It's amazing how small her hands and feet are compared to this ole man's hands.... haha..  

. 

2005, July 24th - Andrew and Madison

Yelp... Ms. Madison Ann is growing like a weed now... here is a link to some photos I took of her and Andrew , more photos coming..  

How sweet it is...

Dave Winer stops by Nigera Falls, and shots some photos...

Melanie sends along this note... the choices we make!

John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing,he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"
He was a natural motivator.
If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, "I don't get it!
You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"
He replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or ... you can choose to be in a bad mood.
I choose to be in a good mood."
Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or...I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.
Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or... I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.
"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.
"Yes, it is," he said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood.
You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life."
I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.
Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.
After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.
I saw him about six months after the accident.
When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins Wanna see my scars?"
I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.
"The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter," he replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or...I could choose to die. I chose to live."
"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.
He continued, "..the paramedics were great.
They kept telling me I was going to be fine.But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man'. I knew I needed to take action."
"What did you do?" I asked.
"Well,there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said John. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes, I replied.' The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Gravity'."
Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."
He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude... I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.
Attitude, after all, is everything.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34.
After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.
You have two choices now:
01. Delete this.
02. Forward it to the people you care about.
You know the choice I made.

God Bless, and smile,it could be contagious.

From Uncle Ivan....

This statue currently stands outside the Iraqi palace, now home to the 4th Infantry division. It will eventually be shipped home and put in the memorial museum in Fort Hood,Texas.

The statue was created by an Iraqi artist named Kalat, who for years was forced by Saddam Hussein to make the many hundreds of bronze busts of Saddam that dotted Baghdad.

Kalat was so grateful for the Americans liberation of his country; he melted 3 of the heads of the fallen Saddam and made the statue as a memorial to the American soldiers and their fallen warriors. Kalat worked on this memorial night and day for several months.

To the left of the kneeling soldier is a small Iraqi girl giving the soldier comfort as he mourns the loss of his comrade in arms.....


 

Great evening at the Blankinship's last night.....

Well, we had a great get together for Andrew and Paul's Birthday's on the evening of Jon and Randi's Wedding Anniversary... Even though they could not make it, we thought of them and talked of and "about" them too... haha...
Happy Anniversary to them and Happy B'day to the boys...

It was a home fun of laughter, fellowship, fun, visiting, and catching up. The Blankinships and Ameys brought homemade ice cream, and Heather and Mom fixed a freezer of homemade super V ice cream... It was all so very good... Birthday cake, cookies, and special deserts, and lots of presents.. and the kiddos played and got along great!

Roy and Neal are in the hay fields... Roy reports anywhere from 3/4 to 1/3 of the hay is being produced due to the drought we are in... here it's about 1/3 to 1/2 the hay that is usually put up.

Looks like an end of an era is coming here at our ole homestead, too. I think we will sell out of the cattle business at a Special Sale at Sale Barn on Sept. 9th. I truly don't want to, but....

Well, all I know for now. It is REALLY dry ... no rain in months and months.. actually since winter.... everything is suffering ... animals, grass, trees, bushes... shrubs... wow... and NO wind either.

I took lots of photos last night.. will post them but it might be tomorrow before I get them up.

Have a great day....... and enjoy!

Today's Quote

Kites rise highest against the wind, not with it.

-Winston Churchill

like being there... haha... yeah right...!! but photos are cool...

Ole Dave drove to New York for a conference over the weekend... here are his pics.. ....

I published this copy of an article from the Daily Oklahoman from August 5th, 1952... It is Uncle Calvin and Aunt Agnes Siegrist wedding announcement .... and as they say ... "the rest is history!" Just wanted to wish them a very Happy Wedding Anniversary. They were married on August 1st, 1952 at Mt. Zion Church, El Reno.... Happy Anniversary Uncle Calvin and Aunt Agnes, and may you have many many more wonderful anniversaries together...  

I put this here because it mentions Uncle Calvin going on a double date with Carl.... with Aunt Agnes and Louise.... kind of cool... Carl and Louise are life long friend of the Moffat's.... and Siegrist families... 

