Prusso.com

Alex in her new Cowgirl Boots

2012-01-20T12:33:00.001-08:00

According to Vanessa, Alex is standing on her own in her new boots. I think she has a little growing to do, but hey, knee-high boots are in now.... Thank you Great Uncle Scott and Aunt Katrina!

The Girls!

2012-01-20T12:28:00.001-08:00

Christmas Lights at Temple Square

2011-12-12T08:20:00.001-08:00

Alex, all bundled up and enjoying the lights....

Laura.....

2011-11-29T09:53:00.000-08:00

After 30 years....she still makes my heart sing!

A Horse is a Horse of Course of Course!

2011-11-24T07:00:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday, My Little One.

2011-11-06T07:07:00.000-08:00

Where are you going my little one, little one? Where are you going, out of the door? Turnaround and you're one, turnaround and you're two, turnaround and you're a young girl going out of the door.

.... Where are you going, my little one, little one? Where are you going, out of the door? Turnaround and you're four, turnaround and you've grown, turnaround and you're a young wife with babes of your own.

Happy Birthday, My Little One.....

Love, Dad.

Cute Little Pumpkin!

2011-10-18T07:20:00.000-07:00

Alex's First Smile

2011-08-20T12:42:00.001-07:00

I know this picture is already on Vanessa's blog and I'm a little late posting it, but she is soooo cute that I just had to post it on our blog.....

Grandpa and the Girls!

2011-07-31T07:29:00.000-07:00

Alex's Zero Birthday!

2011-07-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome Little Alex

2011-07-21T14:07:00.000-07:00

2011-06-26T06:40:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from my backpacking trip to Zion's and Bryce Canyon with my sister Donna last week.

Early Morning at Bryce Canyon National Park

Donna, looking over the edge at Cable Mountain in Zion National Park. 2500 feet to the valley below.

The Virgin River 2500 feet below.

Along the trail.

Checkerboard Mesa, Zion NP.

The wild flowers were everywhere.

Captain, My Captain

2011-05-02T07:58:00.001-07:00

May Snow!

2011-05-01T10:31:00.000-07:00

A Happy Grandpa...

2011-04-04T06:41:00.000-07:00

From 74 to 32 in 12 hours.

2011-04-03T09:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday it was 74 degrees, this morning it was 32! Four inches of wet heavy snow is not good in spring. We lost a big branch on the plum tree and the willow is hanging to the ground.

Disneyland 1957

2011-02-04T15:14:00.000-08:00

I found this old aerial photograph of Disneyland form 1957. Things have changed in 54 years! Just to name a few... No Space Mountain...No Monorail...No Submarines...No Matterhorn... No "Its a Small World" (Ok, maybe 1957 wasn't so bad!) No ToonTown... No Big Thunder Mountain... No Critter Country... No Haunted Mansion... No New Orleans Square or Pirates... No Indiana Jones... Just to mention a few...

But, look what is there... a parking lot right up to the main gate... and orange groves in what is now ToonTown. There are very few trees and there is a lake in Tomorrowland!

Today Disneyland is much larger. Notice in the Google Earth picture below that it is almost round compared to the triangle shape above. The origninal parking lot is now the California Adventure Park, the Grand California Hotel and DownTown Disney. And it is even growing larger... California Adventure is expanding to fill in the last little bit of parking lot (bottom right) with an area themed after the movie Cars.

Some things haven't changed in all those years. Main Street USA, Sleeping Beauty's Castle, the Jungle Ride and the Mark Twain.... oh, and of course, the Magic....

Wee Little Everett Miller (maybe)

2010-12-31T07:41:00.000-08:00

For those of you that saw Vanessa and Chris' blog and their announcement and want to know how you get a baby out of that fuzzy picture, here you go. The inhanced first photo. The Doctor said that the baby will most likely be a boy. I didn't post that picture!!! So, here comes grandchild number two.... 18 July 2011 is the target date! (+/- 14 days)..... I wonder where his legs are!!!!

It's begining to feel alot like Chrismtas....

2010-12-19T12:57:00.000-08:00

Grandma's Glasses

2010-11-21T15:31:00.001-08:00

2010-10-18T18:30:00.000-07:00

Lucy at 18 Months

2010-10-05T14:03:00.001-07:00

Lucy - October 2010 from William (Grandpa) Prusso on Vimeo.

Where's Laura and Bill

2010-09-15T09:27:00.000-07:00

Can you find Laura and I? 10200 feet high. The trail to White Pine Lake. 9/5/10

A Nice Saturday Morning Hike

2010-07-26T07:03:00.000-07:00

A nice Saturday morning hike to Donut Falls.... We had the place to ourselves for all of ten minutes.... We climbed to the top risking life and limb, but made it back unscathed!

Hemingway

2010-07-14T14:22:00.001-07:00

Meet Hemingway, our new addition to the Prusso household. Thank you Linda... we love him (at least we think he's a he! Hard to tell from a plaster fish!).. We asked my nephew, Hunter, to give him a name and he came up with Hemingway... How apropos..

A Beautiful Utah Morning

2010-07-11T09:51:00.001-07:00

Donut Falls trail in Big Cottonwood Canyon.

Eternity

2010-07-01T07:23:00.001-07:00

Twenty-eight years ago this evening I was locked away in a torturous dungeon, deep in a dark and mysterious basement on Mesa Drive in Sandy, Utah. My prison cell for the night was about six feet by eight feet with cement walls and no window to the outside. The only piece of furniture was a slab table to sleep on.

The minutes passed that night like rush hour traffic in Los Angeles…slow and painful. It seemed like every hour I checked my watch only to find another five minutes had passed.

The next morning the sun rose bright and warm over the Wasatch mountains, but I didn’t see it. My cell was impervious. I could hear commotion coming from elsewhere in the residence, but I remained entombed for what seemed to be an eternity.

