Temple Hill - week 5

Temple Hill - week 5 - sorry no pictures

posted Friday, 24 September 2004

We made a quick trip to Temple Hill this afternoon in the middle of a very busy day mostly because it is Friday and on Friday we go to Temple Hill. Nothing appears to have changed, which was what we expected.

The construction superintendent, Graig Stones, said "his dirt guy" should be starting Oct 4.

Soon there will be another office trailer up there, for the church representatives.

This time I took Anna. Graig was happy to see her. His dogs, Hercules and Samson, were less thrilled, and made sure that she understood that she was on their territory. After a bit they settled down and were ok with it. Graig invited her to come back every week.

I finally remembered to ask him about Thanksgiving. He will be driving to St George Utah for a mini family reunion. He will see a brother and nieces he hasn't seen for years.

Temple Hill - week 4

Temple Hill - week 4 - sorry no pictures, but we learned few things

posted Friday, 17 September 2004

Two reasons for the lack of pictures. 1) the hopefully temporary one: my Photobucket album is "temporarily" off-line. They are working on it. 2 ) the permanent one: I didn't take any pictures today. There are no visible changes and are not likely to be any for a while. But we always like to learn something new.

1. We saw a tree trimming truck up in the picnic area and asked about the future of the trees. They are supposed to stay and were merely getting groomed.
2. The construction superintendent, Graig I forgot his last name, does not know anything about the fate of the climbing toys scattered throughout the area. He knows that the rings, the basketball courts, and tennis courts are going to make way for the Distribution Center.
3. The hold up with the architectural plans has to do with Salt Lake deciding that it wants the temple a foot higher. That means all the plans have to be revised. Salt Lake makes notes about what it wants. The architect cleans it up and makes it architecturally sound. Salt Lake makes notes. etc. Until they are both satisfied with the plans. When that finally happens the plans go to the Sacramento County Supervisors (or something like that) where they may languish for a month.
4. the contracting firm is one of several that issued bids on the temple, some LDS owned, some not. This company is owned by an LDS fellow. Our supervisor feels very deeply about building the temple. He has done the San Diego Temple as well as others. Although it is just a building and not sacred until it is dedicated, he is keenly aware of its purpose and wants everything to be as perfect as possible.
5. Graig is from Phoenix, but cannot tell me why anyone would want to live there
6. He likes people to visit and to help socialize his dogs, because at home in Phoenix, they always stay inside and don't meet many people.
7. Once the construction fence goes up, only authorized personnel will be allowed inside. No ward or youth service projects or the like. Mostly because of insurance. Partly because they would mostly be in the way sight-seeing. He admits to being a little possessive (protective, controlling, you get it) of the construction site.
8. Greg does not consider himself highly literate, does not read tech manuals, and is soon receiving a computer for the construction office. Joseph might tutor him in its use. ; )
9. He says Not all black labs look alike and I will be able to spot my dog even in a field of black labs.

comments (1)

1. Barbara left...

Tuesday, 22 March 2005 8:42 pm

Sariah asks:
Did you ask Greg if he wanted to join you for Thanksgiving? He sure seems nice.

When the temple is done being built, you will get the opportunity to work. They will ask the wards in that area to help clean the building, unwrap furniture, garden, assist in the open house, etc. Then after it's dedicated some of the wards will be given assignments to help in the cafeteria and laundry on a regular basis. It will be a neat experience.

I answer:
I cannot believe I forgot! I will have to write myself a note or something!

Thanks for reminding me.

Erin adds:
It's so cool that you guys go and visit! That's a great idea. Maybe I'll convince my Dad to do it someday (ha, ha.)
Greg does sound like a cool guy! And I really do not understand why anyone in their right minds would want to live in Pheonix. Other than in the winter, maybe...
How's Anna? Maybe I'll come to seminary one of these days, or something. I really want to see her! She sounds very nice. Maybe as soon as she gets over her kennel cough she can come play with our dogs.
Have a great weeekend!

Now for the next 15 years.....

posted Saturday, 11 September 2004

Now for the next 15 years.. I am going to have to listen to Debi brag that she found Anna.

Ben, Debi and I met at the shelter when Debi got off work, coming in at the same time as a gal from Labrador Rescue who was going to take her to a foster home. I felt a little guilty adopting a dog who had a rescue organization ready to help her when there are so many dogs who don't, but both the rescue lady and the shelter volunteer saw that look on my face and hastily assured me that they were glad we were taking her.