What a very special and wonderful lady Mrs. Robinson is.... family friend for many wonderful years! And yes, she will get it done.. she is our community.... get'er dun lady.... 

BUSINESS.... HAHA.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY - PAUL, AND MANY MANY MORE..... HEY PAUL, WHO'S COUNTING.. HAHA...


AND HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO JONATHAN AND RANDI MOFFAT... I KNOW IT'S EARLY BUT BETTER EARLY THAN LATE.. HAHA... THIS IS NUMBER 6, RIGHT???....

Some news..

Wow, how cool...

On Tuesday night, Phillip, Tammy and Austyn stopped by with some great photos that Phil had done... by emailing them to walmart.. paying for them and Tammy ran by and picked them up, within an hour.. wow.. now that is fast and it is economical too!! Picks of Austyn swimming.. When the lessons started this year he was not to excited, and could not swim much, now he thinks he is a fish!! He dives off the diving board, etc.. he loves it and you can see it in his pics too..

And last night, Paul had baseball and Heather went with him for a while... to get out of the house. She is still really weak. Ann and I kept Madison, who pulled a Kailtyn on us and cried all the time she was here... haha... TEASING RANDI!!!! smiling.. just teasing.. haha..
Madison had a tummy ache, like it really hurt and she did cry for the longest time and about the time the kids got back to pick her up she quit. The way it's supposed to be.. haha... but it was great to see them too... and Madison. She is really growing.

Heather and Madison and Andrew spent Sunday with us and in the afternoon Great grandma came over to "hold" Madison some.. "most of afternoon" haha... I think Great Grandma kind'a likes her.. haha... as she does all her grands... and great grands....

We didn't get to see Ms. Kaitlyn this past weekend. Randi and Kaitlyn ended up sick and not feeling very well.
Maybe we will get to see them soon, before she grows up.. haha.. smiling...

OK... August 7th... Kingfisher, OK fairgrounds is the Snethen family reunion... I know you will not know all the folks at this event.. but it is Great grandmother Moffat's family.. the Snethen's. This was her mother's family. It is a chance to meet "other family" and to visit amongst ourselves and show off the great grand kids and grand kids for Great grandma.. so if you possibly could make it, I know it would mean a lot to her!! There is a lunch that is served, and lots of trading of family things, and you get a chance to see some of the folks in all those photos.. the building has A/C...
Let me know if you can make it so I can start making arrangements for a bank loan to get us in.. haha....

Enjoy the day!

Today's Quote

Today's Quote

Good people are good because they’ve come to wisdom through failure. We get very little wisdom from success, you know.

-William Saroyan

Dave was walking about and he saw this ....

Our Canadian friend Dave was out walking this am... and this is what he ran across....

New google maps service... neat... i think?

New service from Google. I can not get to it for some reason, but I can not get to any google product. Provalue is working on it.. something to do with the tower I get my wireless from. No one on it can use google.. haha... click on the image to go to the webpage it represents to get to new service....

two more important dates.... for July....

just a reminder...

Paul's birthday is 29th and Jon and Randi's wedding anni is the 31st...

For Jake.....

Future of Confederate White House Unknown
By DIONNE WALKER, Associated Press Writer
Sat Jul 23, 4:29 AM ET



RICHMOND, Va. - In the 1800s, the idea of a separate Southern nation seemed real enough to warrant a grand executive office — a Confederate answer to the White House that would symbolize the lasting Dixie empire. Officials chose a hilltop mansion in the Shockoe Hill section, a former doctor's home that dominated the then-sparse landscape. But what was once a Civil War centerpiece is now an afterthought.

Curators of the Museum and White House of the Confederacy say runaway development from nearby Virginia Commonwealth University has all but erased the site, cutting into attendance and threatening to elbow the landmark right out of the city.

A group of state lawmakers met Friday to discuss ways to save the 187-year-old site, including moving the entire complex.