Eternity is a funny thing. Most people look forward to eternity, like it is a relief from the day to day grind of this life. But for me, I faced eternity that night, and it was, well…dark, long and boring.

Finally, after eternal night in darkness, Warden V.J. Nelson unlocked the door and let me out. I rush to take a shower, only to find all the hot water gone. A hastened breakfast was served and then I was hurried out of the house and escorted to the Salt Lake Temple.

My long wait and night of darkness soon gave way to a beautiful enchantress in a brilliant white dress. We joined hands over an altar and eternity took on a whole new meaning.

Thanks, Laura, for 28 great years… three great kids and one beautiful granddaughter…. I love you…

William…

2010-06-15T07:30:00.000-07:00

On Saturday Vanessa and I went to the Scottish Festival in Lehi. Just a father-daughter outing. It was great fun. We sat on the grass eating kettlecorn and watching the highland games. Scottish are really weird!! but fun to watch. The motivating reason for going was to watch the falconry, which ended up being a lady holding a falcon and this cool owl standing on a brick. Vanessa liked the falcon (see her blog) but I liked the owl. It was about two feet tall and kept its eyes on everyone.

May 24th... SNOW!

2010-05-24T08:17:00.001-07:00

Little Lucy

2010-05-10T14:00:00.000-07:00

How did we get to be so lucky!

The Graduate

2010-05-07T16:01:00.000-07:00

Congratulations, Vanessa.... well done!

A Blustery Day in Sandy

2010-04-28T15:38:00.001-07:00

This is what 75 mile-an-hour winds did to our gate early this morning. Luckily it is somewhat repairable. I had been hoping to get a new gate this summer... Now I have motovation.

Comment on Vanessa's Blog

2010-04-08T10:37:00.000-07:00

This comment was too big to fit in the little comment box on Vanessa's Blog about Is Anyone There? So here is my comment:
Is Anyone there?
By, W. Everett Prusso

To Vanessa:

I sat one day to write a blog
A pleasant ditty about a log
I pushed the button and wondered if
My words were just in cyber drift
I waited long, it seemed all day
To see if anyone had a comment to say
But at the end of day the counter was naught
Oh where were the readers, the readers I sought.

There’s a story about a forested tree
That fall to the earth, but nobody sees
The question is: did it make a sound?
If no one heard the tree hit the ground

Next day I passed a friend of mine
Who said she liked a particular line
“What did you say?” My mind in fog
She smiled at me, “I liked your blog.”
“You read it,” I cheered. “You really read?”
“As always,” she said. “Just before I go to bed.”

So like the tree, I’m happy to say
That my words were heard on this particular day
And so I will keep on blogging, it is true
With confidence that it will reach all of you.

Lucy Turns 1

2010-04-02T08:12:00.001-07:00

Mt Rushmore or Bust!

2010-03-11T10:51:00.001-08:00

Right, here we are, Thomas and me at Mt. Rushmore. It was a whooping 29 degrees, but windchill brought that down to 12! We spent much more time in the gift shop than we did actually looking at the monument. It was impressive, but bone numbing cold. The good news was we had the entire mounument to ourselves (except the guy taking our picture).

Prowd Grandma and Grandpa

2010-02-15T07:25:00.001-08:00

2010-01-29T10:33:00.000-08:00

Snow Shoeing 1/1/10

2010-01-05T07:52:00.001-08:00

Isn't she great!!!!

Santa's Little Helper

2009-12-08T13:47:00.001-08:00

I'm published!

2009-12-02T08:25:00.000-08:00

Ghost Waves hit the shelves of Borders in Murray, Utah on December 2nd, 2009 !

Sam the Snowman.

2009-12-01T06:11:00.000-08:00

"When I lent my voice to Sam the snowman back in 1964, 1 had no idea that the special would air on network television every year since then. When I tour across the country, I am recognized as Sam by everyone from the airline stewardesses down to the smallest of children. The popularity of that special overshadows my Oscar performance in The Big Country and my performance as ‘Big Daddy’ in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof" put together."
"I loved that special, so much that we have had wood figures of the Rudolph characters made and we decorate our front lawn with them every Christmas. The role of Sam came natural to me because I like singing to children because they like good songs and they are interested in some of the same things I am, like frogs, flies and bees. I worked on several projects with Rankin/Bass over the years including, The Daydreamer, The First Easter Rabbit, and even the live action film The Bermuda Depths and enjoyed making them all, but Rudolph is still the most popular. ‘Silver and Gold’ and ‘Holly Jolly Christmas’ are two of my favorite and most requested songs. I am grateful to have been a part of that special. So on behalf of my friend Rick, I ask you to pull up an iceberg and to have to the story of Rankin/Bass."
Burl Ives - 1909-1995

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T10:06:00.001-08:00

Grandpa's little girl!

2009-11-23T18:00:00.000-08:00

Lucy

2009-11-19T09:33:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday, Vanessa....

2009-11-05T11:26:00.000-08:00

Where are you going my little one, little one
Where are you going my baby, my own
Turn around and you're two
Turn around and you're four
Turn around and you're a young girl
Going out of the door

Where are you going my little one, little one
Little pigtails and petticoats
Where have you gone
Turn around and you're tiny
Turn around and you're grown
Turn around and you're a young wife
With babes of your own

Where are you going my little one, little one
Where are you going my baby, my own

Happy Birthday,
Love, Dad...

Airman Thomas Prusso

2009-10-26T12:41:00.000-07:00

Kirk -- The Waimea Man

2009-09-23T12:27:00.000-07:00

He's In!

