TJ at Shriner's

We made the trip to Salt Lake for TJ's surgery this week. Monday was very nerve wracking simply because of the anticipation of the whole thing. We got checked in and into his room, then they checked his vitals...and all that stuff. Then we just had to wait. The doctor came to visit him a little. Tuesday morning he went in at 8:00, and we got him out of the recovery room about 10:30...so quick!

TJ is such a happy boy. He did so well through the whole thing. He was grumpy when he came out of the anesthesia...waking up in a strange room, with strange stuff around, and strange people. We were able to get him fed and calmed down quickly, then he was really good...restless but good. He wanted to go play as much as he could. He didn't realize that his leg should hurt and kept trying to stand on it, so we had to slow him down a bit and limit what he could play on out in the big play room.

He does not like having his arms held down or being confined. He did not like having his blood pressure taken (on his arm) or the IV. It just made it too hard to get around! But we were still able to let him play a little, just had to adapt.

We discovered that TJ can throw balls very well. He soon got tired of throwing them into the little tub and started throwing them at us and across the room. Not much slows him down.

I am not sure if he has completly realized what has happened. When we change the bandage he has started to look at his stump a little funny, but I don't think he as caught on completly yet. At this point he may just think that it is a sock that we won't let him pull off...he loves to pull his socks off. He has pulled the wraping off once already.

We are very proud of our little boy. It is amazing how this has strenghened us as a family and our faith. I know it was our family and friends' prayers that got us through it all. During and after the surgery we were at such peace and I know it is because of all the prayers...THANK YOU!

Temple Progress

I was about 40' below Moroni's feet

We have been making a lot of progress on the Rexburg Temple. I counted today and we only have 15 more window openings to do...never mind that some of them are 35-35' tall. It truly has been an incredible experience to work on it.

This is looking down on to the roof of the front entry...the lift is fully extended

Monday, we set the highest frame. It is right below Moroni, the 105' lift just reaches it. That was really cool, I was up inside the spire. Highest place in Rexburg.

Matchbox cars!

While glazing the glass in that high frame (glazing is when you put the glass into the frame), I snapped this last shot with my camera phone. I thought that the shadow of the Temple looked really cool...and that you can see the window opening in the foreground.

So we are getting close to being complete...there is much more to do yet, but the road behind is longer than the road ahead. There is a lot of caulking and some interior stuff as well as entry doors. We have made a lot of progress in the past month.

My new "Westy"

Milton at the 2005 Oktoberfest with his (now my Westy)

So some may know that I am a VW junkie. For those who don't...I'm a VW Junkie! I did have a '72 Bus for a while...that was an adventure. She was a red & white beauty! But we had to sell her to buy our minivan when we had TJ. I have always loved the Bus, plenty of room, you can always turn heads (usually away), and they are a blast to drive (when they run). For a little change, I have been toying with the idea of getting a Beetle or a Ghia to satisfy my VW craving, but haven't came accrost one yet. Well about a month ago the opportunity found me. My friend, Milton, has had this great '79 Westfalia (Westy--a camper) but has decided that it needed another home. After much much negotiation (me telling him that he could not just give it to me)we settled on a trade: his Westy (that didn't run) for my 79 Honda Trail 90 (that likewise did not run). As of yet it has not left his garage...I haven't had time to start working on it, but I just could not pass it up! My kids are excited...can't say the same for Jessica.

Toph is very excited for the Westy--he can't wait to go camping in it.

As for now the plan of action is to first get a battery to check compression. If that shows bad valve heads (as I am told main the problem is), then it will be a trip to Gate City Repair for engine work. Then I will focus on cleaning up the inside (not too bad), removing the 5 gal propane tank on the back and spare tire mount on front, installing a gas heater (Eberspacher BA6), then patch and paint. I think I'd like to do a two tone like my '72 with a dark green and white...then there's the idea of rhino lining. Any ideas? As cool as it is, I think the mural has to go...not quite my personality.

Who's ready to go camping?!

