Prague

This year's Chairman's Cabinet Trip was to Prague in the Czech Republic. We stayed at the Four Seasons Hotel very close to the Old Town Square. Prague is an ancient city. It was spared bombing runs during World War Two so the original buildings dating to the 13th century are still around. It was a very quick trip. We only had one full day there with some time on the afternoon of our arrival and a little time in the morning of our departure.



While we were there we visited the Old Town Square with it 500 year old astrological clock in the City Hall building. In the town square is a monument to Jan Hus. He was really to first person to protest the control of the Catholic Church in Europe. He was around 100 years before Martin Luther and burned at the stake.




We also visited the Jewish quarter where we toured one of the biggest Sinagog mueseums in Europe. We learned a lot about Jewish religious practices and saw the cemetary where as many as 100,000 are buried. They ran out of room so they started burying the bodies on top of each other. Then they stacked up the tomb stones as best they could.

We visited the Praque Castle. The St. Vitus Cathedral is in the middle of the Castle. The castle area is over 1000 years old. Thursday evening we had dinner at the Chateau Trojoa, a beutiful hunting lodge hundreds of years old. They had a 20 piece orchestra playing classical music. It was a very nice evening. The next day we all boarded a chartered plan for our company and flew to Vienna.

This old house

Since I am trying to use my blog as a form of journal / family history and since some day Jesse is going to show me how to publish the blog in book form and since with all of the good work that jared and Sara have put into the yard this summer I thought I'd tell the story of our house. We have very few pictures of the places we have lived. Lots of pictures of the people inside but not too many of the actual places. So with this post, I'll share the story and some pictures.

We bought the land in August of 1993 for $70,000. We hired Steve Swartz to build the house. I had a collection of floor plans from various catelogs I had purchased. I couldn't find one house that I felt fit the bill but I had a composit from three different plans that I liked. We interviewed three different contractors. They mostly told us that if we would bring them completed blueprints they would build the house. We went back to Corona with the land purchased but little else decided on. After a month one of the contractors, Steve Swartz called us and said he had something he had to show us. He flew down to Corona and brought a set of working drawings that he had drawn up himself. The drawing was great and incorporated everything we were looking for in the house. We were a little nervous about Steve. He seemed a little like a Tahoe ski bum turned contractor. He proved to be an excellent contractor to work with and did everything he promised to do. The Construction cost of the house was $258,000.

Our land is 2 acres and sits on what used to be called Chamber's Field. It was an alph alfa farm. The land is flat. Because we are on the same plain as the Carson River the land is full of fist sized river rocks. This past year we brought in some gravel and used the river rocks we've pulled out of the yard to give the appearence of a small dry river bed running in front of the house. Our original plan was to sell our home in Corona and use the equity in that home to build our NV home. The real estate market collasped in 1994 so we couldn't sell the Corona house. We rented the Corona house out and my dad helped us with a construction loan. Once completed we got permament financing and paid my dad back. We had to economize somewhat. No more basement, steel front door insted of Oak, formica insted of tile counter tops, linoleum floors insted of tile or granite. We put hardwoods down in the entry way and under the piano. The rest of the living room we just edged in hardwood and put carpet in the middle. So it looks like we have hardwood floors in the living room. We cut the roof hight to save money. We did not scrimp on structural items. 2x6 construction throughout, nine foot ceilings downstairs, tongue and groove I beams for the floor joices. Steve built it like a fort. We starte construction on December 1, 1993 and moved in on July 1, 1994. We had no yard or landscaping when we moved in. No fences or window coverings. No airconditioning and of course summer 1994 was a very hot one. Within a year we had some grass hydroseeded and I started planting trees. I went to the Nevada State nursury where land owners of one acre or more can buy trees for one dollar each. They were small ( six inches or so) but I could buy a lot of them. I bought some bare root fruit trees from a catelog and planted them the following fall. I cut out some lilac suckers from our friends the Russells. Today there are 64 mature trees on the property. Our nieghbors to the east and south have about 40 Austrian pines that border our fence line. So all in all there are over 100 trees on or around the property.

We finally sold our home in Corona and used the money to build a car port and my basement. No we didn't dig under the house to build the basement. We just added a room on the back of the house. Marla calls it the greem room, I still call it the basement. It seems to confuse people but it has been a great room for the teenagers to have parties. The car port, and basement added $99,000 to the cost of the house. We also spent around $21,000 for an asphalt driveway to replace the dirt one and fencing , the lawn and sprinklers.

In 2002 we built the barn. Why build a $32,000 barn for a couple of $900 horses? Good question. I always wanted to have horses and a barn. We also closed in the car port with an ingenious system of sliding barn doors that John Pagen put in for us. It seems that every fall the car port would fill up with tumble weeds. It is now like having two barns. Marla has done a beutiful job decorating and by now has repainted every room except our upstairs bed room .

We've added air conditioning and a hot tub off the basement. Two years ago we split the back field and put in a sprinkler system and pasture grass on one side and five inches of sand on the other side. So far we've invested about 400,000 in the house. Two years ago it would have appraised at around $1.25 million. We are in another real estate bust now so we probably couldn't sell it at any price. Last April 2007 we paid the mortgage off sixteen years early. So we own it now.

