Bed Time Story

Once upon a time there was a father of three beautiful children.  He had a daughter and two sons and every night after the family had read scriptures and closed the day in prayer they retired to their rooms.  The boys loved to have their father read them a story.  So the father would read to the boys and the father was so tired that he would fall asleep while reading.  My goodness.  Sleeping again.

Da Bear

It was pack meeting.  Jack got to lead the flag cermony. He did a great job.  He also earned his bear tonight.  Way to go!

Saying Hi

I had to make a run to the store today for some salad bar supplies.  I decided to drop off a special treat to a friend for a late birthday gift.  Hope she enjoyed it.  Not sure how it was received but that's no big deal.  Just trying to do something nice, saying hi.  In the store I saw a customer and gave her a quick hello and her face lit up.  That was fun.  I also saw a gentleman that I had met at singles conference.  I went and visited with him for a few.  Nice guy, here on work.  I was able to stroll through the dining area and visit with some of our regular customers.  Always fun to say hi and to visit when we can.

Joyful Heart

It was the wee hours of the morning before I retired to bed last night.  I was standing at the dryer folding clothes while emptying it.  I had another load to go in and needed to get it done and off to bed.  I pulled one of Andy's shirts out and began to fold it.  As I looked at it my heart was filled with joy and love for this boy and also for each of my children.   I am humbled and grateful to be a father to these precious children.  I felt much joy as I folded that laundry and thought about my beautiful children. 

Year Two

We had the privilege of catering the Southern Utah Autism Conference today.  This was year two for us.  I think it went quite well.  I am fairly certain they loved the food and we do our best to make it easy for those in charge of it.  The less they have to worry about the food the better.  Anyway, hoping for year three twelve months from now. 

Last year I was able to attend much of the conference and found it very informative.  This year I was not able to go to the classes.   Too much going on.  Once we finished there I ended up back at the Brick House and worked the lunch rush and did prep work for a number hours.  My dogs are barking.  Long day.  I was so happy to get home and see the kiddos.   Sure do love them.

Fry Guy

Today I was the fry guy.  I am beat.  Fries are tiring.

Try

There has been more than one talk where President Monsoon has quoted
"If we do not try then we can not do and we we can not do then why are we here?,,. 

I try. 

Old Pipes

I started on a little project today that involved the use of the sawzall.   That is one of the great power tools of our day.  We have a drain that has been clogged since before our time in this building.  It happens to be the drain to the closest thing we have to a mop sink.  There is a p-trap on there that the plumber told me was so tight that nothing goes through it.   All you can do is cut it out and start over. 

Huge

I received a message this morning that Grandpa Atwood was in the final moments of his life and that services would be on Saturday.   Less than two hours later I received a message that he had passed.  Hugh Gerald Atwood, Hugh-G, Huge.  He was a great man with a great heart.  I recall several times when he and Leta came around.  They came and visited us in Carson City, we got to visit them on the road in Layton once,  they came out to Florida, we saw them in Alabama and there were a couple of times when I visited Houston that I was able to visit with them.  Always so kind.   Grandpa Atwood loved his family, he loved Texas and he loved the Longhorns.  He will be missed. 

Blinds

On Saturday I picked up blinds for 8 Windows in the house that were without coverings. Not cheap.  I have two left to hang and have to say that blinds can really dress up a place.  It was a bit of an investment but after hanging the blinds in the dining room I was feeling a lot better.  On the topic of blind, I'm having a hard time keeping the eyes open.  Must sleep.

Easter Fourteen

The year is 2014 and today we celebrate Easter.   I put out a few gifts for the kids.  Socks, everyone got socks and then some other things and a bit of candy.  No egg hunt this year and I think that worked out just fine.  I pulled the kids into my room this morning, asked them if Easter was about the bunny.  No.  I asked what it was about.  Jesus.  Yes.  We watched a video about the Savior.  I hope they got some of it, I think they did.  It was good.

Church was great.  We have a wonderful ward.  We went to the folks house for dinner tonight.  Nice to have them back. 

Grateful for the Savior and for his life and love. 

$43.50

I spent a little time working some scrap metal.  I had some things that weighed quite a bit.  I thought I might get some okay money out of it.  Not really.  $43.50.  I guess it's better than taking it to the dump and getting nothing.  I just won't think about what that $43.50 works out to per hour.