Rexburg Temple, Shoshone Falls & Sand Dunes

The last few weeks have been pretty wild....like always. It has been a huge blessing to be working on the Temple again. First off it is wonderful to be home in the evenings, and then...it's the Temple! It is really enjoyable to work there. I enjoy it-dispite the little setbacks that you encounter (all jobs have setbacks). This week we finished all the windows on the south elevation. This photo is the south elevation...but you can't really see the windows that well. Next week we will either start on the east-or front, or the west-back. These windows will be quite the adventure, very tall.

Rexburg Idaho Temple. 27 April 2007

On the 21st, my dad's brother passed away, so we had a funeral to go to in Boise on Thursday. We drove there on Wednesday, after work then back Thursday. We stopped and saw Shoshone Falls. We needed a break, Jess and the kids had never been there, and the last time I was there it was just a little trickle. It was very nice. Nothing like when Timothy O'Sullivan was there, but nontheless I took a few pictures. Likewise those are nothing like Timothy O'Sullivan's or Mark Klett. That would be a nice place to fisit and photograph more.

The Family at Shoshone Falls April 25, 2007

Friday it was back to work...but afterwards I got to go photograph is Theo and Darren. We went to the Saint Anthony sand dunes. I had never been there to photograph, but I am sure I will go there again. I really liked it. The sun was a bit too intense when we got there, but as the evening progressed, it got much better. I was very happy with the results, I will be making some small prints soon...I think they will even be worthy of the Museo Silver Rag paper I got for my birthday.

Dunes & Motorcycle Tracks April 2007

Island of trees at St. Anthony. April 2007

Rexburg Temple

So the last week we have been working on the "U" windows. Nothing special about the letter, just how each window opening is designated. There are 4 "U" windows. Tomorrow we will finish the last one. They only 20 inches wide...but just over 26 feet tall (devided into 4 sections). This first image was taken Wednesday (with my camera phone--sorry for the nasty color), looking south into the freaking cold wind from the top of one of the "U" windows.

Just before we finished for the day, Jason and I started the last frame. I had to run the lift up to the top to get a measurement of the opening and determine if the opening is out of square and if so how much. While there I made a couple snaps with my camera phone. So my lift is at the level of the basement...then the bottom of this 26' window is at chest level on the second floor...so how high off the ground am I??? I'm on an 80' lift...but I don't know if it is completly extended. On Tuesday I was on the 105' lift, and did have that extended all the way out...any gust of wind or a sudden movement of the lift was a bit freaky.

Work on the Temple

Just when I thought Jessica was about to kill me, we had a great suprise. I got to work on the Temple this week instead of the Visitor Center in Jackson. It has been a great to be able to be home at night. And working on the Temple has been fun too. Yes there are still problems and it is hard work, but I do enjoy it...and the atmosphere is much better too. Today was interesting working in the snow, rain & wind.

It was also a blessing to be in town this week because on Monday, TJ went to a ear-nose-throat doctor. He advised us to have his tonsils and adenoids removed to help him breathe clear and not be so stuffy all the time. They were removed this morning, and Jess and TJ are staying at the hospital all day today and tonight for observation. The sergon said that his tonsils were "HUGE!" Is that a compliment? "Holy cow! You've got huge tonsils!" So he's been miserable all day today, I just hope he can sleep tonight...so that Jessica can too. I also hope this will clear him up so that he won't be so gunky before we go to Shriners...that's less than a month away.

I have a few snapshots of the Temple on my phone...but no way to download them right now. I'll have to remember to take my 10D tomarrow and Friday. Were making some good progress.

Like I said it has been so much better for our little family to be home this week...such a blessing, and the Lord does hear our prayers.

Back to Moose

This week at the visitor center was an adventure. On Wednesday we had strong winds and the tenting started to come down. We were trying to brace it from the inside but the wind was too strong, and the braces that were in were 'exploding.' No, I mean it, they just exploded in the middle. So we took the two gradall lifts out and tied the tent to them and pulled it out a bit while we re-braced the inside. It was kind of scary. This picture shows one lift still tied there the next day.

