Broken Button

I had a message from Dave before I made it in this morning that the oven wasn't working.  Well, we rely on that oven.  Without it we are in trouble.  Dave had mentioned the button that the door trips when it closes was broken.  When I got in I started playing with it.  I did a repair that seemed to have done the job.   Then after a bit it failed again.   Back to the drawing board. 

The button is actually an electrical switch with its own little box and it is the box that is broken.  Not exactly sure how the box got broken other than being exposed to high temperatures on a daily basis and growing brittle over time.  Ultimately we need a new box but today we needed an oven so a little krazy glue and a few zip ties had to do the trick.  My original repair was electrical tape but the heat of the oven was too much and it stretched out.

Perhaps today is a good day to find the right switch and order it in.  When my zip ties fail I don't think duct tape, bubble gum or bailing wire are going to do the trick.

Getting Ripped

Before we left on our little get away I showed the boys some pictures of our hotel.  Andy was most interested in the workout room.  He asked that I go back and pull up that picture.   3I did so and he asked if we could go workout so we could get ripped.  I had a good laugh.  Every morning at the hotel he asked if we could go.  We didn't go every morning but we did stop in Saturday for a few minutes and then again Monday.  We were able to spend a little more time there on Monday.   Andy went right to the treadmill and started running.  Jack decided to get in on the action.  He didn't get a lot of action himself but did get his Thomas tank engine trackmaster train moving quite fast.  It was a fun time.  Andy was ripped and so was Thomas.

Lives That Touch Ours For Good

We sing a hymn in the church that is popular at funerals called Each Life That Touches Ours For Good.  This being memorial day I could say it is a fitting title for this post.  There are some wonderful people that I can remember on this memorial day, people whose lives definitely touched my life for good.  Most notably on this list Grandpa Al and Grandma Vi.  I love them dearly.  The Lords chosen Prophets of my lifetime have had lasting impressions as well.  I am grateful for that. 

There are many still alive who touch our lives for good.  Tonight we hade dinner over at the Sweeneys.  They have had a huge impact on my life and I have a tremendous love for them.  They are getting ready to serve as Mission President in Scottsdale Arizona.  I am so happy for them and know they will touch the lives of many people for good.   I enjoyed our visit tonight and love them dearly.

City Life

Last night after we went to Lagoon we decided that rather then stop at some fast food or other place for dinner we would first go back to the hotel, freshen up and then go check out the city life.  We thought it would be fun to catch the train over to the city creek mall by Temple Square.   Jack of coarse loved the train but really, we all like the trains. 
City Creek is a beautiful mall.  I remember President Hinkley talking about the purchase and revitalizing of downtown, I'd say the church was successful in that venture. 

We joined Laura and family for church this morning.  We went to sacrament meeting and then back to the hotel where we once again boarded the train and rode back to Temple Square.   We did the same thing last year.  I kind of like the tradition.  We checked out the church history museum and had fun with different activities there. We walked around the Temple and just enjoyed the area.   We did enjoy the excitement of running to catch a train on our way back.  Oh the thrills of city life. 

We joined Laura and fam for dinner and fun.  The kids had a good time playing with their cousins.  Jack and Andy delivered their GEO Trax collection to Donny and he was pretty excited about it. 

Grateful for my family and the time we have together.

At The Goon

One of my siblings used to refer to the Lagoon as the goon. I say one of my siblings but I don't remember which one. Dang, it may have been me. It has been somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty eight years since I last played at Lagoon. Last year we talked about going and the kids didn't let me forget.  Today we made the trip and we had a good time.
Perhaps the favorite ride of the day for everyone was the sky ride.  We rode it four times throughout the day.  The white roller coaster was our starting point and Natty and Jack loved it. Andy wasn't quite so excited about it.  He said after we dropped in that he was going to throw up.  We managed to make it through. Other rides were a bit of a challenge with Andy but we managed to ride Wild Mouse, the Sky Scraper ferris wheel, the train, the terror house, lots of kiddie rides and we went on one of my childhood favorites the log ride which is technically called the log flume if I remember correctly. We all enjoyed that one. It was a great day.  Oh, Natty took the boys for a few minutes and told me to go ride one of the coasters I wanted to ride. I thought that was rather nice of her.  I rode the Colossas Fire Dragon which is one of my all time favorite coasters. I was able to walk right on and the ride did not disappoint. Thanks Natty.

