The Taggart Family -- Life, Family and Friends

The End of the Old Blog

2010-06-20T16:29:00.010-06:00

This blog has enjoyed nearly 5,500 visits in the last 12 months (shown above) and over 42,000 since it's creation in early 2006.

This blog Now has a New Owner:

Joseph is taking over editorial rights to his own blog. His dad has been playing editor for the last 4 1/2 years and Joseph is taking over the blog. . . after all it is in his name.

The Tim & Gloria Taggart Family Blog will continue under a new name . . .

The Tim & Gloria Taggart Family Blog

(catchy huh?)

and is now found here:

Tim & Gloria Taggart Family Blog
(TimTaggartFamily.blogspot.com)

Welcome June!

2010-06-06T22:08:00.013-06:00

Summer School Continues
Joseph had a busy week with school and with his other efforts working with his immigration internship and the mental health court study. He was able to attend meetings at the Capitol as well.

Poses
While the kids were here for the weekend they finally received the little presents Tim brought home from Egypt, Jordan and Israel. Tim was happy just grabbing a few photos. Here is a link to a few more: Grandkids

A Memorial Weekend

2010-05-30T20:33:00.025-06:00

Memorial Day
Memorial Day is celebrated on Monday in the U.S. It is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (May 31 in 2010). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in the military service. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War (it is celebrated near the day of reunification after the Civil War), it was expanded after World War I.

We honor all those of all countries who do their duty to protect and defend principles of right and look forward to a day when the last drops of blood have been shed in wars and all the sacrifice is but a memory. Imagine when all the resources that are used in combat and to fight crime and protect society from evil, hatred, and every sort of vice etc could be put to use in bettering mankind. "Come on 2nd Coming!"

Salt Lake Temple Scale Model
The interior of the Salt Lake Temple is beautifully displayed now for all to see in an incredible model on display in the South Visitor Center on Temple Square. Gloria and Tim went down on Saturday and took their grandson Ethan. It is really remarkable. Tim took a few photos. (you can see more of Tim's photos here: Salt Lake Temple Model). The announcement is here: SL Temple Model -LDS Newsroom and a really interesting article on creating the model is here: Salt Lake Temple Model Fact Sheet.

Beauty of Spring at Temple Square
While we were looking at the new exhibit we enjoyed the glorious weather and the beauty of "The Mountain of the Lord" and the surroundings on Temple Square. For more of Tim's photos see: Temple Square.

Mormon Channel News
Joseph was interviewed for the Mormon Channel last week. We don't know when it will be available, but we will post a link. It was for the program Why I Believe.

It's been since January 2010 that we updated Tim's interviews on the Mormon Channel show Into All the World. There are now 33 episodes posted. Here are the ones since we last listed them.

You can click on the Episode to go to the page with their photo and the information about their location etc. You can click on the MP3 logo to listen to the program or right-mouse-click on the MP3 logo and select "Save link As..." to save the MP3 file to your computer:

Episode 20: President Ruben Andrés Concha Leiva - Stake President in the Concepción Chile Stake

Episode 21: President Karl and Sister Gunda Lee Dodge - Mission President and his wife recently returned from Bangkok, Thailand

Episode 22: President Brad and Sister Debbie Farnsworth - Mission President and his wife recently returned from Madrid, Spain

Episode 23: President Peter and Sister Sheena Joyce - Mission President and his wife recently returned from Ogden, Utah

Episode 24: President Donald and Sister Jane Pugh - Mission President and his wife recently returned from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Episode 25: President Craig and Sister Candice Terry - Mission President and his wife recently returned from Lisbon, Portugal

Episode 26: President Valentin Nunez - Stake President in the San Miguel Santiago, Chile Stake

Episode 27: President Kent and Sister Joyce Seal - Mission President and his wife recently returned from Tulsa, Oklahoma

Episode 28: President Norman and Sister Mary Nielson - Mission President and his wife recently returned from Taipei, Taiwan

Episode 29: President Lynn and Sister Ardith Poulsen - Mission President and his wife recently returned from Olso, Norway

Episode 30: President Robert and Sister Mary Ann Winegar - Mission President and his wife recently returned from Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Episode 31: President Paul Woodland - Mission President recently returned from Belgium Brussels/Netherlands Mission

Episode 32: President Varuzhan Poghosyan - President of the Yerevan, Armenia District

Episode 33: President Lane and Sister Jennefer Steinagel - Mission President and his wife recently returned from the Ukraine Kiev Mission

Doing Well at Doing Good

2010-05-23T22:30:00.012-06:00

Doing Good
One of the major efforts this summer for Joseph is his work with his immigration internship through the Utah Health & Human Rights Project He will be interviewing and determining whether certain refugees are good candidates for asylum. Generally speaking, candidates for asylum are victims of severe discrimination (often violent) in their home countries because of their race, gender, political views, religion, ethnicity, sexuality etc.

He has already been assigned two refugees to work with and is very excited to work with the UHHP this summer.

Boot Camp
Joseph will be starting his lawyering skills class tomorrow. It is being taught "boot camp" style. That means it is taught Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM. He will be doing lots of role-play exercises, learning to interview, counsel and negotiate with clients etc.

A Good Little Fisher(wo)man
Cheyenne was featured on Channel Two news this past weekend with the photo Dad took of her the photo of the week. It took a lot of work for her to reel in the big trout at Hyrum Dam, but she did it. And you can see by the smile on her face that she is proud of her accomplishment!

The Galilee
There are few places as beautiful as the Galilee in Israel or more significant to the believing Christian. Tim posted a few of the photos from his recent Holyland trip on Facebook tonight. You can see the Places here: Places: The Galilee, Israel

And the Faces here: Galile e Faces

Spring into Summer

2010-05-16T19:18:00.023-06:00

School Out and Onward
Joseph finished his last final in Con Law to finish the Spring Semester. Whew! Summer schooling and various activities begin this week.

J. Reuben Clark Law Society Fellowship
Joseph was awarded the J. Reuben Clark Law Society Fellowship this past week. It is gratifying for him to know that others feel his ideas are worth rewarding. This will help with his work this summer on his feasibility study of a state-wide mental heath court system for Utah. He has a busy summer planned.

Last Jazz Game- Season Over
Thanks to some last minute free tickets Joseph and Tim were able to go to the Jazz-Laker playoff game at the Energy Solutions Arena. It was fun to be in attendance even though the result was disappointing. You can see more photos here: Jazz's Final Home Game

Spring at the COB
Friday morning it was so beautiful Tim couldn't help grabbing some photos at the Church Office Building before work. See a few more at: Spring on the COB Plaza

Spring Soccer Succumbs to Summer
For Ethan and Cheyenne and their coach/Dad the season came to a close this week. They have so much fun and little Gavin is their best cheerleader. He can't wait to get his own shot on the field with the ball.

Matt's Wedding
Joseph's best friend Matt Smith got married last week and Joseph was the best-man. Matt is Tim and Gloria's second son so it was a big deal for us all. Joseph helped organize the surprise honeymoon and Tim loved taking candid photos at the wedding. You can see more photos here: Matt & Tara's Wedding

Roll and Rock

2010-05-03T22:53:00.012-06:00

Rolling Forward
Joseph finished his first final, Criminal Law, last week and takes on his second final, Constitutional Law, on Friday. He wrote 20 pages for his first one. Whew!

AWARDS
Joseph was awarded the Lionel Frankel Public Interest Summer Fellowship sponsored by the Public Interest Law Organization to assist him in a research project he proposed, to study establishing a mental health court system for the State of Utah.

On Friday Joseph also received the Service to Disability Community Award from the UofU Disability Center.

ROCK
Tim uploaded a selection of photos of Jordan to Facebook. One of the highlights was Petra. It is clear how Petra (Rock) got it's name. The incredible tombs and monuments were carved in the solid stone cliffs by the ancient Arab Nabataeans. We hope you enjoy some of the Faces and Places of Jordan. For more photos here are the links:

Jordan Places: Jordan Places - incl PETRA

Jordan Faces: Jordan - Faces

Mid-East Report

2010-04-25T22:39:00.013-06:00

Joseph is in a full-court press finishing finals this week, didn't even take a break tonight to watch the Jazz win.

Tim returned from his trip to Egypt Jordan and Israel on Monday. He was fortunate to have his flight from Tel Aviv directly to Atlanta. . . no interference from the volcanic ash plaguing much of Europe. We are posting a few of his photographs of Egypt. You can see more on his Facebook posting (even if you aren't on Facebook):

The photos of PLACES are here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=168923&id=531111730&l=96d7fcf125

The photos of FACES are here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=168938&id=531111730&l=eb6678ffd2)

Easter

2010-04-04T17:28:00.012-06:00

Joseph Honored by Fellow Law Students
Instead of the EBM Reunion, Joseph attended the UofU Law School's Barrister Ball. He was honored by his fellow classmates with the Outstanding Student Award.

By the way, the link to his TV interview from last week is here: KUTV 2News JST Interview

EBM Reunion
Our family always enjoys the England Bristol Mission Reunion twice a year the Friday before General Conference. It was great this spring with lot's of missionaries, spouses, friends, and children. It was especially great to have Fabrizio De Giorgio, his wife Terry and their sweet little girl with us from Italy. You can see some of the photos at: EBM Reunion Photos.

Patrick Kearon called to the First Quorum of the Seventy
Our family was so pleased to sustain Elder Patrick Kearon to the First Quorum of the Seventy yesterday. Patrick joined the Church in 1987 and was called as Bristol England Stake President while we were there. He and his wonderful wife Jenn are dear friends. They have the most beautiful children. What a great blessing to the Kingdom they will be. He's been serving as an Area Authority Seventy and was recently in the Europe West Area Presidency. The Kearons have been living in Clevedon, Somerset England.

Passover/Easter and the Holy Land
Tim leaves in the morning to follow the footsteps of the Israelites from Egypt to Jordan and then to Israel. What a significant memory in this season of Pesach or Passover. Jewish families all over the world ask "Why is this night different from all other nights?" The answer to that is found in a small upper room in Jerusalem where Tim will end up in two weeks with his group. Easter provides the season to tie both the passover symbols and the sacrament together. (Tim shot the above photo in the 1980's. It was used as a Church poster for several years)

Making a Statement

2010-03-28T19:43:00.015-06:00

Joseph Makes a Statement
Tonight on KUTV News at 10 Joseph makes a statement about health care reform. He was interviewed this afternoon by Brian Mullahy. It was an interesting interview. Joseph's perspective is a bit unique because of his experience. Here is what he posted on Facebook that got noticed:

So many of you are critical of the new health care package, but I for one am counting down the days until I can purchase health insurance despite my pre-existing condition. Since breaking my neck 4 years ago, I have had to turn down 5 offers for paying jobs because if I were hired, I would've lost my Medicaid benefits..., and been left uninsured. The new health care package will allow me to get off government paid health insurance for the first time since becoming disabled. I have attached the following article which is a pretty good outline of what is in the bill, the good and bad. Most of you with strong opinions don't actually know what's in the bill, so this is worth checking out: What's in the Health-Care Bill - WSJ.com

Here is the link to the KUTV story online: KUTV 2News JST Interview.

