"The time has come," the walrus said, "to talk of many things..."

"Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--of cabbages--and kings--And why the sea is boiling hot--And whether pigs have wings." I memorized some of that in the 5th grade, but I only remember that much of it. One might think at this point that Elin is writing another post, but nay, it is I, Forrest. The reason I used that piece of the Lewis Carroll poem is because this post is going to be a post of many things. And because I am talking about it, and I look something like a walrus these days. Bald, with some whiskers, and yes, fat. Fortunately Mom and Dad decided many years ago that I should get braces, otherwise my teeth would be yet another similarity I'd have with the walrus.

Today I participated in a seminar at Baker Hughes, a drill bit manufacturer and drill operator. While some of it was boring and I fell asleep, the tour towards the end was interesting. Turns out the Hughes part of the company was started by Howard Hughes Sr., a long time ago. He invented a better bit which revolutionized the oil industry, really. Then he died and left his company to his son, Howard Hughes Jr., most commonly known these days as the Aviator (played be Leo DiCaprio). Anyway, they make a bit that is tungsten carbide with manufactured diamonds for the teeth. It costs $500,000.


I have meant to post about a field trip the interns went on earlier this summer. We toured an oil field, looked at the process to draw it oil and gas out of the ground and then get it ready to ship to a refinery. It has been long enough now that I don't remember a lot of the facts, but I came to the realization that we should all be grateful we only pay what we do for a gallon of gas. Really grateful. The equipment necessary to get the stuff out of the ground is ridiculously expensive. Plus I have to get paid somehow.

I can't remember exactly what these things do, but  I remember they cost $20,000 a piece, and there are three here. Just a small portion of the expensive equipment I saw.

Well B-150R. This well is in the area I have worked this summer. That worker is filling up our bottles (see below).

This is my bottle of oil from the field trip. The oil is about .5 inch thick, sitting on top of  a few inches of saltwater. That is how it is produced, too.

So back to the walrus thing momentarily. I started a diet and lost some weight, but decided it was too difficult to keep up at the time. When we get back to Austin I will start it again. The pictures below are what made it so hard to do. I originally took these pictures to show what I was withstanding, but since then I have succumbed. Just a small sampling. So any weight I lost I have gained back, no surprise. If I had a lot of money I would take care of this surgically. Because I am lazy.

Recently a friend from my youth posted a thing on facebook, found below:

Elin saw it on there and said something about it not being quite right. I decided to comment on it. There is some truth to it, of course. We don't like people taking away our rights, and they shouldn't. Even God thinks so. But this goes a little too far, doesn't it? Anyway, my comment was basically that even though our rights are ours, they only extend to the extent that they interfere with someone else's rights. Most everything in that list quickly interferes with others' rights. But discussing the errors with this list wasn't my point in including it in here. I tried not to be harsh at all in my comment, just voicing a different opinion. But I was kind of standing up for something I believed. And that is what I wanted to talk about here. I rarely speak up and I am realizing, or rather just accepting, that I should. If I don't, if we don't, we will be crushed! Even though I mentioned this to Logan (my oldest brother) already, I am going to do it publicly here so that everybody will support me. Logan, it is time for you to start blogging again! Your opinions are good, almost always right, and certainly more accurate than the opinions you are speaking against. And really this is true for most if not all of everybody who reads this blog.

P.S. 14 people "liked" the list above on facebook. 2 "liked" my comment--Mom and Rachell.
P.P.S. Also, if I had really said what I believe, I would have said that almost all of those things are contrary to God's commandments. So I still have a ways to go.