Here are a few random pics.

Salt Lake Trip

School let out today and the kids are quite excited.   For a year we have planned a return trip to the area and a visit to the lagoon.  Should be a great day.  I am asleep so I am closing today.

Warm Feelings In My Heart

A while ago Jack came upstairs in tears.  He came in to talk to me and I was curious to hear what had him in such a state.  It was not just tears but sobbing.  Anyway he began to tell me that he will always stay close to Heavenly Father, that he will choose to do what is right.  He continued on and on and so I asked him why he was saying this.  "Because of the warm feelings in my heart".  Way to go big Jack, way to know the feelings of the spirit.  

In other news Natty and I visited the orthodontist, Dr. Anderton.  He was great.  She got checked out for braces and definitely qualifies.  I gained a new understanding of death direction and what not.  Pretty fascinating.  We will be starting that process in August when the kiddos get back from Alaska. 

One final day of school tomorrow.  I think Andy is pretty excited about that as are Jack and Natty.  Jack prayed tonight that we could have a great summer and a great school year next year.  He's already getting ready. 

We will be off on a road trip tomorrow.  I have no idea where we are staying in Salt Lake.  Guess I better get crackin on that. 

Maiden Voyage

Last night Jack and I started playing with the slow stick.  We got the batteries we needed for the controller, charged the battery for the plane abd then we tried to fire it up.  No luck with the motor turning except a fluke that sent it going full steam and sliced up my forearm.  That wasn't much fun and we were pretty much stuck so we put it away until today. 

When I got home Jack was ready to get to work.  We did.  We also contacted Dan for some direction.   After a few challenges we managed to get it going and dialed in.  We then took it outside without the wing and ran t around on the ground.  We had a lot of laughs. Well, right up until I ran it into a fence and broke the prop.  All was fine and we laughed a lot.  Next time we'll put the wing on and see if we can get airborne.  

Firing Up The Stick

It is now Thursday morning and I am revisiting this entry from Tuesday.  I was so completely out of it that I could barely make out what I had typed.  Fortunately I fell completely asleep before publishing the atrocity.   It reminded me of the early days in the mission field when I fell asleep whilst handwriting in my journal.   My asleep typing isn't quite as fancy as my words that turn into a squigly line that drifts across the page.  What can I say?  Some days the tank is empty and when I sit down to write I am done. 

In regards to the post title, it has to do with Jack's rc plane the Slow Stick.  We powered it up but couldn't get the motor functioning.  We had one exciting moment when it did and that ended quickly but not without a bit of damage.  Those plastic props cut pretty good.  Not to worry, Jack was quick to grab me a couple bandaids and I'll be able to keep the arm. 

Like a Zombie

I am so tired right now that I am walking around like a zombie.  It is hard to keep my eyes open.  it is a good thing I know where the homerow keys are. 

This entry will be short.  I am so tired.  I need to sleep. 

Some Things are Simply Wonderful

Is it Bruce Almighty when the dog is trained to use the toilet?  I forget.  It is kind of a dream come true for those who have scooped a little poop.  Let me say that I believe I have something so wonderful that it may be a rung or two higher than a potty trained dog on the ladder of life's experience.  Perhaps that is not the right title for this ladder.  The Ladder of Nasty Freaking Jobs that Nobody Really Wants to Do, Ever!  Yep, that should do it. 

This morning after I got showered I called the boys up to get ready for church.  As Jack entered my room he mentioned that he had thrown up during the night and was feeling much better.  Being woken up by a child that is sick and puking is one of my least favorite things especially when that child sleeps on the top bunk.  Jack however, makes midnight puking a pleasure.  Upon hearing his announcement I asked if he got it in his bowl and he simply declared that he had.  End of story.  Simply Wonderful.  Well, not end of story.  Tonight when Jack was getting in bed he summoned me to fetch his bowl.  Apparently I have a bit of training left to do. 

