Chelsea Stoker

From my sister-in-law Kelli's blog I got this great engagement video of my niece Chelsea and her fiancé Matt. Chelsea is my oldest niece and has really grown up. Almost 21 years ago when I was a Mormon missionary I went to live in Europe for 2 years when my sister Diana was pregnant. When I finally came back to the States and saw Chelsea for the first time, she was almost 2 years old. I remember bending down to hug her and she got scared and ran to my mom yelling out to her "grandma!". That was the very first time I ever remember thinking of my mom as a grandma. Now I guess its possible she could be a great grandma in the near future if Chelsea and Matt have children (maybe they will wait a few years :^) ). Congratulations Chelsea.

Matt & Chelsea - Engagements from Aub Howell on Vimeo.

My Cousin

Funny video with my cousin Mike and his cute kids. They are having fun.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful wife and to my mom. Here they both are at Kayla's soccer game this weekend. We also went out yesterday to visit the grave of Jana's mom Chris.

Jana at the game

Grandma Karen at the game


Jana's Mom's grave marker

Yesterday at grandmas with my kids and my sister Lindsey's kids.

back row l-r: grandma, Brooklyn, Andrew
front row l-r, Nicholas, Tyler, Taryn, Kayla

More Soccer

Kayla had fun at her game on Saturday. She played goalie for part of the time and had 4 saves (although half the time she didn't move and they just kicked it right to her . . . but she had fun).

Kayla Soccer

Kayla wanted to enroll in county rec soccer this year as one of her friends was doing it also. Her first game was Saturday and yesterday was a practice. Saturday she seemed to have a lot of fun even though it was cold and rainy and she was soaked. Yesterday she got a few good kicks in but I think she got bored as there are some boys on the team who are really good and kind of dominate. We'll see how long it lasts. As long as she has fun. Anyone who wants to go to a game, they are Saturdays at 9AM at the field by the Taylorsville rec center (by the library and swimming pool) across 27th West from where Julie lives.

Kayla practicing with a teammate

Stretching with the coach

During practice she had to run with the ball to the line then kick it into the goal. Kayla is first in the red/purple pants and her friend Abby is the little blonde girl who goes next wearing the skirt.

Jessi's Baseball game at Taylorsville High

My niece Jessi and her sister Jamie are both incredible athletes, especially with baseball. Jessi pitches for Taylorsville High School. This picture is from yesterday's game. Taylorsville won. Final score 16 to 2. Thanks mom for the picture.

Hong Kong

I just finished spending a week in Hong Kong on business. I love Hong Kong. Along with Spain, it is one of the greatest places I have ever visited. There is this wonderful mix of modernism with tradition. The food is the best I have ever eaten. I was able to travel with one of my best friends Dan who was training some new employees from Hong Kong and Taiwan and also able to meet with other good friends while I was there. I had a great time.

While I was in Hong Kong the H1N1 (swine flu) media circus was going on. A tourist from Mexico was diagnosed with the flu. Hong Kong, still wary after their economy was damaged during the SARS crisis, reacted way over the top. The entire hotel where this tourist was staying (about a block or two from my hotel) was quarantined. Nobody could leave the hotel, guests or employees, for one week. They were stuck there. Those who came in with supplies were dressed in outfits that look like space suits from the movie IT. Then on my way home passing through Japan they were measuring temperatures and asking all sorts of questions for any travellers from Canada, United States or Mexico. I guess just another experience to remember.

8 million people on this little island country (not to mention the hundreds of thousands of tourists). There is no room so they build up into the sky. There are apartment complexes consisting of several high rise buildings that house over 50,000 people. One complex is like a small suburb!

We eschewed taxis in order to take local transportation. Subway, trolley, bus, even a gondola. Lots of people and lots of lights.



This is the Tian Tan Buddha, also known as the Big Buddha (Tyler likes that as he loves the guy on Fox 13 news that goes by Big Buddha.) It is incredibly large. Inside the Buddha is a large museum that is beautiful. It is located on a mountain on Lantau island, the very last train stop (or I guess first depending on where you stop) after Hong Kong Disneyland then a many hour hike or a bus up a winding mountain or sky gondolas which we took. It is next to a Buddhist monastery and is surrounded by Buddhist culture including all vegetarian restaurants. I was very happy I had some free time on my last day (since it was May Day in Hong Kong and the office was closed) and was able to go out and see it.

The Harbor separating Hong Kong island from Kowloon on the mainland is such a pretty place. The LDS temple is in Kowloon and a beautiful multi-story stake center is in WanChai on the island. We took the ferry across the harbor.

Taken by my friend, the side of my head looking out the harbor.

Face Transplant

These pictures from the news today of the first face transplant patient in the USA really moved me. She was shot in the fact by her husband who tried to kill her but didn't succeed. He is in now in prison. The before and after pictures made me really reflect about how wonderful it is that we live in a time when technology can help people in such incredible ways. This shows before and after the surgery. She decided to go public to praise the donor family and to shed light on the benefits of the surgery. What a brave woman.

San Antonio

Two weeks ago I was in San Antonio to speak on ethical business practices at the USANA Celebration. The city is beautiful and a great place to visit. All sorts of restaurants, shops, museums and culture and very nice people. The USANA meeting was great. It was also a lot of fun because the event was happening during a local holiday, "Fiesta San Antonio". It is held every spring since the 1800s and celebrates the war heroes from the battle of the Alamo. Three million people celebrate in the streets and there is a massive parade. I was right in the middle of it. It felt like MardiGras. I had a funny experience. On my way downtown from the airport I was talking with the cab driver. He was Mexican American and clearly in love with his town telling me all sorts of exaggerations about how San Antonio was the best place in the world (most military presence, most visited by Presidents, best basketball team and most Mexican Americans). I asked him about Fiesta and he said that it was a big party and everyone had fun partying all night in the streets so I better be careful around the bars where drunk people would be looking for a fight. I asked him what the event was celebrating and he told me about Alamo. I then asked him if it didn't seem a little awkward that the city with the most Mexican Americans in the US (his claim) was celebrating a battle where Mexicans were forced out. He stopped talking for a minute and you could see his mind working like a computer behind his eyes. Then he looked mad and said "you know what, I never thought about it but that is right. Mother F-ing crazy Texans. . .want me to celebrate beating Mexicans. You know our governor said Texas might secede and these crazy Texans just might do it!!". I felt really bad that my comment made him reflect this way but I still couldn't help laughing as he was so dramatic.

The famous "River Walk"