Christmas is Coming!

Elder Cassinat and his missionary companions have decorated for Christmas.

Elder Cassinat posing in front of the Saskatchewan Legislative Building

Elder Cassinat with the Mission President and Mission President's wife

Garrett and I at one of the musical concerts on the Mesa Arizona temple grounds. The lights are beautiful!

I find it very beautiful to see the lights shining off the citrus fruit on the trees at the temple.

The days are going by quickly and I'm enjoying the feeling of the Christmas season. I'm making an effort to remember the "reason for the season"--the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. I am grateful for Him.

Elder Cassinat Update and Halloween Fun

Here's an update about my brother, Elder Cassinat (Jared) serving in the Winnipeg, Manitoba mission. He is enjoying the work and working hard. The following is an excerpt from his latest Weekly Update letter to go with this picture:

"Tuesday morning we had district meeting. It was about how we can become better teachers and how to do better at our job. After that I went on exchange with Elder S. Smith. He is from Idaho and he is the youngest of 6. We tracted in St. Paul, it was a nicer neighborhood. I think I ran into a Jets player, not 100% sure. We were doing a Bible Survey. There was this one house with a helicopter on the front. It wasn't working. But we were let in by Kristina. She is taking Biblical Studies in college and so we talked about the Book of Mormon and how they connect. Exchanged numbers and left her with a copy of the Lesson 1 pamphlet and Book of Mormon. Went in for dinner. After dinner we ran into Jon. He is a geologist here in Selkirk and he really interesting fellow. Very well educated and knows his stuff. He used to have missionaries come into his home. We asked if he had a copy of the Book of Mormon. He came with the Book of Mormon but also a case. And inside the case was bagpipes! He played Scotland the Brave, the tune for which Praise to the Man was taken from. Amazing grace, Flowers of the Forest, and more Ride and Dangevar. He then let us try it out. Hence the picture. I can't believe the lung capacity and power you need to play that thing. But I guess it is the same as the baritone or trombone, it got easier the more I played it."

Garrett and I also had fun preparing for a Halloween Party that was hosted by one of the young couples in our ward. Garrett made "Witch Finger" cookies. We had to modify the recipe a bit--instead of sticking the almonds onto the cookies with red gel icing we used pumpkin butter. Gave the nail-bed a festering infection sort of look and tasted delicious! Since we only received the invitation the day before Halloween we didn't have time to get a pumpkin until after work on Monday (Halloween Day). Garrett bought one of the last remaining pumpkins. It was rather small, and its skin was VERY thick. Garrett eventually resorted to using his electric drill.


Our "Puking Pumpkin"
I dressed up as a Polar Bear for the Halloween celebration at work. Those grey plastic sheets hanging from the ceiling at work were garbage bags. They were supposed to form a haunted alley around our cubicles but the decorators ran out of garbage bags halfway through the project. We had Jordan over for a small Birthday dinner on Garrett's birthday (and celebrated Jordan's b-day too). Garrett opted to have ice-cream sandwiches for his "cake".

Chloe and the Chickens

Garrett and I went to Kingman and stayed with his Papa and Maryjane overnight on Friday. We had a wonderful time visiting them. Papa taught Garrett the first steps involved in laying a stone walkway. I got a picture of Garrett working with a pick to level the ground. Maryjane showed us some of the beautiful glass artwork she has done. I got some Christmas shopping done while admiring her handiwork :)

Next we stopped in Chino Valley and toured the property that his parents are going to rent for the next few months. One of the highlights of the tour was the chickens. Chloe (Kristy’s dog) did pretty good with the chickens at first. Check out this video:

Play of the Day

Instant replay:

Slow Motion Instant Replay

Post-game Interview:

Fun in Ft. Worth, TX

I went to Ft. Worth, TX for a couple of days this past week for the Annual Conference of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy. I had a very nice time. I really liked the downtown area of Ft. Worth where the conference was held. It was much safer to walk around and explore compared to downtown Atlanta (where the conference was held last year). I even went to see a play one evening at "Circle Theatre" (a small theater where Texas Christian University puts on performances). The play was called "The Fantasticks". I didn't like the plot but the acting and singing by the actors and actresses was superb! Here are some photos from the trip:

There was a neat little chocolate shop in the "Sundance Square" area (that was the name of the area of shops/restaurants near my hotel in downtown Fort Worth). I usually can't go by a chocolate shop without going in for a closer look and a sample or two.

This was a mural on the wall of one of the buildings in Sundance Square.

An area in the Fort Worth Water Gardens. It was so quiet and peaceful--you had to walk down a narrow staircase to get to it. It was a few feet below ground level. The Forth Worth Water Gardens were right next to the Fort Worth Convention Center (where the AAMFT Conference was held).