Scouting Around

Today was the scout expo over at the high school.  We all walked over and enjoyed the activities.  The boys started with a rope bridge.  Jack flew across, Andy, well, he got a few feet and was done.  The upper ropes were a bit out of reach and the smaller support ropes did not inspire his confidence.  We had fun on thr monkey bridge. 

There was a fully grown Golden Eagle there with an animal rescue.  We ended up at that tent 3 times.  On one of those visits there was a lady with a little weiner dog on a leash.  In my minds eye I could see this eagle, whose name is Scout, I could see him suddenly striking and snatching up that little dog in a flurry of confusion.   It didn't happen but Scout was definitely eyeballing the pooch.

The Zip Line was a big draw and we stood in line there for awhile.   Andy wrestled with the idea of doing it the entire time.  Finally when we got to his turn he was determined to go.  That determination got him harnassed up and we ran the line up to the top.  Then came the ladder and fear kicked in.  We tried to get him up there a couple of times and got him up on the platform but that was it.  He wasn't having any so I carried him down.  We'll give it a go next year.  We didn't let it get us down, not at all, we went back to the bird tent.  Jack had gone right before Andy and loved it.  Natty also went but I didn't see her.  She was hanging out with friends but did tell me she loved it.  She did get a little shakey in the legs but got through it.

We had a great time at the expo and then went home and teamed up to clean the house.  We also decided it would be nice to pack up the geo traxx collection and give it to Donovan Jack when we head up to Salt Lake next weekend.   I called Laura and she was favorable.   That is a big deal for Jack.  I was impressed with him and how excited he was for his cousin to have his train set.  At one point he got a little emotional with one of his engines and asked if he could say goodbye.   He did, it was great.  Nice to see them learning, growing and scouting around.

Rules of Dating

So who came up with the rules of dating? I am not a fan of those rules. Perhaps they are more guidelines than rules.  Speaking of rules, should that have been then or than? So, guidelines,  we'll go with that for now.  You should not go to a movie on the first date.  That guideline is not my favorite.   I happen to love going to the movies, that and a little dinner make for a great evening. Since I rarely go on dates and rarely go to movies I need to optimize my night out. Since most, ha, since all of my dates are of the first date variety I don't make it to the movies all to often.  I went on a date tonight (Friday) and after sweating bullets over what to do I finally decided that adherence to the no movie on the first date guideline was a rule meant to be broken.  Don't worry, I'm sure to have several more first dates to perfect my craft.   Now look, ws did go to dinner prior and talked for a couple of hours.  I may have pushed the limit a bit when I chose Iron Man as the movie.  So much for the rules of dating.

Ramsey Is The One

Nacho Libre is not what many would consider a classic movie.  I am not one of the many, I loved it.  Jack Black does a masterful job.  This post has absolutely nothing to do with either the movie or Jack Black but I couldn't help myself.  When I came up with the title I started singing the song Nacho sings about Ramsey and had to roll with it.

I am actually talking Chef Gordon Ramsey.  I started watching Kitchen Nightmares on Dave's suggestion. I find it inspirational and loaded with great ideas.  There are so many little helps.  Anyhow, not much to this post.  Just a shout out to Gordon Ramsey.

Loss

I had some news today that left me at a loss for words.  It weighs on me heavily and leaves me concerned for my children.  I believe my faith will be tested and so I will press on and be believing.  

I had another first today as I was called on in an emergency.   The man who lives at the corner of our street suffered a major heart attack and they needed help carrying him up stairs.   I ran up the street and down to the basement.   They were working hard on him and had been for a time.  He was not responding.  Chest compression after chest compression for what seemed like forever.  He was not responding at all and there was a real sense of loss.  We carried him upstairs and they put him in the ambulance.   For me it was a tough scene.   I talked to my friend Shawn who works as a nurse and suggested this was intense.  He assured me that it wasn't and things get much worse in the ER.  He has the ability to disconnect and do his job but said there are times when they are through that it can hit pretty hard.  That is tough I am sure. 

I express my gratitude for a loving Father in Heaven and his son Jesus Christ.   I know that as I have faith I can overcome the challenges that come my way and things that seem lost will be restored.