"We are simply in their way and their expansion is simply in our way," executive director Waite Rawls III said during the first of four scheduled public meetings.

Rawls told the 11-member panel of the challenges facing the complex, including limited parking, incessant construction noise and looming buildings that leave the historical site lost in the mix.

All have contributed to shrinking museum attendance — from a peak of 91,000 in the early 1990s to just 54,000 visitors this past year.

Raised in 1818, the building was scheduled for demolition by the 1890s. Members of the Confederate Memorial Literary Society saved the home, converting it into a museum. Society members later restored it as a home in the 1980s; a separate museum housing artifacts such as Confederate flags and period paintings now stands next door.

The committee will review such solutions as relocating the museum or even the entire complex. The state-convened panel can only make recommendations for the privately owned site; the literary society has the final word, offficials said.

___

On the Net:

http://www.moc.org/

You know... I think I love this idea... haha... wow, now if Americans would get some backbone.....

rk_cr wrote to mention an Israeli technology firm which has set up a system to allow harried email users the right to reply in force. The system "batters spam websites with thousands of complaints. The plan is to fill order forms on spam websites offering pills, porn and penile health tonics with complaints about the products advertised for sale in junk messages. The plan has been criticised by other anti-spam workers who say it amounts to vigilantism."

From Uncle Ivan and Aunt Freda..... Rules from God!

Rules from God

1. Wake Up !!
Decide to have a good day.
"Today is the day the Lord hath made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it."
Psalms 118:24

2. Dress Up !!
The best way to dress up is to put on a smile.
A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.
"The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.
Man looks at outward appearance;
but the Lord looks at the heart."
I Samuel 16:7

3. Shut Up!!
Say nice things and learn to listen.
God gave us two ears and one mouth, so He must have
meant
for us to do twice as much listening as talking.
"He who guards his lips guards his soul."
Proverbs 13:3


4. Stand Up!!...
For what you believe in.
Stand for something or you will fall for anything..
"Let us not be weary in doing good; for at the
proper time,
we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do
good..."
Galatians 6:9-10

5. Look Up !!...
To the Lord.
"I can do everything through Christ who strengthens
me."
Philippians 4:13

6. Reach Up !!...
For something higher.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and lean not unto your own understanding.
In all your ways, acknowledge Him,
and He will direct your path."
Proverbs 3:5-6

7. Lift Up !!...
Your Prayers.
"Do not worry about anything;
instead PRAY ABOUT
EVERYTHING."
Philippians 4:6



Send this to the people you care about.
I thought this was mighty special, just like you.
Pass this on and brighten someone's day, and
remember:

God answers Knee-Mail.

Solar racing "overshadowed" by clouds.....

Solar racing bogged down by clouds... kind a cool photos of the solar cars racing cross country...

This photo is an accident.. and I think most of the time... they are the best, haha!! Ok....now I I am done... 

The business end of the livestock business.... and for all future generations, this is the Bar M Ranch brand, it's an electric iron that heats up super hot.. and applied to the animal. It's quick and hurts them for about a minute.. and the smell of burning hair is something you never forget.. haha.... Ann and I registered the Bar M Ranch brand with the Oklahoma Cattlemen Association in 1972 and is brand number 8031. One evening, about three years later, Ann and I were eating dinner and the phone rang and it was a man from Pawnee who wanted to know why I sold calves in OKC that day with his brand on them... Well, that didn't set to well with me, so I asked him his brand number and it was a lot higher.. ahaha... so he had to cool his jets as ours was registered first ! He called back one more time, trying to claim my calves, and I hung up on him and never heard from him again till I saw in the paper where he died!! Ok.. enough remembering for a day.. haha... enjoy the day... 

Here you can better see the trough.... This was about 1958, when it was made. Another neat thing..haha.. is the water heater is made of galvanized metal, and is very toxic to cut with a torch.. and I cut many of them in my youth... we were told to drink milk to help rid our lungs of the posion.. you would get deathly ill for the fumes of the metal. and usually very quick...  

