may be...."I'm too young to have grandchildren" or perhaps it may be "it's about time". But no matter what our thoughts the reality that our family is growing becomes a warm and touching part of our lives. Maybe it is because it is "Pay Back Time" for all the challenges thrust upon us by those who are new parents. But more than likely it is because we can see an extension of ourselves in our grandchildren from a different perspective than we did with our own children. I don't know about you but when raising 5 children I didn't have much time for perspective other than getting them fed, clothed, bathed (occasionally), and generally looking out for their physical and spiritual welfare. But with Grandchildren you can see into the future, your perspective on family and life are enhanced by the opportunity to truly contemplate the greatness of family and what it really means not only now...but forever. So with that I have dedicated this blog to our grandchildren , some you will see in these pictures...and some still riding the "Womb Wagon" ie: Holly and Jessie!!! We love them all and hope one day they will truly understand and feel the depth of that love!!! Here we have all 5 current Grandchildren : top center Iris...then from left front Ella, Phoebe, Emma, and Luke, all actually standing still in the midst of an Easter Egg hunt at 1345 Dudley Mountain Rd. And that is amazing considering the amount of sugary junk they had consumed by this time.
Emma, Phoebe, and Ella enjoying the bunkbeds, and they actually all survived with not broken bones or broken bed slats, now that is amazing!!!
Grandma Kim with Ella and Phoebe having hotdogs and ice cream, yea, we really feed our grandkids nothing but the best in grandparent food!!!!!!!
Luke trying to grow up quick, but if that is the end result, maybe we better encourage him to take the slow, normal growth patterns....he was having fun though!!!!!
And the final picture taken just this past Saturday at The Sock Hop we had in the Cultural Hall at Church. Should have video'd this one. In real action they had the Lucy-Linus (of Charlie Brown Fame) down to exactness. If you study the PIC you will be able to see it!
Anyway, this little pictorial can not even touch on the experiences, life, or love that our grandchildren bring to us. I look forward to next year when our numbers will be up to seven and we can post some puggy, bald head shots of those on the way, with some new shots of the old timers here.
Blog Thought of the Day...."The love you give away, is the only love you truly keep" kjb
Emma, Phoebe, and Ella enjoying the bunkbeds, and they actually all survived with not broken bones or broken bed slats, now that is amazing!!!
Grandma Kim with Ella and Phoebe having hotdogs and ice cream, yea, we really feed our grandkids nothing but the best in grandparent food!!!!!!!
Luke trying to grow up quick, but if that is the end result, maybe we better encourage him to take the slow, normal growth patterns....he was having fun though!!!!!
And the final picture taken just this past Saturday at The Sock Hop we had in the Cultural Hall at Church. Should have video'd this one. In real action they had the Lucy-Linus (of Charlie Brown Fame) down to exactness. If you study the PIC you will be able to see it!
Anyway, this little pictorial can not even touch on the experiences, life, or love that our grandchildren bring to us. I look forward to next year when our numbers will be up to seven and we can post some puggy, bald head shots of those on the way, with some new shots of the old timers here.Blog Thought of the Day...."The love you give away, is the only love you truly keep" kjb
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Mary Mary Quite Contrary.........
Well this will be a big surprise to get 2 posts in one day...especially to the Gray Household....but since I was already here thought I would give an update on our "Square Foot Gardening Project". As you can see when compared to the last pictures, which were the day we satrted the garden, it has changed quite a bit. That "Mary Mary" girl would be pretty excited I think. Overall the project has done well. We have learned some things. 1. The mix of compost, vermiculite and peat moss did work pretty well, (though next year I will up the antie a little on the compost)...(making my own right now)! 2. I will buy fresh seeds and starter plants that I personally pick out (or Kim of course), 3. I will thin the plants early enough to actually be able to thin them without damaging the healthier ones, and 4. I will plant the things I know we will eat.