Upsetting

This morning I got some news about friends of mine that was rather upsetting. I scratch my head and struggle to understand the choices that people make. It is not my place to judge and so I want to be careful here.  I have experienced things that cause heartache in the family.  When I learned of decisions made by a friend that lead to heartache in his family I hurt for them, all of them.  I don't know what else to say.  I am sad today.  I want to improve myself, fortify myself and my family and live worthy of the companionship of the Spirit so that when temptations arise I can be better equipped to overcome them.   I know that the adversary is crafty and that he can lead us down to hell with a flaxen cord.  I want to constantly be on guard, I have to be.  If I think I can justify a little sin where does that justification stop?   Where do I draw the line?   I think when you find yourself justifying a little sin whatever lines you have begin to blur and suddenly you find yourself on a slippery slope.  We, I cannot afford that.  I have children that need me to be my best self.  I need to do better each day.  I need to be worthy of the Lord's help. 

The Cone

Tonight we had a fabulous family home evening.   I had an invitation this morning from Jason and Cindy Murray to join their family for some climbing at a place called the cone.  It was quite the place.  Jack excitedly went first followed by Andy then Westin and Ben and Spencer.  Andy had another go and then I went and did it for the first time in my life.  I got up to just about the top and then repelled down.  That was another first for me.  I am nearly 40 years old and absolutely loved it.  An earlier start at rock climbing would have been a good thing.  Anyhow Natty went up after me and also did well.  I am grateful for the experience and the kindness of the Murray's.   Here are some pics of the kids in action

Dear Mom

I typed that title and got emotional.  Dang.  At a time in my life when I have had to do my best to cover both of the parental roles in the home I just have to say how profoundly grateful I am for you mom.  Thank you for your diligence in the home, your faithful service to your family, to the Church and to God.  Thank you for the great teacher that you are and for the way you raised us.  Anyway, just wanted to say thank you, I love you. 

Rock Crawlers

This morning when Andy got up he was very excited about the sunrise.   He stood in the tent and watched declaring that it was the first time he had seen the sun rise.  Jack, listening, gave us a quick lesson on how the sun worked.  It was a welcome sunrise for me as the night was a rough one.  Jack must have asked me every thirty minutes what time it was and about 3 AM my lack of sleeping bag became quite evident.   Fortunately Andy wasn't using the bottom of his bag.  We made it through.

Jay and I were asked to do the breakfast.   It went well.  I invited our two eleven year old scouts to help out.  They did a great job. 

After all was done and we were packed we went over to play around on the rocks.  Carl Johnson had a rock crawling RC car.  That was heaven for Jack and the other boys.  Jack not being shy asked if he could drive it.  Carl obliged and all of the remaining boys got to drive it also.  Carl was quite generous.   When we were walking back down to the cars Andy thanked him and told him he was awesome.   It was a lot of fun.

We did a little rock climbing of our own and enjoyed scaling a few boulders.   Then there were the lizards and a group of excited lizard hunters.   One blue belly rock crawler met his match. Not even the deepest crevice kept him safe from these determined boys.  We all laughed when they pulled it out. 

The camp out was a great success.   Both Andy and Jack talked about how much fun they had.  Here are a few pics of the rock crawlers.

Father and Sons Camp Out 2013

Tonight Andy, Jack and I are out camping with the other father's and sons from the Cedar 8th Ward.  The boys were very excited and got up before 7.  They were laying bed talking about it before they charged up stairs to remind me all about it.  Funny boys.

On my way home I went to get a tent and learned that the camp was cancelled and that dinner had been moved to KBs wharehouse.  Love that Kb.  That all turned out great.  There was no word about camping until the dinner when it was determined we would go.

This created a bit of a roller coaster for the boys.  Jack had a very hard time.  Well, all worked out and everyone is having a great time. 

The boys are both asleep.  We snapped a few pics as we started Scriptures.   Here they are.

