2016 Halloween

Picture of the boys out in front at the Halloween tree. Jack didn't want to go out trick or treating so he manned the candy at the door. Andy and I walked a few street. We ended up driving over to see the grand folks.  We had stationed a large bowl of candy out front and invited people to take two. Well the entire thing, bowl and all was stolen. I had this feeling it was going to happen as I spotted a couple of teenagers right as we were leaving. I circled around twice, stopping at our house the first time and running inside. They had slowly moved on from our house to across the street. They just stood there waiting. As we drove down the street they crossed the road. I circled again.  When we got to our street again they were in our driveway but saw it was me and started walking.  I hoped that would do the trick and they would move on and maybe they did. Whatever happened someone made off with a nice bowl of candy. Have at it boys.  Next year I will only put lame treats out there when we are not managing the bowl.

Until then, Must sleep.

Carving Pumpkins

Last night after the adult session of Stake Conference the boys and I ran out to the store. We had some shopping to do for Halloween candy as well as some food items and then pumpkins to carve. Apparently pumpkins are not a last minute item. They were pretty much gone. We were at smiths to see what they had and were looking at a handful of really ugly pumpkins when a sister from our Stake walked out and saw us.  We had just seen her at the Wal-Mart and it turns out she was looking for plastic teeth (which must also disappear quickly at Halloween time). We said hello and then she said she had lots of pumpkins at her house that looked a lot better than what was left. She told us to go get some. I said I didn't want to go take her pumpkins but she insisted saying she had grown them herself and had quite a few.  They were much nicer than what was available at the store. So awesome of her.  Well, we carved on them this afternoon following Stake Conference.  It was a good activity and we saved a lot of seeds that we will plant in hopes of growing our own pumpkins next year.  I think it will be fun anyway.

Stake Conference was quite good. We had Elder Schweitzer of the Seventy.  I really enjoyed the talks from both yesterday and today.  It may be time to go through some things, determine their value - meaning, does it bring me closer to Christ or pull me away?  Well, i quite like our Stake Presidency. They are good men, humble men that love the Lord.  Really powerful messages and testimonies shared. 

So Stake Conference, pumpkin carving, a couple of home teaching visits for me, and a drive up the canyon while listening to a youth fireside with the kids all made for a pretty great day.

A Favorite

There are a couple of favorite pictures of mine from my grandparents house. One is the picture of the Swiss house that now hangs in my parents home. Another is the picture attached to this post. I have always been a fan of this coat of arms of the Fontano family. At least I think that is what this is. Today I was at the storage unit going through things and moving some decor to the shop. I came across this picture and couldn't stand to see it just sitting in storage. I figure I can babysit it for a while right here in my house. The kids like it also. I love it.

Revisions

Well I missed a few details on my last assessment or task. Everything on it was good, I just didn't provide enough feedback on the results of the American Revolution. I missed that detail in the rubric but it really wasn't a big deal. I managed to add a paragraph with what I thought was a powerful conclusion of the revolution. It is back in the hands of the evaluators.  Hopefully it turns out well. Started on the 5th and final task today and will work to have it done by Monday.

The Brick Burger

We are putting together an eating challenge at the restaurant. It is time to make it happen. So we have narrowed the ideas down a bit and have gone from ridiculously large to a good sized burger that will be a challenge to eat in a 10 minute time frame.  The pictured sandwich was our first working product. We sat there with it and I decided I would try to knock it out to see if it was going to be to easy for 10 minutes. I didn't even come close. I tackled the pickle spear, a few of the fries and the top half of the sandwich. At 4 minutes to go it was obvious I wasn't going to get it done so I threw in the towel. I was stuffed, still am and that was 6 hours ago.  Anyway, we are close. This could be good times.

So tired

After having missed a couple of days on the elliptical machine I was determined to get five miles logged in today.  It went Well.  We also went up the aquatic center and had a good time . I got in the lap pool and swam. It was good. I am asleep and struggling with this. Must sleep.

3rd Task

The class moves forward. World History. It is keeping me busy. Today I completed the third of five tasks. I have done well on the first two and am hoping this one also goes well. I won't know the results for a day or two. Tomorrow I will move on to the fourth task which involves my favorite period in history as we look at the revolutionary war through the industrial revolution. This is an exciting period of growth and development. I did enjoy the last section where we looked at Europe and it's founding following the fall of the Roman Empire, we looked at Islam and how it was founded and turned into a couple different dynasties. I was unawares of the positive approach of the Abbasid dynasty that promoted growth and creativity with advancements in medicine and mathematics. It really was fascinating. The Silk Road was also on topic today where I focussed on the spread of disease through the roads travelers specifically the Black Death. These were certainly interesting times in the history of the world.  Well, exciting stuff. Looking forward to wrapping up the class by the end of the month then pushing forward for more classes.