Spring Break
Joseph comment last week: "let's be honest -- spring break for law students should really be called "study at home week". That's what he's been doing all week . . now back to school tomorrow.

"Dyslexics of the World Untie!"
Now that's making a statement. . . but not near as cool as the statement made by all of Gloria's first cousins who united with spouses for the annual Shaffer Cousin's Party in East Garland on Saturday. It's a great family.

Ethan Makes a Statement!
Last week when Ethan and his dad went to the Sports Expo there was a 60 foot climbing wall. 6 year old Ethan really wanted to climb it. Dad gave in and they stood in line forever waiting. It was after all that waiting and watching the older fail in embarrassment and the younger kids fail with tears that they found out it also cost $5. But after waiting so long Dad paid it and Ethan suited up. He climbed straight to the top of the 60' wall and sailed down smiling! what a statement. What a kid!

A Global Statement in Perfect Harmony
This video is amazing. All performed via webcam by vocalist who never met the conductor. Can the world come together? Maybe this gives hope.

March Madness

2010-03-21T21:04:00.002-06:00

Birthday Fun
This weekend was a delight with Cheyenne's 5th birthday to celebrate as well as the arrival of Spring.To celebrate we went on a family adventure to The Living Planet Aquarium. The whole family enjoyed it, the kids watching the fish and the grownups watching the kids.

The birthday cake was a hit because Cheyenne got to do the decorating. It was pink of course. (She is in the Princess phase). The presents were fun and there were hugs all around. Joseph gave her a Barbie nurse outfit (along with Barbie band-aids) what fun. She lost no time getting dressed up and giving everyone a check-up. For more of the photos go to March Madness- Grandkids Style

Spring Break
First day of Spring and beginning of Spring Break for Joseph this weekend. Yahoooo!

No Flowers from Mormons

Good Luck?

2010-03-14T21:33:00.011-06:00

Good Luck This Week
We began Daylight saving time in the United States this morning and Wednesday is Saint Patrick's Day. . . the year is flying by. We thought you might like to see Gloria's cool welcome decoration on our front door posted here. She has been doing some awesome scrapbook pages lately too.

Last Sunday's Tender Mercies
It was such a blessing for Gloria and Tim to be able to attend the blessing of the new little girl Elizabeth, born to Gennaca Aaron Sando and his sweet wife Carmelita. Gennaca was a missionary in the England Bristol Mission from Liberia. Since then, we were able to help Sis. Tamera Hinck Wood (in group photo on far left with her husband Grant) bring Elder Sando over to the US to attend university. He is now working in Idaho Falls, Idaho as a social worker while Carmelita finishes her degree. Gennaca gave Elizabeth a beautiful blessing and Carmelita and he bore powerful testimonies. What a joy to be part of it all.

Christmas and Easter Party
The AV team from the Language Production and Area Support Services section decided last November that the appropriate time to have a Christmas party was much closer to April 6th. That way we could celebrate Easter at the same time. Everyone gathered at the Taggarts Friday night and feasted on Quinn Orr's fabulous ribs and other awesome meats. Everyone brought food and we ate and visited all evening. What a Tender Mercy to work with such great people who are also great friends.

Winter Games

2010-02-21T22:24:00.011-07:00

Olympics
We are loving the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. We have squeezed in more TV than normal by a lot. We are proud of the individual effort of the athletes as well as the team sportsmanship and effort.

Grandpa's Winter Games
While the girls had a jewelry party during the 2010 Winter Olympics Tim took the grandkids over to the local elementary school playground for some Winter Games of our own! We had the Giant Slalom on the slippery slides. The Downhill was accomplished by rolling down the hill collecting dead grass in hair with giggles all around.

Family Scans
Tim spent the morning on Saturday visiting his cousin Becky Pollei Hansen and her husband Richard (photo left) scanning Lambert family photos. We are preparing a Lambert family reunion and collecting treasures to share with everyone.

Ogden Temple to Rise in a New Form
The Church Announced this week the complete remodel of the Ogden Temple. It will have a whole new exterior. The current view is on the left. The new look, after the renovation is on the right. Here is the link: Ogden Temple Facelift

The Flame Burns Bright

2010-02-14T19:23:00.009-07:00

Valentines Day
It was Valentines Day today. It was a great day complete with hearts and hugs. We enjoyed having Cheyenne with us. She went with us to Stake conference and was so good. She is our valentine today.

2010 Olympics
It is great to have the Olympics again. Even with the sad accident earlier in the week it is great to have the world come together again.

The Gospel Flame Spreads
The LDS Church News announced the change in LDS Missions (click on the link for the whole story). There were 14 missions eliminated in Europe, Australia, Northern Asia and the US by combining missions together. There were also 10 new missions created in Latin America, The Philippines, Africa and the US including the new St. George Utah mission.

When in Rome

2010-01-31T19:47:00.019-07:00

Halloween in Rome
As mentioned in previous posts (seeTie Tacks, Pumpkin Acts and Travel Facts) Tim traveled to Europe the end of October recording languages adaptations for The Restoration. His first stop was in Rome for business meetings on the day before Halloween. He and Jean Collin, the Church's language producer in Europe, met with a potential AV contract producer Emmanuele Guidara and Pres Massimo De Feo the Rome Stake President to discuss recording facilities for the audio recording of the scriptures in Italian. (Photo L-R: Jean, Emmanuele, Tim and Pres. De Feo)

Before leaving for Slovakia on November 1st Tim spent Halloween taking stock photos for the Europe Area Public Affairs office. You can see more of the shots here: Rome - Places and here: Rome - Faces

Temple to Be Built in Payson, Utah
The above link tells of the announcement of the 152nd temple in the world and the 15th in Utah. It was a thrill for Tim to talk to the Saints in Rome about their new temple to be built in Rome. The Lord is hastening His work.

First Presidency Appeals to Members to Help Haiti
In an official statement, the First Presidency has appealed to the worldwide membership of the Church to help relieve the suffering in Haiti. To make a donation, go to the Humanitarian Services Emergency Response donation form. Visit the Church Newsroom for updates on the Church’s relief efforts in Haiti.

New Mission President
We were delighted to see in LDS Church News our dear friends David and Lyn Irwin called to serve as mission president (mission not yet announced) David was Stake President in Plymouth England while were were in Bristol they are currently serving a couple mission in the Czech Republic.

History, Life, and Plans

2010-01-18T10:45:00.013-07:00

Dr. Martin Luther King Day
Today is a National Holiday in the US. It is well worth listening to this 30 second excerpt from Dr. King on his day: To Be Great, Serve

History of Media in the Church
Tim along with Bill Schaefermeyer, Bob Collins, and Quinn Orr went into the Church studio and recorded a fun discussion on the history of media in the Church with host Nathan Wright. Together we had about 150 years experience on the subject. It is in two parts on the program Legacy - the Mormon Channel. It is in two parts, click on each of the two links below to listen (or right click and 'save link as' to save the MP3 file to your computer and listen on your IPOD.
Episode 16
Episode 17

Life in Winter Can Be Fun, Really!
The kids in the family are enjoying the snow in Utah. It helps us remember the enthusiasm with which we should greet all aspects of life. It's important to see life as adventure after all!

Plans: 'The Exodus Tour' in April
Tim has agreed to escort The Exodus Tour for Morris-Murdock in April. It's been a few years since we've done this (note the photo, below right, from their first trip in 1981). Over the years Tim and Gloria have been tour guides on dozens of Church History and Holy Land tours as well as Book of Mormon Lands etc. The Itinerary looks great and includes Mount Sinai in Egypt and Petra in Jordan along with all the important sites in Israel. Exciting!

It's a New Year!

2010-01-10T21:42:00.012-07:00

Happy New Year
We welcome 2010. We love new beginnings and fresh starts and love to take the opportunity to make new commitments and set new goals.

School Starts Tomorrow
Joseph is beginning a new semester in Law School tomorrow. He is anxious to put into use the 'lay of the land' he learned the first semester. He is taking classes in Constitutional Law, Criminal Law and Legal Methods. He will again be reading a couple of hundred pages a week, but he is ready to go.

A White Christmas PLUS in GB
This has been an incredible week in Great Britain with snow covering the whole nation. This in incredibly unusual with schools and businesses shut down, people stranded in the Pub and other strange scenarios. The Satellite photo (right) tells quite a story. Joseph friends are sending photos of playing in the snow in Bristol where snow is never on the ground enough to slide etc. They are enjoying all they can stand!

Tim's Interviews on Mormon Channel
Now that Tim is back he has done a couple more interviews with Mission Presidents and Priesthood leaders from around the world. Below are links to the ones that have been posted since a previous blog. By clicking here: Into All the World you can go to the main page of this program.There are photos of the participants on each episode. You can listen to the episodes below by clicking on the MP3 logo. Or you can save them to your computer (then burn them to CD or play them on your IPOD) by right clicking on the MP3 icon and hitting "save target as".

Episode 16:	Vyacheslav Vorobyov (Kyiv, Ukraine)
Episode 17:	Patricio Guiffra Vargas (Santiago, Chile)
Episode 18:	Ciro Schmeil (São Paulo, Brazil)
Episode 19:	Allen and Fern Kay Hill (Toyko, Japan)

Christmas Joy

2009-12-27T21:27:00.017-07:00

The Wonder of Christmas
Being together was enough. But the delight in the children's eyes and the happiness of sharing and giving and caring made it superb. What a joyous day to be a family and remember the Savior through our gifts to each other. Throughout the week family and friends have shared such warm words and gifts of love. Emails and messages from all over the world. Thanks everyone for your love and caring. We thank Heavenly Father for His Son and the message of Peace, Joy and Love that He came to bring.

We share a few images of Christmas here. There are more here:
Christmas '09 at the Taggarts

Celebrating Joseph Smith's Birthday

2009-12-25T22:54:00.013-07:00

Christmas on Temple Square

In a Mellenial Day the holiday we will celebrate will be the 23rd of December not the 25th. While we will celebrate Christmas when it occured in early April, we will remember the birth of the Prophet of the Restoration in December.

