I just downloaded this picture from the Commerce web site two days ago. Looking at the picture to the left: In the center is the Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez, with the Under Secretary Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher (NOAA) on the right, and I, Randy Johnson, am standing on the left. The date of the picture is November 15, 2007.
Here is the text from the NOAA/OAR/ARL/FRD web site about getting a silver medal on November 15, 2007.
NOAA Employee Receives Silver Medal
On November 15th in Silver Spring, Maryland Randall C. Johnson with the National Oceanic & Administrative Agency (NOAA) received the 2007 Silver Medal. The Silver Medal is the Commerce Department's second highest honorary award. The Secretary awards it for exceptional performance characterized by noteworthy or superlative contributions which have a direct and lasting impact within the Department.
Since 1992, Randall Johnson has developed four generations of autonomous Smart Balloons that use state-of-the-art technology to observe air motions and air quality over extended periods of time. Randy Johnson developed the NOAA “Smart Balloon” that has been deployed in seven air quality and hurricane research experiments since 1992. These experiments have led to significant advances in the understanding of marine boundary layers and the chemistry of aerosols and various gaseous constituents of the atmosphere. In 2004, a Smart Balloon carrying a miniature ozone sensor successfully crossed the Atlantic Ocean from Long Island, New York to the African Coast of Morocco. NOAA Smart Balloons have also been used to study atmospheric dynamics within the inflow regions of hurricanes.
The data from the Smart Balloon are now being incorporated in air quality and climate change models. Many peer-reviewed journal articles have been written from the seven field experiments. In some of these experiments the balloon was a key to success, because it allowed U.S. and European research aircraft to locate and repeatedly sample the same marine air mass over several days in the vicinity of the balloons.
The research supports improvement in the National Weather Service air quality forecasting. It also helps the Environmental Protection Agency with its air quality assessment and regulatory functions.
Congratulations Randy!
We Love our Children
Someone sent this picture to us during the past week and it reminded us of where we have lived over the years. Our first 6 years of marriage were in two different trailers while we lived in Powell, WY; Rexburg, ID; Helena, MT; and Arco, ID. We were happy and very much in love. I would still do it all over again. We like this set up for retirement: pool, yard, flowers, deck, trees, and a suite for each child and family. Of course, Lynette and I will be using the one on the ground level, too many stairs for retired folks. Requests are being taken now on specific suites! I can imagine the grand kids all building their own living quarters in the surrounding trees. Looks like heaven!
On February 10, 2008, we attended the dedication of the Rexburg Temple. We started out with the BYU-ID 8th Stake in the Hinckley building for the 9:00 a.m. session. Then we walked over to the temple, and we were able to go to the 11:30 a.m. session in the temple. President Monson conducted both of these sessions. He remarked this was his first official responsibility as the president of the church. We felt it a real privilege to have been able to attend. The morning started out foggy but ended up sunny with temperatures above freezing. The next day we were able to attend a session. What a beautiful place! We plan to return often.
Today is the day that Lynette says that the tree and decorations are to come down. She asked me to find out who sing the song "I Cry the Day I Take the Tree Down". I found out that it is from the "Forgotten Carols" CD. So I found it (#9 on the CD) and it's playing right now. I think it makes her feel better.
If I were to say that I am not a gun person - this would be a major understatement. When my son-in-law Aaron told me about this rifle, I asked him if I could go with him when he went out to see it demonstrated. 
Ken, Gina, Blake, Brandon, Brigham and Emma were here this last weekend. Brigham needed to build a cub scout Cub-Annapolis box race car for their next pack meeting. We rounded up the parts we could find around the house and started hot-gluing them together. The purple plates are the headlights and the silver plates are the wheels. Fairly simple.
I just downloaded this picture from the Commerce web site two days ago. Looking at the picture to the left: In the center is the Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez, with the Under Secretary Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher (NOAA) on the right, and I, Randy Johnson, am standing on the left. The date of the picture is November 15, 2007. 
