November 22nd and 23rd

November 22nd was Thanksgiving and my dad’s birthday so I called that morning to wish him well. He and mom were driving back home after living in Washington State for the past year. They went there to assist a small LDS congregation in Long Beach Washington. They were assigned to do everything from teaching Sunday School to visiting less active members of the congregation to teaching curious visitors about the church. They also helped out the local leaders deal with the unique challenges that the small congregation encountered.

I was in Tucson for Thanksgiving visiting Lynette’s family. When we weren’t eating, we kept ourselves busy by playing games or teasing Lynette. I think she got annoyed at that. Sorry Lynette. We spent most of our time playing Scrabble, or variations of Scrabble. We also played Boggle too. Lynette found time to list 100 things she is grateful for on her blog, although I am not sure about item 86.

Friday morning we went on a drive through Saguaro National Park and tried to take some pictures for a family Christmas card. I’m not sure how they will turn out, so I guess I’ll have to wait and see.

Scott

Here are some pictures of our Tucson trip.

When we weren't eating, Lynette was on the computer or we were playing Scrabble.

Saguaro National Park

What I'm thankful for:

November 24

An engineer, a lawyer and an accountant all went into the desert…. Sounds like a joke, but it wasn’t.

I went hiking with my nephew who is visiting from law school in DC and one of his friends (graduated in accounting). We went to Cave Creek, north of Phoenix (the actual creek, not the town).

The first 4 miles of the hike was a pleasant walk along the creek and the last 5 miles was more exercise than hike. The hikes second half views were “ok” and the trail was fairly rugged, leaving me quite exhausted at the end of the 9 mile loop (although according to my GPS the hike was closer to 10.5 miles).

Along the trail was a fairly large crested Saguaro, which was rather interesting to see close up. I’ve heard that is caused by a disease, but I don’t know for sure.

Scott

Here are some pictures of the hike.

The only picture with all 3 of us

What makes a hero?

This Veteran’s Day, we have a chance to reflect on the heroes of this country. This is a day of celebration for those who fought/fight valiantly for our nation’s freedom and well being.

But, the celebration leads to the question: What makes a hero? Is it the guy who charges enemy lines in attempt to rescue a fallen comrade? Is it the cook or nurse who never sees the battlefield but still gives aid to the soldiers who are in combat? Is the soldier who was drafted more heroic than a volunteer? Are members of the armed forces the only true heroes? Or can a consistent mother be as much of a hero as the well decorated veteran?

I could go on with this line of questioning, but I think it is obvious that all of these types of people could be considered heroes. Anyone can be a hero. Everyone has their own unique challenges and has to overcome those challenges by showing strength and self discipline. It is how one reacts to their challenges that make someone truly heroic. The attitude they keep, their willingness to help others and how they do their duty are better indicators of heroism than is a single event or surge of action.

Yesterday, I had a discussion on courage with a group of young men. To them courage meant bravery and wisdom. The word courage brought to mind captains of ships in the midst of battle and various other images no doubt derived from one of the many Hollywood adventure movies. Of course, in their mind, the courageous always make it through their adventure alive and full of glory. But this isn’t always the case.

When I brought up the idea of moral courage they quickly understood that showing courage does not always result in fanfare and acclaim. The boy who says no to drugs shows courage but is probably not going to be accepted among his so-called friends. The student who refuses to cheat on an exam is courageous but may not ace the test and the man who refuses to entertain himself with dirty jokes, inappropriate images and bad language can sleep in good conscience but may feel isolated from his peers.

So, to me, a hero is defined by much more than a single life changing event. The soldier who charges enemy lines in attempt to rescue a fallen comrade is a hero because of his keen sense of duty, loyalty and love. Without those feelings he would not have risked his life for another, and would never have been considered a hero. The feelings in the heart of the drafted soldier can make him just as heroic as the patriotic volunteer. The teenager who listens to his conscience despite heavy peer pressure is heroic because he stood by his convictions. The mother who raises her children in love is also heroic even though she may never be recognized as such because heroism is rarely judged by its best metric: what is in the heart.

Scott

ps. this post was inspired by the MSNBC article found by following the link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21725468/

Halloween 2007-

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This year Halloween snuck up on us a little bit. My family had it's traditional pumpkin carving activity on Monday and tonight (the 31st) we went to a community local church carnival.

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Halloween snuck up so fast that I didn't have time to buy a pumpkin to carve with my family. Too bad. I wish I had brought one to carve.

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Here are some pictures of this years festivities.

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Scott

Mackenzie was more interested in this dog than carving pumpkins.

It's always a better party when Aaron and Chanelle come:

My scouts decorated two trunks and gave out candy...See the dry ice? They had fun with that.

Some of the trunks were pretty elaborate. This was one of my favorites:

I invited my neighbors to come, and to my surprise...they came.

p.s. if you want to see my last years post on Halloween click the following link: Halloween 2006

Technical Difficulties -

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Here are some pictures of the boat race that have been long overdue. I noticed yesterday that I haven't posted anything in the month of October yet. Hopefully the blog drought is over.
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If I look at this activity from the boys point of view the event was an overwhelming success. Even though we didn't place where would have liked (our boats took last place and second to last place) all the kids had a great time.

But, from a Scouting perspective I had some serious problems with this event. In a nutshell, the lack of sportsmanship exhibited by most of the youth, the abandonment of the principles of Leave no Trace and most of the other adults apathy towards the chaos that ensued after the race made me quite frustrated on the ride home.

But the boys had fun, and that is all that matters right?? Well...I don't know.

So, in the meantime, I'm looking at this event from the boys perspective (that causes less heartburn for me).
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Here are some pictures. We really had lots of fun.
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Scott

Pumped up and ready for the campout!

The morning sunrise we woke up to.

Some of the competition.

The other groups boats were OUTSTANDING!!

On your mark...Get Set...

GO!!

I love this last picture. To me it shows that there can be success through teamwork, and that there is no task to great for those who are willing to put in the effort.