Our family bundled up and visited Temple Square on Wednesday the 23rd. What a wonderful way to remember the Savior and His birth as well as the Restoration through Joseph Smith. It was so fun to be with the children and share their excitement. It was special when Ethan requested to touch the temple, then peeked in a window to see if Heavenly Father was inside.

The whole family enjoyed the lights and the Spirit and Tim loved shooting photos. Hope you enjoy a few of them. There are more on his Facebook site: Christmas on Temple Square

Back Together Again

2009-12-18T07:55:00.006-07:00

This Blog to Get More Love and Attention
Tim has been away for most of the last two months, first to Europe and then to The Philippines for work. The blog has been neglected. We'll try to remedy that in the next couple of weeks.

Christmas is Coming
Things are looking like Christmas at the Taggart Home. Gloria has created another spectacular tree design and has decorated with the help of Elizabeth and the grand-kids. It's a wonderful time of year.

Family Photo
One of the activities when Tim was home for a few days over Thanksgiving was a family photo. It is amazing to see the change in the children from year to year. Ethan is 6 and is in kindergarten, Cheyenne is 4 and little Gavin now 2 years old. They are the calendar that helps us see time fly. Elizabeth and Denny are wonderful parents and Joseph is an awesome uncle.

Philippines Projects
Since Thanksgiving Tim has been in the Philippines working with Kaye Bay and Ruth Barilea, our Church Audiovisual staff, to do the Tagalog language production of the Old Testament Visual Resources DVDs, about three hours of media. Lucy Quinto, the owner of the Digi8 studio is a great friend to the Church and a wonderful talent director. The photo above includes (left to right) Arlene, the language coach assigned by Church Translation, Lucy Quinto, Ruth, Tim and Kaye. All were in the studio 11 hours a day 6 days a week until the project was completed.

When Tim managed a couple of hours the first day and the last to grab some photos of the Manila Temple for the Church and a few other sites it was a joy. Manila is beautiful as are the people. We will add a few photos over time here and on Tim's Facebook page.

Scrapping, Shooting and Lifting

2009-10-25T20:20:00.022-06:00

Weekend with the Girls
Friday and Saturday Gloria and Elizabeth met in Ogden with family and friends for a scrapbooking weekend. It was soooo fun. They created some wonderful pages and talked into the night. It's so fun to socialize and have something to show for it afterward.

Tim's Photo Practice
Besides getting things in order before leaving for Europe this week, Tim has been grabbing some photos of the Fall colors and the local temples. He's getting his trigger finger in shape before hopefully getting some photos in Europe that can be used by the Church. Here are a few odds and ends.

Tie Tacks, Pumpkin Acts and Travel Facts

2009-10-18T20:16:00.030-06:00

Tim's Tie Tack Travesty
Since his days in Australia 40 years ago (OH MY!) Tim has been picking up a tie pin here and a tie tack there. Cheap souvenirs of travel or special occasions etc. Since he has had to wear a white shirt and tie to work everyday of his adult life, his spice is his tie pins. He has one (okay, several) for every occasion (He has four for Columbus Day).

As a part of cleaning up and organizing his office he has finally tackled the pin collection. He mounted a couple for all to see on the office wall, then mounted 6 more on the back of the door and behind it (They disappear when the door is open). Then he built a new board for behind the door in the bedroom which also disappears with the door closed (a good conversation piece only if you want to have the conversation). On the bedroom board (above right) the Wales collection runs top to bottom along the left edge and next to it is the England collection. Also on the board is the LDS collection, the Chinese Olympics collection and a dozen others.

The two boards mounted on the office wall include two different 2002 Salt Lake Olympic pin collections. The top one(on left) is unique. No one else has a collection of every Olympic pin with the Salt Lake Temple on it . The bottom board (on right) is Tim's collection of security badges including FBI, Secret Service, and state and local law enforcement.

Saturday evening Tim spent a couple of hours creating tie tacks by gluing backs to pins. He hasn't caught up for several years. On the right you can see a variety ready for backs and some completed. . . from antique Chinese pins dating back to Chairman Mao's day to modern military pins from Latin America. As with many things Gloria is patient in putting up with Tim's Tie Tack problem.

Preparing for the Pumpkin Party
The Grandkids are having fun preparing for Halloween. They have been decorating with Pumpkins and trying out their costumes. Last week they went fishing and caught some nice ones. Gloria went up and spent a couple of days helping out this week. She enjoyed being apart of her brother Neil's stepdaughter's wedding on Saturday.

Eastern European Education
Tim is preparing for a trip beginning the end of October to Eastern Europe. He will be recording the language versions of 'The Restoration' for the L.D.S. Church in Slovakian, Czech, Hungarian, Serbian, Croatian, Slovenian and Albanian. This will be a fast paced trip with long hours in the recording studios in each city. It will be a real education since he hasn't visited Eastern Europe before. He is looking forward to connecting with former EBM missionaries in Croatia, Slovakia and elsewhere. Stay tuned.

Mormon Messages Mount in MP3 Media
Tim recorded another interview this week for the Into All the World program on the Mormon Channel with Ciro Schmeil, a Stake President from Brazil. There are several interviews up on the website now. More to come!

Download an Episode

If you wish to download the file to your computer, right-click on the Mp3-icon and select "save-link-as".

Episode 9:	Randall Bennett (Samara, Russia)
Episode 10:	Oswaldo Pastore (São Paulo, Brazil)
Episode 11:	Kenneth L. and Mary Duvall (Bilbao, Spain )
Episode 12:	Lee and Holly VanDam (Hong Kong, China)
Episode 13:	Reid and Diane Robison (West Indies )
Episode 14:	Paul and Sara Peterson (Geneva, Switzerland)
Episode 15:	Emrol Gould (Trinidad and Tobago Stake)

Post Conference Euphoria

2009-10-11T16:49:00.018-06:00

The 179th Semiannual General Conference, October 2009 was wonderful (click on the previous link for all the English audio/ video/ and text, or here for any of the 98 languages). This conference, for the first time ever, the First Presidency decided to post the audio, video as well as the text of the Priesthood Session. Tim has been making an audio CD of the music of each conference for years. This conference for the first time you can download the music: Conference Music (you can make your own CD).

Conference Content
An interesting analysis of the content of conference is done by doing a "Wordle" Word Cloud from the text. The image on the left is an example (it and others can be found here: Conference Wordle). Another very cool site has a topic analysis (Oct-2009 Conference Statistics) showing the most mentioned topics and comparing over the last 10 and 30 years how they have changed.

Here is a list of the top topics of this conference:
1. 560 references to Christ
2. 421 references to Families/Children
3. 323 references to Women/Mothers
4. 289 references to Love
5. 189 references to Men/Fathers
6. 116 references to Prophets Names
7. 105 references to Prayer
8. 100 references to Faith
9. 96 references to Priesthood
10. 88 references to Adversity/Challenges
11. 80 references to Revelation
12. 76 references to Missionaries
13. 68 references to Youth
14. 66 references to Service
15. 66 references to Scriptures
16. 62 references to Temples

Elder Holland's Testimony
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon Sunday afternoon "Safety for the Soul" was sensational. One of our friends said "When Satan goes to sleep I think he checks under his bed for Jeffrey R. Holland". Here is the link to the Holland text, the Holland Audio and the Holland video on the Church web site. Like all the conference talks it is worth watching/listening to or reading again and again.

Reunions, Conference and Fall is Falling

2009-10-04T19:53:00.012-06:00

Conference Preparations
Conference is always a busy time at the Church Office Building for Tim. All the Area Presidencies come in for conference and their staff in AV meet with them to plan and coordinate efforts. Chris Wills is the full-time AV manager in Europe and Africa,. His wife Jeannie is a Church-service AV missionary. It is always great to have them here. We enjoyed having Elizabeth and the kids here for the conference weekend, since Denny had to work.

England Bristol Mission Reunion
The Friday evening before every General Conference the Taggart Family host their former missionaries. What a wonderful, dynamic, and beautiful group gathered this year. We had missionaries and their families come from as far away as Norway (Are Svensen) and from Boise, Idaho; Phoenix, Arizona and all around Utah. Here is a link to other photos on Facebook: EBM (Taggart) Reunion.

General Conference
General Conference was amazing. President Monson annouced 5 new temples (see video) All of the General Conference is online and available in MP3 (and other audio formats) including PRIESTHOOD SESSION for the first time. Just click on October '09 Conf Audio . The music of every session is available here: Music. You could have watched the streaming video in high definition as well as the local, cable and dish broadcasts in HD. It was a wonderful experience. The Taggarts have all committed to do better!

How Does He Do It?

2009-09-27T22:00:00.014-06:00

Law School Study: How Joseph Does It
We thought it might be interesting to share how Joseph manages to actually physically accomplish what is required of a 1st year law student. The biggest challenge is reading the text books and taking notes.

Text Books = 10,213 Pages, This Semester!
The 16 text books contain that many pages, they should at nearly $1000 dollars. How does one read them when you can't handle the books or turn the pages? The answer, thanks to this amazing age we live in, is to DIGITIZE them. If you pay for the book, many publishers will provide a PDF version. For the others the school provides the scanning into PDF files. So now that you have 10k pages of digital text. . . how do you read them.

Big Screen Monitor
Joseph found a good deal on a computer monitor and Tim mounted it vertically on his desk. Joseph can now drag the documents from his notebook computer to the large monitor to read the documents.

How to Take Notes
Thanks to the wonders of Speech recognition software, Joseph is able to dictate his notes and written assignments and print them out. The software he uses is Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Legal. He previously used the standard product, but the 'legal' version recognizes the Latin phrases and special legal vocabulary.

Trackball Mouse
Joseph is able to use the trackball mouse on his notebook computer and can type one letter at a time with his handy artificial digit made from a pencil with eraser. He calls it "Pedro", named after Napoleon Dynamite's sidekick (he was wearing his "vote for Pedro" T-shirt when he and his occupational therapist figured it out). He can beat his dad at speed-texting with it.

Notes for Class
After printing out his extremely well organized reading notes, Mom helps by putting the pages in plastic sleeves in the case he carries to class on his lap. He is able to turn the pages with 'Pedro' and is as well prepared as anyone.

Gloria: Birthdays and Scrapbooking
Gloria enjoyed celebrating her sister Diane's birthday in Logan this week. It was fun to get together with the kids and grand-kids. They also celebrated with Barta, Gloria and Diane's step-mom who also had a birthday last week.

Gloria and Elizabeth enjoyed a Girl's Weekend scrap-booking together in Ogden with friends and family. They accomplished a lot and had a blast.

Goodbye Red Toyota
The family said farewell to the 1996 Toyota Camry which Tim has been driving to work in since 2000. It sold, not on KSL.com or Craigslist where it was listed, but on Facebook when he mentioned the posting on the other sites. A brother of one of our missionaries saw it and is giving it a good home. Don't we love Social media!