Ruth was unable to bring Esther to the shelter to meet Anna yesterday, but she felt comfortable with what little we already knew of her and with us deciding when we met her. Ruth and Esther came by briefly yesterday evening before going over to the church for David's party. It didn't go as well as we would have liked. Esther was walking around the coffee table (she still likes to hold on to things) and showed Anna the remote control. Anna was nervous about that and gave a small growl I clamped my hands around Anna's mouth and spoke to her. Ruth took the remote control. Esther then followed the remote control, preferring it to the dog. That happened twice. Then Anna started hiding from Esther behind my chair. Better than growling, but not really good. We are putting it down to first day jitters. We all think we can work this through, but, of course, if there is any indication that Anna cannot learn to accept Esther, she will have to go.

Other than that, she is great. A hit with everyone. Miriam less enthusiastically than the rest. The moment Miriam walked in the door, Anna slobbered on her. Miriam does not appreciate these things. Anna is a bit of drooly girl at times. She drips all over when she drinks, and when hot or excited she gets slobbery. (But I think even Miriam likes her.)

Anna is energetic, but a with a few minutes of play she calms down. She is responsive to voice control, wants to please, and learns quickly. She is interested in the cats, but does not chase them. They are watchful and not thrilled, but not panicked. Except for crawling completely on to Ben's lap, she rode well in the car. She does like to chew, but seems to like sticks alot. Glen and I have taken things from her mouth, and I pulled her head out of her food and put medicine in her mouth without her showing any signs of vice. We are really happy with her.

I left David's party a little early because I was tired and I wanted to deal with whatever destruction had been wrought while I left Anna tied in the living room. NO destruction. No doggie "gifts". Nothing chewed to pieces. Of course when we came home, she was so happy she wagged her tail and knocked a glass of lemonade someone had left on the coffee table. When she settled down she started contentedly chewing on my rocking chair! I spoke to her and we went out and brought in a stick she had been playing with outside earlier. This morning there was a bit of stuff she had coughed up with her kennel cough and grass eating. That's all.

I wanted my own dog. She has whined a bit when Ben left the room. She barked and whined when we left her to go to David's party. But last night with three other people still in the living room where I had tied her down for the night, she whined and cried when I went to bed. After laughing at me, the girls went to bed. Ben was still out there, thinking of sleeping on the love seat. She still cried. I don't know how long she would have kept it up, because after a few minutes, Ben came in and said, "Your dog misses you." and went to his own bed. A couple of minutes later, I went out and slept on the love seat. (The couch was reserved for David.) She quieted right down.

We went for a short walk this morning. Walked over to Ruth's and back, then around our block, then around the block across the street. I don't expect her to go off on her own, but I want her to start to get a feel for our area. Then I was not only tired, I was out of doggie bags. I discovered one of Anna's "special talents." She can poop while I am walking about as fast as i can. She hardly hesitates. I noticed the very slightest hesitation and thought she was sight-seeing, so I kept walking. A moment later, the smell. I look back and for the length of a property there is a "dotted line" plop, plop plop. I went back and bagged it, of course, but I very easily could have not even known about it! Am I going to need doggie diapers for walks? It is hard to get pictures of her, if she is holding still, she is usually too close to me to shoot. Pretty good birthday present, eh? (She usually looks happier than that last picture.)

---

Sariah posted a beautiful Patriot's Day tribute, to which I can only add a sincere "Amen!"

Temple Hill - week 3

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posted Friday, 10 September 2004

We couldn't see any obvious signs of progress except the construction office is now in place. We saw the construction superintendent, Greg, through the window and hollered, "Have you done any work that we can take pictures of this week?" He came out and talked to us. Nice guy. The short answer is "No." Just got the trailer up, a trench dug to it, and electricity and water to it. He said that we should start seeing something happening the week of the 21st. We had a great chat about dogs and temples and construction. A shocker was learning that the architect is still working on the plans! When they are finished, they have to go the church for approval. I thought that was all done! We learned that the tennis courts are going to be replaced with a distribution center. The caretakers' home is going to be taken out and moved, too. A little beyond the the tennis courts? I didn't think of taking pictures of it until we left. Maybe next time. Baseball diamond B is staying. Baseball diamond A is going. A foul ball could hit the temple fence! Besides the temple president's home is going to be somewhere out in (what is now) left field. A beautiful setting! What a place to live! I asked if he, the superintendent, thought the temple would be done in 18 months as the prophet hoped. After a long, suspenseful pause, he said that he hopes to be home for Christmas next year, which is actually less. That would be great!

