Here we are at the ward halloween party October 2011. Bernice has on a hat acquired in Bolivia similar to the ones worn by the Aztec Indian ladies. I just had on my cowboy sombrero with my guitar. It was fun to do a little entertaining.

We had some good visits with our daughter, Debra and her husband, Kent, when they lived in California. This was taken during the fall of 2009, but it seems like yesterday. I was reviewing our pictures today and thought this one should be in my blog.

This picture was taken at a park in Provo Canyon. Lee and Linda Coy had all of their children together for a family reunion. This was one of the several activities that they planned. It was nice that we could be with them. At far left are Brad and Meredith Coy; Briton and Carolee Beckham with VerNon & Bernice Bingham followed by Linda and Lee Coy. Then we see Eliana Coy with Andrew and Anne Coy at the right followed by Jillayne and Chris Coy. Greg Coy is at the far right. This picture was taken July 6, 2011.

I am making a small attempt to keep abreast of things. The younger generation services as my inspiration.

Learning

Today I bought an iPad
Like the one my grandson had..
Though it cost more than a tad,
My sweetheart seems to be glad.

This gives them a chance to teach
Instead of listen to grandpa preach.
They now see him short of speech.
Learning all seems out of reach.

Deep within I want to learn.
Desire continues to burn
Causing me to ignorance spurn.
I trust life will take a turn.

VerNon A. Bingham
July 4, 2011

I recorded the following videos on my new iPad and uploaded them to my new you tube account which is http://youtube.com/grandpabingham

We decided to visit the Civil War battle field called, "Bull Run". This is a monument to Andrew "Stone Wall" Jackson. Bernice and I are with our son-in-law, Kent Hamilton and Sarah Jones, our grandson David's wife. The two little ones are Olivia and Ann. David is working on his doctorate in Michigan. They drove down to D.C. to visit his mother, Debra, our daughter. We made this visit on June 13, 2011.

Here we are with David and Sarah Jones with their two little girls, Olivia and Ann. We took this picture just before going to church, Sunday, June 12, 2011. Today is June 15, so we will be returning to Arizona day after tomorrow. We have enjoyed seen many places in Washington District of Colombia. There are still a few more we haven't seen.

We feel fortunate to have four of our grandchildren close enough in Mesa, Arizona, to be able to visit with them regularly. This picture was taken on December 29, 2011, the day of Michelles wedding. Chad is kneeling. Jeniffer is at the left, then Tiffany, Michelle and to the right is Rachel. They are son Randall's children. They are really good to us.

The statue on the right is of Brigham Young. Each state is allowed to put the statue of a favorite individual in the particular room.

If the dome of the Capitol Building is so high above the rotunda that the Statue of Liberty would not touch the ceiling, what kind of scafolding would they have needed for the artist to do this painting?

We had the privilege of visiting the Library of Congress and the Capital Building today, June 7, 2011. We even sat in on a session of the United States Senate for thirty minutes. The bill that was being presented was regarding the amount of money being collected by banks every time a debit card is used. According to the senitor from Illinois, the large banks don't need to charge such a high fee. We disappointed that only a few senators were in attendance. They evidently don't have regular working hours.

On May 26, 2011, we had the pleasure of visiting George Washington's plantation in Mount Vernon. We think about how much time he spent away from this wonderful place sacrificing for the benefit of a new nation. How grateful we are for his tremendous sacrifice.

The last of May and the first part of June we have been in Washington DC enjoying the great history of our wonderful country. This picture was taken June 6, 2011, after we had finished going through the aironotical museum. They call the space between the Washington Monument and the Capitol Building the mall. I am standing in the mall after coming out of the aironotical museum. It is wonderful that our leaders have tried to make history live so up-coming generations will be able to form a picture in their minds of what went into building the wonderful nation we have. My hope and prayer is that we will do what it takes to preserve our great nation.

Here we are with Randall and Donna Patricia in their home with Donna's son; Michael, daughter, Jessica, son-in-law Corey and granddaughter, Abry. We, VerNon & Bernice, are the ones on the left. Michael is now in the Misson Training Center on his way to the Detroit Michigan Mission. This picture was taken on May 8, 2011, the day after the wedding.



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Getting things done...

Vision shows me what to do.
Discipline helps me follow through.
Passion opens wide the gate.
Conscience keeps me going straight.

I wrote this after reading a chapter in Stephen R. Covey's book "Eighth Habit"

This picture was taken at our granddaugther, Michelle's wedding in December 2010.

Here we are, Oliver Benson Bingham and yours truly, great grandfather, VerNon Arch Bingham.

This is a four generation picture. I, VerNon Arch Bingham, am at the left with my son Randall Powell Bingham holding my great grandson, Oliver Benson Bingham with his father Randall Chad behing his father and new-born son. Today is February 3, 2011. Little Oliver Benson Bingham was born January 6, 2011.

In the Muir Woods National Park in California, we took a picture of this log to show how old it is. There were some trees a thousand years old and over 260 feet tall. That is why they are being preserved.

Sunday night, November 28, 2010, we visited the Oakland, California, temple grounds. We are standing by the visitor's center with the city night lights in the back ground. From left to right, we are VerNon, Bernice with little Evelyn Coy, our daughter Debra, then Brad Coy with daughter Lilian on his shoulders and his wife, Meredith at the right.

Our daughter Debra and her husband Kent took us to the Muir Woods National Park to celebrate our sixty first wedding anniversary. The trees are being preserved so people can enjoy a part of nature that mibht have been destroyed for financial gain if not protected.

On Thanks Giving Day, November 25, 2010, two days after our sixty first anniversary, our daughter, Debra, and her husband, Kent, took us to visit Muir Woods National Park north of San Francisco, California. We enjoyed seen those hug readwood trees some of which were over 250 feet tall and were hundreds of years old. We enjoyed the two mile hike that we had to make to see thes impressive trees.

This is our beautiful little great granddaughter, Evelyn Coy, at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, CA with her father Brad Coy. She thought that this stuffed dog needed some loving. Brad, Meredith and their daughters Lilian and Evenlyn live in Oregon near Salem.

Here we are in San Francisco, CA at the Fisherman's Wharf. We just finished eating some clam chauder served in a sour dough bread bowl. This took place Nov 27, 2010. We are in Californica visitng Debra, our daughter, and her husband, Kent. Brad and Meredith Coy with their two daughters, Lilian and Evelyn, drove down from Oregon to be with us. We are having a wonderful time.

Here we can see a small part of the large in-door swimming pool. The pool is ten feet deep all over with a high diving board. It is beautifully decorated with blue tile all over the room even on the bottom of the pool. We visited the Hearst Castle on November 20, 2010

This a view of the front of the Hearst Castle that we visited Nov. 20, 2010. William Randolph Hearst was the new paper magnate who spent some nine million dollars over a twelve year period building the complex which was comprised of a number of guest houses, two swimming pools, a tennis court and acres of gardens. There were statues from all over the world plus many other imported things like tapestries, paintings and artifacts.

This is one of the guest houses that are part of the Hearst family complex near Cambria, CA.

This is one of the swimming pools that we saw at the Hearst Casle near Cambria, California. (Nov 20, 2010)