Torts, Trikes, Trinidad and Turning Leaves.

2009-09-20T20:20:00.021-06:00

Torts
Joseph is fully engaged in schoolwork. A normal day includes most of the day at the University and the entire evening reading and taking notes. His class schedule includes: Torts, Legal Research, Legal Methods, Contracts and Civil Procedure. He loves all of them except Contracts. His class has had several experiences to familiarize everyone with the potential areas of emphasis. A couple of weeks ago they did a "Big 4 Tour" of the biggest law firms in the city including Kirton & McConkie and Ray Quinney & Nebeker.

Faculty Recruitment Committee
Joseph has been asked to serve as a member of the Faculty Recruitment Committee for the law school. He loves being engaged with life and all it's opportunities.

Trikes
The Bird family is enjoying the waning warm days with wheels aplenty. With Gavin on his big wheels and Cheyenne on the scooter, Ethan leads the way on his new garage-sale bike which he can ride without training wheels! We just had to include one of Gavin's 2nd birthday portraits.

Trinidad
Tim's most recent interview for the Mormon Channel was with Emrol Gould, the stake president of the newly formed Port of Spain Trinidad Stake (read about it here: Stake in Trinidad & Tobago). This is the first stake in the West Indies Mission.

Tim's earliest interview on the Into All the World program with the mission president in Russia Samara has been posted. Here is a direct link to the MP3 audio: Tim's Randall Bennett interview.

Turning Leaves
Gloria shot this great photo in Sardine Canyon on the way to Logan this week. The leaves are just beginning to turn. Full glory awaits.

Tragedy at BYU
Wouldn't you know when a wonderful neighbor gave Joseph and Tim tickets to a BYU game it would be a crushing defeat for the Cougs? It was beautiful weather and a great day for football, just not for BYU.

Towers

2009-09-13T20:29:00.017-06:00

Twin Towers: We Remember
It has been 8 years since the tragedy that occurred with the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11/01. Joseph was in Brazil and Tim and Gloria were in Belgium visiting the Bokrijk historical village near Turnhout, They saw the coverage on TV in a restaurant and watched the second tower come down live. The wonderful video done by AV for the Church is an uplifting way to commemorate the date.

C. O. B. Tower
The first definite sign of Summer's end is in the photo Tim shot at the Church Office Building this week. The Christmas lights are going up! When you have thousands of trees you have to start early.

It's a Tower of Love
The COB has been a tower of love in AV the past few months as Jennifer Dutson one of Tim's Production Coordinators in the AV International Section and Joshua Talbot one of Tim's Production Assistants fell in love. This week they were married in the Salt Lake Temple. They are a wonderful couple and we wish them all the best (Josh is looking for work elsewhere now, got a good job?).

Downtown Towers Rising
It is amazing to see how rapidly the new city center projects are moving along. Tim did a quick photo merge of how the former ZCMI Center area looks from the food court windows looking west. The amount of parking will be amazing.

South Temple Street has been torn up for months. a couple of weeks ago Tim took a shot of the entrance ramps to the underground parking levels below the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and the new City Creek Center. The second photo shows they are now getting the massive forms and re-bar ready for the concrete ceiling that will hold up the street above. The video that follows is a 3D fly through of the project. For more info see the Downtown Rising web page.

A Nephew with Class too.

2009-09-07T11:38:00.017-06:00

Ethan begins Kindergarten
Joseph's nephew has joined the school crowd as he began Kindergarten this fall. He is so excited. He really like's his teacher and especially loves riding home on the big yellow school bus.

Law School Review
Joseph is enjoying school as well. He is reading and taking notes by the hour and likes his classes. "Torts are cool" is the watchcry.

It's All Happening at the Zoo
Saturday the Bird family came for the weekend and the whole gang went to the Hogle Zoo. It is always so fun to go with the kids. Gavin, who just turned two, was continually saying "Whooooaaa!" He was impressed with everything. We all enjoyed it.

World Cup Qualifier in Salt Lake
Joseph and his friend Emelia went to the USA versus El Salvador game Saturday night at the Rio Tinto Stadium. The place was packed and the crowd was raucous. It is great to be able to witness this level of play in Utah. It was a sweet victory.

Congrats to BYU!
What a victory, BYU beat the number 3 ranked team in the country Saturday in the first game ever held in the brand new US$1B+ Cowboys stadium in Dallas Texas. Matt Hall was also named the national offensive player of the week. Way to go Cougs! We should also mention that Joseph's alma mater (the U) beat Tim's alma mater (USU) this week.

Gavin's 2nd Birthday
The baby Bird just turned TWO. Both sides of the family gathered at the Taggart's home Sunday afternoon for dinner and opening presents. Gavin is totally into CARS and received several. Apparently he likes cake too.

Well I Swear

2009-08-30T21:21:00.025-06:00

Swearing-in Ceremony
Who knew that one would be 'sworn-in' to law school? On Friday Aug. 21 Joseph and his class of 2012 classmates were sworn in by a 10th Circuit Court judge. Here is the oath they took:
"I do solemnly swear that I will support, obey and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Utah; that I will strictly observe the Student Code, the Utah Standards of Professionalism and Civility and the Utah Rules of Professional Conduct as they apply to my professional, educational, and personal activities as a law student."
It was really a very impressive occasion with all the students dressed for success. It is a sharp group and Joseph is grateful to be a part of it.

Classes Begin
Last week was orientation for law school. . .this week classes began but with interesting twists including several opportunities to engage with the law community in Salt Lake. Joseph's comment on Facebook about Friday read: "attended a Federal Appeals Court today, it was fascinating! Naughty cops, immigration statute, armed felons, and I'm pretty sure a death penalty case will be overturned -- kind of exciting :) " He's going to like this stuff. He's reading and doing notes hours everyday along with the long hours at the university. He's getting back into 'diligent student mode' after the summer off.

AV Production Services Division Workshop
Tim attended a intensive day out of the office with his co-workers on Monday. He presented a session on Technology and Global Media with a PowerPoint presentation entitled "Change Happens". The final video he used was the following:

The implications of social media for the Church are very exciting. One of the things we have as Latter-day Saints that no one else has is 13 million independent witnesses of the Truth. Think of the impact as members engage friends and new contacts via social media (such as this blog). Things continually change and God is at the helm. We have the responsibility to prepare ourselves to use the inventions and creations that he is bringing about. Read Elder Ballard's BYU Commencement address:Engaging . . . and also the article Sharing the Gospel Using the Internet for ideas.

Several members of the division did a skit explaining the new Digital Asset Management System AV is implementing. Tim was designated as the "InJESTER" (all assets have to be ingested into the digital system). It was fun, and everyone learned the key points. The end of the day everyone split up to video things that might be "stock footage". It was a good experience.

Audiovisual Summer Social
Gloria and Tim really enjoyed Friday evening with the AV Department employees. The food was incredible and the company the best! The entertainment was as exceptional as it was unusual: A standup satirical PowerPoint by John R Uibel and David Monsen two of our creative and talented directors. What a hoot! (As we used to say in Idaho.)

Mormon Channel
The Church's audio programming channel Mormon Channel continues to be a success. Please share the link with your friends. This week Tim interviewed Paul and Sara Peterson from Lee's Ferry, Virgina, recently returned as president of the Switzerland Geneva Mission. The program is Into All the World and these programs will start being available soon (Correlation reports listening for approval, so the programs are finding their way through the system).
Here is the widget to listen to the Mormon Channel now:

School Begins Again

2009-08-16T19:47:00.021-06:00

School Starts Tomorrow
There were initial signs of withdrawal from the Summer break at the Taggart home this week as Joseph scrambled to get things ready for Law School starting tomorrow. He has figured out how to read this text books digitally and take notes and has started his reading already. With nearly $1,000 worth of books this semester alone, he's in for a fun ride. With determination and trust in the Lord, he's ready to take on whatever may come!

StoryCorps Recording
Many of you have requested the link to the full recording of Joseph's StoryCorp interview which was excerpted on KCPW a couple of weeks ago.

Here is the link to th e full 45 minute MP3 file:
Joseph Taggart - StoryCorps Full Recording

Tim on Mormon Channel
Tim has had the opportunity to interview several individuals for the Mormon Channel, the program is Into All the World. He interviewed his friends Ken and Mary DuVall (photo on left) last week as well as Pres Oswaldo Pastore, Stake President of the Sao Paulo Brazil Jardim de Saude Stake. This week Tim interviewed Lee and Holly Van Dam (photo on left) Tuesday, recently returned as Pres. of the China Hong Kong Mission (in studio) and also President Patricio Giuffra of the Santiago Chile La Reina Stake (by phone). What a marvelous opportunity. We will post links to these programs after they are edited and made available.

Family Gatherings
Good weather brings family together. This week we had the opportunity to get together with the Hadley cousins (Gloria's mothers family) in Logan. The Hadley brothers are a fun bunch we have missed getting together more often. On Saturday we went to Gloria's nephew Eric Nish's home for a family gathering. It is always great to get together.

Fred and Eulalie's Family Fest

2009-08-09T19:11:00.019-06:00

Taggart Reunion
This weekend was the Fred and Eulalie Taggart Family Reunion held every other year. This year near Morgan (Taggart roots) at the Tifie Ranch. It was a wonderful location and a well organized and fun reunion. Only Tim's aunt LaRee Scott was there representing the children's generation. The first-cousins all gathered for a photo on Saturday.

Tim and Gloria spoke on Friday night, sharing family experiences and relating experiences of the older generations. Tim's talk was entitled "Called To Do Things We Think We Just Can't Do" it comes from an experience of his grandmother who when she heard of a neighbor taking in a 12 year old to raise said: "Well I would never take another's child to raise, those that want them can have them, I don't want them." Her father said in reply, "You don't know what you would do."

Grandmother who was nursing her 6 week old baby girl at the time, relates that about 11 PM that very night a knock came at her door. There stood a ward member with a newborn baby girl. The baby's mother was in convulsions and they needed someone to take the baby and nurse it and care for it. Grandmother relates: "Well the first thing that came to me was what I had said that day, I wouldn't take someone else (It struck me right in the face.) Well I just reached out my arms and took that tiny little thing and said, 'yes and I will do all I can.'" She said, "Well I took it and loved it and done all I could till it was 3 months old, I gave it a good start. . . We should be very careful what we say because we may be called to do the things we think we just can't do." Applies to all of us doesn't it? (The photo on the left above is of little Anne Beck when she was a young girl).

