Hinchcliff Mischief

2009-03-02T01:20:00.000-07:00

Here are some sights from the parade.

2009-03-02T01:06:00.000-07:00

These ear muffs speak for themselves!

2009-03-02T01:02:00.000-07:00

Hey, you've got to be patient with me because I've been trying to get my blog back online for two weeks. Then when I didn't think it posted, it did. I'm starting my third week in Anchorage. This past weekend we attended the Fur Rondy celebration in downtown Anchorage. It was snowing to beat the band. The first real snow we've had since arriving. In fact, the temps back in Driggs have been colder than here. We've had some dreary and very sunny days. Everyone asks how I mind the cold and I told them there are colder places than Anchorage. It is more humid and the roads can be treacherous. I'm glad Ray got us some studded tires. On to the Rondy which starts out with three days of dog-sled races, including winter parade, outdoor carnival, snow sculpture and fur auction and a dog pull. Ray and I sported our Russian fur hats and were ready to mingle.

2009-03-02T00:20:00.000-07:00

Here I am with the Bakers at Landon's Rollie Lane Tourney in Boise. Aren't they troopers?

2009-03-01T18:33:00.000-07:00

Here we are in Anchorage and Ray has different clothes in different places; Alpine (North Slope), Driggs and Eagle River. He didn't have any lounging attire here so we went shopping. He picked out this outfit on the super sale isle (after after Christmas). How do you like the Just Say HO! shirt and matching demented snowman pants?

2009-03-01T18:21:00.000-07:00

Going back in time, here are the Bakers at the Rollie Lane Wrestling Tournament I went to a while ago. I'm trying to get caught up with my blog. I'm also having trouble so if this gets published with unintelligent cost stuff, sorry!

2009-02-23T17:58:00.000-07:00

2008-10-09T20:24:00.000-07:00

2008-10-09T20:18:00.001-07:00

We had a nice visit with Ray's family. Ray's sister and husband (Kay and Lynn), and their kids Erin and Megan plus their two-year-olds, Chloe and Molly. The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed spending time with them. It was the first time they had been to our house in the summer. They didn't really know what it looked like under the snow, but were pleasantly surprised!

2008-10-09T19:57:00.000-07:00

2008-10-09T19:49:00.001-07:00

First Sisters' Safari (translation, a weekend just for us) -- We've seen the men go on hunting trips, golfing trips, etc. So we put our foot down and went on our own trip. Elko or Bust!! Why Elko you ask? Because our parents used to go to the races there over Labor Day and once in a while we would to with many fond memories.

2008-07-30T13:01:00.000-07:00

Kilomenskoe - a park along the Moscow River was beautiful. Here Alexander the 1st had an estate. We attended an exhibition in one of the remaining buildings from the original palace. We saw a lot of young mothers with small children; something you don't see in Moscow much. Notice the puffy hem of the bride's skirt. We saw the puffy skirt (my term) all over the city. It reminded me of a parachute, but was very popular among Muskovites.

2008-07-30T12:52:00.000-07:00

Cherie at St. Basil's Cathedral!

2008-07-30T12:51:00.000-07:00

Here is Ray and I with a tiger cub at the Moscow circus. If you ever go to Moscow, be sure to attend the circus because it is cheap and very entertaining. Plus it is more intimate than the much larger Barnum & Bailey Circus you may have experienced here.

2008-07-30T12:36:00.000-07:00

The yellow round building and grey attachment is the meeting house for the English-speaking Moscow branch. There is no easy access so you must walk between these apartment complexes to enter. Inside it looks clean and nice like any other meeting house.

2008-07-30T11:10:00.001-07:00

This is Ray's apartment complex in Naryan-mar. His apartment is quite comfortable with modern features. Naryan-mar is north of Moscow; 2 hours 40 minutes by plane. The following pictures are from my recent trip there. Ray's typical day here starts around 5:00 a.m. It is either daylight all the time or dark all the time. I would find that the hardest thing to get used to. A driver in a Land Cruiser picks him up and drives him to the office or the airport. He usually makes two trips a week to the field for meetings and inspections. What a way to make a living!!!

2008-07-30T11:04:00.000-07:00

Typical apartment block in Naryan-mar. The ground is very sandy and there is always a ladder (I assume to clean snow off the roof).

2008-07-30T11:02:00.000-07:00

Ray refers to this complex as Walmart! Diet Coke was available in quite a few stores, but they never had more than one or two on the shelf. Most of the people I saw wore modern clothes.