The topic of weddings has been talked about a lot recently in our home, because dear sister Laurel is getting married this weekend*. While listening to this end of a phone conversation, I heard Elin say something like "this is your party/celebration/day." As I reflected on this and another conversation I participated in a few weeks ago, I decided that this is a falsehood. It's true that the wedding has become the bride's party in essentially every way, so I guess it isn't a falsehood, but it should be. Oh for the days when the spouse was just handed over! A month and a half should be plenty of preparation time for an LDS wedding. Outside of having to reserve a location for a reception, nothing should take more time than that. And frankly, even that shouldn't take so long. There is nothing wrong with a reception at the church! A girl I have classes with got engaged at the end of the semester, and told me she would probably get married in October or so. Of 2013. Ok, outside of the Church, makes more sense, but is it right? All of this is strictly opinion of course, and I don't doubt that people reading this are disagreeing at this very moment. But, in the words of Adrian Monk, "I could be wrong, but, you know, I'm not." If it should be a party for anyone, it should be for the parents who have successfully raised a child to the point of marriage, and maybe even a temple marriage. People should be giving them gifts.

*I am now making an editor's note. It is a very special day for the bride, and having just gone through a wedding and luncheon and awaiting the reception I would like to say that when you love a member of the marrying party, you do want the day to be about them. So I was a little overboard with my above comments. Not as overboard as weddings generally have become, though.

Anyway, those are all the things that this walrus wanted to talk about. Sometimes it feels nice to be vocally opinionated.

The Future is as Bright as your Faith

I've been trying to understand the principle of faith better--been studying it for the last few years actually. Still not quite where I want to be yet, so I am still studying it and working on it. Anywho, I came across this the other day and loved it:

There will be times when it appears there is no light at the end of our tunnel or no dawn to a night of darkness, President Monson says. “We feel surrounded by the pain of broken hearts, the disappointment of shattered dreams, and the despair of vanished hopes. We join in uttering the biblical plea, ‘Is there no balm in Gilead?’  We are inclined to view our own personal misfortunes through the distorted prism of pessimism. We feel abandoned, heartbroken, alone.”

To those in despair, President Monson reminds that the Savior can lift us up.
“Yes, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is our Exemplar and our strength. He is the light that shineth in darkness. He is the Good Shepherd. Though engaged in His majestic ministry, He embraced the opportunity to lift burdens, provide hope, mend bodies, and restore life.”

“Though the storm clouds may gather, though the rains may pour down upon us, our knowledge of the gospel and our love of our Heavenly Father and of our Savior will comfort and sustain us and bring joy to our hearts as we walk uprightly and keep the commandments,” he encourages. “There will be nothing in this world that can defeat us. My beloved brothers and sisters, fear not. Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith.”

I love that. "There will be nothing in this world that can defeat us" and "The future is as bright as your faith." It seems so simple, right? It doesn't seem like it could possibly be that simple though...at least not to me. But I am learning, from experience, that it is. Faith in Jesus Christ literally allows him to lift us up in our lowest moments-- allows him to replace feelings of loneliness or sadness with love and peace. I don't know how it is done. But it is.

If you are interested in reading more of what President Monson has to say on this particular topic, you can click here!

Independence Day In Houston

Since all of you were wondering how we spent our 4th of July, here it is in pictures: First, I was determined to make some type of festive food. Paula and Logan are always good about doing that (like making a green breakfast for their kids for St. Patrick's day)- so I am trying to get into the habit now. Being festive is fun, right? So I just dumped a bunch of delicious fruit in a pie plate, covered it with whipped cream, and made a semblance of the flag using blueberries and strawberries. But we were trying not to eat too many sweets or fatty foods so it was the best I could come up with. I'm not quite up to Paula and Logan caliber yet, I know. But baby steps...

Festive Food

Then, we headed to Sugarland, Texas for their Red, White, and Bluefest. We had a few options to choose from. Houston actually has a huge festival with reportedly the best fireworks show in the nation. And this year, Sara Evans and Billy Currington were going to be singing there. Downsides: you have to pay and work your way through crowds of people. Another option was going to an outdoor Houston symphony concert accompanied by fireworks. Downside: It just didn't sound as exciting as a Red, White, and Bluefest.