Sleep-Over
Tim did a sleep study at a facility this week to see if he has a sleeping disorder. With a hundred electronic probes and being video recorded all night . . . there was definite disorder in his sleep . . . induced! In his opinion the Celestial kingdom will include no bothersome time for sleep. There are too many things to learn and to do to waste it snoring.

New Trees, Canadian Leaves & Best Buddies

2009-08-02T21:19:00.019-06:00

New Trees
After the last two weeks of deforestation at the Taggarts it was time to renew the forests of Taylorsville this week. With lots of help from Elizabeth and our young friends the Westovers, we got rid of the sawdust (leftovers form grinding the stumps), filled in the old holes and dug new holes for three new trees. Monday Tim and Gloria traveled the valley visiting nurseries examining trees and prices. They came home with two Mulberry trees (like in our front yard) and a maple. By the end of the day the trees were in the ground trying to stretch themselves to provide a tiny bit of shade. Friday and Saturday we patched the lawn a bit with sod and put mulch on the flower beds by Joseph's room.

Canadian Leaves
The pretty kind, but not vegetation! Lisa Aldridge from Alberta spent the week with us. We all enjoy it while she's here and hate to see her go. She and Joseph had lots of fun out and about enjoying the summertime.

MLS All-Stars
Joseph enjoyed the All-star game with friends. It's great to have Major League Soccor in Salt Lake.

Best Buddies
Saturday Morning Joseph had the opportunity to speak to the Best Buddies of Utah Chapter heads at the Sheraton Hotel in Salt Lake. It was a great young group and he did a terrific job talking about setting goals. Afterward they asked him questions and visited about his experience.

Farmers Market
After Joseph's talk to the Best Buddies, he went with nephew Ethan, Gloria and Tim to the Salt Lake Farmers Market. Ethan loved the great handmade toys and things, and the family scored some rasberries, blackberries, crusty bread and more . . . The best part is watching the people. It's a fun crowd. Ethan like the sword the balloon artist made as well.

'Patriots to Pioneers' & 'Can't See the Forest ... or the Trees'

2009-07-26T19:17:00.017-06:00

Radio Pioneers:
Joseph on KCPW: The StoryCorp broadcast
StoryCorps Salt Lake City - Episode Fourteen

"Three years ago, Joseph Taggart (R) suffered a life changing injury. Now 27, Taggart tells his father Timothy (L) about how the injury happened, how he's learned to live with it, and how it's changed his life." (Listen at the link above. Download below.)

Download this audio file

Tim: Radio Personality?
On Wednesday Tim had the opportunity to interview Pres. Randall Bennett of the Russia Samara Mission for the Mormon Channel, the Church’s new 24-hour-a-day audio station. This is an episode of Into All the World which will be aired in the near future. Next week Tim interviews Kenneth DuVall recently returned mission president of the Spain Bilbao Mission (see the July 5th blog entry).

Deforestation Party @ the Taggarts
Last week-end we had a party for all the fellers. With four old trees in the back yard that were dying, misshapen or both we decided, with Joseph's insistence, that they had to go. With the help of Elizabeth and Denny, his Dad and Grandpa along with neighbors, friends and ward members we cut them down. When the County took away the dumpster all we had left was 3 of the 4 stumps. It was a lot of work but a great success thank to everyone's caring service in our behalf.

Stump Grinding Afterparty
With the trees gone all but the stumps, yesterday was the followup party of one. Tim and the rented stump grinder. Joseph enjoyed the show and Gloria supplied cold drinks and encouragement. By the end of the day all that was left was several piles of sawdust.

A Sense of Community

2009-07-12T22:06:00.022-06:00

Inclusion Summit
Joseph had an amazing week this week participating in an "Inclusion Summit" sponsored by the The Inclusion Center for Community & Justice. It was a life changing experience he will never forget. His friend Matt Smith went with him to Camp Wapiti, East of Tooele, Utah. The Inclusion Center is a "human relations organization dedicated to eliminating prejudice, bigotry, and discrimination. The center develops inclusive solutions to promote respect for all people through conflict resolution, education, advocacy, and empowerment." For Joseph the mission and purpose was realized during this intensive week of soul searching, sharing and caring. He would recommend the experience for every human! He made dozens of great friends and hopes to be more involved in the future.

Shaffer Reunion
Saturday was the annual Dick and Dora Shaffer Family Reunion in Logan, Utah. It was Gloria's family's turn at doing the reunion and Elizabeth really took things in hand, committed to making this one unforgettable with plenty of activities for children, teens and older family too. It was a smashing success. With inflatable 'bounce house' and jousting stand the kids had loads to do. It was great food and great fun. The turnout was great and everyone had a good time. Elizabeth and Denny set up a photo spot for family photos and Tim took pictures of each family. It was an all around beautiful day.

Home Office Makeover
Tim took most of the week off work to redesign and remodel our home office. With a couple of 'As Is" items from IKEA and a bit of spray paint on old bookcases combined with some counter top also from Ikea, it is coming together. He'll be glad to get back to work tomorrow to rest up from 'vacation'.

Mechanical Breakdown = Miracle
When Joseph's wheelchair stopped working this morning (taking the Sabbath off) it should be considered a disaster. . . but wait. . . With all week in the mountains at camp (including quiet time away from everyone else) and a full day at the reunion, it would have been a disaster any other time this week. But today-- not really. Tomorrow we'll get it repaired. Who would have thought a breakdown could feel like a Heavenly Hug.

Friends, Fireworks and Freedom

2009-07-05T22:11:00.016-06:00

Happy Birthday USA!
Independence Day was celebrated on Saturday in the United States (Fourth of July). The Taggart Family enjoyed time with the Bird Children this week, Elizabeth came down while Denny had double shifts etc with the holiday events in Cache Valley. While she was slaving away helping Mom around the house, 'Uncle Joe' enjoyed taking the kids to the playground, riding bikes, and enjoying the summer weather. They also made it to the Zoo again this week.

Tim took Thursday off (Friday was the Holiday from work) and everyone went to see Disney's UP, a wonderful movie and a delightful story. (What a blast to see Ethan in 3D Glasses, eating up the movie) Friday Joseph and friends went to the Real Salt Lake soccer game and enjoyed fireworks afterward.

Sunday Tim and Gloria went over to visit Ken and Mary DuVall. They just returned from serving as mission president of the Spain Bilbao Mission. The two couples commiserated with each other and the Taggarts testified there was life after the Mission for Presidents too. They are such a dynamic couple and were great leaders who impacted the lives of many over the three years. We are looking forward to their report in sacrament meeting next Sunday at 9AM.

Sunday evening we all enjoyed mission dividends (which the DuValls will come to treasure) as we had a visit from Roger and Veronique White (see the post for Sunday, July 08, 2007 for more info on this great couple --link: July 2007 ) Roger was one of our assistants and Veronique, originally from Netherlands, was baptized while a student in Bristol. What an awesome family!

Celebration Pt. 1

2009-06-28T23:40:00.022-06:00

Three Thousand Miles!
On Friday Joseph's odometer on his wheelchair hit 3,000 miles -- that's farther than the distance from Salt Lake to Hawaii, 1 1/2 times the distance from here to New York, and the equivalent of walking from our house to Las Vegas and back 4 1/2 times! Not a bad pace. . . 'Life in the fast lane' even!

Missionary Moments
This week was filled with wonderful moments with the former missionaries of the England Bristol Mission.

Joaquin Torner called from Spain to tell us he and his wife Irene are expecting a baby boy. Joaquin was one of our EBM assistants. He is now serving as Bishop in Sabadell, outside Barcelona. What a joy.

On Friday we spent the evening with Antti Syvänen from Sweden with his wife Linda and their 3 beautiful children. They are on holiday visiting Church History sites across the US. His old EBM companion Jon Brenay drove up from Arizona with his beautiful wife and 2 children to meet them. They came over to visit along with their EBM comp Eric J. Price. We had a great evening together.

Saturday we got a call from Jasmin Ibrahimovic one of our great missionaries and assistants from Zagreb, Croatia. He was in town for a Tahitian Noni Juice conference (he manages the business in Croatia) and wanted to say hi. He had planned on getting together sooner but HIS APPENDIX BURST and he had to have surgery on Wednesday in Provo. His faith (as well as Noni) sped his recovery. What joy to spend a few hours together again.

Taylorsv ille Dayzz
The City of Taylorsville (named after John Taylor, the original settler) held it's annual Taylorsville Dayzz festivities this weekend. Saturday evening Elizabeth and the kids arrived and we all went down the street to the celebration. With rides for the kids, a free concert and fireworks afterwards it was great fun.

Season for Friends -- Day for Dads

2009-06-21T21:32:00.020-06:00

Service Project for Dad Shaffer
In Logan this week neighbors and family joined together to lay sod at Gloria's father's home. He had dug it up and prepared the ground to be planted so he could eliminate problem vegetation growing in the lawn. Instead, everyone gathered together to put down sod. With 30 or more there, they made short work of it. The new lawn is gorgeous. Happy Father's Day.

Elizabeth's Basement Project
After a few days of people buzzing around hanging wallboard and taping, Elizabeth took on the finish work project this week in the basement. While Denny was out of town at a training conference she painted, laid tile then stained the walls. They installed new carpet Friday and Saturday. It looks awesome! There is still lots to do over time but it will be such a blessing to have the basement usable.

Marci Smith's Wedding
Marci Smith and her brother Matt have been Joseph's best friends since childhood. It was a real pleasure to attend Marci's wedding on Friday. The weather was perfect and she looked stunning. Our whole family loves her and are so delighted with her happiness.

Lyle and Tracy Shamo Mission Farewell
Tim and Gloria had the great pleasure of attending the sacrament meeting for Lyle and Tracy Shamo as they leave, called as mission president of the England London South Mission. Tim has worked next to Lyle for over 25 years in Church Education and in AV. They are serving over the south half of the old England Bristol Mission, Tim Gloria and Joseph's area. Lyle served his first mission there in the 60's. They will be so wonderful in their assignment. We share so many feelings as the leave, taking their daughter Megan with them at about the same age Joseph was when our family left for the UK in 1997. We wish them the best (and their missionaries have the best!)

Father's Day
We all went to Cache Valley this afternoon to celebrate Father's Day together at Elizabeth and Denny's home in Nibley. The weather was perfect and the day was a delight. It is wonderful to have family and to be together!

A Blessing

2009-06-07T22:34:00.015-06:00

Today we traveled to Tremonton to be with Gloria's niece and family to share in the blessing of their new baby girl Lilia (photo on right). We enjoyed Scott and Jennifer Seegmiller's beautiful home and visiting with the family. We've missed them since they moved from Salt Lake. It's always a treat to start a Fast Sunday with priesthood blessings followed by the sacrament and testimonies then meet together with those you love. A bit of the Celestial Kingdom on Earth. To see more of the Seemiller's baby see their blog: Jen, Scott, and Kalissa: Lilia's First Month.

