Halloween 2010

Here's a few pics taken October 30, Halloween observed.

This past summer a sister in our ward gave swimming lessons to the kids, gratis. She was great. She had the non-swimmers swimming and the pseudo swimmers flourishing in no time. As a trade Marie offered, come Fall, to have us rake all their leaves (they have some good sized trees). Well, as it always does, Fall eventually arrived, and we all found ourselves over at the Davies's, cleaning up nature's mess. This year has the weather has dithered quite a bit so the trees have taken a while to moult. (Yes, I know only birds moult, but what would you have said if I had said, "Abscission has been somewhat spotty"?) Consequently it took a couple trips to finish the job.

Anyway, here's some photos of the kids dispersed amongst the morning's booty.

That's Porter peeking out from within.

Here we are after the raking, enjoying some awesome peanut butter/banana/cocoa smoothies, a recipe given to us by my sister, Maren, when we were visiting her in North Carolina. (More on that later.) The kids loved them. They are destined to become regulars around here.

And the obligatory costumery photos:

 Emma Einstein

Joseph & Grace the Lion

Jarom the Pooh

Hannah Running Bear

Porter the gangster, I guess. We like our children to aspire.

Kerina the vampire with Joseph Smith looking on.

Andrea as. . . . I have no idea!

At the ward trunk-or-treat. (It was raining outside so they moved it inside.)

Joseph was going as Michael Jackson, unfortunately he wasn't too convincing, as his glove didn't shimmer, his derby was too tall, but mostly because his skin was too dark.

Porter, Future Engineer

Working at a large apartment complex with boilers and chillers, et al, I come across a lot of broken odds and ends. When I find something interesting (eg. a pressure gauge, pressure reducing valve, or even air-handler blower motors) I bring it home for the boys (aka. Porter) who proceed to tear it apart and investigate.

Recently Porter was asking me if a battery could power a light bulb, so we started with a 9v and then graduated to 18v. But first he drew up a plan and then put it together.

 

And here's the finished product:

Odds/Ends

Here's Grace and her brother Heinrich. Actually that's Jarom. But doesn't he look like he should be wearing lederhosen.

And this is Andrea and Rosie (short for Rosalina, a name Jarom pulled out of thin air when we first got her). If your observant you'll notice that we can't seem to do anything the easy way. About 4-6 weeks ago there were a few days that we tied up Rosie outside as we were gone all day. Well, we don't have a fence, and Rosie apparently ignored every lecture we gave her on the law of chastity. So now there are two females in this house who are in a motherly way. Marie's a bit annoyed that the dog got pregnant much later and yet will give birth much sooner then herself. Not only that, but Rosie will get much more bang for her buck. 

By the way, you'll all be receiving belated Christmas gifts this year. When you get them, make sure you open them immediately as they contain perishables. 

Joseph's Choir

Joseph's school choir had their Christmas concert this past week. Great director. She seems to get a ton out of these kids. Very impressive. Also, a very Christian concert -- she conceded nothing. (Sorry about the video quality. It was taken with my phone, as we forgot to bring the good camera.) Oh, and Joseph was smack in the middle on the second row.

Musical Notes

Look out Ray Brown!

Recently I've been playing for the musical Plaid Tidings, a Christmas spinoff of Forever Plaid. It's been a kick. Haven't done a musical since Oliver Twist (w/ Christopher Lloyd) at the Sundance outdoor theater back when I was an undergrad.

Anyway, here's the four Plaids in their calypso digs during intermission. The elderly fellow is the pianist, Bob Bailey, who is 89 years young. In his earlier days he played piano for the Dean Martin show, as well as Nat King Cole, Ginger Rogers, Bing Crosby, Pearl Bailey, and Mel Thorme -- to name a few. He and his wife have served four missions. He's quite a guy and an incredible pianist. I have been gigging with him since I was an undergrad. He's one of these guys that can play just about any standard in any key. For the Dean Martin show he'd have to arrange on-the-fly in rehearsals to accommodate the various celebs that would appear each show, constantly having to shift keys around & alter pre-arranged tunes to put the guests and Dean in the best light. I've heard him make key-wandering vocalists sound great. 