Labor Day Weekend

posted Monday, 6 September 2004

I have been home from camping for about an hour. I put away perishables. The crowd around the bathroom has not cleared. I checked my email. There is lots of work to do, but Debi has already posted and I want to post too. The Robarts and Hinds went camping at Power Pines, a SMUD employee association campground up in the Sierra Nevadas. Except Joseph who said he has had enough camping with our trip to Florence and with Scout Camp. We missed him a lot, but there were moments when I understood his view. (See list of bad things)

Bad things about our camping trip.
1. Today I feel asleep with Esther on my lap. She fell off, bumped the table and fell face first in the dirt. Ruth was very nice about it and Esther recovered quickly.
2. Apparently the whole time we were driving to camp, my Palm pilot was being pressed to go on. By the time I looked at my Palm, it had run it's battery down and gotten complete amnesia. The good thing is that I was able to restore most of it when I got home.
3. Joseph stayed home.
4. I had thought before we left Saturday that I should hot sync my palm, but I didn't. So, my Palm has short term memory loss, probably for the last week or so. I hope I didn't enter any really important appointments.
5. The ground was HARD. I didn't sleep well. Hence bad thing # 1.
6. It was dry and dusty!
7. We didn't attend church. Glen gave us the Sunday School lesson - building on the foundation of Christ. But I missed church. Next time, we will work it out, even though the nearest town is 30 miles away
8. bugs, mostly annoying more than biting
9. lots of great food ( I ate way too much, especially cookies, etc )

We had gotten the impression from Tom that there were not many trees in the campground, but we were in a different area than they were last time and we had plenty of trees. It was actually quite pretty.

Good things about our camping trip.
1. Esther, Ruth and Tom (Debi took this picture with her camera)
2. the rest of the family (jk I love you guys)
3. a break from the normal work and worries
4. lots of great food
5. everyone helped
   
6. everyone relaxed and played
   
7. decent bathrooms and free showers
8. a nice playground for the kids
   
9. mountains
10. trees
11. birds and chipmunks
12. no bears or skunks (they are fine animals, but not in camp)
13. Joseph had a quiet peaceful weekend

One of the most common sights at camp, the girls holding Esther. Another common sight, especially the first day, David and his new friend "Hal" who will be his study partner at Cal Poly. Andrew especially enjoyed sawing logs. literally. And we were all glad! Andrew leaping from one piece of equipment to another. My turn for the shower. Maybe more pictures later. If you want the unguided tour, go to Photobucket.com. Type in my album name "barbarar" Go to "Outings" > "Labor Day Camp 2004" I hope you had a happy weekend and have a happy week. I am thankful for all the above things, and now, especially for my shower.

Temple Hill, week 2

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posted Saturday, 4 September 2004

On our second visit to Temple Hill, no visible changes could be seen. The construction superintendent and a couple of other guys were there working away at something. You barely see them if you look closely, but the superintendent has two big black Labs in the back of the truck. {You can see one's silver training collar and a glint of the other collar.) We saw a fellow measuring along the entry road. (sorry no picture) There were markings here and there.

Joseph has picked a couple of spots from which he wants to shoot every week. One is by the basketball hoop (with tennis courts behind) Temple site from basketball hoop

A second spot is by the corner of the building between the two baseball diamonds. View from building

A third shooting site is at the crest of the entrance road. He has marked the spot with a pile of rocks.

This is from a center marking in the parking lot. This center marker may later be included in the fenced off construction area, but I hope not.

I don't know how long we will be able to shoot from here. This is from center line on the "front" edge of the parking lot. This will definitely be fenced off as construction area.

I hear that all the old toys are being taken out. They do not meet OSHA safety standards.

I wonder about the little horses and the picnic tables.

The tennis courts are not really so bad, but they need a bit of sprucing up.

I wonder if some areas will be fixed up or torn down.

I expect that most of the beautiful oak trees will be preserved.

Visiting Temple Hill when all is quiet (unlike Pioneer Day), I appreciate the beauty of the spot more and more. The old oaks, birds singing. It is lovely. I hope and expect that Mormon Center grounds can still be used for picnics. I rather hope it can even continue to be used for some of the livelier recreational activities like tennis, baseball, and basketball. I don't know how close is too close. It is a wonderful site that I hope people can use and enjoy a lot.

But it is nice when nobody else is up there!

comments (1)

1. Barbara left...

Tuesday, 22 March 2005 8:30 pm

from Ruth:
Wow! This is incredible! Great pictures! I need copies of both yours & Joe's. I decided a long time ago to keep a "Temple Scrapbook". I haven't actually made any pages yet, but I've kept a few things, like the Sacramento Bee article with a picture of what it was supposed to look like at the time. Now those plans have changed. What I don't have, but would like to find someone who does, is some kind of program or something from the groundbreaking ceremony. I need to talk to my father-in-law about it. He was actually able to be there.
Anyway, keep up the good work! Maybe Esther and I could come with you during one of your photo shoots? What time of day do you go and for how long?