Catching Up

For the last two nights I have been completely exhausted when journal writing time came around.  I tried to put something down but must apologize for lack of depth and thought in the last two entries.  Suffice to say there are days when my tank is empty and I just have nothing left.  I have pretty much been running on fumes since last Friday and catching up has been a challenge.  We extended the hours of the LBH and that has translated into longer hours at work which means later arrivals at home, later dinner, later homework, later scriptures and prayer, later kneeling at Andy's bedside and later getting a moment to relax.  The body is done.  The mind is spent and the only thing left to do is sleep but I fight it to try and write something and that doesn't always work out so well.  I had an email I needed to send out last night and all I really had to do was type in the recipients address, type an 8 word message and hit send.  That took me a solid 30 minutes to accomplish.  Sure that included a power nap or two but my goodness, ridiculous.  Hopefully I got it out to the right people. 

I have continued listening to conference and really enjoy that.  There is so much to learn, so much to understand.  I am almost through the April conference and will start that again.  I listened to a talk this morning, I am not certain by who.  Anyway there was a thought shared about contention in our homes and the message was this "It takes two to contend and I will not do it".  I find that to be a great statement that if adhered to will increase peace in our homes and the influence of the Spirit.  I just looked up the talk which is titled The Home: The School of Life by Elder Enrique R. Falabella.  Anyway, there were a lot of good points made in this talk and some funny stories as well.  I quite enjoyed it.  Conference is great and reviewing the messages of conference strengthens my Spirit, gives me direction that I desperately need, and helps me to feel my Saviors love.  I am grateful for that.

Tomorrow night is the Father and Son's camp out.  The boys are quite excited as they should be.  We love to go on the Father and Son's camp out and we will have a good time.  Not sure what the phone coverage will be like out there so I may not get tomorrow nights entry in until a later day.   

Asleep

I knelt at Andy's bed a number of hours ago.  When I woke up it was nearly midnight.   Now it is after one in the morning.   I am exhausted.   That is all for tonight.

Employees

Sometimes you are blessed with great people to come work for you. We have a waitress who is fairly new and yet she does do amazing work. So grateful for that.  Now I need to find more just like her.

Tramp

One of my favorite things when I was growing up was our trampoline.  I spent hours and hours and hours on that thing.  Money well spent.  Things changed for me as I grew older.  I began to worry about owning my own tramp because of the society we live in.  For the last few years the kids have asked for a trampoline.  This year I made it happen for them and picked up a trampoline on my way home tonight.  I had the kids line up by the car then opened up the back and let them have a peek.   They were really excited and so we spent the next hour or so as the official construction crew of  the Tramp.    When the final spring was attached they were on it jumping around, having a ball. 

Twenty Years

Last Sunday, the 28th of April, was the 20th Anniversary of the day I entered the MTC on my way to the South Africa Cape Town Mission.  Today is the 5th of May and 18 years ago I remember stopping off at a Spanish Branch activity with my dad a day after I returned home from my mission.  It is amazing how fast 20 years passes by.  I am on the verge of turning 40 but I don't really feel like I am that old.  Oh there are times when I wake up in the middle of the night because my shoulders are aching and there are times when it hurts to bend down and pick something up but in my mind I don't feel like I am that old. 

Wow, Jack is up here sitting by me and talking away about something whilst avoiding bedtime.  He just randomly stood up and looked at my hair closely and said he didn't see any white hair but lots of silver hair.  That's my boy, doing his best to make me feel older all the time.

The priesthood lesson today was on the Temple and referenced a talk from President Monson back in April 1993 just before I entered the MTC.  I downloaded that conference to my phone during the lesson and then tonight when I was cleaning up after dinner began listening to it.  There were talks in that conference that impacted me greatly as a missionary and have been a influence for good in my life.  F. David Stanley spoke on the importance of work.  Great lines in that talk and one that I will always love "Contrary to the belief of many, say and sit will never replace diligently do".  Our closing hymn today in Sacrament meeting was Jesus the Very Thought of Thee.  That was the first song I learned as a missionary and President Howard W. Hunter gave a remarkable talk in this conference titled Jesus the Very Thought of Thee where he reference the hymn throughout.  H. David Burton spoke about Heroes.  I remember that Elder Cole Kelly in the mission field laughed when we watched the Priesthood Session (tape delayed for a couple months in South Africa back then) and said I looked like Bishop Burton.  We also listened to Lessons I Learned as a Boy by President Hinkley.  That was a fantastic talk and one that I have loved for twenty years!  So very grateful for modern technology that provides us with access to these talks at our fingertips. 

