Merry Christmas 2010

This evening we had the family together for our traditional Christmas Eve celebration. We have pizza every Christmas Eve. I'm not sure when this tradition started. We've done it as far back as I can remember.

Then I put together our evening program around the reading of the Christmas story. We took turns reading and then stopped to sing Christmas carols in between the readings. It was probably my favorite part of the night.

After that the mayhem ensued as the munchkins opened up their presents.

However, I want to remember that the best part of the evening was listening to my family sing Silent Night around me, as I was playing the piano.

I wish you and your family a very beautiful Christmas. I leave you with these very poignant words:

Christmas is not a day or a season, but a condition of heart and mind.
If we love our neighbors as ourselves;
if in our riches we are poor in spirit and in our poverty we are rich in grace;
if our charity vaunteth not itself, but suffereth long and is kind;
if when our brother asks for a loaf, we give ourselves instead;if each day dawns in opportunity and sets in achievement, however small—
then every day is Christ’s day and Christmas is always near.

In Charles L. Wallis, ed., Words of Life (1966), 33

When I grow up I want to be like G'ma J

A few weeks ago I went to Houston, TX for work.  I stayed with my G'ma J while I was there. I love my Grandma. 

She is a beautiful woman who has taught me about service - service to your fellow man and service to God. Someday I want to grow up to be like my Grandma.

The Wisemen’s Gifts of Faith and Dedication

“Now when Jesus was bon in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wisemen from the east, to Jerusalem.” (Luke 2:1) For these wisemen had been preparing and study, and watching for the signs that would herald the birth of the King of the Jews, the Savior Jesus Christ. “And they did watch steadfastly…that they might know that their faith had not been vain” (3 Nephi 1:8)

These men, lead by the Spirit, dedicated their lives to learning and understanding the prophecies surrounding the coming of the King of the Jews – “Behold the days com, saith the Lord; that I will raise unto David a righteous Brand, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth” (Jeremiah 23:10). We do not read of any heavenly messengers that manifested the truthfulness of these teachings to the wisemen. But we have to believe that the truthfulness was made manifest to them in the same manner in which we know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the King of the Jews, and the Savior of all mankind, through the still, small voice that is the Spirit.

Having been enlightened by the Spirit these magi did what was required, they dedicated their lives to following the Savior, both spiritually and physically. They followed the truths of the scriptures and prophets, they followed the promptings of the Spirit, and they sought the Savior.

“Saying, where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and are come to worship him.” (Matt. 2:2)

The three wisemen laid at the feet of the young Savior of the World, not only gifts of frankincense , gold, and myrrh, but gifts of faith and dedication.

The will of the Lord, became their will. Their gift of unconditional faith and a dedication to following through on the truths, which came to them as a result of their faith, were laid at the feet of a “young child” who was Jesus Christ. Our gifts of faith and dedication may also bring us to the feet of the Savior.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught, “the submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God’s altar. The many other things we “give,” brothers and sisters, are actually the things He has already given or loaned to us. However, when you and I finally submit ourselves, by letting our individual wills be swallowed up in God’s will, then we are really giving something to Him! It is the only possession which is truly ours to give!” (Neal A. Maxwell, Swallowed Up in the Will of the Father, October 1995).

May our faith and dedication to the Savior lead us to aligning our will with His will. Then our gifts of faith and dedication will return blessings 100 fold. May we be like the wisemen, “press[ing] forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope and a love of God…feasting upon the word of Christ and endure to the end” (2 Nephi 31:20) to hear our Father in Heaven say “Well done, thou good and faithful servant; thou has been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” (Matt. 25:21).

Wish Everybody Could Have This Type of Welcome

I wish everyone could feel this welcome everywhere they went...

Depth makes for better vacations photos - a trip down memory lane

A good friend of mine recently returned from a beautiful multi-country tour - Egypt, Greece, Italy, etc. She also happens to be an AMAZING photographer. I absolutely loved looking through all of her photos. I realized that one of the key differences between good vacation photos and AMAZING vacation photos is depth.

Sara is wonderful at taking pictures of the city skyline of Jerusalem, but even better are the narrow alley ways of Venice, and even better are all the masks on the vendor's cart in Milan. The variety in depth really brings more humanity to the photographs. Rather than just taking all vacations photos from 20 feet away (you know how it goes..."Everyone line up I want to take a picture"...*snap*...), get in close, look for textures and variations in light, look for high contrasts in colors. And then those types of photos, coupled with the cityscapes make for a richer story of your vacation.

Thanks, Sara, for the lesson!

Here are a few of my favorites from my trip in 2005 to Italy...I've had a serious camera upgrade since then and have a few new tricks up my sleeve. Now all I need is another trip to Italy.

The Coliseum in Rome.
A column outside the Pantheon.
Grapes from a vineyard in Tuscany.

