Those of you who know me personally are aware I dislike all holidays except Thanksgiving.  I ramp it up a bit though and absolutely hate Hallmark holidays, which I believe are days invented to sell cards, flowers and chocolate.

I’d just like to say, clearly, that the best job in the world is being a father. No day is required to honor me. 

Second best… being a husband.

Third best… being both.

Gifts are appreciated any time. Especially hand made ones. But don’t stress about tomorrow – any day is fine.

I’ve had the great pleasure of being Dad who is around an awful lot to two great kids. I’m pleased as punch by the experience and will miss it dearly after they leave the nest.

As to this Father’s Day… I’ll be shooting in Vegas, tuning up for our Area Championship on my own, as my son accidently cut his trigger finger tendon and won’t be able to shoot for a month or so.

We buried my Uncle Ray yesterday in a short, but moving, ceremony at the Riverside National Cemetery.

Given that not many people play the bugle any more, and also given that the cemetery does 40 to 50 burials a day, normally Taps is played by recording.

Our excellent funeral director, Bob Hansen of Crippen Mortuary, arranged to have a live bugler be part of the honor guard with an organization called “Bugles Across America”.

Craig Bryant, of Bugles Across America, drove from Anaheim to Riverside to play Ray’s funeral.  He did a lovely job and we thank him.

You can donate to and learn more about Bugles Across America here.

Notice the salt encrusted uniforms – Vietnam was hot and humid.

Ray played a part in seeding the Ho Chi Min trail with clever listening devices used to detect enemy movement. These devices looked like natural fauna. He served 2 years in Vietnam.

His internment is today, at Riverside National Cemetery, with full military honors, even a live bugler.  If you plan on attending be at Staging Area 3 at 1230.

Raymond John Nelson, 71, of Sunland, California died June 4, 2010 in Glendale, California of cancer after a short hospitalization.

He was born in Troy, New York to Victor and Mary Nelson of Watervliet, NY and attended St Patrick’s elementary school in Watervliet and LaSalle Institute, Troy where he was the Colonel of Cadets in the Class of 1957. He received a degree in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1961 in Troy, New York, and a Masters degree in Physics from the US Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California in 1967.

He served fourteen years on active duty as a US Army signal officer including two years in the Vietnam War theater.  He was thereafter employed in engineering positions in several US defense firms before retiring in 1998. He was a life member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and was also a student of American history focusing on the American West 1800-1850.

He is survived by his brother Carl Nelson of Washington, DC, by two nephews in Utah and California, and by two cousins in the Capital District of New York. Interment is planned in the US National Cemetery in Riverside, California near where he lived since 1980.

Burial will be at Riverside National Cemetery, with full military honors, on Tuesday June 15, 2010 at 1230PM.

A viewing/memorial will be held Monday, June 14 between 5-8PM at Crippen Mortuary, 2900 Honolulu Avenue, La Crescenta, CA.

Contact Ken Nelson, kn@kennelson.com, for details or questions.

More pictures of Ray, through out his life, can be seen in this online album.

We were in Vegas staying at a Residence Inn this weekend.  My Valentine got up early and made a hearty farm breakfast so my son and I would be properly energized for a match. She then popped over the Albertsons and got peanut butter because Brian’s shooting coach had recommended PB&J sandwiches for a good balance of sugar throughout the match. And then she drove us to the match, dropped us off with cinnamon rolls for us and the other shooters, and then went back to the hotel.

When the match was over, she hauled all the luggage to the car, without a luggage cart, checked out and then came and watched us shoot the last couple stages.

So it wasn’t the most romantic Valentine’s Day for her. But she smiled throughout!

23 years of marriage arrives next month. I heart her more than I did at the start!

My 12 year old son, Brian, has a blog now. And he has learned to post to it. We reposted a couple things he wrote for my site, and then he wrote a fresh piece on the match he shot today.

http://www.briankevinnelson.com

Bookmark it today!

The “theme’ this year was “Haunted Bajou”:

A haunted gingerbread house, with dock to alligator infested swamp. Skulls, a cemetary with vulture, and a dark foreboding forest…

Details:

Brian built a sturdy wood base with carry handles and room for electronics mounting and drive ice underneath. I added electronics, including lights and a small computer fan in the house to spread the dry ice smoke.  Jenny & Paula baked and decorated the cake itself.

The cake took the top bid at the auction, for $210 dollars.

This is a sign of the times…. 2 years ago it might have fetched $600 or even a $1,000.

High res color
High res b/w

The Montessori school Brian & Jenny attends currently only teaches to the 6th grade. So yesterday was their Spring Performance & 6th Grade Graduation. They sing songs, play recorders, recite poems, and the six 6th graders gave graduation speeches.

Brian’s is below.  It was funny and very well received. He led into it with an unplanned joke. “I’d asked Ms. Wand for a tele-prompter, but unfortunately the school doesn’t own one. I’d heard using one was the way to get ahead these days….”

Hi, I’m Brian Nelson. My sister, Jenny, and I have been attending Dayspring Montessori for eight years. She’s in 4^th grade this year. Jenny, please stand up. Now sit down, this is my speech.

My parents suggested that I discuss what attending Dayspring has meant to me. I said, “You mean other than saving me from being homeschooled by Mom?”. I’ve never attended any other school but Dayspring, so I don’t know anything different. What I DO know is that Dayspring seems to try harder. What I DO know is that in addition to helping me excel in writing and reading (my favorite subjects), they also challenged me in harder subjects for me (like Algebra).

It didn’t stop at the basics (reading, writing, ‘rithmatic), I’ve been taught how the legal system works by expert trial attorneys . Thank you Mr. & Mrs. Kendrick, please stand up….now sit down, it’s my speech. I’ve been taught photography by a very handsome (doesn’t even look 44) professional photographer, stand up Dad….Ladies & Gentlemen, Ken Nelson (now sit down – my speech remember).

Who would have thought that a small school like ours could mount an extravaganza like the First African Christmas program? Ms. Fulton, an experienced thespian and choreographer, led the effort for that first year’s production. She’s moved on, but her legacy continues on in our annual productions.

Our Moab trips…..AWESOME. What other school in the entire state would throw their kids off 180 foot cliffs, try to drown them in white water rapids all while providing such luxurious sleeping accommodations? THAT’S the Dayspring difference.

Today marks my graduation from the sixth grade. Which means I’m exactly half way to graduating from high school. Next year I will attend Fossil Ridge Intermediate School. I’m a tad nervous and sad to be leaving Dayspring. But I know that they’ve prepared me well and I promise to keep trying hard and to continue to love to learn.

In closing…..

I would like to thank my parents for paying for this fancy private education and for helping me with my Algebra (^grimace). I would like to thank all the parents who have volunteered their time helping me and the school.

And all of my teachers over these 8 years…. Thank you Mrs. Bergeson. Thank you Mrs. Littlepage. Thank you Mrs. Jones. Thank you Mrs. Mikkelson. Thank you Mrs. Chadaz. Thank you Mrs. Green. And especially, thank you Ms. Wand for putting your heart into…everything.

THANK YOU

Brian learns to bike. 2001.

I totally forgot that I trained an apprentice photographer at the Temple in Sep of 2003 using me and the kids as models.  Picasa uncovered the lost photos when I mistyped a search term.

Jenny – yesterday morning