Burned to the Ground

The first Brigham Young University graduation (1904), above, was held at the Provo Tabernacle. Everybody apparently dressed like they were getting married.


Wouldn't it have been fun to commence there? (1938, above)



And of course, before that, it was a symbol of pioneer sweat and sacrifice, built in the 1800s in the style of a Presbyterian chapel; Wilfrod Woodruff noted this was useful for the youth to know the environment of worship their elders grew up in.

A few of my BYU memories played out there. Who could forget those cushy pews?

Where was Jace when you need him?

Looking for Cheerleaders

From Grandma and Grandpa K:

Hi Britt and Spence!

Barbara and I are going to that Bowl Game, flying down on Thursday, Dec 16th, and coming back on Sunday or we might drive down with Kip and Vern. Any chance you could get an assignment to cover that story and meet us there? Wouldn't that be fun!

In any event, we are definitely going and we have these questions:

A. Can you get us tickets to sit in the student section? We like to be where all the action is, band, cheerleaders, etc.

B. Do you know what the schedule of events is, like maybe a pep rally, dinner and dance, tailgate parties, etc?

C. Do you know which hotel all the BYU people will be at? Again, we want to be where all the action is.

Love, your Go Go Grandparents!

Jimmered

Planning on watching Jimmer-mania in Glenn Falls, N.Y., tonight as BYU plays Vermont in Fredette's hometown. All of our female interns, married and single, want to interview him for the magazine. And he's eliciting some pretty fun fan signs. My favorite: Jimmered, held up when someone, naturally, gets Jimmered.

Waffling

I love that my job required me to eat this. Photoshoot cleanup, you know.

(Photo by Brad Slade)

Todo Bien

We did Costa Rica, con mucho gusto. More to come.

Once Starting, Now Putting Out Fires

Remember that one time he set the neighbor's 10 acres of Ponderosa forest on fire? Yeah, that's my brother.

Jace graduated from Fire Academy, leaving JJ the sole family arsonist.

TuFF with Two Fs

See Niels' last e-mail? So glad he still quotes his older sister, the no. 1 no. 4 in the Karford family.

Happy Halloween

I have in my possession the 'Atta Boy, the plaster-o-paris, unwanted white-elephant gift from a 1990s P&G Christmas party that somehow became the department's coveted trophy. You have to redecorate it before passing it on. Not sure how I'll remove "Count Dogula's" acrylic-paint pants.

Manny Is the Man

For a year, Spencer's mission president was a Foreign Service Officer in Djibouti (JIB-BOO-G). He was also the only member of the Church in the tiny African nation. I got to interview him for a story. This is a snippet of what mission presidents are made of (you'll have to turn your volume way up).

It's a Cade!

Spence's sister Emily texted us a pic of the newest nephew all done up in Boise State blue (they start 'em young :). Wish I could get it off my phone to post it. A bad photo of a text will have to do. We can't wait to meet the little guy!

Power Rankings

So this semester some of my stats buddies and I decided to form an intramural soccer team. We didn't sign up early enough so they put us in the upper division. Maybe it's not common knowledge but a bunch of math geeks are not exactly what I would refer to as "upper division material." So the Daily Universe (the BYU School newspaper) does power rankings each week for each intramural sport and guess where the "Statistical Outliers" ended up? Click on the title of this post to see the rankings or you can trust me that we came in at dead last. Yep that's right 186th out of 186 teams. I guess our team name now has a double meaning.

To say that we are bad would be a gross understatement. One week at half time the refs came up to us and asked us if we just wanted to call it at that point instead of enduring another half. The next week the goalie of the opposing team got so bored that he came out of the goal and subsequently scored three times. Last week we put in our first goals and had our best game of the season and still ended up losing 9 to 3.

Anyways, I sure got a good laugh out of that. On the bright side we did finally put in our first goals so we've broken through that glass ceiling. Things are looking up!

Still Dancing

I told my grandpa we have a layover in Denver on our way to Costa Rica. He responded in kind:

Please send us the details of your soon visit so we can pick you up at the airport and take you dancing. Colleen and Gaylen can come too! Maybe Fred and Kris and Kip and Vern and Sarah and Dave and Jace and Holly will want to come, too. Might as well have a real party!