Beuoooootiful lasagna in Sienne.
And here's one for the "20ft" album - Pompeii.

Aunt Megan's Annual Halloween Party - 1st Installment

So last Friday was Aunt Megan's Annual Halloween Party. I believe it was the 6th year I've done this. As I was frantically running around trying to get things out and directing the fun, I didn't get to take any pictures. Fortunately, I'm part of a "picture-taking" family and so my brother Jeff snapped away for me. He's supposed to come over tonight and bring all the pictures so I'll have to post them in the 2nd installment.

Till then, you can watch the magic show. For the entertainment portion of our evening I invited the kids to each prepare a magic trick to share. They loved performing and we had a blast watching them perform. Check out the video...

Happy Halloween - Did you know...

Big Beark Lake, CA - A Perfect Vacation

I just got back yesterday from a perfectly relaxing vacation. I went with two of my good friends, Susan and Sharon, up to Big Bear Lake, CA. My parents swapped for a time-share condo on the lake. And when I say "on the lake", I mean right on the edge of the lake. You'll see a picture of the sunrise in the album below and it was taken from the balcony of our condo.

I spent 3 days relaxing in gorgeous surroundings. The most strenuous part of the entire trip was the last hour driving into the lake along the windiest road I have ever been on. I don't get car sick, but that road pert-near drove me to it.

We read, played games, watched movies and tv, went on a boat trip, did some shopping and went out to eat a few times. I took a walk along the lake edge and got a few great pictures. Over all the vacation was perfect and exactly what I needed.

I would highly recommend Big Bear Lake, CA for those looking to get away, especially from the AZ heat. Most days the high was about 72 to 74 degrees and it got cold at night. The town has a cute little shopping district with small boutiques, etc. It kind of reminded me of a very small version of Jackson Hole, WY.

However, the one big disappointment we had was the food. We only had one good meal out, while we were there. Fortunately we had a condo so we did a lot of fixing meals for ourselves, but we did try a few of the local places that were suggested. The only decent food we had was at Sweet Basil, delicious! I would stay far away from Teddy Bear's and Village Pizza.

Anyways, it is nice to be home sleeping in my own bed, but I'm desperately missing the cooler temperatures. I've posted a few of my pictures below.

Happy Birthday, Twins!

Today is the twins's brithday! They turn 30 something! They're still 3 years old to me.They have always been fun and game for most anything. As adults they have become responsible and caring men.
I just have a hard time thinking of them as being old enough to have families, responsible jobs, or drive cars.

Love you both!!

Much needed VT

I have wonderful visiting teachers. They are consistent and caring. I really need good visiting teachers right now in my life. Tonight one of them stopped by for a visit. It was so good to sit and talk about real things, important things, not stuff that doesn't really matter in the long run. I am grateful for amazing women, the Visiting Teaching program of the Relief Society, and good friends. I don't know what I'd do without them!

It's that time of year...

I realized that I haven't posted in a while. In my head, it's not post worthy if I don't have a photo to go with it...I'd better change my thinking because I haven't had time to drag out my camera very often recently.

So my favorite holiday is fast approaching - HALLOWEEN! I've started thinking about what I want to do for Aunt Megan's Annual Halloween Party. The invitations will have to go out soon.

Last year I delivered candy in coffins:


So I'm going to have to come up with something good this year. I got my Martha Stewart Halloween magazine this week, so I've started to dog-ear the pages with great ideas. She's got an awesome wreath that I'm going to have to make (I looked all over her website for a picture of it and I can't find one to share with you). Its a grapevine wreath, spray painted black. Then she took a bunch of rubber snakes, spray painted them black and then twined them through the wreath. Hang on your door with a big black bow. It looks wonderful!

Last year the spooky dinner took back seat to the games. We had worms in a bun...


I'm going to have to give the menu you some more thought. My biggest challenge is that I have some very picky eaters that come to my party. I have been thinking about a Harry Potter themed party, but I'll probably hold off another year until more of the kids have read the books.

As far as the games, last year we did some ghost bowling, which was a ton of fun. I'm going to have to come up with something else. It's kind of nice that the kids are getting a little bit older so the games can require a bit more thought.
If you have any suggestions for my halloween party, I'd love to hear them!!!!!

My daily work life explained by Scott Adams

G'ma Schaub's Funeral - Part 1

It's been a week since my Grandma Dellola Schaub's funeral. G'ma Schaub passed away on Monday, August 30, 2010. Her health has been waning since her husband, Art Schaub, passed away in July of 2009. I'm sad that Grandma Schaub is no longer with us, but I'm very very happy that she is back with Grandpa Schaub.

I've been remiss in not posting funeral pictures. I don't have much time this morning, but I thought I'd put just a few pictures up at least and I'll post the rest, and my account of the funeral, later.

