Heavy Hearts

As many of you may have heard, Kristi's mom passed away Monday morning. She was with her husband and oldest son when she passed quickly from a sudden heart attack. Below is the obituary that appears in the Salt Lake City papers today.

Arleen Lund Fogg "Loving wife" Arleen Fogg, our dear wife, mother, grandmother, passed away suddenly the morning of March 30, 2009, at the age of 71.She was born December 28, 1937 in Idaho Falls, Idaho, daughter of A. Lee and Dora Lund. Throughout her life, she was an example of Christ-like love and service to all she came in contact with. She will be sorely missed, but long remembered. Through her latter years in life, she suffered from the effects of Alzheimer's, she still continued to serve her family in a helpful, loving manner. Her greatest joy in life was her children and grandchildren. She will be greatly missed and loved by all of her posterity. Arleen was not only a wonderful mother to her children, but also a mother to the many missionaries of the Alaska Anchorage Mission, where she and Jim presided over the Mission from 1987-1990, as well as to the married students of the University of Utah 2nd Ward, where she and Jim presided from 1983-1985. Arleen served faithfully in every calling she received throughout her life in the church and the community. She is a faithful and valiant disciple of Jesus Christ. She is survived by her beloved husband Jim, children Terri (Bob) Bryson, Bob (Ann-Marie), Kristi (Mark) Novakovich, Brian (Michelle). 16 grandchildren, her identical twin sister Kathleen Dahmer, Barbara Giles, and David Lund, and many nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be held Thursday, April 2, 2009 12:00 noon at Wasatch 8th Ward, 3625 East Dover Hill Dr. (7660 So). A viewing will be held Wednesday April 1, 2009 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Jenkins-Soffe South Valley, 1007 W. South Jordan Pkwy. (10600 S) and one hour prior to the services at the church on Thursday. Interment Mountain View Memorial Estates. Online condolences may be shared with the family at www.jenkins-soffe.com

Jazz Game

Kristi and I attended the Jazz game against Phoenix on Saturday. What started out as a Jazz blow out ended up being a nail-biter after the Jazz gave up a 21 point leader, fell behind by 7 and then made it into overtime on a game tying shot by Darren Williams. The Jazz ultimately won the game.

Back Home

We left York on Thursday and stayed the evening in Manchester. Our plane left at 9:30 a.m. with a connection through New York City. While the outbound flight always leaves me tired, returning home at 8:30 p.m. after 15 hours of travel doesn't seem to affect me much. I've posted below some additional pictures from the trip. I'll probably go back in September and this time I think Kristi will join me.

Picture of what remains of the Abbey of St. Mary's in York. The ruins are in a beautiful garden that includes a museum and a roman tower.

Quaint cemetery adjacent to St. Mary's Abbey. All of the headstones were from the 1700 and 1800's.

York train station.

More from York

The trip to York is about over. We were able to spend most of Thursday seeing some sights in town. I've included more pictures below.

Statue of Emperor Constantine who apparently brought Christianity to the England. The statue is outside of the York Minster which originally was a catholic church. Because the church refused to grant a divorce to the King of England, he formed the Church of England and kicked the catholic church out of the country and took its buildings. There is only one catholic church in downtown York.

Clifford's Tower which was part of the original castle and associated fortification for the city of York. It's right in the middle of town.

Interior of a small church in downtown York. The building was destroyed during WWII when the German's bombed York and the church was hit. There was not military reason for the bombing, rather they were in response to the British bombing of cities of historic significance in Germany.

Across the Atlantic

I am back in the UK this week for another business trip. I'm lucky to have a job that allows me to see parts of the world that I might not otherwise see. Paul Williams, a fellow VP at Control4 made the trip with me. We left on Sunday, arriving in Manchester on Monday morning and will return home on Friday. Our office is in York which is a wonderful city to visit.

We took the train from Manchester to York which takes about two hours. York is in Northern England and the train ride takes your through beautiful English country side. Green fields separated by traditional stone fences are everywhere. I took the picture below from the train as it left Manchester. The top soccer club in the English premier league, Manchester United, plays in this stadium.

As you can see from the flowers in the pictures below, spring has come to York. The weather is improving here, but is still cold with daily rain.

We've had great hospitality from our hosts and Monday evening enjoyed a delicious meal of fired Haddock and hand cut chips (Fish and Chips). There hasn't been much time to do anything other than work, but this evening we should be able to wander into town and enjoy some of the local culture.

Rugby Week 2

Darren had his second rugby match this week. While his team didn't win, they did manage to score twice. He had several tackles and carried the ball a few times. We are still looking for a copy of "Rugby for Dummies" so that we understand the rules, but we're having a good time attending. As the pictures show, some of us watch the rugby action and others are there for the playground.

Bingham Prom

Bingham High School had their Prom on Friday night and Darren attended with his date Kori. He looked very handsome in his tuxedo. After enduring parent pictures, they dined at Carvers, danced and capped the night off with midnight bowling.

Utah Jazz

Tyson and I went to the Jazz game tonight against the Washington Wizards. The Jazz won and Tyson and I had a great father and son outing. We ate hot dogs, drank soda and cheered as loud as we could.

Tyson posing with the greatest point guard of all time (for now - soon Deron Williams will pass him).

The lights went out for the player introductions and the Bear got the crowd going. At the end of the second quarter Tyson and I went to stock up on food and the Bear was cruising around the concourse and gave us a high five.

Tyson and I took this picture from our seats. Some of you might have thought it was a shot from a blimp hovering over the arena.

Rugby

Darren came home from school four weeks ago and anounced that he was playing Rugby. We don't know a lot about the sport, but we do understand that it's basically dirty football without pads. We asked Darren if he understood this and then gave him our blessing. After weeks of practicing Darren had his first game (do they call it a game?). Here is what we learned:

• We have a lot to learn.
• There's a hooker on the team, but it's not a profession, rather a players position.
• There's a lot of grabbing and poking.
• The most common phrase we heard was, "that looks like it hurt".
• Have you seen the movie "Forever Strong" about the Highland Rugby team? We haven't, but we've now seen them put a lickin' on the Bingham Rugby team.
• Darren didn't have to go to the ER.

We're told this is called a scrum and that Darren is in there somewhere. His position is "prop".

Darren lining up against a tough looking Polynesian.

Is this a cheer team lift or a Rugby play? We're still not sure.

It's Great to be Eight!

Camryn celebrated her eighth birthday on Saturday by visiting "Build a Bear" and having a family dinner at Red Robin's. She is a wonderful girl and is excited to be baptized next month. We are lucky to have such a special daughter.

Best Cake Ever

I was assigned with ordering a birthday cake for Camryn's birthday and as you can see from the attached picture, I had some explaining to do when I returned home with the cake. Darren thought it was the "breast" cake ever and wanted a similar one for his birthday.

Principal's Pride Deux

Camryn's great school work was spot lighted this week by her principal. We were proud of her and able to attend a special awards ceremony honoring her. Attached are a few pictures of the happy moment.

Apparently Camryn anticipates her grandchildren living in Canada.

Lithotripsy

Kristi is curious if there are any hospitals that offer a punch card for lithotripsy surgery. For the third time in less than five years she had to go in to have a kidney stone removed. Add that to Taylor's recent procedure and as a family we are well on our way to a free prize for filling up that punch card. Her surgery was on Monday and went well. Unfortunately, success is measured by the stones being broken up and then passed. She was is quite a bit of pain Monday evening and through the night, but is doing much better now.