This week Francis Collins gave a speech at BYU that I enjoyed watching. Here is the link  and this post will give you the highlights.  He started out talking about his impressive career which included being the head of the National Institute of Health for many years, including during COVID. He headed up the Human Genome Project and also did research, finding the genes for cystic fibrosis and Huntington's Disease. He got a Ph.D. in chemistry from Yale and then went to medical school at University of North Carolina.  He also talked about how he became a Christian. Before medical school, he was an atheist, but it was at the bedsides of people who were dying that he started to realize he wouldn't know how to handle that. One woman who reminded him of his grandmother told him about her faith in a compelling way and then asked him a question, "Doctor, what do you believe? " He realized that he had spent almost no time pondering this extremely important question. He said he ...

On New Year's Eve, my sister's family visited us and they took a tour of Scott's lab and the anechoic chamber. Then that night we went to a game night at my parents' house. On New Year's, we headed to St. George for slightly warmer temperatures and a general getaway. We rode the train at the Dinosaur Park. We also spent some time at Snow Canyon State Park which is always a good time. We visited the St. George temple which has some beautiful decor. Scott, Katie, Camille and Mindy did baptisms while I went in the main part of the temple. And here is a random picture of some turkeys I saw in the cemetery.

We enjoyed attending an organ recital given by my new organ teacher, Don Cook, at the Tabernacle on Christmas Eve. I think organists love to show the full range of all the sounds organs can make and this recital was no exception. Afterwards, he invited us to come up and see the organ and talk about it. The Tabernacle organ is the 12th largest in the world and has 206 stops and 11,000 pipes. It has  5 volume pedals. The 6 big pipes in the front are the only speaking pipes and they are made of gold plated wood. The console is electric. The original organ had a facade built into the pipes. Now it's connected electronically somehow. The Montre pipe is the lowest pipe and it's 32 feet long. The highest pitched pipe is one foot long and it kind of sounds like a dog whistle. There are 8 divisions and 5 manuals (keyboards). (I'm a little fuzzy on what divisions are on the organ.) In the back of the Tabernacle are some stops that sound and they are good for echoes and antiphonal eff...

 Jan had a birthday a few weeks ago! Here are some pictures from his early high school years. After we got home from Germany, Jan decided to get involved in more stuff, so he participated in some plays. First he did Beauty and the Beast and then he was cast as the father in "You Can't Take It With You," in the 9th grade play. Once Jan got to Orem High, he participated in marching band, jazz band, and concert band. He got to play in the All-State jazz band. He had a brief foray into track and then decided that wasn't his thing. 14-year-old Jan with his 2-year-old sister. Graduating from junior high, wearing his jazz band shirt: The first day's work on his Eagle Project! Post-Scout camp, I think it might be dirt: Visiting Carthage: Earning a merit badge and varsity letter: Jan's in the front on the far left, playing a trumpet, in the 4th of July parade: After we planted some plants at the Eagle Project right before Camille was born: Singing "I'm Peanut ...