So we headed to Sugarland, parked at a football stadium where huge greyhound-style buses were waiting to shuttle us to the park where the fun began. It seemed like the city of Sugarland had a pretty good system worked out. The park was beautiful and nice and bayou-ey. (After visiting Ben and Ry in Gonzales, Louisiana, we realized that Houston is really just an extension of Louisiana. This park was no exception.) Upon entering  the park, you cross a bridge over a river of alligators and turtles. There is a sign that says not to get within 15 feet of a gator. Makes sense to me. The park was pretty crowded with food booths and people. Unfortunately Sara Evans did not stop by Sugarland before heading to the Houston festival. Instead, some crazy band called Thunderpants were trying to sing 80's rock music. One of them was dressed like Beetlejuice. I have no idea what was going on. I'm sure the local talent could have outshone these guys. First of all, why were they singing 80's music at a 4th of July celebration? 2nd of all, who names a band Thunderpants. 3rd of all, why was the guy dressed as Beetlejuice? I'll try not to dwell on that anymore.

We were going to get some classic festival food like hot dogs and funnel cakes but that line was too long. Forrest hates lines. So we got in the shortest line there and were rewarded with some delicious brisket. Then we stopped by the "stage" where we recited the pledge of allegiance and heard a few snippets of the Declaration of Independence. Do you remember how at every 4th of July celebration in the Little House on the Prairie books, the recite the entire thing and everyone already has it memorized? Then Pa always starts singing some patriotic hymn and everyone joins in? And they have fresh lemonade that you can drink by the dipperful. I miss those days. I was jolted back to reality when Thunderpants resumed the stage and started singing some AC/DC song that no one should be singing but AC/DC. We quickly moved away from the stage and ran into this guy:

The HEB Bag Person

In case you were wondering, HEB is a southern grocery store that is actually quite delightful. At least, the one in Austin is delightful. Their fruit selection is usually fabulous and they have much better deals than they ever did at stores in Provo. We got peaches there for like 33 cents a pound once.

It was really hot, so I made Forrest stop by the Ben & Jerry's booth and buy the smallest size of ice cream for us. It was $4 and we only got a tablespoon of ice cream each, which was rather disappointing, but sometimes that is what you have to do in 100% humidity. When the time for fireworks drew near, my belly became heavier and I wanted to sit. So we moved towards the entrance of the park (for a quick getaway) and we found some rocks to sit on by a little pond. Here we are waiting for the show to begin.

I promise I look a lot more pregnant when I'm standing up.

I'm sure Forrest was a lot happier than he looks, despite the 100% humidity.

Taking pictures of fireworks is hard.

The fireworks were really good. The finale was way better than the one they had at the last stadium of fire. But then the show ended and within about 5 seconds, several thousand people surrounded us in an attempt to leave the park. We were seriously only 20 yards from the park exit, but it took us 20 minutes to get over that alligator bridge...and people were seriously right up there against you. Personal space ceased to exist. Once we were over the bridge, things got better until we made it to the spot where the buses picked people up to take them back to their cars at the stadium. You see, there was a line for the bus, which was fine, except most people didn't want to wait in line. So Forrest and I were with the 100 people who got in line to wait...and wait we did, while hundreds of other people walked past us and joined the line closer to the front.

After about an hour of not moving in line, we decided to follow the couple ahead of us who decided to just walk to the stadium. Surely, a distance that only took 5 minutes by bus was walkable in 15 or 20 minutes, right? Wrong. We stopped and asked a friendly cop the way back to the stadium. He told us to turn on this road and that it ran right into the stadium. It took us an hour to make it back to the stadium. By the time we made it there (after singing 'Pioneer children sang as they walked and walked and walked and walked' in my head a million times) our car was one of five left in the parking lot and it was past midnight (the fireworks ended at 9:40).  There was a time when an hour walk would have been okay with me. This was not that time. Forrest, hero that he is, did offer to carry me the rest of the way...On the drive home, we stopped and got us the largest size cherry-sprite possible at Jack-in-the-box. Sprite has never tasted so good. All's well that end's well.

Last but not least, we put together this 1,000 piece patriotic puzzle masterpiece. Forrest devoted many hours to its completion. I helped some, but he definitely deserves most of the credit.