Love, GM&GP K

Kosovo Serbs Are Like Teenagers

Working on a piece about alumni in the foreign service. Just talked to an alum who is Obama's Europe guy on the National Security Council. In the middle of our conversation, he says, "I just got an urgent note from General Jones. Can I call you back?" Sure.

He calls back and goes on to explain how rationalizing with Kosvo Serbs is like rationalizing with a teenager. Fun interview.

This week or next, I get to interview Spencer's mission president, who just e-mailed me his Foreign Service resume:

"I provide briefly my previous assignments:

FOREIGN SERVICE
1979 - 1982.....American Embassy Panama.....Director of Human Services
1982 - 1984.....American Embassy Costa Rica...Director of General Services
1984 - 1987.....American Embassy Bolivia......Counselor to the Ambassador for Administrative Affairs.
1987....Nominated for the "Leaman R. Hunt" -Manager of the year Award
1987 - 1989.....American Embassy Spain......Director of General Services
1989 - 1992.....American Consulate.............Counselor to the Consulate General for Administrative Affairs.
1992 - 1994.....Washington D.C. - Department of State...Director of Career Development for Administrative Officers.
1994....Received the "Manager of the Year Award", by the BYU Marriott School of Management - MPA.
1994 - 1995.....Selected to the "Senior Service Seminar".....15 Senior Diplomats send throughout the United States via Presidential Airforce 1 and military aircraft to assess our military capability to handle mulitple wars at one time. In addition, we met with local community leaders in various states to determine the affect of U.S. policies on our local economies.
1995-1997.....American Embassy, Kenya....Counselor to the Ambassador for Administrative Affairs.
1997 - 1999....American Embassy Panama....Counselor to the Ambassador for Administrative affairs. Also Representative for the Ambassador to the Government of Panama for Development of Secondary Educational Facilities on the Panama Canal for American Embassy children.
1999 June..... Retired from the foreign service.
2000 January - September.....State Department requested I return to be deployed to Dijbuti, East Africa for a special assignment as Counselor to the Ambassador.
2000 September - December....State Department requested I represent them at University Forums for Career Opportunites. I recruited for the State Department.
2001 - 2002 ... State Department requested I go to Abuja, Nigeria for special assignment as Counselor to the Ambassador for Administrative Affairs.
2002 - November.....Church contacted me in while I was in Africa. Issued call as Mission President effective June, 2003

Church Assignments as Missionaries:
2003 - 2006....Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints send me and my wife to Costa Rica as Mission President.
2006 - 2008....Served as the CEO of "Key Group Security Professional Services" and as member of their board of Directors.
2008 -2009.....Sent to Belize, Central America as"Leadership & Reactivation" Missionaries for the Church. (Mission was originally for 23 months, however the Chuch curtailed our assignment by 4months to serve in Mexico City)
20010 - 2012.......Our present Assignment for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the Director of the Mexico City Temple Visitor's Center, in Mexico City.

My Uncle Made the New York Times

. . . “Together we could look at things nobody else was looking at,” said Colin Henderson, an associate professor at the University of Montana’s College of Technology and a member of Dr. Bromenshenk’s “Bee Alert” team.

We're Coping

From a BYU colleague:

Subject: Football Tickets for Saturday

I have tickets available to Saturday's homecoming game so let me know if you
would like a couple of them.

Maybe this will be "the game" where everything changes, the season turns
around, and the world becomes a happier place. Or maybe it's the game where
you will discover the joy of the Cougar tail (perhaps the world's largest
maple bar donut)... or meet a new friend or finally learn to appreciate the
Cougarettes and the flag team. You never know.

Nielsie's Newbie

Look at Niels's little trainee.

I will write Niels this weekend. I will write Niels this weekend. I will write Niels this weekend. . . .

Love My Statistician

Your "Farkle" or "Five to Stay Alive" probabilities, if you play the game, thanks to Mr. Rogers. This is how he will shelter and feed our future family.

Fam-O-Rama

A Karford-Christmas-card preview.

To Press

We put the fall issue "to bed." Huzzah for being done with the nursing feature!

Lake Powell

We had the whole fam minus Niels (and Amanda) at Lake Powell, including the newest Karford, Miss Brynne.


Few babies are cuter or cheekier. We had fun holding this one, when she'd allow it.


Look at those bad parents—tubing with an infant. J

We love it when JJ comes out in the ski boat. We all try to impress him, the family "natural." Dad made him water ski, snow ski, play (insert every sport here), etc., etc., all by age 3. He can beat you at anything. Even math. Even Boggle. Slalom crashes are more frequent and more severe when he's in the boat.