If the next twenty years goes by as quickly as these last twenty...

Stress Reliever

The last two days have been absolutely exhausting and fairly stressful.  When I came home tonight I started doing a bit of yard work.  Oh my goodness it is a stress reliever to pull weeds.  Jack came and helped out using his wagon to haul weeds.  We had a great conversation centered on remote contriol trains.  He is all abouot one of those.  Oh my goodness, must rest. 

Missing Boy

I got home tonight after a record breaking day at work and found that Jack was not at home.  Nobody knew where he was.  I walked up the street looking for him, nothing.  I walked to the school and looked at the playgrounds, nothing.  I got in the car and drove up and down every street in the neighborhood west of our street, nothing.  I looked around the high school where a baseball game was happening, nothing.  I drove down our old street one block east of us and spotted his green razor scooter parked in front of our old house.  He had decided to go over to play without telling anyone where he was going.  We have a rule that we don't do that and apparently he forgot the rule.  That is enough to drive a father nuts.  As frustrating and as hard as the entire experience is to search and not find over and over, there is sweet relief when you do find your missing child.  Andy was in the car with me as we searched and was only interested in what punishment Jack was going to get.  I finally stopped his questioning and told him I really wasn't interested or worried about a punishment, I just wanted to find him.  Anyhow, there Jack was, playing in the backyard with the Barneys dogs and just enjoying himself without a care in the world.  We went home, he ate dinner and then he wanted to go to the school to play.  Sorry, we broke a rule and therefore we'll be staying at home.  He was mad when I told him no and he had a few thoughts he shared but I simply stood my ground, reviewed the rules and he understood and stopped fighting it.  That was nice to have him listen, accept and not have a melt down.  Hopefully he remembers the rule in the future and we don't have this problem again.     

Worst Dad Ever

I have been told by Andy several times that I am the worst dad ever.  Usually it is because I make him do homework or won't let him stay home from school.  Sometimes I won't let him have Pop Tarts at 9 o'clock at night.  No matter how small the infraction of his desires may be it seems worthy of Worst Dad Ever status.  Today however, I may have legitimately achieved Worst Dad Ever status. 

The First Grade program was today.  I planned to be there and while walking Andy to school had to tell him that I couldn't stay at school with him all day but that I would come at 2 o'clock for the program.  That in and of itself earned me Worst Dad Ever status in Andy's mind and getting him into the school and to class became a major struggle.  Anyhow, with the help of his teacher he managed to get over it and get gong on his day. 

What was my horror when I looked at the clock to discover it was after 3 and realized that I had completely missed the program.  It was one of those days at work, busy.  I was shocked when I saw the time and then I felt absolutely terrible.  I thought about Andy looking for me and not finding me.  Thought about him having to stay at school while the other kids went home with their parents.  Thought maybe he cried a little bit and was upset.  I was pretty upset about it, just felt sick and sad.  Instead of having my 6 year old brand me Worst Dad Ever I branded myself. 

Natty had a band concert and so I picked up both Natty and Andy and drove them up to the middle school.  After dropping Natty off Andy and I drove to the bank to take care of some work related stuff before the concert started.  I asked Andy about the program and he let me know he was upset that I wasn't there.  Ultimately he handled it okay and we planned a Dad and Andy date to go out and get some ice cream.  That should be fun. 

The band concert went well and Andy was pretty forgiving.  Very thankful for that. 

Write It Down

Some days I get to the end of the day, sit down to type this blog and ask myself "what was it I was going to write about today"?  Then I have no clue what it was just that it was something amazing or something that I thought would be fun.  So earlier, not even very long ago, I had an experience with Jack that made me laugh.  It was a simple thing that really was funny, it made me laugh anyway.  Yeah, well, I thought I would write about it and now I cannot remember it what so ever.  Either it really wasn't worth my effort in writing about or I've just about lost my mind completely.  The historical part of life is one of the reasons I keep this blog, I record things for posterity and yet I sit here empty at the end of the day.  I should have written it down...