I have said before that this will be a beautiful building. Even the ceiling is beautiful.

The most exciting thing is that we finally set the first bit of glass in the big curtain wall. The glass is also big. The typical size (the glass that is not in corners or on the top row) glass is 64" x 109". In other words BIG. This is the first one we set. Next week we should have a lot more set. It will be really cool when it is done.

Two Thumbs Up!

So here's the damage, 10 Stitches in one inch. It looks pretty bad 'eh? It has been quite painfull the last two days. I am getting a bit more movement now that the swelling is going down some. I hope that It is more usefull on monday. There is just way too much work to be done to be taking time off right now.

Careful for what you wish for

This week in Jackson was rough. We worked 12 hr days, which isn’t too bad, but a day and a half of that Steve and I were having a hard time making this one particular elevation work. After getting all the aluminum in, set and started bolted into plane, we realized that the plane was determined (for us ) just a little off…3/4 of an inch in 40 feet. It will work…but it will still work.

This is the elevation Steve and I fought for so long

The week was really hard for Jessica here in IF too. The kids were difficult, and that got her to the end of her rope. We were both thinking that I could be home Thursday night (with me working 12 hour days), but with what needs to be done on the Visitor’s Center and by when, I would need to work Friday too (I think Cory and Gary will be staying through Saturday too).

Our glass will set on these stones...and will have to be cut to follow them too (see the jump?)

I did still come home on Thursday. However because of why I had to come home…I would have rather stayed. Around 4:00 Steve and I were cutting a few custom pieces to go on the north elevation. I was cutting a piece on the table saw, and it got away from me, the blade caught my thumb and just made hamburger out of it! OUCH!!! After 15 minutes I finally got it to stop bleeding through paper towels, and at that point I had to decide if I would be any help the rest of the day…let alone another day.

Cory suggested I go into Jackson and get some gauze and super glue and make a “cast.” I didn’t like that idea too much. It didn’t hurt too much yet, and I thought maybe I could help the rest of the day a little. But as I thought about it more, I realized I wouldn’t be much assistance…plus I needed to get it cleaned out and looked at—what if I got the tendon?

So Gary had Steve drive me home, and I went to the family emergency center. They cleaned it up (that hurt so bad I was levitating off the bed) and numbed it (that hurt far more than cutting it did!). I didn’t get the tendon, thankfully, but it did make a mess. The doctor cleaned it out (there was a lot of aluminum shavings in it) and sewed it up. I should be OK, I am hurting quite a bit now, but should be able to work next week. It obviously didn’t effect my typing ability…how much do you use your thumb when typing??? OK so both your thumbs?

I did take a few pictures before going to the doctor...but I'm not posting those. They are far nastier than the ones I posted in november, the last time I got cut bad.

Busy Week

I tried to publish this post Sunday, but Blogger wasn't working quite right...so here it is a few days late:

So I was lucky enough to work closer to home this week. I worked on the Rexburg Temple Tuesday & Wednesday and got a whole 9 windows installed on the 3rd floor (This is a stitched photo of our progress). They take a bit of time, and I don't want to rush it anyway...It's got to be done perfect. I did mess up on one piece of glass...I installed it upside down! But as soon as I get a suction cup up there we can re-set it...oops! This picture shows it. Can you find the oops?

It was great to work on the Temple, and it was also really nice to be so close to home so I could be home each night.

Thursday Jess and I went down to Salt Lake with TJ for a clinic at Shriner's Hospital. We had a some more questions before his surgery in May, and wanted a few more x-rays of his foot. The x-rays showed a lot more and just what we wanted to see than those before and helped out a lot...they look really cool, I want to make some images of them...Cyanotypes or POP prints would be interesting.

We also did a little shopping and walked around Temple Square. I got some new photo paper to print some images on…I tried it out on Saturday…looks like a silver print!
On the drive home, TJ slept for some of the trip. But as those with children know, that never lasts. We were able to keep him entertained with licorice. Yes he was a mess when we got home...but that way we got home without exploding!

