Richie and Greg at the Obama Inauguration

Soon after the election, Richie called and asked if I would try and get him some tickets to the inauguration. He had evidently discovered that getting tickets from his Virginia congressmen would be impossible. Interestingly, that very day there was an article in the paper about how to get tickets. I immediately contacted the Jason Chaffetz at the indicated email address. Congressman Chaffetz emailed me back saying he didn't know how many tickets he would get, if any, but would let me know. I also called Senator Hatch's local office, they told me to forget it, and Senator Bennett's office, they put me on a list. On December 17th, I got an email from the office of Congressman Chaffetz letting me know they had two tickets for me. Soon after I got a phone call from Senator Bennett's office letting me know they also had two tickets for me. Believing, and rightly so, that Richie probably had some friends that could use the tickets, I confirmed that I would pick up these tickets.

In order to prevent scalping, I guess, the only way to get the tickets was to appear personally at the congressman's office with ID about three or four days prior to the event. When Richie and Greg went to the office of Rep. Chaffetz, they realized that security was so tight and the line so long, that by the time they got the tickets, Senator Bennett's office would be closed. Greg called Senta and asked her to get them a number for the office. When they called the number and explained the situation, Rep. Chaffetz came out personally and gave them the tickets.

On the morning of the big day, they got on the Metro at about 7 AM and headed for town. As everyone has heard, the crowds were massive. After they had been waiting in line for an hour, they noticed up at the front of the line, that security was turning people away. Greg told me that he had enough experience with concerts to know that there was usually a way around security. This next photo shows the line (I use that word loosely as it was really a street full of people) with a row of buses on the right side. Richie and Greg made their way to the other side of the row of buses and walked around security (it's kind of scary when you think about it, two college kids from Utah busting through inauguration security) and eventually got to their spot about 10:45. There were a lot of people not so lucky, or maybe not so devious. There have been many articles about the people who didn't get in. Click on the link to read one.


These next two photos are of the very patriotic Wilcox Boys at the Obama Inaguration.

Tickets to the inauguration were divided up using colors. The tickets Richie and Greg had were silver. A map showing the various locations can be seen by clicking on the link. As one newspaper article stated:

"There are five types of tickets, each color-coded depending on the entrance and how close guests can be to the stage: blue, yellow, orange, purple and silver. Most of the tickets are rectangular, just a couple inches high and about six inches across. But ironically, the biggest tickets (silver) are for spots the furthest away from the Capitol and are designated as standing room only. Those tickets are three-times the size of the others.

"I guess they have to do something for the people in the back to make them feel special," one aide said.

And, by the way, for those who have heard that this was the most expensive inauguration ever, it is completely untrue. Check out the link.

As some of you may know, Greg works on the school paper at UVU. He tried to get them to pay for his ticket, but with the state budget the way it is this year, there was no way. However, he did get to bring a camera owned by the paper. So even though they weren't all that close, they still got a photo in which you can see the President and his wife (you'll have to double click on the photo to enlarge it).

If you click on the photo and look down from the right edge of the window to the right of the red-draped entrance, you can see Pres. and Mrs. Obama (look for a yellow-colored coat).

Pres. Uchtdorf and Elder Ballard represented the Church at the inauguration. They both seem to have a hope and respect for Pres. Obama which seems to be lacking in the general membership.

Both left the prayer service with a sense the people of America are going to unite behind the new president and his administration and that we need to pray for him. Elder Ballard said, "We need to exercise our prayers and help him accomplish the great objectives that he has set."

Both President Uchtdorf and Elder Ballard used adjectives like "marvelous," "wonderful" and "overwhelming" in describing their experiences.

"This new administration is sending a message of hope and change to the world," President Uchtdorf said. "We know there is no greater message to all the world than the message of the Church and the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I only hope this historic moment will open doors and hearts to the gospel message of hope and change."

To read the full article in the Church News, click on the link.

To see all of their photos, click on my picassa album.

Christmas 2008

Christmas 2008 has come and gone, thank goodness.We all had a nice time and it was good to be able to visit with the parents, brothers, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews etc. etc. For a few more pictures, check out this picasa album. I wish you a prosperous and happy new year everyone!

P.J. The Pizza Maker

I swear that JoAnn made at least 300 rolls over the holidays. She even got a new Bosch bread mixer to keep up the pace. Our old Kitchenettics was about 30 years old and some of the plastic parts finally gave up. Anyway, one night she was making rolls for the next day, and P.J. had to get in the action (You'll notice I call him P.J. now instead of Parker since that is what he prefers; sometimes he won't even answer to Parker). Of course he has to be in the middle of the action, and since his Daddy works in a pizza store, he decided to make pizza. As you can see, he worked at it pretty hard.

The Humanitarian Service Room

On Wednesday evening last, the Wilcox & Plyer Families spent an evening at the Humanitarian Service Room in the Murray Deseret Industries building. Dustin couldn't go because he had PJ and nobody under 12 is allowed in. That left JoAnn, Senta, Burke, Richie, Greg, and me to carry the load. It all began when JoAnn asked me to look for some kind of service project we could do as a family over the holidays when Richie was here.