What You Do With It

2009-05-31T21:02:00.022-06:00

We like this quote illustrated by MaryEngelbreit. We are all engaged in life at full throttle, especially Joseph.
One of his goals lately is to see if he can get back to being able to take photographs. We met his occupational therapist Nikki Conrad at Pictureline. We experimented with a Monopod which could be attached to his wheelchair between his legs and extended when needed, It would work! Then we tried figuring out how he could move a camera. . . and attached a video fluid head (Fluid head explanation) to the monopod. It would work! Now to take photos with a camera. . the only way it could work is if he could use a remote control to zoom and press the shutter button. Lo, and behold, the new Canon video camera takes 8 megapixel stills and has a full remote control we could velcro to his left arm rest (8 megapixel still shots with a DV camera? Yes, says the HFS10). It would work! Now if we just had the cash . . . but he made progress and now he has a plan.

Award for Community Policing
Denny Bird, Elizabeth's husband was honored this past week by the Logan City Police Department with their community policing award. It is really a wonderful honor. He loves working with the youth in Logan's middle schools and with the community. He loves making a difference in people's lives. They really enjoy living in Cache Valley. The Police Chief Russell Roper is handing Denny the award in the photo. Russ was originally from Grace Idaho and was one of Tim's seminary students back in the day (time does march on).

A Complete M*A*S*H
Joseph started watching the complete M*A*S*H (TV series) last November. Today he completed the last disc.

Grandkids Here, One at a Time
Over last weekend we had Cheyenne here by herself, early in the week Ethan came to stay. What fun to have time with Grandma and Uncle Joe. With special trips shopping (Cheyenne) and the Zoo (Ethan) it was great fun. Uncle Joe found time for each in special ways (trips to the park and walks around the neighborhood). It is starting to be summer and they are enjoying the warm weather.

From 'Advanced Handcycling' to 'Zoology'

2009-05-24T19:55:00.017-06:00

Hogle Zoo
What fun it was for Joseph to visit Utah's Hog le Zo o this week with Lisa Aldridge (before she returned to Canada on Tuesday) Gloria, Elizabeth and the kids. The facilities were top notch and the animals looked great. It is fun to be with the kids and feel their excitement and delight. The Zoo has changed and improved dramatically. Everyone even talked Gloria into getting a Grandparent Plus membership so everyone can come back often this year. When Joseph and Elizabeth were little, Tim and Gloria had a pass that let the whole family enjoy the Zoo as well as the Tracy Aviary and the Utah Symphony Orchestra over and over. It was a highlight of their young lives.

Cycling at Liberty Park
On Tuesday Joseph went to Liberty Park to try out Hand Cycling sponsored by the TRAILS program. He was met by great people with cycles specially designed for individuals with spinal cord injuries. It was pretty tough to fit Joseph's 6'4" frame in the bikes that were available, but with the help of some wrenches and duct tape, he was kitted out for a ride. It was awesome for Tim to watch Joseph's determined and successful effort to cycle down the sidewalk. It was like a lot of things in Joseph's life, hard work and great fun. Next time they will have some better equipment that will allow him greater mobility.

Old Friends
Maji and Sophie Tramel came by to see Tim at work this week after a session at the SL Temple.
Maji used to work for Tim a number of years ago in the Church video studio. It was so good to see them both again. They enjoyed a tour through the new AV facilities in the Conference Center.

Mormon Channel
After months of hard work by AV employees, The Church announced the new Mormon Channel this week. The Mormon Channel is the official radio station of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The channel originates from the Church Office Building and broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Content for the station comes from the vast archives of the Church, along with several new series created specifically for this station.

You can listen to the Mormon Channel live online anytime at radio.lds.org. There are also downloads and podcasts of content available at the same address. A widget for social networking sites and blogs is also now available.

In addition to online delivery, the channel is available via HDRadio in every Bonneville International radio market. Among those markets are Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Chicago, Phoenix, and Seattle. For more information on getting a compatible HDRadio, visit www.hdradio.com.

Mormon Channelgreat free widgetsWidgetbox

Additionally, soon you will be able to listen via an iPhone application. Other distribution options are currently being explored, including satellite radio and other mobile devices.

We are also working on Spanish programming for the station.

Summer of Fun Begins, Ehh???

2009-05-17T21:07:00.022-06:00

Amazing Anglo-Kanook Girl visits American-Anglo-Brazilian Boy Wonder
Monday Lisa Aldridge arrived for a visit. She was in our ward in Bristol England, then later moved with her family to Alberta Canada. With Joseph out of school it was a great chance to play. And they certainly have been busy.

Events have included shopping and Bison Burgers in Park City, X-Men Origins: Wolverine , Angels and Demons and Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration movies, and lots of other excitement (see below).

Neuroworx New Facility
Neuroworx just moved next door into their new space, where the Real Salt Lake soccer team had their offices. The new place is great. Joseph enjoyed working out in the new facility. He is loving his work with their foundation helping to raise funds for the new facility they are planning to build in the future. This is a great organization that is changing the lives of many individuals.

Bee's Game
Thursday night's Salt Lake Bees game was fantastic. The Bees hit a game-winning home run in the bottom of the night to defeat Omaha. The Bees also raised over $4000 for the Huntsman Cancer Foundation. Joseph and Lisa went to the game with a crowd of friends including Laurie (Johnston) Jewkes and friend Shelly, Brad Burns and little Lincoln, Vince Baver, Stacey Chivers and husband Cortland and Dakota. It was a blast.

Treasure Island
Friday night at the Hale Centre Theatre Joseph and Lisa enjoyed Treasure Island. The shows at the Hale are always great, this was no exception.

Did all those pirates really come from Cornwall, ARRRRGH.

5K Run, Walk & Roll 2009
The Brain Injury Association of Utah held their 5K Run, Walk & Roll 2009 on Saturday Morning at Liberty Park in Salt Lake. Lisa and Joseph got up early and joined in. Neither of them had ever participated in an organized 5K event, it was a great cause and a fun time.

2009 Living Traditions Festival
The annual Living Traditions Festival sponsored by the Salt Lake City Arts Council (http://slcgov.com/arts/livingtraditions/) was this weekend Friday through Sunday. Joseph and Lisa along with Matt Smith and friend ejoyed the multi-cultural experience. Over the couple of days they tried the Basque, Bosnian, Pakistani, Thai, Laotian and Vietnamese food. They also enjoyed the dancing and handmade crafts (such as the carved watermelon in the photo, it's worth clicking on it to see it larger!).

Graduation & Mother's Day

2009-05-10T18:58:00.023-06:00

Mother's Day
In the US it is Mother's Day today. This is a good day to celebrate what Mom's mean to us. For Joseph, Elizabeth and Tim they celebrate the goodness of their hero GLORIA. She is a great example of a true Latter-day Saint woman. Like most women it is difficult to convince her of it. We love her and honor her today. There are 527 missionaries who think of her as their 'mission mum' today too.

Graduation!
Friday was Commencement for Joseph and we all celebrated his graduation from the University of Utah. The program was impressive, with over 7100 graduates awarded Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral degrees. The traditional pomp and pageantry was presented with Joseph seated in the rear of the main floor of the Huntsman Center with all the Masters and Doctoral candidates. David McCulloug h received an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree and gave the commencement address. His talk was very impressive (as are his books including John Adams and 1776 among others). Read his remarks here: http://unews.utah.edu/p/?r=050809-8. Brittany Anne Gadbury, graduating in English as well as Modern Dance, was the student speaker, she was terrific. (You can read her remarks here: http://unews.utah.edu/p/?r=050809-2).

In the afternoon Joseph had two different 'convocation' events (where your name is read and you receive your diploma cover) one for the College of Social and Behavioral Science (his Political Science degree) and the other the College of Humanities (his International Studies degree). It was a beautiful day in many ways. Afterwards we walked the campus and took photos.

Hinckley Institute Internship
Last week those who completed internships through the Hinckley Institute were hosted at an event and had their photo taken. Joseph recieved a nice letter as well. He has loved his experience with the Disability Law Center and they have asked him to continue to work there. They appreciate his abilities, he makes a significant contribution to their efforts.

Spring Soccer for Ethan
Spring is now in full swing and Joseph's nephew Ethan began playing Soccer for the first time. WHAT FUN.

Gain, Grain, Pain, Rain, Prep for Plains and Something to Retain

2009-05-03T18:54:00.023-06:00

Gain
We had a major event this week at the U, where Joseph was honored at a luncheon held by the University of Utah Center for Disability Services. First Joseph received a certificate honoring him for his "service and contributions in fostering understanding and support of students with disabilities". This award was because of his many presentations to groups and classes on disability issues along with others from the Disability Center, including Jenny Jones one of our former EBM missionaries.

The second award was a major scholarship from The Craig H. Neilsen Foundation. This scholarship will cover almost half of Joseph's tuition over the next two years of law school. This is a wonderful blessing for Joseph and for our family.

Grain
Okay perhaps this is gross, but it is also amazing. This week's serendipitous discovery was another grain of basalt sand from Monterrico beach in Guatemala. For his short visit in January of 2006 Joseph has certainly carried memories and 'bits and bobs' with him since. We're hoping that's the last of it. (but that's what we said in this blog January 13, 2008).

Prep for the Plains
Scott Barzee, one of our EBM RMs, asked Tim to speak at the Herriman West Stake kick off meeting for their youth Trek later this summer. Tim took a shot from the pulpit to remember them. He thought the youth of Indonesia, Cambodia, India and Mongolia might like to see, in this blog, what a stake group of youth looks like in Utah. WOW.

Pain
Who says pain isn't fun? Joseph and his friends when to Layton to the Davis Conference Center to "Fight Night". They had a great time. Joseph got to meet and greet with not just the ring girls but with the great Gene Fullmer (below left), former World Middleweight boxing champion from 1957-1962 (career: 55 wins- 22 by KO, 6 losses, 3 draws). Joseph got to meet Gene's brothers Don and Jay as well, both well known boxers in their own right.

Rain
The Spring rain continues here in Utah. Today out Joseph's back door here was the view of apple blossoms in full bloom.

April Showers and Misc Flowers

2009-04-26T21:32:00.019-06:00

British Bouquet
Thursday evening we were so excited for the visit from Geoff Grant and his family from England. Geoff was an assistant to Tim and Gloria in the Bristol Mission for several months and was a part of the family. None of us have seen him in 10 years. What a delight to meet his beautiful wife Michelle and their two handsome sons Oliver and James. It was fun to have dinner and visit, what a thrill to see each other again.