We also spent much of this weekend looking into a home loan and looking for a home. That has been a bit overwhelming for me. It is hard to find a home that will meet our needs...that won't completely break us.

We've set glass!

Work on the Rexburg Temple started Monday! Jason and I set the first window in the Temple! That was pretty cool. But then on Tuesday I had to go to Jackson to work on the park visitor center. That is where I spent the rest of the week. progress went quite slow, but we do have a bunch of glass set. Each frame has to have end dams put in, be caulked and vinyled (rubber gasket) before glass can be set, so it is a slow process. These frames were set before I started working with Jenkins...They are big, but not as wierd as the big stuff we have been installing will be to set glass. The glass we set this week is all plumb.

It has been a very long week. I am very happy to be home for the weekend...and I think I may be working on the Temple next week. Jess and I are going to Salt Lake on Thursday with TJ, so It would be silly to go to Jackson for just two days (everyone is staying here on Monday). Or at least that was the plan the last I heard.

This is the material that we are using for the big sloped curtain wall...I have never used such an odd curtain wall system...lots of different pieces! The whole system seems to be over-engineered...but who am I? I'm a photographer and a glazier...not an engineer.

This space will be a gallery. The room strait back will be a classroom. It will be a beautiful exhibit space...but I don't think that they will really use it as an art gallery...probibly more for perminant pieces??? Who knows.

This is looking into the Gallery. I don't quite understand what the holes into the crawl-space are for. There are a lot of them. Something to do with diaramas and exhibits on hydraulic lifts??? Don't step in! They are normally covered, but they just got done pouring concrete (a second layer).

So that has been my week.

Another week in Teton Park

© Tyler Hopkins 2007

Another week of working at the Visitor's Center at Moose, WY has ended. We wroked 3-12's and a 'half-day.' The half-day became 10 hours. But the long hours were not too bad, we started earlier and we were able to keep busy and get a lot accomplished. One day the clouds even broke up and I got this shot of the Tetons from just outside the building. This will be the view from inside the building.

This shows our curtain wall in place, almost ready for glass...I stitched this from 3 photos (I need a much shorter lens!)

It felt so good to get so much done on it. We even started setting glass on some of the frames that were set before I started at Jenkins Glass. But Mostly I felt good about getting so much of the big curtain wall done. We are almost ready for glass on a lot of it. I don't know if I will be up there all of next week. I think that there could be about half of us up there setting the base for the next run of curtain wall. Our material is the smaller black stuff that sticks out from the bigger black stuff. We are now waiting for some stone boulders to be set so we can build off of them...again this is a really wierd design for a building. When it is done everyone that gets a chance must go see it. It will be beautifull!

This shows the only 90° corner on the system...it still leans into the building at 9° though...I stitched this from about 10 images...kinda messes with your eyes 'eh?

Cory's Question

So a friend called me with a question about the last post...too long of a question for a comment, I'll summarise: Look at the chain-link fence on the left of the spillway. In the 'close-up' (color) picture the fence is much shorter than the monochrome, which seems to be taken from farther back. I hadn't noticed this at all, but after Cory drew my attention to it, I was amazed. I looked back into the metadata to see what focal length I shot them at...this solved it. The 'close-up' or color image was actually shot from much farther away and at 145mm, whereas the monochromatic was shot from closer to the structure and at 50mm. From farther away the fence was foreshortened and more background was visible (look at the power lines on the right!). But when I moved in closer to the structure, and shot at a wider angle, the power lines were not visible and the fence appears to get longer. Thanks Cory that was fun!

On other notes, I was in Jackson most all of this week again. We made progress too! It felt so good to get something standing! This is an image of the first elevation we got standing. I shot this with my camera phone and stitched it together...roughly. It is kind of hard to see...you know black aluminum frame on black iron structure...and hey, it was shot with a camera phone! I'm taking my 10D up next week to get some better photos. It feels really good to be making progress!