We had Grandma's funeral service on the evening of Thursday, September 2nd and the graveside service the morning of Friday, September 3rd.

My sister, Kiki, and cousin Natalie.

Tricia, Andrea, and Aunt Char
Cousins - Felix, Marjorie's husband (sorry I forgot his name), Marjorie, Connie and Uncle Ken.
The Goodwin family - Jeana, Aunt Char, Denise and Troy

My mom, Aunt Donna and sister Kiki.
My dad, on the left, and all of his siblings -- Ben, Clarence, Jan, Char, Ken -- at the graveside of their mother.

Black River Fishing Video

I put together this fun video with fishing highlights from our recent family camping trip.

The Whole Family Together

It was kind of like herding a bunch of wild cats, but we got a family photo. My sister and her family are down from ID for a visit. And since it's been a few years since we took a family photo, we just couldn't pass up this opportunity.

The Whole Dennis Schaub Family

Girls Getaway in Flagstaff

A friend of mine has a house on a golf course in Flagstaff. The deck off the back of her house over looking the San Francisco Peeks may be one of my most favorite places on earth.
Two weekends ago several of my friends and I went up and spent the weekend at Marie's house. What started out as my card club (there are 5 of us) blossomed into 10 women getting away for a fun filled weekend. Fortunately Marie had enough room for everyone.

So Friday after work we piled into our various cars and drove 2 hours north. And the temperature dropped by 20 degrees...yahoo!!!! Friday night we went out for dinner -- Olive Garden, where their grill was broken so they could only do sautee'd and baked dishes, hmmm. And then it was late night chatting on the gorgeous deck while we watched the practically full moon cross the sky.

At this point I must mention Marie's deck chairs. She has two of the MOST COMFORTABLE deck chairs I've ever had the privileged of sitting in. They are SOOOOOO comfortable and they have nice big ottomans to go with them. They contribute to the overall appeal of Marie's deck.

Saturday was Craft Day...all day. My card group - Serena, Rhonda, Camilla, Elizabeth and I - brought up our "anything-but-a-card-craft" and spent most of the day assembling, embellishing, cropping, decorating and in general just having a great time. All the other ladies just kicked back and relaxed.

Saturday night it was dinner down town and then back to the house for games.

Sunday morning I engaged in my favorite activity...about 6:30am I dragged a blanket outside with me, onto Marie's deck. The air was still crisp and cold. I snuggled up on one of the FABULOUS deck chairs with the last of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians book and read and read and read. I was in heaven!! I was out there for a good 2 1/2 hours. I really could have been out there all day.Eventually we did have to leave :(. I can't wait till next time.

The passing of a dear possession

Today was a sad day for me...my Fossil watch died. I got this particular watch the year I got home from my mission - 1998. I've worn this watch almost daily - mixing it up with its gold counterpart -- for the past 12 years.

I love Fossil watches. I've owned only Fossil watches since I got my first Fossil when I was about 12. They are the best darn watches around. They last forever and they're just plain cool.

So in my search for solace and a new watch I came across a Fossil watch giveaway...Yahoo!!! So in order to get an additional chance in the drawing they ask you to blog/tweet about it. So here is the link to the Creature Comfort Blog where they are having a drawing for a free Fossil Watch.

Creature Comforts

Keep your fingers crossed that I win an Analog Silver Satin Dial Watch from Fossil, because I really, really, really need it!

Memorial Day - Veterans in my Family

In the immortal words of Abraham Lincoln: “With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to … bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who has borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan—to do all which may achieve … a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.” (Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865.)

I am blessed with a strong heritage of patriotism. Many of my family members have put there lives on the line that we may enjoy the freedoms of this great nation. Thank you to ALL of the men and women, and their families, who make such selfless sacrifices for each one of us. God Bless America!

My father graduated from the Naval Academy and served on the submarine USS Theodore Roosevelt.

My Grandpa Schaub flew on over 70 missions in a bomber during WWII. He's the handsome one, third from the left.
My Grandpa Johnson was in the Navy during WWII. He passed away last June and was honored at his funeral by the Veterans organization.
My brother-in-law joined the Army to finish his medical training - he's a physical therapist. He was then called to the front-lines in Iraq where he was stationed in Baghdad for 9 months in 2007.
My cousin was in the Army and served in Iraq for over a year in 2003-2004.I am grateful for the sacrifice made by my family members.

Happy Memorial Day!

My computer died

So last week my computer died. Apparently I got a virus. Don't ask me how or when or from where. I don't remember downloading or opening anything I shouldn't have. It was fading on me about 2 weeks ago. I got nervous and updated my virus software, it scanned, and everything seemed to be going ok.

False sense of security.