2009-08-25T16:10:00.000-07:00

Now Available for Pre-Orders at Amazon

2009-07-27T16:08:00.000-07:00

27 Years!

2009-07-02T13:25:00.000-07:00

Twenty-Seven years ago, Laura and I were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple.

The Man and his Car....

2009-06-11T06:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday it was raining so hard that you couldn't see to the end of our driveway. But that didn't stop Chris from installing a new oil filtering system on his jeep! Here he is, soaking wet, under the jeep, trying to get the old oil filter off, in a torrential downpour. The man and his car! He looked like he was in heaven.

Thomas makes the Air Force News!

2009-06-04T11:04:00.000-07:00

FORTY NEW AIRMEN JOIN THE FORCE Forty right hands were raised as America’s newest airmen repeated the words of General Donald Hoffman, Commander, Air Force Materiel Command, as our newest troops took their oath to join the United States Air Force on Monday night. The event highlighted a massive evening of honor and entertainment at the Salt Lake Bees Airmen’s Opener at Spring Mobile Park.One of those who stood in front of the booming crowd was Thomas Prusso of Sandy, UT.“The only thing that really got me going was the military,” Prusso said of his decision to pursue a career in the Air Force.
Thomas won’t be the only Prusso family member making his way into the military; his older brother, Brett, will also enlist into the Air Force next week. “We’ve been military buffs since we were little,” Thomas said. His own Air Force quest started last November when he first met with his recruiter, and the process continued on Monday night with an exciting swear-in led by a four-star general.
Prusso has numerous Air Force goals, but will begin his trek as an armament systems technician. Eventually, he’d like to join the officer ranks. Prusso plans on making the military a lifetime career.
Staff Sergeant Jacob Reyes, 368th Recruiting Squadron team member, noted that such large-scale swear-in events like the baseball game are common for new recruits in our region. We all look forward to another ceremony this Saturday as new recruits are enlisted by the United States Air Force Thunderbird Commander.To our newest airmen: we salute you, and we look forward to you joining our family in the world’s best Air Force.
Photo Credits (Skydiver and Swearing-In): Alex R. Lloyd. Thanks to Jason Carrion, Air Force Week Coordination Team, 75 ABW Public Affairs for sharing the stories.

I'm Sure Glad that Cows Don't Fly!

2009-06-03T07:32:00.000-07:00

This is what a few, new, baby robins did to a chair in our garden....

2009-05-31T17:31:00.000-07:00

As we turn the corner into Summer, I thought I would post a nice picture of one of Laura's irises to remember Spring!

The New Doo

2009-05-26T07:09:00.000-07:00

Brett spent the long weekend painting our living room. He did a great job and his effort passed inspection by the picky parents!

Koalas Keeping Kool

2009-05-19T06:40:00.001-07:00

In Australia, where summertime temperatures have been reaching upwards to 111 F (40C) and water is scarce, people have been helping the Koala's keep cool. The cuddly little marsupial usually gets its liquid from the eucalyptus leaves it eats. However, in the extreme heat, they've needed suppliment their water intake with a little help from their friends. Koala's can sleep upto 22 hours a day (What a life!)

Utah Spring

2009-05-09T19:27:00.000-07:00

Ok, so there is some good about living in Utah. Spring time in the mountains. Today Laura, Thomas, Vanessa, Gir and I went for a hike to Battlecreek Falls in Pleasant Grove. Not a long hike, but a good climb and nice 50 foot waterfall. The oak and maple trees were just starting to get their leaves. It was a perfect hike to start the season.

Woodland Washington Tulip Festival

2009-04-27T08:31:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend Laura and I took a very quick trip to Washington state. On Saturday we went to the Tulip Festival in Woodland. Words can't adequately describe the spectacle of acres and acres of tulips in bloom. Add a few windmills and one would think they were in Holland.

Stupid Pet Tricks

2009-04-16T07:24:00.000-07:00

Gir is chasing a lazer dot. He can do this all day long, until he is foaming at the mouth and then drops from exhaustion.

Will the Peaches Survive

2009-04-16T06:52:00.000-07:00

A very slow moving Spring storm brought the night-time temperatures down to 32 last night. The question is, will our peaches survive? I think we lost the Apricots two weeks ago, but please, not the peaches. Can't winter just kindly leave?

Life is Hard When You Are A Wonderdog!

2009-04-09T09:12:00.000-07:00

I went in this morning to make the bed and found Gir -the wonderdog- sound asleep on Laura's pillow. I didn't have the heart to disturb him, so the bed remained unmade. Life is hard when you have to bark at every kid that passes on their way to school and every car that travels along 10th East.... So, in between kids and cars, you grab all the sleep you can!

Little Lucy the Cutie..

2009-04-06T17:50:00.001-07:00

2009-03-31T08:26:00.000-07:00

Listen to Lucy from Banana Bill on Vimeo.

Grandma and Grandpa Prusso

2009-03-31T06:52:00.001-07:00

A Few More Lucy Pictures

2009-03-30T07:35:00.001-07:00

Here's Lucy

2009-03-28T23:25:00.000-07:00

What a Difference a Day Makes

2009-03-23T10:25:00.001-07:00

On Saturday it was nearly 70 degrees here in Sandy. I washed all the cars (big mistake) and enjoyed the sunshine. Today, it is snowing! I don't think the apricots will survived.

The First Day of Spring

2009-03-20T09:54:00.001-07:00

Today is the first day of Spring. It came at 7:44 this morning. Right on cue, our apricot tree has bloomed. It is a welcomed site after a long cold winter. (Now, just keep your fingers crossed that we don't get a freeze)
Another sign of Spring is Chris' orchids. They started blooming last month and have continued with one new blossom each week.
But the best sign of Spring, however, is that it is going to be 70 degrees here on Saturday! Wahooooo....

