cc: file, Tony Hafen, Pauline Nelson via mail, Sara and Des Penny, Claude and Katherine Warner, Lloyd and Luana Warner, Diane Cluff, and Maxine Shirts.
"What a wonderful Thanksgiving 1999 has turned out to hold. There were a few times when I didn't think so. However, thanks largely to Andrea, these moments passed quickly. As I mentioned last week I learned of Grandma Hafen's death on Saturday at Camp Liendo (../photos/Scouts/CampLiendo20Nov99/CampLiendoBallad20Nov99.html). So Andrea made plane reservations for her and myself on Saturday. Sunday after writing the Thoughtlet about derivatives, I packed for an overnight trip to Utah. I didn't realize the word derivatives was going to turn some of you off. Maybe I should have used the word differences, since that is all derivatives are. The differences in distance over time are velocity (v=(d1-d2)/(t1-t2)), and the differences in velocity over time are acceleration (a=(v1-v2)/(t1-t2)). Similarily thoughts are differences in words over time (th=(w1-w2)/(t1-t2)), and accelerated thought is the difference in thoughts over time (at=(th1-th2)/(t1-t2)). Anyway, I guess I shouldn't start off so abstract if I expect everyone to make it past the first paragraph.
The most important meeting on Monday was with Tom Smith, who was one of two students to get their Ph.D. while I was running the Seismic Acoustics Laboratory at the University of Houston. He is now the President and Founder of MicroSeismic Technology. They build a PC based seismic interpretation package and have competed very successfully with Landmark. I was so busy getting ready for the trip that I forgot to go to the meeting and Peter Duncan ended up reminding me. Oh well! Believe I helped a little with my comments. Andrea came by and got the last of the Walden 3-D, Inc. papers from Rhonda and we left for the airport at 3:30 PM. We took Continental to Las Vegas, and they started our Thanksgiving 99 week off great by putting us in first class. There really is a big difference between first class and coach. Not that we drank any of the wine nor any of the champaigne. However, we ate the salad, loved the shrimp scampi on rice, and ate the dessert. We drove to Porter's and said hi to Mom and then spent the evening with Lloyd and Luana Warner in Bloomington.
Andrea and I went for a run/walk around the golf course. It was freezing, and a beautiful crisp morning with beautifully colored leaves. Uncle Lloyd fixed us oatmeal with apples and cinnaman, which was very good. We talked too long and were late getting to Porter's to get Mom down to the funeral home. The staff had already walked her half way there. There were family I had not met before, like Grandma's nephew Dave Andrus. The funeral was short. Muggy Hafen gave the family prayer when the casket was closed. Mr. Randall, who purchased Calf Springs Ranch, gave the opening prayer. Sara played two beautiful numbers. Grandma's Home Teacher spoke. Grandma's nephew, Dave Andrus, gave the closing prayer. In his prayer he referred to Grandma as `A Grand Lady of the West.' I can not think of a more fitting tribute. Grandsons were the pall bearers: Jeff and Thane and Josh (Glenn's boys), Buster and Muggy (Tony's boys), and myself. Andrea and Luana took Mom back up to Porter's. I rode to the cemetary with Glenn and Linda and their kids. I dedicated the grave. Grandma's Ward put on a dinner for the family. I took some photos: http://www.walden3d.com/photos/Family/AncestorsHafen/GrandmaHafenFuneral23Nov99/*. Andrea and I took Mom out to lunch at The Hunan Resturant. Then we drove to Las Vegas and got to Houston just before Paul and Kate arrived on an American Airlines flight. We actually thought we had missed them for a few minutes.
Nate, Heather, and Audrey had come in earlier in the day. Thanks again Rob for picking them up at Hobby Airport. We got back to the house at about 11:30 PM. I got up early and went to the office to work on Wednesday. Paul drove me down so they could use the Lexus to go to The Houston Museum of Fine Art, and The Houston Museum of Natural History and the Butterfly Museum. I worked with Gary Young and Carolyn Sumners on the small planetarium project. I also practiced a little bit with flying in the environment. Not enough though. I apologize to those of you who went down to the office for my poor flying skills. The technology is still too sophisticated for me to use very good. It is getting better. Wednesday evening was my almost meltdown reaction to having my chain jerked. Thanks Andrea for helping me keep a reasonable perspective. While you kids went to see the latest James Bond, Andrea and I went to see The Omega Code. Interesting how the theater's are playing off of the scriptural prophesies of the last days. Seemed like a lot of the movie was tracking the scriptures, and yet it was obviously Hollywood fantasy. I enjoyed the movie, and I expect there are several of you who would not like it.
For those not here, Thursday we had everyone here for Thanksgiving Dinner except Roice and Ben and Sarah. There are photos of the next three days at http://www.walden3d.com/photos/Family/RBN1a_RoiceNelsonFamily/thanksgiving99. Thursday night everyone went to see Toy Story 2. What a great movie! Friday we hung around. Several watched Texas A&M beat The University of Texas at Austin in an upset football game. With the disaster at the Aggie bonfire earlier in the week, and the death of 12 students, it was a nice way to start on the way forward. The most exciting news of the week is that Sarah and Ben are expecting our first Grandchild in July of 2000. Sarah had made really cute booties for everyone. As Matt ran out of the room he said `I'm goint to be a father! No, I'm going to be an Uncle!' It was really cute. Paul threw me in the pool later in the afternoon, and then he jumped in before I could catch him and try to throw him in. Everyone had a fun time. We took Heather, Nate, and Audrey by the Galleria on the way to Hobby Airport. I sang some of my songs to Kate, which I enjoyed, and which put Paul to sleep. Then in the evening we all watched my birthday present movie Star Trek: First Contact. After this, and while the kids were off bowling, I watched a movie about the last days called `The Word,' while I was waiting for the kids to get home and while I was working on a jigsaw puzzle of one of the Natural Bridges Andrea and I visited on our honeymoon. It is not a very good movie, and I strongly disagree with several of the movie's messages. However, I guess I did enjoy it.
Saturday Paul and I patched the roof. I took Paul and Kate past the Houston Temple on the way to Intercontinental Airport. Ben helped Andrea set up the books for Walden 3-D. Roice came over and we talked for a while, which was very nice. In the evening, Andrea and I finished up the puzzle and watched the Star Trek Movie Insurrection, my other birthday present. We all went to bed early, although Matt came down to tell us how much he missed everyone being gone already. I guess Matt's tears and words summarize both Andrea's and my feelings about a week which went by very quickly. Hopefully, as you go back and look at the photos, you will remember what a great week we had, and you will have something you can use as a visual basis for bedtime stories for your kids. Thanks to each of you for helping make Thanksgiving 1999 so wonderful."