Anthon and the iPod

Like most kids, Anthon loves watching TV. His favorite show is either Baby Einstein or Baby Signing Times. Or, if I'm watching sports, he likes to cheer at the screen. Shelley also has a video iPod. (Do you see where I'm going with this?) and ahead of a particularly long flight that Shelley had to take with Anthon, alone, I thought I'd be a good husband and rip a few of our Baby Einstein DVDs and put them onto the video iPod for Shelley to use with Anthon. I thought that would pacify him...and it does...as you can see from the photo below. It's like catnip for our child. It just puts him into a calm, sedate state.

But Anthon loves the iPod. Shelley told me a story of how she had just come downstairs with Anthon and was doing something when she realized that it was pretty quiet. She looked around for Anthon and eventually walked upstairs to find Anthon sitting in our black swivel office chair. He had pulled Shelley's iPod out of the cubby it was in...which is hard for Anthon to reach...unwound the earbuds, stuck them in his ear correctly, turned on the iPod and pressed the right combination of buttons to get the Baby Einstein video to play. This kid is determined to watch his Baby Einstein. He looks at Shelley with a proud look on his face and says, "Mama, TV!"

We flew home from Indiana last weekend when I snapped this shot. Anthon was asking for the iPod long before the flight even took off from Evansville. But it works magic. Our child was quiet and eventually fell asleep for a nice flight home.

Good luck Michael!

Shelley's younger brother, and only brother I might add, is leaving soon on his LDS mission to Spain. He's the second of the Daetwyler children to go on a mission - Shelley being the other. His going to Spain also balances out the BILC (Brother-in-Law Club) membership. Gary and Mike will have gone to Spain...Danny and I will have gone to Asian missions (where all the cool and socially well-adjusted people go, I might add).

Our family went back to be with Mike before he leaves, and to attend his farewell at the Evansville Ward. Anthon continues to grow fond of Mike. He has a very unique way of saying Mike's name, which combines the word "Mike" with the sound Anthon has for a shark and/or a lion. It's sort of a breathy, open-mouthed roar. We laugh because if sharks really did roar, they would probably sound a lot like Anthon...but with a more bubbly, under-water kick to it. So Anthon calls Mike, Miiiiiiiiike in that breathy roar. Very cute.

Anyway, we are very proud of Mike and the decision he has made to serve the Lord and the people of Spain. Not many 19 years old can do what he's doing. This is the first person in a long time that is close to both Shelley and I who is on a mission. So we're looking forward to hearing about his experiences. Good luck Mike! We love you!

Within the Temples of Angkor Wat

I never did the backpacking-through-Europe thing before I started my career. And to some extent I always regretted it. So, when I moved with my company to Japan, I used my location as a launching pad for travel to interesting parts of Asia.

This photo was taken in Cambodia seeing what I think is one of the most awesome sights in the world, Angkor Wat. This photo could have been taken anywhere in the world, but trust me on this, it was taken in Cambodia. I liked seeing the sun pouring in on this large wooden support used to prop up the heavy cut-stones that are caving in. In fact Angkor is a city full of temples that are being destroyed by nature. It's an amazing place to see giant trees whose root systems are growing and enveloping walls. It's really a sublime place.

This shot does it for me only because of the natural framing of the darkened walls in the foreground set against a nicely positioned wooden support set at a slight angle.

Download the full photograph by clicking on the image below.

Shamu! Shamu! Shamu!

I had just come home from a week-long business trip to Toronto and our family took the opportunity to visit our friends Stewart and Elaine Young in San Diego, and take Anthon to Sea World. As you may recall, our outing to Disneyland didn't yield the excitement and joy that we were hoping for. However, we thought that since Anthon loves animals, Sea World might be more his speed.

We talked up Shamu quite a bit and he was totally into Shamu even before the show started. However, Anthon was so frightened to see this huge black and white creature unexpectedly jump out of the water that he started to cry uncontrollably. Poor kid! Before this, Anthon loved to swim in the pool and I hope this hasn't created a subconscious fear of killer whales jumping out of the water. Because haven't we all psyched ourselves out as little kids, believing that there are sharks in the water? Ok, maybe that's just me. All in all, we had a great time seeing polar bears, dolphins, penguins and other marine life.

I think this day left an indellible impression on our boy for the better. Even a week and some change later, he has recalled words and gestures from that day. We saw a picture of a starfish in a magazine and he said "starfish," stretched out his hand and patted it like he did when he held it at Sea World.

Click on the thumbnail to the left to see the pictures from our day. Click on the right thumbnail to see a short video clip.

Sea World Photos

Sea World Video

Father's Day 2007

It's reassuring to me as a Father to know that my son is learning to pull his own weight in this world. For Father's Day, I received two pairs of cuff links, a pair from Shelley and a pair from Anthon. Shelley purchased them online from the same retailer on Ebay. The first pair came at a reasonable retail price, but the second pair came via an auction with no reserve and no bidders. The opening price was $0.01. Shelley happened upon the auction with 30 seconds remaining and the cuff links were cool, so she decided to bid $0.01 and she won it.

My proud father moment came later that day when Anthon and Shelley were walking and found a penny on the sidewalk. A penny doesn't go very far in this world, but in this instance it was enough for Anthon to buy my Father's Day gift. Shelley had him pick it up and give it to her, thus allowing him to earn enough to buy me a gift. So sweet.

Here is a picture of me opening up the cuff links with Anthon looking on. Gotta love the expression on his face.