Dogwoods In Yosemite

2009-03-14T09:57:00.001-07:00

Spring is almost here. (Or at least we wish it were almost here!) When I think of Spring, I can't help but think of Yosemite. As a kid, we would go to Yosemite each Spring with my grandparents. To my grandfather, Yosemite was sacred ground. It was his temple. I clearly remember him pointing, with his crippled hand, to each waterfall, each mountain peak, each unique feather of the valley, then crossing his arms and smiling with great satisfaction as he breathed in the sweet, clean mountain air. He was old and crippled with gout, but just being in the valley brought life back to him. You could see in his eyes that he was in heaven.

At night we would sit on the porch of our rented cabin at Camp Curry and wait for the firefall to begin. "Hello, Camp Curry!" a voice echoed from the high a top Glacier Point. "Hello, Glacier Point!" a voice echoed back. Then someone on Glacier Point would push a fire over the 3000 foot cliff.

A ribbon of fire would cascade down the face of Glacier Point, lighting the night sky. It seemed magical to a six year old kid.
Sunday morning was always the best. We would stroll through the valley looking at all the pink and white dogwood trees. He would tell us stories about his 1928 hike from Yosemite Valley to Devil's Postpile. He would tell stories about Chief Tenaya and the Ahwahnee Valley. (As it was called before the white man came.)
As my kids grew up, I tried to pass some of his reverence for Yosemite on to them. Teaching them to look beyond the pavement to appreciate the grandeur of the valley. (Truth-be-told, their greatest memory of Yosemite was making mud balls on the banks of the Merced River and chucking them as far as they could into the icy water.)
Vanessa and Chris are planning a trip to the valley this summer. Chris has never been before. They will be too late to enjoy the blooming dogwoods, and the firefall has disappeared to help reduce Yosemite's carbon footprint, but I hope a they take time to look beyond the pavement and enjoy my grandfather's temple.

The Ship Brooklyn

2009-03-07T14:22:00.001-08:00

This plaque marks the spot where the Ship Brooklyn moored in 1846, bringing 238 Mormons to San Francisco. (Incidentally, that doubled the population of the city!) The plaque reads,

Commemorating the landing at this point of the Ship Brooklyn, July 31, 1846. A 370 ton vessel, carrying Mormon Colonists and crew of nearly 300 under the leadership of Samuel Brannan. In the hold was a printing press, 179 books for educational purposes, two complete flour mills, plows, harrows and a supply of implements for settling the new country. The Daughters of Utah Pioneers, San Francisco County, July 31, 1940.

The plaque is at 100 Broadway, about three blocks from the current edge of the bay. However, in 1846, this spot would have been the bay. The picture to the right shows Yerba Beuna Cove (Note yet called San Francisco) at it would have looked in 1846. The street along the water's edge is now Montgomery Street. In the map below the 1846 beach is in yellow and the red dot is the location of the plaque.

In this photo, taken last Friday of the current San Francisco Embaradero, everything you see, every building, street, tree, car, bus, would have been part of the bay in 1846.
Not much remains today that would have been visible in 1846. However, the side of Telegraph Hill would have been a prominent landmark to the Mormon Pioneers. The hill would have been covered with a mixture of redwood and pine trees. The eucalyptus trees that currently dominating the flora of Telegraph Hill were imported from Australia in the 1850s. (Coit Tower was built in 1933 as a tribute to the fire fighters of the 1906 earthquake and fire. It is built in the shape of a fire hose.)
Read below about my room with a view!

A Room with a View.....

2009-03-07T14:01:00.000-08:00

On Thursday I had to go to San Francisco for business. I stayed at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco. When I got to my room and pulled back my blinds, this was my view. For those of you less familiar with San Francisco, that building is the Ferry Building, built in 1892 and one of the few buildings that remain from before the 1906 earthquake. The view is looking east with the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, Yerba Buena, Treasure Island and the Oakland-Berkeley hills in the background.

For any Indiana Jones fans, the white building on Treasure Island is the old Pan American Clipper (flying boats) terminal. It was used as the zeppelin terminal in Berlin in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Between 1957 and 1989, the Ferry Building was cut off from the rest of San Francisco by the ugly double-decker Embarcadero Freeway. The silver lining in the 1989 earthquake was that the freeway crumbled and was later torn down. From 1992 to 2002, the Ferry Building underwent extensive restoration. Now it is full of unique shops (not touristy stuff) and on Saturdays it hosts a farmer's market. Ferryboats once again ply the waters of the bay bringing commuters from Marin, Richmond, Berkeley, Oakland and Alameda to the Ferry Building.

A Brother's Tale

2009-03-03T20:11:00.001-08:00

So my brother tells the sailing story a little differently from my recollection. First of all there was a relentless, driving rain all day. Gale force winds buffeted us from the moment we left the dock till we return that evening. Even without our jib sail and the main storm reefed, we sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge at a clip of 20 knots. Then, just west of the gate we hit 20 foot waves. (Actually, they were rapids created by the out going tide.) The waves completely swallowed the boat. From the bottom of the wave's trough the bridge was completely blocked from our view by the mountainous wave crest. Our very lives were now in peril and we feared the little sailboat would capsize.
Just when we thought all was lost, a school of porpoise came to our rescue. Alerting us by their squeaks and squeals, they beckoned us to follow them to calmer waters in the lee of the Marin headlands.
Safe, we waved joyfilled thanks to our new aquatic friends and, still facing a raging head on squall, we forged forward until we safely navigated our way to the yacht harbor.
That evening we enjoyed a great meal, warmed by a fire, and marveled at the intelligence of porpoise.

Sailing, Sailing.....