2008-07-30T10:58:00.000-07:00

Some of the shops in Naryan-mar. There is no central shopping area; housing and shops are just haphazardly put up. Most of the time, there is ice and snow on the ground, so they don't worry about parking areas or sidewalks.

2008-07-30T10:56:00.000-07:00

Here I am getting a Russian shampoo and blow dry. It was fun to do, but the hair style wasn't that attractive. My hair didn't look like much during my whole trip, and after a while, I just didn't worry about it.

2008-07-30T10:53:00.000-07:00

This nice building is where Ray works. The name of the company is Naryanmarniftygas (just like it is spelled). I got a chance to help Anna with an English class and then had lunch with Ray. I had to turn in my passport to walk through the door. If the Vice-President of ConocoPhillips came, he would have to do the same.

2008-07-30T10:50:00.000-07:00

Orphanage we visited with about 36 children ages 0-3 years. The building was old but clean with bright colors on the walls. The children seemed well taken care of, but it was still sad for me to see. We played with the children two times. When you are throwing a ball and giving them a hug, they don't seem to mind if it is in English. Picture here is Anna who works for ConocoPhillips. She grew up in the area and was our guide while in Naryan-mar.

2008-07-30T10:45:00.000-07:00

Yours truly with the Shaman and a reindeer.

2008-07-30T10:43:00.000-07:00

This is the Nenet village I visited where we were treated to reindeer meet, broth and panini's (similar to pancakes). The Nenets live much like the American Indians did over 100 years ago as they follow the reindeer herds (in teepees).

2008-07-30T10:41:00.000-07:00

Located just outside of Ray's apartment complex in the main square of town. It was the only church in town and I never saw anyone going into it, but maybe my timing was bad. Ray says it has been built since he started going there. It had a locked fence around it the night we tried to see it.

2008-07-30T10:37:00.000-07:00

I don't think it takes much to be a bricklayer in Naryan-mar. Most of the bricklayers during the war were women, but I'm sure they could have done better than this.

2008-07-30T10:35:00.000-07:00

This is what most of the brickwork looks like. Smitty could never have gone there.

2008-07-30T10:33:00.000-07:00

Typical of Naryan-mar! New construction next to the old Soviet style apartments seen all over town with no infrastructure or landscaping.

2008-07-30T10:31:00.001-07:00

Now isn't this a funny looking item? It distributes a fog that kills mosquitoes in Ray's Naryan-mar apartment. Now we don't know how toxic it is for Ray, but he says it does zap the little critters. The windows in Russia (and most of Europe) do not have screens like us sensible Americans do. The first day I arrived, the neighbor's wife helped me put up temporary screens on some of the windows so we could get a breeze going through the apartment. Naryan-mar doesn't have much of a summer, but the mosquitoes are terrible if the wind isn't blowing. Between the mosquitoes and the 24-hour daylight, it was an interesting trip.

2008-07-30T10:25:00.000-07:00

Cherie playing the tunes. Believe it or not, Ray has a grand piano in his Moscow apartment. The deal was if he took the apartment, he had to keep the piano there. When I was visiting last year the piano was so out of tune, I didn't want to play. So I hinted that it would be nice to be tuned for my next visit. Ray was true to his word and it plays lovely. Now the piano at home needs a tune, so I'd better make that call.

2008-07-30T10:19:00.000-07:00

Not sure who is the most obnoxious--Dayna, Maizy or Bridger. Don't they deserve each other.

2008-07-07T22:31:00.000-07:00

Dayna with her new favorite hat and Bridger making a pose. The following pictures were taken at the 2008 Smith Family Reunion held in Wallowa Lake, Oregon. The scenery was beautiful, but the company was even better. It was a reunion that took us back to real camping, and except for my meeting the bathroom rat, fun was had by all. We enjoyed the fireworks on the Lake when we parked along the road, took out our chairs and got the best view in the house to celebrate the 4th of July.

2008-07-07T22:23:00.000-07:00

Bridger near the Chief Joseph burial monument in Joseph, Oregon.

2008-07-07T22:21:00.000-07:00

Bridger and Dayna showing off their finds at the craft/antique store.

2008-07-07T22:19:00.000-07:00

Sydney, Megan and Jocie doing a hat trick!

2008-07-07T22:17:00.000-07:00

Dayna and Desiree making tracks!

2008-07-07T22:11:00.000-07:00

Bridger and Helaman trying to pass.