Why talk about a house? It has been a lesson and experience in vision, goals, patience, long term planning. Much of our lives and our children's growing up happened here. Hopefully it will be a place that children and especially grand children will love to come for a visit. It has taken 15 years but it is mostly done now. Needs a little bit of touch up painting, and I've thought of redoing the kitchen counter tops with granite. We've already redone the two upstairs bathrooms. I think I'll stay here and enjoy it for a while, although I some times get an urge to start a new project.

Cherish Virtue

Today was a lesson on Priesthood power. I taught the gospel doctrine class today and the lesson was on Alma 13-16. Alma and Amuelek were teaching the people in Ammonihah. Some of the people accepted the gospel but most did not. In fact those who did not killed the wives and children of those who did. As a torture to Alma and Amuelek, they were made to watch the carnage. Amuelek begged Alma to use his Priesthood power to call down the powers of heaven to stop it. Alma explained that it didn't work that way. Later in prison after days of torture and abuse they excercised their Priesthood power and pulled the prison walls down and killed the chief judge and lawyers.

Later today in Stake Priesthood Meeting President Brewer spoke about Priesthood Power and he related it to the story of Jesus when the woman touched his coat and he asked who touched him, and felt the virtue went out of him. President Brewer then went on to explain how the power of the Priesthood in expressed in the virtuous acts of service. President Ogles told me afterwards that the story of Jesus and the Women in the Book of Luke the word Virtue is spanish is translated power ( Poder). The closing song was "Dearest Children God is Near You" The second verse was perfect summary of President Brewer's talk. Afterwards I complimented President Brewer on his talk and the perfect selection of the closing song. He said it was just one of those wonderful gospel coincidences.

Dearest children, holy angels
Watch your actions night and day,
And they keep a faithful record
Of the good and bad you say.
Cherish virtue! Cherish Virtue!
God will bless the pure in heart.

Cousin Matt

My cousin Matt Whitaker and his family ( wife Niecia, son Kie, and daughters Sophie and Karisa) made a stop over on their way to Northern California for a family reunion. Matt is the youngest son of my Dad's youngest brother. He studied cinematography at BYU and for several years he worked for the LDS Church's film making studios. He was involved in many of the seminary videos and some of the feature films used in the Joseph Smith Memorial Auditorium. He was the screen writer for the film Saints and Soldiers. He is now working on movie called Truth and Treason. It is the story of Hans Huber, a teenager who led a resistance movement in Nazi Germany. He has also done some great documentaries, one one the true story of Hans Huber, another on Micro Credit Financing in third world countries. I have invested some of the WFIC in his current film project. It is a high risk investment as investments go, but I have great confidence in Matt's abilities and taste in film making. It will depend on his group's ability to raise the necessary funds to complete the project. Watch for it in the theaters in a year or two.

Reno Rodeo

Every summer the Reno Rodeo comes to town and it adds around $100 million to the local economy. This year the contributed around $100 to the mix. We went to the Rodeo for family night on Monday. Thea took her friend Brittany and with five gallons of $4.00 gas, barbecued pork sandwiches, lemonade, fries, funnel cakes, and grandstand tickets later we are Reno Rodeo fans. These are professional rodeo athletes and they put on a great show. The pace was fast with a little bit of all the events. Bareback bronco riding, saddle bronco riding, steer wrestling, team roping, barrel racing, and the big event, bull riding. They had mutton busting, ( 5 -6 year olds riding black faced sheep), clowns, stagecoaches, and draft horse teams pulling fright wagons. The show lasted about 2 1/2 hours. We could have spent longer looking at the exhibits, vendors and carnival rides. I have wanted to go to the Reno Rodeo for 15 years, ever since we moved here; but it seems that I was either at a Waddell and Reed trip or a scout outing. I hope we can go next year.

Thea's Kayak Trip

Today Thea and I went on a Kayak trip to Caples Lake. Caples is in between Carson Pass and Kirkwood Ski Resort. It was a beautiful day, with big puffy cumulus clouds. It was a little bit windy. There was still snow in the mountains. We went to the river inlet on the other side of the lake and had a picnic lunch of ham, cheese, triskets, jerky and dried fruit. We had a good day together.

New Musketeers

Sara's friend Stan Gudmundson came out from Colorado for a visit. The Gudmundsons lived in Gardnerville for a number of years prior to their move to Colorado. I promised him and Sara a flight in the Musketeer. Three and half years ago my friend Don Dixon and I started to take flying lessons. After we got our licenses we bought into a partnership with Adam Wiese to own a 1967 Beechcraft Musketeer. We've been flying it around for the last two years.

It was a beautiful morning for a flight. We flew up over Kingsbury Grade and then over Lake Tahoe and the Lake Tahoe airport. then it was over Luther pass and through Hope Valley bake into the Carson Valley and back home to the Minden Airport. The weather was calm the Musketeer was in fine form and I still remembered how to fly.