2009-02-22T16:51:00.001-08:00

There is an old saying that goes, "If you sail on San Francisco bay, you can sail anywhere." Well, my brother Scott and I managed to sail around the bay, out under the Golden Gate and back again without much wind. I think that makes us very good sailors! Going out was easy as the tide was also going out, but coming back was a bit more challenging. We tried sailing back under the bridge, but couldn't keep up with the outgoing tide. By this time we had a good wind to our back, were crashing through 4-6 foot waves, making about 6 knots, but were actually going backwards and a bit sidewards. Finally, we had to turn the motor on before the current took us to Honolulu. Even with the assistance of the motor, it took us nearly two hours to go about 6 miles! Once back in the lee of Marin, the wind kicked up and we turned the motor off and sailed back to the berth.

Lake Tahoe

2009-02-20T09:43:00.000-08:00

Wednesday I had to fly to Sacramento. I had a window seat on a Skywest flight. The sun was shining in and made my little space nice and warm. Then a very large man sat next to me and pinned me to the wall. As I couldn't move, I put my head against the window and fell asleep. I don't remember taking off or the first hour of the flight. I awoke when the captain (in his Australian accent) made his announcement that we were starting our decent. Wiping the drool from the corner of mouth, I opened my eyes and looked out the window. At first I could only see a big bluish blob. Then my eyes focused. We were over Lake Tahoe and it was spectacular from 35,000 feet. Clear and blue and fringed in white. The lake looked a huge blue looking glass. Tahoe is many things to many people, but from my little squished perch in the sky, it looked like heaven.

You have to Watch This - II Divo "Amazing Grace"

2009-02-13T06:54:00.000-08:00

Click Here to listen and watch Il Divo's "Amazing Grace"

The Void

2009-02-10T07:32:00.000-08:00

For four years I have had the weekly routine of working on a 2500-4500 word paper, plus preparing for a 15-30 minute presentation. Now that I am finished with school, there is a big void in my schedule. Saturday was strange. I had no homework and nothing to edit. What a rare day. Laura and I were actually able to spend the whole day together. (Hope she doesn't get sick of me) It was fun. We went out for breakfast, went to four DIs, Walmart, Ikea, pumped money back into our economy, visited Kirk, had lunch with Brett and Brenda, and still had time to read some of Thomas' book, help with some housework, listened to Click and Clack, watch a little TV and prepare my Teacher's lesson for Sunday. Wow, I kinda like this new freedom!

Done!

2009-02-06T07:18:00.001-08:00

After four years,
43 classes,
60 presentations,
258 papers,
Zillion of Dollars,
I'm done.
BS - Business Administration
BS - Marketing
31 July, 2007
Masters of Business Administration
5 February, 2009

The Final Week!

2009-02-02T07:05:00.000-08:00

This is it. The final week. One night left. I will be happy to give my brain a rest!

1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California

2009-01-29T10:54:00.001-08:00

I just had to do a report for my last class. It was about leadership. For my part of the team effort I chose to write about Walt Disney's role in the 1960 Winter Olympics. Walt was asked to take on the job as the President of Pageantry! He was excited. He had just completed building a 1/10th scale model of the Swiss mountain, Matterhorn, at Disneyland. Disney also had his sites on building a Disney-style ski resort at Mineral King, California. (For those who enjoyed the Country Bear Jamboree at Disneyland, it was originally slated for Mineral King.)
Walt Disney set a new standard for the opening and closing ceremonies, much of what is seen today is based on his format. Here are some statistics about the '60s Olympics you might find fun.

Disney designed the portable gas Olympic torch, the basis of all torches since. It was the first time the Olympic flame travel across the North Pole!

There were 5000 participants in the opening ceremony. (4000 were high school bands and singers from 52 California and Nevada schools)

CBS paid $50,000 for the television rights! This was the first Olympics televised live and in prime time.

When it was determined that only eight countries were going to send bobsled teams, they organizers canceled the building of the bobsled run!

Lodging at the Olympics cost $5.00 to $10.00 per night!

A five event pass cost $7.50!

An eleven day pass to all events cost $60!

There were 665 athletes, 521 men, 144 women. The competed in 27 events in 4 sports.

The USSR had the highest medal count. 7 gold/21 total

US 3 gold/10 total

W. Germany 4 gold/ 8 total.

The US beat the USSR at hockey 3-2. It was the first dreamteam.

The week before the Olympics were to start, there was a warm spell and all the snow melted. But, just in the nick of time, Mother Nature came through with 12 feet of snow by opening day!

Hats off to Kirk

2009-01-26T06:56:00.000-08:00

Laura's brother Kirk was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma last October. Since then he has had several stints in the hospital, lasting weeks at a time. I just spent two days in bed from a cold and wished I were dead. Time seemed to stand still. I would nod off and seemingly sleep for hours, only to wake and find that fifteen minutes had passed. My head felt like it was going to explode and my lungs felt like they were being ripped out from coughing.

My little interlude into the world of the bed bound has giving me a new appreciation for the life that Kirk has been leading for the past three months. Under normal circumstances, I love being in bed, love to nap, love to sleep. But 48 hours is a bit too much, even for me. Kirk, with his Nelson 'work till you drop' ethic, being bed bound must be pure torture. So, with that said, my hat is off to Kirk for enduring months of life flat on his back, eating (or not) hospital food, having 500 channels of TV with nothing to watch and on top of all that, being tethered to chemicals that zap the very life from you.

Good job, Kirk.

Just two more.

2009-01-23T08:23:00.000-08:00

Just two more weeks. Two more classes. Two more nights. Two more presentations. Two more homework assignments. Two more commutes to Taylorsville. Two more lectures. Two more times that Chris can steal my parking spot in the garage while I'm in class. Two more dinner breaks. Two more times I have to barrow a piece of paper from the guy (Shane) that sits next to me. Two more times I have to log into the UOP's wireless network (which is a real pain). Two more Thursdays. Two more quizes. Two more times to get out early.