The new guy (newer than me) grinding off studs

Teton Dam Spillway

Saturday, Theo & I went out photographing. Friday he got a GMC Yukon, and wanted to give it a shake-down run...you know test out the off-road capabilities. He also wanted to get to the Teton Dam spillway, on the NW side of the Dam. We had a fun time finding it, driving through a field and through a few drifts, not too bad, but we didn't know exactly where to go. We did find it and got a few good images. Do you like the color or monochrome better?

Once we got there, we weren't quite sure how to get down into the spillway...we found a better way out, but this is how we got down.

On another note...Friday I found out that I am not getting paid what we agreed on! I am getting paid $1.50 more! Yea...so it was a good job move. I guess they have been happy with my work

Teton Park Visitor Center

So I've been working a lot in Jackson the past 2 weeks. Jenkins Glass has a pretty big job there, the new Grand Teton National Park Visitor Center at Moose. It is a really wierd building! Right after I started, we began work on the main curtain wall (really big window framing system). It has strange angles all over (the building mimics the teton ridge) and the entire system leans into the building at 9 digrees. However it is nice to have the whole area tented off so that we can work in 40-50 digree conditions. This is an inside view in the main area...this will look out directly to the Grand Tetons...it will be a beautiful view! The black vertical posts are the steel structure that we will attach our aluminum structure to, that will have the glass in it...our windows. It is pretty tough just getting the base, head and wind-load clips (attached to the steel) ready and in the right place. The posts are not plumb...well yea they tip in 9 digrees, but they are suposed to be plumb left to right, but our aluminum must be.

You can see our wind load clips and our base here...as well as the tenting that keeps it a nice 45 inside the building.

Anyway so I have been pullng long days working on this and a little bit of stuff here in town. We have only spent 3 or 4 days in a row in Jackson so far, but those were 10 hr days...so most of tomarrow will be overtime $$$. I haven't had much ti me to photograph lately, but I did make some images of the Tetons that I plan to put together in a mosiac/collage...we'll see how that turns out.

Weekends sure have taken on a new meaning for me and the family. It is spent finding ways to have fun with the kids and spending quality time with them and Jess. So far we have done good by going out on dates together too. It has been tough to be away for much of the week. But the pay is already helping pay off some bills and start saving more.

New Job

So I started the new job this week. It is sure different to start over after being with one company for so long. I did have kind of a cool surprise, I got to work on the entry doors for the IF Temple. We changed out the frames and doors and put in leaded glass. Very beautiful. It will also be nice for elderly and handicapped patrons, there are now automatic doors...Not like at a grocery store, but push button operated. I worked on that most of the week, in and out of the shop. I'll snap some shots and post them soon.

On the cover of a magazine!

So I have been working out a lot lately. In fact Runner's World magazine asked me to model for them....Ok so that is total BS. Duh!! A guy in my ward asked me to put his face on this picture and it turned out really cool. Jess wanted me to do it with my face too. What do you think? I think it just makes me look like a shirtless pedophile! Good for a laugh!

Unemployed

Toph at Starlight Skating

Well, I’m unemployed…until Monday that is. After 5 years at Cherry Glass I decided it was time to move on. I didn’t see myself earning enough there to get into a house. They just weren’t willing to pay me what I need. So Monday I start working for Jenkins Glass. They do only commercial work, and some euro shower doors. It will help to have a little more $, and It will be interesting to try out something new. What I am excited for is that they are doing the windows in the Rexburg Temple. The glass and frames will be here around the end of February. That will be great to be a part of that. I am also looking into other, more long-term, jobs. I just need to find something that will help me meet my goal of getting a house this year—wish us luck.

Creedance had a lot of fun.

We have been out playing with the kids. We went ice skating and roller skating. I think they liked the roller skating more…a bit easier and a lot warmer.

Jess also had a project for me in the kids’ closet. She wanted to have some shelves to put their toys in. There always seemed to be a big pile of toys there. Here's the kids testing the structural integrity of them.

It has been a few crazy weeks.