2008-07-07T22:10:00.001-07:00

Erin and Makayla tearing up the racetrack!

2008-07-07T22:08:00.001-07:00

Angie, the cautious one, giving Gwen a ride!

2008-07-07T22:08:00.000-07:00

You just had to be there--Gary and Jed sharing a ride!

2008-07-07T22:06:00.000-07:00

Everyone getting excited about the annual t-shirt painting.

2008-07-07T22:05:00.000-07:00

Vallecillos Family getting ready on the run with Draven watching.

2008-07-07T22:00:00.000-07:00

Mallory, Stacy, Claire & Mia

2008-07-07T21:59:00.000-07:00

Triple Yahtzee anyone!

2008-07-07T21:37:00.000-07:00

Dawn, Brandon, Heath, Libbie and Mia socializing around camp.

2008-07-07T21:35:00.000-07:00

Gary and Dash

2008-07-07T21:34:00.000-07:00

Glena Dawn wearing these dead-on Smitty glasses. She confesses to purchasing them at Honk's. Gary says these are the only glasses she doesn't lose. Dayna posing with her licorice!

2008-07-07T21:31:00.000-07:00

Jill and Glena Dawn getting their pictures taken near the falls close to our camp.

2008-07-07T21:29:00.000-07:00

Always a card game going. Here is Natalie hamming it up for the camera. Stacy, don't bid on that hand!

2008-07-07T21:25:00.000-07:00

We are proud of our recent graduate. On to the next phase which includes being empty nesters and rediscovering ourselves.

2008-07-07T21:23:00.000-07:00

This isn't much of a picture, but just to show that we are together once in a while. This was taken the night of Dayna's graduation.

2008-05-04T21:59:00.000-07:00

Bridger and Jessica enjoying the game.

2008-05-04T21:54:00.000-07:00

More of the Dayna show! She was voted Prom Queen at the dance. Now she will never lose the title with her brothers. Yes, that is snow in the background. Most of the snow is gone in the backyard, but we still have drifts and the pond has ice. What a winter!!!

2008-05-04T21:43:00.000-07:00

What a fashion statement! Dayna's date was so short that she has to resort to these shoes. She said they were great and didn't hurt a bit

2008-04-09T20:34:00.000-07:00

Front walk (or tunnel)

2008-02-24T22:53:00.000-07:00

Check out the bald eagle in the nest.

2008-02-24T22:51:00.000-07:00

A stop at the Firehole River!

2008-02-24T22:46:00.000-07:00

This is the photo for the following caption!

2008-02-24T22:43:00.000-07:00

Walking around Old Faithful Lodge on our trip. We found out the Lodge is not open in the winter because there is no insulation. The newer Snow Lodge is open for business.

2008-02-01T19:36:00.000-07:00

The happy group!

2008-02-01T19:35:00.000-07:00

Heeeerreee he comes!!!!!

2008-02-01T19:33:00.000-07:00

Seven missionaries returned to Idaho Falls on the same flight. Three were from Bridger's mission. The airport was packed, but none more excited than us to see Elder Hinchcliff!

2008-01-26T11:37:00.000-07:00

The season is almost over. I'll include at least one basketball shot. In fact the district tournament is coming up this week. Bridger gets home on Wednesday, January 30th so stay tuned.

2008-01-26T11:32:00.000-07:00

Dayna is on the back row in red. We didn't have any pictures for a long time because we weren't allowed to take any pictures. So we bought the DVD. Then we didn't have a computer powerful enough to run the DVD.

2008-01-26T11:29:00.000-07:00

Here is Dayna along with a few of her new friends!

2008-01-26T11:28:00.000-07:00

Dayna is putting together the slideshow for the upcoming Junior Miss show. They honor the outgoing JM. Here she is at the state pageant playing her selection.

2008-01-26T11:22:00.000-07:00

I know, how low can you go featuring pets in your blog? Here is Spanky admiring the view.

2008-01-26T11:19:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I've added anything to the blog. Dayna informed me she was tired of the Dayna show, and we got a new computer that I've been trying to figure out. I've also been shoveling a lot of snow. I took this picture looking out the back deck. Maizy likes to climb the hill and whine to come inside. Then our cat (Spanky) gets lonely, climbs the mound to taunt Maizy so we have to left her outside again. And you thought my life was boring!!!

2007-10-20T21:22:00.000-07:00

The theme is Masquerade and Dayna is improvising her mask! Her friends are Elyse and Andi.