Three More Weeks

2009-01-17T07:59:00.000-08:00

On September 11th, 2001 at 7:00 am I was returning home from dropping Vanessa off at Alta High School. I turned on NPR on the car radio to hear the news that the first airliner had struck the World Trade Center in New York. For the next few hours I sat on the little purple love seat at the foot of our bed watching the TV as the next aircraft struck the other tower and then as both towers crumbled to the ground. Little did I know the impact the events of that morning woudl have on my life and livelihood.

As the skies over America were cleared of all aircraft and continued for three days, Banana Travel, the business I had spent fifteen years building, collapsed. By August 2002 Banana was gone. I was 49 years old. Neither Laura nor I had jobs and neither Laura nor I had formal educations.

I began looking for new opportunities. Along with some friends, I tried to start another business, but by May 2003, it too crumbled. By this point Laura had found a part time job at the Draper Library to help support Brett on his mission to Belgium and I took a travel job with American Express at Novell in Provo. Our combined incomes were only one third of what I made at Banana!

In September 2004 American Express held an Education Fair at their Taylorsville call center. There, I began talking to Tim Dennis from the University of Phoenix. That day, the pieces of my life began to come back together.

I enrolled in UOP's Bachelor of Science Business Program. It was a three year commitment where I eventually was awarded a BS in Business and one in Marketing. However, it was the first instructor, Sonia Farnsworth, which had the largest impact on my time at Phoenix.
Sonia had assigned the class a short paper to write. I don't even recall the subject. All I remember is sitting down at my computer and an amazing story flowed through my fingertips. When I posted the paper to Sonia, I included this note. "Sonia, I don't know if this is what the assignment was, but I sure had fun writing this story."

I got an A! After the next class, Sonia pulled me aside and asked if I had ever thought about being published. I assured her I had not. She said I should. The paper wasn't even close to the assigned topic, but the paper was worthy of being published. On that basis, she awarded me the A.

About this same time my son Thomas decided to write a book. He was 17 at the time. He wrote a 300 page, handwritten manuscript. Boy, was I impressed and proud. I encouraged him to type it into the computer and then he sent out 30 copies to different publishers.

In 2006 Thomas left for his mission to Seattle. I was nearing the completion of my bachelor's program and wondered what I should do with my new degree. Work was routine and slow. I had a lot of time on my hands. One day while surfing the internet, I found an article about Ernest Hemmingway. His goal as a writer was to write 1000 words a day. I thought to myself, "I can do that." I had been writing 4000 word papers on a weekly basis for three years now. Surely I could write 1000 words. So I started to write. Because I was so impressed about Thomas' determination to write, I title my book, "The Adventures of Thomas Ables" and started writing. (Thomas’ middle name is Able)

On most days I was able to meet my 1000 word goal. Some days, however, I would write two or three thousand words. Half way through the book I scrapped it and started over. The whole process took about three months. When I was done I had a 350 page, typewritten manuscript. That was July 2007. That same month, I graduated from Phoenix the first time.

At the encouragement of Tim Dennis, I decided to continue my education and start work on an MBA. I started in October 2007. Again in my first class, fate stepped in and sat me next to a gentleman named, Bruce Gowen. Bruce was a publisher! Funny, how things like this work. I gave Bruce a copy of my manuscript and several months later, May of 2008 I think, they accepted it and agreed to publish it and assigned me an editor, Kristine Princevalle.

I am now three weeks from completing the MBA program! Yahooooo! My book is due out soon (as soon as the never ending editing is completed). Bruce has agreed, in principle (no signed contract yet) to print the sequel. Laura and my combined income is now half of what I made at Banana. (What an improvement!) I will soon have my third degree!

I always thought of the University of Phoenix as a school that started in Phoenix, Arizona. But now I look at the title completely different. My life over the past four and a half years has literally begun to rise from the ashes of 9/11. I am a Phoenix.

Three more weeks!

Home Again

2009-01-13T08:08:00.000-08:00

For a brief span of six days Laura and I lived in a different world. The world was much warmer than the one we currently live in. There was the laughter of little kids (and a little fighting from time to time as well). Each morning we only had to worry about which adventure our life was going to take that day. An African safari, surmount a mighty mountain, walk with dinosaurs, conquer a space trip to Mars or chat with a talking turtle. In that short week we visited Canada, England, France, Japan, China, Norway, and Mexico. We met, literally, tens of thousands of people, most of who were very nice. (Watch out for the New Yorkers). We ate crepes, strop waffles, tacos, brats, black forest chocolate cake and the best cheese cake ever.We watched the wonder of this new world through the eyes of a two, four, six and eight year old. (The two year old had much more fun playing with soda straws than all the other adventures around her.) But, time doesn’t stop for anyone, no matter how much fun you are having. On Saturday we boarded our flight back to reality and cold. (But sunny)Now it is hard to get back into the grind of editing, working, schooling and living. I find myself daydreaming of that week. As fun as it was, the best part, and the part that I miss the most, is being able to spend so much time with Laura. (I don’t know if she feels the same way… maybe she was glad to get back to work… but I miss that time together. Alice and me and our Bug Eyes....

The whole crew in front of where Vanessa used to work.

Laura and I and Everest

Alice and Jane

Canyon and Jed on the African Safari

Survived Everest!

2009-01-08T19:50:00.001-08:00

One of the best rides at Walt Disney World. Everest... Its great.

Jane Prusso at Disney-Hollywood Studios

2009-01-05T18:56:00.000-08:00

Moving Day

2009-01-02T09:29:00.000-08:00

Today is the next big day in Thomas' life. He is moving to Utah County today to start University next week. (Don't ask what he is majoring in, he doesn't know.) He is taking exciting things like snowboarding, avalanche awareness, geology and the all important, Marriage class.

