Best Ford commercial ever

This commercial for the Ford Mustang cracks me up!

Fall Colors

Susan and I drove up Payson Canyon to take a look at the fall colors. I love it when the quakies range in color from green to yellow to orange. This is a view looking north to Alpine and Mount Timpanogos.

Oak brush is the first to turn and the colors can get vibrant.

Birthday photos

Nate just celebrated his 3rd birthday. Here he is concentrating really, really hard on his birthday wish.


Eva just turned 2 so it was a joint celebration. Of course the lit candles are pretty compelling... Nathan "made me" re-light his candle about 10 times.


Here's Don Quixote and Sancho!

Iguazu Falls

One of my all-time favorite places in the world is Iguazu Falls on the border of Brazil and Argentina. There is something magical about this collection of 275 individual falls, some reaching 270 feet high. The first time I saw them was on my way home from my mission in Uruguay. Then I took Susan to see them in 2001 as part of our Cape Horn cruise. A few months ago we were on a company trip to Brazil and we got to see the falls again, this time by heliocopter. I edited some aerial footage so you can get a feel for this magnificent place:

My tribute to the Ring-necked Pheasant

Yesterday I was walking my dog in the field in front of my house and we jumped a rooster pheasant like the one pictured above. I have always been intrigued with birds of all kinds but the male pheasant, in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful birds on earth. The species was imported to North America in 1857 and has been a very popular gamebird ever since.

The fact that I have a wild pheasant walking around not 20 yards from my front door is like a dream come true for me. I grew up in the middle of Los Angeles--nowhere near pheasant country. And while Salem is no Yellowstone Park, I feel blessed to be able to live where Bald Eagles fly overhead; where I can see bull elk with massive antlers on my way home from work; where trout swim in streams only minutes away; and where bears and cougars are still walking around on the majestic mountain I can see so clearly from my living room sofa. If you would have told the 15-year old Don Lehnhof in smoggy L.A. that the above statements would come true, he would have been delerious for anticipation. I am truly lucky, and I thank Nature's Sunshine for providing the financial opportunity to allow me to live here, and I thank Susan's mom for allowing us to build on her land.

Today I was able to sneak away to visit a hunting preserve in Cedar Valley to tide me and my German Shorthair Pointer Smokey over for the long hunt-less summer. The weather was warm and we had a splendid day of pheasant hunting. Hunting with a pointing dog is so fascinating because you can see when the dog catches the first scent and then begins criss-crossing excitedly in front looking for the bird. No matter how tired he or I happen to be, our pace quickens because we know the explosion of color and beating wings can occur at any instant. But no matter how prepared you think you are, the flush is ALWAYS startling. As and added punctuation, a rooster pheasant often lets out a series of crows in the midst of a flush as if to add an exclamation point to his hasty departure. Of course things don't always go this well. In many cases the pheasant has elusively run ahead and flushed out of range. But if the stars align you experience a scene like the one below:

I am aware that many think hunting is barbaric and as I grow older I find myself wishing that I could do "catch and release" hunting as I do when fishing. I would love to be able to admire the irridescent purple, blue, crimson, and gold coloring of the cock pheasant, then set him back down to run off and fly again. One of the things I love about owning a pointing dog is that we can go out anytime (except for the spring breeding season) and "hunt" birds without a gun. Watching the scene above is a reward in itself.

Christmas - 2007

Christmas 2007 will always stand out as special because it was the first Christmas in our new home. Susan loved hosting the kids, grandkids, her mom, and her sister all at the same time without it feeling crowded.Christmas also brings the annual "Pondtown Christmas" to Salem. Colorful lights shine on large trees at Knoll Park and small rafts hold lit trees out on the pond.

Of course kids put the fun in Christmas. Here are a few photos from our get together:

We have a tradition of making gingerbread houses on Christmas Eve. This year we were joined by several girls from Ben and Jordan's home. Nate checked to see if it was real candy.

You can see from this shot that we're not quite trained for guests like Eva. It's amazing how fast she can get her hands on things.

Any guesses where Kate did her Christmas shopping? And look how respectful Colin is.

Dylan loved his pirate ship. He dragged it into the theater room while his dad was watching Pirates of the Caribbean and played with it for nearly two hours during the movie.

Eva was quite enamored with her Pretty Pony. By the way, Ben is quite a cook and treated us to a multi-course Italian feast on Christmas Eve. He says he has a good deal because the girls at the home in Erda have to clean up the kitchen after he's done.

Here's Nate enjoying his dad's meal. By "enjoy" I mean he puts the food in his mouth, chews it a bit so he can savor the flavor, then throws what's left on the floor. It is not pretty but since he can't actually eat normally he deserves all the gastronomical pleasure he can derive.
Ben brought over the game "Rock Hero" and it was quite a hit with both big kids and little kids.

Our new home is Finished

It was always Susan's dream to build a comfortable home on the family farm. It was always my dream to build a house with a mountain view and open fields nearby. Today after eight months of work by lots of people, we have our dream home.