A week ago, Thursday, I got the true black-screen-of-death. Not to be confused with the blue-screen-of-death. This was soooo much worse. If you get the blue-screen-of-death your computer is just mostly-dead...and the only thing left to do is go through his pockets and look for loose change....heheheheh

*sorry couldn't resist*

Anyway, back to my story, the black screen means NOTHING is happening. It means your computer is GONE, it's not even trying to start itself.

I didn't panic. I just picked up the phone and put out the call to my own personal Geek Squad...otherwise known as my brothers. My first brother says "don't bother taking it to anyone, they just charge you as much as it would cost to buy a new computer and all they'll do is reformat your hard drive" -- good bit of advice for all of you out there -- "just say goodbye to anything you had on your computer and reformat your hard-drive".

Good advice, but how do you reformat a hard drive??? This lead me to calling my second brother (he's actually the 3rd in line of 4), and I pleaded for help. Saturday my brother spent 6 hours with me helping reformat my hard-drive, upgrading my memory, reinstalling my operating system, and installing protection software.

Man do I owe him BIG TIME!

So you're probably asking, "Well what about all that stuff on your computer? Aren't you just sick that you lost it all?!?!?". I'm not and I'll tell you why...For the past 2 years I've been working off of an external hard-drive I got from Costco for about $80, and transferred all of my files to it. I save EVERYTHING to that hard drive. At the first sign of problems 2 weeks ago, I unattached it. Everything on it is safe and sound. The only true casualties to this debacle were my bookmarks for my browser and my iTunes music. iTunes will let me access/download all the music I have purchased from them. However, I've lost all the music from CD's that I had uploaded. I went from over a 1,000 songs to about 200. Fortunately, all the music is still on my iPod and seems to be permanently there.

I figure I got off lucky. The moral of this story -- BACK-UP, BACK-UP, BACK-UP and invest in an external hard-drive.

Happy Mother's Day!

I don't need a special day in May to remind me how wonderful my mother is. I'm constantly reminded as she selflessly serves her children, as much today as she has for the past 36 years. I have the best mom in the world!

Swagger Wagon - My New Favorite Video

I love this video and sorry Kiki, but it totally reminds me of you...but I will say that you need a little more SWAGGER in your wagon.

You Might Be A Red Neck...microburst

Today was a little different as far as Sunday goes. I had stake conference so I was able to enjoy a leisurely Sunday with no extra meetings.

I must preface my tale with a little weather report. We've been experiencing an unusual amount wind - wind mind you, not breezes. Not just today either, but for the past several days. It is rather unusual and it has been pretty intense at times. So today was a windy day.

Now back to my story...I was sitting downstairs watching TV and I hear this load rushing, grumbling noise coming from outside (and it was VERY loud), from what would be behind the chimney. What immediately popped into my head was how all those "red-necks" on tv always say that they hear what sounded like a train coming towards their house and then next thing they knew "a terr-nado come swipped my trailer clean off its foundation."

I yelled to my mom who was up in the kitchen, "Mom, I think there's a twister or something outside." We both ran to the large window in the dining room because it has a better view of the backyard.I can see all the trees and bushes just blowing like crazy and then I see our flatbed,toy hauling trailer which is parked on the side of the yard picked up and dragged across the backyard. Flipping over the top of that trailer is our tarp awning which normally covers the camper trailer, and it's being tossed end-over-end across the yard. After a few seconds things settled down. My mom kept saying, "that must have been a dust-devil," which we do occasionally see here in AZ. But I was pretty sure it was more than a dust-devil.

We went out back to see if anything was damaged. Come to find out that the pop-up camper trailer, which was hidden around the side of the house, behind the chimney, had been dragged around the side of the house and was now partly in the grass. It had taken a corner out of the cable box. Then, when the flatbed-trailer was dragged across the yard it took out the ladder to the playhouse. AND, several slats from the side-yard fence were torn off. And that was just in the back-yard. After we moved the camping-trailer back around, I grabbed my camera and got a few shots.

The red circle is where the trailer was originally parked. The wind didn't just push it over to its new location. I actually saw it bounce its way over there.
This is after I moved the trailer back to it's original location. The square it where the backend of the trailer ended up. It scraped along the side of the house and put a small dent in the back of the trailer. And in case you've never pushed one of these camper-trailers, THEY WEIGH A TON!

I circled the where the fence slats went missing and drew a line along the tire skid marks where you can see the trailer had been dragged.

After surveying the damage out back, we went to the front yard. Of course our poor tree in the front yard lost a few limbs. In fact as I was taking this picture, the wind was still blowing and you can see a small branch is falling off to the left.Fortunately for us, no one was parked in the driveway. If they had been, this is what could have happened to them...tree limbs right through the window.

So all in all in were very lucky, but it did make from some interesting Sunday afternoon excitement.