How Blessed We Are

With the passing of President Gorden B Hinckley this week Ihave realized how blessed we are to have a living prophet on the earth today. When I was eight years old my family went to the general conference and I remember hearing Spencer W. Kimball speak and I knew that he was a prophet. I have been inspired by each prophet that followed him. But President Hinckley will always have a special place in my heart. Maybe it is because we all were given the opportunity to know him for so long. Maybe it was his testimony of Christ, his simple sweet humor, his love for his wife, his love of the pioneers, or his ability to make me and everyone else feel that he really did love us. What I want most to remember is the way he lived his life like every minute of it counted. I want to be a little more kind, a litte more patient, and a little more loving. Now is the time.

54) Visit the Tallest Building

Sooo, after research, I learned that there is a controversy over the world tallest building. After looking into it, I decided that I would shoot for the tallest structure. In this case, The CN Tower in Toronto. This structure is officially an antenna. But, with the world’s highest observation deck, I figure this knocks off another “thing to do.” The day I went was cloudy. However, as I was only there for a day, I had no choice.

As you can see, being at the base, you have no idea the actual height of the tower. The first step is riding in the glass elevator for 58 seconds to the observation deck, which is I think around 110 stories off the deck.

I immediately hopped another elevator to the Sky Pod, taking me to the world’s highest observation deck. Silly Canadians - Storeys?

Here’s the view.

After walking around, looking at the neat, neat clouds, I headed back to the observation deck.

Here is a picture of a grown man crawling on the glass floor. It’s actually like 5 inches thick and would hold 5 hippo’s (seriously), but it’s still enough to bring a grown man to his knees (as I recall, he was German). It is actually weird standing looking through the glass and seeing the tower “falling” towards earth, encompassed in clouds. Weird.

Anyhoo, pretty cool…Only about 600 things to do.

Thank You...No, really. Thank YOU!

Seriously, thanks. About three weeks ago I received an email that really made me think about being courtesy and respectful to others. One of my (Jayson’s) favorite speaker/author/host is Larry Winget. Larry sent out a rant about “takers.” If you don’t know him, he’s the crazy bald dude that hosts a show on A and E called “Big Spender.” While I haven’t ever watched the show start to finish, I’m sure he does a good job…I digress….
Fast forward to Friday evening when Christy and myself attended a company dinner function. Great evening, fun company, and much laughter (Craig Bielik – I still crack up thinking about him). However, the evening hit a sour note as our COO was introduced to discus and explain the company (particularly for the spouse in attendance who did not fully understand what the company does). As the COO started, there were those who did not feel it necessary to show a bit of courtesy or respect. I was appalled at those “me” people. I was actually embarrassed. While I respect this man for what he has accomplished and who he is, no person deserves this treatment. On our way home from the dinner Christy commented how she was excited to get to hear what our organization does, but how ultimately she ended embarrassed for our organization because of a few individuals.
What has happened to showing respect for others? I see us (as a whole) degrading where we are “expecters” meaning that we expect someone to help us at the bank. We expect those to deliver our mail. We expect those to file reports or answer phones. Seriously, take a minute and reflect on those people who help you every day. And next time, say thanks, and mean it…
So
· For the neighbor that waves or stops in to say hi,
· For the mailman who is prompt and smiles,
· For the home teachers that are considered friends,
· For the church members that “bear on another’s burdens,”
· For the Receptionist who is always there with a smile,
· For the co-workers who are part of the “team,”
· For the family members who call just to say hi,
· For the wife who treats me like a king,
· For the daughters that truly make me smile and make my eyes glisten,
· For all those who make me want to be a better person,
Thanks. I don’t say it nearly enough. But I am trying.

The two papooses

Isabella is 10 months old and crawling or walking along the walls.

Cora is 2 years old and a daddy's girl.

They are great at helping us laugh and develop patience.

Do something special...

Working with the young men in our ward makes me laugh. Today was the annual “planning session” for the activities to be held throughout the year. Some activities I found interesting include “frogging” and a hotdog eating contest. Needless to say, I’m excited for 2008. During our brainstorming, the question was posed “if you could do ANYTHING, what would it be?” We talked briefly about “things to do before I die” lists. Most of the “old guys” had something of the list. Looking over my list, there are some that are quite spectacular such as:

50) Milk a cow
89) Ride in a submarine
97) Drive a Zamboni

The list I have has every type of endeavors including educational, spiritual, social, occupational and recreational (of course). The point I was trying to relay to these young men is to aim high. Who says you can’t go to outer space or to “do a wheelie on a motorcycle @ 89 mph.” Note: I did let a certain young man know that I don’t condone wheelies. Somehow I don’t think he listened. A thought came to me that I think I heard from my grandfather. “It’s better to shoot for the stars and miss, then aim for a cow pie and hit it.” So do something great in 2008!

Welcome...

A couple of days ago, a wise old (heavy on the old) man asked a group of us how many of us had blogs. It got me thinking...

And Whammo - The Evans Tribe Blog was born. Hopefully this blog will be a source for keeping in touch with those whom we really don't want to keep in touch with...you know who you are.

Stay tuned!

Note to the old man...please turn in your river permit application(s). We need all the luck we can muster.