"So, what you going to do today?" askes the black heifer of the red steer...... While this is not an overly GREAT photo..haha... it does show a family heirloom... the feed trough was made by my Uncle Mervil Moffat who dairyed at El Reno. He made this when we moved to Yukon, and he made it in his shop on his farm, which was always very neat and orderly, and always had the latest neat tools in it, and Grandpa Moffat and I were watching him weld and cut and make it. It is an old hot water heater that was cut in two and legs welded to it. It was the latest NEAT idea in troughs for farmers who didn't have a lot of money to buy the store bought ones. We also have a square bale hay feeder at mom's that he built. He as a great man, and an awesome welder and could fix about anything. The two calves are going to be hamburger some day... and are on full feed! 

2 doves on a wire.. waiting on me to feed the calves so they can sneak up and eat the spilled grain.... 

Sorry.. got carried away with the Lilac leaves... 

The Lilac leaf waits on the sun.... 

The Lilac plant is getting ready for a second blooming, I think.. but don't know for sure.  

The beautiful Trumpet plant in full bloom. They are beautiful, but they are a "bad weed" in your yard, with sprouts that pop up everywhere... and the bees love them... but it covers our well house... 

closer... 

Here he is at a longer shot... still waiting.. haha .... 

I heard the loudest "sheak"... real long and loud... and looked to the top of the Elm Tree on the west side of our drive... and this is what I saw. I wonder if he is waiting for some of the racing pigeons that we used to race to "train" in the am... haha.. well, he won't get one of them... 

The old railroad tie just sets and enjoys the view too.... looking sw of our home.... 

Here, the sun was peaking through the trees east of our home... I was on the way to feed the fattening calves... wow... 

The morning photos.... the moon was still at it this am.... what a beautiful morning... 

for phillip....

Scrubbing Bubbles Hit the Streets Associated Press
Story location: http://www.wired.com/news/planet/0,2782,68282,00.html

02:00 AM Jul. 22, 2005 PT

From catalytic converters to alternative fuels, the fight against big-city smog has for years been fought inside combustion engines and exhaust pipes.

Now, scientists are taking the fight to the streets by developing "smart" building materials designed to clean the air with a little help from the elements.

Using technology already available for self-cleaning windows and bathroom tiles, scientists hope to paint cities with materials that dissolve and wash away pollutants when exposed to sun and rain.

"Among other things, we want to construct concrete walls that break down vehicle exhausts in road tunnels," said Karin Pettersson, a spokeswoman for Swedish construction giant Skanska. "It is also possible to make pavings that clean the air in cities."

The Stockholm-based company is part of a $1.7 million Swedish-Finnish project to develop catalytic cement and concrete products coated with titanium dioxide, a compound often used in white paint and toothpaste that can become highly reactive when exposed to ultraviolet light.

This is the idea: UV rays hitting the titanium dioxide trigger a catalytic reaction that destroys the molecules of pollutants, including nitrogen oxides, which are emitted in the burning of fossil fuels and create smog when combined with volatile organic compounds.

Exposure to high levels of nitrogen oxides can trigger serious respiratory problems, including lung damage.

The catalytic reaction also prevents bacteria and dirt from sticking to a surface, making them easily removed by a splash of water or rain.

Bo-Erik Eriksson, head of research at Cementa, another company participating in the Swedish-Finnish project, said the byproducts of the reaction, called photocatalysis, are benign, though it depends on what substances are involved: Organic compounds are broken down into carbon dioxide and water, while the nitrogen oxides yield nitrate salts.

Research in the field has been made possible by the revolution in nanotechnology -- science dedicated to building materials from the molecular level. The catalytic properties of titanium dioxide become active when it is applied in a very thin layer, or in microscopic particles.

A range of self-cleaning products coated with titanium dioxide, including windows and ceramic tiles, are already on the market, but the focus has mostly been on their practical value rather than the environmental impact.