Gay Ball
The U's Disability Services Center received an award this week from the U's Queer Student Union. Joseph was invited, along with others from the Center to receive the award at their festive Gay Ball (in the photo above right: next to Joseph is Jenny Jones, one of our former EBM missionaries and next to her is Carol MacNicholl, Coordinator of Deaf Services). Joseph took Kate Lyon, left (also an EBM RM) and they had a blast.

April Showers
Marci Smith has been a part of our family since she was born. She and her brother Matt have been surrogate siblings to Joseph since they were children (Oh the stories they could tell). Gloria hosted a wedding shower for her at our home on Saturday. It was fun to have former ward members and so many friends celebrating Marci's happiness. Tim and Joseph helped clean up . . . the refreshments at least.

Jazz in thee Playoffs: Roses or Thorns
When Joseph scored tickets on Ebay for Game Four on Saturday night he hoped for a Jazz win over the Lakers like they managed in Game Three. He took his friend Tina, a true Jazz fan (note the awesome autographed jersey she is sporting in the before and after photos). The Jazz came up short, but Joseph and Tina had a lot of fun anyway.

Scholarship past and present and Spring -Present!

2009-04-19T21:50:00.020-06:00

Two Scholarships for Law School at the U
Joseph has received two significant scholarships:

1- The Hinckley Institute's Robert H. Hinckley Graduate Scholarship
"Robert H. Hinckley was a remarkable person who led by example and served his country well. Mr. Hinckley was the founder of the Hinckley Institute of Politics as well as a dedicated public servant in the Roosevelt and Truman Administrations. This graduate scholarship was established to encourage students in following his example of public service and political involvement." The specific scholarship description can be found here: http://www.hinckley.utah.edu/scholarships/robert.html and an interesting biographical page on Robert Hinckley, founder of Hinckley Institute is here: http://www.hill.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=5815

2- The S. J. Quinney College of Law Leadership Scholarship
The awarding letter said: "This scholarship recognizes your outstanding academic qualifications and reflects our confidence in your promising future. We established this merit award under a new Leadership Initiative in which we plan to recruit, cultivate, and credential the next generation of leaders in the practice of law, commerce, and public service. . . Based on your extraordinary achievements and talents, we have selected you . . . Congratulations."

While the two combined will not cover all the costs of the first year of law school, they are a real help.

The Scholar Past
This week as Tim was organizing the home office he found Joseph's class picture from 1998, the end of his first year in Bristol, England. Joseph Attended the Bristol Cathedral School, (next to the beautiful Bristol Cathedral), beginning year one of his "A-levels" We thought you might enjoy seeing he and his classmates and the school established in 1140 nearly a half-millennium before the Pilgrims set sail from Plymouth England to Plymouth Rock.

Party Time
Last night Joseph invited a house full of friends over for "Fight Night" on satellite. Everyone had a great time.

Spring is Here
Sign One: The Shaffer Cousin's Party. Held each Spring with all the Grandkids of LR & Dora Shaffer (the photo was taken in East Garland UT in 1950) this is the event that gets the family ready for the reunion in July. More sedate and 'visity' without all the GGGgrandkids!
Sign Two: The mysterious appearance of two DUCKS on our front lawn! The were a lovely couple, but not from around here. I guess with the overabundance of rain the last few weeks they felt right at home. They eventually disappeared, but other signs of Spring did not.

Easter 2009

2009-04-12T20:01:00.015-06:00

What a Great Week
The Taggart Family was blessed with continued visits with friends this week . On Thursday Tim and Gloria met the Mike and Nenette Ramirez Family in Orem for dinner. It was so great to see all the kids! Tim hadn't seen them since before they moved from the Philippines to New Zealand. And Gloria and Joseph, though hearing about the family for years had never met any of them except Mike. On Friday the whole gang came to meet Joseph at home.

(Photo left to right: Mike, Nenette, Maco, Joseph, Michel, Li-Anne, Tim, Mikee, Carla, and niece Lauri) It was so fun. Joseph even talked Maco and Mikee into doing a Haka dance! They were awesome.

While at Applebees in Orem with the Ramirez family Spencer Morris came up to say hi to Tim and Gloria, introducing his wife Valerie and their darling little boy. Spencer was a great EBM missionary and now lives in Idaho Falls. Another Heavenly Hug!

Easter with the Birds
Gloria went up to Logan on Friday to visit and help out with Easter preparations. Elizabeth, always busy, painted the kitchen last week with a new accent color, a deep red on two walls. It looks great. Saturday she and Denny got a load of topsoil and built garden boxes. the whole family pitched in to help. Grandma helped with the preparations as everyone got into the action of painting Easter eggs.

On Sunday Tim joined them for a wonderful dinner and an Easter Egg hunt in the back yard.

A Time of Gathering

2009-04-05T20:55:00.023-06:00

Gathering for Conference

It was a wonderful weekend, centered around the General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The messages were inspiring and uplifting. We were thrilled to hear Elder Neil L. Andersen Named to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Our family has had a long association with this dedicated and inspired Church leader. He was area president here in Salt Lake when Tim was Stake President. He was in the area presidency in England just before we arrived in England and then was the Executive Director of the Audiovisual Department for several years when we returned from the Bristol Mission. He was then called to serve in the area presidency in Brazil when Joseph served his mission in Campinas. Tim was able to visit Elder Andersen in that assignment when he went down to begin recording the scriptures in Portuguese. Tim visited with him on the elevator Friday, not knowing the many thoughts and feelings that must have been going on in his mind. As always Elder Andersen's focus was on the Taggart family, and especially Joseph.

A Gathering of Missionaries

The England Bristol Mission Reunion at our home on Friday evening was just great. We had dozens of missionaries with their families. We love the mission 'grandkids'. It was delightful to welcome Günter Sandner from Wuppertal, Germany. We are proud of him and his beautiful family and so glad he could visit during our mission reunion. There were many missionaries attending that we had not seen for quite a while.

It was really great to have President Richard Whitehead stop in to visit us and the missionaries. He was here for conference from Virginia. Richard and Luana followed Tim and Gloria as mission president in Bristol. Our family and all of the missionaries were delighted to see him.

From the Four Corners of the World

We have been blessed with visitors gathered from all over the globe this week: Chris and Jeannie Wills from England have been here with the AV Department. Chris along with Tim, Dave Morris, Loren Ashcraft, Omar Canals and Quinn Orr are assigned as AV Area Support Managers to the various areas of the world. Each conference they meet with the area presidencies to help with their AV planning and needs. The Taggarts and the Wills family have known each other since the days in the missionfield. The Wills are such a wonderful couple.

Mike Rameriz is in town with this whole family for conference. He has been one of our great area AV producers for many years. He began his work in the Philippines, then he and his family moved to New Zealand. More about Mike next week, we get to visit with the whole family this week.

Elder Joshua Subandriyo from Indonesia dropped by to say hello this week. He is the member of the Seventy assigned to Indonesia, Cambodia, and Malaysia. What an inspiring leader and a great example.

Andy An, Qingdao China was at our home during the Saturday afternoon session of conference. He was down from Washington sorting out his university plans this week. (After 8 hours of chasing around he learned BYU dropped his masters program last week . . . two months too late for him to apply to another program!). Andy is like a brother to Joseph and to us all. He will soon be made an Elder. He reads everything he can get his hands on and is growing so much. We love him.

The Story Continues

2009-03-29T21:23:00.014-06:00

EBM Story Continues with Reunion next Friday

Story of a Princess
Elizabeth's daughter Cheyenne Bird had her 4th Birthday party last week. It was appropriately themed 'a Princess Party'.

Masters in the Universe
Joseph was officially accepted this week into the Public Administration Masters Program at the University of Utah. He has been taking classes this semester as a non-matriculated graduate student. . . but now it's official, he's an articulate matriculate. He will do this concurrent with a law degree beginning this Fall.

StoryCorps
The real story this week is StoryCorps. (Read more…) This is a great concept and a great organization. They are here in Utah starting last Friday for the next six weeks. The trailer is parked on the east side of the City&County Building (note the ramp in place for access). Joseph was referred to them by the Disability Law Center and was one of their first "Stories". The converted Airstream trailer is a recording studio where Joseph as the "Storyteller" and Tim as the "Interviewer" had a 45min session Friday after work. Joseph did a great job. We will try to set up a link so you can download the interview in MP3 format.

Story of New Beginnings
Aaron Genneca Sando is one of our great EBM missionaries. He grew up in Liberia and has his degree from BYU-Idaho. Saturday he was married in Idaho Falls to his sweet heart Carmelita, originally from Nigeria. Tim was able to go up and be witness. It was a wonderful day and a great celebration. We look forward to seeing the new couple next week for our EBM reunion.

There and Back Again

2009-03-22T21:38:00.023-06:00

Spring Break
Joseph has been enjoying Spring Break this week chillin' with friends and fam. He was accepted by another law school. The University of Arizona Rogers College of Law has also offered a series of scholorships over the course of the degree. There are still things happening with the U Law School as well.

Back Again
Tim Returned from his Asian trip on Saturday, a bit dead from jet lag and with a cold from Hong Kong but glad to be home. The Saturday previous in Jakarta, Bertha and Hendro took Tim on a trip to the Taman Safari with their family. It was a great day. It was really interesting to see the vendors selling carrots and bananas on the road before the entrance to the park. Inside you drive your car through the beautiful mountian woods meeting animals from all over the world. In the Baby Animal Zoo you could hold the animals as well. It poured rain in the afternoon but it didn't spoil the fun.

Sabbath in Jakarta
Last Sunday Tim attended one of the Indonesian speaking branches in Jakarta. The building is beautiful and the saints even more so. The Young Men and Young Women were very impressive, some of them even played the piano and conducted the music for the sacrament meeting. Tim did interviews with several of them for possible future use for the Church. They have great testimonies and are committed to missions and temple marriage. Note the photo on the left of Sis. Atin Limbong (Translation Supervisor) and her family.

Update from Jakarta

2009-03-15T08:41:00.019-06:00

Around the World in A Daze
Tim left last Saturday for Jakarta, Indonesia on assignment to record Legacy in the Indonesian language.
The itinerary called for a flight from SCL to Frankfort (stopping briefly in Cincinatti Ohio to change planes). Then after a 12 hour layover, flying on to Jakarta -- with a stop in Singapore on the way. After 40 hours the trip was successful. . . he arrived and survived. He took a photo of the map as he flew over the old mission field.
Frankfurt
Frankfurt was rainy and freezing cold. It would undoubtedly be a beautiful city with some heat and sunshine. At any rate Tim enjoyed the train ride to the main rail station in Frankfurt and back to the airport.