Mask and Snorkel

Made a St. George run this afternoon with the boys and we had to make a few stops. After staples we went in search of some training fins for the pool. In my search we came across a mask, snorkel and fins combo set. Andy has wanted one of these for a very long time. As soon as he saw what I was looking at he was very excited and was seeking out a mask and snorkel set of his own. After a couple stops I found what I was looking for and then we found what Andy wanted. I went ahead and picked it up and he is very excited. He had to try it all on when we got home and he is looking good. Now he has it all packed up and sitting next to him in his bed. Love it.

I Nearly Died

At church today we were sitting in Sacrament meeting and Jack turned to me with a bloody nose. I told him to go to the restroom and get himself taken care of. A few minutes later I see Borden Jenkins start to smile from the stand while looking towards me.  Then I see Jack returning to the pew. Hanging out of his nose was a huge paper towel that had been balled up on one end and shoved into his nose. It was quite comical. He did a terrible job cleaning his face and had multiple blood smudges on it. I just started laughing, not out loud, just to myself. It was a good time and definitely unexpected.

Tough Loss

I was working on the chain crew for the SUU Weber State game this evening. SUU was ahead the entire game only to lose it in the last minute.  The Weber State team never quit, never gave up. It was a pretty impressive comeback.  I am not an expert on coaching or game management so my opinion may not equate to much. It was my opinion that SUU started playing it safe too early and then started shooting themselves in the foot with some dumb penalties.  They lost by one point. It was a  pretty tough loss.

Goals

I had set a goal to have my second task completed this week. By this week I meant by today.  Unfortunately I ended up at work for most of the day and was unable to get this done earlier.  After having a bit of dinner with the boys and relaxing for a few minutes I sat down after 9 to get started on the second task.  I was not doing a very good job with my goal.  Well, here we are a few hours later and with very heavy eyelids I just submitted my paper for review.  Once the review is done to make sure the work is original I will be submitting it.  I think I did an okay job with this one.  I felt not so good about the first task and I passed.  This one I feel pretty good about and hopefully it will come back well.  Now I must rest.  I am ready to crash out but the goal has been met and I think I can take a day or two off before we get to task number 3. 

Been Awhile

Today I went into the shop and met up with a friend of mine, David Bingham, as he and his family were passing through town. They stopped by the restaurant for some lunch and we visited the entire time. He is a good dude. I got to meet his wife and mother in law as well as his two daughters. I knew his older daughter as an infant in Florida. Anyway, good to see friends after not seeing them for awhile.

I was dropping Natty off for work and was checking on things with this women's crisis center we raised money for today. It was busy. I ended up working throughout the remainder of the day. It has been a while since I've had to do that.  We had a great turn out and I jumped in to try and help.  Good times and successful evening I think.

Volcano Day

It was volcano day for the 5th graders at South Elementary therefore Andy was due on the pitch with high expectations. We built a nice volcano and had proper rigging for a successful eruption. When it came time for Andy to launch he pulled the pin and everything went as planned. The eruption was a real crowd pleaser. We had a good time.

Up too late

Oh my gosh, it has been one of those days with this school stuff where I have spent every waking moment working on a class. I guess not every waking moment because I did get to help the boys with their homework and I got to make dinner and play taxi driver and all of those other fun dad things.  I did not get to run today which is a bit upsetting. Anyway,  I am in World History at the moment which is a performance based assessment and requires the completion of tasks.  This is my first class that I have had to do this for and I am thus far not a big fan of the process.  I did not enjoy the first task. Hopefully my lack of enjoyment is caused more by the fact that it was all new and took a bit of extra time to figure things out though I don't know.  I feel like I put in a lot of work but am also not real confident that I am providing what those who will evaluate my work will want. It is way to late and I have spent too much time on this today but I want to be through with this class by the end of the month so it is going to require some time. 

4 Loads

I procrastinated the washing of laundry and so today I had to wash 4 loads. That was a lot of laundry.  This far I have folded three loads and am waiting on the 4th to dry.  I am wiped out.