2007-10-20T21:20:00.000-07:00

Dayna and her date Hayden going to the Drill Team Dance. Sort of Teton's answer to Homecoming!

2007-10-11T10:38:00.000-07:00

2007-10-11T10:36:00.000-07:00

Yes, I took a lot of pictures. I wanted to get out there before the color fades.

2007-10-11T10:35:00.000-07:00

2007-10-11T10:34:00.000-07:00

The view from the tree farm behind our house.

2007-10-11T10:33:00.000-07:00

2007-10-11T10:32:00.000-07:00

Across the road from our house.

2007-10-11T10:31:00.000-07:00

It was such a beautiful Fall day so I took the opportunity to shoot some pictures around the house.

2007-10-11T10:27:00.000-07:00

Bear Bait! We wanted to cook dinner on our elk excursion so we packed up the never-before-used George Foreman Grill. It was so late before we got to cooking dinner, we felt quite vunerable out there in the wilderness. Not the smartest thing we've ever done, but we survived to tell the tale!

2007-10-11T10:24:00.000-07:00

Science Center in Grand Teton National Park where our friend's daughter worked last summer. Our friends, the Talbot's, told us this was a great place to view elk and they were right.

2007-10-11T10:22:00.000-07:00

Just waiting around to get a view of the elk and the scenery!

2007-10-11T10:18:00.000-07:00

We drove over to Grand Teton Nat'l Park on Monday to see if we could find some elk. We saw three distinct groups and it was great. Couldn't get a picture of all of them but here are a few to enjoy. They are aware we are trying to get closer when I took the picture. Not long after this some hikers came along the tree line and scared them off. We waited a while to see if they would come back, but they were done for the night.

2007-09-07T21:06:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is the Dayna show. Here she is with the quarterback during halftime.

2007-09-07T21:04:00.000-07:00

Homecoming Parade - Here is Dayna trying to hold her dress down. She felt honored to be voted as second attendant.

2007-09-06T21:08:00.000-07:00

We hiked to Taghert and Bradley Lakes in Grand Teton National Park. The scenery was beautiful but were weren't because we got rained on twice. One was a real downpour. It took two days to dry our clothes out.

2007-09-06T21:03:00.000-07:00

Buffalo Bill's actual hunting lodge. You can see where they are protecting it from the fire that is in the area.

2007-09-06T21:01:00.000-07:00

This is one of the improvements they have made since we were there.

2007-09-06T20:59:00.000-07:00

Monte and VerDon at Martin's Cove. Ray and I visited them a few weeks ago. These benches were made by the Driggs 1st ward in 2003 (yes, that is our ward). There are eight of them and they are all in the Cove.

2007-09-06T20:52:00.000-07:00

Here is one action shot of Dayna running it in for a score. She said all the jerseys from the football team were taken so she just wore Mason's #33.

2007-09-06T20:48:00.000-07:00

Here is Dayna playing defense against the juniors. It is homecoming and the seni0rs did in fact cream the juniors by the score of 40-0. Dayna scored two touchdowns; one running and the other receiving.

2007-07-19T12:32:00.000-07:00

Craigdarrough Castle which sits high above Victoria. It's claim to fame besides beeing 100 years old, it was in the movie X-Men II. Sure enough we watched the movie the other night and it is indeed in the movie.

2007-07-19T12:30:00.000-07:00

At Craigdarrough Castle, Dayna attempted her Junior Miss song on the piano, but it was severely out of tune.

2007-07-19T12:28:00.000-07:00

We had fun trying to take interesting shots of butterflies.

2007-07-19T12:26:00.000-07:00

At the butterfly gardens, Dayna made me pose for this shot.

2007-07-19T12:24:00.000-07:00

Even the garbage cans are beautiful.

2007-07-19T12:23:00.000-07:00

The fountain shot.

2007-07-19T12:21:00.000-07:00

We did see a few totem poles.

2007-07-19T12:20:00.000-07:00

The boar statue was quite popular and I had to wait in line to take this photo. Do you think it was worth it?

2007-07-19T12:18:00.000-07:00

Butchart family private garden. The gardens are a tour bus mecca, but we were early enough in the day that it wasn't too bad. They also have the gardens illuminated at night and fireworks in the summer.

2007-07-19T12:14:00.000-07:00

Japanese garden.

2007-07-19T12:12:00.000-07:00

The sunken garden.