We wish him well in this next adventure. From the parental point-of-view, we'd like to see some English and Math classes in there, but hey, this is definitely the year for avalanche awareness!

Good luck Thomas...Have fun and be safe

Thomas can be reached on Facebook for comments.

PS. Thomas won't be the only Prusso at UVU. Brett is in his second year of the UVU aviation program. Jeremy Prusso starts next week in the Construction Management program and rumor has it that Canyon Prusso will be attending soon....... Yikes, the school may not survive four Prussos at one time!

A Picture Perfect Day.

2008-12-30T14:50:00.000-08:00

Thomas and I were just a little bored today so for lunch we drove up Big Cottonwood Canyon. It was a picture perfect kind of day. Not too cold, just a few high wispy clouds and tons of blue sky. The drive was nice, the conversation was nice, and the diversion was nice. Utah at its beautiful best.

And to all...... a good night!

2008-12-22T09:10:00.000-08:00

I heard the Bells on Christmas Day

2008-12-14T15:45:00.000-08:00

"Christmas Bells"
The Original Poem
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
All Seven Stanzas
~~~~~
"I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

~~~~~
And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

~~~~~
Till, ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day
,A voice, a chime A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

~~~~~
Then from each black accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

~~~~~
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

~~~~~
And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said.
"For hate is strong, And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

~~~~~
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail, The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!"

December 25, 1864

Deckin' the Halls

2008-12-10T16:03:00.000-08:00

Well, its that time of year to deck the halls once again. This is our eighth Christmas in this house so that means that we have had Christmas decorations up for nearly two-thirds of a year! Wow... that's a lot of Christmas. Well, here is our four trees for this year.

The Traditional Tree in the Living Room
The Family Tree in the Basement.
The Disney Tree in our room.

Chris and Vanessa's Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer tree.
It's a real tree too....

Merry Christmas, Novell Travel!

2008-12-09T07:12:00.000-08:00

Its been nine months since I left Novell and started working from home. I don't miss the 30+ mile commute each way each day, (now my commute is in feet, not miles) but I do miss my friends and being on the phones..... Yes, I even miss the guy in Montrose! Guy! and that guy in Florida that always made is reservations direct with American!

Lari called me last night to say that they read my blog in the Novell Travel Office... so to Mike, Cindy, Lari, Nancy and Lori, (and the new guy.. Leonard, Larry, Dexter.. what ever your name is) Merry Christmas and best wishes for the new year.

Remember Pearl Harbor

2008-12-04T10:06:00.000-08:00

This Sunday marks the 67th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Honolulu in the Territory of Hawaii, on December 7th, 1941. I have no idea why this event has made such an impact on me. Perhaps it is because I've spent so much time in Hawaii and have been to Pearl Harbor many times that it is so familiar to me. Like it was an attack on me. Perhaps is it because of the way in which the Japanese carried out the attack and the enormous impact it had on America. Maybe it is because my mother was living in Hilo at the time and I recall her stories and the effect it had on her. Nevertheless, as long as I can remember, I've observed Pearl Harbor day.

Today in Pearl Harbor there are two monuments to help us remember what happened on the morning December 7th, 1941. The first is the Arizona Memorial. A gleaming white edifice that spans the width of the sunken battleship, the USS Arizona. From its deck the visitor can peer down into the water and see the remains of the ship where she sank within in opening minutes of the attack. Nearly half of all that died that morning, die aboard the Arizona.

Just a hundred yards to the stern of the Arizona floats the USS Missouri. The Missouri represent the final minutes of the war. It was on the deck of the Missouri, commemorated by a plaque, that Emperor Hirohito surrendered to the US General Mac Arthur, ending World War II.

The real monument at Pearl Harbor is what lies between the stern of the Arizona and the bow of the Missouri. It is only 100 yards, but that 100 yard represents the sacrifice that millions of Americans had to make to win the war. They went the distance. They gave it their all, and they won.

It has now been 63 years since the end of World War II. Her brave solders and sailors are fading into history along with our collective consciousness of the events of that war. Will we, as a nation, forget Pearl Harbor? What happened at Pearl Harbor changed this country. We can't afford to forget it.

We face seemingly insurmountable obstacles today. Bank failures, dropping home values, unemployment, and the fear that they breed. The flip side of the tragedy at Pearl Harbor was that it mobilized America. The instant the first bomb fell, America had a cause, a mission and a resolve. She shifted gears and went to work creating the largest logistical movement of men, machine, and material in the history of this planet. America changed from a land of depression and desperation to the land of innovation and opportunity. There was zero unemployment. There was sacrifice on all levels. The country pulled together and produced.

We don't need another Pearl Harbor, but we do need a cause, a mission and a resolve. We need to shift gears and get our people back to work. We need to become a land of innovation and opportunity again. We need to sacrifice for the greater good of everyone in the country and for the country herself.

I hope on Sunday we can look back on what America was able to do between December 7th, 1941 and September 2nd, 1945. By remembering Pearl Harbor, we are remembering that there are no mountains we can't climb, no floods that we can't ford and no obstacle that we can't overcome as long as we work together with a cause, a mission and a resolve. Remember Pearl Harbor.

A great Thanksgiving....

2008-12-01T08:32:00.001-08:00

We had a great Thanksgiving week. Left Monday and drove as far as Barstow where Laura and I spent the night a the KOA...(Kind of a sandy pit off the side of the road, but it was quite.) Next day we drove through the Mojave Desert, down the Tehachapi grade, through Bakersfield, past the James Dean memorial junction, over some unnamed hills, through Paso Robles, over some more hills to Cambria on highway one, then three