Primary Program

Today was a big day for Andy. He was part of the 8th ward primary program. It was a great program and as I watched the primary children I felt gratitude for those who work in the primary. They are wonderful and do a marvelous job with the children. It was great. 

For Andy there was a lot that went into this program. His part was not difficult and he worked hard to memorize it though he took the paper up with him and looked down the entire time. Where Andy struggled was in his battle with anxiety. He did not want to participate because being up in front of people is difficult for him. He has a lot of anxiety. There were some tears shed and some stubborn moments to wade through. Eventually he came around and he did wonderfully.  Quite happy with the job he did and for him being brave.  Grandma was able to come and that meant a lot to Andy.

Tent Selfie

This afternoon I was showing one of my employees a picture of Oak Grove, where we camped last night. As I opened up my photo gallery I was surprised by this Jack selfie.  He was playing with the phone in the tent this morning. Not a bad tent selfie. Happy to be home and sleeping in my bed tonight. Happy to find a great tent selfie of Jack that brought a smile to my face today.

Oak Grove (from last night)

Tonight I am on a camp out with Jack and the other deacons. Sean Heiner and Cafe Visser are the leaders and both are here. This is a good group and I am happy that I can be out here with Jack. He isn't to a point where he would go without me being with him. That is fine. I am happy to come. Camping trips with the scouts has always been a lot of fun.

We set out to camp at Red Cliffs but when we got to the area we found it was full. I recommended coming up to Oak Grove as it was a lot closer than driving back through Cedar and going to 3 Peaks.  We were able to find one small camp ground but it is doing the job.  It is a pretty cool little camp ground that is filled with large pines. We are at the base of the mountain and driving by this area on the highway you would never know it is here.  We will get a better look in the morning.

The sun was well on its way down as we were driving to the campground.  Jack was enjoying what he could see of the sunset and asked for my phone so he could take this picture

97%

The first of three math classes is down.  I was correct last night that I had actually completed the work for the class. My student mentor was a tad surprised when I told her. Pushing right along.  I've gotta get through it.  I did take the assessments today and scored 88% on the pre assessment and then was pleasantly surprised with a 97% on the assessment.  Wow! I was thinking I might not pass it as I hit submit. Thrilled about that score and thrilled to be pressing forward.  World History is next up. 

Wait, What?

I think I may have just discovered something.  I have been pushing myself on this math, wanting to keep up and not fall behind in this course because I wanted to get through it and not have it be like a brick wall.  Today I took the test for the first unit and passed with a 92%.  That was good.  I moved on to the second unit and managed to get through 4 parts of it.  That is about 1/3rd of what I need to do.  I'm feeling pretty good about that but am still behind.  Well, here is where I say what? It appears that I am done with the material for the entire first class and that 92% is what I scored on the comprehensive test for that entire first class.  I wasn't intending on doing the entire thing in a week, well, 3 days plus a morning test but apparently that is what I did.  Okay then, this math isn't near as bad as I thought and I am already through a third of the next math class.  I think I might be able to handle this stuff.  I thought I was going to be stuck and struggling through it for weeks.  I feel so much better right now.  It is crazy.  I guess I will take that pre-assessment tomorrow and see where I am at and then either take the assessment and be done with this one or study up a bit more on the material before moving on.  Wow.  That is a very pleasant surprise. 

It Pains Me

I realize I spoke about math yesterday and I don't want to be redundant but the topic is on my mind yet again.  Math, it pains me.  I spent several hours today working on it. My goal was to be through the first to sections this week. My week ends Thursday morning. I am not done with the first section yet. Actually I am finished except for the chapter or section test. I have passed all of the quizzes so that is positive. I will test in the morning and move on to the second section.  I have not missed not being in math. The online class of last semester put a stranglehold on my life and this class is doing the same.  Not fun.

Math, again

I am doing my best to keep my swearing at a minimum. I am in a math class once again and there are some things about it that are driving me nuts. I will press forward and I will prevail and I will strive to do it with a positive attitude.  Occasionally a curse word will escape my lips. I'm not proud of that. I get a bit salty around numbers.

Medium Well

I was cooking up some steaks for dinner tonight. I was using the sous vide method of cooking. I set up a nice hot station for the searing. I was going for Medium Rare but managed medium well.  Dang it.  We suffered through the steaks and I've already examined how to do it differently the next time.  I will quickly seer in a pan with some seasoned butter to spoon over the steak.  I'm looking forward to our next steak dinner.