The 18th at Coronado

I'm a horrible golfer, but I'd like to think that golf can be time well spent, especially when you're witness to a spectacular sunset.

In 2002, a group of friends played a round of golf at a public course on Coronado Island in San Diego. We were approaching the green on the 18th hole when I noticed the deep colors of the sunset reflecting off the lake. Everything in the background was shadowed black, including the ducks. The only color was was the sunset and that light which reflected off the water. It was truly a nice moment.

You can download the full image by clicking on the image.

Girls Trip to New York

A few weekends back, Shelley took a weekend trip with my Mom and one of my sisters, Becky, to visit another sister, Liza who lives in New York. From the looks and sounds of things, they had a great time. They shopped, ate great food, saw a play and bonded. I've uploaded pictures from the weekend onto our website for you to view.

I stayed home with Anthon and had a chance to bond with him, too. I think it was a great weekend for everyone involved.

PS...And before you wonder,yes, it's 3:20 AM and I am still up. No, it's not that I can't sleep. I have to wake up early for a 6:40 AM flight to Evansville, Indiana. And I got home from school late (10:30 PM) and I had to pack and do some school work stuff before I could go to sleep. And I just kept going and now that I'm really tired, it's too late to go to sleep. I'd just be up in an hour. So I'd rather be tired and strung out (like I am right now), than tired, grumpy and disoriented, which I'd be an hour from now if I napped.

Cabo Cactus

This picture was taken in Cabo San Lucas of a lone cactus on a small sandy bluff overlooking the beach and the Gulf of California. I shot this picture in the morning and, like most of my shots, didn't do anything for me. I started playing around with the colorization and though that even though the blue sky behind it was so clear and deep...if I made that black and white and intensified the green of the cactus I might come up with some funky. Well, it certainly is funky. I think that's why I like it.

This trip to Cabo in 2005 was an incentive trip because Shelley and her sales district was one of the top districts in the company. Shelley was pregnant with Anthon at it was one of the last big vacations before I started my MBA and we became parents.

You can download the full image by clicking on the image.

More Cotton Candy

As you can tell by this picture, Anthon is eating cotton candy, again! The Pasadena Stake had a fair this past weekend and it was an extravangaza, let me tell you! Pony rides, bounce houses, a dunk booth and more.

Wanting to help out, I volunteered to help with the concessions and was given the cotton candy making duty. Now, really, how many people have actually made cotton candy before? It's like climbing Mt. Fuji...I'm glad I did it once, but I don't know if I ever have to do it again (but that's another story). Two hours of twirling my arm and wrist in the same direction isn't too fun! The kids seemed to think I twirled a mean...err...stick(?)...of cotton candy. Because as soon as they would get their order, they would seemingly hop right back in line. I swear the same 10 kids just kept coming back for more and more cotton candy. I thought my arm was going to fall off.

If you pay close attention to the photo, you can see all the blue cotton candy on my arm...and that was after I cleaned up a good chunk of it for the camera. The cotton candy was flying around so much that it would get sticky up my eye lashes, making it hard to blink! Good times.

Anthon's Busath Photo

So this shot was taken by Busath Photography a studio in Salt Lake City. We've used this studio for family photos, wedding and baby shots. These were originally taken back in November and after some mishaps on both sides we're finally getting the picture below printed.

What Shelley and I love about this picture is Anthon's cute little smile and his bare feet exposed. The picture seems to capture a sweet part of Anthon's personality.

The CN Tower of Toronto

In honor of me being in Toronto on business this week, I thought I'd post a picture I took of the CN Tower, one of the tallest structures in North America. The views from up top are spectacular. There's a section with a clcear, plexi-glass like flooring that allows you to see to the ground. Let me assure you, it takes a few seconds to assure your brain that you're not going to fall if you step on it.

I took this shot while I was on a month-long sprint through parts of Canada helping to promote a new mutual fund my company launched in April, 2006. I had some free time on a Saturday and, as you can see, the weather was perfectly clear.

You can download the full image by clicking on the image.

Sunrise along the Mediterranean

I remember this shot well. I had been up for hours watching the Presidential election coverage in our hotel room in Spain. It was like Christmas morning. Shelley wouldn't let me get up too early, but I just couldn't wait to see how the election results turned out. (By the way, election day television for me is the best television in the world.) I was up at 4:00 AM and quietly turned on the TV.

This shot was taken as the sun came up in Marbella, Spain - a Mediterranean coastal resort town. I'd never seen a sky so vivid with color. This picture was doctored a bit only to intensify the color of the sky and to completely blacken out the buildings in the foreground.

You can download the full image by clicking on the image.

Memorial Day Trip to Zion National Park

Shelley and our friends the Willards and Ragozzines planned a great trip to Southern Utah this Memorial Day weekend. One of the highlights was spending time in Zions National Park, where we climbed Angel's Landing and saw the sunset on the Canyon Overlook. Simply spectacular views.

As if that weren't enough, however. We stayed in LaVerkin, a town outside of Zion's, and stayed with Sarah Ragozzine's parents who spoiled us with their kindness, generosity and great food.

It had been a few years since I'd been back to Zion. I fell in love with the place while tour guiding Japanese folk. I'm looking forward to the day when our family can hike The Narrows all together. That might be a few years off.

Click on one of the thumbnails below. The one on the left takes you to a small group of photos, while the one on the right takes you to a home video shot during the weekend.

Photos from Zion

Zion Home Video