After a few calls, I found out that a few of the DI's (with more to come) have what is called a Humanitarian Service Room. They are open during the day and volunteers can walk in and participate. They are open some evenings by appointment. We made an appointment and went in the evening. We were the only ones in the service room which is good since it wasn't all that big. As for the service we provided, Richie and Burke worked on sanitation kits, Greg and Senta worked on the sergers, and JoAnn and I worked on sewing machines, stitching together the pieces serged by Greg and Senta, into book bags. The bag I sewed together didn't look quite as nice as this one, but the Sister who was helping us said she had never seem someone who hadn't done it before, come in and finish a bag in one evening. I actually finished one and parts of two others! JoAnn also brought home the materials for a couple of crib quilts that we will be working on over the holidays.

Those of you who are asking what on earth were they thinking assigning me to a sewing machine should know that I do have some experience. Many, many years ago, I ordered a coat from a company that sent all the pieces to you and you had to sew it. I thought it would be a good experience for me to sew a coat. And I did, and it turned out OK. So everyone had a fun, fulfilling evening where we did something (even just a small something) for someone else and we all felt good about it. We'll probably go again to the West Jordan store when they get their HSR opened up and running.

Unfortunately, there are no photos for this post. I told myself I would take a camera and just as we were pulling out of the parking lot after we were finished, I remembered the camera. Doh!

Thirty First Year

When I went to work on Monday, December 1, 2008, it was the first day of my thirty first year working for the same agency. Known then as the Division of State Lands and Forestry, it is now the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration. Given this momentous occasion, I thought I would some post some information and photos on this blog to document some of the people I work with and the way things look at SITLA.


This is a panoramic photo of the "Public Room" so-called because this is where the public comes to look at our records (click on the photo to get a better view). The books you see lining the walls contain copies of state land records dating from statehood. There are copies of all the Certificates of Sale and Patents issued, ownership plat books, mineral lease records, and copies of the original surveys of the entire state. Oh yeah, the handsome guy at the desk is Michael.



This is a panoramic shot of my cubicle. It may look messy to the untrained eye but I know where everything is (unless I forgot about it and then it doesn't matter). To the knowledgeable bureaucrat, it may appear that my office is somewhat larger than the typical 10 X 10 regulation size. Several years ago, in an office reorganization, Gary and I ended up with an empty office between us. So one Saturday, we took our tools and went to work and made two offices out of three.



This is my boss, Kim Christy. He's a good guy, really. When he meets someone, it's only a matter of minutes before he has assigned them a nickname and put their phone number in his blackberry. I remember meeting him a couple of years before he started working for us and thinking "I don't trust anyone that friendly".






These guys, members of the "Drinkmobile" all, from top to bottom are: Kurt Higgins, Industrial Lease Administrator, Ute fan, and world traveler; Daran Baggs, the computer guy, painted pumpkin distributor, and inveterate mountain climber; Gary Bagley, Telecommunication Lease Administrator, BYU fan, and founder of the "Drinkmobile". The "Drinkmobile" leaves the office most days between 9 AM and 10 AM and heads for the local Maverik where we fill our cups with liquid refreshment.


This is Adam Robison, the Agency Forester and Cary Zielinsky, Contract Forester. I manage the Forestry Program because nobody else would take it and I got stuck with it. I'm now quite glad it happened that way. I've learned a lot and have been able to spend some time in the woods with a couple of guys who can operate any piece of machinery at light speed, build anything, and fix anything. Cary is even an inventor; check it out. Amazing guys.



From top to bottom, this is Diane Durrant, who was my secretary for a number of years and who now keeps the sales program running smooth, and Linda Bianchi who helps me through the red-tape all bureaucrats have to live with.

So there you have. Just a small sample of the people I work with and the things they do. If they weren't all so great, I wouldn't be looking forward to my next 30 years. OK, maybe 6 or 7 more years.

Thanksgiving 2008

Thanksgiving this year was at Mimi's Restaurant. The food was not nearly as good as home cooked but the cleanup was so much easier. After dinner, we went to see Australia the movie. It was OK but I think Nicole Kidman has done something weird with her lips. They don't look normal. After the movie, we went over to Senta's for pie and Guitar Hero. Burke has quite the setup, one person can sing, two can play guitar and/or bass, and one can play the drums. As you can see here, Parker looks like he is going to be a drummer like his dad. To everyone who reads this, thank you for your love and friendship!

The Pumpkin Part of Halloween

The first two photos are of Parker and Senta's pumpkin creating night. Senta had been to a Plyer family party the night before and they had a lot of colored, sticky styrofoam stuff that they cut out and stuck on the pumpkins. The features are all Parker's decision. The next couple are of the real pumpkin carving a couple of days later. As we were getting ready, laying down the paper, getting the carving tools and sitting on the floor, Parker walked over and said " what doing guys?" We all got a chuckle out of that. The last photo is of the newly carved pumpkin with a lit interior candle on the front porch looking scary.