If he's doing an actual performance-type gig, one of his schticks is to have audience members give the last four digits of their phone numbers which, using them as scale steps, he then improvises a tune using the consecutive digits as a motive of sorts. It's very cool. 

This is the pit band (we're actually right on stage). That's Mitch Lee (a drummer I have been gigging with for at least 14 years), Bob, and myself (with the double-chin, as Andrea likes to point out). 

Revlon's Newest Model

Grace recently got into Mom's lipstick. Not shown is Gracie's putting lipstick on the picture of Hannah and Andrea in the bathroom.

A Tragic Week

This week was a tough one for the local community. One of this city's finest young men was tragically taken in a terrible car accident this past week. Brandon Curtis, a member of our ward, was just 18 years old and just about to begin his senior year. As the Chartered Organization Rep for our scout troop I was able to get to know him just a little as he was working to get his Eagle rank. He was an exemplar young man, the kind you hope your own boys will emulate. His family is exceptional.

Marie and I have known his parents, Jesse and Diane, since we first bought our home in Springville. They have always been salt-of-the-earth people; an example of love of family, and devotion to the gospel to everyone they meet. Due to unfortunate circumstances the family, of necessity, has been living with Jesse's parents for the past couple years. More recently, Jesse ended up in the hospital for some time, close to death. Brandon and his sister Shanae managed things at home while their mom split time between work and the hospital until their dad recovered. It has been a rough few years for a great family.

Their oldest son, Brandon, was as fine a young man as you could know. Everyone who knew him loved him. He was/is idolized by his younger siblings and a leader in the high school's football and wrestling programs.

You can read his obituary here.

The entire community has come together to help this family. You can't drive down Main Street without seeing numerous marquis and signs expressing love and support for the family. Several local business have have taken up the cause by donating a days proceeds to the family, or donating other resources to help out. It has been amazing.

This past Tuesday, just following football practice, Brandon and three other boys were fooling around in one of the boys' jeep, apparently doing donuts in the parking lot. The jeep rolled, and all the boys were ejected; three were barely injured, Brandon was crushed by the jeep. He ended up in a coma with severe brain trauma. On Wednesday afternoon, after tests showed zero brain activity, the parents had him removed from life support.

I share all that so I can share the story that was told today in Elders Quorum.

On Wednesday morning President Peterson, our Elders Quorum president, went to the hospital to see what he could do for the family. Upon arriving, Jesse, Brandon's father grabbed Pres. Peterson and took him to see another boy in the hospital. Jesse asked if he, Pres. Peterson, would assist him and the boy's father in giving the boy a blessing. The boy was the driver of the jeep. The driver's father anointed. Brandon's father sealed and blessed. That is the kind of people the Curtis's are. I hope you will all remember them in your prayers.

Brandon will be missed by all.

Celestial Cereal

Overheard an argument from Porter, Jarom, and two of their cousins, Andrew and Matthew Adcock. It went something like this:

"I could eat like five bowls of cereal."

"Oh yeah? Well, I could eat like twelve."

"That's nothing. I could eat 10,000 bowls of cereal."

Emma chimes in, "I could eat never-ending." (Apparently that's the new "infinity".)

Then someone said, "I could eat more than anybody."

To which Jarom responded, "Nuh uh. You can't eat as many bowls as Jesus."

Bam! Beat that!

Musical News

Just thought you all might want to know the good news. Marie and I took Joseph to do baptisms at the temple the other day. You'll be glad to know that Chicago's South-side bad man has been baptized and confirmed. King Kong need no longer shrink, and junk-yard dogs are once again "meaner". That's right, Mr. Leroy Brown, is apparently dead, and a heavenly candidate. I was able to confirm Joseph for that fabled man.

I got a real kick out of the moment. It was all I could do to not start laughing as soon as I read the name. It took me a couple more names to restore complete composure. Being the oldest person in the room, I'm guessing no one else caught the humor in it.

Oh, and by the way, Leroy's middle name? Everett––which may explain why he never used it on the street. It's hard to be the baddest man in the whole d*** town with a middle name like Everett.

Non-Servicable Body Parts

The other night, after the kids had gone to bed, Jarom came upstairs obviously upset. I asked him what was wrong and why was he out of bed. Then through a very clogged nose and in his most serious manner he said, "Dad, my nose isn't working."

I just thought it was funny.