Boxer wasn't thrown overboard once. I don't think he even got wet. He burried all of his treats on the beach—in case we left him there.


And Janie dug up every last one.

I don't know when or how it happened, but Jace has arrived at Aunt Debi status in terms of extended family. He's the cool uncle, if you will—the skydiving, firefighting uncle who buys stuffed pink poodles at the marina for his nieces even though he never had to buy toys or candy to them to get them to adore him.


Watching Jace and Holly, wearing Evergreen Fire and Rescue crap, strap their kayak to their Volkswagen wagaon with the Colorado plates and two dogs in the back made me get that homesick twinge in my stomach, like, "Oh, look at the cute Coloradans!" I love it.

Also tender: when Jace, as he was leaving, gave Madison her own Evergreen Fire and Rescue T-shirt, 10 sizes too big, and she insisted on wearing it to bed that night.


The aforementioned trophy winners. We finally beat JJ at something!

Spencer left early to make it home for class and ended up spending a night stranded in Hanksville (where he also dropped his phone in the urinal. Had to tear his phone to pieces, dry it out, and rebuild it.). Maybe he'll share more on his misfortunes later. But I got to ride home with Jage, Jenn, and the babies. Wish they still lived in Provo! I love you guys.

Speaking of Birthdays

We got to celebrate Jenn's at our house with Kory and Shaylin. Doesn't she make 29 look good?

And Brynne read the paper.

Why did this tradition die out after first grade?

Spence took cupcakes to school on his birthday to share with all the other kids.

Spencer's Birthday Wish

Can you make his dreams come true? This is what he wants most in the world on his birthday, and our local Harbor Freight is sold out. Of all things, these knives are on back order online too.

Primary Specialists

We have callings: Spencer and I, together, are Primary specialists, which means we hang out in Primary with an autistic 6-year-old. His name is Taylor, and he likes poofing my hair. He's also a runner. Which means we have to catch him every now and then.

Then I got called to spotlight three Relief Society sisters a week in the RS bulletin. Fine, but three a week is a bit much, no?

Triumph

Six Saturdays later, Spencer has fixed the motorcycle, A MANLY THING TO DO. We are out on electric blue again.

Bringing Home the Hardware

Like the U.S. Olympic men's gymnastics team, we brought home the hardware from Lake Powell, undefeated in Karford badminton. At stake: Coco's 1976 Dillon, Mont., badminton championship trophy.

Back to Work

Saying Italian artist Raffaello Gambogi's last name is fun. I may not have read the book I wrote about (which features this art on the cover), but does it count if researching it made me want to read it?

A Nephew

Spence's sister Emily had her baby last night—a boy! No name yet, but we hear Seanald, Jace, and Bellybutton are all in the running.

More than a Quarter of a Century

I had a great 26th, complete with a fulfilled request for this stunning photo of the 197? BYU Rugby team. It's strange what you remember from childhood, but I remember this picture was displayed in the living room. Among the fantasticly fluffed hair and staches is Jeff Karford. Can you pick him out? Niels looks so much like him it's scary. What a perfect addition to my BYU office.

Let Freedom Ring

BYU is going independent. I am no football fanatic, but you can get the skinny by tuning into BYUTV online for the live press conference today at noon or at 6 p.m. MST for True Blue sports' report.

First Day of School

I thought it might be fun to point out a couple of differences between the U and the Y as made painfully apparent on my first day of school.

1. Prayers in class - That's a little bit different, not wrong or bad, just different (okay, I'll go as far as to say it is weird).
2. Babies everywhere - I know that mormons have lots of kids and all but I guess I didn't expect them to be all over campus. I literally had to reroute while walking through the hall to avoid running over a little toddler taking its first steps.
3. Conversation - Here is a little excerpt from a conversation I overheard while walking on campus:

Girl #1: One of the vocal point guys is totally in my ward!

Girl#2: Oh my gosh, that is SO awesome!

This could take some time to get used to...

Spencer's New Home

I dropped Spencer off for his first day of school this morning. He will literally live in the building of slow, painful death by mathematics Talmage Building, where his office and all of his classes are. Maybe we'll take bowling or world religions (so he can meet "Is dat wight?") together so he can break out.