Patriotic Puzzle

Fourth of July: Freedom and Decency

 The following are all quotes from an essay by an Eastern Orthodox theologian and professor, David Bentley Hart. I know it is a lot of "academic" verbiage to wade through, but I found his thoughts on freedom very thought-provoking and I find myself agreeing with a lot of what he has to say.

"This is the crucial issue, I think: not what we understand decency to be, but what we mean when we speak of freedom. [. . . ] We have come to believe—more or less unreflectively—that the will necessarily becomes more free the more it is emancipated from whatever constraints it suffers.”

Hart, David Bentley, “Freedom and Decency”  In the Aftermath: Provocations and Laments, p.77

“[. . .] freedom is possible only through constraints [. . .] True freedom, at least according to one venerable definition, is the realization of a complex nature in its proper good (that is, in both its natural and supernatural ends); it is the freedom of a thing to flourish, to become ever more fully what it is.  An absolutely ‘negative liberty’—the absence of any religious, cultural, or social restrictions upon the exercise of the will—may often seem desirable (at least for oneself) but ultimately offers only the ‘freedom’ of chaos, of formless potential.

[. . . .] For instance, if one wishes to become honorable (a word so quaint and antique as now to have the power to charm but not to compel), one must accede to any number of elaborate restrictions upon one’s actions and even thoughts; and these restrictions unquestionably confine and inhibit desire and volition, and are themselves often more a matter of ritual comity and factitious grace and painful reserve than of practical necessity.  And yet, as one learns to consent to a common and demanding set of conventions and duties, one also progressively acquires an ever greater purity of character, a stability and hence identity, a unified ‘self’; one emerges from the inchoate turmoil of mere emotion, and is liberated from the momentary impulses and vain promptings of the will, and arrives at what can truly be called one’s essence.  The form, as Michelangelo liked to say, is liberated from the marble.”

[. . . .] This understanding of freedom, however, requires not only a belief that we possess an actual nature, which much flourish to be free, but a belief in the transcendent Good towards which that nature is oriented.  This Christians, Jews, and virtuous pagans have always understood: that which can endure in us is sustained by that which lies beyond us, in the eternity of its own plentitude. To be fully free is to be joined to that end for which our natures were originally framed, and for which—in the deepest reaches of our souls—we ceaselessly yearn.  And whatever separates us from that end—even if it be our own power of choice within us—is a form of bondage.  We are free not because we can choose, but only when we have chosen well [. . .] The consummation for which we should long, if we are wise, is that ultimately we shall, in St. Augustine’s language, achieve not only the liberty enjoyed by Adam and Eve—who were merely ‘able not to sin’—but the truest freedom of all, that of being entirely ‘unable to sin’, because God’s will works perfectly in ours.”

Hart, David Bentley, “Freedom and Decency”  In the Aftermath: Provocations and Laments, p.78-9

“Democracy is not an intrinsic good, after all.  Where the moral formation of a people is deficient, the general will malign, or historical circumstance unpropitious, is quite unambiguously wicked in its results [. . .] And a society that can no longer conceive of freedom as anything more than limitless choice and uninhibited self-expression must of necessity progressively conclude that all things should be permitted, that all values are relative, that desire fashions its own truth, that there is no such thing as ‘nature,’ that we are our own creatures.  The ultimate consequence of a purely libertarian political ethos, if it could be taken to its logical end, would be a world in which we would no longer even remember that we should want to choose the good, as we would have learned to deem things good solely because they have been chosen.  This would in truth be absolute slavery to the momentary, the final eclipse of rational dignity, the triumph within us of the bestial over the spiritual, and so of death over life.”

Hart, David Bentley, “Freedom and Decency”  In the Aftermath: Provocations and Laments, p.80

World Travelers

Elin on the left, me on the right. She has white hair, I am bald. And we drink wine.