Jakarta
The shower and bed felt fantastic when Tim finally arrived in Jakarta Monday night. It's the rainy season in Indonesia, averaging 1/2 inch a day, imagine Tim's surprize seeing beautiful sunshine Tuesday morning (see the photo out the hotel window). Tuesday was spent in a orientation and training session with Sujud the person assigned as the local AV producer on staff. He is newly assigned and this will be his first language production. Atin, the experienced and terrific Translation Supervisor joined them along with Jennet, newly assigned as an AV translator on the Legacy project.

In the Studio
The rest of the week was spent in 12 hour days in the recording studio. We have never used the Genada Studio before, but it is perfect for our work.
The owners are wonderful members of the Church. Bertha is a well known film producer who has worked on AV projects before, her husband Hendro is a brilliant musician and vocalist who is well known in his own right. Together with their team of engineers, directors and voice talent they make a great team. The production quality is excellent. The photos include "Eliza" dubbing her lines. The group portrait is of L to R: Hendro, Bertha, Jennet, Atin, Tim and Sujud.

Dining on King Cobra
One of Tim's memories of the week was feasting on a local delicasy, King Cobra kebab. It was really quite good. It is rumored to make you energetic and less sleepy. . . sure enough after the reptilian dining experience Tim had enough energy to take care of emails and call home before hitting the jet-lag wall and collapsing in bed. Good thing he still has a week away from home. . . Gloria wouldn't kiss lips that touched snake for at least a week!

Work as Adventure

2009-03-06T23:33:00.008-07:00

Adventure at Work

Joseph continue's to enjoy his work at the disability law center. Tim stopped by this week and caught this photo of him at work. His coworker Andrew Riggle is laboring away in the background.

Work as Adventure: Indonesia

Tim leaves Saturday March 7th for Indonesia to record the Indonesian language version of Legacy. (Legacy. DVD, multilingual) He is looking forward to meeting the new local producer Sujud Ariano and providing training. Tim will report more from there in the next couple of weeks.

Iowa Too

2009-03-01T22:30:00.009-07:00

Iowa says Yes!
Another acceptance letter for Joseph this week. . . The University of Iowa College of Law liked what they saw in him. One of our former missionaries is a student there, and his Local Bishop is a professor. Joseph met him at the Law Fair at the U last year. They were in mutual admiration of each other . . . that may have helped. There have been a few letters from other schools this week saying 'thanks, but no thanks'. It is all good.

Wanted in Two States

2009-02-22T21:56:00.012-07:00

Wanted in Utah and Colorado
Joseph received his acceptance letter from the University of Colorado Law School this week. There will be replies from several others in the next month. Sometimes it's nice to be wanted. He will wait until he hears from most of them before committing.

Wanted: Walking and Scooting
This week Tim spent the whole week without the walking boot for his broken leg. He loves to be wearing matching footwear again. . . but he misses the excuse to zip around on his cool scooter (it went back to IHC this week).

Wanted: Christmas. . . and Christmas to be Over
We love Christmas. . . really. It's just that this year with the broken leg and other ailments we haven't been able to get Christmas over with. This week the Valentines Day Tree came down (at least that is what we have called it the last month). Now if we can just get the rest of the Christmas Cards and gifts out --we'll be satisfied.

Accepted! and Loved

2009-02-15T20:09:00.017-07:00

Accepted at Law School
Joseph received his acceptence letter to the S.J.Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah this week. He hasn't officially accepted yet, he hasn't heard back from a number of other law schools. . . but we are all excited and relieved. The law school at the U is among the highest median GPAs of all law schools. You can read the U's Law School Profile by clicking on the link (photo on right: U Law School Library).

Joseph is still attending graduate level classes in Public Administration this semester and is hoping he will be accepted in the program as he works towards a concurrent Masters degree. He has been carefully planning and figuring out his schedule for the next few years. He really enjoys his classes and the other students in them. He also thoroughly loves his work at the disability law center and the Neuroworx foundation. He is also still working with the legislators on the hill (see photo above left: Joseph at the Capitol steps).

Accepted without the Bulky Black Boot
Church members in Taylorsville were able to find it in their hearts to accept Tim at stake conference today without his boot. He only has to wear it part time now, and he declared today his coming out event. It was a great stake conference, especially without the added baggage. The new x-rays taken earlier in the week showed everything healing nicely (not that we can tell from the new pictures).

Loved
It was a season of love and celebration with Elizabeth's birthday and Valentines Day both in the same week. Gloria's valentine for Tim was a handcrafted masterpiece that can never be thrown away, Tim's card sang Sonny and Cher's "I Got You Babe" to Gloria. For Elizabeth's birthday Denny gave her a cool pink mountain bike for the occasion, so now she can take the kids on bike rides. She was so delighted!

Since Tim's work has all switched over to Sprint cell phones the family started the move this week as well. Tim and Gloria drove though the snow as did the kids and all met in North Ogden at McDonalds with the new phones. The grown ups had almost as much fun playing with the phones as the kids did in the play area.

"Imagine What a Little Time Can Do"

2009-02-08T19:28:00.014-07:00

Imagine a Spinal Cord Injury
Joseph went with Tim up to see Glen Weight in University Hospital this evening. Tim served on the high council when Glen was the stake president, then Tim was called in 1987 when President Weight was released. He and his wife Hazel have served three missions to Finland since then. Glen was snowmobiling six weeks ago and crashed into a tree injuring his neck (C3-C4 level). He has been through surgery, intensive care, respiratory therapy, pnemonia etc. so similar to our family's experience. It is so hard to be patient and take the tiny steps required to progress with something so devastating. Joseph shared some good experiences and assured them things will only get better over time. We encouraged them to review the story contained in this blog. As you go through week by week progress is astoundingly slow, but over time . . . miracles.

Imagine Sharing Your Story with the World
Joseph's contacts at the Disability Law Center asked him to participate in a project called StoryCorps coming to Salt Lake in late March. Read about the concept here: http://www.storycorps.net/about. It is a great idea to collect personal stories, archive them in the Library of Congress, and for some, share them on National Public Radio. Tim will interview Joseph.

Imagine, the Documents to Prove Graduation.
Joseph's graduation presents were the frames to hang his diplomas in his future law office. For now he's settling for hanging them in his bedroom.

Imagine a Bird Making a Difference in Kid's Lives
Elizabeth's husband Denny Bird is a natural teacher as well as a wonderful police officer in Logan. Detective Bird has as part of his assignment doing community policing in schools in Logan. There was a great article in the Logan Herald Journal last week about his work: http://pioneer.olivesoftware.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VEhKLzIwMDkvMDIvMDMjQXIwMDMwNQ==&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom. We're proud of his good work as an officer and detective. . . but even more because he's a great Dad.

Imagine Working on the Basement
Elizabeth and Denny have been fixing up their basement in Cache Valley. It has been unfinished. They have accomplished a lot. Tim has felt bad not being able to help much (with the broken leg). But we are all proud of what they have done so far. The kids are going to love it!

May I Have Your Autograph Please

2009-02-01T21:40:00.010-07:00

Joseph: Media Star
Joseph was in the news a couple of more times this last week. This time on KSL TV5. The first story, like the one last week was on the state budget cuts and the disability community. He got his boss at the Disability Law Center to come down and be a part of the interview as well. Here is storys video link: Cuts to state program could mean loss of independence ... and the video (sorry about the short ads on the front)

The other story was about the O'bama approval for stem cell research: FDA clears way for stem-cell therapy testing on humans and the video included an interview with Joseph at Neuroworx.

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Joseph has written a couple of op-ed pieces for the local news as well, which will be published this coming week. More on that next time.

The Papers to Prove It
This week Joseph received his two diplomas in the mail, one a BA in Political Science, the other a BA in International Studies.

NeuroWorx Board
Joseph has been asked to serve on a fundraising board at Neuroworx. This is a real honor and an opportunity to "pay-it-forward" as they raise funds to build a wonderful new facility to serve those like Joseph who need physical therapy etc. Click here for a link to an introductory Neuroworx video (also with an interview of Joseph).

The Rest of the Family
The rest of the family is doing great as well. Tim declared today the "Official end of using crutches" day. and will be hobbling around on his boot now. (He still plans on scooting between meetings for efficiency however). We have been surviving with the help of Elizabeth and Joseph's friend Matt Smith lately, for which we are grateful. . . and the grandkids continue to delight.

On the Move

2009-01-18T17:18:00.020-07:00

Joseph is on the Move
Classes have begun for the spring semester at the UofU for Joseph. He is a non-matriculated grad student (not yet officially accepted into the grad program). His classes in the Public Administration Department include:

Administration Theory
Research Design
Disabilities Study Forum

Joseph's work in his internship at the Disabilities Law Center is very exciting and he really loves it. On Monday he was interviewed at length by KUTV's Rod Decker and was on the KUTV News at Noon, 5PM and again at 6PM. (We'll see if we can get some footage to include in a future post). A big refinery fire bumped it from the 10PM news.

The big issue is the budget cuts necessary because of the economic downturn. The State will be cutting budgets drastically, the question is where? Joseph has really enjoyed attending Appropriation Committee meetings and visiting with many different senators and representatives. He had a really engaging private visit with the Speaker of the House David Clark (R) in his office for 30 minutes on Jan 12.

At noon this coming Wednesday (21st) Joseph will be speaking at the UofU's Hinckley Institute in a forum: Service, Politics and Disabilities (See the program here: http://www.hinckley.utah.edu/events/forums/Jan_forums.pdf ). He also has several visits with other media outlets in the coming days. He makes a pretty effective spokesman for those with disabilities. Some of the potential loss of State funding could have a huge impact on our family.

Tim is on the Move
On Jan. 12th Tim had his followup visit to the surgeon on his leg. He took his thumb drive and talked the Dr. out of the X-rays. They show the plate, screws and pin Dr. Butterfield installed in Tim's Fibula. (click on this link: http://www.amicusvisualsolutions.com/cgi-bin/reference.cgi?topic=0711072_FibulaFixation to see an illustration of how it works, and click here to Enlarge a different one).

The next day he was back at work using his cool new scooter instead of crutches. Joseph clued him into the option, showing his dad photos of several styles downloaded from the internet. After the Dr. faxed a perscription, IHC delivered it to the house. The scooter is awesome on the straightaways, not so speedy to do a U-turn. At church today the kids were all jealous. In two more weeks Tim can walk on his new boot.

Gloria: the Bearings That Keep Us All Moving
The only reason the males in the Taggart household can move at all is because of Gloria's sacrifice and constant hard work. As transportation coordinator she has had to drive everyone everywhere this past little bit. Tim is anxious to try driving this coming week. He will just have to wait to put his protective boot on when he gets where he going. We'll hope for the best.