Double Post Friday: Name this famous street corner and win big coin!

(Click picture to enlarge!)
Seeing the picture in full size is necessary.

Daily Item Quiz-O-Rio

You know the rules.

• Name the place, win big dollars. Enjoy!

Wood River Valley Weather: Mostly Great!

Yesterday I had the good fortune of loading up the company vehicle and driving to KMVT-CBS in the nearby booming metropolis of Twin Falls Idaho. "Twin" (as we locals call it) is located some 65 miles due south of us here in Hailey. It is here in Twin that us locals can find the Costco hot dogs and Burger King Whoppers that we so crave in the big wood river valley. Well, some of us.

While driving over Timmerman I took a quick video showing the heavy snow and wind. This video is taken by me driving due south on Route 75 on Timmerman pass.



The picture below was taken by me in the same location heading due north back home approximately 4 hours later. The weather can be fierce and crazy here from time to time but for the most part is sunny and beautiful. We live 12 miles from where this picture was taken directly up in the valley.










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Do you not agree that we live in a beautiful part of Idaho?

Then here's what you do:

• Get your kids ready.

• Get in the car.

• Drive here now.

We'll do the rest!

Just say no...

Delightful Indian Cuisine? -or- Dog food made from meat byproduct??

Rarely do I use my blog as a forum for ranting. Today I make that exception.
I went to an Indian Cuisine restaurant today for the first time. Unfortunately I didn't like it. I say unfortunately because I like most every kind of food. I was bummed that not only did I not like it but now an hour later my tummy is swelling and hurts. (@#$^^&@~~!!!!!)

It's not enough for me to hate it. It is now my mission to persuade you to not eat it. I've done some research and here are some excellent reasons to stay away from Indian food:

1. All traditional Indian foods use Ghee as a cooking fat/oil. The Ghee is high in saturated fats and Cholesterol. Even if you are eating a vegetable curry, you are not escaping from saturated fats
2. The vegetables are over-cooked in the curries. Even a healthy spinach loses most of its vitamins when made into a Saag (Common spinach curry)
3. Most of mild curries (Makhani, Mughalai, Korma, Pasanda) use whole milk yogurt, cream and coconut. All these items are high in saturated fats
4. The popular desserts are made with Sugars Ghee and Reduced Milk (Khoya). They are all very high calorie, high fat
5. The most popular snacks are deep fried: Samosa, Pakora, Kachori.
6. White rice lacks fiber and nutrients, is the most commonly used Rice in India. Brown Basmati is available but scarce
7. Refined flour (maida) lacks fiber and nutrients is commonly used to make snacks, and sometimes even breads
8. Fresh raw vegetable salads (Spinach) are hardly made and used.
9. The best tropical fruit is pink Guava but hardly eaten by well to do

There are more Type II diabetics in India than anywhere in the world. Direct result of Indian foods: Ghee, Vanaspati (Hydrogenated plant oil), Full fat dairy products (Milk, Yogurt Khoya Paneer), Refined grains (White Rice, Maida), Refined sugars.

I think Indian people are the nicest people on the planet. I don't see how this can be given the food that they have to eat every day!

I could be totally wrong. Truth is I liked the unleavened bread delio that was served. Am I missing something? Is there good Indian food?

I'd write more but I've got to go lay down now.

I love to see the Temple (even if it takes all night!)

We made our way down to Utah this last weekend. One of our stops was a visit to the new Draper Temple. Because the volume of visitors has been so high at this temple we were instructed to park at nearby stake centers in Wyoming. OK. I'm exaggerating. The stake centers were only a couple of miles away.

Once at the stake center we watched a nice video and then boarded buses to the temple. In our bus we loaded 90 people into a 30 seat bus. (A great condition for missionary work).

Once out of the bus, we waited 10 minutes or so until we could begin our long journey of waiting in line in the tents leading to the temple. Here's our family with Ruth's brother's family, the Mitchells. Oh, and Kathy!

Within about 10 minutes we were waiting in line in tents. The tent waiting line was about 2 miles long and took about an hour and a half to get through. OK, OK it wasn't 2 miles long but the wait was every bit 90 minutes. Lots of folks wanting to see this beautiful temple.

Picture of Brent, Jake and Ben Mitchell waiting in line.

3 hours later our tour was complete. The temple was as beautiful inside as we had anticipated.
Once outside Brent III asked me to take a picture of the heroic whisker growth on his chin (why now and here I'm not sure, but I obliged).
If you look very closely you can make out the Draper temple through Brent's beard.

A Surfer Dude: Must See!

Ah yes: The rare double post.

To get the whole effect of this video watch it a few times. Scientifically I've discovered that if you are having a bad day, watch this video a couple of times and you will laugh the blues away!

Last High School Basketball Game -sniff!

Brent and the Wood River Wolverines finished their season last night with a loss to the mighty Burley Bobcats. Burley had been state champs the last 2 years and the Wolverines lost by 10. Pictured here is a familiar scene from the season: Brent Hope spotting up for a three! (click to enlarge)

It was absolutely fabulous to go to Brent's games. We developed friendships with the parents of the players, Wood River band members, Wood River cheer squad, Wood River students and the entire coaching staff. It was so enjoyable that we hated to see it come to an end.

Penny the Ski Bum!

Here's a little video montage of Penny skiing down Bald Mountain in Sun Valley. She learned to ski earlier in the week at Elkhorn from an excellent ski instructor named John Marston. John had been in town for the week with his lovely daughter Grace for the Special Olympics. Grace is Penny's best friend from Washington. They went to school together at the Whitman School in Tacoma.

Without any fear Penny went straight to the top of Bald Mountain and skied all the way down, falling only twice. Her next time down she didn't fall at all!

In this video are: Penny (in the light and dark blue jacket with a red hat) Grace, Penny's best friend and John, Grace's dad and Penny's ski instructor.

Jacob D. Hope: Stop Motion Master.

Jacob has made a dozen or so stop motion movies. He has quite an imagination and is very creative. We enjoy the new things he dreams up.
Here are two of his favorites stop motion movies with highly technical special effects.

One of the great ones

My older son Brent has had his share of adversity in his short lifetime.
As a father I'm astonished at his strength, maturity and will to overcome anything that attempts to bind him and keep him down. He is too strong for that.
Just yesterday we were marveling at Brent, the 11 pound baby that Ruth had given birth to. Time has gone by so fast! -sniff
Today he is a senior at Wood River High School. A star on his basketball team. An outstanding home teaching companion and a great big brother. He only has a few short months of school left and then it will be time to leave the nest.
Tomorrow I see him being a wonderful Melchizedek Priesthood holder a great husband and a loving father. For Brent, the sky is the limit.

A Happy Grandson.............NOT!!

Jessica just took this picture of my good looking grandson Thomas.
He cries just like his mommy did.

Random Saturday

Ruth, Sarah and the Burley Bobcat!

Brent shooting a 3 in last nights game at Burley High School.
Brent hit two threes in the game.

Looking out the front door to the east we can see where snowboarders have made there way down the hill.

This picture captures the typical sharp and beautiful contrast of the white snow, green trees and crystal blue skies of the Wood River Valley. Click to enlarge, it's beautiful.

This classified add caught my attention!

The mind blowing experience at the dentist