Elin wants me to do the writing, because I am the funny one (she said it). I told her that funny can't be forced, but we'll see what I can come up with. So last night we went to Rudi Lechner's (Check it out here), a German-Austrian restaurant a couple of miles from our apartment. It was awesome. While most of the servers were definitely not German, the rest of the place was. We were serenaded by accordion, tuba and guitar. We heard that song "A knapsack on my back," and were encouraged to join in on the "val-der-ee, val-der-ah," etc. We also heard Edelweiss twice, and a song that said "I don't want her, you can take her, she's too fat for me." It was lovely. The food was good, too, and as far as we know, very German. We had schnitzel and strudel and bratwurst and another -wurst, and sauerkraut and some other red spiced cabbage. I had some of the leftovers for breakfast and lunch, and will probably have some more in the next few meals. If anyone comes to visit us while we are in Houston, we can go there. Wednesdays are Oktoberfest!

John. Delys and Co. came to visit us our second weekend in Houston. We took a drive down to the coast (1.5 hrs) to spend some time at the beach. The beaches in Texas aren't that pretty and the water is not very clear, at least compared to the beaches in Australia, where we usually spend our time (see previous posts). The reason is the Gulf current. It flows counter clockwise, so all the sediments from the Mississippi River come this way, instead of towards Florida. I know this because I am a geologist. The water is nice and warm though. And if I had a boogey board it would have been put to good use. It was nice to be in the sun and water and have the company of the Tylers.

Elin and baby Ben, Surfside Beach, TX.

Me. I had to check out the water.

Katie, John, Delys, and Ben.

Check out the waves. The reason it is called Surfside?

Over Mother's Day we flew up to Frannie. Well, we flew into Billings, Montana, and drove down to Frannie. The forecast for Dallas that day, which we had just left, called for 95 degree weather, so I was glad to be gone. Little did I know that by the time we actually would get to Frannie the temps would have dropped to 40 degrees. A fifty degree swing is pretty severe. Luckily things warmed up and the weather was nice for the rest of our time there. The water at the Deaver Reservoir wasn't quite as warm as the water in the Gulf, though. Elin wanted to do a weeny roast, so we went to the reservoir and had one. It is a good thing we had hotdogs to eat, since no fish were caught. I haven't spent a lot of time fishing there, but enough to know it is basically impossible to catch a fish. Anybody who says otherwise is probably lying. I did catch a crawdad though. Quick hands.

For Mother's Day we took a page out of Logan's book and prepared a five-course meal for Mom, Grandma, and for some reason, Dad. I should have made Elin sit at the table while we took care of it, but let's be honest, it would have been a debacle. This was the menu: butternut squash soup, caprese salad, shrimp orzo pasta with fresh vegetables, cedar plank salmon, finished by a berry trifle accented with elderflower juice. Homemade lime sorbet was the palate cleanser, and the beverage was elderflower soda. It was pretty awesome.

Check out the ripples. Deaver Reservoir. Russell on the left, me on the right. Russell fell in.

Explaining the finer points of marinading cedar-planked salmon.

The salmon, and what is left of the cedar plank. I was in charge of the marinading. Russell was in charge of the grilling.

Our respective mothers, and dad, enjoying the Mother's Day 5-course feast.

Back in April, when it looked like Ben and Ryanne would soon be leaving the country, we took a quick trip over to Gonzales, LA, to visit them. Ryanne documented the trip in their blog, but we'll add our two cents. Even though Texas borders Lousianna, it was still about 8 hours to their place. Ben was at work when we arrived, so Ryanne took us to a plantation that was nearby. It was pretty neat there. The house was filled with a lot of history and relics of the era. The tour leader said the average height of the women at the time was 4 ft, and men, 5 ft. I don't believe that. The average height for women now is 5'2" (so I have heard), which would mean it has increased 14 inches in 150 years. No way. The rest of the tour seemed to be accurate though. I know this because I am a geologist.