Quick Visit

Got word this afternoon that Jim and Clo and fam along with Clo's folks were coming up for dinner tonight.  It was a quick visit but it was great to have them here.  I ended up having to cook because one of our guys cut his finger pretty bad and had to go to the quick care.  He ended up with 8 stitches.  The guys that saw it said it was p r betty gruesome.   I was a little shocked when I turned around and he was back at work, ready to help close.  The kid is tough.  He didn't want to leave the team hanging.  We let him stay but only to do light duty stuff.    So anyway, quick visit.  It was good. 

Worms

I pulled out a shovel this evening and started digging up grass and weeds that have overgrown into a planter box in the front yard.  As I cut into the dirt we started to see worms squirming around.  I isolated a few on the shovel, got Andy to pick one up which was lovely for a moment.  He told me how worms poop dirt, I love that kind of quality information. 

Anyway, I had a small collection of worms on the wall.  I was sitting there going through grass and dirt and Jack came over and sat down.  I asked if he was sitting on the worms and hearing that he jumped up and sure enough, worms.  We had a laugh.

Christening

This morning I went to help someone move, it is spring break so Jack came with me.  We unloaded the truck and were getting ready to leave and I couldn't find Jack.  I found his shoes then eventually tracked him down.  He was sitting on the toilet in the master bathroom dropping a load.  He requested I get him some toilet paper. So glad he is comfortable enough with himself to take care of christening someone's new toilet.  Fortunately everyone was leaving and I was the only one aware of what had happened.   The smell should've faded.

Tonight we ran over and helped the folks with their last load s. The moved back to Cedar today.  We were getting ready to leave when Jack let me know he was going to the bathroom.  Fortunately he did not christen their bathroom in the same way. 

The Barrel

When an employee decides it is a good idea to try and hold their employer over a barrel, yeah, that never ends well.  Oh I suppose there are those where that kind of behavior is tolerated but it really rubs me the wrong way and quite frankly becomes a their ticket out the door.  If you like your job be an adult about it.  If you think holding your employer over a barrel is the seat choice... think adamngain.

Passed Out

I woke up this morning without the slightest recollection of what I wrote in last night's post.  In my ill state I took some Nyquil or the equate brand equivalent. After reading with the boys I retired to my room.  I remember,bed grabbing my phone to type the post and that was about it.  I did look at the title later and remembered deciding to write about the Murray's coming over but don't remember anything beyond that.  I suppose I should go back and read it to see what I actually said or if I even said anything at all.  We'll let it ride.  If it is nonsensical then it is Nyquil nonsensical. Anyway, it was a much needed night of rest.  It made for a tough morning though as my body did not want to wake up.  We persevered and made a day out of it.

Great Visit

We got new home teachers and they came and visited with us tonight.  Jason and Reagan Murray.  Actually, the entire family came and brought some dinner with them.  It was a very tasty chili.  It was also great because we served up some of the love

Decade Jack!

Jack likes to talk about being a decade old.  That he is.  He was a happy man this morning when he opened his gift from his mom.  He is into the Mario Kart 8 game coming out and has been checking out different K'Nex tracks and stuff.  He got the Mario Kart beginner set.  His request for his birthday cake was a Mario Kart 8 cake.  I went for it and I think he liked it well enough.  Grateful for this boy, grateful for each of my children.  A decade with Jack, a little more than with Natty Sue, a little less than with Andyboy, these are wonderful years in my life.

Not 100%

Sick.

Best in State

We received word today that The Brick Hose Cafe won Best in State for local diner.  That was pretty fantastic news.  We are pretty excited about it.  It takes a lot of work everyday to provide the level of service and the quality of food that we want.  We hold ourselves to a high standard and have to if we want to be considered for things like Best in State.

Philly

Got a message from Dave last night that Dan I and Griffin are down with the flu so he was going to be home with them today.  That opened up a spot on the line so I filled it.  My favorites are the Philly sandwiches so I worked the grill.  First order up was The Brotherly Love which is a sandwich I came up with one day when I felt like having a Philly on grilled sourdough.   It is actually a secret menu item.  Because of that I was curious who ordered it.  It was a random couple who found it in a magazine or something.   How dos my sandwich end up in a magazine?   Well, they loved it and said it needs to be on the regular menu.  No doubt it is a fantastic sandwich but it is one I will probably keep on the secret menu.  Anyhow, lots of Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches today and I was loving it.