miles to our camp ground. Our timing was perfect because as we pulled in to camp, our friends, Doug and Deloris were right behind us....

Vanessa, Chris and Thomas left Wednesday afternoon and traveled all night and got in around two in the morning.

A gloomy looking Morro Bay------------------>

Thanksgiving day was bright and sunny, but a little on the cold side. Doug cooked the turkey in the weber... 5 hours to perfection. It was delicious. Turkey and all the traditional Thanksgiving fixings... out doors with good friends and family... Only thing that could have made it more perfect was if Brett and Brenda could have joined us.

Thomas and Nicole dug a big sand fort down on the beach It was large enough for Thomas to crawl through from one side to the other. It was at least five feet deep. Sadly, on Saturday, huge waves destroyed it.

The beach was great. Chris' sister and husband drove up from LA on Friday with surfboards. Thomas tried his hand a surfing, but the waves were not cooperating. They stayed for dinner and camp fire. It was a fun visit.

On the way home there are two huge hills to climb just outside of Baker, California. As we reached the top, I notice the power cord on the trailer was starting to come out. We pulled over in a truck stop and then I noticed anti-freeze dripping from under the engine.... we had blown a water hose. I called AAA and they said someone should be there within the hour.... three hours later.. Edgar the tower showed up... Towed us into Las Vegas to Pep Boys... they fixed the hose and we were on our way again.... six hours behind schedule. Chris, Vanessa and Thomas were home before we left Vegas.....

Lucy! Due March 29th, 2009

2008-11-18T19:27:00.000-08:00

100 Years...... Ruth Panama Harris-Ables-Holmes-Moore

2008-11-18T13:16:00.000-08:00

Ruth Panama Harris was born in the Canal Zone, Panama on November 19, 1908. She would now be 100 years old. Born to Harry and Iva Mae Harris, Harry was a worker on the Panama Canal. They later relocated to Denver, Colorado where Ruth grew up. At age 19 she married Arthur Ables. After the birth of their two children, Shirley and Pete, they moved to Long Beach. Arthur worked as a mechanic for Chevrolet and an amateur photographer. In 1936, Ruth, Shirley and Pete moved to Hawaii where Arthur had taken a job with Aloha Motors.

The family lived in Honolulu until early 1941 when they moved to Hilo. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Arthur went to work for the Navy and traveled to the Philippines and on to Egypt. In the meantime, Ruth filed for divorce and moved Shirley and Pete to Lake Tahoe, California.

In the late 1940s, Ruth remarried to William Holmes, a conductor for the Southern Pacific Railroad and relocated to Auburn, California.

The marriage to William lasted until 1960 when she divorced him and moved to Arizona. In 1964 Ruth married again, this time to James Moore, to whom she remained married to for the rest of her life. They moved to Sacramento and later to Auburn, where she bought a small mobile home. The first and only house she ever owned!

Ruth's lifestyle, smoking and drinking, eventually led to two open heart operations. One of her doctors told her she could only have one drink a day. So, Ruth purchased a large fish-bowl-sized brandy glass, filled it with bourbon, and nursed it all day.....her one drink!

In October 1978, just shy of her 70th birthday, Ruth's heart gave out. She passed away in her sleep. Her husband, Jim, passed away a month later.

I'd Rather Be Sailin'

2008-11-11T22:41:00.001-08:00

A Picture is worth a thousand words. Enough said.......

Bumble Bee

2008-11-07T07:14:00.000-08:00

This is Brett's new car. A 2009 Chevy Camaro. It looks good next to his 1969 Camaro. Too bad it is only eight inches long!
Brett is a bit of a model car aficionado. He has built hundreds of models, mostly airplanes, but is currently building cars.

This one is modeled after Bumble Bee in Transformers.

Perhaps when he starts flying for the airlines he will be able to get a real one!

The Pendulum Swings

2008-11-05T07:39:00.000-08:00

Today is my birthday. I'm 56. Fifty-six years ago on my day of birth, Eisenhower was elected. He was the first Republican to take the White House after two decades of Democratic control and the pendulum moved to the right. During his tenure the United States added Alaska and Hawaii. Eisenhower signed the United States first Civil Rights Act (The Civil Rights Act of 1957) ending the separate by equal doctrine and paving the way for the more comprehensive Civil Rights Act of 1964. But, as the country moved to the right, it feed on the fear of Communism. I can't say if the fear was founded or not, but I do remember the duck and cover drills in school and the backyard bomb shelters.

Over the fifty-six years later the pendulum has swung back and forth creating a climate where we were able to elected our first African-American President, and I for one think it's great. It was time for the pendulum to swing a little to the left. For nearly 30 years the Republicans have been in control. (I know what you're thinking-- what about Clinton... well during most of Clinton's term, Republicans controlled congress... remember Newt?) The country can move a lot to the left and still not pass center...

For all my beloved friends and family whose anxiety levels might be a bit elevated this morning on the news that Obama will move into the White House in January, take a deep breath and remember: It was a Republican that ended slavery, a Republican that signed the first Civil Rights act, a Republican that ended the Cold War.... and it will be the Republicans who will sing the pendulum back towards the center after it goes too far to the left. In the end, it is this great system of government that prevails and we are all its benefactors. Thank you all for voting. In someway, we are all winners...because of where we live and this time in history.

John McCain said in his speech last night, "Today, I was a candidate for the highest office of my country. Tonight, I remain her servant, and that is blessing enough." It is our job now, to remain her servant, to keep watch over her and take the momentum of this election and to continue to move the country forward.

The Mohawk Man

2008-11-04T08:05:00.000-08:00

Here is Uncle Kirk, the Mohawk Man! While giving him a very short hair cut on Satruday, we took a little time to have some fun... Just what everyone wanted to see....Uncle Kirk in a Mohawk...

2008-11-03T11:24:00.000-08:00