After the tour we picked Ben up from work. On the way home we stopped at a little village/shops of former slave quarters and ate some delicious beignets, pronounce benyays. You can tell that is French because most of the letters are there for no reason. We also saw some gators there. That night we went out to a cajun restaurant and had some delicious food. Most of this blog is about food, I noticed. Over the next day and a half we played our new favorite game, Telestrations, played with Stella who made the trip, played some basketball (not Elin or Ryanne), a little bit of Halo (not Elin, much to everyone's disappointment), visited the French Quarter in New Orleans, and went to church. As always, Ben and Ryanne were the true delight of the trip.

On our way to Gonzales, LA, to visit B&R. It was hard to believe you could get there by car; a lot of the trip was spent on bridges over bayous.

Life on the plantation. Our future home. I am not sure where we are going to find people to take care of it these days...

French Market, NO, LA.

Finally, I got this picture from Nathan a few weeks ago, and had to put it up here. Boston and Guatemala next on the list?

Wil and me on the Manly Ferry, Australia. He loves me.

Real Growth

How you going?

At Bondi Beach with nephews Beckett and Wil.

Yes, that is how Wil smiles on demand.

... and "Good day, mate," "No worries," and "Take out the rubbish." That is just a small sample of the lingo we were privileged to during our recent trip Down Under. That is right, we went on a little trip to Australia, to visit Nathan, Lindsay and the boys. We brought back a wombat and a koala bear too. Unfortunately they are fake; the price we paid for them would make you think they must be real, however. But I don't want this blog to sound like Elin is complaining.

We had a delightful time in Sydney. Elin enjoyed sitting in the house and reading books she could read anywhere in the world, and I enjoyed seeing the sites, swimming at Bondi beach, eating kangaroo meat and other exotic wonders. I figure if you are going to fly literally halfway around the world, you should at least act like you are halfway around the world. That is also my justification for wearing a speedo to the beach. I'll let you imagine what that looked like, considering my svelte new 230 lb body.

Forrest and Wil building sandcastles at Bondi

The view from Bondi

Much to most of your disappointment, I, being Elin, am going to take over from here, because Forrest went to go shower. I don't have the wit and charm he possesses, but at least I can set a few things straight. Like how I didn't just sit in the house and read the entire time I was in Sydney. Indeed, I did read two books while I was there, but I am a fast reader and it was while we were all at the house or while I was sitting on the glorious beach. I saw as many sights as Forrest did, although he did not think I was near as enthusiastic as I should be. Nonetheless, Australia is gorgeous and we are both forever grateful for Nathan and Lindsay's hospitality. Here are just some of the wonders we experienced while we were there:

Standing (elin) and Swimming (forrest) in real ocean waves.
Riding the ferry from Sydney to Manly

Trip to Budderoo National Park = amazing waterfalls and a rainforest

Visit to Darling Harbor, the Chinese Gardens, and Wildlife World
Tour of Sydney on the Big Red Bus

Stopping at an Australian pie shop and eating the most delicious berry and cream pie on earth

Experiencing fish and chips in a location from which you can actually see the ocean

Picnicking at the Botanical Gardens

Here is the Sydney Bridge. The Opera house is nearby.

Forrest in front of the Dragon Wall at the Chinese Gardens

Nathan and Oliver and your two narrators.
I am holding Wil's plastic crocodile, in case any of you are wondering. He must have dropped it one of the times he hit the ground while he was running around. He scraped up both knees pretty bad.

And now, though I vowed at one time that I would never take pictures with the mere purpose of showing a baby bump, because Rachell has now asked nicely twice, I have done what I vowed never to do. And I must say, I felt like this was a mug shot or something. So Rachell, these are for you, because I love you and miss you. I would have included some of the ultrasound pictures but they are too blurry. Apparently she is an active little thing. The doctor said she looked "long of limb." Hmmmm, no surprise there. But much to Forrest's satisfaction, the doctor noticed she has a prominent chin. Thank you, Roberts and/or Allred genes for the blessing of facial bone structure. That certainly is not a trait that my family enjoys.

I definitely look wider, anyway....

It's not really a bump, per se. More like, everything between my sternum and hips is pushing outwards.