This was another one of the water pools in the Fort Worth Water Gardens. You can see someone going down the stairs where you can be among the waterfalls.

A giant star made of...cowboy hats! This was hanging from the ceiling in the convention center.

Finally...testing the nozzle!

A summer of developing a new design for a specialized nozzle culminated in the testing of the first actual nozzle! Garrett was very excited. I joined him at the lab where he was testing the newly designed nozzle. You will be able to see Garrett, but not the nozzle. The nozzle is very tiny, and best viewed through a microscope. The nozzle is designed to release microscopic water droplets. Each droplet contains a protein molecule that is x-rayed by a specialized laser beam--the LCLS.

Random Pictures from the Last 2 Months

Me riding a segway for a Team Building Activity at work mid-June. It was pretty fun. I didn't fall off the segway at any time, though my segway crashed when I wasn't on it because I didn't get on it fast enough. It jumped the curb where I had rested it, ran into the wall, and fell over.

My dad and I in front of the "skeleton" of the Calgary Alberta Temple (May 2011). It is scheduled to be completed Spring 2012.

My dad and grandma at my brother Jared's Missionary Open House on June 12th.

My brother Daniel at Jared's Open House on June 12th. I took pictures of Jared too, but he was usually standing with other people and since I don't know the other people very well I didn't think I should put their pictures on my blog.

Garrett and I went on a hike with the Cub Scouts on August 13th (Saturday) to Hieroglyphic Canyon. It's actually a misnomer, because the markings on the rocks are petroglyphs (not hieroglyphics). It's a 3-mile hike round trip. It was very fun!

Scenery as we began the hike.

The petroglyphs.

A very neat lizard that was sunning itself on a rock along the hiking trail. We also saw the tail of a salmon-colored snake. It slithered away into the bushes as our group approached. We weren't close enough to get a picture.

Called to Serve

It's hard to believe my brother Jared is 19 years old and going on a mission, but he is! He reports to the Missionary Training Center in Provo at the end of June. He is called to serve in the Canada-Winnipeg Mission.

http://www.mission.net/canada/winnipeg/missioninfo.php

Apparently: Many are cold, but few are frozen.

He received his endowment in the Cardston, Alberta Temple on Saturday, May 28th (29 years to the day my parents were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple). Here are some pictures from that day.

San Diego!

Enjoying the beach

That water was COLD if you ask me...but the kids didn't seem to mind

A butterfly at Legoland (I loved its wing pattern...can you see its blue wing tips?)

One of the models at Legoland (the Star Wars display was a highlight)

Another Star Wars lego model

Katie, Parker, and Grandma going down the slides

Enjoying the sights

Garrett--panning for gold at the remodelled Mormon Battalion Museum in San Diego

Garrett was the volunteer in our group to wear the gear the members of the Mormon Battalion wore. He looked pretty cool!

Garrett and I enjoyed a few days in San Diego with the Nelson clan. It was a bit chilly for me (anything below 20 degree Celsius, 70 degrees Fahrenheit is cold for me these days). It felt great to be back there for a visit though. San Diego is where Garrett and I met back on July 1st, 2007, so that city will probably always have a special place in our hearts.

The beach was another highlight--though I didn't dare put on a swimsuit lest I freeze to death. Each time I went to the beach, I had long pants and a jacket on. The kids were much tougher than I was. They not only wore swim gear...they went in the water too!

The whole family went to Legoland one of the days, so I have a couple pictures from that.

Garrett and I also went to the Mormon Battalion Museum, which had been remodelled since I lived in San Diego. I was VERY impressed with the museum! I enjoyed going there so much that we went back two more times before leaving San Diego. I highly recommend a stop at the Mormon Battalion Museum to anyone passing through the San Diego area.

San Francisco!

Me and the seals at Pier 39

The TransAmerica Building (pyramid shaped)

Famous old carousel at Pier 39

A bunch of trolleys

I didn't show up well in the picture...but the Golden Gate Bridge is off in the distance

I attended the California Association and Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT) Conference from May 12th-14th. While I spent the majority of my days at the Northcentral University booth talking about the Marriage and Family Therapy program we offer, I did go into the city of San Francisco on evening. Myself and my colleague from Northcentral rode the "BART" (Bay Area Rapid Transit) and then walked to Pier 39. It was quite a walk from the BART station! We were smarter and took a street car back to the BART. My favorite part was the mini donuts and the delicious salmon and sour dough bread dinner I had. Here are some pictures from that outing.

Long time, no post...

OK! Lots of catching up to do! I has been quite a few months since our last post. In that time, we actually had a small watermelon grow in our garden, I dressed up as R2D2 for the Halloween potluck at work, and we moved to a different studio apartment. Plus, I got a haircut (the picture of me with the new haircut isn't the best, though...but I really like the haircut!)