That's So Grandma

A little excerpt from LB's last letter:

...Well until next week. Much love.

Elder Ek

P.S. Grandma- The woman from Mongolia whose number you gave me is slated to be baptized in about a month in Vienna. Her husband wants to then get baptized by his brother from Arizona or something. That is neat!

Lots of People Saying Stuff

No one will come out and say it, but if the prophet says OK, BYU is cutting loose.

And for the Boise fans, did you see the cover of the latest issue of Sports Illustrated? Lots of blue. :)

Scuba Is On

At age 16, Stacy Taniguchi (above) made a list of 100 things he would do before he died, things like get a driver's license, fly a plane, climb Mount Everest, scale the most difficult rock-climbing face in the world, see the Taj Mahal, etc., etc. Lucky for me, he settled down enough to live in Provo and teach at BYU, so now I get to participate in his final list item: No. 100, scuba dive.

Mr. Taniguchi says he's up for certifying this fall—we'll be taking classes from his graduate assistant's wife. Then the magazine just may send me to accompany him on his first real dive, somewhere beautiful and tropical, naturally . . . I wish I weren't terrified of the ocean.

Please, No More Boys

Friends, family, please stop having male babies. There is nothing cute to buy them. I have a closet full of gifts for precious baby girls. If you have a boy, you will get blue Patagonia mittens. Sorry, that's the best I've found.

Pound Out

The Malibu survived. I hope the deer did, too.

Spencer did an admiral pound-out job.

Replace Me in Master Bedroom

At 5 a.m., the fire alarm in our bedroom goes off:

Alarm: BEEP, BEEP, ALERT! SMOKE IN MASTER BEDROOM!

Spencer: I'm going to throw that across the street. (gets up and dismantles fire alarm, chucks it in kitchen)

Alarm, 2 minutes later: REPLACE ME IN MASTER BEDROOM! REPLACE ME IN MASTER BEDROOM!

Spencer: It's your turn to get up with the baby. This is good practice for you.

Me: It's detected CO2. (gets up to sleep on the couch)(in my defense, I am sleep walking here)

Spencer gets ready for work. Brittany is still paranoid about CO2.

Spencer, bending to scoop Brittany off couch: (in robo voice) REPLACE BRITTANY IN MASTER BEDROOM.

Three Years

Happy Anniversary to us.

I'm Goin' to Jackson

The scene on our drive when we were somewhere in the vicinity of, say it with us, Kemmerer. This is before we hit the deer.


Despite the traumatic roadkill events of the night before, there's no summer day better-spent than kayaking Lake Jackson.


We also rafted the Snake River, where we saw two bald eagles, a moose, and umpteen beavers. To liven up a raft full of accountants, we antagonized our guide, a lifelong resident of the Jackson Lodge, with the following statement: "Isn't the skiing at Targhee better than Jackson?"

Fighting words, yes, but we do not take responsibility for the 2-ton raft getting stuck in the middle of the river while he was on his soap box. It took him and his partner (and their boss, three boats behind us) 20 minutes to unlodge us.

We also hiked up and camped at the back of Cascade Canyon, then continued on up Avalanche Divide. I have never hiked another mountain to a scene more stunning than the backside of the Grand, South, and Middle Tetons. Unfortunately, we didn't bring our camera up to Avalanche Divide, so no photos to prove it.



We woke up to this guy's claws under the rain-fly of our tent. He was eating my shoe. We chased him away once, but he came back to chew Spence's pack.


Just as infommercial Charlie Amoratti—Jackson Lodge activity guide—promised, we saw some of the six bull moose up Cascade Canyon. "All my guests are seeing 'em—YOU WILL TOO!"

We did miss the wolf kill that everyone else and their dog saw on our last day, which leaves the wildlife checklist at:

Moose: 4
Bear: 0
Cougar: 0
Wolf: 0
Elk: 500
Beaver: Umpteen
Bald Eagles: 4
Marmot: 2
Buffalo: 2
Porcupine: 1

A Repost Is in Order

Jenn already put this up, but I must prove to others that I have the cutest niece (well, nieces) in the world.

Catch a Cougar

New magazine day came and went. If you like a challenge, there's an error in the news section. And the title of this post is a hint. Yeah . . . we did that on purpose . . . .

Niels on Wheels

Remember when we used to call him that?



Nice missionary face, Niels. Pictures courtesy of member in San Jose.