In Rome, the Dives in Misericordia church, designed by U.S.-based architect Richard Meier, is made of self-cleaning concrete that helps keep the surface shiny white. In Japan, several modern buildings, including the Marunouchi Building in downtown Tokyo, are covered with photocatalytic tiles to reduce discoloring from pollution.

"Now we have to change and think of the product not just for architectural purposes, but also for environmental purposes," said Francesco Galimberti, spokesman for Italcementi, maker of the concrete for the church in Rome.

In a test in 2003, the company coated 75,000 square feet of road surface on the outskirts of Milan with photocatalytic cement. It found nitrogen oxide levels were reduced by up to 60 percent, depending on weather conditions.

A similar experiment in France found nitrogen oxide levels were 20 percent to 80 percent lower in a wall plastered with photocatalytic cement than one with regular cement.

Encouraged by such results, the European Union last year earmarked $2.27 billion for a project to develop "smart" construction materials that would break down nitrogen oxides and other toxic substances, such as benzene.

However, researchers admit they're still not sure how much of an impact the technology could have on air pollution outside of controlled test environments.

"Now we want to find out if it works optimally and economically and make sure it has a long-lived effect that does not disappear after a couple of years," said Eriksson of Cementa.

Cost is another issue. Galimberti said Italcementi's products are 30 percent to 40 percent more expensive than regular concrete, and using the external air quality as a selling point doesn't necessarily appeal to builders with tight budgets. The company's sales pitch is that self-cleaning materials will save money in the long run.

However, some scientists caution it's too soon to declare a titanium dioxide-fueled war on pollution.

"Trying to clean up air pollution seems to me to be a stretch," said Reynaldo Barreto, a chemistry professor at Purdue University in Indiana. "It doesn't mean it can't be done. But there's an awful lot of air and not a whole lot of surface."

Bears Wander Into Motels in New Mexico

Bears Wander Into Motels in New Mexico
By The Associated Press
Thu Jul 21,10:10 PM ET



Maybe it's an early hibernation thing. A bear wandered into a Raton motel on Monday and a second bear broke into a Taos Ski Valley motel a day later. The bear that walked through the front doors of the Raton motel possibly was lured by the enticing smell of fresh popcorn, officials said.

ADVERTISEMENT

"He walked in, went to the pay phones, then straight toward the pool," said desk clerk Kimbra Pacheco.

Lodgers with newspapers chased the bear through an enclosed pool area until game officers arrived. A Department of Game and Fish officer shot the animal with a tranquilizer dart.

Department officers later killed the bear, saying it had been trapped and moved from Raton a few weeks earlier and had lost its fear of humans.

The second bear forced its way through a window screen Tuesday at a Taos Ski Valley motel. The desk clerk called 911, but the bear fled before the town marshal and game officers arrived.

Officers have set a trap to try to capture the animal, which officials believe was attracted by the smell of food being cooked by lodgers on a grill outside their room.

The recent hot, dry weather in northern New Mexico may have forced some bears to search for food in different places, the department said.

The agency said people who live in bear country should keep anything that would attract them away from living areas and keep all doors and windows closed at night.

___

On the Net:

Game and Fish publications: http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us

Here is the second one that's kinda cool.. the trees below the moon are southeast of the barn.. ...  

You have to look close but this New Moon shot is through some tree branches... surrounding the moon.. took about 80, this was one of the best I think.. There is one more that might be good... haha.. 

Phil has one cool photo collage on his page...

Phil took some pics of Austyn swimming on his last day .... and has one great collage on his site.. be sure and check it out!!! Congrats to Austyn on finishing up his swimming lessons and doing so great...! We are proud of you Austyn!

And Phil, if Gary England can come to Harland's backyard, he could sure find his way to yours - next summer??? or want to try for this summer???

So you think you know the news... haha.... unbelievable link has all the frontpages of newspapers everywhere on every topic!!!

One has to see this, and play with it to believe it!!

Warning: by clicking on this link, you will be able to see the front pages of newspapers around the world and all over the USA. The searches can be broken down many ways on many topics... cool huh???

http://www.newseum.org/ is really cool!! and the papers are uptodate, too!!