Metal to Scrap

I got a pretty fabulous workout in this morning and then got another one in this afternoon.   The latter of the workouts was more of a Rocky IV variety.  Meaning it was a workout based on moving random objects and scaling tall mountains covered in snow.  Okay so no snow covered mountains but there was a lot of up and down the back stairwell going on.  I am taking a bunch of metal over to the local recycle guys in hopes to bring in a few dollars.  It consists of some fairly heavy table bases, metal chair frames, table legs and other stuff.  I'm sure it won't be worth much but it may help me take care of Jack's birthday, or maybe candles for the cake... who knows. 

Races

I just hit the wrong button and completely deleted my last post.  I am a bit tired and the computer died so I'm enjoying typing on this phone.  Really need to sleep.  First, Races.  When I got home Jack was excited to challenge me to a race.  So we went for it.  Good times.  He won.

Inspiring Messages

As I have gotten older I have grown to love General Conference more and more.  I love the inspiring messages, the stories of faith, the counsel given.  There were powerful messages throughout the conference and I will very much enjoy going through the talks again and again over the coming months.  It was a wonderful day and great blessing to hear the words of God through living prophets and apostles.

Painting Conference

I did not pull out the acrylics while watching conference and begin painting my impressions.  No, I pulled out the paint for the kitchen and did all the finish painting while listening to conference.  Following the kitchen I moved onto the living room then the upstairs hallway.  Also managed the downstairs hallway and some in the family room.  It was nice to get a lot of that done.  Conference, it has been fantastic so far.  I love conference.

Conference Time

It is time for conference.  I am excited.  In anticipation of conference this weekend I have been listening to the October conference every morning this week.  I love it.  There are some excellent stories in there and wonderful talks.  I am grateful for the technology that we enjoy in our day that allows for this to happen.  Wonderful, wonderful stuff.  I am wiped out today and conference starts early so I am calling it. 

Tree Trimming

When I got home tonight I got a little crazy and started trimming some trees.  Actually there are some sort of bush/tree things in the backyard that I decided needed to cut down.  Done.  I also got a bit of trimming in on the weeping willow in the front yard.  It is a beautiful tree and had a few dead branches up in it so I removed them.  Well, those that I could reach got removed.  I got a bit of boy help and that was fun.  That's the kind of stuff I enjoy doing and was happy to have the boys out with me. 

Recover

A week and a half ago I came down with something that just worked me over.  I think it had to do with some Smokey Ghost Pepper Jack cheese.  That is some very tasty and hot stuff.  It didn't sit well with me and I was nauseated.  I have felt quite a bit better than I did but I am still not feeling all that well inside.  Tonight I have enjoyed that nauseated feeling for the last few hours.  It is such a pleasure.  One day I will recover and life will be a bit more relaxing. 

Beloved Children

Last night in our Family Home Evening lesson we reviewed again the First Presidency message in March by President Eyring.  We looked at and talked about things that we could do to serve others.  I then shared with the kids the challenge that was issued by Elder Ballard in the last conference.  It was part of the article under Teaching from this Message.  Here is what Elder Ballard said:  "In your morning prayer each new day, ask Heavenly Father to guide you to recognize an opportunity to serve one of His precious children.  Then go throughout the day... loooking for someone to help" (Be Anxiously Engaged, Ensign, Nov. 2012, 31). 

This morning before Jack walked out the door for school he asked me if he could say his morning prayer.  I said sure.  He stood at the door, bowed his head and prayed.  In his prayer he asked that we could recognize an opportunity to serve one of His beloved children.  I love that boy of faith and action.  I love that he hears and he acts.  A number of weeks ago we had a Family Home Evening on praying for missionary experiences and included in that praying for their mom.  Everyday since then, without fail that boy prays for missionary experiences and he prays for his mom.  I am grateful for his diligence and his faith and the example he is to Natty, Andy and myself.  I am grateful for each of my beloved children.  They are wonderful and are a tremendous strength in my life.