Difference

A couple weeks ago I was working on the chain gang for the SUU football game. I have responsibility for one of the two clips we use to line up the sticks.  It is a sweet job as it puts me front and center for every play of the game.  It also puts me in the middle of the opposing team. For the game of two weeks ago I was disturbed by how foul the language was of the team. It started at the top of the team with the coaches and worked down through the players. There was one coach that was especially vile.  It was a tough game.
Tonight SUU was back in action against UC Davis and the difference between this team and the one from 2 weeks ago was huge.. The head coach was a class act with great temperament and the respect of his team and assistant coaches.  There were some curse words spoken on the sidelines but it was minimal compared to teams from previous games.  I was impressed.  SUU won the game.

Football under the lights

It was Friday night in Cedar City and the last home football game of the season for the Cedar High Redmen. Once again I found myself working on the chain crew and enjoying the game from the best seat in the house.  Tonight I was actually on the chain for the first time.  I have done the first down marker and the box on the far side of the field, this season I have been doing the clips but tonight I was on the chain because we had a man out.  That was fun. It took a little getting used to. I didn't get it ripped out of my hands by someone stepping on the chain.  It was a good. We have a few more SUU games this year and then we will wait for next season.

Dapper Andy

Andy got up earlier than usual this morning and had decided that he wanted to go to school looking good. He picked out one of his button up shirts, put on some nice jeans and his converse. He even combed his hair. He stopped and asked me to answer seriously then wanted to know if he looked good. I told him he was looking sharp. After getting a pic he was off to school. Funny kid. 

This afternoon I had little Sambo over and watched him while Amy went to a doctors appointment. We had a good time picking Apple's and playing with every ball in the backyard. He actually did decide to jump on the trampoline which he had a great time .

Working Hard

Everyday is busy. Everyday there is homework for the boys. I have been trying to get them finished with the homework earlier in the day but they are a bit resistant. I am thinking about things that can serve as motivation and provide everyone with a little exercise. In any case it is a daily struggle but we will press forward.

Time to Assess

I have managed to push through the material in my current class. There was a lot of stuff to go through and I've got a bit of studying and reviewing to do but the time for assessment is near. Hoping to get through the pre-assessment tomorrow. Gotta push this school thing if I want to effectively speed things up.

Couldn't Help It

It is the week for CCR's and SEP's so the school schedule is a little messed up and I get to go meet with teachers.  Jack and I went and saw Mr. Montgomery today and then this evening Natty and I went and visited Mr. Esplin.  On the way over to the high school we were pulling out of the garage and I spotted a water bottle in the driveway that Jack had been using for the bottle flip. I couldn't help myself and turned the wheel towards it.  Direct hit. I crushed it under the tire and we laughed.  Jack laughed a little also. He picked it up and sloshed the remnants of water at my window.  His reaction was pretty good. I do believe he was mildly angry about the incident but got through it Just fine. There is no shortage of water bottles around here.  Anyhow, good day.

Leaning Jowler

I realize leaning jowler is a pass the pigs reference but is what came to mind when Andy landed the bottle flip pictured below.  He certainly loves flipping bottles and was pretty proud of this one. So talented.

A little after conference we headed up to the folks house for a bit of dinner. We brought rolls and I also brought this three ingredient macaroni Andy wanted.  Jim, Clo and Kathryn were here and Amy and Dan came a little later. There was plenty of good conference to watch. So grateful for conference.

Conference in the Garage

It is the opening weekend of October and that means it is General Conference. I had a project that needed to get done today in the garage.  I have been unable to park in it for over a month and had to make some changes in order to have space for the car to be parked there. I have no problem with combing conference with a project. There were some excellent talks today. Tonight I took Jack to his first Priesthood session of conference. He did pretty well and got to enjoy a little ice cream afterwards. He was pretty excited about that part. The day was great and the car is parked in the garage so project success.

Flip

I had two boys at two different times this evening excitedly tell me how they flipped a water bottle and landed it. They both continued to work on the trick. Jack began looking at landing the bottle on the lid side. Andy waited on his bottle flipping until we were reading scriptures. He then proceeded to flip the bottle throughout our reading time. At one point he had landed 4 in a row. Who knew flipping a water bottle could be so exciting that so many people would be doing it? Having done this myself it is a bit addictive.  I think there will be more bottle flipping in the future.