But considering we did not use any actual soil for this garden, it does not look too shabby. The production has not been as good as I would want, but that is where I think more (QUALITY) compost will make the difference. But so far we have gotten tomatoes, zuchinni, yellow squash, and lots of cucumbers. The jury is still out on the corn, potatoes and sweet potatoes, but we will see. The beans were a flop...I think it was the seed???? Whatever the end result is, it has been a great experience for both Kim and I. It's exciting to go to the garden each day and see how much and how fast things grow, and once in a while we get to actually eat something from the garden...Kim more than I because I am so picky!!!!!! Kim is excited, I'm not sure she has ever actually had a veggie garden???? Our pots on the back deck are doing very well. At last count I had 57 peppers growing and we have yellow, pruple, orange, red and yellow ones, so even if we don't eat them all (we really will though) it is pretty just to go look at them. The cucumber bush is producing a cuke about every 2 days and the tomato plant is pretty heavy with tomatoes. So if anyone wants to try a garden that is easy to care for, and fun to grow just give us a call or I will try and put the link on this blog. Happy gardening!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BE grateful for the doors of opportunity, and for friends who oil the hinges..............................kjb
More Baby News
The last posting I had to grab some Pics from the past to make things a little interesting since I did not have current ones of the expecting Mom's, but that has all changed now and here are a few. Once Jessie had given us the news we really want ed to go see her and give a very personal congratulations. So we arranged with Holly and Micah to come in early since we would be going to the fireworks at McIntire Park later and got them to go with us down to Jessie and Tanner's. Jessie had her Mom, Brian, Mark and Danielle, Jake and Tiff, Josh Ellie and the kids, and the "Big Yellow Bus" down for their annual 4th of July campout on the James River. So we loaded up in the truck , which I'm glad I took and headed down to James River Farm. One of the really exciting things for Kim and I , is the fact of having two daughters pregnant at
the same time. So one of the 1st picture we took were of Jessie and Holly together, each pointing to the others, not so big belly yet! But that will come and we know it will. Just got pic from Holly showing her tummy starting to poke out a little, and she got to hear the heartbeat with Micah yesterday. See link to Holly and Micahs blog for much more detail and pics.
Here I get to give Jessie an official welcome to Motherhood, I love you, and so happy for you HUG! Tummy still not grown much from above but thought I would point at it anyway!
Yes!!!!! Ivana was really excited too. Though I'm not sure if she was more excited about Jessie or being able to be so close to "The Big Yellow Bus" But whatever it is, there is a big beautiful smile there for sure.
And of course, enough can not be said for the excitement of Grandmothers. They understand not only the joy but the hope that a child brings into our lives. Especially when she/we know how much both these girls want a baby, and to add that deeper meaning to "FAMILY", that can and should bond each other together. Yeh, that's not the James River behind Kim, but it is water, there is a big happy smile, and seemed like one I hope she won't be to upset I put out for the world to see.
So until we wrtie again, I bid you all farewell, and may your life be as beautiful as a summer day with just enough clouds to help make you appreciate the sunshine..............keith
the same time. So one of the 1st picture we took were of Jessie and Holly together, each pointing to the others, not so big belly yet! But that will come and we know it will. Just got pic from Holly showing her tummy starting to poke out a little, and she got to hear the heartbeat with Micah yesterday. See link to Holly and Micahs blog for much more detail and pics.
Here I get to give Jessie an official welcome to Motherhood, I love you, and so happy for you HUG! Tummy still not grown much from above but thought I would point at it anyway!
Yes!!!!! Ivana was really excited too. Though I'm not sure if she was more excited about Jessie or being able to be so close to "The Big Yellow Bus" But whatever it is, there is a big beautiful smile there for sure.
And of course, enough can not be said for the excitement of Grandmothers. They understand not only the joy but the hope that a child brings into our lives. Especially when she/we know how much both these girls want a baby, and to add that deeper meaning to "FAMILY", that can and should bond each other together. Yeh, that's not the James River behind Kim, but it is water, there is a big happy smile, and seemed like one I hope she won't be to upset I put out for the world to see.
So until we wrtie again, I bid you all farewell, and may your life be as beautiful as a summer day with just enough clouds to help make you appreciate the sunshine..............keith
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)